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.

But 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 level 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.

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?

I have mentioned my deep and abiding (if not a little creepy) love for Third Eye Blind at least twice now on Sound and Tonic.

Here comes round three.

Ursa Major was released not so long ago, and I’ve been mulling it around for a few weeks now. I know that it often takes a reasonable amount of time for me to move from music being ‘okay’ to ‘pure genius’. The Abrasive Wheels took 3 years before they worked into my larger and more accepted music library.

So I kept listening to Ursa Major, but I noticed a pattern. I rocked out through the initial tracks. I danced and sung along and had a good ole time. As the album progressed I found myself not paying attention to the music, or unthinkingly turning the album off in favor of something else. The album starts out quite strong, but unfortunately I don’t feel Third Eye Blind does a very good job of carrying that momentum through the rest of the album.

This, of course, upsets me. With the exception of the cheesy way-too-teenage-angsty tracks (*cough* Jumper *cough*) of their self-titled album, I’ve found the entirety of their catalogue to be truly fabulous. Rating a Third Eye Blind song less than 4 stars hurts my soul. I feel like a traitor.

That’s not to be helped, though perhaps another couple months of listening may sway me to bump some of those 3 and 3.5 starred songs upward to a 4. It has happened before.

Most unfortunately, I feel as is Stephan Jenkins’ writing powers are failing. I let “Non-Dairy Creamer” slide because it was only on an EP, and obviously meant to be flippant. Ursa Major gives off no flippant vibes. This is unfortunate to a point, because I can’t write any poor lyrical choices off to flippancy.

In fact, Stephan Jenkins’ lyrics on this album occasionally leave me annoyed to the point of near anger. “Sharp Knife” leaves me twitching. The verses are quite alright, and remind me of old Jenkins’. The chorus, and the repetition of “I wish I was a Sharp Knife” makes me wish I had a sharp knife, so that I could somehow make it stop.

“Sharp Knife” however, has nothing on “Why Can’t You Be“. Oh my goodness how I dislike that song. The regular version is bad enough, but when Kimya Dawson (who is normally wonderful and good) is brought into the equation, I nearly lose it. It’s mostly the lines about the Water Pick shower massager that leave me screeching like a banshee.

Really?

The line “My water massager’s the purest love I’ve ever known” makes me want to find Jenkins and punch him in the face. Sure he’s written amazing things, and sometimes I think those amazing things should give him a few ‘get out of Leslie’s doghouse free’ cards…but in reality his awesomeness of lyrical abilities just makes me hold him to a higher standard. By congress, I hate that song.

Here’s where I regain my composure. Excuse me a second. *ahem*. Better.

Where was I?

Oh yes. Ursa Major.

So, aside from the rather strong initial songs, and the songs that leave me spitting and sputtering in rage, the rest of the album fails to really interest me. I mean, it’s not bad. But I don’t find it particularly engaging. Kinda boring. The lyrics don’t sparkle with the glory of old Jenkins

Perhaps I’m being overly critical, but at least to me this album rests squarely at the bottom of the Third Eye Blind’s Studio Album Pile of Greatness.

What to Take Away?

Leslie is rather bummed that this album did not automatically take the place of best album ever.

What to Expect?

Slower Third Eye Blind songs that are hard to rock out to. You could probably get a good mini-groove going, or a slight foot-tap-head-bob combo, but a full rock out loud dance party would probably only last the length of the first track.

What to pair it with?

A Jolly Pumpkin Oro de Calabaza beer. It sounds amazing, and you are oh-so sure you are just going to love it. And you a take a sip, and it pulls you in and you start internally pontificating on it’s strengths, weaknesses, and worthiness just long enough to realize you don’t particularly feel like finishing the glass. You also feel slightly put off by the amount of money you just threw down in ratio to the enjoyment derived.

Favorite Song?

The first track “Can You Take Me” is a fast paced song that I could easily see on any of Third Eye Blind’s other albums. It has a good beat, good lyrics, aptly located harmonies and back up vocals, and a solid guitar part. It also attempts to incite a riot. It gets my approval.

