I’m sure you, like myself, have occasionally looked back at a song, band, or haircut from your teens and thought “Oh god. What was I thinking?”

This is not one of those times, though I thought it would be. The band: The Distorted Penguins. The Song: Anarchy Waltz. This track, thought to be long dead, was resurrected by a mythical mix CD that suddenly came to light in the shuffle of shlepping off to Wisconsin.

I’m not sure how I know of The Distorted Penguins. I’m debating whether or not they hit the tiny little venue in Butler, Pennsylvania that was once called Apparitions Food Court (and is now called a denture office). Apparitions was a little food court with a party room that quickly became the punk hang out for the under 18 crowd. Those were heady days, however, and the haze of watermelon and whipped cream somehow prevents me from recalling with any certainty who I did or did not see there. Alas, my connection to the Distorted Penguins will forever be a mystery.

That does not mean it should be a mystery to you. Go to their Myspace here, listen to Anarchy Waltz, and pretend you’re 15. It’ll be awesome, I promise.

This might be the quintessential simple local band song ever. The saxophone is simple; i could probably break out my sax from the 3rd grade and figure it out by the end of the evening. The way they use the sax to punctuate the beat, though, is captivating.

The Hey Hey’s and Oi Oi’s, of course, get me going every time I hear the song, and I almost seem to remember being crammed into a small foul smelling room, pumping my fist along with the song, until my memory falls away to reveal I’m just in my apartment.

The lyrics are great too. “What you call expression they call moral decay”? Brilliant, and not in an angsty 15 year old sort of way. It’s simple, applicable, and non-drammaticised. I could probably break it out in an argument and get away with it.

The song is a simple style of pop punk and ska, but it doesn’t have that generic fell I’m used to when it comes to local punk bands.

Another fun aspect of this song is that you can replace “Waltz” with just about any one syllable word. Driving home from work, we spotted a shopping cart turned over on the side of the road. Dave goes “Anarchy Cart! Oi oi oi oi” and now it applies to almost every cart we see. Also cropped up: “Anarchy Dog”, “Anarchy Stove” and by far the scariest, “Anarchy Car”.

It falls in line with an illustrious list of songs I alter consistently for shits and giggles, but the rest of the list will have to wait until later.

What to drink with Anarchy Waltz?
Lemonade with Rum. Have strong enough lemonade, and no one will realize you’re drinking underage…until you pass out under a table. Which never happened to me. Honest.

Back in the day, you could occasionally find me at Warped Tour. While the endless booths selling crap were annoying, the people largely obnoxious, and half of the bands mediocre or infuriating (or both), occasionally there would be someone on the ticket that really made me want to go.

One such year, it was Flogging Molly and Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards.

Everyone else on the ticket, though seemed to be straight up emo garbage.

(By the way, please don’t start sending me hate mail about how bands likeFugazi are the true emo, and calling shitty whiny bands emo is incorrect and offensive towards the precursors of the genre that supposedly didn’t suck. I’ve heard the argument before, perused the archives of ‘true emo’, and while it wasn’t horrible, it wasn’t fantastic enough to make me champion the ‘true emo’ cause.)

Anyway, because I was young and different (weren’t we all), I felt the world needed to know that I was not at Warped Tour for the emo music. To make sure everyone knew this, I wore a plain black tank top, with a bright orange patch safety-pinned to the top of it. The patch said “Emo Sucks.”

I got a lot of feed back on my choice of attire. Some people high-fived me. Some people whined at me. Some people scoffed and said rude comments.

But the best was when someone stopped me as I was walking past their band’s merch booth. They said they loved my shirt, and insisted I take one of their CDs for free. After catching back up with my friends, I checked out the CD case. I can’t remember the name of the band, but I swear to congress one of their tracks was called “My Tears Fall Like Rain”.

I chuckled the rest of the day. I did listen to the CD later to ensure the track wasn’t ironically named. It wasn’t.

fin.

