Rip Through The Curtains And There I Am

The Passionistas “Going Gay” – Normally, I’m not very fond of getting large folders full of artwork and papers along with cds that I get in the mail, but there was something very intriguing about the spiral-bound book full of abstract marker drawings scanned out of another spiral-bound book that came with The Passionista’s cdr. It also came with a note describing how they came to reject rock and roll only to realize that rock and roll had rejected them, and that they have embraced pop and hip hop, and have become a “free band.” So as you can imagine, this set up some very strange expectations, and so I was quite surprised to find out that the cd was full of catchy, silly, weird songs that were most certainly rooted in old school rock and roll. It was as though they had rejected the culture of nostalgia around rock only to tap directly into the spirit of that music. “Going Gay” is a highlight, a sorta Alex Chilton-ish tune that seems to be about a guy who is apparently becoming gay because…well, gay guys sing better? It’s not very clear, but you’ll probably be singing “the girls they sing in just one key / but the boys they sing in harmony” for the rest of the day. (Click here to buy it from the Passionistas’ MySpace page.)

The Peachwaves “Too Much Shit” – When I first encountered the Peachwaves on Shirley Braha‘s New York Noise show, their music did not make as much of an impression on me as their video, which looks like a low budget indie rock clip made with the aesthetics of an American Apparel ad. It’s….distracting. And not just in the sense that I spent half the video thinking “Oh no, did American Apparel start a record label?!?” The good news, however, is that outside of the context of that video, the song stands up very well as a lo-fi pop tune about initiating a relationship to alleviate boredom. The music echoes the sentiment of the lyrics nicely, with its grey, gloomy tones contrasting with moments of very forced enthusiasm. It sounds a little bit like the moody, self-destructive little sister of Tegan & Sara’s excellent “Speak Slow.” (Click here for the Peachwaves’ MySpace page.)

Elsewhere: At long last, my cartoonist pal John Cei Douglas has finished his website. Point your peepers at SHOT FOR MEAT! Hire this guy!