[mrlayance]

from the US i thank hipbase for the link on the front page. at least there you can link into the puretracks site for a snippet of the song.

That won't be happening....

Huh cratch: The link to the PT site is on the Hipbase homepage....

I read that wrong... I am tired :?

[direwolf74]

Yes I agree. Referring to the song as a letdown was too harsh - I need to learn to be more patient. :oops:. Actually, the song has been stuck in my head all morning and I caught myself singing along to it in the shower so it's definitely growing on me.

Yeah, this band really has a way of sneaking into your subconscious when you least expect it. I can't wait to hear the full album! Is it June 29th yet?? I don't know about the rest of ya, but I'm starting to get a little antsy. :jump

[grooveless touque]

Well, I couldn't post yesterday because I wanted to give this song multiple listens. After half a dozen, however, I just can't listen to it any more. VS rocked, this blows. I think it's AWFUL. I cannot stand Gord's vocals, and the instrumentation just never gets chugging along. It seems like it's always one step away from being a complete song. Count me as one of the first to admit I hate this song and am now strongly in doubt about the album.

Why do you guys think this'll be such a huge concert song? Don't forget, Gord doesn't do Thompson Girl anymore because he can't reach the notes in that one, so why would he try it with a song he can't even get right on the album?

All in all, extremely disappointed. I LOVE the production, I think it's amazing, so much less polished and refined than IVL, but the songs are just not there. I may not even buy the album, seeing as I got hosed out of twenty beans when I bought IVL! VS was worth hearing; this is not. Any other voices of dissent?

Bottom line: choosing this as a major American single was abominably ignorant of the market.

[beanmedic]

wow. i disagree 100%, but thats ok.

[thehip11]

I'll have to mildy agree with grooveless. I must admit the first time I heard SIKU I wasn't too impressed and even after 6 listens I wasn't totally sold either.....BUT after about 15 listens, it was beginning to sink in. First of all, you must be listening to the song really really loud to get the full effect. Gord's vocals are indeed all over the map and it's almost like he can't decide how he wants to sing the song. I like this though. VS is for sure a better first single and easier to sing alot with. Singing along to SIKU is almost impossible unless you get yourself knocked in the nuts.

[grooveless touque]

HAHAHA....that's a great take on it :-D

I don't even like the lyrics. It takes a LOT for me to not like Gord's lyrics; I think this is the first song I've heard since Are Your Ready where I didn't like the lyrics. All the passing references to summer...I dunno...to me it's just not there. It seems careless and tossed off, and unlike virtually all of Gord's great l yrics, it reads like neither poetry nor prose. It hardly reads at all! it just seems awkward, incomplete and the lyrics really seem like a "demo version" before things are worked out for the better.

Say what you will about rough-hewn values - I don't disagree, I like the from-the-floor take most of these songs are appearing to have - but when it comes to the lyrics, that impression of forced spontaneity sounds just as bad as it sounds like it should!

[CanuckCourage]

His vocals annoy me , they sound stretched and I just can't get into it. Vac Scar rocks , just can't dig this one , I loved IVL and I don't see a day when I don't buy a Hip album , unless they started flogging their music on a Ford commercial... i'll buy Hip until I die . Maybe my taste will change and i'll enjoy it , I think the album will rock , one song I dont like isn't gonna paint my view of the album before it's released .

[ShannonW]

I gotta say I didn't like it yesterday, but I like it today. So I could see myself really liking it after time. Which is the same for a lot of Hip songs... so we'll see! OR it could be another Are You Ready... who knows.

[The Horrible Esthete]

Well, I couldn't post yesterday because I wanted to give this song multiple listens. After half a dozen, however, I just can't listen to it any more. VS rocked, this blows. I think it's AWFUL. I cannot stand Gord's vocals, and the instrumentation just never gets chugging along. It seems like it's always one step away from being a complete song. Count me as one of the first to admit I hate this song and am now strongly in doubt about the album.

Grooveless, thank you for your honest opinion.

I come here to read and post rather infrequently, since I've discovered that my feel for the band seems be a little to off-kilter with that of many other die-hards. However, I have taken due notice of the patent objectivity in your posts, and I find it both refreshing and valuable.....

That said, I am worried about IBE myself. Unlike you, I am having a disturbingly hard time with VS; it just isn't clicking for me, and I fear I will agree with your assessment of SIKU.