Within the past few months, I found myself graduating from college, moving across country, and adopting a dog. While the last one is arguably the most awesome of the three, all of them left me scrambling for free time and internet access, in that order.

Things are settling down, though, which leaves me time to go back to resurrecting music. See, my anthropology degree is coming in handy already.

First on the block is a little ditty that has seriously ensnared my soul. Paul Simon’s You Can Call Me Al. It’s probably the combination of those fake synthesizer horns and the back up humming/chanting that emphasizes certain words and phrases throughout the verses that really does it. Regardless of the reasons, this song snatched a large portion of my attention span and whisked it away. The lyrics, while doubtlessly cryptic, are entertaining, and I now find myself occasionally mumbling “don’t want to end up a cartoon in a cartoon graveyard”.

The music video only further cemented my love of this song. The concept is so simple, but well executed. Chevy Chase joins Paul Simon in a room, and starts singing at the beginning of the song, confusing Paul Simon, who spends the rest of the music video looking bored and sullen. Chevy Chase, of course, nails his performance. Go watch it.

Eddie Money with Take Me Home Tonight comes in second place for soul stealing. The way the synthesizer tiptoes through the verses and then falls away to let the chorus erupt is perfect. It really makes you want to jump around and dance, which works out well for me, since I live on the first floor of my apartment complex. At least now all my neighbors question my sanity, which might come in handy later. Being a fan of my Complete Top Billboard Hits of the 1960s set makes me enjoy Ronnie’s vocals in the song, too. She’s amazing.

This is another dynamite music video. Also simple, but way more rock n’ roll. You can tell Eddie is having a great time rocking out by himself on that stadium stage, and Ronnie, despite however old she may have been when this was filmed, embodies bad girl femininity. I love it.

Next up to the chopping block is a song that has stolen my soul a couple times over the years, but it can get so infuriatingly stuck in my head that I always go to great lengths to oust it, despite potential psychiatric of physical pain involved. Then, like an Alzheimer’s patient, four months later, I say, why haven’t I heard that song lately? I really like that song. And the cycle of pain continues.

Patty Smyth/Scandal’s The Warrior is the song in question. You’re right, the song makes no sense. At all. No matter who I consult, no one can help me piece together the right pieces that would make this song make sense. Regardless, the beat is alluring, and being able to scream both “I am the warrior” and “Bang Bang!” while doing 70 miles per hour down the highway, without looking like you pose a danger to those around you, is pretty amazing.

This music video gets credit for creativity, but I really want to know what’s up with the complex theatrical and stupid 80s music videos. I thought the Bonnie Tyler music video took the cake, but this one might come out on top. At the beginning of Patty Smyth’s music video I think “Oh, warrior, I get it. She’s the heroine, he’s the bad heart breaker guy.” That image fits just up until 6 seconds into the song when those two people dressed up in blue fairy/bird/fish suits make an entrance. Then all hell breaks loose. I know when I ballet fight someone, I generally wear fishing nets all over me.

One super plus in this video is that Patty Smyth is adorable. The way she struts and dances makes me want to give her a hug. Her face paint looks good, too. I think it blows Ziggy Stardust out of the water, but that might be because she doesn’t look like a corpse.

What to pair these songs with alcoholically speaking?
A root beer shot. Fill a shot glass with root beer schnapps, light it on fire, and drop it into a mug of beer. drink heartily and quickly, lest the beverage end up everywhere except in your stomach.

Some sort of comparison to my sanity could probably be made here, but I think I’ll refrain.

Gonna be honest here. I’ve been listening to a band i have no idea what to do with. Like, at all. It was suggested by a friend, and so far outside of my normal scope of interest that i just got nothing.

I guess this is to expected when i’m suddenly tossed a French Pop CD. Phoenix, Alphabetical. When it first kicked on, i scoffed. It sounded like a boy band. While Savage Garden may forever hold a place in my heart, all in all Boy Bands leave me running for the hills.

