Composer Reacts to Car Bomb - Xoxoy (Ft. Courtney Swain) (REACTION & ANALYSIS)

Bryan reacts to and talks about his thoughts on Car Bomb - Xoxoy (Ft. Courtney Swain - Official Audio)
ORIGINAL VIDEO // • Car Bomb - Xoxoy (Ft. ...
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[@ProgPro96]

The main thing I like about Car Bomb is how chaotic, heavy and unique they are. I can name plenty of bands that sound similar to them, but I really can't think of another band that sounds like them. I also feel like their songs just flow perfectly even though the time signatures are all over the place. They manage to stay catchy somehow in the middle of all the chaos. Also I hope to see Dreamwell or Obscure Sphinx make an appearance this week!

[@progperljungman8218]

Courtney Swain is the lead singer/keyboardist of Bent Knee 😁 Loving this! Have listened some before and should really dig into them more. This song in particular is like a mix of Extol and Meshuggah - two favourites of mine. Garrett Miller's channel is as well 😊

[@progperljungman8218]

And I don't percieve this as chaotic. There's beautiful harmonies, exciting "progressive" shifts and details etc. Not easy to grasp at first listen if you're not used to it maybe. And then there's always the matter of taste. Also, there is "cold" with soul and this to me is it. (Just like with that princess in Frozen 😉)

[@CriticalReactions]

That's a name I'll have to remember then. And you're right about it possibly not being truly chaotic. For a first time listen (for me anyways) there seems to be very little "rhyme or reason" for the musical choices but admittedly I'm out of my depth with this stuff too. I'm sure more experienced listeners can find the threads that tie this all together and can see the guiding lines between all of the seemingly disparate parts.

[@arthaal]

@@CriticalReactions Prog has a good point there too, I remember the first few times it did feel incredibly chaotic to me, but as I listened more and more there's a feeling of everything coming together inside the chaos.

[@ryansadauskis]

This band is soo sick. I would love to catch them live someday. Also it's crazy how different Bent Knee is from Car Bomb, but still having somewhat of an association.

[@GodlyMullet]

late to this vid but I've seen them live and hung out with the boys. easily one of the best live shows I've ever been to.

[@ryansadauskis]

@@GodlyMullet I saw them back in March.

[@GodlyMullet]

@@ryansadauskis good to hear bro! Saw them on Dillinger's final tour last. Was a show to remember.

[@justynsullivan507]

Car Bomb is surely an acquired taste. For me, it’s how they combine the chaos and intensity with the more shoegaze and psychedelic elements of the music. Definitely an interesting listen nonetheless

[@drumkidstu]

1 12 123 1 12 123 1 12 123 1 12 123. Once you hear it, you'll never forget it. Pretty much the whole song is based off of iterations of this idea.

[@regularconversation]

i see what you did there 😏

[@saughs]

Ahh I love this one. And definitely agree with Garrett Miller...also subscribed to him too. 👍

[@bsumm1473]

Agreed on Garrett Miller!

[@arthaal]

I guess "cold" is the right way to describe it, and also part of what got me, personally, into their sound. If I'm 100% honest I have no idea what's going on musically other than "haha odd time signature go brrr" and to this day I still have no idea what 95% of their lyrics are about, but something about the tone of it, the "cold" feel of it, is what kinda clicked with me at the time I first listened to them. Another thing that really clicks with me for their music is how harsh, and almost brain numbing it is; it's almost like it blocks off all outside noise and any unnecessary thoughts, helping me concentrate much better on what I'm doing and almost being relaxing in a twisted way. In terms of the actual technical part of it: yeah, it's always impressive how much everything changes not just every bar, but within each bar as well, and they still manage to play it back to back with the other tracklist (even though there isn't much live footage of them, but it's still really insane, specially the drum cams). A recurring thing when I listen to them is that, even though I've listened some of their songs over 50 times in the past few months, I still keep finding new little things in each of them, like small changes from two riffs that seem the same but are actually pretty different in some aspects. Still, had a lot of fun listening to your thoughts on it! Maybe one day one of their songs will make it into the requests that you might like!

