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Alex G: "... and Something Left Unclear"
Alex G: "... and Something Left Unclear"
Alex G:
and something left unclear
Conor Ryan
Jazz and Classical Music
Jim Merod
12 December 2016
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The best music is the kind that is able to come close to describing the human condition,
whether knowingly or unknowingly. It can be found in the strains of classical music or the
crackling vinyl of jazz records. Within all the nonsensical categorizations of music the geniuses
that emerge are the ones that are able to translate the experiences of life into the language of
music. Perhaps surprisingly, one of the best translators out there right now is a 23 year old guy
named Alex Giannascoli from Philadelphia, who has been making music in his bedroom for the
better part of seven years.
At the heart of some of the greatest pieces of music is a core of brutal honesty and
overbearing intimacy. Songs so intimate they feel like they say things youve been wishing you
could say, but cant find the ways to express them yourself. Through his home recordings, Alex G
(his stage name) has managed to capture these fleeting moments and feelings in song. Over the
course of the 6 LPs and various EPs hes released in the past 7 years, he manages to illustrate
moments of humanity so real that taken in whole they capture the very essence of being.
Listening to Alex Gs songs feels a lot like reading someones diary. More than that
though, he blends personal experiences with characters he creates to truly explore the range of
experiences that people go through. Beyond the lyrics though, lies an incredible ear for melody.
These songs bury themselves into your psyche and refuse to leave. Although often he is only
working with a few scattered instruments, he is a masterful arranger and dares to explore areas
many of his counterparts shy away from. His music is strongly rooted in what came before him,
specifically much guitar music of the 1990s like Pavement, Modest Mouse, and Built to Spill.
However, he jumps from genre to genre with ease throughout his discography, all the while not
doing it to show off, but truly to amplify the meaning of his work.
I first discovered his music when a friend recommended him to me after he released his
album Trick in 2012. At the time I was just an angsty teenager (and truly I still am), but I
connected with his music in ways that had only happened with a handful of other bands. Alexs
lyrics arent standard fare. Much of the lyrics are fragments that fit together in ways that
somehow manage to convey more meaning than a full-length novel. Theyre not filled with
complex diction or challenging allusions, but are so rooted in the every-day that they have an
immediacy of connection thats hard to find.
Before digging in to an analysis of the songs of Alex Giannascoli, its important to get a
picture of who he is as a person. He grew up just outside of Philadelphia, PA in a middle class
family, but was always surrounded by music (DeLuca). As one journalist and fan wrote, This
early-twenties Philadelphia kid captures something in his songs that is universally affecting.
Sometimes, theres no better way to explain it other than: hes just got something (Garland).
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What Im going to try and do in this paper is take a little deeper look into what that something
might be that seems to make everyone fall in love with his music.
In an interview, Alex has said about his lyrics, which are often cryptic and about widereaching subject matter, I just like stories a lot! I dont know why. I like when you have a song
and theres a real, tangible character. Not too tangibleI dont like ballads or anything like that,
that stuff doesnt interest me, but when you have a human elementI cant explain why, but I
just like it (Sunny). These characters are not completely made up, he has said, Yeah, me and
Sam (Acchione, guitarist in Alex G) would walk around out of town and interview kids outside
of convenience stores and stuff. We hung out with this one kid who would scream shit at people
out of the window of his car, everyone knew that kid. I have a really long recording of him just
screaming (Garland). Instead of sitting in his room trying to imagine interesting characters, he
hasnt been afraid to find them in real life and then imagine standing in their shoes for his lyrics.
As the interviewer put it, Its a pretty apt metaphor for how you write: something totally real but
surreal at the same time (Garland).
In an exchange from one interview, ...when I asked him why he chose to study English
Literature at college before sacking it off to do Alex G full time, he said, I didnt really have to
try that hard with that subject, so I just went with it. All in all, he has all the nonchalance of
someone involved with music for all the right reasonsfor fun, and because its what comes
naturally (Garland). This is something else that comes through in his songs. Alex doesnt care
whether they are #1 on the charts, which allows him to be as experimental and open as he wants
to be. Another interviewer has summed it up by saying, Some people want things technically
right, and Alex is very much not like that. It was the part that felt so original about his music,
relying heavily on the feeling and his ears to guide it (Nelson). Rather than being guided by a
producer, he has been able to directly translate his own being into the music without being
affected or diluted by a middle-man.
