by Chris McGinty
I’ve been putting together some jigsaw puzzles lately and talking about them in blog posts. You can go to the link hub for all those posts here. The thing is that I can pretty easily take a subject and make a themed music post out of it, just look here for the shopping cart edition of that. So I always knew that I’d likely do a jigsaw puzzle themed music post, but I could only think of two songs that were specific enough to jigsaw puzzles. Then last night, I remembered a third song, so let’s start this themed music post.
Siouxsie and the Banshees – Jigsaw Feeling
I’ve heard most of the work of Siouxsie and the Banshees, thanks in large part to a former Pizza Hut co-worker named Brandon. If you know a Brandon who is/was super into Siouxsie and the Banshees, lived in the Fort Worth/Dallas area in Texas at some point, and is old enough to have worked at Pizza Hut in the 90s, that’s probably him. In spite of this, I have my favourite albums (Tinderbox, Peepshow, Superstition, and to some extent Ju Ju) and the others are albums that when I put them on I go, “Oh, I remember this.” “The Scream” is one of those albums. I like it, but it’s never a go to album. I decided to put it on last night, and I was like, “There’s the third song for my post.” I think that “The Scream,” has the same basic issue for me as the early Southern Death Cult stuff has. I like the instrumentation, but I feel like Siouxsie Sioux’s later vocals are so much better, and the same for Ian Astbury’s later work as the singer of The Cult.
Dada – Puzzle
This is the title track from Dada’s 1992 debut album. “Puzzle” is one of my favourite 90s albums in spite of the various albums released by Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots, and… we’ll get into them in a minute. I put this album on for my son to hear a few years ago and it was amazing to me just how much of a 90s album it was. The style of guitar playing, the production values, pretty much the whole damn puzzle… um, package. You could listen to this album next to Toad the Wet Sprocket or Live or Gin Blossoms and know that they came out within a few years of each other. This was a great album though, and while it might fall squarely into a time capsule it’s still a good listen all the way through.
Tool – Schism
This was another 90s band who somehow are still around, but the bulk of their output was in the 90s, wasn’t it? You know, given that this album came out in 2001, maybe they really are only a 90s band in origin. The “Lateralus” album is almost like “The Scream” though. I know the pieces fit… um, I know I’ve listened to it, cos I know I’ve heard these songs before. It’s just the Tool album I’ve listened to the least. Why? I’m really not too sure. “Aenima” and “10,000 Days” are my two favourites followed by “Opiate” and “Undertow.” “Salival” is not an official album, and I’ve technically never heard it and “Fear Inoculum,” while really good is new enough that I’m not super familiar yet. I’m familiar with “Schism” though. It’s a song I will actively seek out along with the “Lateralus” title track. The lyricism on “Lateralus” was strong overall and “Schism” is just one of those super relatable songs if you’ve ever been in a relationship where communication seemed more like a struggle.
Chris McGinty is a blogger who has been doing more blogging that putting together jigsaw puzzles lately. If you watch any of our reselling videos, you’ll know that he hasn’t slowed down buying jigsaw puzzles, just doing them. Don’t worry though. He’s got plenty of jigsaw puzzle material for you folks.