March 31, 2009

The Stylistics//You Are Everything

I think that for a really long time I thought the Stylistics were girls. In fact, I know I thought they were girls when I was a kid and my dad used to sing their songs to me, along with their music on the stereo. Turns out, they’re just dudes singing in falsetto. Well, ok, they’re still totally good!

70s Philly-Sound Soul groups have the coolest names. The Stylistics—come on! Apparently they were formed from the ashes of The Percussions and The Monarchs—come on! Band names: they don’t make ‘em like that anymore.

The Stylistics only wrote ballads and also worked with legendary Philly Soul producer Thom Bell, who also produced The Delfonics (another Dad favorite: Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time)) and The Spinners—come on! Usually I don’t like ballads, but I like the Stylistics, maybe because they remind me of being a little kid and hanging out with my dad, watching him emphatically pantomime heartbreaking lyrics. Am I embarrassing you, dad? See how the tables have turned.

This song is about MAJOR heartbreak. The lyrics always stuck with me and I can remember, as a kid, imagining that the person (remember: I thought it was a girl singing) saw the other person they were in love with in a semi-darkened train station and that it was raining outside. What an imagination.

Almost as vivid are the weird sitar sounds (which are probably just synths and seem to be present in every single Stylistics song) and the super wide phaser.

My band is going on tour next week and we’re starting in Philly. Maybe we should cover a Stylistics song. Maybe we should cover this one.



You Are Everything.mp3

Today I saw somebody
Who looked just like you,
She walked like you do;
I thought it was you.
As she turned the corner,
I called out your name.
I felt so ashamed
When it wasn't you.

March 30, 2009

Faded Paper Figures//North by North

No Stamps Required:
What is Monday Mail?

This Monday Mail comes from Michael, a representative of Palm Music Management

As my friends know, I really like when people are upfront about the facts, which is maybe one of the first things that endeared me to this track. Straight shooters, marry me. Michael writes:

Faded Paper Figures released their debut album Dynamo last year on Shorthand Records. The trio from Irvine, CA combine elements of electronica, pop and rock to form an infectious sound that has been compared to The Postal Service, Stars and Hot Chip.

Michael is right. Faded Paper Figures sounds like a pleasant, if a bit overly cute, sandwich comprised of Stars extremely emphatic and earnest vox filling and a little Hot Chip relish, all stuffed into some delicious Postal Service beat and synth-tone bread.

It’s ok to be derivative if you mix and match enough that you come out with something new. And stealing various sounds from various groups doesn’t negate the fact that this song is poppy greatness. Added bonus: they list Jon Brion as an influence on their myspace page.. You guys sure know the way to a girl's heart. The hook does just what it’s supposed to and the lyrics deliver just a slight pinch of melancholy. Yeah, this sandwich is tasty!



North by North.mp3


More about the band here.

You said a long long time ago
you were happy being someone
Let's go far far far from home
I'll be glad to be with someone

March 27, 2009

NOMO//All The Stars

Holy [Local! Music! Friday!], Batman!

Tell me...what is this Local Music Fridays?


While I don’t actually know any of the members of NOMO personally beyond drunk-college-party acquaintance level, a few of them are close friends of close friends. When I lived in Ann Arbor, I would oft pass Elliot sitting on his front steps playing banjo and I once had a delightful breakfast at Clinton Hill neighborhood favorite Mike’s with Erik and the aforementioned close friends. Finally, I have a distinct and funny memory of seeing the band perform inside a giant inflatable art installation made by my friend Soma…and that was pretty fucking cool.

Anyway, all that aside, these guys know how to drop the afrobeat. Their latest album, Ghost Rock, has garnered quite a few accolades and their sound dashes in just the right amount of funk and jazz.



All The Stars.mp3

If you’re here in NYC, you can catch NOMO on Sunday at Union Hall or on Monday at Joe’s Pub.

More about NOMO here.

March 26, 2009

Fiona Apple//Criminal

I thought I would brighten up your Thursday with a double whammy of TJBC AND 90s MTV nostalgia.

Speaking of 90s MTV, I don’t think I was really allowed to watch this much (or at all, depending on who you ask). That said, I managed to sneak in quite a bit of The Real World (early thumbs up!, later thumbs down!), Road Rules (always thumbs down!), Daria (thumbs up!), Spring Break (thumbs WAY down!), True Life (thumbs mostly up!) and Beevis and Butthead (thumbs mostly down!) in those golden hours between getting home from school and my parents getting home from work.

