Silkworm / It'll Be Cool
Album: It'll Be Cool   Collection:General
Artist:Silkworm   Added:Nov 2004
Label:Touch and Go  

A-File Activity
Add Date: 2004-12-12 Pull Date: 2005-02-13
Week Ending: Feb 6 Jan 30 Jan 23
Airplays: 1 1 1

Recent Airplay
1. May 13, 2021: Alphabet Soup
Xian Undertaker
3. Jan 27, 2005: Midnight Meanderings
Penalty Box
2. Feb 04, 2005: Midnight Meanderings
The Operative
4. Jan 21, 2005: Midnight Meanderings
Don't Look Back

Album Review
Margot
Reviewed 2004-11-30
Strong power pop. Musically layered and complicated tempos keep the ears perky. Focus on bass and ra-ta-tat drumming. All-male vox. The 9th album from this 10+ year-old band took over a year in the making. Arsenal of instruments used. I can’t identify them all in the review, but you should get the gist of the sound. Note FCC violations below.
1) *‘Don’t Look Back.’ (6:25) Can’t really hear until 0:03. Drums, mid-tempo that stay almost constant throughout song. 0:08 high-pitched
finger-picking string. 0:15 intro of bass. 0:40 electric guitar, vox. Sometimes guitar drops out or is played sparingly to leave bass, drums, vox. All instrumental from 4:34. 5:17 start of some guitar dissonance. 6:00 calms down. Might want to stop track around 6:15.
2) “Insomnia.” (5:35) About Julius Caesar. Riff-centric. 0:02 starts. Distorted slow-tempo guitar until other guitar (0:05), drums 0:06. Drums and guitar on similar time signature. 0:34 vox. 1:03 layered vox and seperate accompanying guitar melody, which are repeated throughout song. 3:25 all instruments, 4:01 emphasis on slower guitar picking. 4:44 different melody. 5:15 tempo change. Repetitive, slow track.
3) *“Penalty Box.” (3:02). Upbeat. Cool keyboard-like distorted guitar intro. 0:16 vox. Discordant guitar 0:35, 0:38 high-picking guitar to 0:51. Mandolin. 1:29 clashing tempos. Chorus easier on the ears, but spliced with 2:33 crazy high guitar return at 2:33. 2:51 return of keyboard-like guitar. Stops abruptly 2:58.
4) *“Something Hyper.” (4:27) Calming piano intro, with light drums. 0:32 vox, sung in higher register. Some brief instrumental pauses throughout song. 1:35 quiets down to acoustic guitar chords. 2:06 just bass (song isn’t ending yet – guitar returns). 2:30 piano comes back in. 2:41 low, distorted vocals, drums back at 2:45. 3:34, vox return, with distorted low
(slowed-down) backup vox. Stops 4:18.
5) “Xian Undertaker.” Slow, melodic, crescendo-decrescendo guitar intro. 0:38 piano. 0:41 vox. Guitar drops out. 1:12 drums. Mandolin strumming. Rompier, Western saloon-like chorus, esp. at 4:44. FCC VIOLATION (“fucking”) at 3:18. Quieter at 5:23, but picks back up. Might want to stop around 6:10.
6) “Shitty Little Yacht.” (4:46) Simpler instrumentation. Distorted guitar intro (slow tempo). 0:15 Vox. 0:25 Drums. 0:54 falsetto backup vox. 1:52 just guitar and drums. 2:05 vox back. 2:39 drums and bass only. 3:02
guitar and vox re rn. 4:12 loud electric guitar picking introduced. Stop a 4:40. FCC VIOLATION in TITLE of song. Otherwise whole song OK to play.
7) **“The Operative.” (3:23) Faster guitar intro. Riff-centric song. 0:11 drums. 0:31 vox. Rich instrumentation in this one. Vox more legato and melodic than other songs. 2:55 just guitar that slows down until end, which flows seamlessly into hidden track.
8) ***Hidden Track! (2:22) Smooth transition from previous song. All instrumental (all strings – at least 3 parts). Slower tempo, on
bittersweet side. Fainter guitar melody emerges. Stop at 2:28. -margot

Track Listing
1. Don't Look Back   4. Something Hyper
2. Insomnia   5. Xian Undertaker
3. Penalty Box   6. Shitty Little Yacht
  7. The Operative