Eddy Current Suppression Ring//Cool Ice Cream

I'm hoping that by posting today, you'll excuse me for my mp3 silence on Friday.

There's also this: did I tell you guys I'm getting married? Whoa. I am. Kind of a big deal, especially for someone who's been badmouthing the concept since childhood. But my fiance has really changed my life and my world view on this one. And, even though this likely isn't going to happen for a full year and a half, we have to start planning now. So, if you're wondering, that's where my Friday went.

Moving on, there are few things I want to say about this song:

The first is that it's summer--the day after The 4th in fact--and that summer, for me, is all about ice cream, which becomes so much more justified when it's hot out. This song is also all about ice cream. Well, it may not be exactly about ice cream. But it is about getting something you want and deserve after putting your time in...which is also kind of like summer. I consider living through the months of Novemember through March to be the equivalent of putting one's time in, which is the role of eating one's veggies in this song. Is this making sense? I was at the beach all day yesterday and I think the sun fried up my brain cells.

The second is that this is what The Hives would have sounded like if they were actually good and not a creepily engineered garage punk group designed to make Swedish teenagers part with their parent's money.

My final point is that as a younger person, I really enjoyed punk rock. Many of my friends were in bands and I went to all ages shows at a local firehouse that hosted hardcore, ska, metal and (what were the beginnings of) emo. As you get older, it can be harder to justify listening to punk or even rock music with a lip-curly punk edge (which these guys definitely are). You're...making a sandwich, listening to punk music. You're...cleaning your bathroom, listening to punk music. There's just something that feels weird about it. But after thinking about this for a while, here's what I say to that: FUCK IT. You should listen to loud awesome music whenever you want, because life is short and punk rock is rad. So, you're not 17... So, you have a bank account... It's ok. TURN IT UP EVEN LOUDER. Shock your neighbors. Cool ice cream.



Cool Ice Cream.mp3

Ate all my veggies,
Ate all my soup--
Now can I have just one scoop
Of that cool ice cream?
I deserve my dessert.

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!

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.

The Go-Betweens//Cattle and Cane

A few years ago, I went to visit some very dear friends in Chicago. They were both obsessed with this unfamiliar late 70s Australian post punkish band called The Go-Betweens. We drove around a lot listening to them and I was instantly hooked.

The sound and songs remind me a bit of The Smiths, but they’re a little less simpering than the usual Morrissey fare (not that I don’t love The Smiths—don’t get me wrong).

Cattle and Cane is probably my favorite on this not-a-bad-song-on-it retrospective, which I would highly recommend that you pick up.

Cattle and Cane.mp3

I recall a bigger brighter world...