I love music that is over the top.

Absurd, outlandish, and way, way over the top.

I have even started collecting specific examples of exemplary over-the-topishness in a playlist. You wouldn’t have expected, but I call this playlist ‘over the top’.

Right now there is one song that heads the list of ridiculousness in such a way that I don’t think fleshing out the rest of the playlist will prove overly fruitful.

Mika with Life in Cartoon Motion wins – specifically “Love Today.”

As an 80s infused pop track with vocals by Mika, with his incredibly amazing Freddie Mercury voice, it wins. It just wins.

Mika miraculously made it onto my radar some time ago. Another instance of sudden love, I cannot remember where he came from. Only that one day I knew of him and loved his music, whereas the day before I had not a clue.

I really feel most pop artists ought to take a page out of the book of Mika. I realize that his utterly fabulous voice is not a dime-a-dozen thing, and that many pop artists must rely on other devices to secure their popularity, and that fact would make Mika mimicry difficult at best. But damn, Mika just does such a good job.

For one thing, his album is diverse. From 80s flashbacks to pop ballads to campy Beatles knockoffs, the album certainly isn’t repetitive. Each song is masterfully pieced together.

The fast songs are fast, with back up vocals, clapping, and other small accessories placed exactly in the right spot. The songs drop away to showcase Mika’s amazing voice, then close back in and seem to make his voice sound that much more powerful, with a symphony of sounds pushing it forward.

The slow songs are slow, melancholy, with strings sweeping in at the right moment to infuse the song with more emotion than just the lyrics and the vocals could convey. The lyrics are simply stunning, and worthwhile even without Mika’s voice singing them.

Nothing about the album is typical, despite it holding its rightful place within the realm of pop music. Each song tries something new with the elements of your average pop song, and every permutation works most excellently.

Mika is slated to come out with a new album in but a few days. September 21^st the world will be privy to Mika’s most recent strokes of genius. I for one cannot wait for “The Boy Who Knew Too Much“.

What to take away?

Mika is re-infusing pop music with danceability (not to be confused with grindability) and sheer awesome. Amazingly enough, his brand of awesome is greatly enjoyed by the world unlinke many other awesomely unique pop musicians. Also, his voice is seriously the best voice since Freddie Mercury.

What to expect?

Pop music that sounds like the singer is actually having a good time, and he expects you to be having a good time too.

What drink to pair it with?

A dwarf. At least, that’s what my Lithuanian friends call them. It’s a shot: half Red Bull, half vodka, with a squeeze of lime. Sweet, delicious, and sure to keep you dancing for some time.

Favorite song?

There are easily three battling it out for the top position. Initially “Lollipop” won due to how ridiculous it is, but then the ballad “Any Other World” took over due to it’s deeply rooted beauty. Right now, however, “Love Today” is winning. The song spawns epic dance parties, imitation falsettos, and the urge to put on some spandex and start an 80s revolution.

It’s hard to find a band that can turn music into the audio equivalent of velvet. Decadent, rich, luxurious and pleasing to the ear, Dragonette – the part-Canadian/part-British electro-pop band – manages to not only produce some of the most captivating sounds I’ve ever heard but also throw in a half naked teenage trollop for free.

That’s right – a trollop, and one that drunkenly parades around in that remarkable velvet like she owns it.

I’ve yet to decide whether the produced songs are actually good or not. I listen fairly regularly to their aptly named album “Galore” so common sense would say that, yes, at some level I find the music to be “good,” and yet I’m just not sure… The lyrics are across the board laughable, and since lyrics make up a lot of what I find entertaining in music my opinion of Dragonette sits in limbo.

The following is the first verse from the first song in the album, “I Get Around:”

Nine am
In your bedroom
The radio alarm clock
is set for soon
I know you friends
and you know mine too
you don’t tell on me I won’t tell on you
I get around

Seriously? What the hell is that? I can’t rightly tell if it’s Martina Sorbara’s delivery or whether the lyrics just simply don’t mesh with the music behind them. Either way… Eesh.

