Search - Saints :: I'm Stranded

The most seminal of the punk pioneers. Essential. 85/100

dfle3 | Australia | 09/03/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"
Unfortunately for The Saints, they released their album after The Ramones self-titled debut, which brought their worst fear to bear...that they would be thought of as being derivative of them. That characterisation is manifestly false. You can hear their punk origins in the 1995 release "The most primitive band in the world" which literally captures their garage days, in 1974. In a recently published interview with Joey Ramone, in "Classic Rock" magazine(the alternative history of metal edition), Joey claims that The Ramones influenced every punk band band which came after them, including The Saints. Again, there is no basis to that claim. The Saints are one side of the foundational punk triangle, along with The Ramones and The Sex Pistols. It's hard to imagine there being a British punk scene without the intervention of The Ramones, but even if The Ramones had never recorded anything, The Saints would still have released "(I'm) Stranded", as is.



The Saints debut album has within it, I think, the seeds of the shape of punk and music to come...whereas The Ramones made many pop and pop-punk songs, The Saints were less mainstream, and they anticipated, it seemed to me, movements in music like speed, thrash and grunge. A band like Nirvana is more closely related to The Saints, musically, than The Ramones could be. After initially finding The Ramones' debut to be superior when listening to it recently, on second listen, The Saints album strikes me as being much more important. The Ramones really bury their punk guitar sound in their debut, unlike The Saints who put it right where it should be...in your face.



Anyway, my thoughts on the songs/album:





The best tracks:





Messin with the kid - surprisingly long, at 5:55 minutes. Has a nice jangly melody, which reminded me, say, of Guns'n'Roses version of "Knockin' on Heaven's door" or, perhaps, David Bowie's song "Ziggy Stardust".



Erotic neurotic - like the song above, this song demonstrates that The Saints were their own band and sounded nothing like The Ramones. This song anticipates thrash/speed punk music with its rhythm and bass guitar. Has blistering lead guitar solos and sounds modern even now.





Next best:





No time - grating lead guitar and a groovy bass guitar. It's good when the rhythm guitars kick in with their cool, new grating sound. Has some funky piano playing on it too.



Story of love - the intro to this song reminded me of Nirvana for some reason...maybe they referenced it somewhere? Kurt is on record as listing a certain Saints song as one of the all time greats, so he was familiar with them. The song in question is "Know your product", which I rate as the greatest punk song of all time. Must check out the album which that came off of, Eternally Yours. Anyway, Story Of Love is melodically good, but with a toned down sound. Noticeable bass guitar, and this track has an excellent guitar solo in it.



Untitled - one of the bonus tracks from this re-release. Has a more refined, polished sound. The intro actually reminds me of Nirvana's "Smells like teen spirit". A mid-tempo track with some nice moments where the guitar is spotlighted.





Best of the rest:





Nights in Venice - another long track, at 5:46, for a punk song. Has a heavy metal kind of chugga chugga riff going on. Don't think I've heard heavy metal which sounded as heavy as this, or as metal as this. You could also call this song "noise rock", I suppose. Has good up and down bass guitar playing and sometimes the song sounds a bit Nirvana-ish, when they're in their punk mood.



This perfect day - uptempo bonus track, with a raw sound to it...a grinding punk guitar features here.



One way street - has a punk/heavy metal type of intro. The drums really get hammered in this song, before settling into punk mode.







Other songs of interest:





(I'm) Stranded - perhaps 'true' punk fans would rip into me for not having this as the best song on the album. It's probably their best known song, at least internationally. Released as a single before the album was made, and released before any British punk band had released any single or album, this song is regarded as a defining punk song. It has a driving rhythm and a guitar sound akin to nails being run down a blackboard. Bassy too. Whereas a band like The Ramones had their urban concerns, this song is a classic suburban take on life. It's real punk, before The Sex Pistols hijacked the genre with their Romantic philosophical notions which they wore like a mask...the phoniness of it all!



One way street - has nerve jangling guitar. Reminds me of U2's "Desire" in some ways! The drumming is quite tough on this track, but it sounds like it was recorded in a bunker or something!



Wild about you - beefy, distorted guitars and a sort of updated 1950s style rock'n'roll song. A love song with a prominent bass guitar and long guitar solos.



Kissin' cousins - another song with it's roots in 1950s music. Has a touch of Hush's "Bony Moronie" to it, I think, or something by The Georgia Satellites, which post-dated The Saints. Features hand claps and Lou Reed type lyrics. Amusing rationalisation for the activity mentioned in the title.



Demolition girl - has punk/grunge sounding guitars which feature solos. The narrator of this song sounds like a nasty piece of work. The Damned's debut album also had a song with a touch of menace about it. Both bands released their debut albums in the same month...February 1977. Think that The Saints may have beaten them to the punch though.



L-I-E-S - a bonus song (as are the songs discussed below) in which the guitars have a different sound to them...fuzzy and sort of synthy...sort of Led Zeppelin territory. Bass noticeable.



Do the robot - has a big, fuzzy/synth guitar sound, a la Led Zeppelin. A punk Led Zeppelin, if you will. Features a classic/cliche punk riff. Sounds like a punk song for parties.



Lipstick on your collar - another cover of a 1950s song. The Saints are drawing on different sources for their inspiration compared to The Ramones. This cover has a catchy bass guitar melody. Some of the melody reminds me of Paul Anka's "Diana", I think. Like Bob Dylan, the singer here doesn't modify the lyrics...taken literally, they're a little freaky now, with a man singing them! Not sure, but I think that maybe this song sounds rawer here than when I listened to it on The Saint's compilation album, "Know your product".



Demolition girl - an alternative version of this song. Has backing vocals and much cooler drum fills than the original version. It even sounds less muffled than the original album version. The outro is novel too...sort of sounds like extras from a George A Romero movie!



River deep mountain high - another cover song which mixes punk riffing with the lead guitar playing the original version's melody. Enjoyed the staccato syllables and beats of this song.







Recommendations:



The first wave of punk had many solid albums, like The Ramones' debut, The Damned's debut and the explosive debut of The Sex Pistols.



Check out Australian contemporaries of The Saints, Radio Birdman. Their debut album, Radios Appear is another solid punk album. Have heard US band Television described as punk, which doesn't sit well with me. If Television were a punk band, they might sound like Radio Birdman. This Aussie punk pioneer (their debut album came out in 1977 too) brought something fresh to the table...a dual guitar attack, Oi! punk type songs, as well as some jazzy, very un-punk kind of songs. I bought their re-released album, which unfortunately messed with the track listing order, but did provide bonus songs. Wish I'd bought the original version, not the messed with version, as bonus songs should only be tacked onto the end of the regular album, I think, not spread throughout it.



Basically, this Saints album is an essential purchase for those who want to explore punk. They are The Ramones rowdy twin brother. Unlike The Ramones, The Saints knew to have the guitars as annoyingly loud and abrasive as possible."