[@SpookySkeleton738]

nerd

[@BlueCrayon77]

@@SpookySkeleton738 turd

[@PanasonicTooth]

If you do more Car Bomb you should really consider doing Spirit Of Poison. It's a crime nobody has reacted to it yet.

[@lupe_g2]

Garrett Miller Drums has. It was live and more focused on drums, but it's there

[@jonathanhenderson9422]

Car Bomb is definitely a band I need to make a discog run through. I'm always impressed with them. To me they sound like an unholy union of Meshuggah and Dillinger Escape Plan. They have the off-the-wall chaos and whiplash changes of the latter, but with the mathier, djentier, metallic, heavier approach of the former. Plus, despite all the technicality they also manage to write some killer riffs and drum parts, many of which remind me of Mastodon and Gojira at their heaviest and most experimental. Good shout out to Garrett Miller. I was a big fan of his channel early on, but he disappeared for a long time and is rarely releasing videos anymore. I did manage to get him to react to Jamie St. Merat of Ulcerate who blew his mind, so I count that as a win. One thing I'll mention about the chaos: I do think it's important to distinguish between actual chaos and the appearance of chaos. A lot of music that sounds chaotic at first is actually very highly, carefully composed and crafted and structured. A good example is most early atonal music: it sounds chaotic because our ears are so used to hearing music structured around tonal hierarchy. Atonal music, however, structured its music around other patterns that were simply less... intuitive... audibly discernible. Other times, yes, there is music that's genuinely chaotic: there is an actual approach in new(ish) classical music called "aleatoric" composition where a lot is left to chance and, well, chaos. The entire approach of postmodernism is, in general, to juxtapose a lot of disparate ideas without concern for coherency so that we just appreciate the music moment-to-moment rather than as a whole in which each piece plays some smaller part. I don't know which kind of "chaos" that Car Bomb is yet, but I think one appeal of music that sounds chaotic (whether it is or not) is that it provokes a fascination to understand it, to try to find the order and the patterns (if they're there). In most music the patterns are easily, intuitively discernible: chaotic-sounding music isn't, and thus requires work on the listener's part to make sense of it. There's a similarity there with other art (literature, film, paintings, etc.) that are also challenging, that often doesn't make sense at first. We've talked before about David Lynch and a film like Mulholland Drive: that's an example of a film that makes no sense at first, but the more you watch it, analyze it, etc. the more the "patterns" emerge and all the seemingly chaotic, nonsensical pieces/parts start to make sense. There's a lot of music out there like that too. Is Car Bomb such music? I don't know, but I know I felt a similar "chaos" when I first discovered Meshuggah, but now that I know how they structure their music rhythmically I find it fascinating. It's true that this type of music tends to be cold, robotic, unemotional, soulless (to an extent), but I also think that's part of where the fascination is because it's in such contrast to most other music that seeks to capitalize on clear, common emotions. Music like Meshuggah is fascinating to the types of minds that find beauty and intrigue in things like puzzles or complex machinery. Not everyone finds such things beautiful and intriguing though. Sorry for the novel. :)

[@combo306]

This song is actually unique among a lot of their discography, this song starts with a simple but slightly off-kilter 1 12 123 motif and adds to/messes with the motif in variations until it's unrecognizable. A lot of their songs have clear structures, however, this one is like a giant buildup until the euphoric payoff at the end with the clean section. I think the chaos is very intentional and conveys an emotional message in that respect - it's kind of this spiraling trippy mathematical manic onslaught that keeps getting more intense and chaotic as you listen. But the more you listen and pay attention, pieces stick out and are recognizable, there is underlying cohesion that is really cool to recognize IMO. I totally understand how this could be too much at first, it took me a while to like this band but this is my perspective on them now. Thanks for giving them a chance!

[@landrec2]

I love this record, it hits all the spots for me, unusual everything ideas with REALLY solid performance. Really sets a bar. I love the pitch-shift-ringing effect the guitarist does. Dope.

