Rocktober '00s Song #21: "Zombie Graveyard Party!" by Be Your Own Pet

Our final selection in this year's waltz through the aughts is from Nashville's Be Your Own Pet.  This is another band I couldn't tell you how I first heard of them, but I'm glad I did.  They formed as high schoolers in 2004, and they were signed by the now-defunct Nashville label Infinity Cat Records, which was founded by brothers Jake and Jamin Orall (who would got on to be JEFF The Brotherhood, and the latter of which was the original Be Your Own Pet drummer) and their father Robert.

BYOP, for short, was a wonderful little punk band that was only around for a few years, though apparently recently reunited to open for Jack White's tour this year.  I bought basically all of their offerings straight from Infinity Cat, and it was particularly cool because they would always come with a handwritten note from Jake or Jamin thanking me for my purchase.  In 2008, the band released their second full-length album, Get Awkward, which Rolling Stone ranked as #45 on its list of albums of the year.

"Zombie Graveyard Party!" isn't my favorite song from the album, but it's the most pertinent song for this list on this day.  And with that, we have reached the end of another Rocktober.  Stay tuned tomorrow for the start of Stowvember, a daily look at the people and sites of Akron's most overlooked suburb.

Rocktober '00s Song #20: "Diablo Rojo" by Rodrigo y Gabriela (2006)

Our penultimate Halloweek '00s song comes from Mexican guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela.  Though much of their music is acoustic, they bonded as teenagers over their love of metal, and they were in metal groups before deciding to change musical directions.  The moved to Dublin, began busking, and soon built a following and got the interest of Irish singer-songwriter Damien Rice.

They released their debut album, re-Foc, in 2002, and then in 2006, they released their self-titled sophomore album, which debuted at #1 on the Irish album chart.  You may think the idea of two acoustic guitarist playing instrumentals is boring, but Rodrigo y Gabriela dispel that notion pretty quickly.  Their 2006 album has covers of Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" and Metallica's "Orion," as well as seven original compositions, one of which is "Diablo Rojo," today's selection.  "Diablo Rojo," of course, means "red devil" in Spanish.  It's a torrential acoustic instrumental, where both guitarists use their guitars as percussion instruments just as much as they use the strings.  You can hear the metal influence and virtuosity, and then watching them play in the video is mesmerizing.

Hair Band Friday - 10/28/22

1.  "Eat the Rich" by Krokus

2.  "Play Dirty" by Poison

3.  "Run With the Dollar" by Lita Ford

4.  "Down Fo' Boogie" (live) by Tesla

5.  "Nasty, Nasty" by Black 'N Blue

6.  "Breakout" by Bon Jovi

7.  "Bad Boys Running Wild" by Scorpions

8.  "Rock & Roll Overdose" by Kix

9.  "Wild Angels" by Pretty Boy Floyd

10.  "Girls Got Rhythm" by AC/DC

Ultimate Halloween Party Playlist v. 8.0

Well my little ghosts and ghouls, Halloween is a mere four days away.  Now that most of us are (hopefully) fully vaxxed, waxed, and boosted, we should see some return to relative Halloween party normalcy this weekend.  Call me a classic pagan high priest who enjoys a good summoning -- or a bad one! -- but Halloween is my favorite holiday of the year.  

As I've done in years' past, I'm giving you the tools you need to make your Halloween party a blinding success.  I have added 11 more songs to the list this year -- because eleven is the number that most closely sounds like "hell" -- compiling the best songs for you to use either at a Halloween party to set the mood right or in the background on Halloween night, when you're dressed like Jeffrey Dahmer and slipping mickies in the Jack and Cokes you're handing out to trick-or-treaters' parents.

Halloween is the one time of year when it's okay to embrace evil.  At any Halloween party or during trick-or-treating, you want there to be a certain level of creepiness, as well as some campiness, because Halloween is supposed to be a mixture of paganism, macabre, and fun.  As a result, the playlist below includes songs that have dark and evil themes, talk about monsters or the devil or witches or the like, mention the word "Halloween," or are just plain creepy.  My mix has a lot of heavy metal, but that's kind of expected, since metal bands are more likely to embrace darker subject matter than, say, ABBA.  That said, it's all pretty palatable, even to those ears that might not be used to wailing guitars and double bass drums.  

As always, you don't want to go too dark, like, say, Norwegian black metal, because you're going to lose your party-goers, or the neighbors are going to think you're really into church burning.  And if you are into church burning, you're probably not going to want to tip the neighbors off by blaring Dødheimsgard out your front door while dressed in corpse paint and handing their children chocolate pentagrams.

For parties, you'll probably want to mix these songs in with your regular party mix.  After all, who doesn't want to hear "Last Caress" after "Dancing Queen"?  For trick or treating, you're probably going to want to just go straight spooky, which probably means a heavy dose of Ghost, Pentagram, Misfits, and Black Sabbath.  Just make sure the songs you choose for trick or treating don't have any swears in them.  Parents can be real assholes about that.

With that, here are my recommendations for your Halloween playlist, in alphabetical order by artist, with comments where I felt it was necessary.  For your sake and the safety of your offspring, I suggest you add at least some of these to your Halloween party playlist, lest you'll get a midnight visit from a lycanthrope of some sort.

1-4.  "Highway to Hell," "Hells Bells," "Night Prowler," and "If You Want Blood (You've Got It)" by AC/DC

"Highway to Hell" is an obvious choice and a crowd pleaser.  "Hells Bells" has those instantly recognizable bells -- hells bells, if you will.  "Night Prowler" is a slower, creepy song that, several years later, serial killer Richard Ramirez (aka, "the Night Stalker") claimed inspired him, or something like that.  "If You Want Blood" was added solely to appease Countess Bathory.

5.  "Them Bones" by Alice in Chains

6.  "Angel Witch" by Angel Witch

No, you're an angel witch.

7.  "Demon Eyes" by The Answer

8.  "Bela Lugosi's Dead" by Bauhaus

9.  "Zombie Graveyard Party!" by Be Your Own Pet

10.  "Helter Skelter" by The Beatles

This should be played just before or after "Look At Your Game, Girl" by Charles Manson.

11.  "Release the Bats" by The Birthday Party

12.  "Howling for You" by The Black Keys

13-17.  "Black Sabbath," "War Pigs," "The Wizard," "Children of the Grave," and "Heaven and Hell" by Black Sabbath

"Black Sabbath" was inspired by a vision Geezer Butler had one night after reading a book about witchcraft that Ozzy Osbourne gave to him.  He woke up in the middle of the night, and a black figure was standing at the foot of his bed.  The figure disappeared, and when Butler went to get the book, it too was gone.  "War Pigs" is about war, death, and bodies burning.  "The Wizard" is about a wizard.  "Children of the Grave" is about zombabies, presumably.  "Heaven and Hell" is the title track from the first Sabbath album with Ronnie James Dio as the lead singer, and it is awesome.

18.  "Hunting for Witches" by Bloc Party

19.  "D.O.A." by Bloodrock

20.  "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" by Blue Öyster Cult

But do fear sprouts because the consumption of raw sprouts may result in an increased risk of foodbourne illness, such as salmonella or e-coli.

21-22.  "We Are The Dead" and "Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)" by David Bowie

23.  "I Want Candy" by Bow Wow Wow

24.  "Howl" by JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound

25.  "Satan Is My Motor" by Cake

26.  "Halloween Theme" by John Carpenter

Instantly recognizable as one of the more creepy horror movie themes.

