So let's talk about twee, and let's refrain from mentioning too much Belle & Sebastian, at least for now. Is that possible? You marvel. Well, actually, it is. In fact, it's already been done, and on here, no less.

But let's talk about another band today, let's talk about the squeezable Architecture In Helsinki and some of their new material (hey look, there is a bright side for being away for three month! Anything within that three month can be considered new!!). Actually, let's talk about this one song, this special two minutes and twenty six seconds that blows your mind to the point where it's lalalaing and skipping and glowing with all its might. Let's talk about this object and this symbol and this thing, this one "Wishbone" that makes the world a slightly better place.

There's all the usual bells and whistles and piano and violin, of course. There's the usual child like high like vocals dripping with esctatic flavor. There's the usual chorus catchier than thou. But what pulls the whole thing together, what sets it apart from every other song on the album, what blows your head has to be that two lines. Simple yet terrifying in its greatness. "Should we make believe you remember me/From a holiday delayed by a storm?" Delivered with a punch, with a sarcastic edge, with hope and brightness and conviction that romance and love exists and that listening to this band will bring you one step closer.

I figure that at this point I shouldn't even bother mentioning the artwork and their website. But I'm going to anyways because it has skulls and tree branch shadows that remind me a lot of Death Cab. And not in a bad way. And skulls are hot. And...and...well, just go see for yourself. And if you're lucky enough to have them play in a city near you, even better. Did I mention that you should buy the new (sort of) album yet?

If you like indie pop, you should already know and love Of Montreal. That's like a given, for realz. If you like indie or pop, the same apply. In fact, I think if you like music, you should love this band. First, they have super hot artsy whimsical colored illustrations to go along with their sparkling happy music (not quite twee yet but gliding on the boarder wouldn't be too much to say), and also their sparkling happy music is just really fantastic.

What's even better is when an indie pop hipster band start making fun of art snobs, via "Art Snob Solutions" from the bonus EP from their latest record, The Sunlandic Twins. Wow that was a handful to type at once. Anyway, I adore this song to shreds. You might even sing along to it while cruising down the highway to taht new art museum opening with your ultra cool friends. The vocals, the bells, the sprinkles of guitars and that padded chorus and that ultra clever lyrics! It's like a vortex of pop and indie goodness that never ends. Even better if you're an artist or a director or a writer. Irony=cool, right?

If you're super knowledgable, you might even see how many names you recognize and nod in satisfaction. I didn't know any. But hey, what do I know? I'm just another blogger in the sea of a million. Wow. Putting it like that really makes me a bit depressed...but hey listening to Of Montreal will cheer me up!!!!!

So that header thing. Yeah. I'm trying to come up with something that fit with the general color scheme of the blog but also has a bit of gore. Because I love gore like I love ironic indie pop ballads. I'm not sure how that'll work without it looking really lame. Bleh. I guess I couldn't change things around again...but too much work...and I'm lazy and tired...and somehow I'll figure it out. Maybe I'll even leave it like this. You never know. Right?

You know, the Violent Femmes are an really underrated band. I don't mean that they're obscure or anything like that. Almost everyone in college/high school has heard "Blister In the Sun" and probably loved it. Teen angst at its best, right? But really, aside from their first album, and maybe their best of album, their other CDs are pretty much ignored except for the super music nerds/fans. And I mean, I'm one of those people, who heard one song on the radio and loved it, brought the best of, listened to it whenever I felt angry, and made life better. I just hate it that some think of them as a one hit wonder (and also when the sacred Pitchfork forgets their existence).

Their songs vary. A lot, if you dig deep into their discography. A good number of them deal with teen realated problems, relationships, and other wonderous subjects, and then there are the religious songs, "Country Death Song" (disturbing yet brilliant), and the weird and offbeat. How many other bands has been around this long, and still claim the status of having "their first album...being the only album in the history of Billboard magazine to achieve platinum status without ever appearing in the top 200"? Yeah.

So in case you used to love this band and forgot them, or never thought of them past their one song, or are a die-hard fan and love to read about them, here is a post for you. And for them.