“The radio alarm clock / is set for soon” *twitch*

Congress knows there are more absurd lyrics floating around, but they usually seem to at least jive with the overall structure of the song much better. Dragonette’s seem to be the audio equivalent of shoving a drunk, topless co-ed into the Boston Pops; everybody will keep listening to the Pops, but they’ll assuredly be distracted when the co-ed falls flat on her face.

The general conclusion that I’ve come to is that Martina has a bigger libido than most porn stars. Every song is about sex, men, using men, using sex, cheating, or generally screwing for the hell of it, and while I’m generally enthralled (I am a man after all) the damn lyrics practically assassinate whatever interest I get close to forming.

But I still come back and listen!

Martina’s father was the finance secretary of the Canadian Province of Ontario. Random fact, but one that shocked the hell out of me when I found out – if Martina were the child of an American politician she’d have every feminist, traditionalist, religious fundamentalist, and opposing party politician out for her father’s head because of her verbal orgies. This is generally because American politics are messed the hell up, but even if they weren’t I’d still be surprised that no flack was thrown from some disgruntled curmudgeon… And it seems like there hasn’t been – at least not loudly.

Tangents aside, I’ll likely keep listening to Dragonette on and off and never really form a solid opinion of them. I hope the next album (assuming there is one) will sport a better vocabulary, but I’m not holding my breath. They just don’t seem like the kind of band that will change drastically.

What to expect…

Regal and decadent tones coated in a glaze of saucy words and bad adjectives. The scene will somehow impress upon you an era of well kept big hair and black and white movies without becoming old fashioned. I think it’s the presence of the artificial and mildly mutated brass in a bulk of the songs.

What to take away?

Hopefully an idea of whether you like the music or not…

What drink to pair Dragonette with?

Vodka tonic with lime – quick buzz, and if you have enough of them you may just find yourself in an unfamiliar bed the next morning with an alarm clock set to “soon.”

My favorite song?

“Favorite” of course being used loosely, I’d have to say “Black Limousine.” It surprisingly doesn’t involve sex (at least not directly) and tells the tale of a woman being courted by someone with a black limousine. The lyrics are the best on the album…

There are some bands that will forever hold a place in my heart. Oft, these bands are some of my earliest secular musical rememberences, or my first delve into a new Genres.

Third Eye Blind, as mentioned a few posts ago, is one of these bands.

Third Eye Blind is amazing. Not only was their debut album an amazing smash hit, with chart topping singles all around, their sophomore album saw, if possible, better things. and Out Of The Vein? simply amazing. I’d say it’s one of the best albums I’ve ever heard.

But excuse me. I’m gushing.

What I came here to say today is that I will cut slack for some musicians. Slack I (admittedly) would probably not give others. Third Eye Blind is testing me on this, I think.

Once upon a time I had a couchsurfer who had a lot in common with me. Books. Movies. Hobbies. Music. But most gloriously, Third Eye Blind. You’d be surprised how hard it is to find left over Third Eye Blind junkies these days. But this lovely couchsurfer of mine pointed me to *gasp* a Third Eye Blind EP that I’d never heard of.

Red Star.

I was amazed. I was excited. I was shamed and had to serve penance to the Third Eye Blind Appreciator Society. But I did get my paws on this new Third Eye Blind.

Eh.

I’d love to say I love it. But I don’t think I do. The major song on it, ‘Non-Dairy Creamer’, is certainly catchy. I’ve been listening to it constantly. Catchy does not always equal good, however. While I like this song, I’m not going to say It’s good. I may even concede that the only reason I really enjoy it is because it’s Third Eye Blind. I have been wanting new material so badly.

