Monthly Archives: June 2009

The canary sings with such particular instruction

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everybody runs when the telephone rings but nobody’s making a call

Their second EP, Bridges and Tunnels, came out last October. They’ve spent a lot of time playing gigs in bars where they weren’t even old enough to be in the audience. And they’ve been compared no less than eighty-four times to The Strokes.

The Strokes? What the hell? I don’t hear it. Odd coincidence that I just this week started listening to Gaslight Anthem again, because that’s who I would compare them to if you made me. Or The Offspring.

Haha. Caught you there. No, really. Because I am so batshit bonkers for The Offspring, I can hear an indie interpretation of the opening to “Half-Truism” in Static Jacks'”Resistance/Self-Control.” Go ahead, tell me I’m wrong.

There is something that makes me so happy in the music on this EP. I can’t put my finger on it; could it be the line give up on hope, cast out your dreams? I feel like I am back in SoCo Dabbs’ bedroom being schooled on The Violent Femmes and Morrissey and listening to the way he pronounced Ralph Lauren as if it were an Italian name. I could be thirteen again, trying to decide if I was the preppie with high bangs or the skater chick with an asymmetrical style. I’ve always been a triberunner, it’s true.

I want you to take a listen to “Wine Cellar.”

[Download The Static Jacks – Wine Cellar]

I love it. The boys at Static Jacks may have given us the latest EP for free, but I became and instant fan and bought the previous one, Sonny Halliday straight away. Now I’m going to ask Daddy if we can finally start a label, because the next one they record needs to have better sound quality.

Uh oh, we better hurry, because the Jacks’ guitar player Henry tells me they’re recording it now and it should be out this fall. They are releasing their stuff via RCRD LBL, the online label/blog network.

In the meantime, here is a remix of a song I’ve been singing all day. At least in the remix the vocals have a chance to shine.

[Download The Static Jacks – RAC Maury Remix Fire On The Bridge And In The Tunnel]

Have I dispelled any conception that these guys sound like The Strokes? I still don’t get that association. Did the guy who said that just have them next to each other in his iTunes? Because Stevie Ray Vaughn follows them in mine. And speaking of shining, I am really appreciating the guitar licks in this track off the old EP. Not that I’m making a comparison… But… Check out The Canary Sings.

[Download The Static Jacks – The Canary Sings]

the storm that brought the flood which kept me cold
was brought by you thats what i was told
and i bet that it’s true

There you have it. Between The Static Jacks and Middle Distance Runner, I am really thankful that we started this blog because I love that I was able to discover bands like these and share them with you. I would say those are my two favorite finds of the past year.

So make me happy and buy these EPs. And if you’re in New England, go catch a show. I wish I could be there. I bet they are absolutely loverly to see live. They’re in NYC, DC, PHL, and some Conn/Mass too. Tell me how the shows are!! That’s an order!

No Amazon links for you this time… Just go straight to iTunes and nab some indie delights. And picture The Little One floating through the office during the day singing I see the fire on the bridge and in the tunnel below…

Weird electro and some new shit

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Yes. Chromeo is weird electro. They’re really hit or miss with me because they essentially update a type of music I drink heavily to forget. So now they make my drinking problem worse. Fuckers. This remix of “Me and My Man” I’ve liked since I bought it off of Beatport a few years back, however.

[Download Chromeo – Me and My Man (Fly Whitey Remix)]

Next up is the first track from the latest Yeah Yeah Yeahs release. Yes, I understand it’s not being posted here two months before it’s released. I don’t care. I like this. So there. I’m posting it because I like it. It makes me happy in my no-no spot. Which actually kind of creeps me out. The aforementioned drinking will come in handy.

[Download Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Zero]

Last up is just a really strange remix of the Designer Drugs track “Zombies”. It’s by the Montreal duo Nrotb, and considering the sound they have here, I found it quite odd that house label Coco Machete brought them on board. Well, perhaps they fit the niche since I last bought house records. Here’s their remix of “Zombies”. The oddly titled “Nrotb Dandy remix”. Lovely.

[Download Designer Drugs – ZOMBIES! (Nrotb Dandy Remix)]

Ah, yes. The time where I make some half-assed comment telling you to buy the stuff listed. Well, I’ve got nothing. Just go buy it. Now.

Don’t be silly, Toto. Scarecrows don’t talk.

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Courage! What makes a king out of a slave? Courage! What makes the flag on the mast to wave? Courage! What makes the elephant charge his tusk in the misty mist, or the dusky dusk? What makes the muskrat guard his musk? Courage! What makes the sphinx the seventh wonder? Courage! What makes the dawn come up like thunder? Courage! What makes the Hottentot so hot? What puts the “ape” in apricot? What have they got that I ain’t got?

