Some Songs Considered

“Pumping On Your Stereo” – Supergrass
(Words/music: Rob Coombes and Supergrass, available on Supergrass, Capitol 1999) 

“Pumping on Your Stereo” comes out of the gates at full steam.  It had a terrific video directed by Hammer and Tongs (in collaboration with the Jim Henson Creature Shop).  It has an odd sort of shuffle to it that makes it boogie as much as anything that didn’t feature Flea or Fatboy Slim in 1999.  It also has a great chorus, complete with the word “humping” replacing the word “pumping” (or rather, clarifying the meaning of “pumping” in the title at least).  Even the pre-chorus works well, bridging the verse and the hook with the right mix of flair and embellishment.  Simply put, it has a lot of different parts that I enjoy.

Still, every time I hear the song, I think about how much Gaz Coombes sounds like Mick Jagger on this track.  I try my best to stay away from “this sounds like that” type of statements (remind me another time and I’ll get into it then), but Coombes seems to emulate so many different parts of Jagger’s vocal delivery that it almost seems intentional.  Coombes elongates syllables and holds onto notes just a little longer than normal.  Meanwhile, he sounds like Jagger pouting during the verses.  Perhaps it’s residual effect from watching Coombes’ Muppet body warble around the screen the way Jagger runs around a stage, or maybe it’s some strong Stones-inspired riffs throughout the song (especially at the end), but “Pumping On Your Stereo” makes me think of the Rolling Stones.  At this point (1999), I probably wrote off the Stones as a boring classic rock band (even if I loved “Sympathy for the Devil” for its polyrhythms), so maybe, in an odd way, it was my subconscious calling out to give the Rolling Stones another try.  Regardless, I’ll take a back-to-back helping of “Pumping On Your Stereo” and “Rocks Off” any day of the week.

More on Supergrass: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm

“Waiting on a Friend” – Luna
(Words/music: Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, available on Close Cover Before Striking, Jetset 2002)

I have a mixed relationship with the Rolling Stones.  I first soured on the Rolling Stones as a teenager after hearing the same ten songs on the radio over and over again.  Still, I found my way to Exile on Main St., in part because of all of the praise I read in the music magazines I read back then, and in part because we had a record store a couple towns over named after the album (the store has since closed). I’ve grown to love the album (or most of its gritty, swaggering songs), but I immediately dismissed it the way a teenager dismisses things – by comparing it to something you loathe.  I thought Exile on Main St. sounded too much like the Black Crowes (a comparison they would die for, no doubt), and that and my growing indifference to hearing “Beast of Burden” one more time on the radio were enough to extinguish most of my interest in the band. 

Of course, I later regretted this sweeping generalization, but it took hearing the songs in a different context. One was hearing Rolling Stones songs used in movies – Martin Scorsese must have Jagger and Richards on speed dial, as he uses the Stones excellently in his movies (it’s also worth noting that seeing his Rolling Stones film Shine a Light on IMAX cemented my fandom, but I’ll elaborate another time).  Wes Anderson uses some more obscure Stones songs as well, and “Play with Fire” in The Darjeeling Limited made me stick around for the entire credits just to get the song’s title.  Other times, I needed to hear a Rolling Stones song without knowing that it was a Stones song in order to overcome my aversion.  I remember hearing Luna’s version of “Waiting on a Friend” while previewing music for my college radio show.  I recognized the song yet couldn’t immediately place it as a Rolling Stones song.  I like the way this cover version preserves the feel of the original song by juxtaposing the laid back, breezy instrumental with Jagger’s overtly emotional lyric.  Luna stays faithful to the original arrangement, save for adding a little more reverb to their guitar tone.  I also like Dean Wareham’s vocals on Luna’s version, as his more relaxed singing voice suits the song well.  Mick Jagger scored points for “letting his guard down” (or as Buffalo Tom’s Bill Janovitz puts it on Allmusic.com – “a rare instance of him letting down his mask – or layers of masks), Wareham sounds earnest in his pleas for companionship.  To make the honest pun, Luna’s cover got the first stone rolling in my re-evaluation of the Rolling Stones with this cover.  I still might change the station when “Satisfaction” comes on for the fourth time in a day, but now I’ll  go home and put on an entire album instead.

More on Luna: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm