Who knew that radio-friendly rock could still kick out the jams? The indie rock-minded influence that is bubbling up past the tainted sugar-pop oil slick that sits on the surface of dominant media is enough to catch the ears of all but the most hardened and cynical … well, at least of those who listen to rock music, I suppose.
I’m certainly not implying that radio has somehow overcome all the negative aspects that have driven listeners into the underground for fresh sounds, but we have — for the moment — an exciting development: Interesting bands are being played on the radio.
You know what’s honestly got me so damn uppity over free music again? A supergroup, of all things.
I know, I know — they are vile, they tend to fall far from the greatness of the bands that spawned the members, and more than half the time they stink of an overt attempt to profit from the reputations they were forced to earn while still working for a living. But nonetheless, I am forced to admit I’ve been cranking up my tape deck/receiver whenever I hear the song from Audioslave, “”Cochise.””
Three-fourths of Rage Against the Machine and one part of Soundgarden have combined in a surprisingly vibrant fashion (okay, so Chris Cornell was a solo artist after Soundgarden, but still). Somehow, they manage to retain the best elements from both previous bands, in as much as could be brought over by the available members. Tim Commford (bass) and Brad Wilk (drums) lay down a precise and driving rhythm section, while Tom Morello continues to work his guitar like a freaked-out DJ, and Cornell (vocals) gives the aggressive punch that is absent in his acoustic solo work. These parts — the band’s simple yet experimental rock and the singer’s aggressive edge — work seamlessly. They form a unity that can be appreciated on its own terms, and not as a novelty of former greatness — a gripe of mine that can be heard often in not-so-supergroups. Take MD45: Lee Ving (vocals/guitar in Fear) and Dave Mustaine (vocals/guitar in Megadeth) are a prime lesson in why these things tank so often.
“”Cochise”” is titled after the someone whom Morello credits as the last Native-American chief to die free and “”absolutely”” unconquered, which he cites as being representative of the song. Cochise the historical figure lost several family members when the U.S. calvary captured, tortured and hanged them. Subsequently, “”Cochise the Avenger, fearless and resolute, attacked everything in his path with an unbridled fury. This song kind of sounds like that,”” Morella is quoted as saying on http://ubl.artistdirect.com/.
All this after Cornell stated in Rolling Stone that he wouldn’t write political lyrics. Oh well. The avant-garde leftism (or commie-pinko-ism to you Republicans) of Rage Against the Machine was one of its strong points, offering a breath of political fresh air in an otherwise raunchy and chauvinistic music industry. Morello, actually not frothing at the mouth like some bleeding hearts, has stated that he is willing to divert his political attentions to other avenues and focus this group more on the music.
Not all is well, though, so don’t go accusing me of overly glowing about a dreaded “”major label”” release. The video is “”m’eh”” at best: The band rolls up in a vehicle, rushes into an elevator and then begins to gyrate in front of fireworks atop some construction site. Not too interesting really, considering one would expect something more exciting and original. And then there are the rumors about some of the tracks being done with rapper DMX, which just doesn’t sound like anything worth listening to.
Staying with a positive radio vibe, I turn to a subject that is much closer to home: the de-corporatization of San Diego radio. There are two full-time, widely accessible stations that have come away from Clear Channel’s Mafia-esque monopoly of nearly every mainstream station in San Diego: 92.1 and 94.9.
The selection on 92.1 is a surprising mix of very good semi-popular bands who don’t get touched by the giants and otherwise popular tracks. A look at their playlist is telling: Sure, there is the new Nirvana song alongside U2 and Korn, but there are also songs by The Distillers, Queens of the Stone Age, Flogging Molly, Jason Mraz and even the Flaming Lips (http://www.independent.fm/). Of course, they do play “”Cochise.””
The most recent station to turn its back on being separated only by its call numbers from a hundred similar stations around the country is 94.9. Considering how recent its change of format was, it is consequently less fleshed out than 92.1. Its personality is still a little bare, and there are evidently fewer DJs then normal. Mostly they seem concerned with beating into the ground the fact that they are not a Clear Channel station and are actually run by on-site DJs. Other then that, their claim is to form a San Diego-specific station. There is some banter about “”adult alternative,”” which is about as loaded a statement as I have heard from the biz. Only time will tell what this will grow into, but my vote is against making it all surfer/skater songs (another 91X clone).
(Secretly, I will miss the loss of all ’80s all the time, but — shhh — no one can know.)
Along with a variety of smaller access stations, including the Web-oriented likes of our own KSDT (http://scw.ucsd.edu/), there are interesting asides from the regular run-of-the-mill stations like Free Radio 96.9 (http://www.pirate969.org/), a pirate station that is only broadcasting on Sundays from 6 p.m. until midnight.
If your tastes run into the daring, then you might want to go out of your way to check 96.9 out. You are hereby given my personal guarantee to find unique content over all of San Diego’s airways. While they do have “”Ugly Radio,”” a punk program that runs twice during the lineup, they also have This Way Out, an internationally distributed lesbian and gay radio magazine; “”San Diego Edition,”” a local news program; and “”Porch Swing,”” the best in classic blues.
So check out their Web site and see if you’re in one of the lucky locations that can actually receive their low-powered transmissions.