Well hello again, MP3 junkies! Welcome to Songs Of The Week #69!
For those of you who are new to the SOTW column, here's the story: TCDroogsma and MinneSarah are both fans of The Current's Song Of The Day podcast. They're also both opinionated and have access to computers. Seeing an opportunity to let them indulge in their MP3 habit and put them to work writing reviews we created the Songs Of The Week column. Over a year later later and here we are.
As always, we strongly suggest that you follow this link and subscribe to the podcast yourself. It's free and it's fun for the whole family!
To that end, once you've given each song a spin or two, feel free to cast a vote for your favorite song of the week in the poll to the right side of the page. The artist who accrues the most votes wins the validation that comes from winning an anonymous internet poll, arguably the loftiest height to which a modern musician can aspire.
As per tradition TCDroogsma and MinneSarah have not read each other's reviews prior to posting
So... Droogsy, Sarah... thoughts?
01. AgesandAges - Do The Right Thing (from the album Divisionary)
TCDroogsma:
AgesandAges are a band out of Portland, Oregon and boy, they really are. Only such an ambiguous, dull city could produce an ambiguous, dull message like "do the right thing."
While I certainly appreciate that these guys want me to do the right thing, I just don't feel like they genuinely give a shit. More accurately, "Do The Right Thing" sounds like a pre-emptive defense that they, themselves are doing the right thing. Now, if the "right thing" involves boring, circular melodies and dated, cliched platitudes, and the type of choir vocals that would make Edward Sharpe think, "Oh shit! Do we sound like that?!?" then you can just go ahead and put me in the "doing the wrong thing" category.
MinneSarah:
What a positive motivational song? Although AgesandAges fail to describe what the "right thing" may entail, they expect that you just do it, and that you do it all the time - lyrics that could well be taken straight from a page of a propaganda pamphlet. The building choral style vocals make it sound as though you are in the middle of an intervention featuring a violin and tambourines - and lots of them.
The rest of the song is pretty run of the mill adorable alternative and doesn't really offend one way or the other. The vacuous simplicity of the positive message and its delivery is annoying. To steal a line from the song..."if you love yourself you better get out now." Unfortunately for AgesandAges, this song made me feel that the right thing was to never listen to this song again - and yeah, that does make me feel better already.
Final Score - TCDroogsma: 1/5
MinneSarah: 1.5/5
02. Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside - Lips N Hips (from the EP Summer)
TCDroogsma:
Last January I reviewed Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside's song "Party Kids." I didn't care for it, eventually saying, "It's all the mindless fun of 'Talk Dirty To Me' updated for the indie set." Compared to "Lips N Hips," "Party Kids" is "Strawberry Fields Forever."
Where "Party Kids" was basically disposable, stupid pop, at least it was catchy and well performed. "Lips N Hips" finds the band abandoning decent melodies and relying solely on "surprisingly" blunt sexuality. Even that might have given "Lips N Hips" some redeeming quality, but the whole thing is sunk by Sallie Ford's vocal performance. I mean, when was the last time you heard a female singer struggle with the low end of her register?
Lyrically, Ford abandons subtle seduction quickly and aims for the cheap payoff of flatly offering her body to a potential lover. It's a perfect approach for a generation that's accustomed to sending dick pics and nudezzzz, but, to paraphrase C. Montgomery Burns, call me old fashioned, but women were sexier when they kept their clothes on.
MinneSarah:
"Lips N Hips" is the dirtiest of these California surf rock revival songs I've heard. However the sentiment, though serious, comes across comically augmented. The lyrics start out "Hey there, fella." Ummm, is this a Mae West movie? Additionally, the lyrics rhyme "really know you" with "really know you."
While it feels like the song is trying to convey a sense of raw desire, the mood actually made me feel out of place and uncomfortable, like overhearing old people making love or reading a feeble sexting conversation between a couple of teenagers. Combine that level of unease with the resolute fact that if I never heard a song that sounded so "retro California" I wouldn't lose any sleep. Dud.
Final Score - TCDroogsma: 0/5
MinneSarah: 1.5/5
03. Sebadoh - I Will (from the album Defend Yourself)
TCDroogsma:
Confession: MinneSarah & I went and saw Sebadoh at the Turf Club last month. She's been a huge fan of these guys since high school, so the show was probably less revelatory for her than me, but it sent me down a Sebadoh wormhole that I've yet to totally recover from.
That being said, "I Will" is a brilliant, unflinching single. Barlow wraps his softening-with-age voice around the aftermath of a relationship ending. The song is filled with brutally honest lyrics. I mean, it opens with, "Can you tell that I'm about to lose control?" It's that feeling that hits several days after "the big fight," when the reality of life apart from this person hits like a ton of bricks. As a 31 year old guy, I know that feeling well. Perhaps because of my age (and, frankly, relationship history), the line, "So I make a plan and start to move" is the most poignant of the song. Barlow's been down this road before and, even though he's freaking out on the inside, he knows the routine, which is just about the most crushing thought of all.
(I was going to give this one a 4.5/5, but I bumped it up to my first "5" ever because Barlow uses the same title as one of Paul McCartney's most beloved, schmaltzy love songs. Lou's got a great sense of humor.)
MinneSarah:
"I Will" is one of Lou Barlow's emo songs - not that I can find anything wrong with a grown man sharing his innermost feelings - we all know that Lou would punch a nun in the face if she gave him the reason - he's the toughest guy in indie rock for certain.
That having been said, "I Will" deals with the difficult subject matter of realizing you just aren't that into a relationship anymore. The lyrics are delivered matter of fact and are uncannily relateable. Unlike some of Sebadoh's Barlow driven songs, this one doesn't dwell on the acoustic, but turns the guitar amp up. Sebadoh is a band I've loved since high school. As a long time fan I'm happy to report that this song embodies the raw rock music that drove me to the band in the first place but also adds a layer that we're all different people than we were in 1995...and we're probably all better for it.
Final Score - TCDroogsma: 5/5
MinneSarah: 4.5/5
Well there you have it, MP3 junkies! Another week's worth of songs downloaded, reviewed, & filed away!
As always, please keep in mind that neither Newest Industry nor our contributors are in any way affiliated with the artists above, The Current, or MPR. We're just music fans with laptops and a bit too much time on our hands.
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