Wednesday

[beantownbubba]

Rat Saw God is #1 on Stephen Hyden's hit parade for 2023. He says:

"I can’t find the interview online so take what I’m about to write with a grain of salt but: I’m pretty sure I once read a Steven Van Zandt quote where he was talking about his radio show Underground Garage and how his rule for what to play centered on the Ramones. Every record on Underground Garage either had to be an influence for the Ramones or be influenced by the Ramones. (He also presumably played the actual Ramones.) For me and this list — and perhaps the totality of music I care about right now — that pivotal band is Wednesday. I care most about the things that are an influence for Wednesday (Drive-By Truckers, Smashing Pumpkins, drugs, The South) or in some way feel related to the heavy-riffing, story-oriented, sorta-but-not-really alt-country movement they are spearheading. I have already written a lot about that music in this column, and it all leads to Rat Saw God. Even if I didn’t think it was the best album of 2023, Rat Saw God would undeniably be the most important record of the year in the world that exists between my ears."

Personally, I'm not fully on the Rat Saw God train, but maybe it's time for further listening.

[cortez the killer]

Personally, I'm not fully on the Rat Saw God train, but maybe it's time for further listening.

Same. Based on all the reviews & descriptions, they sound like a band right in my wheelhouse, but they just haven't clicked for me at all. I'm gonna go listen to Rat Saw God again and see if I have any luck this time around.