Day Seven - The Small Faces

The Small Faces - All Or Nothing
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Oh yeah, I'll bet you thought this was going to be "Tin Soldier". I have tried unsuccessfully to get my friends hooked on the Small Faces through my favorite song "Tin Soldier," but now you get to enjoy my other favorite Small Faces song. I am such a mod.

This is probably as close as the Small Faces came to creating a ballad. It begins with a drum roll and a kind of gentle guitar riff, and then the keys hit as Steve Marriott begins singing rather softly and sweetly. The pace picks up and Marriott really belts out the later lyrics of the song, but it doesn't sound angry or take away from the tone of the song. Seriously, I adore the man's voice when he really lets loose. If you're ever around me when I'm listening to the Small Faces, that's what you'll hear me say: "My God! Listen to him sing!" This is altogether a fantastic song. It's a break-up song, but it's not really angry, it's just matter-of-fact.

The Small Faces existed during the mid-to-late 1960s and are sadly incredibly overlooked on this side of the pond. They never really made it big in the States back during the British Invasion. You may recognize the names of its members without realizing that they all once performed together - Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Ian McLaglan, Kenney Jones.

I also love this video of the band "performing" the song out in the freezing cold:



It makes me a bit sad that this band has only been in my life for about three years, but I am eternally grateful to the person who helped me discover them.

Day Six - Rufus Wainwright

Rufus Wainwright - Aprils Fools
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My fifteen-year-old self and my friends were so obsessed with Rufus Wainwright's debut album. We were absolutely giddy with excitement when he released the video for "April Fools" - I literally sat in front of MTV one weekend desperately trying to get it on tape (oh, the days before Youtube!). I was successful in my endeavor, and we dissected everything about the video apart - all the cameos in it, all of Rufus' amusing facial expressions, you name it.

None of Rufus Wainwright's subsequent albums have hooked me as much as that first one, but I've shamefully neglected it over the past few years. I recently found a mix CD a friend had made me about four years ago. It had "April Fools" on it, and it was absolutely the perfect song for my mood. I missed Rufus, and I absolutely missed that song and its rather cynical look at love.

"April Fools" features Martha Wainwright, Rufus' sister, on background vocals and Jon Brion on various instruments and backing vocals. I love the piano in the song; it helps make it sound upbeat, fun and memorable.

Day Five - Hot Chip

Hot Chip - Ready For The Floor
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I must confess... I've been holding out on you guys, I do apologize. This should actually be "Song of the Past Few Days and The Next Week, At The Very Least." I've heard bits of other Hot Chip songs, but nothing has fascinated me remotely as much as this song.

The lyrics are ridiculously repetitive, the beat is infectious, and the video is insane. WATCH IT - I was frightened at first but find myself uncontrollably transfixed and wanting to watch it again and again.



I think part of what reeled me into this song is the fact that it sounds like a girl singing. It's kind of like when you first hear Rush and you could've sworn you heard that the singer was a guy but when you hear a song you think that surely everyone is mistaken because this is totally a chick. But then you listen to it again and think to yourself, "Okay, now I can see that it's a guy with a frighteningly high voice singing." Plus, the Hot Chip singer's name is Alexis Taylor, and the only Alexises I knew in school were girls. (It's okay Alexis; in your home country, people believe my name is a boy's name. I understand the name confusion.)

I don't really know what else to say except that I love the blips and bloops in the music. I'm really not sure how to distinguish them, but I particularly love the blips that the green girl acts out in the video. (This is where I need to learn to be more descriptive!)

This song entered my Itunes catalogue on Friday evening after work, and it's nearing 100 plays now. It's Sunday morning. What on earth is happening in this song, lyrics-wise and music-wise and video-wise? I'm not sure, but I've succumbed to addiction and I love it.

Day Four - The Postal Service

The Postal Service - Nothing Better
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When I listen to a song, I usually hear the music and the vocals; not necessarily the lyrics. That's just my way of experiencing a new song. Music and the way the vocals sound; words later. But here's a song where the lyrics really catch my attention. Here you've got sweet, mellow-voiced Ben Gibbard singing to his lady love about how he knows he's done wrong but he wants her back and promises he'll make everything better this time around. You think, "Aw, that's so sweet! Who wouldn't take Mr. Gibbard back when he's obviously so in love with her? He even wants to marry her!" But suddenly your dream of a fairtytale ending is shattered when Jen Wood (NOT Jenny Lewis) cuts in with, "Hell no, we're done, screw you." Though the lyrics are a bit more eloquent than that. She ultimately tells him to get lost.