So i kept listening. And listening.

Then i got a PS3 and got distracted like mad.

But now i’m back, and i’m still confused by Phoenix. I certainly don’t dislike the album. But at the same time it hasn’t overly interested me, on a long term basis. I’m not even indifferent to it…which is making me a tidge confused.

I know what i think about this album will come to mind at some point, but i fear it’s one of those albums that suddenly become clear in two or three years. One day i’ll play it on a whim, and then it’ll all click together.

One thing for sure, though, is that i like the funk element that runs through the album.

The vocals are more even than i’m used to, and i feel like the vocals are really what’s preventing me from really getting behind this album. The music is eclectic and runs the gambit of instruments and angles, but the vocals always seem to stay the same.

At least one good yell would help me make up my mind. Alas. No yelling at all. No falsettos. No growling, shrieking, or grunting. Just smooth boy band like vocals.

Some of the songs seem to work with this smooth even singing, Victim of the Crime comes to mind. The song is overall smooth, so the smooth lyrics blend right in.

Honestly, that’s about as coherent as i can make my thoughts on this band. For three weeks now i’ve been trying.

What to Take Away?

I am stumped, and unable to connect Phoenix to any other music in my collection. As such i’m having a hard time understanding what i thinks about it.

What to Expect?

Debilitation confusion, at least if you think anything like me.

What drink to pair it with?

A Rogue Chipotle Ale. I had one about a year ago. The jury is still out if it was something i’d like to experience again, and i’m still puzzled by it.

Favorite song?

Victim of the Crime, i think. but i don’t know. In three years when it finally clicks, i’ll let you know.

Operation alleviate boredom through music is in full swing here at the Anderson abode. My most recent musical refuge has been a band i’ve heard about for what seems decades. Despite this fact, up until about three weeks ago, i had never actually listened to any of their music. At all. The band? Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

The album i’ve been listening to is their debut: Fever to Tell. In the first listen through Tick really grabbed my attention and refused to let go, such that i found myself skipping forwards and backwards, ignoring other perfectly fine tracks in favor of the sheer insanity of Tick. With much will power i was able to break this tendency and listen to the rest of the album.

I’ve been listening to Fever to Tell almost exclusively for a week now, and for a week i’ve been trying to figure out how to describe this album. I finally figured it out, but only by using other bands that you may or may not have heard of. Which kind of makes this post moot, because practically everyone has heard Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The first is Cat Power, the second is Be Your Own Pet. Take both bands, and combine them in various ways. You end up with this album.

My affinity for Garage Rock is limited, to be honest. There is something about it that after a while just gets under my skin. Perhaps it’s too open-ended. Perhaps it’s because the vocals aren’t so pronounced, and to me vocals are what seal the deal. Or maybe it’s because the beat is hard to feel under all that guitar. Regardless, garage rock and i don’t always get along.

This album has some songs that don’t really pull me in. It also grates on me sometimes. Karen O’s crazy vocals are great, but when the guitar gets weird and screamy behind the crazy vocals it feels like too much.

The first two tracks on this album don’t do a whole lot for me.

Tick then goes nuts and permanently landed Fever to Tell in my remembered albums list.

The songs on this album that i don’t care for fall into a category of music i generally don’t care for, no matter who is producing it. Fast lyrics with slow music, or vice versa. Too much vampy guitar. A beat that is off kilter or subject to unexpected change. These things always get to me.

Black Tongue and Pin are pretty awesome. The beats are solid and the guitar is kept under control.

I also really enjoy Maps, but for alternate reasons. It’s a slow song, but with a good beat. The guitar gets vampy without getting piercing, and matches the deeper Karen O vocals. Modern Romance is another perfect slow song. The beat is steady, and the vocals are perfectly nostalgic.

For what it’s worth, though, Karen O seems to be a total Frother…which automatically gets her a gold star.

What to Take Away?