Here's my beef with VS:

The chord progressions for the verses are identical to that of the chorus, rendering them virtually indistinguishable from one another (aside from the vocals / lyrics). The result (for me) is a rather mundane cut. The Hip have a propensity for doing this, and I’m not sure I like it. One of the great things about this band, though, is that they can “save” a track with expertly-conceived bridgework, and this quality may be the saving grace for VS.

Anywho, I hope IBE will not disappoint. I think IVL was lacking in areas, too, and pray that it doesn’t wind up marking the beginning of the end of this band’s genius.

[tragicallymike]

so someone who has taken the time to post almost 800 messages on a hip forum may not even buy the cd?? somehow i doubt that.

Well, I couldn't post yesterday because I wanted to give this song multiple listens. After half a dozen, however, I just can't listen to it any more. VS rocked, this blows. I think it's AWFUL. I cannot stand Gord's vocals, and the instrumentation just never gets chugging along. It seems like it's always one step away from being a complete song. Count me as one of the first to admit I hate this song and am now strongly in doubt about the album.

Why do you guys think this'll be such a huge concert song? Don't forget, Gord doesn't do Thompson Girl anymore because he can't reach the notes in that one, so why would he try it with a song he can't even get right on the album?

All in all, extremely disappointed. I LOVE the production, I think it's amazing, so much less polished and refined than IVL, but the songs are just not there. I may not even buy the album, seeing as I got hosed out of twenty beans when I bought IVL! VS was worth hearing; this is not. Any other voices of dissent?

Bottom line: choosing this as a major American single was abominably ignorant of the market.

[thedarkcanuck]

the hip have yet to put out an album that i a havnt fallen completely(fully) in love with...vs took me about 4-5 listens and i had a shred of doubt after the first listen of summer...but after about 10-15 spins i absolutely love it .thats the sad part...hearing it played for the first few times on the radio and everyone dogging it...if it takes a die hard like most of us here like 10 listens then there is no way joe schmo is going to give it a chance...its written off as crap...so i totally agree that the labels decision as a first release in a market they are trying for bigger things was a bad one and a very poor one.

[direwolf74]

Well, I couldn't post yesterday because I wanted to give this song multiple listens. After half a dozen, however, I just can't listen to it any more. VS rocked, this blows. I think it's AWFUL. I cannot stand Gord's vocals, and the instrumentation just never gets chugging along. It seems like it's always one step away from being a complete song. Count me as one of the first to admit I hate this song and am now strongly in doubt about the album.

Grooveless, thank you for your honest opinion.

I come here to read and post rather infrequently, since I've discovered that my feel for the band seems be a little to off-kilter with that of many other die-hards. However, I have taken due notice of the patent objectivity in your posts, and I find it both refreshing and valuable.....

That said, I am worried about IBE myself. Unlike you, I am having a disturbingly hard time with VS; it just isn't clicking for me, and I fear I will agree with your assessment of SIKU.

Here's my beef with VS:

The chord progressions for the verses are identical to that of the chorus, rendering them virtually indistinguishable from one another (aside from the vocals / lyrics). The result (for me) is a rather mundane cut.

I completely disagree with both of you. I'm really enjoying both singles, and for me they keep getting better with each listen. SIKU is certainly bizarre and a little off-kilter, but I think that's why I like it. I even like the way Gord sings it. He sounds like he's having a blast, and it's hard for me not to get into it and sing along when he brings that kind of enthusiasm to the song. This is the best stuff I've heard from the Hip in...well....2 years (I loved IVL as well). Having said that, I can see how these songs would rub certain fans the wrong way. They're definitely not for everyone, and that's cool.

By the way, if you listen closely to the chorus of Vaccination Scar, there is most definitely a change in the chord progression. Not a huge one, but enough to distinguish it from the verses. Just my opinion of course.

Cheers,
Casey

[TLB]

VS kicks ass. I like SKU but admittedly it had to grow on me first. Now I'm singing it all the time. It's not as good as VS and probably many other songs, but I won't complain about it. Just love it for what it is: new Hip. There will be enough time for picking apart chord progressions and the like once The Hip aren't making new music anymore.

[Nick22ca]

I completely disagree with the people above as well...both singles are excellent to me...and moreover SIKU blows VS out of the water. If you aren't obsessed with SIKU by now, then you're doing something wrong as a hip fan.

[thedarkcanuck]

and lets raise our glasses to the fact that our favourite band doesnt sound like other bands that make up 90% of the crap that is on radio these days...holy shit, i just had a flashback of a conversation me and my father had when i was about 11