In some respects, I suspect you've got a respectable side

I admit, I was never a huge White Stripes fan before this year. I didn't know much besides "Seven Nation Army", which I hated, and refused to believe they could be worthy of the hype. Needless to say, I was very wrong.

The reunion of Jack and Meg White on June 19th's Icky Thump might have been the most anticipated album of 2007. And it certainly lived up to its promises. The entire album is incredible, but one of the most exciting is second cut You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do as You're Told).

It's a pretty typical White Stripes song, actually - bluesy organ riff, primitive drumming, and Jack White's usual sneeringly cruel-and-yet-kind lyrics. Still, they remain as fresh as ever. The song features the fantastic guitar crunch we've come to expect from Mr. White, almost Stooges-ish on this track. The vocals are stellar and the lyrics delightful. I'll certainly be posting more from this album eventually, because it's truly amazing.

Been listening too long to one song

The New Pornographers are a relatively recent discovery of mine, despite the fact that they've been charmingly power-popping their way through hipsters' hearts for seven years. True, I haven't actually bought an album yet, so I'm forced to resign myself to year-old Matador samplers and promo downloads. Still, that's enough for me to realize that the New Pornographers might be the most important force in post-2000 indie pop.

Sing Me Spanish Techno perfectly encapsulates this. Coming in at a radio-ready 3:59, and featuring quite possibly the loveliest hooks in North America, it's genuinely a mystery as to why the continent's entire populace (and I mean that) isn't rushing to scrawl their names at the bottom of the pre-order list for Challengers while simultaneously buying Twin Cinema. The song extols the virtues of making radical changes in your life (oddly enough, the plot of the Scrubs episode I just watched) over a base of brilliantly summery piano and a fantastic repeating riff. The real star of the show is, as always, A.C. Newman and Neko Case's lovely harmonies. And who can't adore that leap to the chorus? This is definitely a song to "listen too long to".

[Buy Twin Cinema]

Seen you looking good the other evening

I'm notoriously a big fan of bootlegs (although definitely not on a jam-band level) and one that's been getting a lot of airplay around here is Robyn Hitchcock (& Heavy Friends)' tribute to Syd Barrett. The concert, much like their earlier tribute to the White Album, was a one-off gig in London - only this time exhaustively celebrating the works of Mr. Barrett. It's no surprise that this was especially splendid, as Robyn has been vocal about his love for Syd for years. One of my favorites is Love You, originally appearing on Barrett's 1969 debut solo album, The Madcap Laughs.

The song maintains the delightful sweetness of the original, sung as a duet with Isobel Campbell, who also features on cello. It's certainly not a song to take very seriously and indeed Robyn nearly breaks into laughter several times as he and Isobel attempt to navigate the track's tongue-twisting wordplay. Musically, the song is nothing special - a lightly strummed guitar and beautiful cello that lacks the tinkling piano of the original. Still, it's an admirable take on a ditty that often goes overlooked in favor of Barrett's more serious work.

[Robyn Hitchcock & Heavy Friends - Live at Queen Elizabeth Hall 2007-05-26]

Another week of school won't do you any good

(Someday I'll start posting these things on a regular basis, I promise.)

Today's pick comes from a Sheffield band who, although I've been hearing their name whispered reverently amidst stacks of Rough Trade 45s for seemingly years, only just released their debut in November. I knew I was going to discover The Long Blondes somehow, and there isn't a better way to do so than through this track:

Once and Never Again

Rolling Stone might be proclaiming (as of last week) Amy Winehouse (paraphrased) 'the new queen of rock'n'roll', but after hearing "Once And Never Again" I'd have to raise my hand and give that title to Kate Jackson. This single is incredibly exciting, held down by ramshackle drumming that's just barely managing to keep up with the frenetic pace set by Kate's careening, flirty wail that takes more than a leaf from Morrissey's book. (Which might, actually, be attributed to their common girl-group influence (check the drop-dead gorgeous harmonies on the chorus!), but it's not hard to imagine the Long Blondes all curled attentively around a set of speakers blaring "The Last of the Famous International Playboys".) It does lyrically as well - with an impassioned plea to "come out with me, you only have to do it once..." and more than a taste of kitchen-sink drama. The song is directed at a nineteen-year-old girl who's just too young for love. One can envision the orange-cardiganed star of "How Soon Is Now?" dancing her way (although a bit more cheerfully) through this video as well.

[Buy Someone to Drive You Home.]

