40) Ellie Goulding - "Wish I Stayed"
This girl is one part Bjork, one part Imogen Heap, and three parts addictive. Ellie Goulding, who is about as new as new can be, could make herself a Lykke Li piece of the pie in 2009. But for 2008, we'll consider her late acoustic/electro hybrid as our 40th best song of the year. High praise? Let this tune spin around your brain for the next four-minutes and three seconds. Get back to me.
39) Action Painters - "SuperMarket"
Action Painters are a band with whom I should have a better relationship. I like their music a lot but I grossly mismanaged an interview that I did with them for The Deli Magazine and now they must think I'm the least credible pseudo-journalist in New York City. Well. This isn't an apology. "SuperMarket" could be even higher than this but I was terrified about my own desire to make it up to them. This is an attempt at objectivity. And this song is objectively the bounciest (not a technical term) song of the year. It's like rubber and springs melted down into a snyth-rock masterwork. So blast off.
38) Grand Archives - "Torn Blue Foam Couch"
This is the second Sub Pop band on the Top 50 list and it'll be the last (sorry Fleet Foxes, call me when you're not the country-fried version of The Shins). It's worth noting that Grand Archives might not sound as forward-thinking or progressive as the rest of the indie-rock community aspires to be; in fact, they sound like they've been hiding out in some really warm corner of 1975. Everything is breezy and fun except for one thing: this band's main focus in this song is the word "terrified." Yeah. Terror. But once the band starts to wash over you at the 1.30 mark, everything will focus into clarity. Sure, it's polished but it's a little scary how good that AM-radio sound can be. Couch surfing in the Pacific Northwest never sounded so good.
37) Bikini - "I Remember Being Young"
Perhaps it's because everyone I know is tipping closer and closer to 30 years old (not to freak people out, but, really), I'm more and more prone to reflection on my relatively confusing and delinquent youth. (File that under: issues, on-going). Bikini, a Montreal band who allegedly were at McGill with Tokyo Police Club and Wolf Parade, seems to wax the same level of nostalgia. Except for them it's not about what they somehow managed to survive their youth - it's about how pleasantly naive they were. And from a sonic perspective, it's just electro-pop. It's fresh and unrepentant because, deep down, it doesn't need to be.
36) School of Seven Bells - Chain (click through for download)
The second that I heard this tune I thought of The Knife and the dark, dark electro-pop that yielded "Heartbeats" and a million teenage girls (and boys) thinking that it was the best song of 2006. Well, School of Seven Bells might not be The Knife but they might be better. Their record is dark, dark, dark and completely listenable. Former guitarist from The Secret Machines, Ben Curtis, lends his talents to album and you can agree he made the right choice. Sometimes you have to move away when you're sharing different heartbeats.
35) Noah and the Whale - "5 Years Time"
I've had a complicated relationship with this song and this band this year. That's a lot for them to handle, considering we don't know each other at all. Facts being facts, "5 Years Time" is a great little piece of indie-pop. I've gone from loving it to hating it to not being sure why I was hating it to being damn sure why I was hating it, and eventually coming back to realize the intrinsic value here. Is it a little too sunshine and rainbows? Yes. Definitely. But there's room for that too. Even if it's so sweet it sticks to your mouth like a hot piece of candy.
34) Last Shadow Puppets - "My Mistakes Were Made For You"
Sometimes re-invention works and sometimes it doesn't. If you had told me last year that the lead-singer from Arctic Monkeys was recording a record of sexy, 1960s orchestral-pop, I would have called you a liar. More than that, I would have found the whole thing gimmicky. I mean, what are the odds that the teenage Franz Ferdinand would want to go and earnestly record something that sounds like a James Bond theme song? And what are the odds that I meant the preceding sentence as an interrogative compliment? Well, in order, low and high. A complicated, unexpected song from a simple but unexpected vocalist. It's evolution at number 34.
33) Neon Neon - "I Told Her On Alderaan"
The confusing part about 2008 was just how many quality synth songs were available for consumption. Neon Neon was one of the more upfront bands, calling their album Stainless Style, and possessing a name that bleeds 1984 and the most glowing form of modern technology. But there was something uplifting about "I Told Her On Alderaan." There was something that went deeper than the obvious Human League, Erasure, When In Rome comparisons. It was catchy as shit. It was elevating. It was a synth-pop slam and most people didn't get to hear it. Which makes it more in need of your ears than Erasure and their chains of love.
