Herzog released their single here in the UK on a Transparent split with the mighty Yuck a few months ago, and their debut album, Search, has just come out on the same label. Despite this flurry of action they're a pretty slack bunch. In fact they are such experts in taking time out that they've been able to make us a mixtape, a special ode to the slacker, complete with notes on why these artists are such dudes. So tell your mom to order you a pizza, slump in a chair, and just listen.The notes on the songs are by Tony Veroll, the member of Herzog who's so slack he doesn't even tour with them, (I think he likes to think he's got a kind of Brian Wilson vibe).BUILT TO SPILL - "TIME TRAP"Tony: The guitar here sounds like an invitation to hang out and play video games, which is something we love.
BIG STAR - "SEPTEMBER GURLS"Alex Chilton was so lazy he wouldn't go to the doctor when he was having chest pains. Wait, or did he not go to the doctor because he didn't have health insurance? In that case the slacker award for this song goes to the politicians who couldn't be bothered to cast a vote to save a dying man.MIKE ST JUDE AND THE VALENTINES - "RUTH AT THEBES"[audio:http://viceland-assets-cdn.vice.com/music/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/09-ruth-at-thebes.mp3]Mike is a friend of ours, and we don't see him much any more. He's not a slacker, he just has a beautiful family who mean more to him than we do. Let's hang out soon, dude.THE ROLLING STONES - "DEAR DOCTOR"
Talk about lacking urgency. The only action the narrator takes in this song is to "soak up drink like a sponge," which has no effect on the story. Everything else that happens to him is totally beyond his control, and he just sits there and takes it. And is that Keef as the Bow Legged Sow?THE SLACKERS - "WASTED DAYS"
The Slackers' shows in Cleveland are so legendary, and I missed them so many times, I now feel good about having never seen one. It's a point of loafer pride.HARRY NILSON - "COCONUT"
The solution to my problems could be the cause of my problems? That's just crazy talk.DREADFUL YAWNS - "END OF SUMMER"[audio:http://viceland-assets-cdn.vice.com/music/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/10-end-of-summer.mp3]More friends of ours from the 'Land. Without the Yawns, we'd be much bigger slackers, because we're always trying to catch up with them.WEEZER - "SAY IT AIN'T SO"Nick pretty much insisted this was on here. I guess it fits in better than "Undone" or "Only in Dreams."DESCEDENTS - "HOPE"Is patient optimism and confidence the flip-side to slacker-dom?GREEN DAY - "LONGVIEW"
It was really hard to pick just one Green Day song for this tape. And while they're not on this tape, The Dum Dum Girls are the closest followers of Green Day today. Is it too late to add "Jail La La"?THE STATLER BROTHERS - "FLOWERS ON THE WALL"I think my parents used this song to justify themselves in the seventies.BLAKE MILLER - "YOUR OWN TREE"[audio:http://viceland-assets-cdn.vice.com/music/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/yourowntree.mp3]I thought about putting GBV's "I am a tree" here but this song pretty much says the same thing. Plus, we know Blake better and it slots in more smoothly at the end of the tape.OTIS READING - "SITTIN' ON THE DOCK OF THE BAY"The ultimate slacker song. "Sitting on the dock of the bay, wasting time". What more do you need?Herzog's debut LP 'Search' is out now on Transparent.JOEL WRIGHT
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