Why is Graham Day and the Gaolers’ Soundtrack to the Daily Grind on my best 1,000 albums ever list?
One listen and you’ll be on the pull.
What does Graham Day and the Gaolers’ Soundtrack to the Daily Grind mean to me? What does it make me feel? Why is it exciting or compelling?
Graham Day and the Gaolers is the kind of band – that rare kind of band, I should state – where I stumbled into them ten or twelve years ago, let’s say, and immediately recognized that I completely dug and trusted everything that they could throw at me. In this case it means great guitar rock in the best British rock tradition, with a mix of alternative and garage rock “revival” thrown in.
But the sound overall is rather singular, I’d argue. They’ve only produced two studio albums as of this writing (Soundtrack to the Daily Grind in 2007 and Triple Distilled in 2008) and they’re both fantastic and well worth checking out.
I’m guessing that most Americans won’t know what “on the pull” means in British slang – and the only reason I know is that I lived in England for a spell many moons back. In essence, “on the pull” means someone is looking to hook up, on the prowl as it were. “On the Pull,” the song, is absolutely fantastic whether you know what it means or not and a great introduction to Graham Day and the Gaolers if you’re not familiar with them.
“Disown Me” is my favorite song on Soundtrack to the Daily Grind, with its fabulous guitar hook out of the best Britpop and British Invasion traditions and great vocal harmonies.
The title track, “Soundtrack to the Daily Grind,” leans into a harder alt rock sound and exceeds mightily.
This is one of those albums for me where you can’t really go wrong. Just throw it on and enjoy.
Some stats & info about Graham Day and the Gaolers – Soundtrack to the Daily Grind
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Rock Music, British Bands, Alternative Rock, Garage Rock Revival
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 3.5 out of 5 stars
- When was Soundtrack to the Daily Grind released? 2007
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #714 out of 1,000
Graham Day and the Gaolers’ Soundtrack to the Daily Grind on YouTube
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.