Hes said that the music he makes is, ... a way for me to communicate really
effectively...Thats why I have a hard time talking about it. I think its something where I can say
a lot in the most controlled way. I have total control of it, and people understand what Im saying
for the most part (Nelson). Alex is someone who isnt necessarily comfortable expressing
himself in other ways, as is illustrated by his feelings about social media, I always regret
everything I say. I regret it period, so when its permanent and like logged there Thats why I
dont fuck with it. I have nothing against it though. It has something against ME (Garland). For
him, music is the outlet for all the things he doesnt feel comfortable saying in a normal setting.
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Cards
Salt to taste
Salt for the little hole in that face
Better go, thanks to the little bird who let me
know...
He's all talk, He's just playing cards at the
boardwalk, Watch that frown,
Talk just a little bit to calm you down.
almost two years, its still challenging to say just why it holds such an allure. They lyrics are
nonsensical at first glance. Theres an undercurrent of pain in the song. Its a pain of release. Its a
pain of abuse. However, the conclusion adds a lining of hopefulness that pics everything back
up. The last line points towards a friend panicking after a traumatic experience, saying that the
narrator is there to calm them down. The way its placed in the song makes it seem like Alex G
himself is there to relax the listener. Its a mesmerizing song that Ive put on repeat for an hour at
a time.
The music itself is based on a relatively long repeating chord progression. That kind of
structure allows the song to both seem to be
constantly unfolding while at the same time
Things To Do
Hold on tight to this time, this place
being cyclical in nature. It propels the listener
cause
forward and backward simultaneously. Like
Everything you know will be erased
most of his songs, its mixed to fully encompass
You were born inside your head and
the listener. He double tracks his guitar parts so
That is where youll be when you are dead
that the mix will sound full, but also allows for
an imperfect feel to his songs.
Things to Do deals directly with the feeling of existential dread that wells up in the pits of
our stomachs at the worst times. The arrangement consists of simple, but beautifully done,
double tracked guitars underneath Alexs singing. Its based around a cyclical, discordant,
ascending guitar line that is at once gorgeous and uneasy. Buried in the mix are vocals pitched up
by an octave to accompany the guitar line.
The lyrics in it that drive the theme home come in the chorus, Hold on tight to this time
this place, cause everything you know will be erased. Its about living in the moment instead of
worrying about the future. Its also a sobering admittance of something that every single person
lives knowing, but generally tries not to acknowledge because its such a terrifying thought. He
continues, You were born inside your head and that is where youll be when you are dead. Alex
seems to be talking about the ideas of Hinduism that we were all born out of one being and are
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Adam
all parts of one whole. The physical lives we know now are simply
Ill make
A twenty dollar bet
Adam wont get
His lunchbox back
figments of the universal body thats alone and trying to cope with
I took it
An hour ago
Hes cryin' in the
snow
I want him so
its own endless loneliness. Its a song that digs deep into the psyche
of humanity as a whole and its one of his best set of lyrics for that
reason.
Adam is a prime example of Alexs ability to tell stories in his
songs from anothers perspective. Its about an elementary school
bully taking another kids lunchbox and nearly drowning him at the
local YMCA. Theres a major plot twist here though, in the last
sentence when Alex sings, Hes crying in the snow, I want him so. Its a powerful line to end a
song with, that turns the meaning of everything up to that point on its head.
When kids flirt with each other, it doesnt tend to be in a kind
way. Instead of complimenting a girl, a boy might tell her she looks
ugly then run away laughing. Truly theres no greater sign of
affection. In this song, however, its most likely that the narrator is
also a boy, which brings in yet another layer of someone questioning
their sexual orientation. On top of all this, the lyrics are an
exploration of the psyche of bullies who oftentimes abuse others
because they arent secure with their own life or personality. They
lash out to fill a void within themselves, which only creates a painful
feedback loop for everyone involved. Whats brilliant about Alexs
lyrics is that all of these ideas are only implied in the songs and never
outright stated, which leaves a lot of interpretation up to the listener.