27.  "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash

28.  "The Night Time is the Right Time" by Ray Charles

Baybaaaaayyyy!

29.  "Spooky" by The Classics IV

30-31.  "I Love The Dead" and "Feed My Frankenstein" by Alice Cooper

32.  "I Was a Teenage Werewolf" by The Cramps

I wasn't.

33.  "Zombie" by The Cranberries

34.  "The Crypt Jam" by The Crypt Keeper

This song is ridiculous, but a light-hearted Halloween option.

35.  "Am I Demon" by Danzig

No, no I'm not.

36.  "One Way Ticket" by The Darkness

You see, it's a one way ticket to hell.  And back.

37.  "Demon's Eye" by Deep Purple

38.  "Am I Evil?" by Diamond Head

"Yes I am."

39.  "A Nightmare on My Street" by DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince

This is a classic late '80s rap song, playing off of the popularity of Freddy Krueger, who, for many of us growing up in the '80s, was the most terrifying of all the horror movie villains.  I should also note that I did, in fact, perform this with a friend for our elementary school talent show in fifth grade.  I was Freddy.  It was pretty awesome.

40.  "Dream Warriors" by Dokken

Speaking of Freddy, this was the title track to Nightmare on Elm Street 3:  Dream Warriors.

41.  "Season of the Witch" by Donovan

42-43.  "The End" and "People Are Strange" by The Doors

"The End" is one of the creepier Doors songs, which says a lot.

44.  "Hungry Like the Wolf" by Duran Duran

45.  "Murder On the Dancefloor" by Sophie Ellis-Bextor

In case you're spiking your M&Ms with molly.

46.  "I Walked With a Zombie" by Roky Erickson

47.  "Zombie Eaters" by Faith No More

48.  "Trick or Treat" by Fastway

'80s metal band Fastway played the soundtrack to the 1986 the metal-themed horror film Trick or Treat.  This is the title song.

49.  "Satan Is My Master" by Ben Folds Five

50.  "Kiss Me Deadly" by Lita Ford

51.  "Close My Eyes Forever" by Lita Ford and Ozzy Osbourne

52.  "Evil and a Heathen" by Franz Ferdinand

53.  "Halloween Blues" by The Fratellis

54-61.  "Monstrance Clock," "Year Zero," "Stand by Him," "If You Have Ghosts," "Ghuleh/Zombie Queen," "Cirice," "Nocturnal Me," and "Rats" by Ghost

"Monstrance Clock" is about conceiving "Lucifer's son," and "Year Zero" is about Satan in general and has a nice gothic feel to it.  "Stand by Him" is about "the night of the witch," which is, in fact, tonight.  "If You Have Ghosts" is a Roky Erickson cover about having ghosts.  "Ghuleh/Zombie Queen" is about Ghuleh and a zombie queen.  "Cirice" is a sold song about souls merging.  "Nocturnal Me" is about you, assuming you're nocturnal.  "Rats" is mostly about rats.  To be honest, I would suggest just including all songs from Ghost's four albums and three EPs -- Opus Eponymous, Infestissumam, If You Have Ghost, Meloria, Popestar, Prequelle, and Seven Inches of Satanic Panic -- especially if you're looking for trick-or-treating background music.  They are demonic in a polite Swedish way.

62.  "Friend of the Devil" by Grateful Dead

63.  "Clap for The Wolfman" by The Guess Who

64.  "Maneater" by Hall & Oates

65.  "Hallow's Eve" by Hallows Eve

66-67.  "Halloween" and "Mr. Torture" by Helloween

German power metal band Helloween obviously has the right name for a Halloween mix, and their song "Halloween" is included for obvious reasons.  I also chose to go with "Mr. Torture" because I like the song.  So there.

68.  "Friendly Ghost" by Harlem

This one's a little more light-hearted, to offset the vast majority of this list.

69.  "I Put a Spell On You" by Screamin' Jay Hawkins

I prefer the original to CCR's cover (which is still very good) because Hawkins adds a level of voodoo campiness that CCR just couldn't have matched.

70.  "Magic Man" by Heart

71.  "I Ain't Superstitious" by Howlin' Wolf

72.  "Devil Inside" by INXS

73-76.  "Killers," "Murders in the Rue Morgue," "Number of the Beast," and "Fear of the Dark" by Iron Maiden

It was tough figuring out just one Iron Maiden song to include, so I went with three.  The first two are from 1981's Killers album:  "Killers," which is essentially about someone being stalked and murdered, and "Murders in the Rue Morgue," which is not only my favorite Iron Maiden song, but is also based on short story by Edgar Allen Poe of the same name.  The third, "Number of the Beast," is a metal classic off of the 1982 album of the same name.  Because of this song, my children know that 666 is the number of the beast.

77.  "Thriller" by Michael Jackson

This is a no-brainer and should be played at every Halloween party for eternity.

78.  "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane

This is especially good if your partygoers are all on LSD.

79-80.  "Devil's Child" and "The Ripper" by Judas Priest

81.  "I'm Your Boogie Man" by KC & The Sunshine Band

82.  "Halloween" by King Diamond

83.  "Wicked Annabella" by The Kinks

84.  "Hotter Than Hell" by KISS

85.  "Pretend We're Dead" by L7

86.  "Vampire" by Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears

87.  "Heeby-Jeebies" by Little Richard

88.  "Look at Your Game, Girl" by Charles Manson

Recorded when Manson was still trying to break into the LA music scene and before he started ordering his minions to murder movie stars and grocery store owners, this song comes across as an innocent folky acoustic song.  Then you realize it's sung by Charles Manson, and it becomes super creepy.

89.  "(Don't Worry) If There's a Hell Below, We're All Going to Go" by Curtis Mayfield

90.  "Evil Love" by Meat Puppets

91-92.  "Fade to Black" and "Creeping Death" by Metallica

93.  "(Every Day Is) Halloween" by Ministry

I wish.

94-98.  "Halloween," "Last Caress," "Death Comes Ripping," "Mommy, Can I Go Out & Kill Tonight," and "Bloodfeast" by The Misfits

"Last Caress" has some of the most brutally catchy lyrics in a horror punk song:  "I got something to say / I killed a baby today / And it doesn't matter much to me / As long as it's dead."

99.  "Shout at the Devil" by Mötley Crüe

100-101.  "Dead Men Tell No Tales" and "I'm Your Witch Doctor" by Motörhead

102.  "Dead!" by My Chemical Romance

103.  "Frankenstein" by New York Dolls

104.  "Spiderwebs" by No Doubt

105.  "Dead Man's Party" by Oingo Boingo

106.  "Tubular Bells (Theme from The Exorcist)" by Mike Oldfield

107.  "Running Scared" by Roy Orbison

108.  "O Fortuna" by Carl Orff

108-110.  "Mr. Crowley," "Bark at the Moon," and "Zombie Stomp" by Ozzy Osbourne

111.  "Dracula's Wedding" by Outkast

112.  "Cemetery Gates" by Pantera

113.  "Ghostbusters" by Ray Parker, Jr.

114.  "Satan's Bed" by Pearl Jam

115-116.  "Sign of the Wolf (Pentagram)" and "Last Days Here" by Pentagram

Doom metal pioneers Pentagram have a good number of hard-rocking creepy songs, but "Sing of the Wolf" is probably the most relevant to Halloween.  "Last Days Here" is one of their earlier songs (from '74), and it's like a foreboding post-psychedelic time capsule.

