Stop And Start It Over Again

Bad Bad Hats “Detroit Basketball”

Kerry Alexander’s voice is precisely calibrated to deliver even measures of wry humor and frank emotion in her songs, the recognizable point of view of someone who’s in touch with their feelings enough to be quite blunt about what they want and need but has the appropriate distance to see exactly what’s funny about the slapstick collisions of those wants and needs. “Detroit Basketball” opens with a killer line – “gotta find a man who deserves my kissing and doesn’t blow my money on the Detroit Pistons” – but briskly moves from the punchline to a resolution to move on and a chorus that delights in freedom, even if it’s the direct result of embarrassment. Like all the best Bad Bad Hats songs the structure is a sturdy and efficient sequence of strong hooks, the result of a thoughtful craft-oriented band, but it’s played with just enough casual cool that the vibe is not precious or try-hard. Everything about the song is just-so, the way any interesting person you know is essentially dialed in to a specific disposition.

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