Driving Through Jersey

Back To The New York Groove

It has been too long since I’ve written one of these. I began writing this one on our way back from PA on Saturday August 24th, and about an hour in, my laptop ran out of juice. I thought I’d charged it back before we left, but I guess the plug wasn’t all the way in or something. Because of the ease I had writing on the way to PA, not having my laptop made me defeated. By the time we got home, got everything unloaded and the dogs walked, I was completely zonked out and decided to skip writing SMR that week. Of course readers would understand. But this is a slippery slope isn’t it. The next week was Labor Day and it was busy enough that I made another excuse. Then the excuses just kept piling on high. I got deep in my feelings and my previous failures left me a bit broken. I’ve been trying to snap out of it ever since. 

Last Sunday one of my friends and regular readers from Seattle, Carina, texted me to see if I was alright after a few weeks of not posting. I’m so incredibly grateful for that text. Not only did it help snap me out of my self imposed depreciation, it also made me understand that people do read this and also care about my well being. I was incredibly touched, and resolute to not miss another week. With all of that said, Sunday Morning Records is back. Below is what I started on the way back. It’s not as long as it would’ve been had I completed it then, but It is something. Next week I’ll have a brand new one ready as well. Thank you all for your readership, friendship and support. Without further ado, here we go!

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Our Pennsylvania vacation has come to an end. This morning we went for breakfast at Eat ‘N’ Park, which is where we eat on every trip right before we get back on the road for New York City. We had a pretty great week, filled with family, fairs, tree house dinners, and suburban malls. I once again got too many records on this trip that I can’t wait to explore, and maybe bring some of those to you, dear reader. Good times all around, and a very sad departure as per usual. Our dogs Chance and Tiberius Rex, already miss their doggy cousins Brownie, Griswald, Buddy, Roxy, Maxwell and Coda. Now time for the long drive home. 

As part of our drive back ritual, as soon as we hit New Jersey, I play what I call a super Jersey playlist. Filled with Bruce Springsteen, Misfits, Bon Jovi, Queen Latifah, Naughty By Nature, Fugees and a few other Jersey staples. Growing up in NY I didn’t really have a close Jersey connection. We went to the Garden State for Six Flags, Action Park (I survived to tell the tale), 3% sales tax (back when NY still had clothing sales taxes), Pizza Hut, funerals, and a few other things we could only get in Jersey. These trips over the Hudson River were very few and far between. Jersey has always been a sibling or cousin that many New Yorkers are slow to acknowledge, but it is the other essential part of our tri-state area. Some people say the third state is Pennsylvania, while others claim Connecticut as the third wheel. Either way New Jersey is an essential part of the New York experience. Both of our Football teams play in Jersey, our soccer team NY Red Bull we share a NWSL team with them in the NY/NY Gotham FC. Like it or not our two states are connected. 

I’m not a big fan of Jack Antonoff’s production collaborations. When the song “We Were Young” by Jack’s band Fun came out, it played absolutely everywhere. I remember it being on a popular commercial, and before I even got the chance to admire it, I was over it. Then there are his collaborations with Lorde, Taylor Swift and Lana Del Rey. I was a big fan of Lorde’s Pure Heroin and I did not enjoy the new sound she had under Jack’s production. I listened to a few of his colabs with Taylor and Lana, but I didn’t connect with those either. I for sure thought I would be out on Jack Antonoff for good, until I saw the video of Stop Making This Hurt by his band Bleachers. The video starts off slow with Jack sitting at an old timey Jersey Diner, and I had very little patience for his tomfoolery. I honestly had no idea it was Jack because I didn’t remember what he looked like, but either way I thought this song would be a wash. That’s until the Sax started teasing and the first chorus dropped. By then I was all in. I had no idea this was set in Jersey, but everything in it from the sound, to the singing, to the video screamed of the Garden State. When I realized it was Jack Antonoff, I realized that while an artist's work might not be up my alley, they might still have a project that connects with me. No need to STAN anyone, just like what you like and skip what you don’t. 

As I get older, and get a little more “get off my lawn” I try to remember that new things might have some resonance to me, and there is no need to be an old fuddy duddy about things. Obviously his huge success means that a whole bunch of people dig his sound, and it’s okay if I don’t like most of it, but that shouldn’t mean I close myself off from his music forever. There might be something down the road I really connect with, which is exactly what I found with Bleacher’s 2021 Album Take The Sadness Out Of Saturday Night, which just so happens to be this week’s Sunday Morning Record. 

