Thursday, April 20, 2006

Editors/Stellastarr* Friday Nite!

Speaking of music, I’m going to see the Editors/Stellastarr* show at the Bluebird this Friday. I love shows at the Bluebird because it means I get to go drink at the PS Lounge. Many a bottle was drunk at that place before shows at the Bluebird and this will be no different. I haven’t been to a show there in a long time. And if there’s a bunch of people standing around the bar talking (as usual), I’m going to be pissed.

But again, speaking of the music, I like Stellastarr* a lot; the band’s first album is fantastic. The newest one is all right. It has a few good songs and it grew on me, but it still didn’t grab me like their debut did. They didn’t utilize the female band member’s voice like they did on the first one (please see Billy Corgan Rule #37: Let female in band sing a song. When everyone likes it, don’t let her do it again because it interferes with your stature as head honcho while solidifying reputation as big dildo).

The Editors on the other hand did grow on me, but not after an almost miraculous chain of events. Typically if I listen to an album and it doesn’t do anything for me, I won’t listen to it again. That was the case with the Editors album, The Back Room. I found it to be entirely unremarkable when I heard it the first time, but for some reason I kept listening to it (that’s the miraculous event…that I actually kept listening to it). And during the third listen, I was hooked.

I mentioned in an earlier post how bad the last Strokes album was, and yes, it is bad. I gave that one listen and the songs were so terrible, I just kept skipping ahead to the next one hoping for something better. Nothing in that record gave me a hint that I should take a closer listen. The Editors album hinted at something, and I guess that’s why I kept listening.

Really, the Editors (or just Editors) sound a lot like Interpol. A LOT like Interpol. So I figure that’s why it turns most people off due to its derivative nature. But really, doesn’t Interpol sound a lot like Joy Division? I think Editors are actually English so maybe they have a bit more right to the sound. I’m not here to nitpick who sounds like who, Editors are pretty damn good and I’m trying to convince you too.

If something can seem so unremarkable the first time around and end up being played non-stop in my car, I feel it deserves a mention. I was already going to the show before I even heard the band, so bonus for me!

Friday night, Bluebird Theater. I’ll be the one with the warm glow of the PS Lounge surrounding him and the not so faint smell of Budweiser on his breath.

JR

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

You were right Stevens sucks, and I wasted two dollars on itunes to figure it out. Thanks for the info. you are almost always dead on. BTW Editors are one of those bands, like Blur, that I think will keep going until they achieve due credit. Like Blur their first album was hailed but the band was written off as a rip off of the Stone Roses, and I believe like Blur will carve out their own niche.

Sean

Trouble said...

JR, don't sell yourself short--you are a critic. That's a designation you earn from offering opinions and views that are fucking-A right on.

The "Hooligan Shmooligan"-less world is a sadder, lonlier place.

That said, I despise Interpol.

J Reidy said...

ok. ok. hold on both of you. first of all, YOU PAID MONEY TO HEAR SUCKJAN STEVENS?!!!

oh man, i'm sorry about that. at least now you know.

i won't go out on a limb and say Editors will have the career Blur has had (one of my all time faves), but that album is pretty damn good.

ok and who doesn't like Interpol??? really? i mean, they did have a lot of hype surrounding them (the majority of it justified) but i think they are put out two damn fine albums.

now, i saw them live and they sucked, but that's how it goes with most bands that can't quite emulate the emotion of their record. they end up just playing it straight like you were listening to the album at home. i already paid for the album, why do i have to spend $20 to hear it again?

anyway, you are Trouble if you don't like Interpol. haircuts and hype aside, i think they've risen above their hype, that is until their third album which is usually means the end of the line (please see The Strokes).

JR

Trouble said...

Not to beat a dead horse, but the two reasons I despise Interpol are:

1. They put the "copycat" in derivative, without offering anything new.

2. Music editors and hipsters told me I would be cool if I liked them. Ditto the stupid Strokes.