Generally speaking, Leslie doesn’t know enough about Yeah Yeah Yeah’s style of music to make much commentary on that, but overall the album has some good points, some boring points, and some points that really gets on Leslie’s nerves. This being the debut album, though, makes me look forward do a more defined sound in their later albums.

What to Expect?

Garage rock influenced Indie with a general lack of steady beats in favor of craziness.

What drink to pair it with?

A Hot and Dirty Martini. Pepper Vodka, Dry Vermouth, Olive Brine, a dash of chipotle tabasco sauce. Garnish with a pepperoncini stuffed with blue cheese, and enjoy the insanity.

Favorite song?

Oh my, Tick. That song makes the entire album seem like a gift from congress.

Meet the newest incarnation of Leslie: unemployed Leslie. Prior to, oh, today, i had a Job. And prior to that i had school. But i graduated (thank congress), and with that lost my on campus job. While in the search of gainful employment (or, you know, ungainful employment. Whichever presents itself first), i’m filling the 8+ hours a day i normally spent working, going to class, and procrastinating homework via Plants Vs. Zombies, with music.

I reached a musical road block some weeks ago, but thankfully i have at least one friend with a high rate of musical overlap who recommended some music my way.

Currently i’m investigating Noisettes, a three piece Indie/Rock outfit from Great Britain.
They are another band to be retrieved from my musical blind spot. I mean, they make perfect sense, but somehow i had never heard of them before.

But now i have. Specifically i have been listening to What’s the Time Mr. Wolf?. There is a lot of rock in this album. The tag “Indie” always gives me an image of relaxed fit music. Melodies, harmonies, and a lot of sanded down edges. I just automatically think “I’m From Barcelona” for some reason.

That’s not so much the case here. Sharp edges are in abundance, and there are quite a few discordant parts that pop out at you. The electric guitar parts are especially pronounced, not something that generally appeals to me, but most of the time here i feel that it is well placed. Not overwhelming like 70’s power-metal. Really, the album feels like a Garage Rock album. Perhaps with some minor Post-Punk tendencies, and a few dashes of Indie sentiment.

Shingai Shoniwa, the lead vocalist, has an amazing voice. her range is quite sizable, and her ability to switch from shrieking to sultry to soft harmonies is perfect. I’m tempted to suggest that her voice makes the band, but that’s not entirely true. The music certainly keeps up, and is engaging and forceful in it’s own way, but is constructed such that it leaves a gap where her voice can come in and pull everything together.

Shingai herself plays bass. For the record, female bass players are awesome. Dan Smith crafts all the guitar rifts, and Jamie Morrison has control over the drums. Smith and Morrison provide perfect back up vocals to Shingai’s singing. For a three piece, their sound is very large. I want to say the music sounds “neat”, but it certainly doesn’t. It sounds, i imagine, exactly how they want it to sound.

The music itself is varied. The first song “Don’t Give Up“, gives very definite Rockabilly vibes, thanks to a deliberate and prominent bass line, her full throaty singing, and a subtle twang. She even throws in some little growls that really bring the Rockabilly touch home. The whole song is at a good tempo, perfect for throwing someone around the dance floor. I love it. I wish the rest of the album followed this style.

Unfortunately it doesn’t, but at the same time not everyone digs rockabilly as much as i do. From track two, the notion that this is an Garage Rock album really kick in. The bass is backed up to normal. The songs seem slightly unbalanced, but i always feel Garage Rock to be slightly off-balanced. It seems to be part of the charm. Most of the songs certainly don’t follow the normal verse to chorus ratio.

While guitar and vocal heavy garage rock may be the signature of this album, Noisettes throw some tracks onto the album to show they are capable of deliberate and delicate music. “The Count of Monte Christo” is probably the best example of this.

