Thin men panicking about the atom bomb
You know how hard it is to come up with titles for these things?
My City - The Thin Man
The Thin Man is here to ruin your country club wedding. Instead of playing "YMCA" and "Louie Louie," Chicago-based ex-pat Brit Kennedy Greenrod and his scrappy band of socialist muckrakers (members of Smog and We Raggazi) rock the pavilion with the bourgeoisie's dirty little secrets. Oh, you know, the undocumented nanny and well-below-minimum-wage yard man. But hey, with those merry horns and jaunty beat it all goes down way easier than salmonella tainted salmon puff canapes. And you were thinking of expanding your musical horizons beyond Death Cab, anyway, right?
Kid You're a Dreamer - The Panics
Listening to The Panics makes me think The Dandy Warhols are way more influential in Australia than in their own country. Which isn't criticism. Psychedelic pop, I daresay, will almost never fall on deaf ears around here. I've got one leg over the fence on singer Joe Laffer's voice and the production's a bit over the top (well, naturally). But the rest of it--a memorable melody banged out on the piano, confident acoustic strum and electric guitar bursts and an absolutely killer trebly keyboard riff--work beautifully. I'd like to say The Panics will one day break America, but I doubt it. I mean, Courtney Taylor had to make an ass of himself on film for even the smallest domestic attention.
Velocipedes - You & The Atom Bomb
Before I looked it up, I assumed velocipedes were some sort of prehistoric bird. Proving once and for all that year I spent taking Latin was a complete waste, velocipede refers to "any of several early bicycles with pedals on the front wheels" (speed + foot, duh). I'm not sure it's an actual, documented rule that when a song mentions bicycles, it must be an indie pop song--preferably a precious one. But that's not quite true of this track. You & The Atom Bomb subvert expectations with ragged, angular guitar sounds and brainy lyrics about, oh, you know, Cartesian centaurs and such. It's an exhilarating ride.
My City - The Thin Man
The Thin Man is here to ruin your country club wedding. Instead of playing "YMCA" and "Louie Louie," Chicago-based ex-pat Brit Kennedy Greenrod and his scrappy band of socialist muckrakers (members of Smog and We Raggazi) rock the pavilion with the bourgeoisie's dirty little secrets. Oh, you know, the undocumented nanny and well-below-minimum-wage yard man. But hey, with those merry horns and jaunty beat it all goes down way easier than salmonella tainted salmon puff canapes. And you were thinking of expanding your musical horizons beyond Death Cab, anyway, right?
Kid You're a Dreamer - The Panics
Listening to The Panics makes me think The Dandy Warhols are way more influential in Australia than in their own country. Which isn't criticism. Psychedelic pop, I daresay, will almost never fall on deaf ears around here. I've got one leg over the fence on singer Joe Laffer's voice and the production's a bit over the top (well, naturally). But the rest of it--a memorable melody banged out on the piano, confident acoustic strum and electric guitar bursts and an absolutely killer trebly keyboard riff--work beautifully. I'd like to say The Panics will one day break America, but I doubt it. I mean, Courtney Taylor had to make an ass of himself on film for even the smallest domestic attention.
Velocipedes - You & The Atom Bomb
Before I looked it up, I assumed velocipedes were some sort of prehistoric bird. Proving once and for all that year I spent taking Latin was a complete waste, velocipede refers to "any of several early bicycles with pedals on the front wheels" (speed + foot, duh). I'm not sure it's an actual, documented rule that when a song mentions bicycles, it must be an indie pop song--preferably a precious one. But that's not quite true of this track. You & The Atom Bomb subvert expectations with ragged, angular guitar sounds and brainy lyrics about, oh, you know, Cartesian centaurs and such. It's an exhilarating ride.
posted by Amy at 9:25 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Hi Amy, thanks for not being overly harsh. I tend to make emotional internet decisions. You're totally right about The Panics/Dandy Warhols, and I'm glad you didn't mean it negatively (even though the new album sucked in my opinion).
i like the headline. it's an overlooked aspect of journalism. readers have 15-second attention spans. on the internet it's closer to 1.5 seconds.
of course, good music links are better than headlines probably. anyway, thanks for the panics tune - i am a dandy fan.
peace
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