117.  "Zombie Zoo" by Tom Petty

118.  "Wolfman's Brother" by Phish

119.  "The Monster Mash" by Bobby "Boris" Pickett & The Crypt Kickers

This is a classic Halloween song that should be played at least once at every Halloween party.

120-121.  "Fallen Angel" and "Flesh and Blood (Sacrifice)" by Poison

122.  "Halloween" by Matt Pond PA

123.  "We Drink Your Blood" by Powerwolf

124.  "(You're The) Devil in Disguise" by Elvis Presley

125.  "Going to Hell" by The Pretty Reckless

126.  "Gates of Babylon" by Rainbow

The song is about sleeping with the devil.  And then paying for sleeping with the devil.  Probably because the devil gave you the clap.

127.  "Halloween Parade" by Lou Reed

128.  "Devil Woman" by Cliff Richard

129.  "The Time Warp" by The Rocky Horror Picture Show cast

130.  "Diablo Rojo" by Rodrigo y Gabriela

131-133.  "Sympathy for the Devil," "Dead Flowers," and "Paint It, Black" by The Rolling Stones

134-136.  "Soul Sacrifice," "Black Magic Woman" and "Evil Ways" by Santana

137.  "Li'l Red Riding Hood" by Sam The Sham & The Pharoahs

138.  "Witchcraft" by Frank Sinatra

139.  "Halloween" by Siouxsie and The Banshees

140-141.  "Angel of Death" and "Raining Blood" by Slayer

While I would generally recommend steering clear of Slayer at parties, there is no more appropriate time to let it loose than Halloween.  And you can always use it as a way to clear people out.

142.  "Bullet With Butterfly Wing" by Smashing Pumpkins

It just wouldn't seem right to have a Halloween playlist without a Smashing Pumpkins song on it.  I went with this one, not only because it starts by exclaiming -– wrongly, mind you -– that "the world is a vampire," but also because it's an awesome song.

143.  "Serial Killa" by Snoop Doggy Dogg

144-145.  "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" and "The Witch" by The Sonics

Halloween has room for garage rock, too.

146.  "Fell On Black Days" by Soundgarden

147.  "Ghost Town" by The Specials

148.  "Wicked Garden" by Stone Temple Pilots

149.  "To Hell With the Devil" by Stryper

In case you are concerned that your playlist might be a little too devil-heavy, you can balance it out with this '80s Christian hair band classic.

150.  "Santeria" by Sublime

151.  "Psycho Killer" by Talking Heads

"You're crazy!"  

"That's what they said about Son of Sam."

152.  "Devil's Daughter" by Tax the Heat

153.  "See No Evil" by Television

154.  "Here Comes the Night" by Them

155.  "Killer On the Loose" by Thin Lizzy

156.  "Possum Kingdom" by Toadies

157-158.  "Demon On Demand" and "Sinister Minister" by Township

159.  "She's My Witch" by Kip Tyler

160-161.  "Running With the Devil" and "D.O.A." by Van Halen

162.  "The Black Angel's Death Song" by The Velvet Underground

I have never done acid, but I assume this song is what a bad acid trip would have sounded like in Victorian England.

163.  "Animal (Fuck Like a Beast)" by W.A.S.P.

164.  "Burning the Witches" by Warlock

165.  "Got My Mojo Working" by Muddy Waters

166.  "Baby You're a Haunted House" by Gerard Way

167.  "If My Mind is Evil" by White Lion

168-171.  "Death Letter," "Dead Leaves and The Dirty Ground," "Little Ghost," and "Walking With a Ghost" by The White Stripes

172.  "Boris The Spider" by The Who

173.  "Frankenstein" by The Edgar Winter Group

174.  "Friends of Hell" by Witchfinder General

175.  "Witchcraft" by Wolfmother

176.  "Superstition" by Stevie Wonder

177.  "Werewolves of London" by Warren Zevon

"I saw a werewolf drinking a piña colada at Trader Vic's / And his hair was perfect."  Great line.

178-179.  "Dragula" and "Living Dead Girl" by Rob Zombie

Rocktober '00s Song #19: "Demon Eyes" by The Answer (2009)

Northern Ireland's The Answer formed in the early '00s and put out their debut album, Rise, in 2006.  Their follow-up, 2009's Everyday Demons, was the first full-length album by the band that was available in the U.S.

The band played hard rock, clearly influenced by the likes of Led Zeppelin and AC/DC.  Everyday Demons is a great album, full of fantastic guitars, pounding and driving rhythms, and great rock vocals -- and the first track on the album, "Demon Eyes" is a great example of what the band is all about.  It starts with a short intro with only swirling guitars and vocals, feeding your anticipation, before the song explodes into action.  It's a frantic, fast-paced hard rocker with a great driving riff and a soaring guitar solo, about people who pretend to be your friends but are actually talking shit about you behind your back.  They're not friends at all, but instead demons.

Rocktober '00s Song #18: "Sinister Minister" by Township (2008)

Next up in our Halloweek Rocktober selections is "Sinister Minister" from the Boston-based hard rock group Township.  Formed out of the ashes of Runner & The Thermodynamics in the mid aughts by Runner's lead singer and guitarist Marc Pinansky, Township was one of my favorite bands from the '00s.  They played good, old-fashioned rock & roll, harkening the classic rock of the late '60s and early '70s.

In 2008, they released their first two full-length albums, first Coming Home and then their self-titled sophomore album.  "Sinister Minister" is the first track of their second album, and it's a badass, fast-paced hard rock song with a great repeating riff.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find a studio version of the song on YouTube, but I did find a few live recordings, and the one I've embedded below seems to be the best quality.

Tuesday Top Ten: 2000s Swedish Garage Rock Songs

Since the days of ABBA, the Swedes have been a force in music, particularly pop music.  But they can rock just as much as they can write a catchy tune.  In the early '00s, there was a fantastic movement of Swedish garage rock bands.  I became familiar with many of them during the infancy of internet radio, when I would listen to garage rock stations on Yahoo and Launchcast.  Bands like The Hives, The Hellacopters, Sahara Hotnights, Division of Laura Lee, The (International) Noise Conspiracy, and Mando Diao helped usher along the garage rock revival in the early '00s along with the many great Detroit-based garage rock bands.  That's not to say there wasn't more to Swedish rock in the '00s than just garage rock.  There was plenty of indie rock, power pop, punk, hard rock, and metal as well, but when I think of Swedish rock from the aughts -- and rest assured, I do -- garage rock is what comes to mind first.

"But GMYH, what's garage rock?"  I'm glad you asked, fair reader.  Garage rock originated in the '60s, and it's characterized by relatively straightforward rock and roll, usually pretty fast-paced, without too may frills.  It's the kind of rock and roll you would expect from bands who are practicing in a garage and just rocking out.  How's that for a vague answer?

Here are ten garage rock songs from some of my favorite Swedish garage bands from the 2000s.  I kept it to one song from each band, so that it's not dominated by The Hives.  I just went in alphabetical order by band name.

1.  "It's Not the Fall That Hurts" by Caesars (2005)

Initially known as Caesar's Palace and known in Scandinavia as Twelve Caesars (even though there have always been four guys in the band), Caesars rose to worldwide fame with their 2002 song "Jerk It Out," which was featured in various films, video games, and commercials (most notably an iPod Shuffle commercial).  While that's a great song, I like "It's Not The Fall That Hurts" from 2005 slightly more.