Take The Sadness Out Of Saturday Night is such a Jersey Album, that the Boss; Bruce Springsteen features on a song. I don’t know if I could perfectly describe the New Jersey rock sound, but this is it. Jack spoke to Apple Music for this album and talked about the feelings of each track. Kinda like how I do here, but from his perspective as an artist. It’s pretty cool and many of the descriptions are spot on. I’d check it out if you want to get deeper into it. SInce he did all that work already, I’ll just talk about how the songs feel to me with short descriptions. And away we go. 

Side A 

91 Starts the album with a low thumping cello opening for some subtle violins and Jack’s voice enters softly telling a story of being stuck. Being from one truth and becoming another until you have to go back, cause you always have to go back now, don’t you. Feels very personal and very universal. The music just keeps getting more and more layered and you just want to sit and think with it. 

CHINATOWN FEAT. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN Feels like a slowed down anthem being played at a concert, thanks to some cool voice effects making them sound all arena like. Bruce comes in and you just want to strap a bandana to your brow, rip off your sleeves and rock on to the great American rock n roll anthems of past, present and future. The song sing’s to some ideal of a person you want to swoop off their feet and take them away to some secret utopia in the state of New Jersey. 

HOW DARE YOU WANT MORE Is the bouncy rock you can imagine Elvis Costello dancing to. This song features a very cool sax solos, mostly cause saxes are cool. The singing here is still a little distant and loves other voices in rompy unison. While the last felt like an arena song, this one feels like a Asbury Park bar song. I’ve never been to Asbury Park, but aside from the Jersey Shore influence, I pretty much picture it like this. I love people singing in unison. This song is all about celebrating the tonight and rocking out no matter what else is happening, cause tonight is what we have right now. Or at least that’s how they feel. 

BIG LIFE Is part Elvis honky tonk, part 80’s pop, part James-like vocals, and all Jersey fun with big walloping drums. I dare you not to shimmy. Sometimes wherever you are from, feels too small to contain all that you might be. I’ve felt that way and I’m from New York City. 

SECRET LIFE Because the big life gets heavy and you just want to go hide under comforters with one other person and hide from it all. The performer’s dichotomy in full display right there. While the record has been tracking up and up from the first track, this one is a bit of a lullaby. Like you been dancing for a while and lord you hope the band plays a slow song, cause you can’t just abandon the dance floor, but right then you hear a soft rock guitar and rakes on drums, and the filtered voice feels like a dull blade lost in the humdrum dregs of the late 90’s. And then Lana Del Rey joins in on backup and you’re like, that’s all she gonna do here? But it’s cool cause the song is pleasant and this is the last song of the side. 

Side B

STOP MAKING THIS HURT Is the anthem that brought me to this party. It starts already fun with keys and synths and more of that Jersey sound with the rhythm guitar and saxophone just teasing until the name of the song is shouted and it breaks open into a full on homecoming rock anthem for the ages and “You know what it says? Stop making this hurt!”. This song makes me shimmy so hard, and it has this killer bridge that builds into the most satisfying crescendo. 

“But if we take the sadness out of Saturday night

I wonder what we'll be left with, anything worth the fight?

I wanna run from the darkness, wanna shout at the light

It's coming over me now

Two, three, four, five

Oh God, we barely survived”

DON’T GO DARK Might not be as loud and rollicking as Stop Making This Hurt, but it’s full of a steady rock 80’s vibe from a John Hughes suburban teenage manifesto. This is a sweet little bop. A plea for someone to stick around. Do what you need to but please stick around. I’ll be here. 

45 Another bar/pub type of song, but this time it’s just guitars and the bands voices. Jack’s voice might be on top but the whole band is with him. Or at least that’s how it feels, like he’s carrying everyone’s voice with him into the performance. 45 is all about time and speed whether it be years or you’re spinning a 45 at 33 and it sounds all slow and distorted. The chorus is so full and the song builds and speeds into a lovely flow. I usually play this one more than once. I even got the actual 45, with Chinatown on the B side. It’s wonderful. 

STRANGE BEHAVIOR Rests on your lap with the easy of a Shins or Iron & Wine song from the Garden State Soundtrack. Something soft and easy and the lyrics are spoken in a whisper. 

WHAT’D I DO WITH ALL THIS FAITH? Is not a question I’ve ever asked myself. The song starts with the horn section of a marching band tuning, or at least that’s how it feels to me. It’s a quick but tasty little intro to a nice mellow ballad that reminds me of The National or some of the Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros type of ballad. It’s a lovely and sweet way to end an album which will surely be remembered for it’s big bold raucous sounding tunes. 

Thanks for joining me through New Jersey, into Staten Island, back in Brooklyn as I come out of a little low time. I hope to be back next week with another Sunday Morning Record. Have a great one.