Deadsexy by Scarce
1995
Standout tracks: Sense Of Quickness, Honeysimple, Obviously Midnight
Don't you try to save that anchor from drowning 'cause it wont work
From the last time that I tried it, my ears are still pounding and my heart still hurts
As with quite a few of the 33, the first time I heard this album I didn't think much of it. I liked it, but it took a few listens to grow on me. Once it had, I hunted down anything I could find with Scarce's name on - which sadly isn't a great deal!
Scarce were something of mystery, the only photos of them I could find were the crappy ones on inlay sleeves and it was near-impossible to find out anything about them! They still don't have a Wikipedia page. Persistence eventually pointed to a possible reason for this; singer Chick Graining suffered a brain haemorrhage just before completing 'Deadsexy', which not only postponed and jeopardized the release, but it also caused amnesia. He had to relearn his own name and how to play guitar. Although he made a full recovery, any momentum the band had was faded and 'Deadsexy', it seemed, would not only be their first full-length album but also their swansong.
Handy then, that this album should be so utterly fantastic!
Some people have a hard time listening to Chick's voice. It's raw, rough and occasionally flies in the face of pitch and key, but I love it and think it works perfectly! It suits the music, suits the songs, adds conviction to the lyrics and gives everything a more honest, natural feel. The moments when bassist Joyce Raskin sings along with him only make it better!
The guitar is equally raw, but far from amateur. It's a kind-of a country-twinged grunge style, a description which makes it sound bloody awful. The bass and drums are tight and the three-piece make clever use of stops and starts, breakdowns and staccato rhythms.
I know this album inside-out and it's full of wonderful little moments that make me smile! The way it drops to a squeal of feedback at the end of the solo in 'Honeysimple' before crashing back in, 'Obviously Midnight' changing from its acoustic lighter-waving start to its rocking climax, the scream of "I'll be the ash across your sky" at the peak of '(call me) Karona Khrome', the last "how wide" leading to the chorus's in 'All Sideways'. I could go on for hours - and I tend to if prompted.
'Sense Of Quickness' is one of my favourite songs, ever. The chorus contains one of the best chord changes in musical history. There's a bit at the end of the second verse where "When are we gonna get out of this goddamn rain?" is sang then repeated more intensely before slamming into the chorus - it's amazing. This album contains a number of great air-drum moments and there are about five of them in this song. Everything I mentioned above that makes Scarce great is evident in this song! "Oh babe, my skin ain't even holding me in!"
I was lucky enough to see Scarce live last year, years after falling in love with them. It was something I never thought I'd get to see; they played all my favourite songs, I met Joyce and invited her to move into my kitchen. I love this band.
Wednesday 13 May 2009
Boxer (6/33)
Boxer by The National
2007
Standout tracks: Fake Empire, Apartment Story, Brainy
Turn the light out, say goodnight
No thinking for a little while
Let's not try to figure out everything at once!
1 minute and 43 seconds into opener 'Fake Empire' and I already wanted to skip back and hear it again. The song comes together and sets up the album perfectly; it's the band that made the exceptional 'Alligator' and they've scrubbed up a bit!
Thankfully, the extra spit and polish hasn't taken anything away. The occasional screams that lit up songs like 'Available' and 'Abel' are gone, fair enough, but they're not missing. Matt Berninger's vocals still shine in their subdued, one-notch-above-a-mumble way. He twists words around music in a way that no one else does! In 'Mistaken For Strangers', amid rattling drums, he croons "Oh you wouldn't want an angel watching over you, surprise surprise they wouldn't want to watch another uninnocent elegant fall into the unmagnificent lives of adults" it's unclear whether this is a sympathetic observation or a calm yet venomous attack, either way it's brilliant.
Musically, the drums sit high in the mix and drive the album, sometimes obviously 'Squalor Victoria', sometimes subtly 'Start A War'. The way the band fill the remaining space is another strength; every instrument weaving with and sparking off the other, without ego and without overcrowding.
The piano-led music that winds through the second half of 'Slow Show' is one of the most beautiful things The National, or any band, have ever done. 'Apartment Story' follows that with its come-to-dance beat, comforting lyrics and infectious melodies, creating the kind of "rosy-minded fuzz" the song itself speaks of.
I can write positive things about the album, picking out tracks and moments I like, but I can't describe what it is I love about The National! So, I'll end this just by saying 'Boxer' is an incredible piece of work. Really.
