This Modern Love

I acquired a few new records lately. I feel the need to tell all of you fine people what these records are all about. Some are new, some are new to me, and some I've had before, but recently came back to. Okay, that may add up to too many items. I don't know. I don't care.

Right now, I'm listening to "Silent Alarm" from Bloc Party. At first, I just thought they were yet another Gang of Four wannabe band, but they quickly saved themselves from that fate before the first song was done. Comparisons to Gang of Four, A Certain Ratio, and The Cure come easily, but they manage to still sound unique. They aren't as danceable as Gang of Four, not as jazzy (yeah, I said it) as A Certain Ratio, and certainly not as down as The Cure. So what does that leave us with? It's interesting, that's for sure. It's just good. Well-written songs, tight production, choruses that I'm humming long after the CD has stopped, and aptitude. They can play, there's no sloppiness. I appreciate that sometimes. No, I'm not being sarcastic, I do love it raw, but sometimes a good recording is even better.

I also picked up "Dangerous Dreams" from Moving Units. I was reading somewhere that at a recent show, an audience member shouted out "Gang of Three!" That sums up this band. Nothing original or all that interesting here. But...but, I saw them live. I happened upon a show at the Magic Stick one Thursday night a couple weeks ago, and there they were. They were opening for Secret Machines. The Units were interesting live, I wouldn't say spectacular, but definitely worth checking out if they're opening for someone else you want to see.

I also got the new Beck album, "Guero" recently, you can scroll down a couple of posts for my lengthy review of that.

Last week I was on a Suede kick, and now it's Pulp. "Hits" and "This Is Hardcore" are in rotation. Neither one is new for me, I had them long ago, but now I have them again. I like how Suede is like Ziggy Stardust and Pulp is like Roxy Music. No, I'm not going to elaborate, just figure that one out for yourself.

I also recently got "The Best Little Secrets Are Kept" from Louis XIV. I can't figure out where these guys are from, but I'm assuming it's somewhere here in Les Etats-Unis. I want to like them. Really, I do. But it's hard. The songs are good, they're fun, but I hear them, and I hear the Hives. The vocals, the guitar, the pace, the sound, the lyrics (almost), it's all the Hives. But it's fun. I'm sure they'd be good live.

That's all for today, kids.