32) Sebastian Grainger - "Love Can Be So Mean"
Grainger had a weird 2008. He released an EP and then had a shotgun wedding of an LP right on the heels of the first release. It meant that at one point this fall, Saddle Creek was promoting his American Names EP with it's solid single of the same name and "Love Can Be So Mean." People just aren't that smart. Tell them what to sing and they'll sing it. But, lord god, don't give them a choice. "Love Can Be So Mean" was the song to pick and it has the highest BPMs of anything on this list. It's a fast-lane piece of dance-rock from the former drummer of Death From Above 1979.
31) Kaiser Chiefs - "Never Miss A Beat"
An enduring, and potentially disturbing, truth about The Kaiser Chiefs is their ability to turn out great singles and terrible albums. "I Predict A Riot" was a great tune back in 2004 but the record (except for "Oh My God" which made this list that year) wasn't very good. The same went for "Ruby" in 2006. Great song. Bad album. Well, it's 2008 and the Chiefs are back with another great single and another terrible album. "Never Miss A Beat" might be the best song they've ever released and it finds a nexus between chant along vocals and a propulsive melody that doesn't consume itself too quickly. Lyrically, it's both critical and complimentary of the kids who run the hype show. Yeah, it's "cool to know nothing" but the fact is, in order to look that stupid, you have to be brilliant. And the kids on the street, they never miss a beat.
12.22.2008
Top 50 Songs of 2008: 50-41 [You've Got To Spend Some Time, Love]
50) Death Cab For Cutie - "I Will Possess Your Heart"
With the album version clocking in at eight-and-a-half minutes, this was an ambitious start to the year for Gibbard and the boys. The label did manage to "radio edit" the thing down to 4.30 but frankly, that was less fun. And ultimately, what made this song worthwhile was how long it took and the seminal (who is this girl and why aren't we married?) video that accompanied the release. It was a slow burn but eventually, it caught you. Too bad you couldn't say the same about the rest of Narrow Stairs.
49) Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - "Everything With You"
Pains Of Being Pure At Heart and their "everything's gonna get brighter" single, "Everything With You" found a piece of New York City rock that had been missing. One, it's not so serious. Part two, don't worry about how dark it seems or how much you miss The Smiths. Part three, final act, there's room for romance in a world with no feelings. There's room for love in all the wrong places. So as you soar through an ebullient guitar solo in the bridge and into a kiss-you-on-the-mouth, fist-pumping final chorus, understand what you've been missing.
48) Wolf Parade - "Language City"
Wolf Parade was a band in flux. They couldn't wait to get away from Issac Brock and their (worth noting) amazing first album. Which left them in a weird spot: how do you tell people that you can't wait to get away from your first record? How do you tell people you might not be totally down with the one thing they've ever heard from you? Well, you pack them in a car and head for "Language City." It wasn't the first song released off the record ("Call It A Ritual") and it doesn't find itself right away. Around the 2.55 mark, the song discovers an entirely pleasant and profoundly propulsive second act. It's piano-based while Spencer Krug does his yelping over the top. We are not at home. In essence, you tell people, if you're looking for me in the one place you'd expect to find me, try again.
47) Okkervil River - "Singer Songwriter"
Count on Will Sheff to release a stinker of a record (The Stand-Ins) and still manage to end hyper-literate indie-rock as we know it. Sounding more like the Old 97s than anything else, "Singer Songwriter" is a jab in the side of every kid who ever got an MFA, BA, MA, or anything else that is an abbreviation for "I spent a fortune on a brain I barely use." The line of the year might be, "and this film we once saw/was reviled for its flaws/but its flaws were what made us have fun." Critics, whip-smart college grads - dearest parts of the snark machine, listen to the last line: "our world is gonna change nothing." It's a tough swallow but you're still scared it might be true.
46) The Futureheads - "Beginning of the Twist"
This is a bit of a sentimental pick as the best song off the album that cemented the end of The Futureheads career. They were dropped from their label and tried to go it alone and ended up, at one point this year, playing a secret show at Piano's. For a band that once could have sold-out Webster Hall in the better part of a few work days, this was a step down. "Beginning of the Twist" is vintage Futureheads, which, unfortunately, is what makes this song great and this band's future, officially not.
