Rock The Shack

Slow Jam < Rock The Shack > Someone Like You

Parking one of New Order’s worst ever song titles for a moment, let’s ride along and see what transpires…

00:00 – 00:20: Intro. 20 seconds of not bad. Chunky rock beats with a nice little slip pattern, and guitars that hark back more than just a little to the band’s Joy Division roots.

I enjoyed these first 20 seconds very much.

00:20 – 00:50: First verse. OK so far. The Accused giving some range as he switches from his conversational register to a wide-eyed shouty alter ego.

Something bad sure happened in Alt-Berlin, I wonder what it was? Nevertheless we’re with you mate; this song’s clearly a cry for support, so we’ve got your back – we’ll be your armour!

Before I continue… is there a proper term for the vocal style so prevalent in this track; you know the one that ends in a nasal sneer/whine? In the absence of a proper adjective I’m going to call it swineing, and it seems that our newly minted rock pigs have picked up this highly irritating vocal condition from their Britpop peers (Bobby Gillespie being particularly adept). But I digress…

00:50 – 01:05: First chorus. Oh… so the song’s not a cry for help; it’s an adrenaline pumped affirmation! Check. Cool that you believe in everything mate. Inspiring optimism.

Hang on… what was that? C’est la vie you say? A baby crying? An old man dying? Errm…

01:05 – 01:20: What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuuuuck?

(Sing that in your best swineing voice – it works better than the actual lyric.)

Hands down, the previous half minute of Rock The Shack may be the most god-awful 30 seconds of song ever recorded by New Order.

01:20 – 01:33: Instrumental respite.

I enjoyed these 13 seconds tremendously. They were terrific.

01:33 – 02:08: Second verse. I now have absolutely no idea what is going on.

Lots of swineing and irritable guitar syndrome, and something from Gillespie about walking 100,000 miles and his head lying on his breast (!).

A singular nod of interest: the deadpan harmony right at the end of the verse. Sounds like something Eno would do.

02:08 – 02:23: Second chorus. Actually fine. The best set of lyrics in the song.

02:23 – 02:38: ‘Get it right‘ (repeat). Hugely better name for the song right there, and we welcome back Bernard’s whoops of joy – which have been missing in action for some time.

02:38 – 03:20: Instrumental break. All guitar FX pedals turned to 11. A fucking headache.

03:20 – 03:50: Third chorus. 50/50 stupid. 10,000 years ago what?

Who (or what) is crawling exactly? Jack? So much to answer for, mainly because you rhyme with Shack.

It’s time to get up… and press fast forward.

03:50 – 04:12: Never gotten this far. What’s it like?

 

Rating: xxooo

Available on: Get Ready

11 thoughts on “Rock The Shack”

  2. Good summary for such a god damn awful song. Swineing – I like the term. But 2 stars really? That would indicate you don’t mind it Dennis. I’d be inclined to say 1 Star.

    I really feel Barneys vocals don’t suit this rock genre (likewise working overtime) really. It really struggles to cut through (also twittered tendernesss suffered from thsinon certain tracks) and is too soft. Maybe the swineing on RTS was to compensate for that.

    Ask the guitar solo in the middle is a carbon copy of the one Barney contributed to on a Primal Screams Xterminater track. Lazy. CBA.

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  4. Listened to this again in anticipation of the review and (ducks for cover) if you just listen to the music it isn’t so bad – it’s got a ramshackle rough energy slightly reminiscent of Warsaw and is a shot of adrenaline after the rather mid-paced songs preceding. So the album needs it in a way.

    But the vocals, sheesh. Yes, as you note, some of the verses aren’t too bad, but some of the lyrics are terrible (particularly the old man dying one). And the choruses are just flatulence on tape -awful. Really agree with the point that Bernard’s voice isn’t suited to rock tracks – generally, and I think the Bad Lieutenant album showed this too – it struggles to rise above the din. But this swineing (good word) is just pigsh*te. Your 2 stars is about fair on a good day but it’s definitely a contender for their worst song. Bits of it are certainly their worst.

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  5. As per usual Dennis you are absolutely spot on, 00:00 – 1:05 showed promise but the s**t then hits the fan and doesn’t stop, 1 star out of 5 is being overly generous, probably their worst song (Although that can change whenever I hear Jetstream).

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  6. I was a huge fan of Primal Scream’s XTRMNTR which came out the year before Get Ready. It was my album of the year for 2000 and was, for me, a better album than Get Ready. I like what NO were going for here (no, really!). Shoot Speed/Kill Light was a fantastic electro-rock groove towards the end of that Y2K album. Who could blame NO for wanting to replicate it on their own album? It’s just that NO didn’t do it as well. So, it’s probably best to listen to the Primals to hear what this song *could* have sounded like.

    New Order fans assume that the guitar riff on Shoot Speed/Kill Light was Bernard’s and got re-used on RTS. But looking at the credits for GR, Primals guitarist Andrew Innes gets a mention along with Bobby G. Could it be that this was actually a Primals riff that got re-used and re-played by Mr Innes on RTS? Someone ask Bernard the next time they bump into him.

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    1. ps: I always assumed the vocal style on this track was influenced by a shared love of Iggy & The Stooges (by both Gillespie and Sumner). They were going for that sneering sound, but alas neither vocalist has the heft of Iggy Pop…

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  7. ‘Who (or what) is crawling exactly? Jack? So much to answer for, mainly because you rhyme with Shack.’

    That made me laugh out loud. So thanks for that! 🙂

    ’03:50 – 04:12: Never gotten this far. What’s it like?’

    Like the guitar parts were played on lawnmowers…

    Yeah – it’s a pretty awful track. But I will say that there are days when I hear it when I don’t actually hate it. Which is more than I can ever say for ‘Chemical’.
    On a positive note, it’s pretty catchy and I sometimes find myself singing along (and have to check my dignity). Also, it is an example of the band doing something they hadn’t ever done before (and hopefully won’t do again) , so I guess that’s a plus too.

    That being said, 2 out of 5 stars is pretty fair, I think.

    Onwards and upwards and I LOVE the next track…

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  9. I like it too…yeah, it’s not up there with Your Silent Face et al but it’s a darn sight better than “State of the Nation”

    and I could mention a few others as well (cf. Barney at PCL after “The Perfect Kiss”)

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