When Pigs Fly

#1237: Good Times Don’t Get Better Than This

RECORD STORE TALES 1237: Good Times Don’t Get Better Than This

Do you ever have a song that you really like, so you show it to your friends, in hopes that some will also dig it?  It’s nice when a song connects, but sometimes it is more memorable when it doesn’t.  Many times people say “Sure, it’s OK, not for me though.”  That’s easy to understand.  We’re all different.  What can really stick in the memory is any time a song you like elicits a violently negative reaction.

I’m thinking back to 2004.  I was working one afternoon with my full-timer, Kevin.  We rarely saw eye to eye on music.  He was into…I don’t know, I guess you’d say he was into “Indi” music?  He’ll hate me forever for not remembering anything about his musical tastes.  I remember a band called Death Cab For Cutie and I’ll always associate that name with Kevin.  What happened was, I was really enamored with the Helix documentary 30 Years Of Helix.  A very slick and well made DVD, I watched it many times that summer.  The end credits went to a Brian Vollmer solo song called “Good Times Don’t Get Better Than This”.  It’s an upbeat acoustic song from the Vollmer solo album When Pigs Fly.  I hadn’t played that album in ages and had forgotten all about the song, until I saw that DVD.  The song was in my head; stuck in a good way.

I put the song on a mix CD, one of my “integrity mixes” (which my old co-worker Kam called generally “quite great”).  One night I was playing the mix CD with Kevin, and asked him to listen to the Vollmer song.  There is a whistling part at the end that just killed me.

It was a dark time in my life and to find music that made me feel good and positive was rare.  Maybe that’s why Kevin just didn’t appreciate “Good Times Don’t Get Better Than This”.  For me, it allowed me to envision myself camping outdoors, by the fire, with the best friends, and playing a great song.  I hadn’t had that experience yet, but it seemed like a cool setting for a great song.

“What do you think?  Great eh?” I asked him

“That…was not good,” he told me bluntly.

“You don’t like it at all?” I asked.

“No, that was a terrible song!  It was so cheesey!  It sounded like bad campfire rock!”

I was shocked at just how much he hated it.  Genuinely shocked.  Crushed, even?  Maybe it was the campfire singalong quality, but that song was definitely not his thing.  I really hoped he’d appreciate it but you can’t force people to like things that they just don’t like.  After all, I didn’t like Death Cab For Cutie, and I definitely disliked that Franz Ferdinand they were always playing.

Funny these things that stick in our memories over 20 years later.  I can’t remember a single song from a mix CD that he made for me in ages past, but I remember that one song he hated.  Psychologists, have at it.

 

 

“Good Times Don’t Get Better Than This” lyrics

From When Pigs Fly (1999)

(Gadd, Palleschi, Vollmer, & Weir)

 

And I said hey!  I can’t complain,
I’m lucky to be here,
With all my friends, good times,
Don’t get better than this!

I’ve got a friend,
His name his Ed,
He accidentally lost his head,
You’ll never see him with a frown,
‘Cause he’s positive the negative will never get him down.

And he says hey!  I can’t complain,
I’m lucky to be here,
With all my friends, good times,
Don’t get better than this!

And then there’s Joe!
He sold his soul for rock and roll,
The devil made him do it,
Can’t you see?
He ain’t gettin’ rich, uh-uh,
But he gets around,
And there’s a winkle on his face for every road that he’s been down.

And he says hey!  I can’t complain,
I’m lucky to be here,
With all my friends, good times,
Don’t get better than this, ah!

(Whistling)

And I said hey!  I can’t complain,
I’m lucky to be here,
With all my friends, good times,
Don’t get better than this!
And I said hey!  I can’t complain, uh-uh!
I’m lucky to be here,
With all my friends, good times,
Don’t get better than this!
Well they don’t get better than this!

 

 

 

 

 

 

REVIEW: Helix – Rockin’ in My Outer Space (2004)

ontario-bands-weekWelcome back to Ontario Bands Week!

KITCHENER.

scan_20161215HELIX – Rockin’ in My Outer Space (2004 Dirty Dog)

This album was a long time coming. The last “true” Helix studio album (eg: not live, greatest hits or previously unreleased songs) was the excellent It’s A Business Doing Pleasure, twelve years previous to this one. A lot happened in those twelve years, including member changes, management and record company splits, and even a Brian Vollmer solo album (When Pigs Fly). That Helix came out with an album this good with no warning was a pleasant surprise.

Almost every song here is quality stuff, with only the instrumental opener “Space Junk” and the jokey closer “Sunny Summer Daze” not fitting in with the serious rocking going on here. A couple of these recordings had previously appeared on Vollmer’s solo CD (with Brian Doerner on drums), but this sounds more like a proper Helix album. The title track features a killer chorus (reminded me of “Rock You” a bit) with those recognizable Helix backing vocals. It’s also the most “party” of all the new songs, some of them being a little darker.  Glen “Archie” Gamble (drums) utilizes some interesting cymbal work, a little different from what you usually hear on a Helix record.  His playing gives this version of Helix a different rhythm.

“Six Feet Underground” has some nice acoustic work, and is extremely catchy. “Panic” has some irresistible vocals. “It’s Hard To Feel the Sunshine When Your Heart is Filled With Rain” might have an overly long title, but the song is amazing, as heard live in concert.  A wicked harmonica solo fills the spot with a guitar solo might normally fit.  “The Ballad Of Sam & Mary” is a jokey lyric as Helix have done before, but with some serious kick behind it. (Listen for a cameo by Brian’s wife Lynda Vollmer.)  It’s only when you get to the closer with its Hawiian guitar that you feel like the album just hit a speedbump. The final track’s saving grace is a guest appearance by former member “Doctor” Doerner on guitar.

This album represented a muscular return for Helix, one that kicked off a stream of new Helix records.  The band seemed revitalized even as lineups changed, as they continued to follow through with more quality rock and roll.  Rockin’ in My Outer Space is a pleasure for fans because it’s different. This is not party music. There are audible dark clouds and angry riffs.  The changes in heavy metal over the previous decade are obvious here.  The guitars are chunkier and dirtier, and no song has a party-hardy chorus like the days of old, though the title track comes close.  Helix are known for a certain brand of rock, and it’s nice when they choose to stretch out.

Fear not Helix fans. Brian Vollmer and his gang of little-known but excellent players did not disappoint when they finally decided to release a new album under the Helix Band banner. Aside from the first and last tracks, this is one you’ll be playing all the way through.

And heck, you get used to the the first and last tracks after a while.

4/5 stars

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Bonus:  In 2005, Helix returned to Sweden to play Sweden Rock.  iTunes have one song from their set available for download: “Rock You”  This track features the short-lived but very cool six-piece lineup of Brian Vollmer, Archie Gamble, Jeff Fountain (bass), Jim Lawson (guitar), Rainer Wiechmann (guitar and producer) and Cindy Wiechmann (vocals and other instruments). This is the version of Helix that supported this album, and fortunately it was captured live. Check it out for an idea of what this great lineup sounded like live.