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Issue 8: 21 March 2025

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Issue 7: 08 March 2025

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Issue 6: 22 Feb 2025

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Issue 5: 8 Feb 2025

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Issue 4: 26 Jan 2024



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Issue 3: 14 Dec 2024

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Issue 2: 24 nov 2024

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Issue 1: 8 nov 2024

When *Jagged Little Pill* came out in the mid-90s, it was known as the album that was loved by all generations of women. Mothers and daughters alike. Though Morissette was only 21 when the best-selling album was released, at 41, the singer still stood by every lyric she wrote when rerecording the album back in 2015. The songs on the alt rock album have stayed relatable. But despite the success of Jagged Little Pill, none of Morissette’s succeeding albums ever came near the impact this record had. What is it exactly about the album that stayed timeless? 

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Starting off the album with ‘All I Really Want’, Morissette unapologetically asks ‘Do I stress you out?’. Dropping us in the middle of an argument with a partner, the singer sings of her frustration that they refuse to confront uncomfortable subjects. She wants intellectual conversations with them and yearns for a someone likeminded who doesn’t sweep everything under the rug. With the overlapping of a higher pitched version of her singing, it feels like a channelling of every version of Alanis Morisette that has ever felt frustrated at her partner singing at once. 

I love ‘You Oughta Know’. It is SUCH a good “f@ck you” to her ex-boyfriend. It’s raw, blunt, and petty. I love it. She doesn’t pretend to be over him or want to be the bigger person, she’s still hung up on him and hates him for it. She doesn’t care how it makes her look, she just wants him to know what he’s done to her. The song gets progressively angrier in the lyrics and in her voice. Even in the re-recorded version, it’s like the break-up is raw she sounds so genuine. Accompanied by Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ bass and scratchy electric guitar and a lot of built-up rage, some of her bluntest lyrics are elevated to another level of honest. “Every time I scratch my nails down someone else’s back I hope you feel it. Oh can you feel it?” or “Are you thinking of me when you f@ck her?”. Somehow the angst that she channels through the song makes her come out as the winner. 

‘Hand In My Pocket’ has become one of Alanis Morisette’s most iconic songs. The harmonica heavy song feels like a hug to anyone who has no idea what they’re doing in life. Alanis Morisette’s lyricism may seem simple, but she manages to convey so much comfort through her songs- especially this one. ‘Hand in My Pocket’ like a friend telling you that everything is going to be alright and reassuring you that no one has everything figured out either. And the message is turned into a catchy sing along rock song with 90s snare drums and harmonicas. I think that’s why so many are drawn to her music. This album especially, is such comfort music, telling you everything will be okay and validating how you’re feeling, whilst also being able to sing along to dance it out. 

‘You Learn’ sums up the whole album and gives the title meaning. “Swallow it down, what a jagged little pill” It’s all about the necessity and unavoidability of living and learning. She reassures us that every risk is worth taking because we’ll recover. Some lessons are difficult to take in (like swallowing a jagged little pill) but you’ll be better for it on the other side. She places laughter, grief, mistakes, love, heartbreak on the same level. They are all worth going through, for the lessons and silver linings they bring us. Again, Morissette’s vocals shine through as she turns a message into a great track. This sort of song is another example of how the singer comes across as a friend or older sister throughout the album. Passing down what she’s had to learn on her own and letting you know if she can do it, so can you. 

Next comes ‘Head Over Heels’, a sweet song turned rock. The lyrics are cheesy, and if it weren’t for the fact that it was Alanis Morissette singing over 90s drum machines, electric guitars and her signature harmonica, I would dislike it. But it’s such a comfort song. Because of seeing her go through the heartbreak of ‘You Oughta Know’, and tough times in ‘You Learn’ you feel personally invested in her happiness in ‘Head Over Heels’. Her more sensitive side comes out in this song, staying vulnerable in her song writing. 

Jagged Little Pill isn’t short of incredibly catchy songs. I didn’t even mention one of the most belted songs on karaoke nights- ‘Ironic’. But the lasting success of the album isn’t just due to this. The record is a compilation of relatable songs that continue to make people’s feelings feel validated. Whether that’s panic at not knowing what you’re doing with your life, anger at an ex that’s moved on, general frustration or other, Alanis Morissette is here to tell you we’ve all been there and made it through to the other side. When the album first came out, Morissette was the angsty singer everyone needed, and generations of women were instantly drawn to. She expressed what many couldn’t put into words and delivered raw statements on a backdrop of great 90s alternative rock. Her music has stayed successful because of lasting relevance of her subject matters but more importantly by the intimacy and honesty she shares through her songwriting. Imparting her learnt lessons like an old friend. 

