Blog: Fingertips

THIS WEEK'S FINDS week of May 1-7 "Hold That Thought" - Trademark Resplendent electro-pop from an Oxford synthesizer trio that apparently wears lab coats onstage. While drawing obvious inspiration from bands like Soft Cell, Depeche Mode, and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Trademark immediately announces its own presence with the opening synthesizer riff, featuring a deeper, buzzier, funkier tone than their '80s forebears. The song swings along in a rapid 6/8 (maybe?) shuffle, and even as vocalist Oliver Horton's blase, slightly nasal delivery recalls the likes of Neil Tennant (of the Pet [...]

THIS WEEK'S FINDS week of Apr. 24-30 "Walter Reed" - Michael Penn Michael Penn can't catch a break. The guy spent the first half of his musical career battling the perception that he was "only" Sean Penn's older brother (when anyone was paying any attention at all), and now seems destined to spend the second half identified "merely" as Aimee Mann's husband. On top of this, he had his pop cultural moment early--bursting on the musical scene with the brilliant semi-hit "No Myth" from his first CD, March , he has [...]

THIS WEEK'S FINDS week of Apr. 17-23 "April & May" - David Fridlund Built around a simple but sturdy minor-key piano riff, "April & May" sounds like Ben Folds doing Kurt Weill, with the extra air of mystery provided by Fridlund's Scandanavian-inflected English. With only a double bass providing support for the piano, the song acquires a wonderful heft thanks to Sara Culler's expert backing vocals. I'm not quite sure how she manages to be so in sync as to almost disappear and yet so present as to be integral to the [...]

THIS WEEK'S FINDS week of Apr. 10-16 "Boys and Children (Sing for Summer)" - Those Transatlantics This song makes me happy--a bright blue flowering tree smell sort of silly happy, to be somewhat specific, while rather vague at the same time. What begins as a clean-cut sort of dreamy-jangly-sing-song-y pop song evolves through almost five minutes into an unexpectedly satisfying if goofy aural adventure. Anchored in the crisp, airy, layered vocals of Kathleen Bracken, "Boys and Children" chimes along sweetly for two full minutes, keeping the listener suspended in a what's-going-to-happen-next state [...]

THIS WEEK'S FINDS week of Apr. 3-9 "Old Shit/New Shit" - Eels There is something weirdly comforting about hearing Mark Oliver Everett--aka E, doing business as Eels--unload a new cheerful/depressing song on us, just when we need it most. The driving beat, the distinctive chimes, the seriously despairful lyrics, the unaccountable moments of silence, and E's gruff but disarmingly melodious voice--all of it brings me back to, oh, 1996 or so. And yet (as he well knows) how much is very very different now than it was back when he had a [...]

THIS WEEK'S FINDS week of Mar. 27-Apr. 2 "Hey Now Now" - the Cloud Room Cross the Strokes with New Order and they might come out sounding like this, if the lead singer were Richard Butler's first cousin (Butler being the lead singer of the Psychedelic Furs). Whether the titular nod to OutKast's monster "Hey Ya" is intentional, there's something of that song's relentless infectiousness at play here, funneled through a downtown NYC sound, all rumbly drumbeats, Farfisa-like keyboards, and prickly, surf-style guitars. I imagine if you were to hear this song [...]

THIS WEEK'S FINDS week of Mar. 20-26 "Speech With Animals" - Palaxy Tracks I find the beginning of this song has been popping in my head randomly and repeatedly for the past couple of weeks, ever since I first listened to it. The only explanation I can offer is that this is one incredibly, indelibly gorgeous song; even before I had fully absorbed it, my brain was singing it back to me. After a laid-back but authoritative drumbeat, shuffly and welcoming, we hear a guitar describing a simple third that [...]

THIS WEEK'S FINDS week of Mar. 13-19 "I Predict a Riot" - the Kaiser Chiefs In both sound and sheer exuberant panache, this song more than any I've heard in the last few years recalls one of rock history's greatest of time/places--Great Britain in the late '70s. Urgent, vibrant, crazy-catchy singles poured overseas from the U.K. during that high-spirited time when punk transmuted into new wave. There was no separation between pop and credibility back then, perhaps because back then pop music could have (for lack of a more elegant word) balls--not [...]

THIS WEEK'S FINDS week of Mar. 6-12 "The Engine Driver" - the Decemberists With crisp, minor-chord rhythm guitar, spacious yet intimate percussion, and an unusually effective melodica, the Decemberists deliver a haunting take on the time-honored train song--whether metaphorical or actual, the train conjured here both lyrically and musically feels lost even as it chugs by necessity along its predestined tracks. While not as obviously a historical tale as many this unique band has told, there's yet something in the graceful fabric that suggests history (and [...]