By this time, MTV had moved into a transitional phase between the early, rawesome, video-killed-the-radio-star VJs-deliver-the-news MTV of the 80s and the ultra-lame pitch-controlled all-“reality”-all-the-time MTV of today. We still had Kurt Loder (WHO JUST TURNED 63, btw, OMG!), but we also had that terrible situational soft core porn show, the name of which I cannot even recall. Can anyone help me out with that one?

Even so, there were still some great videos being shown during that era. I think I didn’t realize this at the time, but this was really a cultural tide-shift in terms of what people would put on TV. For example videos like Radiohead’s “Paranoid Android” and the one for today’s feature were really pushing a new envelope.

In other news, I recognize that Ms. Apple is a kind of, scrap that, totally insane, but you’ve got to admit she’s talented in the songwriting, lyrics and vocals department. While 1999’s When the Pawn… still holds the place as my favorite of her albums, her debut, Tidal, is pretty filled with adolescent jams. Both albums were produced by my very favorite Jon Brion (though the more recent Extraordinary Machine controversially wasn’t) and both bear many of his signature style marks of out-of-the-ordinary tone, distinctive guitar solos and vibraphone vibraphone vibraphone!

Unrelated trivia: Apple (as well as Aimee Mann) also has a strong connection to my favorite film/director (Magnolia/PT Anderson), but I don’t feel like going into it right now. Maybe I can break off on that tangent when I finally post “Goodbye Stranger” by Supertramp. HA. HAHA.



Criminal.mp3

I know tomorrow brings the consequence
At hand,
But I keep livin this day like
The next will never come.

March 25, 2009

The Magnetic Fields//I Don't Want To Get Over You, Not That Crazy, Asleep and Dreaming, Yeah! Oh, Yeah!

Well, friends, we have a lot to catch up on today. I’ve been derelict with my promised songs, as I’ve been on vacation (the nerve). I was in Minneapolis, visiting my lady, seeing her awesome (and slightly disturbing) play and riding to and fro on a vintage bicycle while wearing sunglasses on the very green greenway!

But, good news for you and blah news for me, I’m back now. To celebrate, I’m giving you a quadruple dose of what I’ve been listening to all (extended) weekend, which also happens to be the perfect mix of happy and morose (to reflect my mood). (Most) of these songs are so good, I could probably give you almost all 69 and you’d be satisfied. But fear not—I would never post the hyper-annoying "Punk Rock Love" here.

I just finished the 33 1/3 of 69 Love Songs (my review here). It was really fun to read the highly annotated book along with the three albums worth of songs (on my iPod, of course).

What’s cool about this collection is that the compositions deal with all angles, stages and types of love. Merrit, brilliant songsmith that he is, effectively steps into all kind of roles and gives us plenty of different voices (five to be precise) to illustrate his point. Hearts are broken. Hearts are mended. Relationships live and die. People die. Metaphors are extended and distended. The same mistakes are made over and over again by men and women, queer and straight, human and non-human alike. Re-listening (and listening for the first time in some cases), really brought me back to certain times/relationships, and of course, got me a bit mushy about my current one. A good sign, I think.

A final, random note: I am in love with Claudia Gonson. I have been for a long, long time. I have considered composing a three-disc set of love songs just for her.

Now, without further ado, here are four of my favorites from three albums worth of gems:



I Don’t Want To Get Over You.mp3

This one makes me think of a certain particularly tragic, crazy and boozy time in college, where I did briefly smoke clove cigarettes and desperately did not want to get over someone in particular, although I’m very happy now that I did.

(Crazy For You But) Not That Crazy.mp3

I like this song because it vividly calls to mind the feeling when of the intense first stages of a relationship with someone ends and a more sustained and calm way of being with them begins.

Asleep and Dreaming.mp3

Ok, here comes the mushy. This goes on that list of rare songs that can actually bring a tear to my eye (see also: Sufjan Stevens).

Yeah! Oh, Yeah!.mp3

This track will always remind me of when I lived in London and I had a live recording of it that I put on every mix tape I made for a while. Totally hilarious in a uniquely Magnetic Fields way.


The sweetest thing
I ever saw
Was you asleep
And dreaming.

