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Dee Da Di Dah
Billy Zygote
You see, most blokes, will be playing verse-chorus-verse. You're on the best formula, all the way up. Where can you go from there? One way to go is to start adding stuff - time signature changes, tempo changes, different lyrical structures, excellent dynamics, weird sounds, new techniques, new skills - more stuff. Pushing the boundaries of music can work to great effect. But to Billy Zygote the boundaries of music are already too far out there and are really, really scary. Billy Zygote can barely get their instruments plugged in and arranged properly. And the verse-chorus-verse structure can be a little tricky. So what were they to do?
They went the opposite direction. Less is more out of neccessity. If there was to be a band, it was going to have to be easy. Practicing is difficult. Writing songs is difficult. Setting up a bunch of gear is difficult. What's left when you remove any concern for things like skill, precision, tone, technique, or depth? Inadvertently the band set out to answer the question: Can a band exist on melody and spunk alone?
Yeah, I guess so. Dee Da Di Dah is proof. The record sounds like its the first thing that came off the tops of the band's head and it sounds great.
Somewhat Good, the 4th song on the record, is a quintessential BZ song. There's a short intro followed by a short verse into some ooohhhing and ahhhing. Then a short instrumental break. Then repeat. That's it and it's the best. Check out You Can Tell Me or Open My Mouth or A Way That's Strong and True if you don't believe it. It works. It's an exciting formula that leaves a listener wanting more. Like George Costanza firing off one good joke and fleeing his meeting on a high note.
There are some anamolies to The Simplified Theory of Billy Zygote's Music. Raspberry, the album opener, has no verse and a one word chorus. You're So Mean is a little more convential, but it's more like verse-pre-chorus-verse-verse-pre-chorus-chorus-verse-pre-chorus-pre-chorus-chorus and the chorus is the album title instead of words.
So... This is a short album with a lot of songs. It's fast, it's fun, it's light. It's a love letter,actually. You might be happier after you listen. No shit.
- Raspberry
- I Knew
- I Only Want To Love You
- Somewhat Good
- A Way That's Strong And True
- You're So Mean
- I Don't Like Doing Stuff
- The Dog Will Clean Me Up
- Open My Mouth
- Go To Work
- Back To Sleep
- Teenage Girl
- Something Different About You
- You Can Tell Me
- Friends
- I Know It's A Good Idea
- Monkey Banana