2.  "We've Been Planning This For Years" by Division of Laura Lee (2002)

Vänersborg's Division of Laura Lee put out their debut album, Black City, in 2002.  "We've Been Planning This For Years" is a howling garage rock song, and I like the idea that somehow Swedish kids had been planning a garage rock revival for years.

3.  "I Got a War" by Gluecifer (2000)

I'm admittedly cheating on this one because Gluecifer is Norwegian, not Swedish, but they were still a big part of the garage rock revival in the early '00s, and Norway and Sweden share a very long border, so that's close enough for me.  The band had released a couple albums prior to 2000, and then a few more after 2000, before breaking up in 2005.  They straddled the line between hard rock and garage rock, and that's a line I quite enjoy.  "I Got a War" is the first track off their 2000 album Tender Is The Savage, and it's a hard rocking garage rock tune.

4.  "Bring It On Home" by The Hellacopters (2005)

The Hellacopters were right up there with The Hives as progenitors of Sweden's garage rock revival movement.  Like Gluecifer, they had put out a few albums in the '90s, and they rocked plenty hard.  "Bring It On Home" is a frenetically paced garage rock gem from the band's 2005 album Rock & Roll Is Dead, a categorically false album title.

5.  "Main Offender" by The Hives (2000)

The Hives are the kings of Swedish garage rock, and they are one of the best live bands in the world.  Seriously, if they come to your town, go see them.  You won't be disappointed.  They busted onto the international scene in 2000 with their Veni Vidi Vicious album, which featured the hit "Hate To Say I Told You So," which is a great song, but I wanted to go with something you maybe haven't heard.  "Main Offender" is from the same album, and it's pure garage rock, from Howlin' Pelle Almqvist's fuzzy vocals to the crashing drums and cymbals to the simple but effective guitars.

6.  "Capitalism Stole My Virginity by The (International) Noise Conspiracy (2001)

Umeå's T(I)NC was another band at the forefront of the Swedish garage rock revival, and their music had more of a social and political bend to it than others in the genre.  "Capitalism Stole My Virginity" is not only a great song title, but also a nice little garage rock song.

7.  "Motown Blood" by Mando Diao (2002)

Borlänge's Mando Diao has a pretty funny name origin story, as the band renamed themselves that (they had previously been called Butler) after lead singer and guitarist Björn Dixgård had a dream where man came up to him and shouted "Mando Diao!"  They have been making great rock and roll for twenty years, and while they have swam in multiple genres, when they started, they were definitely a garage rock band. Their 2002 debut album Bring 'Em In is a great collection of garage rock songs, exemplified by "Motown Blood," a two-minute fuzzy hand clapper that could very well have been on a '60s British mod album.

8.  "Alright Alright (Here's My Fist Where's The Fight" by Sahara Hotnights (2001)

Hailing from Robertsfors, the all-female Sahara Hotnights were right up there at the forefront of the Swedish garage rock scene.  Their 2001 album Jennie Bomb is one of the signature albums of the genre, and "Alright Alright (Here's My Fist Where's The Fight)" is one of my favorite songs from the early '00s.  It's a ball-busting garage rock anthem.

9.  "100 Degrees" by Shout Out Louds (2003)

While I wouldn't necessarily classify Shout Out Louds as a garage rock band, that doesn't mean they didn't dabble in the genre.  And frankly, sometimes it's difficult do discern between the amorphous "indie rock" genre and other genres.  Their 2003 debut album Howl Howl Gaff Gaff is a great mix of indie rock, garage rock, and punk rock.  I'd certainly classify "100 Degrees" as a garage rock song.

10.  "Sister Surround" by The Soundtrack of Our Lives (2001)

This is another band that isn't necessarily considered a garage rock band, but their 2001 song "Sister Surround" is one that I think falls within the genre.

Rocktober '00s Song #17: "Evil and a Heathen" by Franz Ferdinand (2005)

Well, my fiends, we've entered Halloween Week -- or Halloweek, if you find yourself unable to control your combinations of words, like me.  That means that, for the remainder of Rocktober, the daily selections will feature songs with dark, demonic, sinister, macabre, devilish, monstrous, or creepy themes.  For the dead will soon be risen!

Today's choice is Scottish rockers' Franz Ferdinand's "Evil and a Heathen," which is off their 2005 sophomore album You Could Have It So Much Better.  Franz Ferdinand's band name itself it a little macabre, as they're named after the man whose assassination started World War I.  The band's self-titled 2004 debut album broke the band onto the scene, with their infectious combination of post-punk, dance rock, and indie rock, and You Could Have It So Much Better kept the train going, topping the album charts in their native Scotland and the UK, going to #8 on the Billboard album charts, and reaching the Top 10 on the album charts in 15 other countries.

"Evil and a Heathen" is a punchy, punky two-minute rocker that appears to be about vampires who travel from Utrecht to Paris to Lake Michigan.

Rocktober '00s Song #16: "New Moon Rising" by Wolfmother (2009)

Our last song before we head into the Halloween week -- which will feature songs with dark, monstrous, or spooky themes -- is a crushing hard rock song from Australian rock band Wolfmother.  They released their self-titled debut in 2005 and followed it up four years later with the album Cosmic Egg.  Both albums went to #3 on the Australian album chart, and they went to #22 and #16, respectively, on the Billboard album chart.

I'm a big fan of Wolfmother.  They play straightforward, Zeppelin- and Sabbath-inspired hard rock, which, frankly, there isn't enough of anymore.  Lead singer Andrew Stockdale can wail with the best of 'em.  He can also wail on the guitar, and the rest of the band follows suit with pounding hard rock rhythms.  

"New Moon Rising" was the band's first single off Cosmic Egg, and it's just an awesome hard rock song.  It starts out with a heavy, Iommi-esque riff that sets the tone for the song.  The verses are subdued, laying the foundation for the explosive, soaring choruses.

Rocktober '00s Song #15: "How a Resurrection Really Feels" by The Hold Steady (2005)

We end the third week of Rocktober's journey through the aughts with the band that I've seen live more than any other:  The Hold Steady.

I first heard of The Hold Steady sometime around 2005, right around when their sophomore album Separation Sunday came out, and that was the first album by the band that I ever bought.  They've been one of my favorite bands pretty much since I first saw them live at Lolla in 2006.

If you've never heard of The Hold Steady or if you've heard of them but never listened to their music, I highly recommend you check them out.  I suppose they would be described as indie rock, but I just consider them a rock and roll band. I've seen them described as the best bar band in the world, which might be accurate, as they put on a great live show, they always look like they're having a good time on stage, and, as they correctly stated in their 2008 song "Constructive Summer," "our songs are sing-along songs."

Lead singer Craig Finn and guitarist Tad Kubler handle most of the songwriting, crafting intricate, amazing, Springsteen-esque stories about drugs, booze, strange characters, religion, Midwestern teenage life, growing up, and being past your prime.  Picking a Hold Steady song for this Rocktober was a tough task, and I almost did a Tuesday Top Ten on my favorite Hold Steady songs of the '00s, but I just didn't have time earlier this week, and I got another one in the hopper for this coming Tuesday.