***By Alice Charlton***

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Album Of The Week: Jagged Little Pill by Alanis Morissette

Traipsing down Crossgate five minutes past the hour, I found the psych-rock coming through my earbuds overscored by a slower, more colourful melody which had begun creeping up the street. The song was ‘Easy’ by Commodores, and the band, as I learned upon ducking into a dimly lit Holy GrAle, was Happy Hour. Despite my early arrival, Canary Records’ first event of 2024 was already in full swing.

Over the hum of chattering gig-goers, Durham’s newest musical five-piece took us through a colourful setlist of pop and soul hits, transitioning from the jaunty romanticism of Bruno Mars’ ‘That’s What I Like’ to a slowed, emotional rendition of ‘Valerie’ by Amy Winehouse. As the pub grew dense, the group brought us back-to- back 2002 classics ‘This Love’ and ‘Sunday Morning’—it wouldn’t be a Happy Hour set without Maroon 5’, explained frontwoman Maria Bragna. The latter cover was full of unexpected delights: bassist Aaron got behind the mic to provide some plucky callbacks while saxophonist Chris and vocalist Maria entered into a playful call-and- response rhythm of their own. This persisted through ‘Virtual Insanity’ and ‘Put Your Records On’, until the band swapped exuberance for seductiveness with an expressive return to Bruno Mars. This time, it was Yimika’s soulful drumming and Ollie’s hypnotizing keyboard runs that set the pace. Sandwiched by unaccompanied, melodic percussion, the group’s version of ‘Leave the Door Open’ perfectly embodied what I’ve found to be the band’s greatest strength: synergy. That is, with a dash of chaos. The team then rushed through a spirited performance of MIKA’s ‘Grace Kelley’, whispered ‘we’re leaving’ into the microphone, and, with that, disappeared into the crowd. Classic Happy Hour.

Picking back up with an aggressively loud drum test and a few original songs in tow, the Holy GrAle veterans that comprise Moonstag assumed position. No introduction was required: we got a sense of their sound from the get-go with the intoxicating ‘Walking in The Woods’. Quickly, so as not to squash the momentum of a room filled with reverberating synth waves and newly realised anticipation, vocalist Ethan Harrison explained the inspiration behind the next track: ‘This next one’s about me and my friend Joe being stuck inside during Covid . . . oh what a year it was, oh what a year it wasn’t’. I don’t have the technological know-how to explain it better than this: keyboardist Dana’s playing took me back inside. At least that’s what my notes from the night say.

Up next the group made me an offer I couldn’t refuse: three Mac Demarco covers, back-to-back, without pause. Moonstag buckled down with ‘For the First Time’ and ramped back with ‘Heart to Heart’, as guitarist Joe Hawthorne and bassist Aaron Maurice attempted to replicate Mac’s characteristically laid-back and spacey instrumentation. Oh, did I mention Aaron Maurice of Happy Hour is also Aaron Maurice of Moonstag? A true veteran of the Durham live music circuit — and the following cover of ‘Chamber of Reflection’ proved that he’s not the only one. In a performance dedicated to the ‘bohemian deviants, creeps, and weirdoes’ in the room, drummer Ollie Brunt swapped places with Harrison, taking hold of the lead guitar and stepping behind the mic. Remember Thom Yorke’s legendary vocals on the bridge of Creep? That climactic, gut-wrenching ‘run, run, run’ before the melancholic composition of the outro sets in? Ollie replicated it perfectly. Perhaps he should find a fifth (fifth!!!!) band to do the vocals for.

If you’ve ever heard Ivies debut single ‘sick for a week’ on Spotify, you’ll be familiar with drummer Ed Jobburn’s classic 1 2 3 4 count-in. If you haven’t, well, you can always catch it live at the start of their new-and-improved setlist. That’s right: this new year, Ivies is jumping right into their biggest hit. You’d figure that means they must have a few more tricks in store for us .
Now, in my opinion, the best part of an Ivies gig happens when Alice Bird steps behind the keyboard. After all, that’s when we get songs like ‘semi-detached’ and ‘therapy’. Ushering us into Bird’s windswept world with the first, Jobburn swapped his sticks for percussion mallets to produce an uncharacteristic wispiness as the rest of the band fell to a hush. The song was quiet, restrained; then, as Kiko comes into play, assertive and emotional. As the players all joined in and made their way to the chorus, the song crescendo-ed, fell quiet again, and finally, reached a striking fever pitch. It is then that we begin to understand Cole’s hilarious introduction to the tune: “I don’t want to be biased, but this one f****** slaps”. Now we just have to imagine what it might sound like with some added violin. The band left us with ‘therapy’, which diverges and swells in all the same ways, and leaves us gutted for all the right reasons. I may or may not have heard its recording at 2:00 am in Toronto while Cole and I were waiting on a delayed plane back to Durham, and it may or may not be one of a few releases you’ll want to keep an eye on this year.

***By Lianna De Bartolo***

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