45) Chairlift - "Bruises"
Chairlift can happily join The Caesars, CSS, and a few others as bands who absolutely erupted after being featured in an iPod commercial. A tiny-little electro-pop band from New York, Chairlift ended up being the synesthesia that colored iPod's second-best ad (we'll stick with the Coldplay cross-promotion as number one) of the year. It doesn't make it any less heart-breaking when they say, "I tried to do hand-stands for you but every time I fell for you." As visual similes go, that one is a crusher.
44) Pretty & Nice - "Tora Tora Tora"
Built on a seemingly simplistic platform of three escalating chords, "Tora Tora Tora" is probably a little bit of an underdog to get on this list. But, there's something incredibly infectious about this song. Is it straight-forward? Sure. But that doesn't mean it's bad. And there's always something to be said for a little song that dreams big.
43) The Motion Sick - "30 Lives"
"30 Lives" is a song that spoke more to me than most this year. It uses a video-game metaphor (file this under: risky, extremely) and actually ends up in the poppiest place of anything I've heard in the last 12-months. While the band chants, "up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, select, start" you find yourself soaring along with their synths and the hooks in the chorus. Sure, it's a code from Contra. Get over it. Deeper underneath it's about spending 30 lives with the person you love. Hopefully not in a war-zone in Central America. Leave that to Oliver North.
42) The Sound of Arrows - "Danger"
The band's name implies something is both extremely silent and extremely deadly. Fortunately, "Danger" is only one of those two and, hint hint, it's not silent. This is a song that wakes up in the morning and spits triumphant. Based mostly on catchy digital loops and vocal samples, "Danger" was the soundtrack for a drive down the coast of Spain last March. "Danger" then ended up spinning around our CD player as we spun around the round-abouts of Seville. Tonight is danger, baby. I feel so dangerous.
41) White Lies - "Death"
White Lies probably won the title as the band that sounded the most like what people thought the new Killers album was going to sound like without realizing it. "Death" starts slow and finds itself late but the comparisons to Flowers and co. are as valid as they are useless. White Lies probably made more news by having Crystal Castles remix "Death" to death. Which just goes to show where we are today is very different than the summer of 2004; a year when the band White Lies sounds most like took over the universe. By 2008, the bigger news was a small electro-clash band remixing the original. It was a half-truth and people bought it; which might be where this band got its name in the first place.
With the album version clocking in at eight-and-a-half minutes, this was an ambitious start to the year for Gibbard and the boys. The label did manage to "radio edit" the thing down to 4.30 but frankly, that was less fun. And ultimately, what made this song worthwhile was how long it took and the seminal (who is this girl and why aren't we married?) video that accompanied the release. It was a slow burn but eventually, it caught you. Too bad you couldn't say the same about the rest of Narrow Stairs.
49) Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - "Everything With You"
Pains Of Being Pure At Heart and their "everything's gonna get brighter" single, "Everything With You" found a piece of New York City rock that had been missing. One, it's not so serious. Part two, don't worry about how dark it seems or how much you miss The Smiths. Part three, final act, there's room for romance in a world with no feelings. There's room for love in all the wrong places. So as you soar through an ebullient guitar solo in the bridge and into a kiss-you-on-the-mouth, fist-pumping final chorus, understand what you've been missing.
48) Wolf Parade - "Language City"
Wolf Parade was a band in flux. They couldn't wait to get away from Issac Brock and their (worth noting) amazing first album. Which left them in a weird spot: how do you tell people that you can't wait to get away from your first record? How do you tell people you might not be totally down with the one thing they've ever heard from you? Well, you pack them in a car and head for "Language City." It wasn't the first song released off the record ("Call It A Ritual") and it doesn't find itself right away. Around the 2.55 mark, the song discovers an entirely pleasant and profoundly propulsive second act. It's piano-based while Spencer Krug does his yelping over the top. We are not at home. In essence, you tell people, if you're looking for me in the one place you'd expect to find me, try again.
47) Okkervil River - "Singer Songwriter"
Count on Will Sheff to release a stinker of a record (The Stand-Ins) and still manage to end hyper-literate indie-rock as we know it. Sounding more like the Old 97s than anything else, "Singer Songwriter" is a jab in the side of every kid who ever got an MFA, BA, MA, or anything else that is an abbreviation for "I spent a fortune on a brain I barely use." The line of the year might be, "and this film we once saw/was reviled for its flaws/but its flaws were what made us have fun." Critics, whip-smart college grads - dearest parts of the snark machine, listen to the last line: "our world is gonna change nothing." It's a tough swallow but you're still scared it might be true.