THIS WEEK'S FINDS week of Feb. 27-Mar. 5 "Woman King" - Iron and Wine A timeless sort of mystery hangs in the air from the opening rhythms of this satisfying new song from Sam Beam, the one-man band who calls himself Iron and Wine. While the critically-acclaimed Beam in the past has been just a little too whispery-slow for my tastes, here he finds a propulsive, ancient-seeming groove to explore; combined with concrete, evocative lyrics, the results are deep, elusive, and magical. While his acoustic guitar is still center stage (I'm loving [...]

THIS WEEK'S FINDS week of Feb. 20-26 "California" - Low How much to keep sounding the same and how much to evolve and explore is a question that faces all bands that manage to stay together for more than a few years. Remain too much the same and risk staleness ("There's a fine line between a groove and rut," as Christine Lavin once sang); change too much and risk alienating fans who like how you sound already, thank you very much. And in the indie rock world, any change that smacks of [...]

Because of the holiday weekend in the U.S., "This Week's Finds" will be posted on Tuesday this week. The songs should be up by around 10 a.m. EST tomorrow, instead of the usual 1 p.m. Thanks for your patience, and your continued interest.

THIS WEEK'S FINDS week of Feb. 13-19 "Silence" - the Layaways An untamed growl of guitar noise lays at the heart of this pop confection, like a bit of crunchy frog sealed within succulent Swiss chocolate, as it were. It's a simple song, but the vibe works well for me, a vibe constructed through a combination of an appealing melody and a knowing ability to romp through some of the choicer specimens in rock'n'roll's sonic back catalog: from Jesus and Mary Chain-esque squalls of sound to Yo La Tengo-ish understated vocalizing [...]

THIS WEEK'S FINDS week of Feb. 6-12 "Inaction" - We Are Scientists A playful yet blistering piece of dynamic guitar pop, "Inaction" is, actually, all action--two and a half minutes of alternately crunching and blazing guitar work supporting an edgy, propulsive melody. Singer/guitarist Keith Murray plays and sings with a bursting sort of restraint while his two band mates--what we've got here is a nice 21st-century version of a venerable rock institution, the power trio--punch out a pulsing backbeat. California born and NY based, We Are Scientists bristle [...]

THIS WEEK'S FINDS week of Jan. 30-Feb. 5 "Judy Garland" - Veal "If you looked like Judy Garland/I'd be over it in half a shake/But you stood there dumbfounded/You looked nothing like Judy Garland" is how this song that appears at least partially to be about being knocked unconscious begins. We're instantly right in the middle of something (although exactly what is part of the quirky mystery), a feeling enhanced by the smart cascade of (mostly) major chords, which change on the first beat of each measure, and the asymmetrical use [...]

THIS WEEK'S FINDS week of Jan. 23-29 "Attagirl" - Bettie Serveert With a charmingly slinky verse and disarmingly catchy chorus, "Attagirl" might not, still, have succeeded so well without the captivating presence of Carol van Dyk (alternatively spelled Dijk)--the Canadian-born, Netherlands-raised singer who fronts this veteran Dutch band. Rilo Kiley fans take note: Jenny Lewis may yet sound like this (she's cut from the same cloth), but there are ineffable aspects of tone and timbre that remain out of reach when you're only in your 20s. From start to finish we [...]

THIS WEEK'S FINDS week of Jan. 16-22 "Sunday Bell" - Audible The way the crisp guitars and simply articulated piano refrain leap into motion is instantly heartwarming; I already know I'm going to follow this song wherever it wants to go. I am quickly rewarded, as the first place it goes is into Mike Kennedy's appealing tenor--he sounds like an upbeat Elliott Smith, replacing Smith's wavering fragility with a bell-like resolution. The song gains a lot of power by its capacity to sound both sad and happy at the same tinme: [...]

THIS WEEK'S FINDS week of Jan. 9-15 "We Can Have It" - the Dears So this one begins quite literally as a lullaby--a soothing keyboard, a strumming acoustic guitar, a gentle sing-songy melody. And then the words: "Last night all the horrible/Things in life start through my dreams..." Okay, not your typical lullaby. Nor is it your typical rock song. The opening lullaby of despair continues for two full minutes, singer Murray Lightburn--who often sounds uncannily like Morrissey--here channeling David Bowie with the best of them while the band sustains interest [...]

THIS WEEK'S FINDS week of Jan. 2-8 "Fat Boys Are Not Athletes" - Imaginary Baseball League Muscular and precise, this song is driven by a snare-less drumbeat and an itchy, energetic low-register guitar line. This is right away a wonderful thing, as rock'n'roll history is pockmarked by guitarists who tend to wail unaccountably in the upper register. But listen to how compelling and grounded and unpredictable the instrument sounds when the guitarist keeps his or her fingers up at the top of the neck. Singer/guitarist Aaron Robinson's urgent--but, also, not too high--voice [...]