I don’t necessarily love the entire album. But regardless, the whole album is artfully crafted. Some of the songs just reach outside of my normal comfort zone for screaming guitars. There are quite a few songs on this album though that i really dig, and “Don’t Give Up”, is one of the few new songs i’ve become obsessed with in ages. I mean, even one dynamite song is more than most albums have going for them.

What to Take Away?

Noisettes is a solid Indie Rock band that takes much from the Garage Rock genre. Shingai’s voice is powerful and amazing, and a lot of thought seems to go into their music. Oh, and Shingai is a total fox.

What to Expect?

Garage Rock and nuts vocals that sometimes verge on blues or soul.

What to Pair it With?

Gin and Tonic with an extra wedge of lime.

Favorite Song?

“Don’t Give Up“. Its combination of bass and vocals is intoxicating.

which is awesome, because for me, Holiday Hi-jinks come with a cost (other than themselves, mind you).

I drive a 1999 teal chevy cavalier. he’s a twice hand-me-down. His name is Little Blue, and i love him, except for one fact: he has no CD player. Neither does he have a tape deck. Not only that, but his cigarette charger is disconnected, so running things from the outlet is impossible.

Little Blue therefore leaves me no option but to listen to the radio. as such, i have spent the last two weeks of December driving from Cleveland to Pittsburgh, and countless jaunts in between, with nothing but the radio to ease my holiday travel boredom.

not good. But the endless exposure to the harmful music radiation has left me with a fairshare of guilty pleasures.

1) Jason Derulo. Whatcha Say.
It’s the Imogen Heap in this song that brought me over to the dark side. It is so not my typical style of music, and now lies within a small selective group of rap and hip-hop that doesn’t leave me running to the hills. (for the record, Mystical’s “Bounce Back”, and Outkast’s “Whole World” are the only other two in this category. Unless “Hammertime” and “Jump Around” count. I’m gonna go ahead and assume they don’t.)
The only problem with this song is the way he sings the phrase “I just didn’t know what to do”. the “what to do” part is spit out in such a way that for a second i question whether his IQ is above 70.

2) P!nk. Funhouse.
It didn’t hit the airwaves that much, but enough that i kept hitting the scan button in a fruitless attempt at avoiding Miley Cyrus. If you ask me, i think Miley Cyrus might be the Evil Clown to which P!nk alludes.

3) Lady Gaga. Bad Romance.
Lady Gaga is nuts. And i love her. It is in fact the insanity present in this song that appeals to me. and the beat. and the ‘Gaga oh-lala’.
what also appeals to me about this song? it’s not paparazzi or telephone. i want to punch those songs in the face.

4) 3oh!3. Don’t Trust Me.
This is old by now, but for some reason it hit the radio with a vengeance these past few weeks. It has taken months of steady and solid disinterest, but it’s finally winning me over. except the part it’s most famous for: the Hellen Keller part. that part just reminds me that the rest of the song makes little sense, and the writers are probably douchebags.

5) Owl City. Fireflies.
The first 3 million times i heard this song i thought The Postal Service made a comeback. the 4th million time i heard it i started to realize it wasn’t the Postal Service, but it wasn’t until listen 4,589,341 that the announcer actually said the band in question. This song is enjoyable for the strings present, and the fact that a “sock hop” is actually in the equation. The voice isn’t so bad, and the lyrics are acceptable. The fact that it is almost directly a page out of the Postal Service’s book, and that it’s about 42 seconds long are not in it’s favor. but it sure as hell beats miley cyrus.

With my guilty indulgences out of way, i move forward to Most Rued songs of the Holiday Season.

1) Miley Cyrus. All of it.
Oh how i rue this young woman and her pathetic attempts at music. i rue!

2) Lady Gaga. Paparazzi.
As much as i appreciate Lady Gaga and her danceable tunes, i hate Paparazzi. It’s slow. It’s not dancey. the beat is lagging so much to be mistaken for missing, and it is overplayed like whoa. for serious, this song drives me nuts. it was okay when i only heard it every once in a while, but this three-times-an-hour business is for the birds.

