Post by Anacrusis on Apr 28, 2022 17:48:05 GMT
Gordon James Gano
Years Active: 1980 - Present
Associated Acts: Violent Femmes, The Mercy Seat
Recorded Range: D2 - B♭5
Voice Type: Gemini
{Description}
Violent Femmes, the ‘80s folk punk trio that’s now a staple of classic rock radio today, is a group that’s straightforward, but very unique. For one, their setup is straight from the pawn shop: one acoustic bass guitar, one acoustic or jangly minimal-distortion electric guitar, and for percussion…one single snare drum (at least on their first album, which has most of their best-known songs). Yet, with this simple setup, the band explores the full dynamic spectrum, going from super soft to thrashing loud on a dime.
Their coordination is impeccable. But it is their energy that really connects them with their fans. You don’t listen to Violent Femmes for their technical prowess. You listen for their unique sound of raw angst over thrifty upbeat music, a blend that Femmes singer Gordon Gano delivers remarkably well through his vocals.
Now, Gano isn’t what you’d call an opera diva. He’s pretty nasal and has a habit of resorting to talk-singing in longer passages. He also didn’t always sing with much breath support during the band’s heyday, as evidenced by his high range back then being prone to tone dips and voice cracks (though he’s steadily improved this over his career). But if his tone was ever lacking, it worked fully to the advantage of his angsty, dramatic persona. Gano has always had a penchant for singing harsh, stern passages anchored around one note, like the monologue that some vengeful movie protagonist might deliver before confronting a resented foe. Sometimes, he even repeats a certain phrase over and over for emphasis, which when combined with his unrefined technique, can give off the impression of a distrubed outcast muttering a harsh truth to themselves while slowly succumbing to a breakdown.
To many fans of the music, this chaos is as relatable as it is unsettling. It’s punk (more specifically, folk punk) acted out purely through raw energy, harsh lyrics, and well-executed dynamics, both vocally and musically. The angst is almost uncomfortably real. And there’s no screaming or distortion attached to it. It’s just three guys with cheap instruments, and Gano and his words at the center. It almost makes you forget the fact that the Femmes’ music is fairly upbeat and major-key most of the time, save for a lingering sense of frustration and sexual woes found through their increasingly vulgar lyrics if not through their whole image.
In terms of placement, Gano is a higher-placed singer naturally. This is evident in moments such as the intro to the Femmes classic “Add It Up,” in which he sings a few F♯4’s and a G clearly and softly, with hardly any strain. However, perhaps the best one example of his strong high range took place a few albums later, after he’d refined his technique a little more: I'm talking about this amazing passage at the end of “No Killing,” which despite the song’s title, ends itself by mercilessly smothering you to death with love…specifically forty G4 “Looo-o-ove”s in a row from Mr. Tenor-in-Denial.
And I say denial because, despite being more on the tenor side, Gano tends to use his low range more than anything else. It’s a generally rare decision to see in this kind of music, but it seems Gano does it to emulate his old-school folk inspirations. While the argument could be made that he’s more of a baritone because of this, that’s still (by my amatuer assessment) unlikely given that even after many years of working out his lower register, his tone is admittedly weak below G2 (F♯2 in recent years). And though he tries for notes below that, he always strains himself quite a bit to reach them. Meanwhile, his high range has only cleared up and grown stronger since his career started, and he has no problems with sustaining clear chest A4’s, or with mixing well up into the fifth octave (though stylistically, that’s not something he does too often). And then there’s also his short-lived gospel project from the late ‘80s, The Mercy Seat, whose one self-titled album saw him command some effortless but powerful belts up to B♭4, as well as grittier belts up to the high C, which appears to be the peak of his chest voice.
But even if it’s not his most natural strength, there are benefits to Gano’s preferred lower range. In a way, delivering melodies from the bottom of his range makes the Femmes’ angst more grim and serious, as if it were less of a spontaneous argument and more of an honest confession - the point of no return, perhaps in terminating a relationship or in committing oneself to some morbid deed. Maybe this approach to drama was even influenced by Gano’s experience with acting/theater from his youth. Wherever it came from, the angst was real. Though it’s also worth noting that Gano’s lyrics started to mellow out later on, leaning more into dry humor and taking itself less seriously over time.
