Free So Free track by track

[ammaringnyc]

Ok, so i’ve finally got a copy of Free So Free in my sweaty mitts and – safe to say – it’s awesome!
J is on top form, mixing it up as only he can.

So I thought some people might be interested to know what some of the tracks sounds like….

[ammaringnyc]

1. Freedom

Starts with a hypnotic fat riff over a straight drum beat before going into a funky, staccato, jagged guitar riff it’s nearly a minute before the vocals start.

"Can you find a space for me, i’m just waiting to be free, say it’s freedom"

Sounds great, quite stark, without the usual biggmuffsuperfuzzguitarlicks. It’s got a chorus that firmly lodges itself in your brain with the repetitious "it’s freedom" line.

A great way to kick off the new album!

[ammaringnyc]

2. If That’s How It’s Gotta Be

Typical Mascis song title – this opens with a beautiful little acoustic picked riff:

"Said my freedom, said please stay, said I’m waiting, I must say, and i ran away from living, thought i wanted it that way, every step i should be giving, but i’m stuck feeling this pain, that’s how it’s gotta be.."

backed by simple strummed acoustic and a bit of shimmering reverbed guitar it’s all pretty mellow, relaxed stuff – showing that J has picked up a few new tricks on the acoustic tours!

Then, just when you think J has got thru the whole song without breaking out the distortion pedal, he rips into a killer solo at the close.

Awesome!

[fata morgana]

Thank you for this entrée of Free So Free. I can’t wait to hear it. Maybe I won’t take two years to buy the album this time.

[ammaringnyc]

3. Set Us Free

Typical J: a great, mid paced belter of a song. The lyrics are continuing the freedom theme again and there are some great J guitar moments in there.

You get the feeling he can pull these sort of songs out in his sleep – album filler, but excellent nonetheless….

[FlyingCloud]

hey ammaring, thank you very much for sharing those first impressions <img>
What do you think about the other songs?
Oh, I’m just a bit jealous … <img> <img> <img>

[Carl.]

Just a bit jealous.. Crap.. I want to fly right over there and steal the thing..

And what is this about some of the tracks??? We want to hear about ALL the tracks..

53 days left.. Not like I am counting..

Carl.

[FlyingCloud]

me being ironic <img> I would love to put my greedy fingers on it, of course!

[ammaringnyc]

Sorry to take so long, my musings will continue this afternoon – my computer went down over the weekend – i can safely say that i’ve been listening to NOTHING else over the past few days!

Wow, this is great – it feels like i’ve got my own little regular column…..

[ammaringnyc]

4. Bobbin’

It’s the first track so far that doesn’t appear to have the ‘freedom’ theme running thru it so obviously…

Starts off with a bass rumble before moving into a laconic "awwwwww, give me some will" line that’s typical J moving into a ripping Furry Things-era guitar break as the drums kick in.

Beefs up the guitars in the middle eight before continuing the verse with extra lead lines building up with double-tracked vocal harmonies (a bit beach boys run at the sun style).

On the final verse strips it all down to start with guitar and voice, then guita-voice-lead, then guitar-voice-lead-drums before exploding into some serious guitar wigging for the finale!

One of my favourite tracks!

[ammaringnyc]

5. Free So Free

Back to the freedom theme – "And I wanted to be there in the end, and i wanna be free so free, to know it" – and, if Bobbin (track 4) is a return to earlier You’re Living Me-era Dino this is definitely late-period, a kinda plodding ballad w/ high-pitched vocals a la Alone. It’s almost 6mins long too…

The one thing that does make it stand out is the first solo (at the 3min mark) which is done on an ACOUSTIC!
A CLEAN acoustic over a fuzz backing!
It shows off J’s geetar skills effortlessly but isn’t one of the better tracks on offer here.

[ammaringnyc]

6. Tell The Truth

A great, straight-ahead stomper of a tune. Kicking off with a quiet riff over a brutal drumbeat before kicking in with a great hook-filled verse and the simple-yet-strong chorus:

"Tell the truth, you gotta be, cos i know God (?) and that’s just crazy."

Great stop-start riffage and lots of variations in the guitar score, it goes into a mental solo that’s trademark Mascis and a then great squalling feedback crescendo before the final chorus.

[ammaringnyc]

7. Someone Said

Or, as it should have been called, "Someone Said my freedom’s gone".

Another slow paced one this, with lots of fuzzy guitar droning and a bit of the synth-flute type sound that J likes to throw in occasionally.

Built around the "Someone said…" chorus it’s one of those maddeningly repetitive Mascis slowies in the vein of Not The Same (from Where You Been).

Good but not great, a bit of a filler…

[AGAP]

Hey Ammaring,

Getting all excited over here in Canada, thanks for the preview info on the songs <img> Song 4 could be the 1st I play in…hmm how many days, counting is too hard b4 the 1st coffee of the day <img>

Love this kinda column stuff <img> Hope you’ve upgraded the security in your car, home etc…have to protect the goods <img>

Allison <img>

[Carl.]

50 days.. Just checked..

Micro$oft excel is good for something… <img> !!! I mean, it would be pretty pathectic if I put the # of days left on the calendar.. I mean, it is not pathectic that I have a spreadsheet do the calculations for me, right?

Please tell me it is not patetic.. <img>

Carl.

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