✒ Drive Like Jehu ✒Yank Crime ✒ 20ᴛʜ ANNIV POLL ✒

this is very hard

actually almost impossible, there are 6 songs i'd legitimately consider voting for

"New Math", it was the first song I heard off that record in 1994.

i'd stoop to that

luau luau luau luau

I am really not sure I can choose. This is one of my favorite records of all time and my favorite song is generally the one I am listening to, or at least EVERY SINGLE SONG has a part that makes me totally giddy even after all of these years. Hard to deny "Luau" in a way, that riff and the freakout at the end and the "Aloha, suit up" breakdown are just all so righteous, but so are "Here Come ....", "Do You Compute?", "Sinews", etc. etc. As much as I love the shorter songs as well, I am definitely going for an epic because no other band (for me at least) managed to make 8 minutes sound so exciting.

The only poll I have ever considered starting on ILM by the way isn't this one (which is a perfectly great thing to do) but actually taking the album apart and polling which is the best MOMENT on this record, e.g., the solo on "Luau", the intro to "New Math", the outro to "Sinews", etc. This became to much to wrap my head around.

"new math"

compute

Coming straight out of the gate with Rome Plows was just such a HOLY SHIT moment the first time I heard this album.

I remember seeing them in DC on this tour at the Black Cat; man it was sweaty. I bought the Bullet Train to Vegas / Hand Over Fist 7" at the merch table; both of those tunes were added to the Swami re-issue and are pretty killer.

Whole intro/lead-in to the vocals in "... Compute?" is so good. Ditto "Sinews", but again I am just going to become a broken record here. I should just go listen to the album again, its been a few years since I have listened to the whole thing.

need to play this again before i can call it, but i have a hunch it's rome plows for me

my big find from the last year or so, a great record. Like Nick need to listen again, but I shall return!

luau luau luau luau

This gets stuck in my head all the time, even now, so I have to vote for it.

i kind of think of this band as a cross between bitch magnet and unwound, but with more screaming.

haha thank god we have two months to think about this.

initially torn between "luau" and "sinews" but will relisten first.

It is very hard for me to deny "Luau" I think.

Virtually impossible to decide. Also, Does this mean I've been listening to this album for 20 years? Fuck.

haha thank god we have two months to think about this.

truth

The only poll I have ever considered starting on ILM by the way isn't this one (which is a perfectly great thing to do) but actually taking the album apart and polling which is the best MOMENT on this record, e.g., the solo on "Luau", the intro to "New Math", the outro to "Sinews", etc. This became to much to wrap my head around.

― grandavis, Tuesday, March 4, 2014 10:55 AM (10 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this is so otm, every song has at least one jaw-dropping moment

i still remember where i was the first time i heard "rome plows" and got to the part where everything kind of drops out with the "yeah we're on the receiving end" line and i was just like holy fuck this is what all music should sound like.

Would not be surprised if "Luau" takes this but I voted "Do You Compute" just because I love its ups and downs.

I feel like I should be controversial and vote for the back half of Super Unison just cos it proves they could still drop some sweet melodic indie rock when they wanted to. But I'm gonna end up voting for Either Do You Compute or Luau.

ugh, so hard to choose anything on this album over another. so so good

i remember remarking to someone back in the day that the purpose of the high pitched tones at the beginning of "super unison" were to alter the mood of the listener, make their neck a bit uptight and nervous, so that when the opening onslaught began they'd be primed for it. the other person actually bought this and for the first and only time in my life i thought i had a unique opinion about music

CAD, seems like you and I had/have very similar histories with this record.

Maybe I'll try to take some notes after listening to the record 5-10 times again (though I have it so internalized at this point that I can basically play it in my head) in order to do the "coolest moments" poll, but I really am not sure I could do it. It might end up really long ....

i always forget about the big epic outro of super unison, man that is badass.

but listening to this album in the car this morning i think i narrowed it to compute and luau and will prob go with luau. like, the guitar parts of that song is played on their own are barely recognizable as riffs and melodies and yet the whole thing together is so perfectly violent and ugly but has this elegance of being a really thoughtful composition.

20 years! first thought is Luau; haven't listened in ages though so might put that right before voting.