I decided to go with something off of Separation Sunday, since that was my introduction to the band.  For Christ's sake (pun intended), it's a concept album about the traveling partying exploits of a born-again hooker/addict named Hallelujah (her parents named her Holly), a pimp named Charlemagne, and a skinhead named Gideon.  When I first got the album, I was immediately taken aback by Finn's half-talking, half-singing style, telling these strange, druggy stories about Catholicism.  This was the first album where keyboardist Franz Nicolay was a full-time member of the band, and the piano and organ adds a fullness to the songs, really making the band sound like a demented, Midwestern modern version of the E Street Band.

The album is riddled with fantastic lines that have become so familiar to me that I sometimes forget there was a time I didn't know them.  Here are a couple gems:

• From "Cattle and The Creeping Things:"  "She said I was seeing double for three straight days after I got born again / It felt strange but it was nice and peaceful /And it really pleased me to be around so many people /Of course, half of them were visions / Half of them were friends from going through the program with me / Later on we did some sexy things / Took a couple photographs and carved them into wood reliefs."
• From "Your Little Hoodrat Friend":  "Your little hoodrat friend's been calling me again / And I can't stand all the things that she sticks into her skin / Like sharpened ballpoint pens and steel guitar strings / She says it hurts, but it's worth it."
• -From "Banging Camp":  "I saw him at the riverbank / He was breaking bread and giving thanks / With crosses made of pipes and planks / Leaned up against the nitrous tanks / And he said take a hit / Hold your breath and I'll dunk your head / Then when you wake up again / Yeah, you'll be high as hell and born again."
• From "Stevie Nix":  "She got screwed up on religion / She got screwed by soccer players."
• From "Don't Let Me Explode":  "Yeah, we didn't go to Dallas / Yeah, cause Jackie Onassis said that it ain't safe for Catholics yet / Think about what they pulled on Kennedy and then think about his security / Yeah, then think about what they might try to pull on you and me."

For today's election, I'm going with the last song on the album, "How a Resurrection Really Feels."  It's about Holly "crashing into the Easter mass" and saying "Father, can I tell your congregation how a resurrection really feels."  It's a fitting end to a great album, a cathartic song that ties it all together, with a great Slash-esque guitar solo from Kubler.

Hair Band Friday - 10/21/22

1.  "Runaway" by Bon Jovi

2.  "I'm So Hot For You" by Twisted Sister

3.  "Baby Snakes" by Hurricane

4.  "Inside" by Van Halen

5.  "Wait" by White Lion

6.  "(Take These) Chains" by Judas Priest

7.  "Hands Off" by Junkyard

8.  "Lights and Shadows" by Europe

9.  "Angel N U" by Dangerous Toys

10.  "Pants On Fire (Liar, Liar)" by Kix

Rocktober '00s Song #14: "She Hates Me" by Puddle of Mudd (2001)

Kansas City's nu metal/post grunge rockers Puddle of Mudd formed in the early '90s and got their break in the early '00s with their major label debut album Come Clean, released in 2001.  The album went to #9 on the Billboard album chart and eventually went triple platinum in the U.S.  It featured four songs that charted on the Billboard Hot 100, all four of which were also Top 3 songs on both the Billboard Alternative Rock Tracks chart and Mainstream Rock Tracks chart:  "Control" (#68, #3, #3), "Blurry" (#5, #1, #1), "Drift and Die" (#61, #3, #1), and "She Hates Me" (#13, #2, #1).

While I do enjoy "Drift and Die," "She Hates Me" is my favorite of the bunch.  It's a post-grunge, self-loathing masterpiece, inspired by guitarist Jimmy Allen's then-recent breakup and his ex-girlfriend's related anger.  Anyone who has been dumped or dumped someone else can relate, and the the song became a big hit despite the fact that its most prominent lyric is "she fucking hates me," with the f-bomb and other swear words in the song merely muted on the radio and video version of the song, rather than trying to ruin the song by making alternate, radio-friendly lyrics.

The song is a great anthem and a karaoke contender for anyone who has the pipes to belt it out.  Not only was it a Top 15 hit in the U.S., but it also reached the Top 10 on the pop charts in Australia, Austria, Ireland, and Scotland.

Rocktober '00s Song #13: "Chelsea Dagger" by The Fratellis (2006)

Apologies, but I didn't have time yesterday to do a Tuesday Top Ten.  Accept my apologies.  Or don't.  Hell, I don't care.  

Our next selection this Rocktober has become known around the world as a sports anthem.  Even if you don't know the name of the song or the band that sings it -- which, dammit, you should -- you probably know the song itself.  Glaswegian trio The Fratellis burst onto the scene in 2006 with their debut album Costello Music, which is one of my favorite albums from the '00s.  I've described many times as having more hooks than a tackle box, and I'm sticking with that description.  The songs are, for the most part, perfectly crafted pop punk/garage rock/post-punk gems, and there isn't a bad song on the album.

But the song that stands out among a lot of good ones is "Chelsea Dagger."  Named after lead singer Jon Fratelli's wife's burlesque show stage name -- a take on Britney Spears -- it was a big hit in the UK, the band's native Scotland, and The Netherlands, reaching the Top 5 on the pop charts in all three countries.  But it became a truly iconic song thanks to its adoption by various prominent sports teams in Europe and the U.S.  My fellow Chicago Blackhawks fans know it as the song played after the Hawks score a goal at home, so it always reminds me of the Hawks' run to three Stanley Cups in 2010, 2013, and 2015.  It's also prominently played at Celtic FC home games (of which The Fratellis are fans), Chelsea home games (obviously), and various other international soccer stadiums, hockey arenas, and other sporting venues.

Everyone knows the refrain ("do do-do do do-do do do-do-dah-do"), but my favorite part it when it kicks into the chorus. The song builds perfectly, and the band makes great use of anticipation, so when that guitar slides down the fret board, the listener is ready for the payoff, an aural climax when lead singer Jon Fratelli sings that "Chelsea Chelsea / I believe / That when you're dancing slowly / Suckin' your sleeve / The boys get lonely after you leave / It's one for the Dagger / And another for the one you believe."

Rocktober '00s Song #12: "Drunken Lullabies" by Flogging Molly (2002)

Today's aughts song is from Celtic punk mainstays Flogging Molly.  The band was formed by lead singer Dave King, who had started off as a metal singer, fronting the '80s metal band Fastway and early '90s metal band Kathmandu.  After that, he got a record deal for a solo record, but got pushback from the record label when he wanted to include traditional Irish instruments.  He got out of that record deal and then formed a band in LA that had traditional Irish instruments and a Celtic feel.  They built up a strong following based on their live shows at a bar called Molly Malone's.  They took their name from the bar and the fact that they felt like they "were flogging it to death" at the bar when they played.

Flogging Molly released four albums in the '00s and built up a loyal fanbase.  Having seen them multiple times, I can attest that their live shows are fantastic.  If you get the chance to see them live, do it, even if you don't know any of their songs.

2002's Drunken Lullabies was the band's second studio album, and its title track is probably my favorite Flogging Molly song.  It's a fast-paced Celtic punk song with poetic lyrics you'd expect from an Irish band.  The song has been on my St. Patrick's Day playlist for as long as I started making a St. Patrick's Day playlist, and it just reminds me of Guinness, friends, and the joy of St. Patrick's Day celebrations, as well as the coming of warmer weather.

