Days of the New...Who?

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May 13, 2004

Days of the New started out as pretty much a knock-off of Alice In Chains. Releasing their first album in 1997, then teenaged bandleader Travis Meeks was heavily influenced by the Chain gang's acoustic Eps, and it showed. The untitled debut launched a massive hit single, "Touch, Peel, and Stand," but critics dismissed the Days of the New as derivative, pandering alterna-rock with little to offer in the way of ingenuity.

That's why the second Days LP was such a surprise. In 1999, the undeniably charismatic Meeks fired his bandmates - it was always largely his show anyway, since he wrote most of the music and lyrics. The resulting album, Days of the New II, was a groundbreaking work. Fusing the basic grunge template to progressive rock dynamics, Meeks boldly (if inadvertently) invented a new style: prog - grunge.

Though it sounds contrived, II was anything but. Rather, Meeks' ability to retain the melody and tone of grunge allowed for accessible songwriting, while his commitment to experimentation left room for forays into uncharted territory. The resulting songs were flawed, but sporadically brilliant. From the electronic horse snorts and hoof stamps that usher in "Flight Response" to the back-porch blues and echoing repeated phrases of "Enemy," the album is simply terrific rock and roll. The instrumental "Skeleton Key" wouldn't sound a bit out of place on a Tortoise album. Travis Meeks had been reborn as a rocking post-rock savior - albeit one with an ear for the big hook.

What does any of this have to do with post punk? Well, I consider myself to be an "agent provocateur." Not to name myself after a lame Foreigner album (is there any other kind?), but I believe that the true spirit of post punk was to accept none of the previous rules. Grunge was the bastard child of 1970's heavy metal and punk; punk was the antithesis of progressive bands like Yes and Genesis. What could be more rebellious to all involved than combining a form of punk with prog-rock? Sure it's a stretch, kind of like a post-millennial Johnny Marr trying to fit into jeans with a size 32 waist. But the very notion of post-punk allowed for arty experimentation into, well, anywhere you wanted to go. Gothic folk music? Doom metal samba? Oi calypso? Sure, why not.

Of course, some new genres worked better than others: think of the art rock/goth of Bauhaus or the Kraut noise/dance rock of Public Image Limited. The point being that if punk broke down social barriers, post-punk destroyed all music ones. If you liked Merle Haggard and the Clash, cool; you just formed Drivin-N-Cryin and slept like a baby at night.

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