\u201cGood,\u201d the opening and title track of Morphine\u2019s debut album, is the most unassuming greeting I\u2019ve received from a rock band. <\/p>\n
Let\u2019s put this first impression in the context of 1992. The phrase \u201calternative rock\u201d was everywhere in popular music. Nevermind <\/i>by Nirvana, Ten <\/i>by Pearl Jam, Badmotorfinger<\/i> by Soundgarden, and Blood Sugar Sex Magik <\/i>by Red Hot Chili Peppers had just been released in 1991. <\/p>\n
Along comes Morphine \u2013 late singer\/bassist Mark Sandman, saxophonist Dana Colley, and drummer Jerome Deupree \u2013 with Good<\/i>, also labeled alternative rock, and you hear the opening track: a one-string bass, a dirty sax, a beat more in line with Afro-Pop, smoky vocals, and repetitive lyrics that could belong to a bluesman. <\/p>\n
The one-string bass owns the first ten seconds, bumbling and lost. Percussion and sax riffs creep into the track. \u201cYou\u2019re good, good, good\/Good,\u201d sings a deep and dark voice, and the song could fall apart. But it doesn\u2019t. \u201cGood\u201d simply builds energy before starting again from the bottom.<\/p>\n
But what caused a 1990s rock band to abandon the guitar? Did the band dislike the instrument? According to the online publication PopMatters, the guitar was Sandman\u2019s favorite instrument, but he felt it wasn\u2019t right for Morphine. <\/p>\n
And to be accurate, they didn\u2019t quite abandon the guitar, but I needed extra listening to realize that. \u201cThe Saddest Song\u201d is the second track, and if you listen closely (I recommend headphones), you can hear Sandman\u2019s guitar, a black sheep in Morphine\u2019s brand of rock. Colley also contributes triangle to the track, and shit, it\u2019s effective triangle. With such a minimalist band, the smallest sound counts. <\/p>\n
Without Sandman\u2019s sense of humor, Good<\/i> could have been a bummer given the emptiness of its overall sound. \u201cHave A Lucky Day\u201d uses a gambler\u2019s demented perspective for laughs: \u201cI can\u2019t lose forever, but I\u2019m doomed to try \/ Because I keep on hearin\u2019 a voice inside \/ Players win and winners play \/ Have a lucky day.\u201d Other songs can be appreciated for their madness, such as \u201cYou Speak My Language\u201d with its deranged mixture of country and jazz and an insane bridge that would make Les Claypool smile. Of course, jazz is a standard ingredient for Morphine, and when it takes a more prominent role on tracks like \u201cThe Other Side,\u201d it\u2019s clear these guys have a respectable passion for the genre. <\/p>\n
Good<\/i> is a solid listen, an anomaly, a less-is-best philosophy. Its only flaws are two unnecessary instrumentals, which contribute to a less engaging second half. But a 1990\u2019s rock album this upfront and different is rare and welcome. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":29866,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[5745],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-41482","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-morphine","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41482","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\/73"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41482"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41482\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41482"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=41482"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=41482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}