RRR: Pearl Jam – State of Love and Trust

Yo, this be Reuben. Ayyy, another of these original, unique posts, which aren’t at all related to anything Milo’s doing *wink wink nudge nudge*. Also, I’m partly just writing this so Milo doesn’t steal it and write it himself.

From grunge rockers Pearl Jam, one of the greatest bands to come out of Seattle in the early 90s and one of my favourites of all time, State of Love and Trust holds a place on the soundtrack for the grunge-themed 1992 film Singles, sitting alongside tracks by bands such as Alice in Chains, Soundgarden and Mudhoney. Audio’s here, boi:

Probably my favourite song that doesn’t even make an appearance on anything besides a compilation album, State of Love and Trust is easily one of the best tracks Pearl Jam brought out. Recorded between 1991’s debut masterpiece Ten and 1993’s monstrous sophomore beating to the senses that was Vs., this song resides more in the boundlessly energetic sound of the latter. Like most of what’s on Vs., most notably Leash and Glorified G, this is a short and sweet blast of fun with enough carefree youthful energy to make even the grumpiest grandpa smile with joy.

Pitching in at three minutes 43 seconds, this track is far from too short, and long enough to bring a good amount of variety and different sections to keep it interesting, even if that bouncing energy isn’t enough to make you want to punch the air anyway. The energy, the sense of joy on this thing is just unbeatable. You’ve got that bouncy quick pace at its heart with Abbruzzese’s pounding drums and Jeff Ament’s stylish and chugging basslines, and immense riffage and wig-outs from the two guitarists peppering the whole thing with personality and a brilliant heaviness, as well as really bringing that blissfulness to the fore – as is often the case with early Pearl Jam. And on top of this, of course, we have Eddie Vedder’s fantastic vocals, which, as per, are filled with emotion and precision, as he sings with passion and skill.

I fell in love with this track as soon as I first heard it while perusing through Pearl Jam tracks on YouTube last August and it’s since become one of my favourite songs by the band, as well as one of just the happiest songs I know. There aren’t many songs that make me feel as much as this one does. If you’re a fan of rock music of any variety and haven’t heard this one already, I seriously recommend checking it out. IT’S JUST SO HAPPY *wipes tears, as he did after writing his Rain Song RRR, and vows to himself that he will be better than Milo one day, but realises he will probably need to stop stealing his ideas and kinda ripping off his humour to do so*

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Bringing redundant opinions for scrollers everywhere,

Reuben.