Songs That Might Otherwise Pass You By

Cass McCombs, "That's That"

Never has anyone confessed in such a charming and smooth manner to having a job cleaning toilets. The soothing salve of his voice makes it sound mysterious and adventurous. Like a 007 theme song written for the average young American male. It very much reminds me of the way I felt when I heard the song "Might as Well" by Something For Rockets--like I was experiencing something immensely comforting and a little crude at the same time. I love the doo-wopness (?) of this song, too--a throwback to the 50s--a time when the public face of this country was all homespun goodness, but with an undertone of sinisterness and rawness.

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Cass McCombs, not cleaning toilets at the moment

The Purrs, "She's Got Chemicals"

Hmm...he never comes outright and says what this song is about. She's got chemicals, but are they external chemicals or her own chemistry? Afterall, he says it was their "chemistry" that used to keep them together. Okay, so he says "he used to be a teenager drug digger"...but was it the drug of love or a drug of the brain? Aren't the two similar? I mean, they both impair your judgement and they both occasionally make you throw up. Regardless of whether the chemicals are of the external variety or the naturally occurring-in-human variety, this is a kicking song. It's got a cascading guitar intro and the sort of fuzzed out vocals I remember from the heady days of the 1990s. Yes, psychedelic rock. It never truly leaves us, and I am glad. This psychedelia is a clearer brand than its progeniters--the music doesn't completely overpower the vocals and the instruments are decipherable, unlike the psych power pop of my early days.

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Shh...The Purrs hear something purring in the next room.

The Veils, "The Very Scary Trees"

I first heard The Veils 3 years ago with their excellent song "The Tide That Left and Never Came Back". This, along with a few others songs, is what made me realize that I really loved discovering music. I'd always loved music, but it had never occurred to me to actively go out and hunt for it (with my laptop and an RSS reader as my companions and weapons). This song is actually older than that, but since I've got a legal mp3, we're going to pretend it's brand new. Alot has happened to The Veils since this song came out. They changed labels (nearly losing rights to their back catalog) and dramatically changed members. This song shares a quality with the other songs I've heard from them--there's a lightness here, but that doesn't mean it's without gravity. It's grounded, but with a very strong pull--lulling me, yet similtaneously grabbing my hands and pulling, like a kid pulling another kid towards some imaginary wonder. Like the Cass McCombs song above, there's a slightly 50's doowop sound, but the song isn't a throwback--the sound works for this song. The song wears the 50s style like a stylish girl wears a vintage velvet jacket.

from "Vells"
(Luckyhorse Industries)
Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at eMusic


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The Veils heard the purring also, and it was so strong it knocked them down