Stranger than Fiction, Larger Than Life: the Finn Brothers song-by-song discussion thread

This has been a fascinating discussion of the nature and extent of Liam's creative talent and the directions in which he chooses to deploy it. For my part, I have no question that Liam has significant musical talent (I'm less certain of his talent as a lyricist). But, as I've suggested before, I think he chooses (as a conscious choice) to use that talent in ways not designed to appeal to those of more conventional tastes, including myself. That's okay.The world needs artists who push boundaries, even if their efforts are not "successful" in the conventional sense. It also doesn't mean that those who fail to respond to the boundary-pusher's work are wrong.

For myself, although my tastes are fairly conventional, I do sometimes respond to things outside the norm. Back in my choral singing days, I did a fair bit of modern, atonal music. Some of it I found excruciating. But some of it I found fascinating. How to differentiate? I don't know--some of it just worked for me, and some didn't. I don't think that necessarily made me a better or worse musician. It just made me me.

So I find myself in a position where I can acknowledge Liam's talent but not aesthetically appreciate his work. I wish it were otherwise, but his tastes and mine simply don't jibe.

It's a bit funny to have this discussion in the context of "Wild Animal," because that song is the most conventionally structured (and, probably not coincidentally, the song I enjoy most) on the album. The only difficulty I have is with the bridge, which I find unappealing and which therefore knocks the song down a level for me. But "Wild Animal" emphasizes that Liam can successfully play the more conventional songwriter/artist. He just chooses not to.

3.5/5

 

I've enjoyed the interesting side discussion about liking what we like, and as such it's no surprise to me that I prefer the more conventional "Wild Animal" to the previous few songs, especially the verses. This album seems to be a split between the conventional and experimental sides of Liam's music which might mean there is a proportion of his potential audience who only like half the album, maybe more evidence that Liam doesn't care too much about the reception his music receives, as he could easily have separated the styles onto different albums or EPs.

3/5

 

Wild Animal

I like the chorus of this a lot. It has a driving rhythm and a catchy melody. The verses are okay but are less interesting musically. I haven’t been paying attention to the lyrics on this album because they truly don’t matter for how I listen to this album - and I have been very, very short on time today so I’m not going to read through them. (Sorry, Lance.)

Liam’s voice is too high for me on this one.

3/5

 

I don’t hear that at all. If this is what Neil sounded like to me, I would rarely, if ever, choose to listen to him sing.

 

"Wild Animal" gives the album a boost of energy after the previous songs. I like that we get to hear both Liam's more experimental tracks as well as more conventional songs such as this one. This sounds a bit like early '80s New Wave with chugging guitars, the keyboard sound in the background and the intensity in Liam's singing. It's also very catchy. I do think it works best as part of the album, as a stand-alone song it veers slightly towards being almost too conventional.
3,9/5

 

Our votes for "Wild Animal"

1-0
2-0
3-3
4-7
5-1
Average: 3.7091

 

Today's song is "Wrestle With Dad", written and produced by Liam Finn. Recorded by Chris Boosahda and Lia Finn;mixed by Andrew Everding and Liam Finn.


Liam Finn: vocals, guitar, synthesizer
Eliza-Jane Barnes: vocals
Jol Muholland: bass
Elroy Finn: drums


It's a pity that Liam seems to have taken down the ultra-cringey video that is still etched painfully on my eyeballs: seeing Neil and Liam dressed in nothing but skimpy boxers wrestling in the sand was a truly disturbing sight that I never wanted to see, but so weird it's worth seeing.

It was definitely a thing, now sadly erased from history.

 

Like "Jump Your Bones" this ends a very interesting album with a bit of a whimper. It's not really crap novelty, but it's not really a great song, and it's not really fun pop or coolly atmospheric.

It's got a melody that reminds me of some old 90s Dr Dre or something (not the first time on this record I've been reminded of that, by the way), but overall it's pretty slight. I do like the drumming and there's nothing offensive about it, but Liam and Eliza-Jane's weirdly conjoined vocals kind of give me little else to hold on to here. I can't even make out the lyrics, and since I know it is about Neil and LIam literally wrestling, I guess it's unnecessary.

2.7/5

 

Wrestle With Dad

I can’t listen to this track without seeing the video Lance talks about in my mind. Oh boy, that was one of the most uncomfortable things to watch. I kept thinking how scrawny Neil looked compared to Liam and how sure I was that Liam could take him down any time he wanted to. Wasn’t there an uncomfortable shot of them hiding in a shrub together? Oh boy, burned onto my eyeballs is right.

Anyway, on to the song itself.... It’s got a good beat, but other than that it doesn’t do a lot for me, and I’m not sure if what sounds like interludes of Greek music really work. And every time he says “Wrestle with my dad,” my mind sees what it can’t unsee.

2/5

 

Wrestle with Dad

This is an interesting one. Initially it sounds quite catchy, both the beat and the sung melody line. I don't find the vocals weird at all. The beat again is fairly straightforward.

