A Trick Or Two

The Society of Rockets “Guess My Name” – This is life now — everything you do is monitored via some form of surveillance, but you try to keep it out of your mind because if you dwell on it, you start to go crazy, and then the people who can watch you might start to actually pay attention. For a song about the impossibility of becoming invisible to The Man, “Guess My Name” is remarkably calm and relaxed, though maybe I’m just getting that mixed up with a feeling of resignation. (Click here for the Society of Rockets’ MySpace page.)

The Birds of Prey “Love Gone Again” – In 1966, a bunch of teenagers recorded a demo with Joe Meek, but it was never released. They broke up, disappeared, no one noticed. But here it is, this perfectly formed song, a classic oldie that almost no one has ever heard. The fidelity is crap, but the performance is jittery and angst-ridden, and the singer fully commits to his R&B affectations while still sounding like a geeky underdog. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)