Remember Jimmy Eat World?... yeah, not many people do. So you may not have been aware that they are able to ride monstrously sized household pets like magic carpets... all while STILL PLAYING THEIR INSTRUMENTS!
But NOTHING can match the musical stylings of resident character Brobee the green striped monster as he sings of the good times various foods are going to have in his tummy as he rudely shoves them into his enormous gob (seems those carrots are incredibly unaware of a little something known as "digestive juices").
You know what tragedy is? Tragedy is not stabbing your eyes out after realizing that you murdered your dad so you could marry your mom. Cry me a river, Oedipus. No, tragedy, girls and boys, is discovering the most awesome band evar... after they've broken up.
No, it gets worse. I must go on.
Tragedy is a band that's basically a modernization of The Smith, if The Smiths were happy and poppy and used deliciously synthesized drum tracks and were radio friendly, breaking up after releasing one lonely EP. Tragedy is having four songs in heavy rotation on your iPod for a month straight and knowing that those are the only four songs that will ever be released by that band. That is tragedy.
Tragedy has a name. That name is The Moths!
Since misery loves company, here is a live recording of the band playing "Wild Birds" -
Now, this is very important. The Moths!are not to be confused withThe Moths (note the lamentable lack of an exclamation point), a has-been eighties band that is still hanging around in some form. The Moths! Accept no imitations.
All band sightings should be verified by comparison to this actual factual music video:
Now, I need you to hit up iTunes because these are their two weakest tracks. Valentine is a punk rock love story that has to be heard to be believed, and Games will absolutely change your life. And after, having had your perception of the world irrevocably altered, you will come to the horrible realization that all you'll ever get is this one measly triple A-side, and after a tragic monologue you'll fill your pockets with stones and walk somberly out into the ocean, never to be heard from again.
Good times!
There is some, slight hope gleaming at the end of this darkened tunnel. While information is scarce at this point, it appears that at least one of the band members is forging on under the name Me My Head. While nothing can ever replace The Moths! in my heart, I am excited that at least some of the bands' immense talent will continue to be heard. At least, heard by other people who haven't already sawed their ears off and mailed them to former lead singer James Fox as a token of their undying love.
Ladytron has a new album out, but you already knew this. I mean, I hope you did, I want to remain friends and everything. Velocifero definitely comes from that phase in a young band's life where they're experimenting, trying new things, tweaking their sound. As such it's a little uneven, although it's hard to deny a dance floor rocker like "I'm Not Scared" or the haunting strains of "Predict the Day".
But Ladytron is out to prove that they are still the coolest nerds around. Exhibit A, this hypnotic video for the otherwise indifferent track "Runaway". Resolved: to wear a lot more stripes. Somewhere, Jack White is sobbing quietly in a corner. If only he'd thought of this.
I've noticed that recently lead singer Helen Marnie seems intent on reclaiming the title of The Hot One. I've always been a Mira Aroyo guy myself (she has a PhD in Molecular Genetics!), but I have to admit that the video for "Ghosts" puts some points up for Helen's team. Plus, you know, spooky rabbits.
(OK I've just figured out what the common thread is here. It's those damn pixie haircuts. They're too freaking irresistible. Helen, call me.)
It's no secret that we've got a soft spot for all things Muppet here at The Girls Music Blog... so in case you've yet to catch these rather dated viral vids please take a moment to enjoy them now. Oh, and make sure to stick around till the end of each video to get your geezer on with Statler & Waldorf!
Habanero by Swedish Chef featuring Beaker & Animal "Bort... bort, bort, bort, bort!"
Blue Danube Waltz by Gonzo "Greeting culture lovers and citizens of the world wide web!"
Sam Eagle's Independence Day Tribute "World Wide Web! Is there a way to put this just on the American part?"
Ode to Joy by Beaker "Meep Meep Meep Meep Meep Meep Meep Meep Meep Meep Meep Meep Meeeeeeeeeep Meep-Meep!"
The Faint's latest studio album offering has been released, not on Saddle Creek, but on their own label Blank.wav. Exciting, yes. But...Faciinatiing, ehh. The Faint wrote, recorded, produced and released the new album on their own, with the inspiration behind their independent attitude coming from bands of their youth. It's more of the same, but thankfully I like the same - just manage your expectations on this one as they work out the kinks for their next release.
Here's what their press statement said:
"Fasciinatiion is an album that draws on many defining facets of The Faint’s sound, while remaining completely different from anything else they’ve put out. A record whose themes include predictions and the future, tabloid culture, the allure of what may never be, childhood lost and more, Fasciinatiion sounds as if it’s been beamed in from a satellite whose sole purpose is observing, and making sense of, the details of every day existence. In certain ways, the album is the most mechanical and precise of the band’s work: Todd’s voice sounds less human than ever before; the bass lines are more mangled, keyboards spiral and squeal out of control; electronic pings and stabs invade the melodies; the lyrical anxiety and disdain of previous albums pervades almost every song on Fasciinatiion. Opener “Get Seduced” is The Faint at their best, the song’s critique of celebrity culture matched with one of the finest choruses they’ve ever written. First single “The Geeks Were Right” draws on the tenets of futurist literature and sliding, siren-call guitars. “Fulcrum and Lever” marries ambient noise with space references, alienation and a stuttering, flexing beat, while “Mirror Error” explores identity and consciousness within its perfect, propulsive electro-pop, its choruses swirling high and taking Todd’s voice up with it. Closer “A Battle Hymn for Children” flinches with nervous rhythms against resentment of the future to be inherited and keyboards that sound like flailing voices (or is it flailing voices that sound like keyboards? On Fasciinatiion, one can never tell)."
Moby returns to his dance club roots in Last Night, which, according to RCRD LBL_, "is conceptually structured like one of these epic nights out, moving from the building excitement of the early evening to peak-time euphoria to 2 am confusion and the blissful peace of the early morning."
Sounds like they forgot the late night/early morning trip through the Taco Bell drive-thru, but if mix-master Moby can really cram a night-long rave into a 60-minute album, consider me intrigued...
...but it's gonna wreak havoc on the glo-stick market.
Janelle Monae is a cyber-soul rock angel from the future. Her debut, Metropolis: The Chase Suite, is a retro meets neuvo concept album based on Fritz Lang's iconic 1927 German expressionist film of the same name. Musically, she explores a dystopian universe full of robots, evil capitalists and oppressed workers as Android No. 57821, also known as Cindi Mayweather, who has comitted the unforgiveable crime of falling in love with a human named Anthony Greendown.
In a bold move designed to thwart piecemeal purchasers, Monae has decided release her material in a series of suites, a group of about five-to-seven songs released every few months. This is the first of four suites in the Metropolis series in which our beloved and beleagured heroine tries to flee from the Star Commission, which has caught wind of her little crush and are searching for her with intentions to kill, hence the subtitle, The Chase.
Ironically, Monae creates this futuristic world of hers by synthesizing past inspirations: the operatic pop and hornlike sharpness of Shirley Bassey, the energetic funk of James Brown and the breezy rock and soul of OutKast.