Run Toto Run!

Cool name for a band. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain though, because it’s a woman that we should be looking for.

Rachael Kitchenside, the lead vocalist and songwriter, seems to be the wizard of this magical group.

Like Dorothy, she is not alone. She is joined on a fantastic journey by her band mates Mike, Cazz, and K!d Farthing.

Mike Colombian born Mike or “The Hobo” as the rest of the band like to call him is the nicest guy on the face of the planet. Fact. Mike cut his musical teeth at the YMCA roller disco, and often fondly reminisces about it. (synths, backing vocals, keys and guitar).

Cazz is way prettier without the mask. Hot even. She used to drum for Stickboy, She is the only remaining UK Hanson fan. (keyboards, backing vocals, percussion, recorder, electronics)

K!d Farthing has a tattoo in Hungarian reading “born under a bad sign” and is the coolest kid to ever graduate from the RNCM with a first-class honours degree in violin. (violin, keyboards, electronics and clever stuff)

I was sent an amazing cover of Passion Pit’s Sleepyhead in my DropBox 4 days ago, recorded by Run Toto Run. I fell in love. Then I watched the video for the cover, and fell in love further. Like falling down the rabbit hole.

[Download
Run Toto Run – Sleepy Head (Cover)]

Isn’t that voice angelic? I also love the re-imagining of the music and ambiance of this. It’s fantastic. The video is adorable. Rachael looks adorable and the animals are so silly you can’t help but smile! Especially the very end…

You may have noticed that there is only one hot chick and two animals in the video. Shouldn’t there be a fourth? Rachael sent me an email this morning telling me that Cazz was at work when they recorded the video. I wonder if Cazz was mad about being left out? I’m a little sad about it. Maybe she’s the tin (wo)man that can’t get her feelings hurt, since she has no heart?

I suggest picking up their new EP from iTunes. It’s called The Plastic Gold. If you live in the UK, you can catch them on tour starting this Friday.

BONUS TRACK:
The B-Side of the bands first single was called Alice. Enjoy this remix of “Alice” by welsh synth-pop wizard Rod Thomas.

[Download
Run Toto Run – Alice (Rod Thomas Remix)]

the shiniest pretty penny

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Jessica rambles on her blog about being a mom and her views on life and popular culture. She will be writing for inALLcaps on a monthly basis and she loves to read comments, so make her feel at home!

The End’s Not Near, It’s Here.

That grabs your attention doesn’t it! The first time I heard this, I was watching an episode of The OC and I thought the song was so fitting for the episode. A year or so passed and I gave this song no more thought, until one day randomly, Pandora spouted it from my computer. I stopped in my tracks and turned up the speakers, then frantically checked out the artist and song title which propelled my search to get my hands on it and everything else this band put out.

I discovered it was “The End’s Not Near, It’s Here,” a song by The New Year which Band of Horses covered for The OC Mix 6. I found two other albums by Band of Horses, which I wasted no time in downloading and repeatedly playing. They have a somber sound to them, but in the dark time of my life when I discovered them, I was somehow comforted and soothed by their soft angsty sound. Some of the song titles are head-scratchers, but the lyrics and the music are so powerful to me.

[Download
Band of Horses – To The Barn Because I Like The]

“Go To The Barn Because I Like The” lyrics:

Well I’d like to think I’m the mess you’d wear with pride.
Like some empty dress on the bed you’ve laid out for tonight.
Outside by your doorstep
In a worn out suit and tie
I’ll wait
For you to come down
Where you’ll find me
Where we’ll shine


It’s like when you were a kid… You almost didn’t pick up that penny on the ground because it was old and dirty, but you did it anyway and found a treasure: it was the shiniest pretty penny, and you were so proud of this little fortune. That’s the picture that this song brings to mind to me, but throughout my life that penny, of course, is the metaphor for bigger things or people at one time or another.

“Monsters” lyrics:

A tree for all these problems
They can find you for the moment
Then for all past efforts
There buried deep beneath
Your heart and somewhere in your stomach

And hey, transform all others
When awful people they surround you
Well hey, they just like monsters
They come to feed on me
Giant little animals to feed

I get goose bumps when I hear this song. How long will you keep those people in your life who feed on you and drain you of all emotionality? One day will you wake up and realize that they ate everything you had to give?

The slow pace of their songs and the words that cut through me and bring such emotion to the surface also manage to comfort me like a soft warm blanket.

I think they are definitely worth a listen, so please, check it out for yourselves.