Rocktober '00s Song #11: "Fluorescent Adolescent" by Artic Monkeys (2007)

Sometimes bands don't live up to the hype, and sometimes they do.  I think it's safe to say, Arctic Monkeys lived up to the hype.  My second-favorite band from Sheffield, they formed in 2002 and built up a following both by playing gigs in northern England, but also by giving away burned CDs of demos at early shows.  Fans then ripped those and shared them on file-sharing sites, and the band became popular before they even put out an official album.

After releasing a self-produced EP in May 2005, they were signed to a record label and released their massive debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, in late January 2006.  It became the fastest-selling debut album in UK history, selling nearly 364,000 copies in the UK in the first week after it was released.  For comparison, in the UK, 300,000 album sales is considered platinum.  I bought the album not long after it was released, and I was immediately hooked.  It's certainly one of the best debut albums of the '00s, and I loved how the band combined a punk energy with lyrics basically about just being in your twenties.

Their follow-up album, 2007's Favourite Worst Nightmare, also topped the UK album chart.  You could tell they were starting to evolve as a band, and this album hits just as hard as the first album, while also highlighting lead singer Alex Turner's burgeoning songwriting abilities and pushing the rhythm section to its brink with some breakneck tempos.

My favorite Arctic Monkeys song is "Fluorescent Adolescent," which reached #5 on the UK pop charts and the Top 10 on the pop charts in Belgium, Denmark, and Scotland.  It's a catchy post-punk song co-written by Turner and his then-girlfriend Johanna Bennett.  The song is about longing for one's youth -- which we can all relate to -- and it's just a really good, catchy song. The first line to this song is great: "You used to get it in your fishnets / Now you only get it in your night dress." It's such a vivid, specific lyric that lets you know the song's point of view.  And only in British songs do you get such prominent use of the word "daft."

I've never seen the video before today, but as expected, it revolves around a rumble between circus clowns and bank robbers.  The lead clown is played by British actor Stephen Graham, aka Tommy from Snatch, among many other roles.

Rocktober '00s Song #10: "Bring Me To Life" by Evanescence

The tenth entry in this year's Rocktober was a huge international hit.  "Bring Me To Life" was the debut song from the Little Rock, Arkansas metal/hard rock band Evanescence's debut album, 2003's Fallen.

To say the band started with a bang is an understatement.  Fallen went to #3 on the Billboard album chart, was in the Top 10 on the Billboard Year End album chart for 2003 and 2004, and was the #19 album on the Billboard Decade-End Chart for the '00s, eventually going 8x platinum in the U.S.  The album also topped the album charts in eight other countries (and the European album chart) and reached the Top 5 on the album charts in 13 other countries.  It has sold over 17 million copies worldwide. 

"Bring Me To Life" is unquestionably early '00s, with its mix of nu metal, gothic and symphonic metal, and tidbits of rap metal, all backed by a 22-piece string section.  Lead singer Amy Lee wails, occasionally dueting with 12 Stones lead singer Paul McCoy, who sings the male parts and does the rapping.  With an arena-ready chorus, you can't help but sing along.  It's a majestic little piece of metal and just a great song that crossed over worldwide.

The song reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100, #1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, #1 on the pop charts in Australia, the Europop chart, Scotland, and the UK, and Top 10 on the pop charts in 16 other countries.

Rocktober '00s Song #9: "Black Thumbnail" by Kings of Leon (2007)

Any discussion of rock and roll in the '00s has to include Kings of Leon.  They were kind of pegged as the "Southern Strokes" when they broke onto the scene in 2003, but I don't really think that's an apt comparison, as the bands didn't really sound anything alike.  And while The Strokes were street-savvy city kids from generally well-to-do families, Kings of Leon were a family band -- three brothers, Caleb, Jared, and Nathan Followill and their cousin, Matthew Followill -- who were raised in a nomadic upbringing, following their Pentecostal preacher father around the South.  They didn't really discover secular music until their teens.

The band's first three albums -- 2003's Youth & Young Manhood, 2005's Aha Shake Heartbreak, and 2007's Because of the Times -- are three of my favorite albums from the 2000s.  The band took steps forward with each album, but they're all great in their own right.  As is often the case, the Brits were ahead of us on appreciation of cool music, as the band's first three albums went to #3 on the UK album charts, and Because of the Times went to #1, starting a streak of six consecutive albums for the band that topped the UK album chart.  By contrast, their first three albums went to #113, 55, and 25, respectively, on the Billboard album chart.

I remember seeing Kings of Leon at The Riv here in Chicago in 2007, back before smoking was banned indoors.  It was about a month after Because of the Times was released, and the place was packed, a haze of smoke filled the air, and everyone was going apeshit, particularly during "Black Thumbnail," which pretty quickly became my favorite Kings of Leon song.

The song starts with a pretty crisp, jangly guitar riff (which repeats throughout the song), before lead singer Caleb Followill comes in with the first verse.  Slowly another guitar comes in, and then the bass and drums, building until the explosion that is the chorus.  And there's a crescendoing guitar solo before the last verse and chorus drives us off the cliff.  When you're listening to the song, you can imagine how it whipped the crowd into a frenzy on a May night in a smoky music club.

Rocktober Song #8: "Good Morning Aztlán" by Los Lobos (2002)

Chicano rockers Los Lobos are probably best remembered for their #1 hit cover of Ritchie Valens's "La Bamba" in conjunction with the 1987 biopic of the same name, but the band was around for over a decade before that and have continued to make music since then, releasing their 17th studio album last year, a covers album called Native Sons that won a Grammy for Best Americana Album.

Anyway, the band has delved into many genres over the years, and the title track from their 2002 album Good Morning Aztlán is a great little rock song that really fit in well with what was going on in the early '00s.  I'm not sure how I came across this song back then, but I know I used to have it on my first gen iPod Shuffle for when I would workout.  However, over the years of transfers of music between computers and devices, it got lost at some point and is no longer amongst the tens of thousands of songs now in my digital collection.  I guess I'll have to download it again, although this time I'll actually pay for it!

Anywho, the song captures you from the get-go. It has a driving, punchy beat and a great crunchy, fuzzy guitar riff that could have easily fit in on a White Stripes or Black Keys album.  So yes, the song is punchy and crunchy.  Of course, the band didn't abandon its roots all together, as Aztlán is the ancestral home of the Aztecs.  The term has also been used in the Chicano Movement to refer to the Mexican territories gained by the United States as a result of the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo signed by the U.S. and Mexico at the end of the Mexican–American War, under which the U.S. acquired what is now California, Nevada, Utah, large swaths of what is now Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado, and portions of what is now Oklahoma, Kansas, and Wyoming, the U.S. was given undisputed control over Texas (which had been annexed into the U.S. as a state three years earlier after nine glorious years as its own country), and the U.S. and Mexico established the Rio Grande River as the border between the two countries.  You didn't think you were going to get a history lesson today, did you?

Based in part on the album cover, I have always taken the lyrics as being about East L.A. -- where the band members grew up -- and referring to it Aztlán, as the lyrics describe normal every day happenings in a neighborhood.  Whatever the lyrics are about, the song rocks.  In addition to the great guitar riff that repeats throughout the song, there are a couple great guitar solos, and overall, it's just a really infectiously catchy rock song.  I dare you to listen to it and not have the line "I gotta say one, two, three more things before I go on" stuck in your head.  Hell, I've listened to the song about five times in a row while writing this.