[@mellowdv]

Personally I love Car Bomb. For me most of their tracks have themes rather than musical ideas in a traditional sense. Though I have no idea about music theory so take that as you may. The thing that gets me the most about their music is that the tempo of change is just pummeling and it leaves me scrambling to connect the dots, I still get surprised by Car Bomb tracks after years of listening to them. Always erratic and mutating but also they always make me feel like I'm almost there, almost made the connection. That way I never feel completely confused, but instead always seem to be working in high gear on trying to predict the next sounds, piece it all together because it feels almost there. That's what I like about Car Bomb.

[@atolho5960]

I love car bomb and I listen to them a lot. For me it's kind of an emotional search for patterns and beauty in chaos.. It helps to calm down and build acceptance :D

[@Antreu]

"cold" is actually what Meshuggah's drummer Tomas called their own music too

[@metrognome197]

Ok I'm hoping I can explain the formula of this song, and in turn, the formula of Car Bomb's music. Car Bomb is all about metric modulation. It's the cornerstone of how they write songs, particularly the drummer. This song in particular is in 9/16 with the accent pattern always being 1-12-123- with a tag line at the end of the phrase of 1-12-1-12- (each number representing a 16th note, dashes representing 16th note rests) They do a couple variations on this, and the drummer is almost always accenting different parts in each measure, giving everything a disjointed feel, but if you just keep doing 1-12-123- (*1-12-1-12-) it should get you all the way to the Courtney Swain part. The real genius of Car Bomb is how they take something fairly easy to understand and then deconstruct it every possible way until it becomes hidden or hard to recognize on first listen.

[@metrognome197]

Oh, I should mention it's not in 9/16 for every measure, the *1-12-1-12- tag at the end of each phrase is 10/16 I think

[@CriticalReactions]

Fantastic breakdown of this idea. I'll have to give this another listen with that pattern in mind.

[@SpeedOfThought1111]

It's not truly chaotic. That's just the initial impression for just about anyone even if they are experienced musical experts. But after multiple listens it all sounds more cohesive. It's essentially just very precisely crafted progressive metal written for smart metalheads who are true music lovers that are craving novelty. Personally for instance according to my lastfm profile I've listened to almost 16,000 different artists and generally when I hear something for the first time it's easy to predict how it's going to change. With Car Bomb, the writing is done for the exact opposite effect of being hard to predict and figure out and remember so you get many listens to their music while continuing to experience new things each time because it's so densely crafted with thought (they take around 3-5 years on average to write their stuff). I can understand how the intensity is not for most people though. The other progressive bands I like that compare to them on a writing level (but are calmer) would be Maudlin Of The Well (which then became Kayo Dot) and Thinking Plauge (which then became 5uu's). Those bands are amazing as well and have a more multi-instrumental palate I highly recommend checking out.

[@mikeundercofler8108]

Interestingly enough I am obsessed with this band but I don't really enjoy a lot of similar bands they're compared to, like how you say it's chaos for the sake of chaos, but something about their music clicks for me, especially Meta onward in the discography. Another big draw is that I have NEVER heard guitar tones like Greg's anywhere else, the first time I listened to Scattered Sprites my jaw dropped. It's like Tom Morello did a session with Meshuggah, pressed a record, and then microwaved it for a minute. I disagree about the soul part, I think there is definitely something there, and it shines through on songs like Gratitude, Black Blood, Antipatterns, etc. But if you inspect a machine looking for soul, you miss the cool stuff about the engineering, the design, and the purpose of it.

[@brendonlake1522]

Ooh Car Bomb, they crush it!

[@Justin-td4bb]

Awsome live. Saw them last Arctangent that happened afew years ago, and they are playing again this year. Get yourself over to Arctangen festival 👍

[@richardjones38]

I checked our Car Bomb after noticing the Eugene from Jinjer often wears their shirts, but they don't really do it for me either (neither do Meshuggah). I kind of feel like I ought to like them, but can't quite 'get it'!

[@CriticalReactions]

That's where I fit. It's a bit too aggressive for my tastes but on paper it seems right up my alley. Neither of the songs have really clicked for me, though I have so much admiration for what they're doing.

