93
by NerblyBear_Archive
Silkworm is a band that I should enjoy. But I do not.
The songwriting just isn't there. Silkworm's songs are generally based around progressions of three ringing, major chords, with pounding drums and nondescript vocals. Usually the guitarist will take about forty five seconds to play a solo, the style of which is oddly reminscent of some of Neil Young's '70's moments with Crazy Horse.
Silkworm wrote pedestrian, uninteresting, vanilla rock songs that sound to me just like an indie rock version of Tom Petty. Their melodies almost always fall flat. The guitar solos never reach me. And it's really strange, because Silkworm is a band that works in a vein I am usually really enamored of. But there is something off about all of it. I have a hard time putting my finger on it. But I just don't like them.
Compare this stuff to what the Polvo or Sebadoh were doing at around this same period. The difference is immediately striking. Once you've heard the first couple of verses of a Silkworm song, you can predict exactly how the rest of the song will play out. It's music with no surprises or challenges for the listener. Now put on that Archers of Loaf album, "Vee Vee," which shares so many stylistic ties with Silkworm's approach. But here we have intricate and beautiful music that walks a tightrope, always sounding on the verge of collapse yet always finally coalescing into some strange, kaleidoscopic pattern.
Crap.
Gay People Rock
