Allo Darlin’: “Tallulah”
This year is sort of bringing me down, music-wise. Lots of boring mediocre albums, which is why I haven’t posted much. Until this morning I would have counted this Allo Darlin’ album among them, and though I’m still not sold on the whole record, which occasionally makes me just wish I was listening to the Smiths, this song is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever heard. Your enjoyment might depend on how you generally feel about nostalgia, but either way, this song is pretty much perfect.
The Gloria Record: “Tired & Uninspired”
i should wait to post this tomorrow, so it can be melodrama monday instead of melodrama sunday.
The Gloria Record: “Tired & Uninspired”
I shouldn’t be hard to find…
I’ll be the one with my big mouth moving;
my big words, saying nothing.
I hope you know
it’s not my father’s fault I’m such a bore,
and so afraid of everything.
I’m keeping inside; living in my mind;
hoping that the telephone don’t ring
with, “It’s all right… pain is universal, baby”
and worrying about what I’m going to sing.
I’m staying in, and saving up my energy.
I know my day is coming.
And when I find it, I will rewind it
(and play it over again a hundred times).
And when I hear it, I will not fear it
I will say it back again, and say, “I’m fine.”
(“Relief!…” “Relief!…”)
“I’m fine.”
La Sera: “Please Be My Third Eye”
Vivian Girls kinda leave me cold, but La Sera, a side-project of its bassist, is pretty great. In particular, this song, which is a perfect little chunk of pop-punk songcraft and melodies that the Thermals would be proud of (and hey, their label is named after a Thermals song! Perfect!):
Youth Lagoon: “17″
I’m late to the party here, but last year’s debut album by Youth Lagoon pretty shamelessly manipulates all my nostalgia triggers – namely, feeling young and timeless and lonely and horny and hopeful and stupid, all at the same time. I’m not sure if I enjoyed being that age more than I enjoy remembering it, but either way, this song is exactly how I felt when I was 17, turned into music.
There is, of course, a whole argument/discussion/whatever to have about the value of nostalgia, and I’m not immune to that kind of navel gazing either, but this is the navel gazing I’m choosing at the moment. I’ve been playing it (and the rest of the album) incessantly. Hopefully you feel the same.
Unicycle Loves You: “Failure”
As a rule, indie rock seems to be getting more gauzy and distant, and I mean, ok. I guess the heart wants what it wants, and the hearts of indie rock kids seem to want borrowed nostalgia for the unremembered 80s. I sort of still want catchy guitar pop though, and this new Unicycle Loves You record is hitting those pleasure centers nicely. Simple, strummy, satisfying, and oddly, still pretty throwback. Anyway:
Unicycle Loves You: “Failure” (redacted by request of the band. replacement song below, which is also great, but maybe you should just go buy the album in any case)
Unicycle Loves You: “Wow Wave Cinema”
A People’s Tour of B-Sides: The Hold Steady
“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”
- John Lennon
If a band’s albums are the musical path they choose to chart, their b-sides are often the unexpected detours that, I’d suggest, reveal a bit more about their tendencies than the thoughtfully recorded and carefully sequenced documents they release every two years or so. (Except for the White Stripes, who seemed to care not too much at all about being careful or deliberate.)
In the case of the Hold Steady, their debut is the hard-charging introduction, Separation Sunday is the ambitious mission statement, Boys and Girls in America is the beginning of the party, Stay Positive is the start of the come-down, and Heaven is Whenever is a band trying to figure out what to do next. The contemporaneous b-sides and ephemera, however, paint a different picture. Read More…
No One Cares About the Poster Children
Which is really too bad. I go back to them occasionally, and today was listening to Daisychain Reaction, Poster Children‘s completely excellent second record. You can buy any/all of their records on their website, and you can listen to the best song from this record here:
Various Things About the Mountain Goats, Including a Song
Fact 1: The Mountain Goats are the best.
Fact 2: they will be coming to Orlando in January, and I live there, and this is good news on a number of levels.
Fact 3: their best album, Tallahassee (no arguments entertained) will have been released 10 years ago next year.
Fact 4: the syntax of that last sentence is a little tortured.
Fact 5: I’m not going to fix it. Read More…
The Afghan Whigs: “Mr. Superlove”
It’s completely possible that there is nothing better in the world than this song.