2007
Standout tracks: Fake Empire, Apartment Story, Brainy
Turn the light out, say goodnight
No thinking for a little while
Let's not try to figure out everything at once!
1 minute and 43 seconds into opener 'Fake Empire' and I already wanted to skip back and hear it again. The song comes together and sets up the album perfectly; it's the band that made the exceptional 'Alligator' and they've scrubbed up a bit!
Thankfully, the extra spit and polish hasn't taken anything away. The occasional screams that lit up songs like 'Available' and 'Abel' are gone, fair enough, but they're not missing. Matt Berninger's vocals still shine in their subdued, one-notch-above-a-mumble way. He twists words around music in a way that no one else does! In 'Mistaken For Strangers', amid rattling drums, he croons "Oh you wouldn't want an angel watching over you, surprise surprise they wouldn't want to watch another uninnocent elegant fall into the unmagnificent lives of adults" it's unclear whether this is a sympathetic observation or a calm yet venomous attack, either way it's brilliant.
Musically, the drums sit high in the mix and drive the album, sometimes obviously 'Squalor Victoria', sometimes subtly 'Start A War'. The way the band fill the remaining space is another strength; every instrument weaving with and sparking off the other, without ego and without overcrowding.
The piano-led music that winds through the second half of 'Slow Show' is one of the most beautiful things The National, or any band, have ever done. 'Apartment Story' follows that with its come-to-dance beat, comforting lyrics and infectious melodies, creating the kind of "rosy-minded fuzz" the song itself speaks of.
I can write positive things about the album, picking out tracks and moments I like, but I can't describe what it is I love about The National! So, I'll end this just by saying 'Boxer' is an incredible piece of work. Really.
Thursday 2 April 2009
Death To The Pixies 1987-1991 (5/33)
Death To The Pixies 1987-1991 - Pixies
1997
Standout Tracks: Here Comes Your Man, Debaser, Monkey Gone To Heaven, Gigantic
I'm sure there's a rule about including a Best Of… in any favourite album list but, in all honesty, this is the Pixies CD I listen to the most. This is because I don't find Pixies' albums to be packages, more a collection of songs. So a collection of their best songs makes the best Pixies record. This may also be because I was only 10 years old when the Pixies surfaced, so they're a band I worked back to as opposed to discovering.
This compilation spans just four years, in which time the Pixies knocked out four albums and an EP. Not bad. Two of those albums featured in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, they've been cited as an influence by an army of bands including Nirvana and Radiohead. They were also very instrumental in changing rock music for the entire 90s generation and beyond. Not bad at all.
The Pixies were pioneers of alternative pop - quiet in the verse and LOUD in the chorus, start-stop timing, screaming without it sounding a bit naff and all delivered with an air of effortless cool. Upon hearing 'Here Comes Your Man' or 'Debaser', I find dancing is pretty much mandatory. The latter being such a perfect slice of alternative pop it makes 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' seem like its boring cousin.
It's hard to believe no one thought to employ the Pixies technique before! The chorus is the part of the song everyone wants to sing along too, everyone loves a good chorus so, with simple tricks such as the whispered vocals on 'Tame' or the lack of drums in Debaser's second verse, the Pixies made the biggest choruses they could!
Trying to find a highlight here is no easy task! The chorus in 'Gigantic' being exactly as its name suggests, 'Caribou' swinging from the moody swagger of its verse to those wonderful screams of "repent", Kim Deal's haunting backing vocals on 'Where Is My Mind'… Actually, it's that bit in 'Monkey Gone To Heaven': "If man is five…" that's the best bit.
The Pixies should be remembered for their influence on alternative music - even if that does include the hilarious nu-metal and the irritating diet-grunge of the Nickelback crowd - but they should mostly be remembered for creating such brilliant, brilliant pop-music.
If you're a stickler for the rules, 'Doolittle' is their best album.
1997
Standout Tracks: Here Comes Your Man, Debaser, Monkey Gone To Heaven, Gigantic
I'm sure there's a rule about including a Best Of… in any favourite album list but, in all honesty, this is the Pixies CD I listen to the most. This is because I don't find Pixies' albums to be packages, more a collection of songs. So a collection of their best songs makes the best Pixies record. This may also be because I was only 10 years old when the Pixies surfaced, so they're a band I worked back to as opposed to discovering.
This compilation spans just four years, in which time the Pixies knocked out four albums and an EP. Not bad. Two of those albums featured in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, they've been cited as an influence by an army of bands including Nirvana and Radiohead. They were also very instrumental in changing rock music for the entire 90s generation and beyond. Not bad at all.