March 19, 2009

The Blow//What Tom Said About the Girls

It’s not a secret that I’m a pretty big fan of the K Records sound. That’s partially why I thought I would like K labelmate The Blow when I found out that she was opening up for Mirah at a show in Tortonto in roughly 2004? Sadly, what I got was a whole lineup of girls wearing stupid outfits and singing over pre-recorded music on CDs that piped to a PA via a discman. I-Did-It-Myself Indie Karaoke: a serious disappointment. When Mirah got up and played her songs with an actual guitar four odd hours later, I heaved a great sigh of relief.

That said, fast forward to me actually getting to hear Mikhaela Yvonne Maricich’s recorded music and my mind was totally changed. Without the distraction of my musicsnob anger over her discman singalong, I could listen to the rhythm and the lyrics, which are extremely clever.

Tom, an anthem for modern masculinity, is no exception. The song delves into the motivation behind catcalls and car-obsession in a fresh and mildly academic way, without being even slightly school marm-y, and that I can get down with. I can also get down with the fact that, according to Khaela’s Myspace page, The Blow enjoys skeeball. Because everyone knows that skeeball is the number one jam of life.



What Tom Said About the Girls.mp3

Well, I got a ride. It's hot, I drive it.
To pay the gas, I've got to 9-5 it.
The engine turns, it keeps the heat alive for the ladies.
All the girls in pictures, girls in bars, yeah,
Everybody knows a girl requires a car.
I drove one out to look up at the stars
And she was like,
"Tom, do you ever notice the spaces in between the stars?"
And I was like, "You know, well…"

March 18, 2009

BrakesBrakesBrakes//Two Shocks

I’m pretty endeared to BrakesBrakesBrakes (or Brakes, in the UK) for the following reasons:

1. Guitarist Eamon Hamilton posted this on their website:
"We are fundamentally responsible for the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States of America, yes," say Brakes. "If it hadn't been for our 5-second epic song "Cheney" (lyrics: "Cheney, Cheney, Cheney, stop being such a Dick"), then it is without a doubt that McCain would've won, and died, and Sarah Palin would have become President and Ruler of the Known Universe by April 2009 "We are fundamentally responsible for the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States of America, yes," say Brakes. "If it hadn't been for our 5-second epic song "Cheney" (lyrics: "Cheney, Cheney, Cheney, stop being such a Dick"), then it is without a doubt that McCain would've won, and died, and Sarah Palin would have become President and Ruler of the Known Universe by April 2009.
2. I’ve got a soft spot for Rough Trade bands.
3. They toured with Belle and Sebastian.
4. I wanted to like British Sea Power (especially when living in London), but couldn’t.
5. I actually really did like Electric Soft Parade.
6. I like the way Hamilton rolls that “r” all Donovan style on the word “reaper” in this song.
7. I also like the way the bass gets all scary, big, distorted and Radiohead-esque in the big build at the end. I get to thinking, “am I listening to a new brit poppy-ier version of that golden period between OK Computer and Amnesiac? And I like getting to thinking things like that.
8. SO. DANG. CATCHY.

This track is off their upcoming (4/20 BROOOOOO) release, Touchdown



Two Shocks.mp3

All I grew was disillusioned
And a little bit older.

March 17, 2009

The Saints//(I'm) Stranded

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! Or Happy Saint Omar’s Day, if you’re in the know (it’s a long story for a drunk night out, not for this blog).

That said, I thought maybe you could get your Irish drink on with some Australian Saints…THE Saints, that is.

I found out about The Saints from a really amazing Australian punk/post punk/garage comp called Do the Pop!. This band has quite a rep, championing the late 70s punk sound before all the names you know (Sex Pistols, Clash) and being one of the definitive torchbearers of Brisbane Punk. Of course, to tie it all back to Ireland, according to Wikipedia, Bob Geldof has been quoted as saying, "Rock music in the Seventies was changed by three bands — the Sex Pistols, the Ramones and The Saints."

As time progressed, the band got more straightforward, probably somewhat due to major label influence. Still, you can hear the style of The Saints in bands from REM to Green Day.

When this song came out in 1976, UK’s Sound Magazine declared it the “single of this and every week.” If that’s not one sweet song, I’m not sure what is.



(I’m) Stranded.mp3

If you’re already up on Do The Pop! and looking for more, I’ve heard good things about this as well.

I'm riding on a midnight train
And everybody looks just the same.
A subway light, it's dirty reflection;
I'm lost I don't have a direction
'Cause I'm stranded on my own,
Stranded far from home.

Now, buy me a (optionally green) beer!

March 16, 2009

Pree//In the Parlor

MAIL CALL!
What is Monday Mail?

