Silage was an alternative rock band from Grass Valley, CA. Their debut album, Watusi featured an upbeat blend of power pop, pop-punk and even ska. The band focused on silly, fun lyrics that were rooted in Christian faith but proved that they never took themselves too seriously. The album was filled with songs about the temptations of road rage (“My Car Makes Me Sin”), our culture’s obsession with celebrities (“Drop Some Names”), and relatedly–our own tendencies to want to fit in, as the title track “Watusi” suggests:
And I go on and live my life and
Hide away
From you and you or me
Or whoever wants to believe
What I am singing and
No I don’t wanna be this way
Or see this way
Or believe in my intention to be cool
While some critics might argue there wasn’t much substance behind the band, in a very literal sense, the joke is on them. Even the band’s name refers to fermented fodder for livestock animals. They were telling us up front that the band’s focus was on fun. Yet at the same time, there was food for thought presented in a lighthearted way.
The band released a second album called Vegas Car Chasers that continued the fusion but this time stretched into funk and hip-hop. The band called it quits in 1999, shortly after the release of the sophomore album, but members turned up in other acts like Parkway and Celebrity.
Our Song of the Day is the lead-off track from the debut, and is the title track from Watusi.
