Recent events in the shitshow that is US politics, combined with the approaching Fourth of July holiday, mean that I’ve been listening to Rage Against the Machine lately.
I’ve realized that Rage is a perfect candidate for a Know Your Tempos Post, but I didn’t have enough time to clock the BPM of all the songs. Maybe we’ll save that for the next Fourth… but for today, here’s a quick look at a groove from “Vietnow.” In the words of Genius.com, “The song bashes right-wing Americans, which is what RATM are best at.” This groove shows up in the beginning and during the chorus, as well as a short bridge.
I like this one mainly because of the hi-hat bark thing on beat 4 in the second measure; an effective blurring of the line between a straightforward time-keeping groove and a fill. I suppose it’s not totally necessary to write this one out, but maybe seeing it on paper will help someone make sense of it, and I think I’ve captured the gist of it.
The intro of the track has an interesting lope. The guitar riff that kicks off the song starts on beat 3, and there’s an unusual break in the middle of two measures that happens right before the full band comes in for the chorus. It goes a little something like this:
The vocals actually come in on beat 2 of that third measure, so it sounds like the vocals are out of sync with the rest of the band until the first verse starts and you get a better idea of where the one is (thanks to the simpler drums). Fun stuff.