Gnaw
The production on the song Gnaw is raw, even for Alex Gs standards. This is done
intentionally because it helps elevate the meaning of the lyrics. If the instrumental track was
isolated without vocals, it would be unsettling to listen to. The acoustic guitar is muddled and the
electric guitars lead part is distorted in a way that makes it cut through the mix like a sharp knife
and dig directly into my ear drums. The whole track feels like its just on the edge of overloading
and falling apart at any moment. In fact, it actually does fall apart toward the middle of the song,
only to be put back together again. Alex sings this song, as with most of his others, very quietly.
Im almost certain he played and sang the main vocal and guitar parts into a recording app on his
phone. Those parts in the final mix carry with it a tinny and rough quality that generally comes
out of rushed phone recordings. What this gives to the end product is a sense of intimacy that
cant truly be replicated in a high end recording studio.
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Like many of Alex Gs lyrics, these ones are cryptic and unsettling. As with his song
Adam, Gnaw also seems to play with the character of a bully told from the first person. In the
first verse, Alex sings, You were crying loud right out in the schoolyard. The bully is talking
about one of his victims and immediately after, he recalls finding a tree where he, Carved in it
666 and he found me. Alex then plays with the idea of the narrator in the song being lifted up by
Satan. Instead of ruminating once again on being a playground bully, the story advances into the
bullys adulthood where hes now an abuser.
Trash
In the context of this song its more likely the narrator caused the pain in the person they are now
trying to assuage. In many cases abusers often put their lovers and victims through this cycle of
causing them pain then making it seem like everything is okay again, only to hurt them once
more. Alex seems to understand this kind of relationship in a deep way and builds up a terrifying
narrative out of such honesty.
Trash is based around a latin-inspired organ groove.
All the other instrumentation fits into place around this and it
Let it Go
has a melancholic, yet festive, feel to it. The second verse is a
Im sure sorry about your
son
theoretical conversation the narrator is having with a girl, The
I heard he was a lot of fun
world is a really scary place, but I know from the look thats
And Im sorry bout the way
on your face your life has been over way before it all began.
That he ran away
Its a concise way to sum up the look of abandonment, pain,
and hopelessness that lives at the core of some people. When someone has been so wrecked by
pain throughout their life, its collected in a thin veil just under the eyes. Intentionally, the
narrator here is supposed to be insensitive to this girls life troubles and says, But girl its all a
fucking joke, so just live it while you can. Out of context this sounds inspirational - in a highschool philosopher sort of way - but it drives home the point that when someone feels that deep
inner sadness, simply saying something like, cheer up! wont make them feel better. In fact, it
will make them feel a little like trash.
Let it Go finds Alex G at one of his most playful and creative moments. The structure of
this track is hypnotic in the way it unfolds. It starts with a strummed acoustic guitar, which is
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soon joined by a jaunty piano track that initially seems out of place, but in the end elevates the
song to a whole other realm. The drum groove is a variation on a second-line drum beat, which
when paired with the piano makes the whole song sound joyful and fun. However the lyrics are
everything but fun.
Songs that contrast dark and playful
elements hold a special place in my heart.
Big World
It elevates the final track to something
Somebody told me I shouldnt go to school
I should just play guitar and try to break the
multidimensional that more accurately
rules
captures the state of being human. The
I thought Id do it, but I didnt start
repeated refrain for the first portion of
I couldnt bring myself to break mommys heart
this song is, Are you really there? Its
an unsettling question that sweetly sung
Last night I saw her staring through the tv screen
over that playful piano. Alex tackles the
Into another world no one has ever seen
Theres something wrong maybe theres not
impossible theme of human existence and
I guess its all ok as long as she forgot
consciousness in this song. The verses
are simple images, but powerful ones,
such as him offering an apology to a mother for the death of her son (presumably to suicide). The
song falls apart at the end and the refrain becomes, You can let it go. One interpretation of this
is the old cliche, dont sweat the small things. The other interpretation, though, is darker and
suggests suicide as an exit from the race he discusses in the rest of the song. The dual meanings
that he manages to weave into this piece are stunning, but flow effortlessly over the arrangement.