The first track, Non-Dairy Creamer comes off too heavy handed…While trying to be tongue and cheek. It doesnt mix well. It blatantly calls ‘the man behind the pulpit a bigot and a liar’ in a fashion that is not playful. Later, it finds culprit in ‘two young gay republicans’ for the death of marriage. This part is obviously a joke. Then comes an epic chorus of ‘Young Gay Republicannnnns! Young Gay Republicans!’

Really? I get that Young Gay Republicans are supposed to be ironic in some fashion. But a rousing chorus of ‘Young Gay Republicans’ is neither witty nor ironic. It’s just odd.

I’m just gonna go ahead and say I don’t really get it. It’s like they’re trying to cram too much into a song, and in doing so the lyrical ability of the members (mostly Jenkins) got left behind somewhere.

But it’s still catchy as hell. and I still like it. Even though I know it’s not a good song.

But what about the other tracks on the album, you wisely ask? To be honest, I don’t really remember. I’ve listened to this three song EP many times, and all I can remember is Non-Dairy Creamer. The fact that neither of the other songs were memorable enough to recall makes me think they probably aren’t worth tracking down and listening to again.

Ursa Major, Third Eye Blind’s fourth full length studio album is due to come out at the end of the month. None of the songs on Red Star are slated to be on it. Let’s hope this is a sign of better things to come.

What to take away?

Red Star EP is only worth anything for Non-Dairy Creamer. Which is an odd song. But one you will most likely be unable to resist, if previous catchy Third Eye Blind songs tickled your fancy.

What to expect?

Not much, unfortunately.

What drink to pair it with?

Rolling Rock. I mean, it’s beer. And if you like beer, and you have nothing else at hand, you’ll drink it. And it is better than Pabst or Schlitz or something. Much like Red Star. Red Star is better than Schlitz.

Regina Spektor may be the cutest person ever.

I guess that’s not really relevant to her musical prowess, but I thought it was a fact to be touched on.

As many of you know, Regina Spektor released a new album, Far, not so long ago. I, of course, bought it. I even went crazy and bought the version with a DVD of music videos and two bonus songs.

That’s how excited I was.

I guess I should preface this with my opinion on Regina Spektor’s younger days of music makery, as everyone else feels the need to compare new Regina to old Regina.

11:11 is too crazy for me. I know, I’m a heretic. “Buildings” is pretty fabulous, but outside of that song i find the whole album to be so quirky as to almost be abrasive. It’s intrusive.

With that confession out of the way, I feel free as a bird and can forge ahead.

“Soviet Kitsch” saw, for me, a proper ratio of goofiness to amazing musical ability. “Begin to Hope” saw less goofiness, but there was just so much brilliant pop undertoneage. Once again label me a sinner and a heretic, but I think “Begin to Hope” may be the best alt-pop album. I don’t know if alt-pop exists properly, and I don’t want to google it lest it made me change my mind.

But, onto “Far”.

It’s…interesting. I feel as if both “Soviet Kitsch” and “Begin to Hope” had an overall feel to the album. Not so with “Far”. It switches around a tidge.

This album features many classical piano-heavy songs with a slow(ish) tempo. “Après Moi” comes to mind, though I feel as if that song did it way way better. For my taste, too many songs sound classically composed in some manner. They’re certainly not bad, they are perhaps just not my cup of tea. For example, I rated 7 songs from my 16 song CD as 3.5 stars. Just below something i would want to listen to often.

While an amount of the album doesn’t stand out to me personally, the songs she does do well (in my opinion) she does extremely well.

[Editor's note: None of the songs from "Far" are listed on last.fm so we have no links available for preview purposes.]

“Folding Chair” is just fantastic. When she mimics “the dolphins’ song” I giggle. It’s too lovely. I can personally attest that this song is perfect to dance to while making dinner on vacation at the beach.

“Dance Anthem of the 80’s” first struck me as a little hokey. I couldn’t have been more wrong. It’s cute. It’s goofy. It’s not, at all, hokey. It contains the most perfect bridge music has ever tasted, as well. As I generally think bridges detract from music and ought to just be left behind for the wolves, this is a feat. I love that bridge so much.