The Pixies were pioneers of alternative pop - quiet in the verse and LOUD in the chorus, start-stop timing, screaming without it sounding a bit naff and all delivered with an air of effortless cool. Upon hearing 'Here Comes Your Man' or 'Debaser', I find dancing is pretty much mandatory. The latter being such a perfect slice of alternative pop it makes 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' seem like its boring cousin.
It's hard to believe no one thought to employ the Pixies technique before! The chorus is the part of the song everyone wants to sing along too, everyone loves a good chorus so, with simple tricks such as the whispered vocals on 'Tame' or the lack of drums in Debaser's second verse, the Pixies made the biggest choruses they could!
Trying to find a highlight here is no easy task! The chorus in 'Gigantic' being exactly as its name suggests, 'Caribou' swinging from the moody swagger of its verse to those wonderful screams of "repent", Kim Deal's haunting backing vocals on 'Where Is My Mind'… Actually, it's that bit in 'Monkey Gone To Heaven': "If man is five…" that's the best bit.
The Pixies should be remembered for their influence on alternative music - even if that does include the hilarious nu-metal and the irritating diet-grunge of the Nickelback crowd - but they should mostly be remembered for creating such brilliant, brilliant pop-music.
If you're a stickler for the rules, 'Doolittle' is their best album.
Monday 30 March 2009
August and Everything After (4/33)
August and Everything After - Counting Crows
1993
Standout Tracks: Anna Begins, Round Here, Time and Time Again
"She can't stop shaking and I can't stop touching her..."
At last the random number gods have picked an album that I can write about without gushing over the lyrics. The lyrics on this record are average, with occasional highlights like the one above. The music isn't anything groundbreaking either; mainly acoustic instruments, straight forward songwriting and 'Round Here' even features a cringe-worthy wah-wah moment!
So why the hell did this album make the list? Because I bloody adore it, that's why! Yes, it's got 'Mr. Jones' on it. Everyone remembers 'Mr. Jones' and has tried to sing along with the high bit in the chorus, usually only once.
I wont skip it now, but there was a time when I'd HAVE to because, whether it was the single being played on the radio or some kid banging out his own rendition in the college refrectory, I couldn't escape it. If you owned an acoustic guitar in 1993 you were expected to play 'Mr. Jones' and Soul Asylum's 'Runaway Train'. Exclusively and repeatedly.
I started this piece by declaring the lyrics as average, which they are, the magic here is in the melody and delivery. Even the sparsely instrumented ballads have a tune you'll find yourself humming and this is a great sing-along-at-home album. There's something almost annoying about a band whose songs are so good that the lyric "Her kindness bangs a gong, it's moving me along, and Anna begins to fade away!" works perfectly.
I have so many attachments to these 11 tracks! Every time I hear the starting riff to 'Round Here', I'm 17 years old and on the bus to college with my walkman on. Back in my guitar playing days I'd tune my guitar whilst playing along to 'Mr. Jones'. I've sang 'Anna Begins' loudly in the street with friends when drunk. I know every lyric on this album by heart and I can still play more than half of it on guitar. I don't listen to 'August and Everything After' regularly, but everytime I do is a real pleasure.
1993
Standout Tracks: Anna Begins, Round Here, Time and Time Again
"She can't stop shaking and I can't stop touching her..."
At last the random number gods have picked an album that I can write about without gushing over the lyrics. The lyrics on this record are average, with occasional highlights like the one above. The music isn't anything groundbreaking either; mainly acoustic instruments, straight forward songwriting and 'Round Here' even features a cringe-worthy wah-wah moment!
So why the hell did this album make the list? Because I bloody adore it, that's why! Yes, it's got 'Mr. Jones' on it. Everyone remembers 'Mr. Jones' and has tried to sing along with the high bit in the chorus, usually only once.
I wont skip it now, but there was a time when I'd HAVE to because, whether it was the single being played on the radio or some kid banging out his own rendition in the college refrectory, I couldn't escape it. If you owned an acoustic guitar in 1993 you were expected to play 'Mr. Jones' and Soul Asylum's 'Runaway Train'. Exclusively and repeatedly.
I started this piece by declaring the lyrics as average, which they are, the magic here is in the melody and delivery. Even the sparsely instrumented ballads have a tune you'll find yourself humming and this is a great sing-along-at-home album. There's something almost annoying about a band whose songs are so good that the lyric "Her kindness bangs a gong, it's moving me along, and Anna begins to fade away!" works perfectly.