46) The Futureheads - "Beginning of the Twist"
This is a bit of a sentimental pick as the best song off the album that cemented the end of The Futureheads career. They were dropped from their label and tried to go it alone and ended up, at one point this year, playing a secret show at Piano's. For a band that once could have sold-out Webster Hall in the better part of a few work days, this was a step down. "Beginning of the Twist" is vintage Futureheads, which, unfortunately, is what makes this song great and this band's future, officially not.
45) Chairlift - "Bruises"
Chairlift can happily join The Caesars, CSS, and a few others as bands who absolutely erupted after being featured in an iPod commercial. A tiny-little electro-pop band from New York, Chairlift ended up being the synesthesia that colored iPod's second-best ad (we'll stick with the Coldplay cross-promotion as number one) of the year. It doesn't make it any less heart-breaking when they say, "I tried to do hand-stands for you but every time I fell for you." As visual similes go, that one is a crusher.
44) Pretty & Nice - "Tora Tora Tora"
Built on a seemingly simplistic platform of three escalating chords, "Tora Tora Tora" is probably a little bit of an underdog to get on this list. But, there's something incredibly infectious about this song. Is it straight-forward? Sure. But that doesn't mean it's bad. And there's always something to be said for a little song that dreams big.
43) The Motion Sick - "30 Lives"
"30 Lives" is a song that spoke more to me than most this year. It uses a video-game metaphor (file this under: risky, extremely) and actually ends up in the poppiest place of anything I've heard in the last 12-months. While the band chants, "up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, select, start" you find yourself soaring along with their synths and the hooks in the chorus. Sure, it's a code from Contra. Get over it. Deeper underneath it's about spending 30 lives with the person you love. Hopefully not in a war-zone in Central America. Leave that to Oliver North.
42) The Sound of Arrows - "Danger"
The band's name implies something is both extremely silent and extremely deadly. Fortunately, "Danger" is only one of those two and, hint hint, it's not silent. This is a song that wakes up in the morning and spits triumphant. Based mostly on catchy digital loops and vocal samples, "Danger" was the soundtrack for a drive down the coast of Spain last March. "Danger" then ended up spinning around our CD player as we spun around the round-abouts of Seville. Tonight is danger, baby. I feel so dangerous.
41) White Lies - "Death"
White Lies probably won the title as the band that sounded the most like what people thought the new Killers album was going to sound like without realizing it. "Death" starts slow and finds itself late but the comparisons to Flowers and co. are as valid as they are useless. White Lies probably made more news by having Crystal Castles remix "Death" to death. Which just goes to show where we are today is very different than the summer of 2004; a year when the band White Lies sounds most like took over the universe. By 2008, the bigger news was a small electro-clash band remixing the original. It was a half-truth and people bought it; which might be where this band got its name in the first place.
Top 50 Songs of the Year
In a few hours we're going to roll out the beginnings of our Top 50 Songs of the Year. It's not an exact science and you can be sure some mistakes will be made. But in this crazy cocktail of indie-pop, alternative rock, and electro-clash/smash/disco whatever, you've got something that looks like a Power Poll. These are the songs you want to go to war with, in order of strength; taking into consideration quality, pop-aesthetic, and emotional impact. We want to be lifted up or broken down and these 50 had a little something to do with both. A few things are immediately clear, so here are some observations and rules before we get started:
1) It was a hell of a year for music.
2) In order to qualify for the list, the song has to be from an album released in calender year 2008. This means that songs that came out in another form or leaked before 2008 are still eligible. Does this mean I'm late to the party on all this stuff? Absolutely not. Go back and check the record. So, I'll use their official release dates for ease and simplicity's sake - but when it comes to stuff like (oh ... I don't know) Vampire Weekend, yes, sadly, most people just got to know them in 2008. Making them eligible whether you like it or not. It also means that Radiohead is out. Official release dates for digital and physical releases of In Rainbows were both in 2007. This is just full disclosure.
3) This is not a list of singles. Songs don't have to have been released as individuals. Which means, I'm free to pick songs that never got the single treatment - even leaving off the true "single" from the record. Call The Stills and apologize now: "Being Here" didn't make the cut but something else did. Same goes for Bloc Party, Mates of State, Friendly Fires and a few others. The singles you put out weren't the best songs on your record. True story.
4) It was a hell of a year for music and this selection process was more than difficult. Now, let's rock and get to the bottom of what was the deepest year since 2004. Let the arguments begin ...