“The Calculation” sounds to me like it belongs on “Begin to Hope”. It’s clean, not that goofy, and super cute. It made me think this whole album would be like “Begin to Hope” part two.

There are some other keepers on the album. There are 6 other tracks on the album that i rated somewhere between a 4 star and a 5 star – the album is more than worth a peak, especially from a seasoned Regina-appreciator.

What to Expect?

Regina. She’s cute. She’s awesome. and she’s wicked talented.

What to take Away?

With this album, there’s no denying she’s good. It’s more a matter of your tastebuds how you’ll feel when the album stops spinning.

What Drink to Pair it With?

A glass of 2007 Helfrich Gewürztraminer. A lovely, spicey, vibrant red wine.

Favorite Song?

I think it comes down to “Folding Chair”. It’s just too good, though it only beats out “Dance Anthem of the 80’s” by a hair.

It’s always sobering to hear a band for the first time and think you’ve uncovered this new gem only to discover that not only are they far from new but also prolific with thousands of fans and millions of plays.

That’s what happened with Metric.

The quasi-grunge-alternative-rock group first came onto my radar through – you guessed it – Pandora. “Dead Disco” was the title of the catchy track paired for the radio station I had created (I don’t recall what exactly the station was). “Brilliant!” I exclaimed to myself in the dark of my apartment – it was late and I hadn’t bothered to turn on lights. “Surely this is the new Garbage.” I happily crooned as I maneuvered to last.fm (still distraught that Garbage had disbanded).

Twenty million plays… Bugger. Not as fresh as I’d thought.

I guess the sense of loss, if you could call it that, was not particularly substantive since I still really liked the band and affinity can’t be diminished by the number of plays a group has, but it did manage to raise the question: “How did I not know about this group for the last decade?” I can take some solace in the fact that of the millions of artists on this planet the chances of me encountering even a slim fraction of them are limited – after all, how much variety can a person digest over the course of a normal lifetime? One would of course hope for a lot, but still there are big fish that slip through the net and it boggles my tiny mind.

Metric was admittedly not the direct Garbage scion that I had initially presumed it to be (the comparison was made after listening to only a few select songs), but it was close. Emily Haines uses her seductive, smoky vocals to the same effect as Garbage’s Shirley Manson, albeit to less sensual music. Metric, however, is a constantly changing beast.

I acquired their most recent album, “Fantasies,” and had a listen. The tone is somewhat industrial and a bit dark despite bright overtones… Maybe “encapsulated sadness” would be a good way to put it? The lyrics are catchy and the rhythms memorable and addicting, but “Fantasies” isn’t like their other material – it’s evolved.

I will admit that my exposure to their older works is limited (I hope to remedy that), but from what I can tell the group has progressed steadily from slower more indie/experimental music to – as one commenter on last.fm remarked – “busier” rock-infused sound. Not a bad progression if I do say so myself. In fact, the reason I purchased “Fantasies” over the other albums available was because I liked the more rock inspired feeling, and the harder the beats, the more feeling Emily seems to be able to put into the piece.

This is of course a first-thoughts piece that I will follow up on when I listen to more of there older work. In the mean time however, if you’ve never heard of Metric you should definitely look them up because they’ve already found a niche in my heart.

What to take away…

Metric is an evolving sound that currently sits somewhere around alternative rock. Check out their older stuff for softer tones that are equally as good as their modern pieces (if not different) and to analyze the transition for yourself.

What should you expect?

The feeling is almost-but-not-quite grungy, but expect beats that keep your head bopping if no other part of your body can find a reason to dance.

What to pair them with?

The modern stuff just seems too industrial to me for cocktails. I feel whiskey on the rocks although I’m not entirely sure why…

Favorite song?

“Help I’m Alive” is likely my favorite – it’s a bit experimental and opens with one of the best sequences I’ve ever encountered in music. “Gimme Sympathy,” however, is a close second with more of a pop feel to it.

