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Ash:
'Goldfinger' (1995)
The naff title (cue white Persian cat and "There's only one Goldfinger, Mr. Bond.. .") is the only place where Ash's
'Goldfinger' disappoints. It has a good grasp of dynamics, which is essential to rock. It's loud and grungy but there
are spaces, so the full sound doesn't get tiresome. In this age of desk-driven punch in/out beatboxes, it has tempo
changes and a real drummer who stops playing, counts off two bars and then re-enters with a fill. Amazing. From an
arrangement angle, notice how the backing vocals are kept till the last chorus.
'Goldfinger' creates interesting contrasts with keys. The band detuned by a semitone (half-step), but I'll pretend they
didn't to make it simpler to describe the chord shapes. The instrumental chorus at the start is squarely in G, though it
ends on an ambiguous B7sus4 (IIImaj). The guitar solo suggests E minor. B is the key for the verse, which is mostly
a four-chord turnaround in B:B G#m C#m F# (I VI II V). I say "mostly" because there's a harmonically outrageous
chromatic change from the F# to an F and then Bb, and then a leap back to C#m. This is topped off with a fine three-
note guitar overdub that accentuates the sudden weirdness of the changes. Thousands of songs have been written
using a I VI II V sequence, but Ash found a new angle on it.
19—
Garbage:
'Stupid Girl' (1995)
'Stupid Girl' is carried by its arrangement. It's built on a I-IV change in F#, and both chords are dominant sevenths
that provide a sulky edge. This change appears in the intro, verse, chorus and the instrumental bridge; the texture is
varied to make the sections sound different.
On the intro, adorned only by a guitar pick-slide and other effects, four bars set the rhythm. The verse adds Shirley
Manson's voice and a dancey bass riff with flattened blue notes for an almost R&B feel. An eight-bar pre-chorus cuts
in with a couple of minor chords that provide harmonic contrast to the harder-edged strut of the F#7-B7 change.
Listen for the way Garbage overdubbed a distorted vocal sample with reverse reverb, an effect guaranteed to make
anyone sound like an extra from The Exorcist. On the chorus, the title hook is answered by a voice/guitar unison
"ah-ah" (maybe a slight nod to 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'). The word "girl" is on a flattened blue note (A instead of
A# against the F# chord). In Verse 2, Shirley sings lines that answer the main tune and in the last chorus adds a
harmony. The bridge guitar figures include a bassy Duane Eddytype phrase and a "stab" guitar chord on the opposite
side of the mix. Listen for the bass dropping out during the bridge so that its re-entry is felt on the last choruses.
'Stupid Girl' has an effective sudden ending, the sort DJs don't dare talk over.
Sometimes you don't need lots of ideas – you just need to develop the one you've got.
20—
Radiohead:
'Paranoid Android' (1997)
As with Ash, another naff title (pinched from U.K. radio comedy series The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy).
The first time I heard this track on the radio, the DJ commented, after the abrupt ending, "Hmmm... I'm not sure
about that one." At that moment, it was clear Radiohead had done a great job. This track is disconcerting and does
the unexpected.
Key-wise, it shifts between G minor, D minor and A minor in an ambiguous way. The opening acoustic Cm-Gm
sequence cries out that it must be in some weird tuning, although it's actually standard. The music sounds like it's
going into Am, but this happens only after the second verse. Next, a moment of arranging genius: most rock bands
would have made the single-note riff a straight