This one comes from Mike over at The Kora Records. I gave it a listen and was instantly charmed by the melody and the singer’s voice, which calls to mind a Chan Marshall/ Thao Nguyen /Edie Brickell mashup. Cute, no?
Not to mention ideal for a little Monday chill-out.

Pree’s new album, The Chopping Block, releases on 3/24. A little info from Mike:

Pree, led by May Tabol (formerly of Le Loup) emerged onto the DC music scene with a string of compelling and intimate shows during the summer of 2008.



In the Parlor.mp3

Pree hits BK on 4/11 at Union Hall and Manhattan on 4/12 at Pianos. More info and dates.

A reminder: please send your requests, questions, gripes, picks, pans, inquiries, gifts, money, extra KIND bars (I'm obsessed) and thoughts to justonesweetsong at gmail.

March 13, 2009

Any Day Parade//Couple Hours

Local Basement! Local North Brooklyn!

[Local! Music! Friday!]

Tell me...what is this Local Music Fridays?


If you’re here in NYC like me, it’s quite a weekend of shows.

First of all, former L!M!F!er Patrick Elkins plays early tonight with Charlie Slick at Pianos in the LES and later tonight at The 50/50. JaaaAaaAms.

Second, Jersey City’s Any Day Parade, releases a brandy new EP on Saturday at Spike Hill in Williamsburg. Here’s a shining example of what you can expect from the band on this forthcoming album.

I first met ADP when we played a really fun/really weird show with them at a Tattoo Parlor for a Jersey City First Friday. The show was a riot for a number of reasons. Here are some:

1. It was in a tattoo parlor…which was functioning.
2. We had to wait until patrons were done receiving tattoos before we could play.
3. Did I mention we were in a tattoo parlor?

Anyway, ADP’s live act was an amazing rock ‘n’ rollin’ straight whiskey-swillin’ party, complete with big sexy guitar riffs and plenty of vocal bravado. This track, which tackles that tricky “are we just hooking up or is something else going on?” relationship, is no exception.



Couple Hours.mp3

Any Day Parade releases their new EP, Where We Fall, tomorrow night with Palmyra at Spike Hill. More details here.

I don’t want to say no.
Why don’t you say yes?
I don’t want you to go.
Well, I haven’t left.

March 12, 2009

Dead Prez//Hell Yeah

I had the pleasure of having a minute or two of gchat with my good, good friend Angie yesterday. Angie was very much my hip hop guru from the year 2005 to the year 2007 (previously, Nick held the title, introducing me to such classics as The Roots, Talib Kweli, Dilated Peoples, Black Star and more). Angie's influence was felt heavily though, as she frequently churned out car-ready jam-laden mix tapes or party-ready jam-laden mix CDs for immediate enjoyment and consumption.

This song certainly reached me through one of these channels, while my consciousness of Dead Prez may have been fully formed through inebriated viewings of The Dave Chappelle Show (also with Angie, and K$).

This song is awesome because the beat uses a sweet distorted electric guitar. While the rhymes obviously paint the picture of a very bleak and distinctly American situation, it's also awesome because it lays out a list of great means to scam ("bang on") our flawed modern system. Here are some (particularly interesting in this recession?) ways Dead Prez suggest it be done:

1. Rob a pizza delivery boy.
2. Engage in credit card fraud.
3. Con social workers into supplying extra government assistant.
4. Pull money out of the register or steal products from a menial service industry job. Since this money is stolen cash, there is an added bonus of it being tax-free.

Last point: K$ always loved this song because it had the word "caper" in it.
For more details on pulling off these capers and more, listen to the track.



Hell Yeah.mp3


Don't put me on dishes,
I'm droppin' them bitches
And takin' all day long to mop the kitchen.
Shit, we ain't gettin' paid commission,
Minimum wage modern day slave conditions
Got me flippin' burgers with no power;
Can't even buy one off what I make in an hour.
I'm not one to kiss ass for the top position.
I take mine off the top like a politician.

March 11, 2009

The Avalanches//Frontier Psychiatrist

This song has recently resurfaced into my consciousness via the shuffle feature on my iPod (oh yes, I am in love). It really takes me back to my first year of college, being easily amused by things, hanging out in dorm rooms and underage drinking. Oh, those were the days.

What’s amazing about this song, besides it’s extreme catchy-ness and hilarious soundbites, is the obvious attention to detail that went into its creation. It sounds like some editor did a bunch of speed and worked on it night and day for three weeks, until every carefully discovered sample was perfectly in place. What I’m saying is that the song holds. Bonus: you can dance to it!