3) Lady Gaga. Telephone.
If Lady Gaga likes to play subtle jokes on mindless celebrities through her music, she is going to have to backtrack something fierce with the advent of this song. It is not subtle. it is overbearing, it is brutal and it is stupid. The lyrics are uninspired, the music mediocre, and the singing is bland. this song annoys me greatly.

4) Taylor Swift. Love Story.
I was amazed to hear the other day that this song beat out “Just Dance” for the yearly countdown. Impressive. except for the fact that this song is truly just insipid. Lady Gaga may be mocking people through her music, but Taylor Swift actually thinks getting hitched so young you can’t drink at your own wedding is brilliant and romantic. yech.

5) Ke$ha. Tik Tok.
I have no idea where this came from. The singer and the song came out of left field. it has been widely reported that left field is the advent of most musical suffering, and i wish for the sake of humanity she would take her junk and flee back to this left field of doom. holy wow. and that is so not how you spell “Tick Tock”.

It’s always a toss-up. With so many varieties of stupid girls out there, which one(s) do i rue the most?

Crash Love. It’s the newest album by AFI. I’d like to say it was long anticipated, but the truth is I kind of forgot it was coming. I knew after the Blaqk Audio album that a new AFI album was coming eventually, but I didn’t keep tabs on it.

I will go ahead and admit, at the risk of losing any street-punk cred I had left from my 15 year old days, that I like decemberunderground. I like it a lot, even.

Which brings us, somehow, to Crash Love. Most people, it seems, disliked decemberunderground. Vehemently. I know they weren’t the old school die-hard AFI fans, because most of those decided AFI sold out after songs like I Wanna Mohawk (But Mom Won’t Let Me Get One) went out the window.

Anyway, public backlash against decemberunderground was largely widespread, but I liked it. It felt honest, like it’s really what they wanted to do. Crash Love doesn’t give me the same vibe. For one thing it feels more theatrical. Some of the songs seem almost like a rock-opera. While Havok’s voice could totally handle opera, I feel the only band really capable of the rock-opera is Manowar. And they are lacking from this equation.

I’ve heard myriad people mention how much this album tickles them because it goes back to AFI’s “old sound”, which doesn’t make sense to me, because this sounds nothing like Cereal Wars. Even if they’re talking about Sing the Sorrow “old”, I don’t see it.

For a vast majority of the tracks, the music feels weak to me. While the lyrics may have been questionable in decemberunderground, I felt the music was well thought out. On Crash Love, however, the music feels almost generic to me. If I heard it without any vocals, I would have no idea what band was responsible for it.

Admittedly I am no musician, I am merely a music lover, and I have no way of telling whether music is easy or hard to play. However, regardless of ease, I felt the music of decemberunderground to be more engaging, and while the lyrics where perhaps weak, their presentation was pleasing to my ear.

Regardless, the first couple tracks confuse me. There are parts of the songs I love, but other parts that irk me. The chorus from Beautiful Thieves, for example, I find fabulous. The beginning of End Transmission does nothing for me, but the rest of the song sucks me in. I just flat out don’t like Medicate, but parts of I Am Trying Very Hard to Be Here pull me in while other parts push me away.

Sacrilege is the first song on the album that kind of reminds me of any old AFI. I do like it. the back-up vocals, the contrast between chorus and verse, and music that seems leveled, varied and well paired. I like the tempo in Havok’s singing too. The bridge bothers me a little, but very few bridges don’t. I’m biased against them. (The exception being Regina Spektor’s perfect bridge in Dance Song of the 80’s).

Darling, I Want to Destroy You annoys the hell out of me, and Cold Hands bothers me greatly at parts, but entertains me in others.