Going beyond the Violent Femmes, Gano once tried his hand at glam metal through the Pacifist Dudes, but then all the other Dudes fell off a cliff. Distraught, Gano reflected on his mistakes and learned that pacifism was not the answer. So he swore to channel his angst once more through his solo career in the 2000s. This solo career, and its two albums, surely had angst aplenty. The angst was even broken up and distributed among various genres that were quite unlike those of the Malicious Feminists.
But oh no! It was a red herring. Because then one morning, Gano woke up and realized he had never left the Aggressive Gentlewomen. So he picked up his acoustic guitar, looked his fellow Gentlewomen in the eyes, and he knew, once and for all, that if he could just angst for all eternity, then he would never die. Gano thus became immortal.
Resolving never again to be hiatused, Gano and his Gentlewomen proceeded to release both an eleventh and a dozenth album subsequent to the eleventh album, which is why I’ve dedicated much of my essay to chronicling Gordon Gano and the Powerpuff Girls.
Violent Femmes, the ‘80s folk punk trio that’s now a staple of classic rock radio today, is a group that’s straightforward, but very unique. For one, their setup is straight from the pawn shop: one acoustic bass guitar, one acoustic or jangly minimal-distortion electric guitar, and for percussion…one single snare drum (at least on their first album, which has most of their best-known songs). Yet, with this simple setup, the band explores the full dynamic spectrum, going from super soft to thrashing loud on a dime.
Their coordination is impeccable. But it is their energy that really connects them with their fans. You don’t listen to Violent Femmes for their technical prowess. You listen for their unique sound of raw angst over thrifty upbeat music, a blend that Femmes singer Gordon Gano delivers remarkably well through his vocals.
Now, Gano isn’t what you’d call an opera diva. He’s pretty nasal and has a habit of resorting to talk-singing in longer passages. He also didn’t always sing with much breath support during the band’s heyday, as evidenced by his high range back then being prone to tone dips and voice cracks (though he’s steadily improved this over his career). But if his tone was ever lacking, it worked fully to the advantage of his angsty, dramatic persona. Gano has always had a penchant for singing harsh, stern passages anchored around one note, like the monologue that some vengeful movie protagonist might deliver before confronting a resented foe. Sometimes, he even repeats a certain phrase over and over for emphasis, which when combined with his unrefined technique, can give off the impression of a distrubed outcast muttering a harsh truth to themselves while slowly succumbing to a breakdown.
To many fans of the music, this chaos is as relatable as it is unsettling. It’s punk (more specifically, folk punk) acted out purely through raw energy, harsh lyrics, and well-executed dynamics, both vocally and musically. The angst is almost uncomfortably real. And there’s no screaming or distortion attached to it. It’s just three guys with cheap instruments, and Gano and his words at the center. It almost makes you forget the fact that the Femmes’ music is fairly upbeat and major-key most of the time, save for a lingering sense of frustration and sexual woes found through their increasingly vulgar lyrics if not through their whole image.
In terms of placement, Gano is a higher-placed singer naturally. This is evident in moments such as the intro to the Femmes classic “Add It Up,” in which he sings a few F♯4’s and a G clearly and softly, with hardly any strain. However, perhaps the best one example of his strong high range took place a few albums later, after he’d refined his technique a little more: I'm talking about this amazing passage at the end of “No Killing,” which despite the song’s title, ends itself by mercilessly smothering you to death with love…specifically forty G4 “Looo-o-ove”s in a row from Mr. Tenor-in-Denial.
