{This is Josh. As promised last Friday, here is Tyler. Jessie and I are happy he has done this and are looking forward to more from him in the future. We already have one more post from him other than this. Make sure to leave feedback, comment with songs you are listening to more than others lately.}
The proverbial gauntlet has been thrown down, so I’m throwing my proverbial hat in the proverbial ring with an attempt at a contribution of my own to Nothing Gets Crossed Out. Josh and I had a professor at Buena Vista who used to say “proverbial” after any expression he made, and here I am sounding just like him. Man, that guy was lame.
Josh has done such an incredible job so far with his 139 favorite songs of all-time that I certainly do not feel comfortable tackling something of that scope, however I still think it will be fun, and hopefully entertaining, to share some of my favorite bits of pop culture with whoever is willing to listen.
For my inaugural post I wanted to start simple, so I just picked out five songs that have been getting some extended playing time in my iPod and said a little something about the artist or the song. I hope you like!
Artist: The Thermals
Album: Now We Can See [2009]
I like the Thermals because they are fairly accessible and they make some truly catchy indie pop/rock songs. I also have somewhat of a nonsexual crush on their lead singer, Hutch Harris. He’s incredibly fun to watch live and there is something about the inflection in his voice that makes The Thermals’ songs fun to sing along with. These two tracks are off of their newest album, Now We Can See. You might also dig The Body, the Blood, the Machine [2006] by these guys, which is far and away their best album to date.
Song: “I Called Out Your Name”
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Song: “How We Fade”
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Artist: Calexico & Iron and Wine
Album: In the Reins EP [2006]
Both Calexico and Iron and Wine are pretty good in their own right, but I like them collectively more than I do as individual acts. In the Reins is solid throughout, though it is as close to country music as my brain will allow me to listen to. “16, Maybe Less” is growing into one of my favorite love songs. Check it.
Song: “16, Maybe Less”
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Artist: Albert Hammond, Jr.
Album: Yours to Keep [2006]
You may remember Albert Hammond, Jr. as the third most popular member of The Strokes, but probably not. He’s already pumped out two solo albums if you didn’t know, ¿Cómo Te Llama? as well as Yours to Keep. You can hear some Stroke-ish influence at times (why wouldn’t you, right?), but his work stands on its own pretty well.
Song: “In Transit”
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Artist: Vampire Weekend
Album: Vampire Weekend [2008]
Let me preface this pick by acknowledging that Vampire Weekend is one of the most overrated bands of the last few years. Despite several glowing reviews, I found their self titled album disappointing, and I would be surprised if they ever put out anything else praiseworthy. With that being said, “Oxford Comma”, is quirky and catchy enough for repeated listens. 2 ¡¡F-BOMBS!! warning.
Song: “Oxford Comma”
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“I Called Out Your Name” – I like that this is a nice mixture of punk and power pop. The music is a little simple, but that’s what makes the vocal melody so good. I have liked nearly every song I have heard by The Thermals, maybe this will finally get me into them.
“How We Fade” – I like “I Called Out Your Name” a little better but this is good, too. Dare I say the guitars sound a little Pixieish? That’s a good thing. I like the way Hutch sings.
“16, Maybe Less” – I wish Iron & Wine and Calexico would be a permanent band. Sam Beam sounds so much more interesting when backed by a full band. His acoustic songs seem too thin and unfinished to me. I used to share your sentiments about country, but like some of it now. I’m talking about Willie Nelson and the like, not Toby Keith. This whole EP is awesome. Love the pedal steel.
“In Transit” – Not bad. My least favorite of these picks. Reaches a little further than The Strokes with the synth. I have heard decent reviews of his two albums, maybe I should hear more.
“Oxford Comma” – This is a great song, best on the album. I love the drumbeat, the guitar solo and the way it seems to speed up during the “Why would you lie…” part. This band IS severely overhyped and have nowhere to go but down but this album is pretty decent.
Overall, very good. It’s interesting to hear what you are into lately. Keep the entries coming!
The Thermals are defs what I would call a bare bones kind of band. Very simplistic chords and song structure – kind of a low-fi feel to it if you will (you will). “In Transit” is one of the better songs, if not the best song, on Yours To Keep and I honestly wouldn’t recommend either of AHJ’s albums as complete works, but there are a few good songs on each. Thank for listening, you eunuch jelly thou!
YES! Tuesdays with Tyler!
