Today I continue my ongoing feature showcasing my personal picks for the best songs of the past decade, posting ten songs at a time.
270. The Shins – New Slang
I heard all the brouhaha about Garden State and the hype surrounding this band, but I didn’t actually see the film until I met my good friend Kim in college. I believe it is still one of her favorite movies, and it is one that I enjoyed immensely, though I haven’t watched it since. I managed to get my hands on a copy of Oh, Inverted World back in high school, and, honestly, I didn’t really get it. Sure, the songs were pretty and soft, but I was initially bored. And dumb. It took repeated listens and a few years for me to appreciate it; what a brilliant little debut from a band that would, along with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, probably be the first in the new indie-Internet age to become too popular too quick.
When my dad brought home What I Like About You (And Other Romantic Hits) I thought it was a compilation of love songs from the 80’s by different people. Being ten years old, I had never heard of a band called the Romantics. I soon found out that all these awesome songs were by one under-rated, semi-forgotten new wave group.
Sure, we’ve all overheard the main track, especially if we watched car commercials in the 90’s. But this band had so many rocking hits, and they found the knack (pun) to mix punk, R&B, funk, and 50’s rock into one hell of a new sound for this innovative decade. Many don’t remember, but the Romantics were at the forefront of an explosion of a new sound that would envelop the next 10+ years of music. We can still hear their influence today, especially if we listen to current indie garage groups. These boys were always at the top of their game; catchy hooks, simple love-song lyrics, and straight-up rock and roll? What’s not to love? After all, it’s all Romantic.
Videogum had a great post about what Kevin Eubanks should do after he retires from the Tonight Show. And as with most Videogum posts, the comments section is pretty hilarious as well.
Not really laugh-out-loud funny, but let’s see if you music fans get it:
Finally, Glee is back! And in case you missed the Madonna parody, here it is.
It’s dreadful and wet here in the LBK – the city famous for NO draining system. The streets are flooded and there are holes in my shoes. Time to turn the heater back on. But on the plus side: Rainy Day Playlist! These tracks will get you wet. Promise.
Some of the things I love come under intense fire and scrutiny, and I am forced to intensely defend them. Conversely, there are things that I am done defending – they have crossed a certain line of mediocrity that I cannot follow. And then there are a few things that certainly have made mistakes, but I have not given up on yet.
So, because, as you know, I love lists, after the jump you will be treated to five things I constantly defend, five things I’m done defending, and five things that I feel still deserve defense, even if they’ve slipped up recently.
I imagine Lafayette, Colorado, feels like Lubbock in many ways. It’s probably not as isolated as we are out here in West Texas, five hours from anything. After all, it’s a skip away from Boulder and is close enough to Denver to be a legit suburb. But when I listen to Gauntlet Hair, I get the feeling that there is a small, dedicated group of kids looking for something more than what is being offered, far from the shopping malls and skate parks, far from the Coca-Cola-sponsored arenas and dingy hip-hop night clubs, far from the culture-less void that is a quiet mountain town.
The single in question, the most-blogged about track from the group, is called “I Was Thinking.” You can listen/download below.
Prefix Mag described the song better than I ever could:
“…a pretty insatiable guitar stomp that throws some R&B and soul into the lo-fi revival pot, mixing heavily-reverbed guitars with a simple, but undeniably booty-shaking beat. Add in some Animal Collective-style vocal melodies and you’ve got something pretty fantastic.”
One of my favorite bands, the Sacramento-based Deftones, are preparing the release of their sixth full-length album, Diamond Eyes, on May 4. In light of this, I am going back, re-listening to, and analyzing their previous albums to gain a perspective of the band’s past while waiting in anticipation of the band’s future.
I have been super lazy with the blog as of late; hopefully I’ll shape up tomorrow and actually write something. In the meantime, however, I figured I would share with you the funniest sketch of this weekend’s SNL, hosted by Tina Fey. Happy Monday!
