"Little Dawn" by Ted Leo & The Pharmacists

"The gap is only as wide as the hollow of the sky between you, my dear

And the truth, absolute,

adding naught more profound to it than that you are here"

Little Dawn - Ted Leo & The Ph...

Ted Leo's brand of catchy, guitar loaded rock appeals to most who hear it. What (arguably) has prevented him from taking the next step into mainstream (or even broad indie) appeal are the strong convictions that don't match the pop culture narrative. His authenticity & honesty is surely a selling point for independent music fans (regardless of agreement with his stance on any particular issue), but doesn't seem congruent with the era of Clear Channel where a band must have national appeal & strong label support to get on the radio in all but a few markets.

 His new album with The Pharmacists, The Brutalist Bricks, comes out March 9th. 

"Rebellion (Lies)" by Arcade Fire

Arcade Fire's Funeral came out in 2004 and garnered much critical acclaim. 2007 brought Neon Bible, and with a second lauded success, Arcade Fire cemented their place among Indie Rock icons of the past decade.

Frankly, when I first heard Funeral, I was only 19 & not yet mature enough to really get the album. Now, I've gone back and really fallen in love with several songs that I glossed over.

"Rebellion (Lies)" particularly sticks out. There is something beautifully haunting about the repetition of "Lies, Lies, Lies" throughout that expresses the confusion an album clearly dedicated to the loss of loved ones.

Rebellion (Lies) - Arcade Fire

If you like that track, I highly recommend the whole album, these tracks were certainly meant to be heard  as a singular work. For those of you that only download individual tracks, I recommend "Wake Up," "Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)" and "Neighborhood #2 (Laika)."

"Audience" by Cold War Kids

"Audience" has been my favorite song of the past week; I think it could be the track that gives Cold War Kids crossover appeal. Certainly, they deserve any attention they get.

Audience - Cold War Kids

Fact about Fiction

“The fact about fiction is that it’s always in your head.”

A standout lyric from “Three Thousand Miles” by Valencia.

I’ve always thought it was a great expression that fits regarding the personal narrative people attach to songs and lyrics. I recently read a tweet (that I’ll paraphrase) that also really expresses this as well, “Just saw Jimmy Eat World perform ‘Work‘ to a small theatre, and everyone was singing alone. Crazy, each person was remembering a different story.” [I’m not sure what the band/song were.]

I’d like to start off this music blog endeavor with my favorite Valencia song, “Better Be Prepared.” Opening an album about finding inspiration in difficult times with an optimistic and forward looking outlook with a great hook, this song continues to stay catchy after the initial grab.

I’m looking forward to posting a song per day for my friends that have told me I should do this in the past.

Enjoy!

Mark

Better Be Prepared - Valencia