the gang looks at what could be the beginning of an amazing musical adventure…
It was the highlight of the 12.12.12 Concert. It was an iconic moment that nearly a week later we’re still talking about — Sir Paul McCartney and the surviving members of Nirvana, “jamming” together on an original song dubbed “Cut Me Some Slack.” The gang at The Singles party was pretty stoked to tackle this puppy.
Lauren Stern: My initial thought when I heard Paul McCartney was going to front the members of Nirvana for a special 12/12/12 performance was “Oh my god, this is going to be bad.” Then I heard they were going to play a new song, which eased my mind a hell of a lot. I mean can you imagine Paul McCartney singing a song like “Rape Me” or “Lithium”? I laugh every time I think about it.
Anyway, even though the song was new I was still skeptical but of course I stayed up way past my bedtime (and McCartney’s bedtime) to hear it. Needless to say I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it. After a few seconds into it, you forget that this is 3/4 Nirvana and McCartney and start to see them as four great musicians jamming together for a good cause. It was a pretty great performance and Kurt Cobain would have been proud. Verdict: Add to Playlist
Jason Kundrath: Like many people, I would proudly name the Beatles, Nirvana and Foo Fighters as three of my all-time favorite bands. So when I caught wind of the rumor that the former members of Nirvana would be performing at the 12.12.12 benefit with none other than Sir Paul McCartney at the front, I was excited. Though I’d never thought of it before, it struck me that McCartney – one of the original rock screamers – could deliver on any Cobain vocal in spades. Then, I learned they were doing an original tune called, “Cut Me Some Slack.” I was less excited. Then, I heard it. And I was actually blown away by how awful it was.
In McCartney’s meager defense, he quite correctly referred to the song as a “jam.” But it’s the type of “jam” that should never have made it out of the rehearsal space. Comparisons to “Helter Skelter” are inaccurate and frankly insulting. Yes, “Cut Me Some Slack” is heavy. But it’s also unoriginal and severely uninspired – a blues/rock throwaway with McCartney howling embarrassing lyrics he probably wrote on the spot. “Mama! Let me be! / Mama! Set me free!” Sure thing. Like most supergroups, the whole often ends up sounding less than the sum of its parts. And with the players involved here, the results are astonishing. If you heard some nameless bar band performing this, you would probably be unimpressed. Anyone who’s loving on this tune has been properly hypnotized by the identities of the players involved. Now, if this group puts out a proper record, I bet they’d come up with something worth hearing. This, however, is not. Verdict: One and done.
Brent Johnson: It was loud. Really loud. Louder than ‘Helter Skelter.’ But that’s okay. Yes, the collision of The Beatles and Nirvana sounded like an angry bulldog running through a fire drill. Yes, Dave Grohl’s drums were too manic and a slide guitar should never be played that way. But this was Paul McCartney fronting Nirvana. That’s like Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino making a TV commercial. In other words, it’s a must-listen event. Verdict: Add to the Playlist.
Joe Zorzi: When it was first announced that Paul McCartney would be performing with the members of Nirvana a lot of people were skeptical. It’s understandable that Nirvana fans were afraid to hear Paul McCartney singing “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” But I was genuinely excited. I know Paul’s getting up there in age and a lot of people don’t like his more recent musical offerings. But he’s still the legendary Paul McCartney. If anyone had a right to perform with the surviving members of Nirvana it was him. And their new track ripped it! To hear Dave Grohl and Paul singing together was a crazy experience! It was obvious that rock and roll history was in the making when they performed “Cut Me Some Slack”. Paul was more aggressive than ever with his vocals and the guys jammed like they’ve been playing together for years. I would love to hear them actually record a few tracks. This would be the ultimate super group. Verdict: Add To Your Playlist.
Bill Bodkin: It’s not everyday members of two of the most important bands in the history of music get together to create a song. And what better stage to showcase it than one of the biggest and most historic benefit concerts ever? “Cut Me Some Slack” was a completely unexpected, hair on the back of your neck musical experience. This song had trainwreck written all over it before it was even performed — we all had our doubts that Sir Paul could mesh with Seattle’s finest. But the result was pure rock ‘n’ roll brilliance. It was tough, aggressive and completely ballsy. It’s a must fan for fans of The Beatles, fans of Nirvana and people who love a good rock ‘n’ roll anthem that has some real teeth to it. Verdict: Add to the Playlist.
Final Verdict: Kelly Gonsalves is currently taking finals, so her thoughts will be reserved for another day. However, as you can tell we absolutely love “Cut Me Some Slack.” While Jason Kundrath has his reservations about this particular track, everyone can agree that we need to see McCartney and Nirvana form a band and a record a proper record.
JayStives here: I found this to be a highly entertaining song and I think it got me on the groove or even the backbeat, not too sure. That being said I didn’t have high expectations for this and not that I thought it would be bad but because I don’t know what to expect. I wouldn’t say I was under any hypnosis because of the presence of the two acts, on the contrary I’m one of the biggest Nirvana detractors but I’m very pro Foo Fighters. The song just seems to work and I can easily overlook some of the schmaltsy lyrics simply because wailing rock lyrics have never been one of McCartney’s strong points throughout the last 30 years of his career. Doubt we will see an album from this group since this song was just for Dave Grohl’s Sound City documentary but I still enjoyed it nonetheless.