I love interplay between male and female vocals, and in this song it is used to perfection. Jen Wood's vocals can easily be described as pretty and perfect. And I must really be into electronic indie music lately, because this follows the pattern the Ting Tings started in this blog. This song also features the "record scratch" at the beginning that I absolute adore. Because, yes, I am one of those music snobs who loves vinyl, and the fact that the scratch at the start of the song reminds me of a record is just fantastic. And it also adds to the electronic aspect of the song.

I'm a pretty casual Death Cab For Cutie fan (I can name two songs that I really like), but the Postal Service really hooked me. Ben Gibbard and Jimmy Tamborello hit a home run with this album, and I'm perfectly content if they decide not to continue with the band because I don't know what could live up to Give Up.

Day Three - The Ting Tings

The Ting Tings - That's Not My Name
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The chorus is like some demented electronic cheerleader chant.

In a good way.

I had heard of this band through friends but never actually given them a listen until recently. The Ting Tings are a UK indie/electronic duo consisting of Jules De Martino on drums and Katie White on guitar and, on this song, vocals.

I'm sure I'll end up saying all the songs I write about are addictive, but for good reason. This song, due to its chanty chorus (it's definitely been compared to "Hey Mickey" by Toni Basil), handclaps and infectious groove is certainly sure to catch your attention. It sure caught mine. I forgot to charge my ipod one night, so I had nothing to listen to at work. I finally found a radio station to listen to, and they only played a tiny snippet of this song but I found myself desperately wanting to hear more. The song is over five minutes long, and considering that the last half of the song is basically the "They call me hell/They call me Stacy/They call me her/They call me Jane/That's not my name" repeatedly, it will ultimately be running through your head for days after you hear it.

The band released the song in 2007, but in the wake of the release of their full-length album, they're re-releasing it on May 12. I'll be first in line to get it. If there were a line to get it. And it were actually going to be released in my city. Okay, so I'll be the... fiftieth person to pre-order it online. Maybe I'll be one of the first Americans to get it. Maybe not.

Day Two - Black Lips

Black Lips - Bad Kids
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When I listen to Black Lips, I can imagine being at CBGBs, shoved around by an overzealous, sweating crowd while the band thrashes about onstage feeding off the energy level. I can imagine them opening for the Ramones or Johnny Thunders in the late '70s. This is a very, very good thing, because sometimes I just want to listen to music that makes me want to jump around while music blasts loudly.

This song is from Good Bad Not Evil, the most recent album from Black Lips. Black Lips = four guys from Georgia who like to make a racket that hearkens back to '60s and '70s garage rock. "Bad Kids" features more shouty lyrics (like in the Cribs song yesterday) mixed with some deeper background vocals. The song is about - you guessed it - bad kids. Nothing deep, the lyrics are simple, smirky and catch on easy. Clocking in at 2 minutes 7 seconds, it definitely leaves you wanting to hear more from the band. Or to hit the repeat button.

I love this entire album, so it was hard to pick one song. This is the one I've had on repeat the most today. But "How Do You Tell" may be featured at a later date because it's worth its own post.

Day One - The Cribs

The Cribs - Men's Needs
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So here we begin. I guess it's pretty telling that I'm starting off with a British band, who I appropriately discovered around the time of my Libertines/Special Needs obsessions. The Cribs I have loved from afar - being really into certain songs but not raving about them like many of my friends.

"Men's Needs" is from their 2007 album Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever and was produced by Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand fame. I've listened to the album a few times, but I always go back and listen to this song on repeat. I like to stick it on any mixes I make lately. Why? It could be the shouty "MEN'S NEEDS" that I find myself screeching long after the song is over and I've moved on to listening to another band completely. It can also be a bit distracting when you're sat at work and suddenly feel the urge to sing "because of MEN'S NEEDS! MEN'S NEEDS!" It could also be that damn catchy guitar hook that grabs you and makes you nod along immediately as the song begins.

The Cribs are a three-piece band of brothers from Yorkshire, England, so I imagine that they talk like the burly swamp-castle owner played by Michael Palin in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Though Amazon inexplicably describes this as their debut album, Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever is the third album from these guys and continues their onslaught of addictive Britrock.