Wind it up

Steriogram - Schmack! (2004) ***

Nominated by: GK

Music club: Wander to Wozza's

Playlist addition:  Walkie Talkie Man

As I started listening to this, I had to smile - I had an instant mental image of Gee Kay listening to this at chez Knowles with a baseball cap on backwards, busting some moves on his skateboard, and getting down with the kids with an oversized shirt and his jeans resting down at the knees level.

This is music that I have never really been able to relate to. I enjoyed NZ group Supergroove back in the day but when they came and played at the high school where I was teaching I realized with a shock that I was not their demographic - 15 and 16 year old hip kids were.

That doesn't mean I don't admire their musicianship, enjoy individual songs like the metalish In The City and the more poppy ones Go, Walkie Talkie Man, and appreciate their talent, but ultimately I'm going to sound like my parents listening to pop music of the sixties - it soon all sounds like the same song!

Steriogram are a band my kids liked. I even have a CD of theirs that they left behind when they left home. I've kept it (CD single of Go) for nostalgic reasons (it has a 2 pound sticker on it), but also because I enjoyed it.

On Schmack! I found it hard to differentiate individual songs apart from the two or three I've mentioned. A whole album of frenetic rap style vocals is a tad difficult to experience at one sitting for an old geezer.

Anyway - things I liked: the rush of teen energy - it's invigorating in small doses (too much can be exhausting); the video for Walkie Talkie Man - it deservedly won awards; the artistic vision - I love the fact that they found a sound - a unique Steriogram sound, and they stuck with it.

Thanks for reminding me of this band Gee Kay. Need a bit of a lie down now though.