Rocktober '00s Song #7: "Hard to Explain" by The Strokes (2001)

I couldn't have a Rocktober about the 2000s without a Strokes song.  Along with The White Stripes, I consider The Strokes to be one of the two most important rock bands of the '00s.  Along with a host of other bands -- like The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, TV On the Radio, Interpol, The Walkmen, and LCD Soundsystem -- they revitalized a rather dormant New York City rock and roll scene in the early '00s.  I highly recommend the book Meet Me in the Bathroom by Lizzy Goodman, an oral history of the rock scene in New York in the '00s, which I read a couple years ago (back when I still commuted regularly, such that I read books).

The Strokes brought back some swagger to rock as well.  They looked like rock and rollers should look.  They were like a beer-drinking gang of rockers who partied as hard as they rocked, and their 2001 debut album Is This It is one of the best rock debut albums ever and certainly one of the best rock albums of our still-young century.  It's one of those albums I never tire of.

"Hard to Explain" has been my favorite Strokes song pretty much since I bought Is This It in 2001.  It has an indie punk vibe, with a driving, almost video game type beat, but it's still catchy, with little hooks all over the place.  NME voted the song the #3 song of the decade, and Rolling Stone voted it the #59 song on its list of Top 100 Songs of the 2000s.

Tuesday Top Ten: Pop Punk Anthems

In the 2000s, it was damn near impossible to avoid pop punk, assuming you were listening to music -- a fact that I assume if you are reading this.  Born in the mid to late '90s with bands like Green Day, Bad Religion, and Blink-182, pop punk really hit its stride in the early '00s, and its popularity continued throughout the decade.

As the name implies, pop punk is punk rock that's catchy enough to be played on mainstream radio.  It owes as much to power pop as it does to punk, and the genre often blurs lines with emo and skate punk as well.  Lyrically, pop punk songs tend to be about teenage angst and lament, relationships, and the suburbs.  And for some reason, a lot of pop punk lead singers have trouble pronouncing common words correctly.  Seriously, "you" is pronounced "yoo," not "yauo."

There were a ton of big pop punk songs throughout the '00s, so trying to narrow it down to ten anthems was a task, and I tried, but once I got down to twelve I couldn't cut any more, so you get two bonus tracks.  As always, I kept it to one song per band or artist.  I tried to be objective, but I also favored songs that I like more than others.  To keep it above the level and let you know all the songs I considered, I put in an honorable mention.  I just went in alphabetical order by artist.

1.  "The Rock Show" by Blink-182 (2001)

Of course there was going to be a Blink-182 song on this list, but choosing between this and "First Date" was a tough call.  Both are great songs and both are pop punk anthems, but I like "The Rock Show" slightly better than "First Date," so there you go.

2.  "Sugar, We're Goin' Down" by Fall Out Boy (2005)

True story.  One of my co-workers grew up in the northern suburbs of Chicago and was a bassist in some high school and college bands that primarily played hard rock and metal.  He knew a couple of the guys who would go on to form Fall Out Boy, and he was invited to jam and kind of audition for an as-yet unformed band.  When he asked what kind of music they played, they said "pop punk," to which he replied, "I don't play pop punk."  He went on to finish college and go to law school.  The band eventually got Pete Wentz to be their bassist and became Fall Out Boy.  This one is probably their most well-known song, and it's certainly a pop punk anthem.

3.  "The Anthem" by Good Charlotte (2002)

Good Charlotte was immediately recognizable because they had identical twins Joel and Benji Madden in their band.  They broke onto the scene with their celeb-hating song "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous," but let's not kid ourselves, "The Anthem" is the song to include on a list of pop punk anthems.

4.  "American Idiot" by Green Day (2004)

The godfathers of modern pop punk, Green Day is also one of the best rock bands of the past 30 years.  Their 2004 album American Idiot was massive, and the title track summed up the frustration of living in the second Bush era.

5.  "The Middle" by Jimmy Eat World (2001)

"The Middle" is one of the true anthems of the 2000s, regardless of genre.  It's a great pop rock song about not getting yourself down and not giving up.

6.  "Sk8er Boi" by Avril Lavigne (2002)

Canadian pop star Avril Lavinge fooled us with her debut single "Complicated," which was more of a traditional pop song.  But she was really a rocker at heart, and her second single, "Sk8er Boi" -- abysmal spelling aside -- showed the world her pop punk chops.

7.  "Welcome to the Black Parade" by My Chemical Romance (2006)

Blending emo and pop punk, My Chemical Romance was one of the more successful bands of the wave of pop punk in the second half of the decade.  "Welcome to the Black Parade," from their 2006 album Black Parade, starts off with a parade march drumbeat and a slow pace, building up to when the song really kicks in and urges us to "carry on."

8.  "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" by Panic! At The Disco (2005)

The song title is great, and the lyrics are interesting, as the song's narrator is describing overhearing a bridesmaid at a wedding telling a waiter that the bride is a whore.  To which the narrator responds, in one of those choruses that gets in your head and doesn't leave, "I chime in with a / 'Haven't you people ever heard of / Closing the goddamn door?'"

9.  "Misery Business" by Paramore (2007)

"Misery Business" is a vitriolic screed written by lead singer Hayley Williams about hating on the girlfriend of a guy she was interested in, but then who eventually became her boyfriend and who she got to tell about how much his ex-girlfriend sucked.

10.  "Right Now" by SR-71 (2000)

One of the first pop punk anthems of the 2000s came from SR-71, who named themselves after the legendary supersonic U.S. Air Force plane because off the band members' parents were in the Air Force.  "Right Now" is a great song about being in a relationship just for the sex and hating yourself and your mate for it, but still putting up with it for some reason (well, one reason) for a while until you've finally had enough.  "She may not be Miss Right / She'll do right now."  It's a sentiment many of us can relate to. Interesting tidbit: "1985," which was popularized by Bowling For Soup (and is in the Honorable Mention section below) was originally an SR-71 song.  

11.  "Fat Lip" by Sum 41 (2001)

Canada's Sum 41 came out of the gates strong with their debut album, 2001's All Killer No Filler.  "Fat Lip" was, at least in my mind, an instant anthem, combining pop punk licks, a professed love of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, and kind of hip hop-influenced choruses.  The song also got a nice bump by being featured in American Pie 2 in 2001.

12.  "Ocean Avenue" by Yellowcard (2003)

Yellowcard's "Ocean Avenue" is certainly one of the all-time pop punk anthems.  While the whole song rocks, the choruses are a little more subdued, before busting into that anthemic chorus -- "If I could find you now / Things would get better" -- with a nifty electric fiddle (yes, fiddle) underlaying it.  Despite the fact that the song seems to clearly be about a relationship and pining for a lost love, it's actually about the band's move to California from Florida and longing for home.

Honorable Mention:  "Dirty Little Secret" by All-American Rejects; "Dear Maria, Count Me In" by All Time Low; "Flavor of the Weak" by American Hi-Fi; "1985" by Bowling for Soup; "My Friends Over You" by New Found Glory; "Face Down" by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus; "Addicted" by Simple Plan; "MakeDamnSure" by Taking Back Sunday

Rocktober '00s Song #6: "Crazy Bitch" by Buckcherry (2006)

The second week of our aural journey through the rock of the aughts shows us that the 2000s weren't just about pop punk, post-grunge, and indie rock.  There was also some good, old-fashioned rock and roll floating around too.  Buckcherry formed in the mid '90s and released their first two albums in 1999 and 2001.  They were a refreshing throwback to the hard rock of the '80s and early '90s.  Their songs "Lit Up" (which has the line "I love the cocaine / I love the cocaine") and the more ballady "For the Movies" were mainstream rock radio staples, but didn't breakthrough to the Billboard Hot 100.  The band broke up in 2002, but then reformed in 2005 and put out their third album, 15, in 2006.