Tyler, I waited until this morning to listen to any of your selections. I’m glad I did – it’s a rainy, dreary day and I have lots of housework to catch up on, BUT this music has kept me going, making all the other stuff as enjoyable as possible.
I thought I’d heard The Thermals before, but now I don’t think so. I like these two tracks equally. Like I mentioned before, just the pep I needed this morning!
We’ve had the In the Reins EP for quite awhile now, and I’ve always liked it, but it got very few listens over the last couple of years. Thanks to your spotlighting this one track, I think I will listen to the whole EP more. I love Iron & Wine, and am not of the same opinion that Sam is lacking anything (I bloody love The Shepherd’s Dog), but think Iron & Wine/Calexico is super-fantastic, as well.
For no reason in particular, the AHJ song makes me think it would be in a movie soundtrack, possibly during the end credits. And I’m imagining that I wouldn’t like the movie. It’s not a bad song, but the movie? It would be terrible! In fact, I wouldn’t even have made it long enough through the movie to hear the song.
Wow, I really like the Vampire Weekend song! I’ve heard this one before and it was a long time before I even picked up on the dirty swears. I don’t know if that’s a good or a bad thing. Also, despite the peppy, no-one-cares attitude of the song, I definitely think it rings true! Because doesn’t everyone know someone who is like that? Lying about every little thing? Things that don’t even make sense and take way more energy to lie about? But, I don’t think one listens to a track like this for the words or lessons. Maybe that’s just me.
Well done, T! Looking forward to the next one!
I also like how the “Oxford Comma” video is a Wes Anderson homage.
I finished listening to all the songs. I like your selections! “16, Maybe Less” is really nice. I also like “Oxford Comma” There are some really catchy tunes on that album, but I do agree that it was pretty overrated. I’d never heard The Thermals before, and now I’m intrigued. Thanks for your contributions, can’t wait for the next one!
How fun to have a contributing author to mix things up a bit! …Not that I’ve found the original two authors in any way boring ;) Nice work, Tyler.
I’d never heard of the Thermals before… I dig these two songs so I’ll probably check out some more.
I liked the Albert Hammond Jr. as well… it is pretty “Stroke-ish”, but that’s fine by me. :)
Lovin’ this blog… every day something new and exciting! :)
Thanks for the kind comments, everyone! I’m glad you liked some of the music (phew!) and I look forward to contributing more in the future.
Jessie: Wow, I can totally envision “In Transit” at the end of a movie. Nice work out of you! :)
Josh: I could do without the Wes Anderson homage. One person’s homage is another’s ripoff. Bonus question: If that guy that used to be Cat Stevens made Wes Anderson’s movies, would he sue the the pants off of Vampire Weekend?
Bonus Comment to Vampire Weekend: I give a ¡¡F-BOMBS!! about an Oxford Comma. Seriously, I support its usage.
Okay, it is a Wes ripoff. I didn’t want to start callously throwing the phrase “rip-off” around all the time, like you already mentioned with Cat Stevens and The Flaming Lips.
This blog is getting big time with the guest bloggers and such. Interesting choice of music. Sadly, I feel ancient and out of the loop because I didn’t recognize any of them. But it was a good learning experience for me and there was some stuff I could see myself putting on my ipod. But I think we need to know more about this “The Tyler Forret” character. Does he have a sitcom as the name alludes to? What’s the story on this dude with the weird “The” in front of his name? I’m trying to remain open minded even though his post included a slight diss towards country music and he probably doesn’t like New Kids either, but I’m going to need more info before I commit either way.
Ha ha! Tyler, could you submit a headshot, please? PP, Tyler is a friend that went to high school with Josh. They also went to college together, first at BV and then ISU. He’s a smart guy, a single guy and our friend for always. Josh, The Tyler, do you have anything to add?
I can lift 100 pounds right over my head!
I really liked “16, Maybe Less” a lot. It’s like listening to regular Iron and Wine without the wanting to go to sleep part. I rank them:
1. 16, Maybe Less
2. I Called Out Your Name
3. How We Fade
4. Oxford Comma
5. In Transit
Pretty successful debut, TTF. Looking forward to the Tuesdays with Tyler follow-up.
Ok good info to know, especially the lifting 100 pounds over the head part…impressive.
[...] here to read (and listen to) Tyler’s original post about two of these songs. I agree with him that [...]