I have so many attachments to these 11 tracks! Every time I hear the starting riff to 'Round Here', I'm 17 years old and on the bus to college with my walkman on. Back in my guitar playing days I'd tune my guitar whilst playing along to 'Mr. Jones'. I've sang 'Anna Begins' loudly in the street with friends when drunk. I know every lyric on this album by heart and I can still play more than half of it on guitar. I don't listen to 'August and Everything After' regularly, but everytime I do is a real pleasure.
Gentlemen (3/33)
Gentlemen by The Afghan Whigs
1993
Standout tracks: Gentlemen, What Jail Is Like, When We Two Parted.
"You're saying that the victim doesn't want it to end
Good, I get to dress up and play the assassin again!"
This incredible album owes much to the time of its creation. As their major-label debut, 'Gentlemen' marked a period of change and adjustment for the 'Whigs as well as one of excitement and pressure. Relationships within the band were on the verge of collapse resulting in Steve Earle being sacked, seemingly for ticking one too many bad-band-member boxes: alcoholism, meddling girlfriend, raging ego and control issues.
Instead of destroying the work, this chaotic and confused environment led to some sparks of accidental brilliance: singer Greg Dulli recorded several of the album’s lead vocal tracks in one night, whilst high on coke and trying to impress a girl. In hindsight, it's the perfect state of mind for the mood of the album.
The Afghan Whigs have always been a bit of an odd one to catagorise. Unfairly pushed under the grunge umbrella, what the band actually created was angsty alternative rock with a heavy soul and motown influence bringing along a bold, horny and sleezy tone. For a second, the bass guitar at the start of 'Debonair' puts Jackson 5's 'ABC' in my head. The rhythm is tight and groove-based, I can't think of any other 'grunge' record that could be said of. The guitars are scratchy, minimalist and raw with Dulli's voice striding around on top; rough, vemonous and confident.
Lyrically, it's the devil in a confession booth. Themes of shame, love, addiction, anger and a multitude of other demons all sung without self-pity or apology. It's naïve to think there isn't an element of theatrical exaggeration to this, but it still works.
'Fountain and Fairfax' - named after the location of a church in L.A. that holds AA meetings - speaks of substance abuse and betrayal. 'When We Two Parted' deals with an increasingly distant lover, whilst in contrast 'What Jail Is Like' talks of obsessive partners. "Think I'm scared of girls, well maybe, but I'm not afraid of you! You wanna scare me then you'll cling to me no matter what I do!"
The cover art for this album is also a perfect fit.
1993
Standout tracks: Gentlemen, What Jail Is Like, When We Two Parted.
"You're saying that the victim doesn't want it to end
Good, I get to dress up and play the assassin again!"
This incredible album owes much to the time of its creation. As their major-label debut, 'Gentlemen' marked a period of change and adjustment for the 'Whigs as well as one of excitement and pressure. Relationships within the band were on the verge of collapse resulting in Steve Earle being sacked, seemingly for ticking one too many bad-band-member boxes: alcoholism, meddling girlfriend, raging ego and control issues.
Instead of destroying the work, this chaotic and confused environment led to some sparks of accidental brilliance: singer Greg Dulli recorded several of the album’s lead vocal tracks in one night, whilst high on coke and trying to impress a girl. In hindsight, it's the perfect state of mind for the mood of the album.
The Afghan Whigs have always been a bit of an odd one to catagorise. Unfairly pushed under the grunge umbrella, what the band actually created was angsty alternative rock with a heavy soul and motown influence bringing along a bold, horny and sleezy tone. For a second, the bass guitar at the start of 'Debonair' puts Jackson 5's 'ABC' in my head. The rhythm is tight and groove-based, I can't think of any other 'grunge' record that could be said of. The guitars are scratchy, minimalist and raw with Dulli's voice striding around on top; rough, vemonous and confident.
Lyrically, it's the devil in a confession booth. Themes of shame, love, addiction, anger and a multitude of other demons all sung without self-pity or apology. It's naïve to think there isn't an element of theatrical exaggeration to this, but it still works.
'Fountain and Fairfax' - named after the location of a church in L.A. that holds AA meetings - speaks of substance abuse and betrayal. 'When We Two Parted' deals with an increasingly distant lover, whilst in contrast 'What Jail Is Like' talks of obsessive partners. "Think I'm scared of girls, well maybe, but I'm not afraid of you! You wanna scare me then you'll cling to me no matter what I do!"
