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| April 20, 2007 Alaskan in Exile by Neil Zawicki, insurgent49 I was all set to write about bikes, and I’m still going to, but I got distracted by the gloriously seductive tones of heavy, early 1970s guitar music. Along with going nutty over my discovery of this new band (actually it’s two years old, but I’ve been in a musical vacuum recently, and when I saw the video at a bowling alley, I thought it was old concert footage from 1971), I went on to formulate a theory about that style of music. Bear with me, and then we’ll get to the bicycles. Note: I f you ever want to get me to do what ever you want, just mainline heavy acid rock directly into my veins. God help me, I do love it. It’s like symphony to me. I really do think it hits my neurons a little differently than most people, because it has a light about it that no other music does. The band is Wolfmother. The name itself is magnificent. It captures that wonderful, explosively over-dramatic, outlandish-on-purpose spirit pioneered by the likes of Black Sabbath and Blue Cheer. Not only is the music powerful, mesmerizing (with the right kind of head) and un-apologetically grand, but the lyrics (which fro-headed, Gibson SG playing singer Andrew Stockdale delivers with operatic flair that openly rips off Ozzy Osborne and Geddy Lee, but he’s so good at it that we just don’t care) are filled with spook-cheesy references to white unicorns, witches, and wine “from the serpent’s vine,” whatever on earth that means. It’s so ridiculous, I just have to adore it. In fact, they do it so good, the words become believable. Which leads me to my theory. Why would a band like Wolfmother, clearly a re-visitation of the genre from the early ‘70s, be so wildly popular right now? Dig: escape. Escape from the horrible actions of our governments, which we have all become so tired of. The time frame is the same. Black Sabbath showed up about four years into the Vietnam War, singing about War Pigs and fairies wearing boots. It was loud, wild-headed escapist music, and I think the world was ready for it because they were ready to forget how dismal the war had become. Now, Wolfmother shows up four years into our Iraq situation, and people are ready to have their heads filled with images of wizards and mystical planets once again. It’s not much of a theory, I suppose. It’s really more of an observation. Speaking of bicycles, they offer an escape also. It’s an escape from the car habit. Clark Yerrington had some uncanny timing with his recent article about cycling for transportation in the winter. This is because my good friend Wiley Davis and myself have put together a new blog and impending print publication at www.practicalpedal.com. The Practical Pedal will present news and features to inspire more people to embrace cycling as an alternative to motoring. This growing movement is a reaction to the car culture that fills our cities with noise, danger, pollution and silly expenses. Cycling for transportation is not only pleasant, it is clean and sustainable. And there are so many new products out there that take the basic cycle to new and creative places. I believe that more than 90 percent of the people on the road in cars in any city on any given day could accomplish their errands just as easily on a bicycle. It just takes a new way of thinking, and we could all be healthier, happier and cleaner. Think about it, whether or not you think Wolfmother kicks ass. Neil Zawicki, exiled Alaskan, is Editor at Large for Insurgent49, a former reporter for the Alaska Star, and winner of the Alaska Press Club's 'Best Columnist' award. He is now living out the rest of his days in an undisclosed location in Oregon. He can be contacted at hondo23@gmail.com 'Alaskan In Exile' appears on insurgent49.com every Friday. |
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Reserved. in-sur-gent (in sur'jent), n. 1. a member of a group which revolts against the policies of its leadership. |
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