This 80s band started off as a surf band and then they switched to a more garage band sound. The song has a 1960s feel…it would be expected from a band who had a song called (I Wish It Could Be) 1965 Again.
The Barracudas are an English-Canadian band that formed in 1978 when Robin Wills (from London) met Jeremy Gluck (from Ottawa) and they are now based in England. The band’s original line-up consisted of Jeremy Gluck (vocals), Robin Wills (guitar and vocals), Starkie Phillips (bass and vocals) and Adam Phillips (drums).
The band broke up in 1984 but reformed in 1989. In 2005 they released their back catalog and that provided a boost to their career. They started to release singles and an album in 2014. They ended up with more compilations albums than regular releases.
This song was released in 1981 on their debut album Drop Out.
There was also a sixties band with the same name.
Jeremy Gluck: Radio was an enormous influence. You can’t imagine now how important it was then, it would seem sentimental to get into it. There were some good local stations, like CFRA, that played the Top 40 – I remember calling them like crazy in hope of my “Bang-a-Gong” request hitting paydirt. But the best was on FM. The night my top FM DJ played all of ‘Quadrophenia’ days before its release was one of many highlights. At night through the crystal clear winter skies I could tune in dozens of American stations, and discovered a lot of music and madness that way. Radio is magic: the first time I heard a record of mine on radio (John Peel show!), it was an epiphany.
Jeremy Gluck is the author and founder of the Nonceptualism art manifesto…yea don’t ask me but he described it.
“Nonceptualism is about the (an) end to art, and the end of the idea of an artist in self-concept and conception and execution of work, as we and consider it…but maybe it’s also my way of saying, It’s about an end to some or all of me as I’ve conceived myself since conditioning began – as it does with all of us – not long after birth. Which I like…”
We’re Living In Violent Times
Stayed in all day
I was scared of getting killed
Didn’t pick up my pay
I know I’ll just get bills
Maybe it’s all in my frozen mind
We’re living in violent times
Maybe it’s in my mind
We’re living in violent times
Took the news off the TV
It always depresses me
Put my new car in the garage
I’m so scared of a crash
I couldn’t wait to turn off the lights
We’re living in violent times
I tell ya
We’re living in violent times
Protested
Guess I should look at the bright side
And be glad just to be alive
I’ll be happy right now
If I come through this and survive
I’m not imagining this I see the signs
We’re living in violent times
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I like reading about this stuff and then clicking the video as I have no idea what these bands sound like. lol. That guitar sound is REM like
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Yes it is…and Byrds…who REM borrowed from lol.
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Borrow Borrow Borrow the name of the game. Look at Zep. lol
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Oh yes….they took borrowing to a different level!
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Nice tune – once again, the sound reminds me a bit of The Byrds.
When I saw the photo before listening to the tune, actually, my first thought was Rolling Stones. I never would guessed surf rock, although it sounds like that was how they started before the got into garage rock.
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I guessed wrong also…it was a pleasant surprise but I thought it would be more heavy….or a little
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Appropriate words for these days, Max. I didn’t know the band (or the song) at all. Having read the words before listening I was hoping for a bit more grunt.
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I thought they would be more edgier also…Unfortnately the title describes things right now.
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pretty good, yet another one you found owing a fair bit to the Byrds. I’ve never heard of them despite the Ontario connection.
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That song was really good – kind of fits in with jangly 1980s stuff like R.E.M. and the dBs, but maybe closer to the mainstream?
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It was very close…I took one look at them and I thought they would have sounded rougher…one of the children of nuggets.
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The song sounds part 60s-part late 70s, which is what I like very much. I’d never heard of them.
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I thought you would like that one… sorry for the late reply but work calls…and calls…and calls. That is what I get for being in IT.
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No need to apologize. My schedule has picked up too, which has me relegated to catching up in the evenings. It’s a sign of things trending toward a return to normal?…I hope!
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I just found out about the Hurricane! I’ve been buried since our email server went down…I’ve 3/4 of the way through…getting everyone moved into their new email home….so to speak.
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Wow, you really were buried! Good luck with the rest. I hope you can take it easy for a bit and catch your breath, once everyone is transitioned.
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Thank you!
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Mommas, don’t let your babies grow up to be IT…
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I hear why you like them.
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They are very Byrds-ish. The lyrics are depressing but, apropos to today. Sheesh.
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Yep…pretty much says it all
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