And I say denial because, despite being more on the tenor side, Gano tends to use his low range more than anything else. It’s a generally rare decision to see in this kind of music, but it seems Gano does it to emulate his old-school folk inspirations. While the argument could be made that he’s more of a baritone because of this, that’s still (by my amatuer assessment) unlikely given that even after many years of working out his lower register, his tone is admittedly weak below G2 (F♯2 in recent years). And though he tries for notes below that, he always strains himself quite a bit to reach them. Meanwhile, his high range has only cleared up and grown stronger since his career started, and he has no problems with sustaining clear chest A4’s, or with mixing well up into the fifth octave (though stylistically, that’s not something he does too often). And then there’s also his short-lived gospel project from the late ‘80s, The Mercy Seat, whose one self-titled album saw him command some effortless but powerful belts up to B♭4, as well as grittier belts up to the high C, which appears to be the peak of his chest voice.
But even if it’s not his most natural strength, there are benefits to Gano’s preferred lower range. In a way, delivering melodies from the bottom of his range makes the Femmes’ angst more grim and serious, as if it were less of a spontaneous argument and more of an honest confession - the point of no return, perhaps in terminating a relationship or in committing oneself to some morbid deed. Maybe this approach to drama was even influenced by Gano’s experience with acting/theater from his youth. Wherever it came from, the angst was real. Though it’s also worth noting that Gano’s lyrics started to mellow out later on, leaning more into dry humor and taking itself less seriously over time.
Going beyond the Violent Femmes, Gano once tried his hand at glam metal through the Pacifist Dudes, but then all the other Dudes fell off a cliff. Distraught, Gano reflected on his mistakes and learned that pacifism was not the answer. So he swore to channel his angst once more through his solo career in the 2000s. This solo career, and its two albums, surely had angst aplenty. The angst was even broken up and distributed among various genres that were quite unlike those of the Malicious Feminists.
But oh no! It was a red herring. Because then one morning, Gano woke up and realized he had never left the Aggressive Gentlewomen. So he picked up his acoustic guitar, looked his fellow Gentlewomen in the eyes, and he knew, once and for all, that if he could just angst for all eternity, then he would never die. Gano thus became immortal.
Resolving never again to be hiatused, Gano and his Gentlewomen proceeded to release both an eleventh and a dozenth album subsequent to the eleventh album, which is why I’ve dedicated much of my essay to chronicling Gordon Gano and the Powerpuff Girls.
Significant High Notes:
B♭5 ("Girl Trouble", "Life is a Scream")
A5 ("Let the Church Roll On")
G5 ("Faith", "Girl Trouble", "Life is a Scream", "Special")
F♯5 ("Children of the Revolution", "Heartache", "Special")
F5 ("Agamemnon", "Cold Canyon")
E5 ("Add It Up", "Children of the Revolution", "Her Television", "No Killing")
E♭5 ("Cold Canyon")
D5 ("Freak Magnet", "Girl Trouble", "In the Dark", "Ugly")
C♯5 ("Under the Sun")
C5 ("Good for/at Nothing", "He Said", "I’ve Got a Feeling", "Please Do Not Go")
B4 ("Agamemnon", "Better Than You Know", "Freak Magnet", "Kiss Off" Viva Wisconsin live version, "Mirror Mirror (I See a Damsel)", "Step Right Up")