The whole album leaves me feeling rather bi-polar. And I’m just going to skip most of the extended tracks, because I am one of the few music junkies that doesn’t put much stock in demos, previously unreleased tracks, or otherwise. I generally feel there is a reason songs get left behind…

Fainting Spells, however, I feel has a lot of potential. I almost feel some Nine Inch Nails influence, but I find the intro lacking enough that it took me a long time to notice that what followed it was worth listening to. One of the strongest songs on the album, though, even though it isn’t on the normal album.

What to take away?

Crash Love leaves a very “meh” taste in my mouth. I don’t vehemently hate it, but for the most part i find it either boring and/or easily forgotten. Some songs have great aspects, but overall i feel the album is lacking a reasonable number of stand alone great songs.

What to Expect?

Music that doesn’t quite get at you the way, say, Black Sails in the Sunset does. But what can I say, so far I think they peaked with BSitS.

What to Pair it With?

A poorly mixed Long Island Iced Tea. All the elements for awesome are here, and if they were in proper proportion, I’m sure it would be intoxicating. As is, however, I’m not particularly impressed.

Favorite Song?

I think it’s gotta be Sacrilege. It just gives me hope for the future of AFI, despite the rest of the album. Next time around, they just have to get it right.

Someday we both may be able to sit on a beach with margaritas and netbooks and blog the week away, but not quite yet.

We are working towards it though.

Things have been stressful lately. The little things. Worrying about graduation and my future employment (or lack thereof). Trying to finish off my super late senior project. Washing dishes. Eating regularly. Trying to save abandoned kittens. Worrying over whether my office-mate’s boyfriend having swine flu means I should panic every time she sneezes.

It’s not so much that any one thing is particularly difficult, it’s just that between classes and work I’m normally really tired and have very little free time during which I’m not sleeping.

Enter, The Apples in Stereo. They make my life happier. To me they sound like The Beatles meet modern indie pop. I like it so much. “The Discovery of a World Inside the Moone [sic]” has particularly caught my fancy. It’s just such a charming mix of musical styles and lyrics. So much fun. There are also about 18 different little things that catch my attention and make me really happy:

1. A brass section: Brass makes everything better. Much like strings and pianos, brass just lends a little extra something that makes me instantly fall in love. Honestly, I can’t think of one song that makes use of a brass section that I don’t like.
2. Backup vocals: they are done perfectly. Subtle in places, outrageous in others, the backup vocals add some more depth to their already complex songs. I don’t know how to describe it really. It’s almost like how one line is 1D, two is 2D, and if you position that third line right, three make 3D. For each extra voice, an extra dimension is added to the song.
3. Clapping: They do it a lot. I love songs with clapping. I collect them, even.
4. That old-timey feel: seriously, these songs make me feel as if i should be wearing go-go boots or something. But it feels old in the best way possible. Giving that vintage feel to freshly written music I find impressive. Also impressive is the fact that they make use of all sorts of technologies in their music making and recording process that obviously don’t place in the 1960’s or 1970’s, but they still feel at home.
5. Cow-bells, tambourine, and those shaky maraca-like things: there is such a wide array of simple instruments that are often forgot about. in the rush for the biggest and best, some good ole cowbell is often forgotten. Not by these guys.
6. Midi-bass lines: More people need to implement the midi-bass line, me thinks. It kicks the shit out of most other bass lines I’ve ever heard. Perhaps I’ll start collecting midi-bass Lines. I think that would be a short list.

You get the point.

What to take away?

The Apples in Stereo pack all sorts of awesome into their songs. They are filled to capacity without sounding over crowded. They’re damn good. They do a good job of destressifying (a very technical word) without over-hyping. They just subliminally encourage you to get a subtle groove on. This groove may build up over time.

What to Expect?

Vintage sounding indie-pop tracks, most of which are perfect for a good morning pump-up session.

What to Pair it With?

Lithuanian Sparkling Wine. Bubbly, sweet, delicious, and a little bit off the beaten path.

Favorite Song?

“Go” by far. It’s totally my “I hate the morning, and need something to make me stop being a terrible grump” song. It usually works.