The cover art for this album is also a perfect fit.
Friday 27 March 2009
Heartworm (2/33)
Heartworm by Whipping Boy
1995
Standout tracks: We Don't Need Nobody Else, Users, When We Were Young
Suffering sells. The idea of the 'tortured artist' has been romanticised to the point where Robbie Williams is crying in documentaries, a spell in rehab has become a mandatory requirement for anyone in the public eye and every X-Factor applicant has a tragic back-story just waiting to be sprayed out through quivering lips right infront of the camera. Is this some kind of ploy to justify their unearned wealth and fame or is it simply attention-seeking arrogance?
Unlike the readers of Heat, I find this easy to ignore. The only problem I have with it is that it taints the genuine.
I hit you for the first time today. I didn't mean it, it just happened!
You wouldn't let me go to the phone, you wanted to make love and I did not. Now I know the distance between us.
Christ, we weren't even fighting I was just annoyed!
Silence and you started to cry.
"That really hurt!" you said.
Yeah? And you thought you knew me!
Listening to this album can feel like reading a diary. Fearghal McKee echoes Stuart Staples and Nick Cave in his low-pitch story-telling lyrical delivery, littering his songs with uncensored excerts from some unpleasant journal, all of which are rumoured to be true. It never feels forced or added for shock-value, nor is it ever uncomfortable.
The pinnacle of these confessional tales comes, fittingly, with the album's hidden track, 'A Natural'. Starting with the line "Today is not a good day for me, for today I found I was mad!" McKee talks his way through being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and his own self-analysis around it. It's glamourless, fascinating and amazing.
Musically, the album is intelligently assembled. Whether it's the walls of guitar noise or the unintrusive orchestration, it all fits. Nothing is out of place, nothing added that shouldn't be, nothing missing. The urgency towards the end of 'Users', for example, builds with a menacing pace that threatens to engulf McKee's rantings before slipping away into fading feedback. The riff from 'When We Were Young', the choppy strings at the end of 'Personality', it's all gold.
Everyone I know who has heard this album loves it, but it's a hidden gem. As drownedinsound.com said: "This album was easily overlooked in the 1995 post-Britpop Blur-Manics-Oasis-moronathon. The shame is, that this album beats all three of those hands down."
1995
Standout tracks: We Don't Need Nobody Else, Users, When We Were Young
Suffering sells. The idea of the 'tortured artist' has been romanticised to the point where Robbie Williams is crying in documentaries, a spell in rehab has become a mandatory requirement for anyone in the public eye and every X-Factor applicant has a tragic back-story just waiting to be sprayed out through quivering lips right infront of the camera. Is this some kind of ploy to justify their unearned wealth and fame or is it simply attention-seeking arrogance?
Unlike the readers of Heat, I find this easy to ignore. The only problem I have with it is that it taints the genuine.
I hit you for the first time today. I didn't mean it, it just happened!
You wouldn't let me go to the phone, you wanted to make love and I did not. Now I know the distance between us.
Christ, we weren't even fighting I was just annoyed!
Silence and you started to cry.
"That really hurt!" you said.
Yeah? And you thought you knew me!
Listening to this album can feel like reading a diary. Fearghal McKee echoes Stuart Staples and Nick Cave in his low-pitch story-telling lyrical delivery, littering his songs with uncensored excerts from some unpleasant journal, all of which are rumoured to be true. It never feels forced or added for shock-value, nor is it ever uncomfortable.
The pinnacle of these confessional tales comes, fittingly, with the album's hidden track, 'A Natural'. Starting with the line "Today is not a good day for me, for today I found I was mad!" McKee talks his way through being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and his own self-analysis around it. It's glamourless, fascinating and amazing.
Musically, the album is intelligently assembled. Whether it's the walls of guitar noise or the unintrusive orchestration, it all fits. Nothing is out of place, nothing added that shouldn't be, nothing missing. The urgency towards the end of 'Users', for example, builds with a menacing pace that threatens to engulf McKee's rantings before slipping away into fading feedback. The riff from 'When We Were Young', the choppy strings at the end of 'Personality', it's all gold.
Everyone I know who has heard this album loves it, but it's a hidden gem. As drownedinsound.com said: "This album was easily overlooked in the 1995 post-Britpop Blur-Manics-Oasis-moronathon. The shame is, that this album beats all three of those hands down."