B♭4 ("Girl Trouble", "Let Me Ride", "A Story", "World We’re Living In")
A4 ("At Your Feet", "Blister in the Sun" Viva Wisconsin live version, "Hallowed Ground", "He Said", "Heartache", "I Won’t Be Back", "I’m Bad", "I’m Free", "Kiss Off" Add It Up (1981 - 1993) live version, "Life is a Scream", "Positively 4th Street", "Sleepin’ at the Meetin’", "Thanksgiving (No Way Out)", "Ugly", "Way That I Creep", "Werewolf", "World We’re Living In")
G♯4 ("Don’t Start Me on the Liquor", "Hollywood Is High", "I’m Nothing" Hotel Last Resort, "Issues", "Key of 2", "Positively 4th Street", "Red", "Sleepin’ at the Meetin’")
G4 ("Add It Up", "American Music" studio/live KEXP Seattle 2017, "Dating Days", "Faith", "Fool in the Full Moon", "Girl Trouble", "Good for/at Nothing", "He Likes Me", "Her Television", "Holy Ghost", "It’s Gonna Rain", "Jesus Walking on Water", "Just Like My Father", "Kiss Off", "Life is a Scream", "Living a Lie", "Me and You", "More Money Tonight", "Mosh Pit", "Never Tell", "No Killing", "Please Do Not Go", "Raquel", "Special", "Step Right Up", "Tonight", "Waiting for the Bus", "Wave and Water", "World We’re Living In")
F♯4 ("4 Seasons", "Add It Up", "Bad Dream", "Better Than You Know", "Black Girls", "Don’t Forget About Me", "Foothills", "Hollywood Is High", "How Do You Say Goodbye", "I Could Do Anything", "I Don’t Need Nobody Else (But Jesus)", "I Held Her in My Arms", "I’m Bad", "I’m Nothing" live with Paste Magazine 2016, "Look Like That", "Man in the Sand", "More Money Tonight", "Under the Sun")
F4 ("America Is", "American Music", "Breakin’ Hearts", "Breakin’ Up", "Candlelight Song", "Dating Days", "Here As a Guest", "Hey Nonny Nonny", "I Am a Pilgrim", "Issues", "Judge to Widow", "Make It Happen", "Me and You", "Mirror Mirror (I See a Damsel)", "Mosh Pit", "Never Tell", "Red", "Sleepin’ at the Meetin’", "To the Kill", "Ugly")
E4 ("36-24-36", "Breakin’ Hearts", "Cold Canyon", "Dating Days", "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me", "Don’t Forget About Me", "Don’t Start Me on the Liquor", "Every Breath You Take", "Fast Horses", "Fool in the Full Moon", "Gimme the Car", "Good for/at Nothing", "He Likes Me", "Hired Gun", "Holy Ghost", "Home", "Hotel Last Resort", "I Could Be Anything", "I Get What I Want", "I’m Bad", "It’s All or Nothing", "It’s Gonna Rain", "Jesus of Rio", "Jesus Walking on Water", "Kiss Off", "Lack of Knowledge", "Let the Church Roll On", "Life Is an Adventure", "Love Love Love Love Love", "Memory", "Mirror Mirror (I See a Damsel)", "More Money Tonight", "Mother of a Girl", "My Way", "New Times", "Nothing Worth Living For", "Promise", "Rejoice and Be Happy", "Sleepwalkin’", "Special", "Sweet Misery Blues", "Telephone Book", "Under the Sun", "Werewolf", "What You Really Mean", "World We’re Living In", "Yes, Oh, Yes")
Significant Low Notes:
C3 ("American Music", "Another Chorus", "Big Car", "Breakin’ Hearts", "Country Death Song", "Crazy", "Flamingo Baby", "Get Up (When the World Comes Tumbling Down)", "Gimme the Car", "Good for/at Nothing", "Gone Daddy Gone", "He Said", "Hey Nonny Nonny", "I Hate the TV", "I Know It’s True But I’m Sorry to Say", "In Style", "It’s Money", "Jesus of Rio", "Just Like My Father", "Lies", "More Money Tonight", "Red", "A Story", "To the Kill", "Wave and Water", "Way That I Creep", "When You Died")