Bright Eyes - If the Brakeman Turns My Way

Once again, proving myself to be a bit behind the times - although I don't believe I ever posted about Cassadaga in the first place, so I guess this is OK.

I started listening to Bright Eyes in 2003, pressed on by hearing "Drunk Kids & Catholics", "Trees Get Wheeled Away", and "Method Acting" on the local college station - I didn't really have any idea of his reputation at the time, or even that his home was so near mine; merely that, wow, this guy was kinda crazy - but I bought Lifted... nevertheless and, well, hated it. Not quite that strongly, but I listened to it a few times and put it back on the shelf in favor of the Cure or whatever I was listening to most frequently at the time. I kept up with him, however, and, indeed, bought I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning and Digital Ash in a Digital Urn on the day of their release. That's when, without sounding too Natalie Portman, my life changed. More or less. I was captivated by (just about) every track on both, and they rapidly became my favorite albums of 2005. I stood in Memorial Park in the drenching rain for two hours last June, to be rewarded with "Well Whiskey" - that was devotion, I thought.

So when Cassadaga was released earlier this year, I was a little apprehensive. Could anything touch that duo? I'd heard it was another on his alt. country bent, which left me pleased... but still I wasn't sure if I ought to buy it or not. Once I finally got the guts to click "Buy now", I knew I couldn't have made a better decision. From the weird-y optical illusion packaging to the liner notes, this would be another in a list of fantastic 2007 releases. My favorite track?

"If the Brakeman Turns My Way" is simply extraordinary. It's somehow exactly like and completely unlike everything Bright Eyes has ever released; it dances around therapeutics (Better take a little time to level out...) and throws itself headlong into Oberst's obsession with Middle America and trains (one he shares with Michael Stipe). His vocals are clearly influenced more than ever by M. Ward, but he keeps the quavering joy he's always had as the chorus explodes from a shaky pedal-steel opening verse that's less of a lyric than an introductory monologue to some old black-and-white documentary, perhaps recited by Tom Waits. At first, the chorus seems anticlimactic - but what were you expecting? The verses still prance in that old-but-young voice, reiterating all those scenes of desolation in America we first heard on tracks like "Train Under Water". (First a mother bathes her child, then the other way around. The scales always find a way to level out.) The bridge almost takes you by surprise - don't distract me! I'm waiting for the final chorus! - but it's full of Westerbergian lines (A dime store mystery, but I'm a repeat first-time offender who's rewritten history). And then, finally, that last chorus. Here the song reaches its zenith with a typical huge grin - and it's over in shimmering organ.

Right now this track seems to be on par with "Intervention", "Underwater (You and Me)" and "A Comet Appears" for Best Song of 2007 (here, anyway). Maybe it'll be a four-way tie (for first).

[Buy Cassadaga]

Editors

Summer's back and so am I! Finally. I'm glad to have so much free time, though - not that much of it is being spent on anything other than obsessively organizing my iTunes and watching Scrubs reruns.

Lately I've been listening to almost nothing but Editors. Now I realize that by saying this I've firmly placed myself approximately two years behind the rest of the world, but in my defense, I attempted to be skeptical of them at first. The last band I'd heard such relentless "RIYL The Smiths and The Cure" from attempting-to-be-hip teen weeklies was My Chemical Romance, and I certainly didn't want to repeat that mistake. Then everyone else discussed Interpol, Joy Division, R.E.M., and U2, to which I replied, "That's probably fantastic, but I have other things to think about..." I couldn't have chosen worse. As I lay in a Back Room-induced haze, I can't imagine a life without Editors - and from what I've heard of An End Has a Start, it's going to be similarly incredible. (Actually, "The Weight of the World" was really what I wanted to post, but I'm a little iffy about posting things before they're released. Which is just to say, yes, I'll post it at some point post-AEHAS.)

So for something completely different - "Bullets".

This is the first many had heard of Editors (as far as I can tell) and it's a gorgeous introduction. It touches all the common points of reference, providing a base for any listener to stand on (that is, to be completely stereotypical, the college students can discuss the vaguely Paul Banks vocals, while the middle-aged former hipsters can rave about the Edge-ish guitar work...) and yet has a sound completely its own. The entire song is infused with a relentlessly exciting intensity best exemplified by the ending, when the track is carried almost solely by drummer Ed Lay. What a great song.

[Buy The Back Room]

HIATUS

PUNCHDRUNK HISTORY IS ON HIATUS FOR THE TIME BEING.