The chorus of Big World is a recurring doo da vocal part in between the verses thats
sung in a near whisper. The acoustic guitar is muddled and distorted, while the drums are crisp
and clean. Surprisingly, the whispered melody is incredibly sweet. While the lyrics on Big World
might not be the most cryptic or mystical, they hit hard. The second verse talks about how Alex
wanted to tour and play guitar after high school, but didnt dare do it because, I couldnt bring
myself to break mommys heart.
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This sentiment is contrasted in the third verse by the image
Memory
Forever
imagined. The last verse starts, I really like the game we played, which
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with the beautiful melody and everything is elevated by a plucked banjo. Between the chorus and
the verse is an instrumental interlude which features two dueling saxophones panned between
left and right, which is also echoed at the end of the song after the last chorus. Although its only
two and a half minutes long, it packs an amazing amount of incredibly executed arrangement
ideas into that time.
Once again, the lyrics are dark in contrast to the beauty of the arrangement and melody. It
includes short lines like, burns in the sun and, drink to forget that imply a deep pain and
trying to forget about it. It gets more sinister than that when he gently sings, Open your mouth.
You look so out of it. When youre in an inebriated state theres always a fear that someone can
take advantage of you. Here its implied either the narrator was taken advantage of, or they took
advantage of someone else. Through all this, the chorus is a rumination on bad habits of either
the narrator or someone they care for. If they can just pull it together then they will be loved.
However, its frightening that it comes with the implication that if they dont get their shit
together then there will be no love for them. In a way, this song is a wake up call for the people
who always fall back into their bad habits even when theyre aware of the damage it can do to
themselves and others. They might not have a forever if they cant pull it together.
Animals is potentially the most disturbing song
Alex G has made. At the beginning, the lyrics seem to
Animals
I get sick when i get stoned
be just another sad teenage feelings song. However,
Everything we do
it takes a dark turn when he starts to sing, Rosie is
We do it alone
my favorite dog The chorus has such a catchy
Rosie is my favorite dog
melody and arrangement that its initially hard to tell
Takes her piss on the neighbors
lawn
what hes singing. However its, I do animals, not
Rosie is my favorite dog
people. Then, in the following verse theres a line that
Bites my hand when i go wrong
goes, Hold her tight and feel no pain. Her dog breath
I do
drives me insane.
Animals, not people
I do animals
My knee-jerk reaction to these lyrics is disgust. On
Not people
the surface level it sure sounds like the song is about
I do
bestiality. If thats truly what its about, then its highly
likely that this is yet another song based around a
character or someone in real life besides himself. Alex has said in the interview mentioned
earlier, I just like stories a lot! I dont know why. I like when you have a song and theres a real,
tangible character (Sunny). Here he may be taking a look at a specific darker side of humanity
that is rarely, if ever, talked about in songs. From another perspective, Rosie can be a metaphor
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for someone (a human being) who he has been in
a relationship with. Then the song becomes about
how both owning a pet and finding a partner are
simply ways in which people try to cope with the
deep pit of existential loneliness inside us all.
Mary
are not. It implies that while hes fallen head over heels for her, she was simply using him and
then losing him. While this may be something brief it can be a reference to an abusive situation
in a relationship where the narrator isnt valued for who they are as a person and Mary only cares
about her own world.
Change is the first song I ever heard by Alex G. All I remember is that I was sitting in my
room and by the time it was over, I was in tears. While throughout human history there have
been an almost infinite number of songs that deal with relationships, this is one that is incredibly
visceral to me. A great deal of its impact lies in the specificity of the lyrics. Along with this, the
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arrangement is simply a double-tracked cycling acoustic guitar part, that at some points is joined
by a simple electric guitar riff. The melody and chords dont change at all throughout the song,
which is most certainly intentional to go along with the sentiment of the lyrics. A lot of times,
love songs tend to deal in generalizations and cliches, so a song that describes such a vividly
pictured situation can be soul-crushing if done well.
Everyone has felt the sentiment repeated at the end of this song, I dont like how things
change. Especially when a relationship comes to an end, no matter what side of it were on, this
is something thats easy to feel. We naturally want to latch on to the times when we were
happiest. The times at a beginning of a relationship when everything is all smiles and loveydovey eyes. When neither person wants to leave the bedroom. Then, two years later suddenly
youre turning away from your partner, or they arent making a lot of time in their day for you.
