So why is Graham Day & The Gaolers’ Triple Distilled on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
Triple Distilled is one of the very best rock albums from the 2000s that most people haven’t heard of.
Part of why Graham Day & The Gaolers never broke through in a bigger way simply comes down to timing. UK rock in the mid-2000s was dominated by the swagger and bombast of Oasis, along with the polished indie of Arctic Monkeys and Franz Ferdinand.
Meanwhile, the Gaolers tapped a different well: short, sharp bursts of garage rock adrenaline driven by Medway grit and Graham Day’s lifetime of underground songwriting. It wasn’t the sound that labels were chasing in 2007, but I find it to be better than most of the music that was popular at the time. And other times too, at that.
An excitement and visceral live concert feel pulses throughout the album, starting with “Glad I’m Not Young,” the opening song.
The album hits its pinnacle with the fifth track, “Wanna Smoke,” which I imagine the lads from Oasis would appreciate. And dig clever lines like “This whole situation is literally a drag.”
But I also admire and deeply appreciate how Graham Day & The Gaolers can shift from maximum rock-out mode to more soaring and arena-rocking vibes, best exemplified by the ebullient “Just A Song.”
And that puts me in the mind of thinking about why this band didn’t break through in a bigger way – at least in the U.S. But then I simply go back to appreciating what an incredible album Triple Distilled is*.
* And if you’re into any of this business at all, be sure to check out Graham Day & The Gaolers’ Soundtrack to the Daily Grind (#714), also outstanding.
I have a sweet spot for garage rock that’s melodic and tight and highly energetic, and songs like “Something About You Girl” just hit it for me every single time.
Some stats & info about Graham Day & The Gaolers – Triple Distilled
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Rock Music, British Bands, Hard Rock, Garage Rock, Indie Rock
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 4 out of 5 stars
- When was Triple Distilled released? 2008
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #144 out of 1,000
Graham Day & The Gaolers’ Triple Distilled on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from Graham Day & The Gaolers’ Triple Distilled that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
I wanna smoke (and smoke and smoke).
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.