Care to offer anything new to the argument?
The style of palm muting…the excessive upstrokes (offbeats)…
These are not characteristics of funk.
Are you sure you’re thinking of the right song, bjohn?
All I can hear is a combination of wah-wah (sp?) pedal effects on the opening bit (funk) and then he when the singing starts he goes into loud, distorted riffing (very straightforward rock). I don’t hear any palm muting or upstroke guitar in that song, at all.
Haha…yeah…sure…kmfdm don’t use guitars…that or they use them ALL THE TIME(ever seen them live…didn’t think so…). Front242 were the founding fathers of EBM a genre which has never EVER had any links with metal…EVER…just admit that you’re wrong for christ’s sakes…you’re obviously not that familiar with this genre…
I figured out what you were talking about. Forgive me if I’m getting to deep here, but:
There is little or no variation allowed in a ska rhythm. It goes one TWO one TWO one TWO one TWO, emphasis on the upbeat, as you say. There is not a lot of messing around inside the beats, either.
The rhythm in Higher Ground, on the other hand, comes in threes. Try saying it really fast to your self: one two three ONE two three one two three ONE two three one two three ONE two three.
What you are confusing for ska influence is just the “swing” of the funk guitar part, as it swings back and forth between TRIPLETS. Ska may rock, but it does not swing.
The upstrokes he uses go like this: one TWO three ONE two three one TWO three ONE two three one TWO three ONE two three. True, it does not fall on the downbeat, but it doesn’t fall on the upbeat, since, being triplets, there is no real upbeat to fall on.
Palm muting does not a ska song make.
There might be people who say that, but I don’t buy it. Dirty guitar sounds, feedback, and melody despite the noise are used by countless bands. Nirvana just takes a lot of credit because they’re more famous and everyone can name them.
I guess it’s possible that Nirvana is one of the big reasons that kind of sound was everywhere when Weezer made Pinkerton, and I suppose it could have had some kind of influence in the sense that it’s difficult not to be affected by a sound you can’t escape, but I think there is a difference between being a part of something and being influenced by it. When you say that Weezer was influenced by Nirvana, I picture Rivers Cuomo listening to Nevermind and saying “This Kurt Cobain guy is groovy! Hope I can be cool like him some day!” the way he no doubt did when he listened to Kiss for the first time. I don’t think Nirvana was that kind of influence for them.
The way they have clearly been an influence for big lumps of crap like 3 Doors Down and Nickelback.
I have not heard Ash, so I can’t comment on them. They’ve got a song on Epitonic.com though…I’ll check it out.
Too right you’re simplifying when you miss out Acid House in the late 80s and Baggie, which it spawned.
Most influence ON 90’s music was the Who.