Although this isn’t the Australian Avalanches best known tune (that award probably goes to the also-catchy super-hooky “Since I Left You”), it’s my favorite by a mile.

As for the current state of the group, it’s largely unknown. Promises of a forthcoming second album of “ambient world music” expand into perpetuity with infrequent and vague web updates. Where are they now? Hard to say. Where am I now? Certainly not wasted in a dorm room on smuggled-in Boone’s Farm. But it still sounds good!



Frontier Psychiatrist .mp3

That boy needs therapy.

March 10, 2009

The Pixies//I'm Amazed, Atom and His Package//I'm Downright Amazed...

Here's another double, to make up for my absence yesterday.

The word of the day is “amazed” for my amazingly intense (in more ways than one) weekend. Here are two short and sweet songs that tackle the subject in a distinctly different manner.

The first is a super jam from one of my favorite Pixies albums, Surfer Rosa. It leads with one of the most hilarious moments on the album—Kim Deal’s “They were so….quiet about it…”

It’s hard to tell exactly what Black Francis is amazed by—the subject matter is kind of all over the place (shock). That said, I’m amazed when I think about dancing in the halls of East Quad to this and other SR songs with a certain Michael Beauchamp.

The second song came off a sweet, sweet Mordam sampler I got in high school (height of punk era). Adam Goren AKA Atom and His Package was a friend of friends, which is how I came to know about him. Actually, his package (his electronic setup of synths and samplers) was pretty amazing.

It’s pretty obvious what he’s amazed about.



I'm Amazed.mp3



I'm Downright Amazed at What I Can Destroy With Just a Hammer.mp3

Before I died, I took my Honda,
And packed it up, up, up to Arizona!
I'm amazed!
I'm amazed!
I'm amazed!

March 6, 2009

Bob Dylan//Talking World War III Blues, Subterranean Homesick Blues

I’m going to Minneapolis today, thank the good lord. It’s been a hard girlfriend-less month!

Maybe this seems obvious, but I thought I would put up some tracks from one of the most famous America singer-songwriters, from Minnesota or otherwise. You may have heard of him. His name is Bob Dylan.

Bob Dylan inspires extreme reactions from people. There’s either a lot of love or a lot of hate. I really enjoy certain songs (here’s two, obvs) and certain albums (Freewheelin’ is my absolute fave), although I can definitely understand some people’s dislike. At his best, he is a profound and prolific songwriter. At his worst, he is a repetitive and high-and-mighty jerk. This love/hate even extends into my feelings about the ’67 Pennebaker documentary Don’t Look Back, where Dylan comes off as one part fascinating, one part repulsive asshole—although the scene with the older British woman and her two sons inviting him to stay at their manor house is priceless and one of my favorites.

This first song is one that my dad used to sing a lot, which is part of why I love it. I always hear him saying “In my Cadillac/Good car drive after the war” and, “It was Rocka-de-Johnny singing/Tell your Ma/Tell your Pa/Our love’s a-gonna grow/Ouh Ah Ouh Ah.” But it’s also it’s just a really good song. It’s about a weird dream/psychotherapy/end of the world. It’s funny! Not to mention that the recordings (this and others on that album) are so raw and real. It’s all very endearing.

The second song is just a jam and will always elicit the thought of those opening images from the infamous Pennebaker film:



Talking World War III Blues.mp3

Subterranean Homesick Blues.mp3

Ah get born, keep warm,
Short pants, romance, learn to dance,
Get dressed, get blessed,
Try to be a success.
Please her, please him, buy gifts,
Don't steal, don't lift--
Twenty years of school
And they put you on the day shift.

March 4, 2009

Belle and Sebastian//Family Tree

This isn’t my favorite Belle and Sebastian song (“She’s Losing It”) or off my favorite album (Tigermilk). I did, however, wake up with this song in my head this morning. In fact, I held of listening to any music this morning until I could listen to this track. It just seems right for the day.

“Family Tree” is off the first Belle and Sebastian album I ever got, Fold Your Hands Child…. Actually, I got the album in kind of a funny way. My friend Maria came to visit and we hung out with her (older cooler) cousin whose (older cooler) friend was the web guy for Matador. We ended up hanging out in the Matador offices at night, wandering around, checking out all the demos people sent in. It was a pretty magical experience for a 17 year-old budding indie rock fan, like myself. At the end of the night, Mr. Webmaster took us into the warehouse and loaded us up with promo discs. Fold Your Hands Child was one of them.

