You’ve Lost What You Could’ve Had

Michael Dracula “Please Don’t Take This The Wrong Way” – Emily MacLaren never actually utters the title phrase in this song, but every other line sounds as though it’s already been prefaced with that nerve-wracking disclaimer. I realize that we’re supposed to identify with her, but I keep wondering how this guy is supposed to take getting dressed down like this? I take the title as a bit of a joke — she totally knows that she’s tearing some serious holes in this guy’s ego, but she’s sweetening it up, and trying very hard to convince herself that she’s being a good person when it’s clear there’s a bit of deliberate emotional sadism in what she’s doing. Would this song sound so laid back and playful otherwise? (Click here to buy it from Ze Records.)

Marmoset “(Heavy Breathing) On The Telephone” – I’d never heard of Marmoset before a week ago, but they are among the first in a long line of “Hey, you like 90s indie, right? You should listen to this one local act…” bands that I anticipate encountering over the next decade or so as the period is distant enough to warrant more reissues and compilations. Marmoset — who still exist, by the way, and have a new album out now — specialize in concise, somewhat lethargic songs that emphasize stark rhythms, stressed and tinny lead guitar lines, and vocals that most often convey a sense of helpless indecision. They are the type of band who are not only willing to indulge in a silly “a rye/awry” pun, but also to repeat it a few times over the course of a two minute song, which is far more endearing to me than contemporary acts who strain to be described as “literate.” (Click here to get Marmoset’s “greatest hits” for free from Secretly Canadian.)