The Meadowlands (1/33)
The Meadowlands by The Wrens.
2003
Standout Tracks: Hopeless, Everyone Chooses Sides, Boys You Wont.
This album was recommended to me by a friend that I haven't spoken to in ages. If it wouldn't make me look like some kind of weirdo, I'd get in touch just to thank her for introducing me to this band and this album.
The overall feel of the record, to me, is scruffy indie-pop - with scruffy as a compliment. It's a collision of raw and polished guitar sounds, vocals from all four members of the band and unfamiliar song structures, yet the album is effortlessly cohesive. The songs flow naturally through their brilliant running order - a short, subtle opener leading into the escalating majesty of 'Happy' before dropping into the acoustic sing-along of 'She Sends Kisses', for example.
Sat in the middle of this album, 'Hopeless' and 'Faster Gun' are probably the catchiest of the tracks. The former being a standout with its spiralling guitar line and infectious melody. "Go thank yourself for nothing, it's really all you're good for!" A song this pretty shouldn't have such a barbed theme, but it works perfectly.
This album shines lyrically, with 'Everyone Chooses Sides' featuring some of my favourite lines: "I am the best seventeen year old ever!" reminding me of teenage arrogance and "I've walked away from more than you imagine and I sleep just fine!" being an air-punching statement of defiance. A statement whose impact is amplified by its delivery at the apex of the song. Another example being the almost contrived line "thought I had it all figured out but look who got it wrong!" which is not only saved, but promoted by its excellent delivery and the way it sits in 'Thirteen Grand'.
This is an indie-pop/rock album featuring acoustic guitars, pianos, orchestration and vocal harmonies. This is the kind of album that the likes of Starsailour dream of making and its existence both exposes and embarrasses them. Not forgetting of course that this album also rocks like a b*stard.
This is the genre at it's most perfect; infectious intelligent pop devoid of clichés, compromise and that soulless neatness. It's pop that isn't immediate and doesn't fade quickly, the rewards are earned from repeated listens.
This is The Wrens' third album, the band were dropped from their label after the first two for refusing to make more 'radio-friendly' music. Seven years later this album surfaced, described by the NME as "the ultimate rare treasure" and by The New York Times as a "nearly universally acclaimed disc of bright literate pop".
2003
Standout Tracks: Hopeless, Everyone Chooses Sides, Boys You Wont.
This album was recommended to me by a friend that I haven't spoken to in ages. If it wouldn't make me look like some kind of weirdo, I'd get in touch just to thank her for introducing me to this band and this album.
The overall feel of the record, to me, is scruffy indie-pop - with scruffy as a compliment. It's a collision of raw and polished guitar sounds, vocals from all four members of the band and unfamiliar song structures, yet the album is effortlessly cohesive. The songs flow naturally through their brilliant running order - a short, subtle opener leading into the escalating majesty of 'Happy' before dropping into the acoustic sing-along of 'She Sends Kisses', for example.
Sat in the middle of this album, 'Hopeless' and 'Faster Gun' are probably the catchiest of the tracks. The former being a standout with its spiralling guitar line and infectious melody. "Go thank yourself for nothing, it's really all you're good for!" A song this pretty shouldn't have such a barbed theme, but it works perfectly.
This album shines lyrically, with 'Everyone Chooses Sides' featuring some of my favourite lines: "I am the best seventeen year old ever!" reminding me of teenage arrogance and "I've walked away from more than you imagine and I sleep just fine!" being an air-punching statement of defiance. A statement whose impact is amplified by its delivery at the apex of the song. Another example being the almost contrived line "thought I had it all figured out but look who got it wrong!" which is not only saved, but promoted by its excellent delivery and the way it sits in 'Thirteen Grand'.
This is an indie-pop/rock album featuring acoustic guitars, pianos, orchestration and vocal harmonies. This is the kind of album that the likes of Starsailour dream of making and its existence both exposes and embarrasses them. Not forgetting of course that this album also rocks like a b*stard.
This is the genre at it's most perfect; infectious intelligent pop devoid of clichés, compromise and that soulless neatness. It's pop that isn't immediate and doesn't fade quickly, the rewards are earned from repeated listens.
This is The Wrens' third album, the band were dropped from their label after the first two for refusing to make more 'radio-friendly' music. Seven years later this album surfaced, described by the NME as "the ultimate rare treasure" and by The New York Times as a "nearly universally acclaimed disc of bright literate pop".
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