However, it goes on a bit long without significant variation. It sounds to me like this is a good bridge that has been extended to full song length and a reasonably long song length at that. There's nothing really too unconventional about it except for that.

3/5

 

Tomorrow, I'll hold The Nihilist up for discussion then.

• This Love Is Crying (Arthur Russell) Liam Finn, Ernie Brooks and Peter Zummo {2014 from Master Mix: Red Hot + Arthur Russell}
• I'm the Man Who Will Find You (Connan Mockasin cover) 2015
• Enlightenment (L. Finn) {2015 from the short film Wiljha's Enlightenment}
• 95bfm Drive Theme Song by Liam FM and Lawrence Aradio {2016?)
• Waiting For Your Love {2016 from the VA compilation Waiting for Your Love: A Tribute to the Reduction Agents}
• Filter In My Mouth + Live from the Roof of [the end] with The Dream Team (streaming album)
• The Nihilist Demos {vinyl only release, but it streams}

There are three "improv jams" that I wanted to cover in one day, but it seems they are rather from the 2009-2010 era, so I'll just skip them. They are worth hearing (if you like Liam), I was expecting some annoyingly abrasive noise, but they are really not like that at all, rather more arty soundscape stuff, if I recall correctly. I'll link to them at the same time as "Filter in my Mouth."

On the 25th I'll start with The Fiery Maze by Tim Finn.

 

The problem with this song for me is that it’s way too long. I looked to see how much time was left at the 2:20 mark and literally said “Oh God—-Oh, Oh No”, seeing that there were still three and a half minutes left to a song that had already run its course by the 2 minute mark.

The verses here are really cool; definitely a boogie rock, Eagles of Death Metal kind of thing going on, which I like. The chorus is alright, but it’s kind of basic and uninteresting, as short as it is.

There are fundamentals of a good song here, but they’re simply not realized in the sea of bloat. None of the material in the second half of the song is any good, and as a whole, the song runs like, 3 minutes too long. Shame, really, because the groove is great, and Liam’s vocals are really good here as well.

2.5/5

 

Nice that we will start discussing this on Tim's birthday!

 

I listened to The Fiery Maze on Spotify a few times when it came out and absolutely hated it, especially the singer. It is just totally not my thing. It was interesting to hear Tim in the background once in a while, but that’s as far as it goes. Sorry, I’m skipping this one.

 

followed by your favourite Neil album, Out of Time.

Yes I don’t expect it to go over too well here, though I love it and I think it (and R.E.M) will be the only interesting albums I’m discussing in the next month in all these threads.

 

There’a always Lightsleeper to look forward to!

 

Wrestle with Dad - I like the groove of this song. Like others I think it is too long. I probably would have lopped the last 2'ish minutes off it and been ok with the results. I like the kind of weird synth-y noises which kind of contrast with just the basic boogie feel of the track.

By the way, based on descriptions and the still posted of the video, I'm glad those images aren't seared into my brain...

3.9/5 if you take the last 2 minutes off.
3.5/5 for the full song

 

Thankfully, I never watched the Wrestling With Dad video. The only thing worse would be a Wrestling With Mom video.

The song reminds me of 70s and 80s music, once again the Godley and Creme extended rhythmic cuts. I don't mind it and wouldn't skip it, but I won't seek it out.

I don't know about the sequencing here, I feel like the last song on an album should leave the listener wanting more, but this song does go on too long. Maybe Liam sequenced it this way to let the listener turn off the album before the song ends without missing another song.

3.6/5

 

Having seen the video when the song came out, I can't divorce the music from the imagery, and it's awkward. Still, the song itself is fine as background music so I don't want to pull it down below "acceptable."

3/5

 

From what is being written, I'm rather hesitant to go track down the video and watch it. Any advice from those who have seen it?

 

It must be seen!

I dont know if you will find it. If you do, post a link here. We are all kind of exaggerating. It’s just weird and awkward, which was no doubt the intention.

 

It appears to have been ... suppressed. https://themusic.com.au/news/watch-...arre-wonderful-new-clip/RsBZWFtaXVw/24-06-15/

 

Wrestle With Dad:
Remember in the movie Contact when they were listening for extra terrestrial messages through a radio telescope? That’s what these drums sound like to me.

Enjoyable discussion about Liam. I’ll admit I am one of the people who assumed he was doing it just to sound quirky and weird. I will begin approaching his music differently-it hadn’t occurred to me that he just likes it how he likes it and isn’t doing it to please an audience. Very punk rock..? But I’m not an Eno fan either.

I am having success with a Liam playlist and repeated playings but again, there are bands I enjoy without having to coerce myself into the exact right way to listen to them that doesn’t irritate me. I like heavy, hooky bands like Parquet Courts and Spoon. I can even just put on their Spotify playlist and it’s all good.

2/5

 

Stay hesitant.