[@sicboi80]

WHERE IS ONE????

[@CriticalReactions]

Hey!!! We got a Garrett Miller fan in here :) But yeah, totally. Couldn't find the start of a bar to save my life here.

[@PanasonicTooth]

In my butt!

[@thegallyfreyanfujoshi3389]

Hello everyone ! I'm new here. I Saw Car Bomb. I'm a simple humain, i clicked. Car Bomb is one of my favorite band. I'm not an native english speaker, and I live in Europe. But.... I know them.

[@coelenterazinemusic1876]

Great analysis! I would like to recommend you the song "O^3" by Voronoii, some instrumental prog/Jazz. Cheers!

[@ihearsatan]

Please do A Life Once Lost - A Gnawing Lisp

[@cgafken]

The band doesnt record or practice with a metronome because of how many odd groupings of notes there are throughout each song.

[@jaywebb0113]

so i went through all of your videos and i could be wrong but i dont see one episode on the band Karnivool. Like really? NO VOOL? just do it... do yourself a favor. Karnivool the song Goliath , Dead Man, Themata, C.O.T.E, Roquefort , We Are, Simple Boy, Eidolon . you're welcome

[@CriticalReactions]

We're about to pass our 400th unique band on the channel and there's still quite a few major bands that I haven't heard yet. That's just how it goes when there is so much great music out there. Karnivool is on the list though, just gotta get around to them.

[@masterofparsnips5327]

Moments of "Faith No More" in here ... sounds like Mike Patten inspired

[@progperljungman8218]

Didn't think of that but probably true. To me this song is somewhat a combination of Extol and Meshuggah.

[@zanyzebra9975]

100% Fact☝️I have personally spoken to the Vocalist and members about them being heavily influenced by Mr.Bungle and Mike Paton... Plus🤔when I saw them live they were opening for Mr.Bungle🤣 You intuites spot on... Check out their earlier band called NECK☝️ YUP... They are just called "Neck".... They have like 3 albums before they created Car Bomb.... Great stuff and actually a little bit more digestible lol... You Definitely can hear their style brewing however ☝️

[@ShadowFlame420]

oh fuck yea car bomb

[@genericname9875]

Please react to the entire discography!

[@Shadvox]

Reminds me of band Extol with their Synergy album

[@yotambraunshtein9786]

Wait what I never knew car bomb did a song with Courtney swain

[@alexschmidt3034]

Someone request Infant Annihilator - Behold The Kingdom Of The Wretched Undying.

[@grinkorable]

14:53 Straws pulled at random might have the soul you're looking for....

[@static_motion]

Yup. I'm not sure if Bryan has listened to some more Meshuggah, but his only reaction of theirs is Clockworks which is as abrasive as Meshuggah gets, and is not where you can see that they can indeed have "soul". I'd love to see him react to Straws Pulled At Random or Dancers To A Discordant System.

[@CriticalReactions]

I've heard Clockworks and Bleed and that's it. I really need to give them another shot.

[@drumkidstu]

@@CriticalReactions straws for sure! Do the live performance from download festival in 2005. You'll see where they head bang and how they feel the groove cause it's all 4/4.

[@jeannettesimpson9778]

First - and probably last listen - I'm confused as to what journey I'm supposed to be on. A train from nowhere going nowhere. Sorry, but not for me.

[@CriticalReactions]

To me it's definitely more about the journey itself rather than the destination but you still got a chuckle out of me with that metaphor.

[@alfonsoagren414]

Got veiry intrested from start. Well produced and great musicians and singing. Lost the concentration after a bit. Just changing for the sake of changing gets, as I see it, a bit tiresome. Impressive though. But... Will check out more to be sure. Metal forevr! 🤘😎🤘

[@tomasdepaivacardoso9579]

mathshuggah

[@ProtestTheHero246]

This band is like Meshuggah for me. I like them for a song or two at a time but can't get through an album in one sitting. Too chaotic. Still a super cool band though.