(THIS POST ORIGINALLY APPEARS ON THE TWIN CITIES BLOG NEWEST INDUSTRY)
Deerhunter, Savages, She & Him, Still Corners, and Crimes...
Well hello again, MP3 junkies!
Welcome to Songs Of The Week #41!
For those of you who are unfamiliar
with the column, here's the scoop: TCDroogsma is a bit of an MP3
junkie. We're seriously beginning to think he has a problem. So, in
order to help him turn this dangerous habit into something
constructive, we've tasked him with writing Songs Of The Week.
Each week we ask TCDroogsma to
download the songs given away via The Current's Song Of The Day
podcast. Once he's spent some time with the tracks, we ask him to
write a quick review of each song and give it a score of 1-5.
As always, we strongly encourage you
to follow this link and subscribe to the podcast yourself. It's free
and it's fun for the whole family!
To that end, you'll notice there is
a poll to the right side of the page. Once you've listened to the
songs please feel free to vote for your favorite in the poll. The
winning artist receives the validation of winning an anonymous
internet poll, arguably the highest achievement a musician can
achieve in this day and age.
So, Droogsy... thoughts?
01. Deerhunter
– Back To The Middle (from the album Monomania)
TCDroogsma:
My relationship with Deerhunter is short and uncomplicated. When they play up their tuneful, hook-laden side I think they're nearly brilliant. When they turn to odd-time signatures, half-baked ideas, and PoMo in the Moe Szylak sense (y'know, weird for weird's sake), I they they're nearly useless. To be frank, if Deerhunter were a genuinely great band they'd figure out a way to meld these two things. Based on my admittedly not-so-thorough knowledge of the band, they haven't figured out how to do that just yet. However, this would only be an issue if I were being asked to review Monomania as a whole. Fotunately, I am not.
"Back To The Middle" has a lot in common with "If Only In My Dreams," Ariel Pink's brilliant singe from 2012. Both feature bands fronted by love-em-or-hate-em frontmen (Ariel Pink in, uh, Ariel Pink's case and Bradford Cox in Deerhunter's case). Both were/are putting out albums that came with their expectations that could push them from indie rock mainstays to indie rock touchstones. And both come with killer singles that easily meet expectations.
As I mentioned above, I'm not now (nor do I have any interest in) reviewing Monomania. Personally, I find Bradford Cox's schtick pretty insufferable (He sings with bandaged fingers? He wanted to serenade a rat? C'mon...). As a single, however, "Back To The Middle" features everything that's great about Deerhunter. The instruments are all pushing toward the same fuzz ball groove (the lead-in to the chorus may be the most rhythmic thing I've ever heard from them). Cox turns in a brilliant performance, ranging from shouty to pouty to downright seductive, all while lamenting how, "your low is just a sick, sick game." "Back To The Middle" is a gateway drug bound to lead new listeners down the rabbit hole that is the Deerhunter catalog, but as a first hit, it's mighty intoxicating.
Final Score: 4/5
02. Savages
– She Will (from the album Silence Yourself)
TCDroogsma:
To be completely honest, "She Will" had won me over before Jehnny Beth's banshee wail had even entered my brain. Just one listen to that shimmering guitar-crisp bass-steady drum buildup of the first 40 seconds was enough to convince me that "She Will" was going to be a great song.
Once Beth does enter the picture, her voice, while distinct, is really just the fourth quarter of the whole. Every member of Savages is well-represented in this song, which is a shrewd move considering a) the spotlight-stealing potential of Beth's looks & delivery and b) the daring gender-turnabout of the lyrics. When the song calls for more passion, it comes from all members, with Beth's pushing her voice hard on the "she will!" refrain while Gemma Thompson's guitar takes on the sound of a buzzsaw (special props here to bassist Ayse Hassan, who drops out entirely before returning to bring the ruckus on the last refrain. Sometimes the trick is knowing when not to play).
With all hands on deck, "She Will" shows that there's still a place in the MP3 world for smart, powerful post-punk.
Final Score: 4/5
03. She & Him –
Never Wanted Your Love (from the album Volume Three)
TCDroogsma:
I like She & Him. I saw them on their first national tour when they packed First Avenue and put on an expectedly charming performance. I've been made fun of many times by people for being a fan of M.Ward and, to be honest, as someone who would have to be forced at gunpoint to watch an episode of The New Girl, I will defend a lot of Zooey Deschanel's work (she killed it in Elf).
"Never Wanted Your Love" is not going to win over anybody who is not a She & Him fan already. It's yet another in a very long (read: consistent) line of brilliantly catchy singles the two have put out over the years. Theoretically "Never Wanted Your Love" should carry a bit more weight because it's the first single Deschanel's written since her divorce from Ben Gibbard, but given the subject matter of the group's previous work, that doesn't seem particularly fair. She & Him tracks have always trafficked in being smitten, being in love, and being broken up. Frankly, there's no way of telling just how genuine Deschanel's being on the song.
(Quick Sidenote: I've spent a week being blown away by her dropping the line, "I'm tired of being clever, everybody's clever these days..." given that it's a line paraphrased from the old Smiths single "Rubber Ring." The Smiths catalog, of course, played a role in the Deschanel film 500 Days Of Summer, making the reference brutally clever, which, circularly, implies that Deschanel doesn't even want to sing the line... My head hurts.)
Anyway, a lot of people either don't care for She & Him at all or file them away under the always ridiculous "Guilty Pleasure" moniker (as if liking a certain song is something to feel guilty about). I can't imagine ever putting "Never Wanted Your Love" on specifically, but as a shuffle track, to be sure, it's a charmer.
Final Score: 3/5
04. Still Corners –
Fireflies (from the album Strange Pleasures)
TCDroogsma:
From its title to its dreamy synth-pop sound, I'd swear that Still Corners was from Minnesota. Not be too cynical, but living in the Twin Cities (and having even a passing knowledge of the music scene) means I've heard this song under various titles by different band a hundred times over the last 3 years.
That's not to say "Fireflies" is a bad song. On the contrary, it's an excellent dream-pop track with more than a little John Hughes thrown into the mix (it's not hard to hear the song soundtracking Molly Ringwald and Mike Schoeffling's kiss in Sixteen Candles). But there's just nothing particularly new or interesting here. It's a very well-executed songs that takes few risks and, as such, offers few rewards.
Final Score: 2.5/5
05. Crimes – Cloud
Creep (from the album Thin Sunlight)
TCDroogsma:
Crimes has been gaining quite a bit of buzz recently, however, true to my last-one-to-know m.o., "Cloud Creep" is the first song I've heard from them.
After listening to the song for a week, I'm really charmed by the beach guitar sound that creates most of the vibe for the song. More charming, however, is the way the vocals make it sound like the beach that guitars coming from is the same one Morrissey "trudged over" in "Everyday Is Like Sunday." There's something sinister underneath the charm of "Cloud Creep" and that gives the song a bit of a leg up over the suddenly-very-crowded guitar band market of the Twin Cities. With songs as devious as "Cloud Creep" Crimes' stock is sure to continue rising.
Final Score: 3.5/5
There you have
it, folks! Another week's worth of songs downloaded, reviewed, and
filed away!
As always,
please keep in mind that neither Newest Industry nor its contributors
is in any way affiliated with the artists above, The Current, or MPR.
We're just music fans with laptops and a little too much time on our
hands.
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