"Waitin' For The Bus" is one of their most clever jingles. Okay, jingle wouldn't exactly be the right word, but it is great to sing along to if you happen to be riding on the bus. Especially great if you're sitting near the front with your beat up acoustic guitar and duct tape wallet containing 60 cents exactly, and your trendy white headphones contradicting your poor musician disguise. Especially great if you're riding in any sort of public transportation. Especially great if you're sitting in your room being bored. No, really. You could be wondering what the hell you call this type of music anyways. Punk? But it's got acoustic guitars! Folk punk? But it sounds far from Against Me! Indie pop? But...but that voice, that distinctive drawl and whine cannot belong to anything resembling Belle & Sebastian.

A better idea would be, of course, to give up be silent. Sit still. Enjoy the simplicity of it. Feel it tingling through your body like some sort of unharmful drug, which it is, in a way. And, once it stopped, with the last tingle of a steel string, sigh, sit back, and repeat.

Well, sort of. Since I now have the wonderful Photoshop, I'll try to get a customized header up soon. I figured since this is like a new start, I might as well go with a new look. It'll be tweaked and changed around a little more, but I like the new color scheme.

Major mistake in yesterday's post, in my unclear state of mind: The Boy Least Likely To are in fact from Sweden and not the UK. I think it was their website name that screwed me up, also I was a little too excited/nervous. Ignore the Coldplay/U2 comment. Now that I think of it, I'm not even sure if either of those bands are from the UK. Oh well. Sorry for the confusion!

And since today's an unofficial post...everyone's heard about the new iPod Nano, right? I went to the Apple store a few days ago just to see how small it really is. It's kind of like a wider Shuffle, but does it look super hot in black with a color screen? Yes, yes I believe it does.

And since I've been really obsessed with webcomics lately...I strongly urge you to check out some music related ones, one about punk rock-Nothing Nice To Say, one about indie rock, romance and robots-Questionable Content, and one just about robots and romance, which also happens to have the indie rockest shirts ever-the infamous Diesel Sweeties. They're all pretty amazing. And very entertaining.

Signing off to work on my new header...and hoping that you like it!

Okay. Excuses, rants, schedules, and other blogging related stuff that you probably don't care about will be right after the monsters.

The "Monsters" from The Boy Least Likely To, that is. Ah, The Boy Least Likely To. Yeah, they're from the U.K., but trust me on this, I mean, really, they sound nothing like...say...Coldplay or U2. They may be charming and they may be adorable, but they're definitely not generic. Or boring.




Innocent, sweet, and beneath that candy cane layer, the darkness of adulthood, the discovery of pain, and lots and lots and lots of gorgeous pop hooks under unlikely instruments (did you see what I just did there? Oh...boy...), that's a much better way to describe these child-at-hearts. To make things even better, they've got super cute children illustration like characters to match. You can even print them out and create your own The Boy Least Likely To scene. Or a T-Shirt, because after you hear them, it'll be damn near impossible not to like them.

This song, especially, caught my attention the minute it came on. Whether it's the child-like beats claps and that rhythm, the catchyness and the witty lyrics, or the "little lights like fairy lights, blinking in the dark", everything about it warped together to create the perfect summary for The Boy Least Likely To and their sound.

[/MUSIC DISCUSSION]

[TALK]Oh wow. I really decided to come back after this long. The thing is, I'm not sure if I can keep consistent and post everyday (or, you know, Mondays Wednesdays and Fridays is the tentative schedule I'm hoping for), but if I don't come back and give it a try now I'll never know what great things I could have done. So I'm going to try again, even if I already lost the small audience I had, in hopes that this will at least keep me writing. I really do love writing, and I really do love music, and I really do love introducing people to new music. But I'm also doing this for myself, because I want to make a career out of writing, whether it's fiction or reviews or whatever. So here I am, once again, and if I fail this time, I guess I fail for good.

Now this is the part where I try to make excuses. Yes, the Internet broke for a while. Yes, school started so I got swept away with the excitement. Yes, now I have to keep up with a load of homework and tests. But I don't think any of it matters, because I know that as long as I really tried, I could have kept this going. I do apologize. And I do hope you forgive me, if any of you still happen to be reading.

And I suppose that's a long enough post for one day. One thing I know for sure, no other post is probably going to be this long. This is just me getting all the writing I haven't done out into the open. Expect a new post sometimes soon, if I can stick with the M/W/F then that'll be fantastic.

Meanwhile, you should put "Monsters" on repeat and memorize the song. Because yes, it's that good. And of course go ahead and buy the Best Party Ever or one of the singles from here.