And we're back. Thanks for your patience over the last week.
Most importantly, we're back with a bullet - Boston's Vivian Darkbloom. Their latest single, "Cold War" opens with the dark, meditative tones of another historically minded-band, Cold War Kids, before turning on the pop-propeller and launching into something that sounds like a hard-edged Bishop Allen. All the finger-picked guitar lines are there, and aside from an ominous bass-line, "Cold War" is lighter-than-air. Well, until the chorus where things get considerably darker.
In what could be the lyric of the year: "I loved our cold war/we didn't have to speak/we lived like communists, darling." It's morose. It's crushing. It's actually a little funny. To summarize: it's every disastrous interaction you've ever had with women. In a shocking twist, maybe the disasters are the most interesting part. Maybe the stand-offs, the negotiations, the detente - maybe that's the good stuff. So take that idea and set it against one of the most singable choruses you've heard this month and you've got "Cold War." It'll stick in your head for days - or at least until the red phone rings. Because we're either going to figure this thing out or we're going to blow the world to bits. Like communists, darling.
Listen :: Vivian Darkbloom - "Cold War"
Showing posts with label and we're back. Show all posts
Showing posts with label and we're back. Show all posts
6.22.2009
12.09.2008
The Sweet Serenades :: "Mona Lee"
And we're back with The Sweet Serenades and their little (and I stress this) song "Mona Lee." It's a song that doesn't aspire to be anything other than what it is and even though that's a tautology, it's still true. Read that one. more. time.
It's worth mentioning The Sweet Serenades are Swedish (do these people wake up and piss pop music?) and for what it's worth this could easily be a 1950s Buddy Holly-throwback. That's not meant particularly as a compliment. But there's something in the sweetness of the background vocals in the chorus that carries me somewhere else. As an English sentence what you just read was expressive and indeterminate. What you just read was effectively useless. But there's something in this song that is both sickly sweet and sweetly sick. Not that simple reversing of phrasing is a good enough explanation. So hang on as we "ooooooooo" through the chorus and remember that words are just the drawings we use to speak to each other.
Listen:: Sweet Serenades - Mona Lee
It's worth mentioning The Sweet Serenades are Swedish (do these people wake up and piss pop music?) and for what it's worth this could easily be a 1950s Buddy Holly-throwback. That's not meant particularly as a compliment. But there's something in the sweetness of the background vocals in the chorus that carries me somewhere else. As an English sentence what you just read was expressive and indeterminate. What you just read was effectively useless. But there's something in this song that is both sickly sweet and sweetly sick. Not that simple reversing of phrasing is a good enough explanation. So hang on as we "ooooooooo" through the chorus and remember that words are just the drawings we use to speak to each other.
Listen:: Sweet Serenades - Mona Lee
11.11.2008
Official Secrets Act :: "So Tomorrow"
Months and months ago, I rubbed my own personal Magic 8 Ball and predicted a few things.
A) I would disappear for days, maybe even weeks on end. Well, there it is. I left and now I'm back. I told you the absence would be unexplained so ... there it is. No explanation. Take it or leave it.
2) That I would post major label leaks. And get threatened. Notice that Killers post about "Spaceman" just up and disappeared? Yeah, thanks Island Records and Blogger.com. Great work everyone. Good hustle all around. If you're clever you can still find the song out there.
D) I said I would find a good band that a lot of you didn't know about. I said it would rocket me out of my blog malaise and get me, somehow, against the odds, excited about music again. That band is here.
Official Secrets Act.
I'd by lying if I said this band would be huge. I can't promise that. In fact, in an alternative rock universe already over-saturated with dance-rock bands who abuse their keyboards like ADD-kids and their action figures, I can't promise this band will ever even tour extensively in the United States. Their closest musical relative is The Winter Kids and we saw them once in New York and then they never came back. There was no real excuse for them not getting bigger than they were. So, we've been burned before. But, it's worth noting that Official Secrets Act has that same level of energy and that same level of excitement. And with all of the above being said: This should. still. be. big.
"So Tomorrow" has the most frantic high-hat dance-rock beat you'll hear this year. It's going to be absolute murder on their drummer when they have to close their set with this night in and night out. Add the urgency of a keyboard riff crying out fire in a crowded movie theater and you've gotten yourself part of the way there. Yelling background vocals and a chorus that is as repetitive as it is infectious make this one of the better rock songs of the last 10-months. And all of it is only the loose, rather skeletal organization of a song that relies far more on its energy than the brilliance of its design. This song is far more hustling swingman than 7-foot center with a mid-range game.
By the time you're in the home stretch and the lead-singer is yelling, "all this waiting/just might kill me" you've hit a level of frenetic that is usual reserved for seizure, neon dance parties, and Japanese children's early morning cartoons. The facts are that this song is going to absolutely level you in the its final 90-seconds and it doesn't have to be rational. After all, this is just a little dose of insanity. The first lyrics? "Are you out of your mind?" Answer: Yes. No. Yes.