1) It was a hell of a year for music.
2) In order to qualify for the list, the song has to be from an album released in calender year 2008. This means that songs that came out in another form or leaked before 2008 are still eligible. Does this mean I'm late to the party on all this stuff? Absolutely not. Go back and check the record. So, I'll use their official release dates for ease and simplicity's sake - but when it comes to stuff like (oh ... I don't know) Vampire Weekend, yes, sadly, most people just got to know them in 2008. Making them eligible whether you like it or not. It also means that Radiohead is out. Official release dates for digital and physical releases of In Rainbows were both in 2007. This is just full disclosure.
3) This is not a list of singles. Songs don't have to have been released as individuals. Which means, I'm free to pick songs that never got the single treatment - even leaving off the true "single" from the record. Call The Stills and apologize now: "Being Here" didn't make the cut but something else did. Same goes for Bloc Party, Mates of State, Friendly Fires and a few others. The singles you put out weren't the best songs on your record. True story.
4) It was a hell of a year for music and this selection process was more than difficult. Now, let's rock and get to the bottom of what was the deepest year since 2004. Let the arguments begin ...
12.17.2008
Peter Gabriel and Hot Chip :: "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa"
There was a moment in the first or second season of Laguna Beach where MTV cameras captured the girls watching an episode of The OC. The Laguna cast members laughed and compared themselves to characters on the show. They noticed similarities and differences. They destroyed the fabric of the universe.
It's easy to forget this now but people once debated the truthfulness of Laguna Beach. It was a show that was ostensibly real and looked profoundly fake. And this moment of reality (or should that be in quotes?) in 2005 or 2006 was the official tipping point between what was real and what was fake. If characters on a debatably real "reality" show could watch characters on a fictional drama, whose fictional lives were loosely based on the "real" girls on the "reality show," the world might have finally found a way to eat itself. True and false might have finally dressed up as each other for Halloween and it might be October 31st forever. The universe might finally have looked too deeply into its own reflection and found not a mirror but a cliff at the edge of a black hole. We might be done.
Which brings us roughly to today - a day when Peter Gabriel and Hot Chip recorded a cover of Vampire Weekend's "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa." It is a song that name-checks Peter Gabriel in its post-chorus and it is a song that Gabriel is ready to take on. Slightly changing the sound to something ethereal (think almost Toto's "Africa") and changing the lyrics to, "It feels so unnatural. Peter Gabriel too. And it feels so unnatural to say your own name," Gabriel is fearlessly going where no man has gone before. Welcome to the brink of meaning and the brink of post-modernism. Welcome to the end of the fucking world. It feels so unnaturally fine.
Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa - Hot Chip & Peter Gabriel
It's easy to forget this now but people once debated the truthfulness of Laguna Beach. It was a show that was ostensibly real and looked profoundly fake. And this moment of reality (or should that be in quotes?) in 2005 or 2006 was the official tipping point between what was real and what was fake. If characters on a debatably real "reality" show could watch characters on a fictional drama, whose fictional lives were loosely based on the "real" girls on the "reality show," the world might have finally found a way to eat itself. True and false might have finally dressed up as each other for Halloween and it might be October 31st forever. The universe might finally have looked too deeply into its own reflection and found not a mirror but a cliff at the edge of a black hole. We might be done.
Which brings us roughly to today - a day when Peter Gabriel and Hot Chip recorded a cover of Vampire Weekend's "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa." It is a song that name-checks Peter Gabriel in its post-chorus and it is a song that Gabriel is ready to take on. Slightly changing the sound to something ethereal (think almost Toto's "Africa") and changing the lyrics to, "It feels so unnatural. Peter Gabriel too. And it feels so unnatural to say your own name," Gabriel is fearlessly going where no man has gone before. Welcome to the brink of meaning and the brink of post-modernism. Welcome to the end of the fucking world. It feels so unnaturally fine.
Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa - Hot Chip & Peter Gabriel
12.15.2008
Late To The Party :: Mardeen
From what I can gather Mardeen has been around for a bit. In fact, the current collection of songs dates to something like 2007 which in Indie Rock Years might as well be four decades. I mean, in 2003 people thought The Shins were as good as it would get. Fast-forward three years and those same Indie Kids worshiped at the temple of Justice. Indie-pop became electro-clash/house/blog/turn it up, my ears are bleeding. You get the point. We eat everything for breakfast and by dinner we're nauseous and hungry for something else. We are disgusting.