B2 ("4 Seasons", "Adam Was a Man", "Add It Up", "Bad Dream", "Breakin’ Up", "Candlelight Song", "Everlasting You", "Forbidden", "God Bless America", "Hallowed Ground", "Happy New Year Next Year", "Hired Gun", "I Don’t Need Nobody Else (But Jesus)", "In the Dark", "It’s All or Nothing", "Kiss Off", "Life Is an Adventure", "Living a Lie", "Love Love Love Love Love", "No Killing", "Nothing Worth Living For", "Out the Window", "Outside the Palace", "Paris to Sleep", "Promise", "A Story", "This Island Life", "What You Really Mean", "World We're Living In", "Yes, Oh, Yes")
B♭2 ("Jesus of Rio", "Make It Happen", "She Went to Germany")
A2 ("36-24-36", "Adam Was a Man", "Bad Dream", "Black Girls", "Breakin’ Up", "Cold Canyon", "Confessions", "Country Death Song" live KEXP Seattle 2017, "Dating Days", "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me", "Everlasting You", "Forbidden", "Freak Magnet", "Gimme the Car", "Gone Daddy Gone", "He Said", "Heartache", "Here As a Guest", "Hired Gun", "Hitting the Ground (Reprise)", "Hotel Last Resort", "I Danced", "I Hear the Rain", "I Held Her in My Arms", "I Saw You in the Crowd", "I’m Free", "I’m Not Done", "I’m Not Gonna Cry", "Jesus of Rio", "Let the Church Roll On", "Lies", "Life Is an Adventure", "Look Like That", "Me and You", "Mirror Mirror (I See a Damsel)", "Mother of a Girl", "Mother Talking", "Nothing Worth Living For", "Prove My Love", "Special", "SpongeBob SquarePants Theme" 2001 TV promotion, "Step Right Up", "Still Suddenly Here", "Thanksgiving (No Way Out)", "This Island Life", "To the Kill", "Used to Be", "Werewolf", "World We’re Living In")
G♯2 ("Oholah Oholibah")
G2 ("American Music", "At Your Feet", "Blister in the Sun" live The Boathouse 1991, "Confessions", "Crazy", "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me", "Fast Horses", "Fat", "God Bless America", "He Likes Me", "Here As a Guest", "Home", "I Hear the Rain", "I Know It’s True But I’m Sorry to Say", "In the Dark", "It’s Gonna Rain", "Key of 2", "Kiss Off", "Lies", "More Money Tonight", "My Way", "New Generation", "Nothing Worth Living For", "Out the Window", "Raquel", "Untrue Love", "Waiting for the Bus", "Wave and Water", "Yes, Oh, Yes")
F♯2 ("36-24-36", "Bad Dream", "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me", "I Get What I Want", "I’m Not Done", "Key of 2", "Lies", "Machine", "New Times", "Paris to Sleep", "This Island Life", "Traveling Solves Everything", "Under the Sun")
F2 ("At Your Feet", "A Story")
E2 ("Agamemnon", "Better Than You Know", "Holy Ghost", "Mirror Mirror (I See a Damsel)", "Werewolf")
E♭2 ("Judge to Widow")
D2 ("Untrue Love")
{Questionable Notes}
F♯5 ("Hitting the Ground (Reprise)" [1])
F5 ("Ugly" [1])
E5 ("Old Mother Reagan" [1], "Way That I Creep" [1])
E♭5 ("Girl Trouble" [1, 3])
D5 ("Please Do Not Go" [3, 5] Toneless spoken inflection)
B♭4 ("Get Up (When the World Comes Tumbling Down)" [2])
A4 ("Dance, Motherfucker, Dance!" [2], "New Times" [1, 3])
G♯4 ("More Money Tonight" [1])
E4 ("Positively 4th Street" [1])
B2 ("Love & Me Make Three" [2], "Never Tell" [3, 5] Toneless spoken inflection)
A2 ("Children of the Revolution" [5] Decent pitch, but weak, fried note)
G2 ("Cold Canyon" [1], "Don’t Start Me on the Liquor" [5] Weak fry, "Faith" [1])
F♯2 ("Two People" [1])
E♭2 ("Crazy" [1, 3])
C2 ("Judge to Widow" [5] Intention is there, but tone is too weak)
..................................................
1. Brief jumps into high or low range (eg. Yelps, trills, anacrusis, etc.).
2. Notes whose singer is unclear.
3. Non-melodic (i.e. Spoken or off-key) notes that also lack a clear pitch.
4. Possibly pitch-shifted notes.
5. Notes that do not fit the labels above but whose quality is still unrepresentative of the singer's usual work (e.g. excessively distorted screams or sustained, but non-projected vocal fry).
