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Silent Radar by The Watchmen didn’t start out as one of my favourite albums of all time. I initially bought it because I liked the track Stereo which got a ton of airplay on Canadian Alt-Rock stations in the late 90′s. As I worked my way through the album, there were tracks covering your usual topics like Say Something which tells the story of a waking up a couple days after the breakup and still not being sure of how to deal with it. However, there were deeper songs tackling other subjects. Although I couldn’t really connect to a song about your father dying (He’s Gone), songs like Any Day Now really hit me. The song is about flying into Winnipeg around Christmas-time, gathering with old friends and trying to explain why you’re not a big star yet. Seeing as how I left the province of Manitoba, seemingly destined for great things, I could really relate to the sentiment of the song when I would return and feel like the centre of attention and not having “made it’ yet. Shortly after the album was released, dummer Sammy Kohn left the band and it was apparent that there was a lot of inner turmoil in the band. They managed to put together one more album before completely calling it quits. I didn’t make the connection at first but the final track on Silent Radar, Brighter Hell, sounds like a band discussing the possibility of breaking up during the middle of a tour. There seem to be a few different stages of the conversation using lines like “What’s the talk about planning for the crisis?” and “their smiling faces, like Dionysus”. The verses seem to indicate a universality that seems to apply to most relationships, but given its context, that’s how I’ve grown to interpret it. After a while, there seems to be acceptance of the inevitable, the band isn’t going to make it and a break up is coming. I’m not sure why I like songs like this but another example of this is The Lassie Foundation’s Face Your Fun, which tells the story of a guy giving up the rock & roll dream to assume a normal lifestyle to provide for his family. I’m not sure if these ramblings are coherent or not, but hopefully it gives you a good indication of why I’m playing this track this week and why I have an affinity for an album that doesn’t really stand out in the pantheon of Canadian alt-rock and will most likely be forgotten.
Sorry if that was a little depressing but it’s on to the playlist:
Malcolm Bauld – Charity from “Covered In Dust”
Chuck Ragan – Glory from “Gold Country”
Cuff The Duke – If I Live Or If I Die from “Sidelines Of The City”
The Duhks – Heaven’s My Home from “Migrations”
Everlast – Folsom Prison Blues from “Love, War, and the Ghost of Whitey Ford”
Jaydiohead – Dirt Off Your Android (download it here.)
Deepspace 5 – Goose Needs This from “5Print mixtape” (download it here.)
Headlights – Secrets from “Wildlife”
Pedro The Lion – Let Down from “Tour EP ’04″
Bloomsday – The Day The Colors Died from “The Day The Colors Died”
The Watchmen – Brighter Hell from “Live Radar” (recorded live at The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern on April 2, 1998)
Thanks for listening and I’ll see you next week.
Jared
