Girl's Not Grey by AFI

Conventional wisdom says that the music business is all about cheap-shot success; any band that doesn’t hit big within the first few years is finished. California’s AFI (for A Fire Inside) is living proof to the contrary: Their breakthrough hit, “Girl’s Not Grey” came from their sixth album, recorded a decade-plus after the band first formed.

By then AFI had been through its share of phases, starting as hardcore and later dabbling in goth. (they never abandoned goth altogether, as the original “Girls Not Grey” single had a Cure cover as a B-side).

They accomplished their breakthrough by turning up the guitars, working with hotshot producer Butch Vig and by writing hyper-catchy songs like “Girl’s Not Grey,” whose arena-sized sound is probably closer to classic rock than they’d want to admit.

AFI’s home of Ukiah, California is home of the world’s first organic brewpub!

Lots of dynamics in this one, making it a fun challenge to play. The drums start off as a straight but fast rock beat, then speed up to punk tempo, with surprise fills and irregular kick drum throughout. The part you’ll really have to watch out for is a long snare roll in the middle; there are enough kick and red notes there to fail you if you’re not keeping up.

The bass part is also fast and furious, with fast neck runs and a few parts where you’ll have to strum hard on single notes.

And the guitar part throws a pile of fast chords at you; if you can make it through you’ll get a slight rest in the middle section, where you play some easy single notes while the drummer gets the snare workout. Catch your breath there before the power chords come around again.