F♯5 ("Hitting the Ground (Reprise)" [1])
F5 ("Ugly" [1])
E5 ("Old Mother Reagan" [1], "Way That I Creep" [1])
E♭5 ("Girl Trouble" [1, 3])
D5 ("Please Do Not Go" [3, 5] Toneless spoken inflection)
B♭4 ("Get Up (When the World Comes Tumbling Down)" [2])
A4 ("Dance, Motherfucker, Dance!" [2], "New Times" [1, 3])
G♯4 ("More Money Tonight" [1])
E4 ("Positively 4th Street" [1])
B2 ("Love & Me Make Three" [2], "Never Tell" [3, 5] Toneless spoken inflection)
A2 ("Children of the Revolution" [5] Decent pitch, but weak, fried note)
G2 ("Cold Canyon" [1], "Don’t Start Me on the Liquor" [5] Weak fry, "Faith" [1])
F♯2 ("Two People" [1])
E♭2 ("Crazy" [1, 3])
C2 ("Judge to Widow" [5] Intention is there, but tone is too weak)
..................................................
1. Brief jumps into high or low range (eg. Yelps, trills, anacrusis, etc.).
2. Notes whose singer is unclear.
3. Non-melodic (i.e. Spoken or off-key) notes that also lack a clear pitch.
4. Possibly pitch-shifted notes.
5. Notes that do not fit the labels above but whose quality is still unrepresentative of the singer's usual work (e.g. excessively distorted screams or sustained, but non-projected vocal fry).
{Range Timeline}
Violent Femmes:
Violent Femmes (1983): G2 - A4 (chest) - D5 (mix) - E5
Hallowed Ground (1984): G2 - G4 (chest) - A4
The Blind Leading the Naked (1986): A2 - A4 - F♯5 - G5
3 (1989): G2 - A4 - B♭4 (chest)
Why Do Birds Sing? (1991): G2 - B♭4 - G5 - B♭5
Add It Up * (1993): G2 - A4 (chest)
New Times (1994): E2 - B4 - B4 - F5
Rock!!!!! (1995): F♯2 - G4 (chest) - G4
Freak Magnet (2000): F2 - A4 - D5 - D5
Something’s Wrong * (2001): E2 - E4 - G4 - A4
We Can Do Anything (2016): D2 - G4 (chest) - G♯4
Hotel Last Resort (2019): F♯2 - G♯4 (chest)
The Mercy Seat:
The Mercy Seat (1987): G2 - C5 (chest) - E5 (mix)
Solo work:
Hitting the Ground ** (2002): A2 - F4
Under the Sun (2009): E2 - G4 - C♯5
* It’s a compilation album, but there’s enough previously unreleased material here to justify listing it separately.
** For Hitting the Ground, even though it’s his solo record, it’s worth noting that he only sang three songs on it.
Violent Femmes:
Violent Femmes (1983): G2 - A4 (chest) - D5 (mix) - E5
Hallowed Ground (1984): G2 - G4 (chest) - A4
The Blind Leading the Naked (1986): A2 - A4 - F♯5 - G5
3 (1989): G2 - A4 - B♭4 (chest)
Why Do Birds Sing? (1991): G2 - B♭4 - G5 - B♭5
Add It Up * (1993): G2 - A4 (chest)
New Times (1994): E2 - B4 - B4 - F5
Rock!!!!! (1995): F♯2 - G4 (chest) - G4
Freak Magnet (2000): F2 - A4 - D5 - D5
Something’s Wrong * (2001): E2 - E4 - G4 - A4
We Can Do Anything (2016): D2 - G4 (chest) - G♯4
Hotel Last Resort (2019): F♯2 - G♯4 (chest)
The Mercy Seat:
The Mercy Seat (1987): G2 - C5 (chest) - E5 (mix)
Solo work:
Hitting the Ground ** (2002): A2 - F4
Under the Sun (2009): E2 - G4 - C♯5
* It’s a compilation album, but there’s enough previously unreleased material here to justify listing it separately.
** For Hitting the Ground, even though it’s his solo record, it’s worth noting that he only sang three songs on it.
..................................................
• Blue: Falsetto, head voice, and/or whistle register (projected mixed voice is kept in black).
• Bold: The singer’s strongest instances of a given register. Click on a bolded song title to hear audio of that note.
• Italics: Non-melodic (i.e. Spoken or off-key) notes that still have considerable quality.
• Underlines: Notes that are buried in the song's mix or which blend together with the other voice(s) in a harmony.