While Stuart is usually my favorite B&S vocalist, Isobel Campbell does a great job with this one. This was before she quit and splintered off her work into a (sort of mediocre) solo project. The tune delivers the band’s usual pretty and melancholy twee, with a twist of feminist anguish in the flawlessly composed lyrics.

Also, this song taught me an important lesson about the way British people say the word, “mafia,” which ends up sounding like “mawhhfia(r).” This is really weird and really true.

Also Also, I always thought the lyrics were, “you can wish, because I’m not here to fuck around.” They're not actually, but I think this would be a lot better. Too bad.



Family Tree.mp3

If my family tree goes back to the Romans,
Then I will change my name to Jones.
If my family tree goes back to Napoleon,
Then I will change my name to Smith.
If my family tree goes back to the Romans,
Then I will change my name to Jones.
If you're looking at me to be an accountant,
Then you will look but you will never see.
If you're looking at me to start having babies,
Then you can wish because I'm not here to fool around.

March 3, 2009

The Cure//Killing An Arab

Yesterday’s Meursault track made me think of another Camus-inspired track, “Killing an Arab” on the only Cure album I have liked from start to finish so far, Boys Don’t Cry.

Tuesday fits well with this particular brand of French existentialism; we’re all going to die, might as well make the best of it.

I have to give Ryan full credit for introducing me to this punk classic, as I felt mostly indifferent to The Cure before hearing it, and much enamored after.

I think part of the reason I like this album (besides the fact that there really aren’t any loser tracks on the thing) is that it’s pre-goth/pre-90s glitzy keys. Instead, it’s all punk rhythm and riffs, which provide a more fitting context for Smith’s nasally dejected whines than that pre-fab suburban goth sound ever did (don’t get me wrong, I can get down with a some later stuff too—I just think this one shines!).

People were up-in-arms and crying racism upon the late-70s release of this song, missing the literary context. This led the band to place a label that denied the racist connotations on the single's 1979 reissue. Seriously, read the book, guys.



Killing An Arab.mp3

Whatever I do,
It amounts to the same:
Absolutely nothing.
I’m alive.
I’m dead.
I’m the stranger,
Killing an Arab.

March 2, 2009

Meursault//The Furnace

We here at OSS (and by WE, I mean ME, because let’s face it: I’m the only one here) have been getting A LOT of mail. A LOT. That’s been cool, because it means that YOU are out there. And hearing from YOU is fun, even if it does make US wonder if a gmail account can actually explode.

I’ve been doing my best to respond personally to inquiries, notes and suggestions for sweet songs. I think it’s about time to formally acknowledge the old inbox here on the blog, so this will be the first installment of a feature not unlike L!M!F!, which I will call, boringly, Monday! Mail!. I am hoping everyone will enjoy starting and ending the week with surprises, just to keep life interesting. Like, L!M!F!, I’ll be highlighting only the highest quality tracks, so you never have to worry about downloading crap.

I love hearing new stuff and playing call-in DJ, so keep your submissions and requests coming and look for a post in Monday’s Mail: justonesweetsong at gmail.

The first M!M! is from Matthew Young of Song, by Toad, who wrote in to rep for some awesome and oft-overlooked bands from Edinburgh. One of the bands he brought to my attention was Meursault.

Meursault, which I can only assume is named for the main character from The Stranger by Camus, is a gem of a band and I’ve been genuinely enjoying listening to the somewhat unfortunately named Pissing on Bonfires/Kissing With Tongues. I’m a sucker for innovation in instrumentation and the combo of banjo and electronic beat is enough to enrapture me right out of the gate. This song also has a catchy hook and an interesting take on shouty vocals, that aren’t offensive like shouty vocals can sometimes be.



The Furnace.mp3

One additional note on Pissing on Bonfires/Kissing With Tongues that I couldn’t exclude is that the title track of the album is directly (and I mean DIRECTLY—no mistaking it) ripped off of Neutral Milk Hotel’s “Song Against Sex.” For how interesting and original the rest of this album is, this seems like a weird choice. I’m not sure if this was intentional, but it’s very, very obvious. Consider this my note to you, guys—what’s the deal?

More about Meursault. Also, if you happen to live in the UK, these guys play out.

And the worry that you carry
Is another word for courage.