Songs Fifty-One to Fifty-Seven

Another SAFTBRCAITD megapost coming at you. This has been a nightmarish week with parental health concerns and work surprises broken only by figure skating, eBaying, and a lovely few days of my own wicked stomach virus--which began, of course, on my birthday (a day on which I also got soaked in the rain twice and was regifted by a close family member. I mean, really, people!). That last parenthetical reminds me that I forgot to buy an umbrella at Target today, though I did get a cute silk throw pillow for $2.48 on clearance. And, we finally bought a garden gnome, which my son insists on calling a Wiggles Scarecrow; none of us are asking why. I am certain this gnome will make my life complete on some WereRabbit level. Though, as the virus is still a bit with me, I'll skip the cheese, Grommit, and settle for a glass of finely-aged Gatorade. Now, on to the entertainment.

Song Fifty-One: Onion Creek Crawdaddies, "Too Much Blood." This is a hootenanny hoot and a half. The remainder of the title lyric is "in my veins where the whiskey ought to be." I believe we have all had those days, dear reader. The song is a true knee slappin', sing along romp. Lots of jangly strings, including the requisite banjo. It's a bit of a poke at all the "O, Brother" bluegrass holiness, which is nice; OCC is from Austin (natch) and call their brand of fiddlin' beergrass. I just got an odd sideways glance from my husband as he wandered out the door to the store, so maybe it's not for everyone. Still, I say, YEE-HAW, y'all!

Song Fifty-Two: Phoenix, "Everything is Everything." Very, very catchy chorus. This is a well-polished pop song with every corner full of bouncy sounds, all of which sound a bit synthetic. Even before reading the band bio, I could tell they were some kind of Euro (turns out they're French); the song has that very Limited Express late 80s soundscape feel to it. Think banquettes and mirrored balls. The lyrics suggest a song heavily influenced by literary theory, which given its frenchicity is not unlikely. Extremely listenable.

Song Fifty-Three: Mates of State, "Goods." Apparently Mates of State is a fairly well-known indie band, reinforcing my out-of-itness as I've never heard of them. This is a fairly classic kind of indie pop song. Slightly annoying male lead singer, peppy female background vocals, organ/keyboards, shushy drums, distinct song parts (the overloaded-with-sound, the break-it-down, etc.). All that said, it's a decent song, though there's so much going on that I realized about the third listen that I consistently stop paying to the lyrics until the break-it-down part near the end (that also features an incongruous flying saucer sound that I initially ascribed to my clothes dryer). It does go on a bit, though.

Song Fifty-Four: Alexi Murdoch, "Orange Sky." I guess this is another OC discovery. Maybe I should start watching that show, though I can't help wax nostalgic for the Peach Pit AfterDark when it comes to teen music spotlights. Mr. Murdoch is a "singer/songwriter" (probably should be in all caps) like that guy on the now canceled Love Monkey. This song has a slow build and is inexplicably so soft at the beginning that you really can't hear him very well until about two minutes in. It virtually defines sparseness. Still, as much as I would prefer not to like this song--since I have a feeling Mr. Murdoch may eschew footwear and possess either a ponytail or aggressively sideways bangs, I do like it, surprisingly so. You might, too.

Song Fifty-Five: The Stills, "Lola Stars and Stripes." Definitely not sparse! This is a wall of sound from the get-go. Has a very Lush-vibe about it initially, but then the wall kind of peels away for the vocals, then re-emerges. This is a neat structure, you can almost see the music part for the lyrics to come center stage. You can also hear the longing in the song, which is nice. Overall, a quality, updated shoe-gazer tune.

Song Fifty-Six: The Thrills, "Big Sur." Rhymes with the Stills, but the similarity ends there. Any song that namechecks the Monkees is A-OK in my book. This is a bounce along, retro funfest. The chorus, "Just don't go back to Big Sur" is super catchy, as are the "doo-doo-de"s, as is the "baby, baby." All around goodness, I think, with weird zippery noises in the background. Music this authentically super charged-America 60s could of course only come from the UK, and the Thrills are from Dublin, it turns out, though they now seem to find their thrill in Montreal.

Song Fifty-Seven: Super Furry Animals, "Hello Sunshine." Okay, I picked this one completely for the band name, which seemed quite comforting in my virus-y state. The song itself is a bit narcotic-ly paced and, indeed, comforting in a drowsy way. It starts out with a little section that seems disconnected from the main song but serves as an entry point, kind of like its portico. There's something appealing about the way the lead singer says "m'life" for my life. The band is from Wales, which made me think of some fantastic vegetable soup I once ate in Aberystwyth that cleared up a vicious cold overnight. See, very comforting!

Note to this post. Look, I've tried to become interested in dropping a buck-minus for an Arctic Monkeys song, I really have. I know they are everywhere on both sides of the Atlantic. But, they are boring! So, clearly, though I'm a britpop sucker (I actually own a Robbie Williams cd and like it), I can't buy into this next greatest thing.

308 to go.