Phoenix – “Lisztomania”

Arizona is a quirky state. People there really like the colors salmon, purple and teal. Like, all together. But that’s alright because I like quirky; I’m the girl who thinks peanut butter goes great with everything. Like hot dogs.

So I feel like I should probably go visit and get some Weird under my belt. I certainly know a lot of weird people out there … it shouldn’t matter that some of them haven’t seen me in 10 years, should it? They don’t know that the only reason I’m visiting is so I can see what the groovy band What Laura Says is up to these days.

I mean, I do know a little bit. I know that they’re a five-piece set from the Phoenix area, just a few years old. They self-released their first album Thinks and Feels in 2007 (re-released in 2008 after they signed up with Terpsikhore) and they opened for the Annuals on Valentine’s Day 2009. I bought a red WLS shirt to commemorate the day.

But I want to know more! I imagine they make up any excuse for a party. I bet they live in a 1970s split-level house and host sing-a-longs for their friends and family in the living room. Sometimes they take it outside, if the weather is exceptionally nice. Note that everybody in attendance sings really well and plays an instrument – tambourine, piano, guitar, cello, whatever. They welcome strangers and invite me to come in and clap during the song “Get Better Soon.” That’s my contribution, that’s my fantasy.

The reality is they’re releasing a new album this June and I just stumbled on a track. Here’s the song “Training” … a trippy jam from the approaching album, Bloom Cheek.

What Laura Says – “Training”

[audio:http://themuseinmusic.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/training.mp3]

You really should consider saying hello to them when they come to Denton in May. In my weird little head, they’re all very nice.

Come on, if a movie was that bad, any lay person would have avoided it. It’s nothing we’re longing to erase from our memories. We figured out not to go — because you, the movie reviewer, took the hit. That’s your problem.

So I don’t need a decade-end list of the very worst crap that you saw and I didn’t see. I’d rather make a list of the worst movies that you, the movie reviewer, gulled me into seeing. What did you say was good that I wasted my time and money on?

Strangely enough I disagree with all but one of the films on her short list, and some of the wingnuts in her comments gallery will only take it downhill from there. But it begs a new discussion for music reviews: which LPs (or MP3s, or concert tickets) did over-zealous journalists sucker you into buying? You already know my list, I’ve been waving that banner all year long. Let’s hear yours.

PS: I’m right there with her, film score notwithstanding, on Little Miss Sunshine. Ack!

Remember that scene in The Breakfast Club? I believe the THC had already been ingested. The loathsome five spontaneously decided to be friends and apropos of nothing started dancing? Imagine that same choreography set to “Lisztomania” by Phoenix.

Don’t have the requisite mental creativity? [Sigh.] Then just watch:

Fred+2

The Yeah Yeah Yeah’s are a completely different story though. Usually when a band has a new release and they appear on SNL they will play two songs from that new release but not YYY’s. They played “Zero”, that most loved and hated of first singles off of It’s Blitz! and then they played “Maps” from their debut release 6 years ago. Having a band do that makes me think that they are a little nervous about the reviews they have been reading about the new stuff and want to remind people why they liked them in the first place. Karen O also seemed out of place and uncomfortable. I know that “Maps” doesn’t really lend itself to her normal shenanigans but she still seemed a bit distant and unnatural.

As an added bonus here is the video to Long Distance Call.