Yeah, well put in re "Luau" CAD. It is a very unique song. It is extremely repetitive in regards to the bass/drums and main riff, but whenever it comes back in after its breaks it still seems utterly crucial and more bulldozing than the last time. Plus, the whole dual guitar thing on the outro, even BEFORE the crazed Speedo solo happens, gets the song closed to bursting tension-wise (for me) and then just maintains it for the duration until the song kind of collapses from exhaustion. Hard to deny.

that bird-chirp guitar feedback is so euphoric

Am I the only person who could listen to a loop of the 10 second interlude in Golden Brown(culminating in the glorious pick slide) at about the 2 min mark?

haha yes i know the ten seconds you're talking about, really the whole instrumental bridge in that song is completely perfect. in addition to all the other things they were good at, they were amazing at playing fast

the lack of good jehu videos on youtube is tragic, this is maybe the best i've found in terms of being able to hear the band:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCkQHBhE7g4

the first song is sinews, then golden brown around 10:30--check that out if you only have a couple minutes, they were extremely well-rehearsed at this point.

just listened to this str8 thru. the two 9+ minute songs obvious standouts, first two trax also gr8, shorter stuff a bit forgettable. probably have to vote 'luau' (which i've heard before) but 'sinews' kicks srs ass

bird chirp feedback almost knocked me over when I saw them live.

i'm still not totally sure how he does that

Yeah, I am so glad I got to see them live, though only once. I waited in hope for that next Jehu record/tour for years man (or until Hot Snakes happened at least). Still, it basically changed my life.

As far as the bird-chirping goes, pretty sure it is just a really overdriven tube amp, distortion, and him bringing his pickup close to the amp, but obviously you have to have the right tone dialed in and the right pickups etc. Placement of the pickups in relation to the tubes I think is the most important piece of the puzzle, but basically that is what is going on as far as I can tell.

Went with Do You Compute. I think my favourite track is Hand Over Fist, though.

never saw jehu live but witnessed bird-chirp from rftc and hot snakes

the bird chirp is magnetic feedback. I spent years trying to rip it off. Ha. You need to align your pick ups with the transformers in your amp then move them subtly. It effects the coils in the pick ups in wonderful ways you just can't get from regular feedback.

Well thank you for clearing that up Oblique, I guess I was a little off. I thought it had to do with the tubes/pickup relationship, but the transformers are in there too! Electronics/feedback are so cool, love Speedo's playing to death (in Jehu and Hot Snakes in particular).

wow, i never listened to d.l.j. back when i should have b/c i kind of disliked their name but THIS IS GREAT

the guitars obviously but i'm into the rhythm section, completely in the pocket

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

my All Music Guide album picks are

#1.Human Interest - great
http://grooveshark.com/s/Human+Interest/8WdTY?src=5

#2.Hand Over Fist - good
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eEb0SC6R0M

#3.Luau - o.k.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gcxxh1yewhM

the rest of the album is a dud for me.

On this album "Luau". My favorite song by them is "Bullet Train To Vegas".

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

ALOHA SUIT UP

otm

You know where you vote for a thing and then realize it was the wrong thing and you hope your vote didn't fuck things up and then you're relieved that the right thing won

"Wipe all the haoles the fuck off our turf ...." Definitely got my vote, just a juggernaut of a song from beginning to end. Surprised "Sinews" didn't get any, it's a really good album closer and almost wish I had voted for it just to get it on the board. But really there was only one choice for me.

Sinews is great, but it's from roughly the same mold as Luau. If we polled Luau voters on their second favorite I think it'd do well.

Yeah, fair point about "Sinews" vs. "Luau". I think #2 or #3 in the voting were the competition for me anyways (if "Luau" wasn't the clear choice), and probably in that order. I may have considered "Bullet Train To Vegas" as my #2 or #3 if it was actually on the original album, cause that riff is just so damn good. Would most likely go with "Here Come The Rome Plows" though, cause after 20 years of listening to the record it still makes me do awkward, twitchy, and demonstrative rock moves when I hear it.

O man I missed this poll, but I am ok with these results. And yes, very difficult. Might have put "Super Unison" and notch or 2 higher, but who knows. Any given Sunday kinda thing. But the top of the list is right on. "Luau" took me a while to fall in love with mainly because I kept rewinding S1 of the tape to hear the others over and over before finally just letting it play to the end.

Coming straight out of the gate with Rome Plows was just such a HOLY SHIT moment the first time I heard this album.

Haha yeah. Even if I'd only heard that song at the time, if someone would've asked me what I was into, I could probably have said "Yeah I'm real into this band Drive Like Jehu" and meant it v seriously, just based on that one listen.

Yeah man, playing this record for the first time really did something to me. They jumped to the top of my heap of "what I was into" for years right at the get go.

wait till the rubout, wait till the purge

This was the correct choice.