Mardeen is a throw-back by these metrics. It's the kind of guitar rock that Better Than Ezra would have made if they never got a record deal and Limp Bizket hadn't killed the alt-rock scene with a few punishing blows in 1998. But just because it sounds old doesn't make it bad. Most things age poorly (see: teen stars, fashion trends, milk), but some things find greater grace with time (inexplicably The Reagan era, John Travolta, and scotch whiskey). Deep down we're all a little romantic for the past. Mardeen sounds like something from ten years ago - and that's exactly what makes me like it.
"Telephones" is the less good of the two here and seems like it was loosely based on the opening three measures of Muse's "Starlight;" just listen for the fuzzed out bass-line. It has a sing-song melody that might stick in your head the first time you hear it. Mostly, it asks no questions and tells no lies. On the rock circuit these days, that passes for "capital T" Truth.
"Kids," thankfully not a cover of MGMT's smash-hit, is a satisfying little rock song. It's got a little chorus that will dig in and stay - though, perhaps, a little too disgetively and by the fourth-straight listen you might have had enough. I don't blame you. We move quick around here. After all, it's time for dinner and I feel fucking ill.
Listen ::
Mardeen - "Telephones"
Mardeen - "Kids"
Mardeen is a throw-back by these metrics. It's the kind of guitar rock that Better Than Ezra would have made if they never got a record deal and Limp Bizket hadn't killed the alt-rock scene with a few punishing blows in 1998. But just because it sounds old doesn't make it bad. Most things age poorly (see: teen stars, fashion trends, milk), but some things find greater grace with time (inexplicably The Reagan era, John Travolta, and scotch whiskey). Deep down we're all a little romantic for the past. Mardeen sounds like something from ten years ago - and that's exactly what makes me like it.
"Telephones" is the less good of the two here and seems like it was loosely based on the opening three measures of Muse's "Starlight;" just listen for the fuzzed out bass-line. It has a sing-song melody that might stick in your head the first time you hear it. Mostly, it asks no questions and tells no lies. On the rock circuit these days, that passes for "capital T" Truth.
"Kids," thankfully not a cover of MGMT's smash-hit, is a satisfying little rock song. It's got a little chorus that will dig in and stay - though, perhaps, a little too disgetively and by the fourth-straight listen you might have had enough. I don't blame you. We move quick around here. After all, it's time for dinner and I feel fucking ill.
Listen ::
Mardeen - "Telephones"
Mardeen - "Kids"
12.11.2008
Faunts :: "Feel.Love.Thinking.Of"
There is no way to discuss new-wave or synth-pop bands without mentioning a whole host of influences ranging from somewhere around New Order and Erasure right up to the Postal Service. This is a problem. I sit here and think of influences that might excite you but really, my library of possible bands is used up quickly and you end up thinking, "Depeche Mode? Does that sound like something I could be into in 2008?" And you think ... "maybe?"
But really comparison doesn't do anyone any sort of justice. Faunts do kind of sound like New Order but frankly, New Order is a much better band with a larger, deeper catalogue of songs. Comparing the two would be like asking a sixth grader to go out to bars and hit on women. It's not that they couldn't physically get to the bar (by bike) and reasonably sneak their way in under the guise of some excuse ("I'm looking for my Dad") but the truth is, they'd be too young to really pull it off. Asking Faunts to be New Order is a little too much. Even saying that Faunts can do some of the same things as New Order is too much. It's too soon. And, they have the whole rest of their lives to go to bars and pick up women. Just work on getting to Algebra on time for the moment.
Listen :: Faunts - "Feel.Love.Thinking.Of"
But really comparison doesn't do anyone any sort of justice. Faunts do kind of sound like New Order but frankly, New Order is a much better band with a larger, deeper catalogue of songs. Comparing the two would be like asking a sixth grader to go out to bars and hit on women. It's not that they couldn't physically get to the bar (by bike) and reasonably sneak their way in under the guise of some excuse ("I'm looking for my Dad") but the truth is, they'd be too young to really pull it off. Asking Faunts to be New Order is a little too much. Even saying that Faunts can do some of the same things as New Order is too much. It's too soon. And, they have the whole rest of their lives to go to bars and pick up women. Just work on getting to Algebra on time for the moment.
Listen :: Faunts - "Feel.Love.Thinking.Of"
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
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