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January 23, 2007
MS Pick - Looker
When I first arrived at Merry Swankster, here's what I found in my welcome basket: my new email account (the password was not quite "vaginamusic," but trust me, it's something close); mp3s (including Ricky Wilde's astronomically rad "I Am an Astronaut"); and a list of pre-approved euphemisms I could use to describe Kate Jackson. (Among them, "sex pottery," an "enchanting" "star," “an eyeball magnet.”) Oh boys, somewhere in Sheffield, there's a restraining order with your names on it.
Gentlemen, I know you prefer "Blondes." That much is very well documented. But I also know how hard transatlantic admiration can be. So today, I give you a new (local) hobby. Something to fill the void until the Long Blonde's next U.S. tour...
Today, my red-blooded American men, I present you with Looker.
Alphabetization may be to blame for the forthcoming comparison. My iTunes library stashes Looker's new album Born Too Late directly on the kitten heels of the Long Blonde's Someone to Drive You Home. And by the second time "Weekend Without Makeup" rippled into "Serenade Stare," it dawned on me: this girl-led quartet might be NYC's just-as-pretty, slightly-more-gritty version of your collective fixation.
Now, please don't get me wrong. Recorded and mixed in eight days at Brooklyn's Headgear Studios, BTL doesn't sound half as sheeny as STDYH. But golly knows, the same influences are at work here. And the album's most memorable tracks, “Gregory” and “Tickle My Spine,” don't lack for dance, or prance, or guitar-propelled tongue-in-cheekiness.
Born Too Late even offers its own "Once and Never Again"-esque advice to a younger generation of boy-bait. On "Hey Kids," bassist Rachel Smith and guitarists Boshra AlSaadi and Nicole Greco mewl: "hey kids, you're talkin' bold and wild / you're a one-man's love, you're a poster child." And frankly, they take admonition a single step further than your bird Jackson dares. The track culminates with what might be penultimate advice about the male species: “They like it when you kick ‘em real hard.”
But is Looker "sex pottery?"
Well, going on press photos, their name seems to suit them. Therefore, if you decide to head down to the Annex tomorrow night, I'll advise you to keep your distance to 100-uncreepy-feet. Just as, you know, a precautionary measure. (Jeff, this means you in particular.)
LOOKER TOUR DATES:
Jan 24 - New York, NY - The Annex
Feb 2 - Pittsburgh, PA - Rock Room
Feb 24 - Northampton, MA - Smith College
// Looker - Born Too Late - Buy.
// Looker - Site.
// Looker - Myspace.
Posted by Koren Zailckas at January 23, 2007 05:00 AM
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Comments
But I'm totally not creepy in person. Maybe you could write Kate Jackson a note and tell her that.
Posted by: Jeff at January 23, 2007 10:04 AM
Koren,
Good review. And even though Mr. Klingman's praise of Kate and crew are mostly well deserved it does border obsession. So, thanks for introducing some new chicas into my music collection.
Kelli Douglas
Posted by: Kelli Douglas at January 23, 2007 10:06 AM
No.. Never creepy in person.
Not really creepy on the page either. Just--what? "Committed," maybe.
Anyhow, just teasing of course. I have my own transoceanic crushes. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before they rear their shameful heads here.
Posted by: Koren Zailckas at January 23, 2007 10:24 AM
