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August 22, 2008
Summer Six Pack, round 3
I spent most of the summer in a new music funk, disappointed by the quality of the releases invading my headspace, and turning to neglected records from the past to comfort me in my disillusionment. The tide seems to be turning, though I'm not sure what it's connected to. Perhaps the sustained temperate air of New York's unusually generous August? Maybe I just looked a little harder for some, and then the blogosphere rewarded me for my efforts by spitting out the rest? It matters little. As I have in all the melted months since I've been associated with MS, I offer a smattering of tracks that have kept me sane as my actual brain boiled away. ..
Best Friends Forever - "Eisenhower is the Father" (live on 89.3 the Current)
I must have seen the name Best Friends Forever nestled in the midst of a mammoth Todd P e-mail blast somewhere along the line, but I never really investigated the Minnesota band until catching some modest hype shrapnel from the dates they played in New York this week (I did not attend, but nyctaper did, and his recordings can be found here). Turns out they are pretty GD delightful. I tracked down the group's virtually ignored 2008 debut LP Romance Conflict Adventure, but I still prefer the radio session version of its song "Eisenhower is the Father" that's posted above. It's not so far off from it's studio counterpart, but the vocals of (presumed BFFs) Bri and Jes are perhaps even more casual and off the cuff sounding in a single, lazy take. It flirts with being overly cutesy, but the girls' funny travelogue/love story/presidential narration exudes both a haphazard charm and an obvious intelligence that elevates it above something awful like the Moldy Peaches. They're two lady Malkmuses overlapping each other while on the prowl. Well, at least until the song whips into a Unicorns synth-pop rave-up. Pavement + Unicorns + clever female vocalists = swoon. I actually think that ol' lefty Ike is pretty swell too.
Appropriate Corresponding Summer Activity: Savoring a reassuring breeze. Chuckling to yourself at its improbable pleasantness.
I had meant to post a few more songs from San Fransisco's Sic Alps at some recent point, but a lack of motivating enthusiasm did me in. I like the hissing lo-fi rockers, but not as much as I wanted to after reading copious descriptions of their craft. But this Throbbing Gristle cover is a pretty neat trick. "United" is one of the easiest songs to like in the industrial titans' intimidating back catalog, it's, uh, still not that easy to like. The robot blips of the original are downright cuddly compared to the detached vocals and and their off-putting delivery. Sic Alps take sounds like a large truck idling, until it takes on a surprising bit of Nuggets pep. One of the least likely feel-good experiments in recent memory.
Appropriate Corresponding Summer Activity: Strolling home so absent-mindedly that the construction work in the distance takes on a bit of a melody.
Ssion - "Credit in the Straight World"
I'm clearly a sucker for this song, having already posted it performed by two other artists. As the iconography of Courtney Love was prominently displayed both times I've seen them live, I'm guessing it's the Hole version that Cody & co. are primarily smitten with. How better to express diva worship than evoking a smoke machine obscured dancefloor? Not as mysterious as Young Marble Giants' original, clearly, but even when playing a song as straight as they ever have, Ssion manage to devilishly amuse. Once the mental image of Love in a Flashdance off-the-shoulder sweatshirt and leg warmers ensemble set in, it was difficult to displace.
Appropriate Corresponding Summer Activity: Trying several ice-cream flavors until you hit the one that makes you question your own sexuality.
Previously, Gang Gang Dance's only nod to easy accessibility was part of one song where it seemed like the band might have, at some point in their lives, heard Morrissey. This new track actually seems made for people who aren't filled by a meal made of occasionally interesting texture alone. It's name might trigger an involuntary face-scrunching, but "House Jam" is a surprisingly apt description. It's got the body movement triggers of blissfully e'd up rave number, but is looser and more playful in form than a standard 4-4 banger. As their previous style was patently unlistenable (I tried, I swear), this has to be considered a major, major improvement.
Appropriate Corresponding Summer Activity:Jamming; preferably in a house.
the Anals - "Commando of Love"
The Anals were French punks, already slipped into the past tense after issuing this debut single this June. According to a tersely worded bio on their Sweet Rot label MySpace page, half of these French duo met an untimely death. Whether that's meant metaphorically or tragically not, this is a great little cult mystery of a 7". Using lingering national angst over World War II for lyrical fodder, and some sort of relentless animatronic gorilla to play the drums, "Commando of Love" is beguilingly spartan.
Appropriate Corresponding Summer Activity: Preparing for an afternoon BBQ by laying down a base coat of grain alcohol, flaming out early.
Stereolab - "Cellulose Sunshine"
The 60s sounds I most associate with Stereolab's career are of the French, lounge, or French lounge variety. "Cellulose Sunshine" from the band's ninth full-length album, has the distinct whiff of "Incense & Peppermints" to it, however. The groove is accentuated by sly strings, though the end result, as always, is a Stereolab song. The title implies a warming glow in even the most mundane items; light beaming from the component parts of things you see every day. Though the British veterans' sound has by now become as familiar as a plant or stone in your garden path, this petite pop nugget has an inner radiance as well.
Appropriate Corresponding Summer Activity: Watching the gleam morph and recombine on the surface of a flowing creek. Ohhhhhm.
--
Previously:
- the Summer of '07
- the Summer of '06
Posted by Jeff Klingman at August 22, 2008 12:00 AM
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