15 would be the band's highest-charting album to date, reaching #39 on the Billboard album charts and eventually going double platinum in the U.S.  It featured the band's first two songs to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, "Crazy Bitch," which went to #59, and another power ballad, "Sorry," which went to the Top 10 (#9) and remains the band's only Top 40 song in the U.S.

The band got filthy on "Crazy Bitch," which is a straightforward hard rock song, inspired by the 2004 Paris Hilton sex tape.  It's an unapologetic, in-your-face, blistering ode to having great sex with someone who's crazy.  We can all relate.  Well, maybe not, but, you know, you can imagine.

Rocktober '00s Song #5: "Run For Your Life" by Robert Randolph and The Family Band (2003)

We close out the first week of this year's Rocktober with Robert Randolph and The Family Band.  If you aren't familiar with the band, as the name implies, they're led by Robert Randolph, and some of the band members are, in fact, his relatives.  Randolph grew up playing the pedal steel guitar in church, and he wasn't even aware of secular music as a youth.  Thankfully, he eventually discovered the devil's music and made the crossover to the secular world.

Randolph is an amazing guitarist, and the rest of the band is very talented as well.  They are known for their energetic live shows, where band members often show off their musical versatility by switching instruments. I've seen them a couple times and can attest that they put on a great show.

I'm a sucker for a good guitar, especially a slide, so when I first heard of them, I bought their debut studio album, 2003's Unclassified.  It was a pleasant mix of blues, funk, and rock.  Some songs have vocals, and some are instrumental.  Some are slow and more bluesy, some are very high energy.  It's just a great album.

My favorite track off the album is the last one, "Run For Your Life," which is a rip-roarin' instrumental, highlighted by Randolph's frenetic guitar playing, but complemented by the organ and the rhythm section keeping up with the breakneck pace.  And just when you think it's over at about the 2:45-3:10 mark, it jumps right back in.  It very much reminds me of The Jimi Hendrix Experience's "Drivin' South" from the BBC Sessions, which is probably my favorite instrumental ever.

Hair Band Friday - 10/7/22

1.  "The Last in Line" by Dio

2.  "Streets of Broken Hearts" by Slaughter

3.  "Guilty of Love" by Whitesnake

4.  "Blueberry" by Lita Ford

5.  "Contrary Mary" by Kix

6.  "Lonely Is The Hunter" by KISS

7.  "Piece of My Heart" by Sammy Hagar

8.  "I Wanna Know" by Shotgun Messiah

9.  "Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)" by Mötley Crüe

10.  "Just the Beginning" by Europe

Rocktober '00s Song #4: "10 A.M. Automatic" by The Black Keys (2004)

The White Stripes weren't the only Midwestern garage rock duo that did some damage in the aughts.  Akron's The Black Keys -- with Dan Auerbach on guitar and Patrick Carney on drums -- emerged in the early 2000s, and as soon as I heard their mix of fuzzed-out blues-influenced garage rock, I was a fan.  In fact, I've seen them live more than any band not named The Hold Steady.

2004's Rubber Factory was the band's third album, and it got its name because the album was actually recorded in an abandoned Akron rubber tire factory. The result is a gritty, bluesy, stripped-down offering that I consider to be the band's best album.  My favorite song from the album -- and my favorite Black Keys song period -- is "10 A.M. Automatic."  It's a gritty, fuzzy garage rock masterpiece.  Auerbach provides a great riff, and Carney pounds away like a mad man.  The opening line is fantastic:  "What about the night makes you change / Oh, from sweet to deranged." For me, it's whiskey, but that's neither here nor there.

And the video is pretty cool too.  Directed by comedian David Cross and featuring comedian Jon Glaser as a rabbi, the video features the band playing on a local cable access show in front of a small crowd of geriatrics.

Rocktober '00s Song #3: "Teenage Dirtbag" by Wheatus (2000)

Third up in our aural rock journey through the '00s is the sublime power pop rocker "Teenage Dirtbag" from New York's Wheatus, released in the summer of 2000.  I chose this song for today, not only because it kicks ass, but also because, like the love interest in the song, I have two tickets to Iron Maiden -- though I'll be seeing them tonight, and not Friday, like in the song.

As I assume the case was for most of you, I first heard this song in May 2001 at a club in Vienna.  The entire place was singing the song, and neither my brother nor I had any idea what it was, but we liked it.  We asked someone who sang it, and they wrongly replied "Weezer" instead of "Wheatus," so I initially thought it was sung by Weezer -- despite the fact that singer Brendan B. Brown sounds nothing like Rivers Cuomo.  I eventually downloaded it, presumably illegally, as was the style in 2001, and realized it was not by Weezer.  I also assumed the lead singer was a woman because of the high range of Brown's voice -- despite the fact that the song is about wanting a girl named Noelle.  Hey, I don't judge.

Anyway, the song was inspired by Brown's experiences when he was a ten-year-old.  In some woods close to his home on Long Island, there was a brutal, Satanic ritualistic killing.  Four teenagers were high on PCP and LSD, when one of them, Ricky Kasso, stabbed another over 30 times and told the victim to swear his love for Satan while the other two watched.  Kasso was wearing an AC/DC t-shirt when he was arrested.  Brown himself was a metalhead, and he was chastised for it, as teachers and parents assumed he was a Satanist simply because a murderer wore an AC/DC t-shirt.  This is the kind of shit kids who listened to heavy metal in the '80s had to deal with.

Of course, the song itself is not about a Satanic ritualistic murder, but instead about being an outcast or an outsider and pining over someone who's probably out of reach, which I think is something we all deal with at some point during our teenage years.  The narrator pines over this girl Noelle, who doesn't know who he is and who dates some douchebag who drives a Camaro and brings a gun to school (though they now put a scratching noise over the "he brings a gun to school" lyric).  The narrator proclaims he's a teenage dirtbag, and he laments the possibility of Noelle listening to Iron Maiden with him.  But then at the end, the tables turn.  It's prom night, and Noelle walks up to our narrator with two tickets to Iron Maiden, inviting him to join him Friday at the concert.

The song was a massive hit everywhere except the United States, where it only reached #7 on the Billboard Alternative Airplay chart.  This may explain why my brother and I had never heard it before May 2001.  It went to #1 on the pop charts in, you guessed it, Austria, as well as Australia and Belgium (Flanders), and it reached the Top 10 in Belgium (Wallonia), Denmark, the Eurochart, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK.  In Australia, it was the #17 song on the decade-end chart for the 2000s.  It reentered the UK pop charts in 2011, 2012, and 2013, reaching the Top 40 again in the first two of those years.

The song was also featured in the 2000 romantic comedy Loser, starring Jason Biggs and Mena Suvari, both a year removed from the massively successful comedy American Pie.  Loser didn't do quite as well.  However, the video for "Teenage Dirtbag" features Biggs and Suvari, though the video is a portrayal of the song's lyrics, rather than having anything to do with Loser.