This thread will probably make the likes of down-to-earth garage-punkers like Townsman Bobby Bittman throw up. I apologize if you’re reading this, Bobby, shortly after eating. This topic is just a part of how I roll.
I love Stiff Little Fingers‘ “Suspect Device” even more than the band’s supercharged “Alternative Ulster.” The blistering, jumpy chord riffs and stop-start chorus are a needed sock in the gut. Jake Burns displays less vocal dynamics than one of those modern-day, overcompressed records our old friend homefrontradio used to complain about—in a good way! (And whatever became of the Hall’s Original Thunder Down Under, not to mention our more recent Aussie contributor, the delightful mikeydread? Be well and stay in touch, my friends.) It’s one of the most PUNK songs ever, and I know a lot of you think that should take a band off the hook for the pipe-tamping point of view I’m about to raise, but really, we’re talkin’ about music. Just because something’s “punk” doesn’t mean it can’t be improved another notch, does it? I would like to investigate ways in which “Suspect Device” could be improved, focusing on the drums, the one aspect of the song that I’ve always found lacking in excellence.
At last night’s Phillies game, seeing the supreme Roy Halladay live for the first time in 2011, I was reminded not only of his mojo-inducing pregame warm-up throw music, Led Zeppelin‘s “Moby Dick,” but his walk-up music, the opening line of Zep’s “Good Times, Bad Times.” Now that song is a balled-up fist of the highest magnitude, and think about how amazing drummer John Bonham‘s contributions are to the song’s rock ‘n roll phalanx.
Let’s say you were in on the original arranging sessions of “Suspect Device.” The song is at the point of what was recorded and released. Are you satisfied with the choppy hi-hats and uninspired fills? Do you share my view that the hi-hats can’t keep up with the precision of the guitars? Doesn’t it sound like drummer Brian Faloon is simply having trouble keeping up with the song and doing anything of substance? Assuming the guy had it in him to do a little better, assuming he could have relied on a more economical approach to finding a groove within those machine-gun guitar rhythms, can we suggest some ideas for how this song could have been even better?
If you think I’m full of it and want to defend the drumming on this song, be my guest. I’m not a drummer, which is part of the reason I ask whether there is a drummer in the house.
(The live version posted at the top of this thread is fun, but in fairness the studio version follows so you can hear the song in its finished form.)
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