No.
Listen:: Official Secrets Act - "So Tomorrow"
A) I would disappear for days, maybe even weeks on end. Well, there it is. I left and now I'm back. I told you the absence would be unexplained so ... there it is. No explanation. Take it or leave it.
2) That I would post major label leaks. And get threatened. Notice that Killers post about "Spaceman" just up and disappeared? Yeah, thanks Island Records and Blogger.com. Great work everyone. Good hustle all around. If you're clever you can still find the song out there.
D) I said I would find a good band that a lot of you didn't know about. I said it would rocket me out of my blog malaise and get me, somehow, against the odds, excited about music again. That band is here.
Official Secrets Act.
I'd by lying if I said this band would be huge. I can't promise that. In fact, in an alternative rock universe already over-saturated with dance-rock bands who abuse their keyboards like ADD-kids and their action figures, I can't promise this band will ever even tour extensively in the United States. Their closest musical relative is The Winter Kids and we saw them once in New York and then they never came back. There was no real excuse for them not getting bigger than they were. So, we've been burned before. But, it's worth noting that Official Secrets Act has that same level of energy and that same level of excitement. And with all of the above being said: This should. still. be. big.
"So Tomorrow" has the most frantic high-hat dance-rock beat you'll hear this year. It's going to be absolute murder on their drummer when they have to close their set with this night in and night out. Add the urgency of a keyboard riff crying out fire in a crowded movie theater and you've gotten yourself part of the way there. Yelling background vocals and a chorus that is as repetitive as it is infectious make this one of the better rock songs of the last 10-months. And all of it is only the loose, rather skeletal organization of a song that relies far more on its energy than the brilliance of its design. This song is far more hustling swingman than 7-foot center with a mid-range game.
By the time you're in the home stretch and the lead-singer is yelling, "all this waiting/just might kill me" you've hit a level of frenetic that is usual reserved for seizure, neon dance parties, and Japanese children's early morning cartoons. The facts are that this song is going to absolutely level you in the its final 90-seconds and it doesn't have to be rational. After all, this is just a little dose of insanity. The first lyrics? "Are you out of your mind?" Answer: Yes. No. Yes.
No.
Listen:: Official Secrets Act - "So Tomorrow"
8.15.2008
And we're back :: The Little Ones - "Morning Tide"
In a new running feature on 32ft, we'll be making no apology for a prolonged absence. Really. Not even a little. But thanks to Brooklyn Vegan for linking up to the Bloc Party review. And thanks to the commenters for claiming the show (and more specifically, I) sucked. Well, I'll tell you this (anonymous) commenters and then we'll move on: try to care about something, and not in an ironic sense either. Really try to care. Who do you (sortof) like, Deerhoof? Don't lie to me. You do. Which means your musical taste is heavily in question from the jump. I don't mind that you like Deerhoof. I actually think it's a solid call for you. Just don't trash Bloc Party after you paid to go to their show. This is a little like kissing a girl you don't find attractive and then getting mad at her for compromising her principles. It just doesn't wash. I'll be listening to the new Stills album, which I imagine, you can't stand. And we're back ...
Back in 2005-06, I was riding to work on the G and then the A train. I was busing tables in midtown, making about zero dollars and I thought my life was turning into a black hole. The Mexican chef at work told me I was the only white busboy in New York. Which was funny until all the illegal labor in the city went on strike (people don't remember this now, but it happened) and being a white busboy was a valuable, if not an achingly important occupation. On my way to work, I found myself listening to The Little Ones', "Lovers Who Uncover." It was among the songs that would keep my head above water and make me feel a little more like waking up in the morning. That being said, I don't love their new single, "Morning Tide" but it sure as hell ain't bad. In fact, listening to it now, it's pretty good. And for keeping me awake and alive on the A-train platform in 2005, I don't mind telling you to check out this band. Bounce.
Listen :: The Little Ones - Morning Tide
Back in 2005-06, I was riding to work on the G and then the A train. I was busing tables in midtown, making about zero dollars and I thought my life was turning into a black hole. The Mexican chef at work told me I was the only white busboy in New York. Which was funny until all the illegal labor in the city went on strike (people don't remember this now, but it happened) and being a white busboy was a valuable, if not an achingly important occupation. On my way to work, I found myself listening to The Little Ones', "Lovers Who Uncover." It was among the songs that would keep my head above water and make me feel a little more like waking up in the morning. That being said, I don't love their new single, "Morning Tide" but it sure as hell ain't bad. In fact, listening to it now, it's pretty good. And for keeping me awake and alive on the A-train platform in 2005, I don't mind telling you to check out this band. Bounce.
Listen :: The Little Ones - Morning Tide
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