Do you remember the first album you bought? Back when you were young, pirating music off the internet wasn’t an option, and the 10 dollars you saved up for that album seemed like a small fortune?

I do. Vibrantly.

I was raised rather sheltered, and secular music was both magical and contraband material. My first CD seemed like a huge move in the name of defiance and coming into young-adulthood.

My first album was Third Eye Blind’s self-titled album. Racey, no? Completely scandalous.

I was probably in 7th grade when I bought it. I still attended Christian School at that point, and I remember sneaking listening to the radio, taping music from it, and listening to the cassettes on my walkman on car rides and hikes. The bands that I enjoyed the most from those slices of radio heaven were Matchbox Twenty, Savage Garden, and Third Eye Blind.

One day, when my family was at Wal*Mart, I decided to go crazy and buy an album. I tracked down Third Eye Blind and remember being scared of the album art. It looked kind of … evil. It didn’t bother me, but if my parents stumbled across it I’d be hosed. I couldn’t play that off as contemporary Christian.

I bought it anyway. I was such a rebel. *cough*

I managed to sneak it out of the store without detection. Next we went to Ames, and I brought it in with me. I wanted to open it up and look at it, and I figured I could ditch my parents and get a quick look.

Except Wal*mart’s anti-theft device set off Ames’ alarm. I was busted. The store didn’t care. I had my receipt, they just came and turned off the system. But my parents now knew of the album, and one look at the case and they were skeptical. My father said he’d have to look through it later to see if it was appropriate.

From what I had heard on the radio, I promised him it was. Songs about how drugs aren’t the answer and stuff.

In the store I broke it out and started at the beginning, reading the lyrics. I was terrified. The first song said ‘goddamn’ about 10 times. Semi-Charmed Life had a line about ‘those little red panties’ passing the test. That was edited out of the radio version.

Worse yet. One song mentioned people ‘Jesus couldn’t save’. I was fucked. My parents would kill me, and even worse, take my album away.

Somehow they spaced it all out. Somehow they forgot all about it. I wasn’t about to mention it.

Thank congress the non-instrumental version of “Slow Motion” didn’t make it to the album. Reading about gun violence and various forms of drug abuse including cutting Coke with Draino just to make someone bleed probably would have been enough to make me admit the folly of the CD and beg forgiveness. Oh yes, I was that big a rebel.

That was the only album I owned for months. I listened to it endlessly. For the next 7 or 8 years, it still was in my top five list of albums.

I am so incredibly and undeniably biased about the album that I’m not sure I can talk about it without gushing. I love it. Everything from the poppy and way overplayed Semi-Charmed Life to slower beautiful songs like Motorcycle Drive By are perfect. The album covers it all.

The album is to me the perfect incarnation of post-grunge. I don’t really like grunge, but that 90’s alternative post-grunge scene was perfect, with this album being it’s pinnacle.

While Semi-Charmed Life may have been what got in me in the proverbial door, don’t expect that obscene catchiness from the rest of the album. That’s not a bad thing. If the entire album were like Semi-Charmed Life i think i would have been burnt out on the album about a decade ago.

The album manages to pair the despair of grunge with catchy harmonies and perfectly played ‘arena rock’. The songs are far from happy, with Semi-Charmed Life, perhaps the catchiest song of the 1990s, about a methanphetamine addiction. With instrumentation seemingly meant for much tamer topics, i’m sure more than a few people were shocked when they finally looked up the lyrics.

What to Expect?

A mixture of Pop harmonies, Rock instrumentation, and Grunge influences to both music and vocals.

What to Take Away?

There’s a reason why Third Eye Blind has such a cult following, even this far down the line. If you’re only familiar with their Radio Singles, I recommend hitting Youtube to see if perhaps acquiring the album would be up your alley.

What Drink to Pair it with?

Some manner of Stout. Perhaps a Lefthand Milk Stout. Dark, just a little heavy, but sweet enough to keep coming back for more.

Favorite Song?

Either the non-instrumental version of “Slow Motion”, or “Motorcycle Drive By”.