{"id":41176,"date":"2008-10-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-10-23T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/black-fingernails-red-wine\/"},"modified":"2008-10-23T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2008-10-23T00:00:00","slug":"black-fingernails-red-wine","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/black-fingernails-red-wine\/","title":{"rendered":"Black Fingernails, Red Wine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Of all the rock bands to emerge this decade in Australia<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> (and there\u2019s been many thankfully), one of the very best is Eskimo Joe.\u00a0 The three-piece from Fremantle (in Australia\u2019s west) had released two albums prior to this one and both contained glimpses of brilliance and a youthful swagger that won over the critics and public alike.\u00a0 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Following the success of the first two albums, the band headed into the studio in late 2005 to begin work on the all-important third album. Comprised of Kavyen Temperley (vocals, bass, and keys), Stuart Mac<\/st1:personname>Leod (guitars), and Joel Quartermain (piano, guitars and drums), the band was chasing a more polished sound than their previous works and it came with ease. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

While they had been loved by the indie and alternative crowds, this third release, Black Fingernails, Red Wine, <\/i>aligned itself more with the pop\/rock crowd. Therefore, the group gained the attention of the mainstream radio stations that kept them on heavy rotation for a full year, thus sending the album skyrocketing up the charts where it eventually gained quadruple-platinum status.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Produced by the band alongside Matt Lovell, Black Fingernails, Red Wine <\/i>is a more focused and consistent record than its predecessors. \u00a0Lovell\u2019s work with bands like Silverchair, Cold Chisel, and INXS was obviously the catalyst for the boys selecting him to collaborate with.\u00a0 His influence is clearly heard throughout the record, especially on the first single and the title track.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cBlack Fingernails, Red Wine\u201d was the obvious choice for a first single; its stunning piano and bass intro, prolific lyrics, and anthemic chorus make for an instantly accessible song.\u00a0 Radio fell in love with it and so did the listeners who propelled it up the charts and kept in the ARIA Top 20 for nineteen straight weeks.\u00a0 Now two years later, after the hype has died down, it remains a highlight of the record and a killer song containing some of the band\u2019s best lyrics to date: \u201cThe argument over God continues \/ In this house \/ All of us stand and point our fingers \/ At the ground \/ All of us stand and point our fingers \/ Straight down.\u201d<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The second single \u201cSara\u201d follows up where the first left off.\u00a0 A love song of sorts, its sentiment is countered by Temperley channelling his inner Sting for a slightly menacing, frantic delivery.\u00a0 Another highlight here is the even darker \u201cNew York<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>,\u201d which was the third single released and its charting well helped to solidify the album\u2019s status.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cLondon Bombs\u201d is another song that has a darker vibe, which is quiet prevalent as the album progresses.\u00a0 Quartermain\u2019s piano is sublime and offers a slightly upbeat mood to counter the depressive state of its author.\u00a0 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cPressure\u201d is a strong album track that sounds a little like mid-\u201890s U2. Kav even busts out some Bono-esque high notes for the chorus.\u00a0 \u201cBeating Like A Drum\u201d is again dark in lyrical content and rather poppy in musical arrangement; it\u2019s a curious blend that seems to work better than it should.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cSuicide Girl\u201d is really the only song here that just doesn\u2019t hit it.\u00a0 Its simple, light groove is engaging but the daft lyrics quickly dispel any hope for a light moment among the darkness: \u201cMy social suicide girl \/ Poison in the wall \/ Razors in the apple core.\u201d<\/o:p><\/p>\n

There is a sense of death and gloom throughout the record but it never gets overwhelming and the inspired moments more than make up for a couple of flat spots along the way.\u00a0 The album is bookended by two of the most enjoyable songs here.\u00a0 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Opener \u201cComfort You\u201d is an insanely catchy tune that introduces the album superbly and while it\u2019s almost void of lyrics, it is a definite highlight.\u00a0 The closer is morbid, to say the least, but enchanting nonetheless.\u00a0 \u201cHow Does It Feel\u201d is one of the band\u2019s finest moments and closes out the record with a haunting vibe.\u00a0 I have no idea what it means but I love it just the same, nothing unusual to me.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The huge success of this album has earned the band a much larger fan base than they probably imagined.\u00a0 Pleasing the new crowd while keeping the loyalists happy will be an interesting journey and I\u2019m really looking forward to the next step.\u00a0 Black Fingernails, Red Wine <\/i>remains one of the best by an Aussie band this decade.<\/o:p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":29581,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[8290],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-41176","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-eskimo-joe","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41176\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=41176"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=41176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}