Dawes Release Album Trailer

Today on the Dawes beat, we bring you more tidings of the new album, Stories Don't End, due out April 9th. Check out the trailer featuring footage from the studio in Asheville, North Carolina where the band recorded last fall. You can hear two songs on the trailer, the second being "From a Window Seat." As far as the first, no idea what it is but it sounds sweet.

Stream Frightened Rabbit's Pedestrian Verse

Frightened Rabbit's new album Pedestrian Verse won't be out until Feb. 5, but thanks to the Guardian, you can stream it right now. So yes. Go do that.

Dawes Tweet Album Track Listing

You know what? Screw press releases. I prefer hearing news from the horse's mouth (the horse in this case, being L.A. band Dawes).

Dawes tweeted the track listing to their April 9 release Stories Don't End.

01: Just Beneath the Surface
02: From a Window Seat
03: Just My Luck
04: Someone Will
05: Most People
06: Something in Common
07: Hey Lover
08: Bear Witness
09: Stories Don't End
10: From the Right Angle
11: Side Effects
12: Just Beneath the Surface (reprise)

At least a couple of these you might have heard if you've caught them live (tracks 2 and 6). Anyway. That's all I've got for now. Stay tuned.

Review: 'Nashville' Episode Eleven

[I didn't get to do my usual Wednesday-night write up of ABC's Nashville after watching last night. Nevertheless, here it is. I didn't take notes the way I usually do, so forgive my skimping on details.  – Erin]

At the completion of last night's episode of Nashville, my former roommate, friend, and fellow amateur t.v. critic and I exchanged a happy text. They are finally "there." Through a few key (and clearly written!) conversations and small but important moves, Nashville covered some serious ground in terms of character and plot development. It wasn't a perfect episode, but I can't deny that it was satisfying.

"Wrong Song" is at the top of the charts and Edgehill Republic Records wants to throw Rayna and Juliette a party. That's great, because the writers finally created a situation where most of the characters are actually in the same room– Rayna, Teddy, Liam, Juliette, Druggie Mom, and even Avery, who has somehow wormed his way in with Maneater Marilyn. A few interesting things happen at this party. It's Teddy's turn to be the good spouse and come out to support Rayna. They had an icy conversation about not really knowing what they were doing, and he was kind of a douche about how hard it is raising the kids while she's out there doing God knows what (besides bread-winning?), but now he's got to be decent. He even sounds sincere in a little speech about Rayna to the party-goers when introducing her at the shindig. It's also a good moment because we see how Juliette is getting mostly ignored when it comes to doling out credit for "Wrong Song" and this makes her unusually sympathetic. She stands awkwardly off to the side of the platform while Teddy waxes on about Rayna.

But all is not totally well with Rayna. Earlier she was approached by a woman from another label who really really wants to sign her after Liam sent along some unfinished tracks. You can tell Rayna was buying this woman's spiel about being partners and 'hey, I'm a working mom too.' However, buzzkill Marshal Evans lets Rayna know that Liam stands to get an imprint for bringing Rayna over to the label. It's a bummer because, as I noted last week, Nashville seemed to set him up as a mostly impartial truth-teller and now he's just slime ball... a slime ball who also sees fit to lecture Rayna about how her marriage is on life support. (What do you really want here, Liam?) Rayna dissolves the partnership. The best part of the party, though, was Avery attempting to make small talk with Juliette about how he's learning it's hard to be a star an' all because of his new song. Wow, does he bomb out. Juliette does not care because she's being unnecessarily mean with Druggie Mom. Druggie Mom had a hearing and could have gotten out of rehab early if Juliette had put a little more umph into her testimony. Technically Deacon was suppost to babysit Druggie Mom, but we'll get to that in a second.

From here, I want to talk about two important conversations that various characters had.

Rayna and Deacon: Deacon is in bad shape after an article came out where that piece of crap Cy insinuated that Deacon got fired because he was drinking again. Rayna stops by his house and they finally have it out. He's mad she didn't wait for him to get out of rehab, basically– maybe somewhat bitter that he lost out to Teddy, and aware that he's just always hanging around while Rayna's breaking up with him, firing him, or telling him to chase whatever is around the bend. Then Rayna counters with the despair of pulling him out of hotel rooms unsure if he was really drunk or dead, and putting him through rehab a whopping five times. Though the scene is sad because he tells her he's not her problem anymore, and it really feels like an emotional break between the two, it's great to knock them out of their weird friend-zone. Plus, it's hard to believe that with all that transpired between them, that there wasn't all this emotion and frustration under there somewhere.

