NEW MUSIC FOR OLDS #44
Proud to share this particular form of insanity
Greetings from Lowell, Massachusetts, birthplace of Jack Kerouac, Olympia Dukakis and The Commish himself, Michael Chiklis.
I’m here visiting my dad, but that shan’t stop me from issuing another action-packed edition of NEW MUSIC FOR OLDS!
Hmm, what do we have here…
Tapas rock
Industry Plant vs Industry Push
Office romance ennui
The musings of me dear ‘ol pa
A Mary Poppins deep cut
And, some tasty-ass pedal steel guitar
Begin reading…NOW!
GOOD STUFF
Dear reader, I offer you this meager Glossary of Terms.
Lo Moon, “Evidence”
Listen on Apple Music // Listen on Amazon Music
Album: Evidence (single)
Nutshell: Adult alternative
Voltage: 5
Thoughts: Lo Moon is an LA trio that makes what you might call “Pre-Millenium VH1” music. You know, back when they were still a video channel (I wonder who fucked that up?) and promoted adult-friendly Alternative for people with real jobs and health insurance? “Evidence” is tasteful and groovy, with enough guitar to fall under the Rock umbrella, but not super concerned with “rocking”. Think Elbow or Snow Patrol. Or, imagine Coldplay if they’d aged gracefully and Chris Martin wasn’t a fucking tool. These may seem, at best, like backhanded compliments. But I wish we still lived in a world where music like this could still find a commercial foothold. Tapas bars deserve good music too!
Pairing Suggestion: Floating on a Volvo-shaped cloud
The Last Dinner Party, “Sinner”
Listen on Apple Music // Listen on Amazon Music
Album: Prelude to Ecstacy
Nutshell: Avant pop
Voltage: 6
Thoughts: This surging London quintet is the latest buzz-worthy act to have whiny skeptics screaming “INDUSTRY PLANT!!!” And sure, something about The Last Dinner Party does smell a bit hinky. Is there sexism at play? Sure—it’s not lost on me that the last band to face similar accusations was Wet Leg. That said, it’s rare that a new band comes out of the womb this fully formed. The songwriting is oddly mature, the arrangements meticulous and the lyrics are what you mighty call “grad school horny”. It’s as if they bypassed those awkward finding-our-sound” albums and skipped straight to the go-for-broke commercial release. Pair this with the fact that a band not even three years old was invited to open for The Rolling Stones and you’d be forgiven to wonder if The Last Dinner Party was assembled by studio pros, like a 21st century Monkees. But it’s not the case! “Sinner” lists no outside songwriters and you need only watch 30 seconds of a live performance to understand that these are legit players. The simple truth is, these savvy women have their shit together and industry bigwigs clearly looked at them and saw dollar signs. An industry push is not the same as an industry plant.
Pairing Suggestion: Big studio romcom montage
Grandaddy, “Watercooler”
Listen on Apple Music // Listen on Amazon Music
Album: Blue Wav
Nutshell: Indie folk rock
Voltage: 4
Thoughts: A few months ago, in the Paid Subscriber newsletter, I mentioned my longstanding love for the ennui-tinged stylings of Grandaddy. What can I say, membership has its…privileges? At the time, I had no idea that Jason Lytle and co. were prepping only their second album since 2003. This single, dealing with an office romance gone sour, features a noticeable tweak to the Grandaddy sound. From what I’ve read, Blue Wav replaces the synths of albums past with lots of pedal steel guitar, which is fine by me. I adore that slippery pedal steel sound, especially when removed from its Nashville trappings. Like most Grandaddy songs, “Watercooler” isn’t intended to blow your hair back—it’s more like an extended sigh. So expect no more than 3-5 hairs blown back, depending on how close you are to the speaker.
Pairing Suggestion: Offering a bittersweet adieu
Rock the vote.
Have something to say, do you? WELL, SPIT IT OUT.
SOME BULLSHIT
BOB’S MUSIC & WORDS
It occurs to me that I’ve never mentioned the precise degree to which I am my father’s son.
For the past year and a half or so, my dad has been sending out a weekly (now bi-weekly) email to family and friends. It’s called “Bob’s Music & Words” (BMW, for short) and it’s basically a memoir in musical form. Each email includes YouTube links to two songs that have meant something to him over the course of his life—stuff he loved as a kid, artists he was exposed to as a young man and the newer artists that currently fascinate him. Sound in any way familiar?
I’m honestly not sure who ripped off who. BMW and NMFO began around roughly the same time, but I do know my father was partly inspired after making an appearance on my long-defunct podcast, Audio Spackle1. I can’t say more, due to impending litigation.
It’s funny, growing up I never felt like my father and I had much in common. I take after my mother, physically, and I certainly had no designs on following Dad into the tax appraisal business. But now that I’ve reached/passed the age my father was when we spent the most time together, I’m seeing myself replicate his mannerisms, speech patterns and also certain personality traits—many of which are positive! But it’s in these parallel musical pursuits that I feel closest to ‘ol lug. I’ve never seen a picture of my dad where it looks like he wants to be there (another thing we have in common), so BMW gives me a clearer image of the man than I could ever hope to find in a dusty old photo album.
When you’re growing up, you see your parents as these all-powerful beings without faults or nuance. And then you go through a phase where all you can see are the faults. Eventually you reach the stage where you see parents as human beings in the fullest sense—you see their triumphs, their failures, their joy and frustrations, the whole kit and most of the caboodle. That’s the kind of love I feel for my dad and I wish you the same.
I won’t pretend to love every song he sends out (all due respect to Josh Groban), but BMW has sent me down a number of very fruitful wormholes. Last year Dad wrote about his undying love for Linda Ronstadt and I ended up spending a couple weeks basking in those Trio albums Ronstadt recorded with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris.
BMW has also awakened memories of childhood road trip favorites I’d long since packed into mental storage bins. I have a difficult time remembering my bank account number without looking it up—how and why do I know a Mary Poppins deep cut by heart?
Anyway, I fucking love the guy and I’m proud to share this particular form of insanity.
This week’s assignment: Ask your parents for one song they loved in elementary school, one from high school/college and one (reasonably) contemporary artist they enjoy. If they’ve passed, ask someone who might know. I have the feeling this may color your perception of your parents, and quite possibly yourself.
Any fun results?
And please share this post, won’tcha please?
Before I go, couple of related items:
I spend very little time on IG, but when I do, “@pedalsteelnoah” always puts a smile in my face. He’s a Texan kid who plays Goth and New Wave tunes on his pedal steel. It’s fun to hear these familiar melodies decontextualized. But the real star is Kara the Dog, a big fluffball who sits motionless through every video, usually with a big goofy smile on her face.
This is everything social media should be.
Last week I went to see the incomparable S.G. Goodman at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Don’t you even try to comp her! It was a fantastic show, which should surprise no one who remembers my rather gushing praise way back in NMFO #10.
Midway through the show, Goodman covered Waylon Jennings’ “Waymore Blues”, which allowed space for her guitarists, both standing and seated, to rip some tasty solos. As a coda for today’s newsletter, enjoy a bit of the talented Luke Schneider:
That’s all for today. See you in dos semanas!
I’d link to the episode, but all evidence of my 2013-14 podcast have been wiped clean off the internet—thanks a fucking lot, [podcast network redacted]!
My Spotify's Recent Searches page stopped populating what seems like months ago. But lo and behold, now The Last Dinner Party is my most recently searched. [Even though Grandaddy was obviously searched for afterward (I'm not putting NMFO on random).] Anyway, more evidence of industry meddling!
Lo Moon is giving me Death Cab vibes.