Everything is tinged with a touch of staleness, but youre still clinging onto that bright, glowing
ember that was once a roaring fire in the beginning of the relationship. Then, maybe while youre
staring at the ceiling at night, you think, I dont like how things change. Thats what this song
captures so brutally and beautifully.
On Sorry, Alex explores addiction in his typically cryptic
lyrical style. The first lines are, Ill get my cure. Wait in the car. Its
clear that this character is someone picking up drugs from their dealer,
which they view as the cure for the heaviness of life. Whether its
alcohol, pot, or another illicit substance, most people have reached for
something in their lifetime to self-medicate their woes. In the end it
often only makes situations worse, but the temporary relief of
forgetting what its like to be weighed down by the inherent struggles
of coping with existence makes it feel worthwhile. However, the lyrics
here show the downside, I wont remember who you are. Alex is
talking in the long term here. Instead of the narrator focusing his time
on his lover, hell be slowly consumed by the cure he had so
desperately searched for at the beginning of the song.
The second verse deals with the crushing realization of looking
Sorry
at someone you once loved and not feeling the same way anymore, I
look at you and feel the same. Could you forgive me for that pain? Its an awful feeling. The
narrator realizes that since they no longer feel love for the person theyre with, theyre going to
have to hurt them by breaking their heart. The cure in the first verse might be related to this, as
the narrator might be trying to forget the fact that he doesnt love his lover anymore. The third
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verse is a play on the second, Pariah kid lost in a game. The narrator sees himself as just an
outsider never meant to be a part of this game. Its his excuse for not loving this person instead of
digging for deeper reasons why the relationship fell apart.
Alex G is just at the beginning of his musical career. In six years hes already surpassed
the musical output of what many famous musicians have only been able to do over the course of
decades. In my own musical journey, hes been one of my biggest influences. So far Ive
recorded two full albums in my room. I wrote them, I arranged them, and I performed all the
instruments on them. I wouldnt have the confidence to do that if I had never heard Alexs music.
Alex is an example of what happens when kindness, passion, goofiness, care, work ethic, and
talent all come together. Most musicians would do well to be a little more like Alex, if not
musically, personality-wise.
While not all of his songs are incredible, the ones that are soar to incredible heights. His
songs have been a soundtrack to my own life for the past few years. Whenever I return to them, I
always come out with something new to hold onto. Hes set an unbelievable baseline of quality
for himself, and it seems like hes only been getting better at knowing himself as a musician with
every new release. His songs are ones that live in the same place as other great songwriters.
Theyre timeless because they touch on the parts of the human soul that were often reluctant to
look at and then give us a catharsis to help ease our pain. Alex G may still be a kid, but hes got a
lot to say.
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Works Cited
DeLuca, Dan. "Alex G: One-man Band a Philly Indie Success Story." Philly.com. Philadelphia
Media Network, 07 Dec. 2014. Web. 10 Dec. 2016.
Garland, Emma. "We Ate Pizza and Talked About Real Shit with Alex G." Noisey. Vice, 10 Apr.
2015. Web. 27 Nov. 2016.
Giannascoli, Alex, perf. Boring Ecstasy: The Bedroom Pop of Orchid Tapes. Alex G. Alex
Giannascoli, 2014. MP3.
Giannascoli, Alex, perf. DSU. Alex G. Alex Giannascoli, 2014. MP3.
Giannascoli, Alex, perf. RACE. Alex G. Alex Giannascoli, 2010. CD.
Giannascoli, Alex, perf. Split 7" with R.L. Kelly. Alex G. Alex Giannascoli, 2013. MP3.
Giannascoli, Alex, perf. Winner. Alex G. Alex Giannascoli, 2011. MP3.
Giannascoli, Alex. Trick. Alex G. Alex Giannascoli, 2012. MP3.
Nelson, Geoff. "Ruining Alex G." Consequence of Sound. Consequence of Sound, 08 Oct. 2015.
Web. 27 Nov. 2016.
Sunny. "Beach Music: An Interview With Alex G." Rookie. Rookie, 13 Jan. 2016. Web. 02 Dec.
2016.