After The Noise
Everything Is Equal
Thursday 12 February 2026
The Housemartins – Flag Day (1985)
The debut single from 1985. I’m just trying to get my head around that. Hasn’t aged a day!
What’s not to like about The Housemartins? They arrived, made two brilliant albums, split up, and never reformed. No endless reunion tours, no heritage circuit, no dragging the corpse around for another pay cheque. Some of them became The Beautiful South and carried on, but The Housemartins themselves stayed perfectly preserved.
I always liked them because they sounded different to most of what was around at the time. Jangly, political, warm, slightly awkward, and completely their own thing.
This is one of those singles I haven’t heard in years. Comes on, and suddenly it’s like no time has passed at all.
No rain today either, which already makes the world feel more civilized. The week’s been good. Really good, actually. The last few weeks were a mess, medication going wrong, head all over the place. Now things feel calmer. Clearer.
Turns out I probably don’t need the doctor after all. Just needed to get back to basics. Fasting, eating properly, getting through the days without too much nonsense. Amazing how a bit of effort in the right direction makes such a difference.
Two more days to go and then I’m on leave. Proper time off. I’m really looking forward to it.
Not a bad start to the morning: a clear head, a dry sky, and Flag Day on the speakers. Life occasionally remembers how to behave.
Nick Cave, Warren Ellis – Left Behind (2025)
Left Behind from the soundtrack to The Death of Bunny Munro.
More soundtrack material from Nick Cave and Warren Ellis. It’s tied to the TV adaptation starring Matt Smith, who, to his credit, has managed the tricky jump from Doctor Who heartthrob to serious actor. Same way Daniel Radcliffe shook off the wizard robes and just got on with the job.
Soundtrack music can be odd in isolation. Sometimes it needs the film or the series to give it context. On its own, this is just mellow, drifting, slightly haunted. Pleasant, but you feel like there’s a bigger picture you’re not quite seeing.
Still absolutely shattered, though. That kind of tired where your thoughts move slowly, like they’ve got heavy boots on.
Then, out of nowhere, someone sprints across the road without even looking. Full Olympic effort. Nearly gets flattened. Not even an Audi driver’s fault for once. Just pure, unfiltered idiocy. There’s a crossing ten yards away, but apparently that was too much effort.
Moments later, another one. Straight out in front of me at the lights. No apology, just a glare, like I’m the problem for driving on a green light. Amazing how quickly calm music and road stupidity can collide.
Anyway, deep breath. Let it go. No point carrying it around.
The Equals – Happy Birthday Girl (1970)
This is a proper little find. Happy Birthday Girl by The Equals.
The band that first put Eddy Grant on the map, long before the Electric Avenue days and all that later solo success.
They had that massive hit with Baby Come Back in the late 60s, and for a while they were everywhere. One of the first truly multiracial pop groups to break through in Britain as well, which probably felt more radical at the time than people remember now.
This one’s got a real rock-and-roll bounce to it. Nothing complicated. No grand statements. Just a few chords, a big grin, and straight into the tune. Sounds like they’re enjoying themselves, which is often half the battle.
Sometimes music doesn’t need to be clever or profound. It doesn’t need a concept, a manifesto, or a 40-minute ambient intro. Sometimes it just needs a hook, a beat, and a band that sound like they’re having a good time.
And that’s exactly what this is. Simple, bright, and alive. The kind of song that reminds you music used to be allowed to just… be fun, before everyone started treating every release like a thesis on the human condition.
Nice little moment on the road, even if the traffic still behaves like it was designed by drunk chimpanzees with a grudge.
R.E.M – E-Bow The Letter (1996)
I remember this one. 1996. It was a single at the time. Never bought the album, though. No real reason. Just one of those small, forgettable decisions you make without thinking, and then years go by.
I haven’t played much R.E.M. for a long time. That’s part of the reason I like the playlist. It throws things back at you that you’d otherwise ignore.
I was deciding which R.E.M. album to add. Go with something familiar like Green or Out of Time, the ones I know inside out? Or try one I never really spent time with, like New Adventures in Hi-Fi?
Glad I chose the unfamiliar one. This track came on and it felt strangely new. I don’t think I’ve heard it in twenty-five years.
Funny how songs can just disappear from your life like that, then suddenly return as if no time has passed at all.
Frank Zappa – You Used To Cut The Grass (1979)
Zappa is one of those names that’s always floated around the edges for me. Everyone talks about him. Everyone says how essential he is. Then you look at the discography and it feels like staring at a small mountain range. An absurd body of work. Intimidating, really.
This track comes from Joe’s Garage, the full concept album, parts one, two and three. Someone recommended it to me, so on it went. It veers into that strange Zappa territory, half rock, half jazz, half satire. More halves than a maths problem. Lots of free-form playing, lots of guitar excess, but in a way that feels deliberate rather than just showing off.
I wouldn’t even know where to start with his catalogue. You could spend a year on Zappa alone and still feel like a beginner.
Driving past a bus with a giant advert for Chicago Town pizza. Close-up of a perfectly styled slice, cheese stretching like it’s in a shampoo commercial. Slogan: Feed your urge.
That about sums up the modern food world. Everything designed to keep you hooked, keep you wanting more. Feed the urge, don’t question it. Just keep eating.
I’ve had enough of all that noise lately. Diet groups, miracle injections, miracle shakes, miracle everything. Endless chatter. Everyone convinced they’ve found the answer. Mostly it just sounds like static.
Meanwhile Zappa’s guitar is spiralling off into space. Chaotic, indulgent, oddly comforting.
The Listening Log 