"One Thing" by Amerie remains one of the most irresistible slices of R&B pop this century. I know it owes a huge debt to "Crazy In Love", but that doesn't mean it isn't just as good (if not better - yeah I said it!) Just because The Magnificent Seven is Seven Samurai with cowboys doesn't mean it isn't a great film.
The Ting Tings first album was pretty good (I haven't checked out their new one) but their finest work remains "Patience" by Dear Eskiimo, their earlier incarnation. It's a fantastic, multi-structured duet that builds up layers and layers of instrumentation to a brilliant climax.
If you haven't listened to Beautiful Freak by Eels in the last month, it's time to go back and listen to it again. You won't regret it.
The Best Band Your Teenage Self Never Formed
Most people's formative experiences with pop music happen when they're teenagers (I'm no exception) and it's only inevitable that a thick slice of those people will swiftly move from the consumption to production side of music. The heightened emotions, attractiveness of rebellion and need for identity make adolescence a perfect storm for many a prospective rock god.
Even since the legendary zine "Sideburns" published the iconic "Now Form A Band" picture, punk has been the genre of choice for the teenage garage band, the DIY ethos of the scene and the simple energy of the music complementing the teenage world-view perfectly. Most of these bands don't go anywhere, and the few that do often evolve into something different very quickly. Be Your Own Pet are the band all these other bands wish they could be.
Be Your Own Pet's self-titled debut from 2006 (when all the band were in their teens, of course) has enough beautiful raucous energy to power a small town for a year. The songs are all about causing chaos, having fun, getting your heart broken and, in the final track, zombies. For the most part, the rhythms are simple and the melodies basic, all echoing drums and thrashing guitars, but by Jove they hammer at you until you're ready to run through the streets for the hell of it.
It's all held together by the wailing voice of Jemina Pearl Abegg, all arsonist's soot and honey, screaming "I'm a independent motherfucker and I'm here to take your money" over "Bunk Trunk Skunk" like it's a warcry and a promise. She's Iggy Pop in a young Gwen Stefani's body with the Tasmanian Devil's energy - in fact, Iggy later guested on her solo album on the wonderfully named "I Hate People". In short, she's the kind of girl you wish you could have got to front your band in high school.
Be Your Own Pet is one of those albums that I'll forever associate with the year I spent in America (I picked it up for cheap there in a closing-down Tower Records) and the sense of freedom and potential for adventure that year carried. The band's follow-up, Get Awkward, had some great songs, but struggled to capture the same sense of youthful exuberance their debut carried. The songs about food fights and teenage homicide felt a little forced, reaching for a place they no longer inhabited. They had left the perfect storm of youth, and couldn't quite find that magic again. But Be Your Own Pet remains a testament to the sheer fuck-you attitude of adolescence and the joy that comes from it.
Rediscovered Gem
"Hot Venom" by Miniature Tigers
If I've never told you my BYOP gig story, remind me to some day. Nothing dramatic, but it was a very interesting gig.
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