Monday Music

Back to some good old rock this week. This week’s Monday Music is “Cold Hard Bitch” by Australian retro-rockers Jet.

I just love this song. It starts off with a heartbeat-synch pumping eighth-note riff and then builds up to the straightforward 4/4 verses and chorus.

To me, it’s a throwback to my good old junior high days of wrenching on my friend’s Malibu while a battered boom box played an even more battered dub of Back In Black. Singing, screaming, pulling air-guitar riffs out of a socket wrench. Good times.

Many years later I learned that as much fun as AC/DC style blues-rock is to play on the guitar, for some reason I have much more fun playing it on the bass. I’m not exactly sure why, but it seems to be true. I still love to strap on the guitar and crank out some “For Those About To Rock” or “Thunderstruck” every now and then, but if I’m going to put on the entire Live album then it’s my bass I’m reaching for.

This song is another perfect example of that. It’s a just a plain old guitar-rock song, and the guitar part is fun, but for some reason I just grin bigger when I play this song on the bass. So every now and then I go home, head downstairs, and plug in. When my wife hears those pumping eighth notes coming through the floorboards, she just takes the dog outside for half an hour.

Good times and big grins. That’s what good old rock and roll is about.