Juliette and Druggie Mom: After Deacon fails to show up at the party, Juliette goes to his house. Deacon's destroyed half the living room including a guitar, which is a pitiful sight. Much is said, like how Rayna was the reason he got and stayed sober, but more importantly, he tells her he doesn't understand the difference in how she treats her mom and him because they are the same person. They're both addicts. Juliette goes home and talks to Jolene, apologizing for the hearing, and Jolene expresses how proud she is of Juliette, that despite coming from Jolene, Juliette has done so much. Jolene sees Juliette as equal or better than Rayna because Rayna didn't have that adversity. Juliette softens up and we sincerely hope that because t.v. is magic, there is hope for the relationship instead of more simmering drama.

Anyway, less important but still worth mentioning because I would fully support the function of Avery's character being punchingbag-in-chief, he plays a show on Belmont University's quad (WOOOOOO ALMA MATER) and Scarlett runs into JT who proposes that the remains of the Avery Barkley Band teams up with Scarlett and Gunnar and win one for the good guys. Later that night Avery cruises by whilst listening to himself on the radio and sees band practice and it's like YES. So satisfying. GO HOME, AVERY. We do not love you.

A quick word about Gunnar, though. Jason dropped off his Gibson at the Bluebird, mysteriously. The parole officer calls Gunnar to say that Jason didn't show up at his halfway house and if Gunnar is holding out, there could be problems of the legal variety. Gunnar is like .... gotta go. Just then, Scarlett skips in with a "proposition" (har har) and Gunnar's response about the whole band thing is basically, you are an ignorant child. You know nothing of the weighty things I deal with in my life. I hate this because 1) It's not her fault 2) The second she starts paying him attention he decides to lash out. Makes so much sense. In any case, he shows up later all sorry-eyed and they proceed to make Avery feel un-missed.

So. Where does all this take us? I'm glad you asked. Rayna and Juliette are on the Juliette's jet with managers en-tow. Rayna and Teddy have just basically made nice with each other. There seems to be hope! But wait! Juliette has hired Deacon and now the three are on the plane together. Thank you and goodnight. We are finally in the position for stuff to happen and we've mostly condensed the cast into two main groups. If the show-runners can keep the writing up, we're going to be in great shape. Looking forward to episode 12 in two weeks.

Stray Observations:

+ Belmont is a dry campus, so what those crazy undergrads were doing with red solo cups... you tell me, Belmont. You tell me.
+ I honestly felt a little bad for Teddy watching Deacon hop on the jet with his wife. Happiness is fleeting, folks.
+ Surely we're not done with Liam, right?
+ Whatever happened to Watty?

Three Music-Related Videos That Change It Up

Here's your mid-afternoon breather. Below are three videos from this week that take something and change it up.

It's a well worn joke that minor is sad and major is happy. To further bolster the claim, check out this video of R.E.M.'s hit song "Losing My Religion," tweaked into a major key. Bizarre. 

Post inauguration madness, you can enjoy the very latest from The Gregory Brothers. Here's Barack Obama singing "Let's Stay Together" by Al Green because I kinda guess we did.

And finally, what happens when you run the lyrics of Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe" through Google Translate a bunch of times and put it back into English? Linguistic bananas, that's what. 

Book Review: Blues Highway Blues by Eyre Price

[I've been on a reading binge lately. Around Christmas I found a book on Amazon's lending library called Blues Highway Blues. Here's what I thought.]

A love of legend stands at the heart of Eyre Price's 2012 novel Blues Highway Blues. The book is a light lesson in the evolution of American music, wrapped in mob thriller, shadowed by the kind of mythos that makes stories of the past so alluring.

The story centers around Daniel Erikson, a washed up music promoter who gets tangled with the Russian mob. When he's taken at gun point to the safe in his Malibu home to repay the million-ish dollars he owes, he finds not the money, but the first CD of many that lead him on a scavenger hunt from the crossroads where Robert Johnson sold his soul, through legendary music cities like Memphis, Nashville, Chicago and beyond, all in hopes of getting back his cash. Along the way he meets a mysterious/magical old man named Mr. Atibon who serves as a sort of spirit guide for Daniel.

At first blush, mixing music, the Russian mob (most prominently an unusually decent hitman named Moog and his temporary sidekick, a psycho Mexican assassin named Rabidoso), and magic sounds like a mess, but Price makes it work. We live in a time of  such high levels of voluntary transparency– online, mainly– it's hard to create, maintain, or even care for mythology. So when Daniel first parks his car at the crossroads and meets Mr. Atibon, a preacher of lore,  he crosses a crucial line on behalf of the reader and accepts that something else is going on. As Atibon says, "Truth don't never stand in the way of a good story."

In much the same way, the reader has to get passed a few silly metaphors and turns of writing ("His business as a music promoter came crashing down around him like a Malibu mud slide") but otherwise, the style is fun and often humorous ("He walked over to the Frigidaire-sized henchman...and patted the man's unnaturally broad chest with a pet lover's affection"), even poignant ("Having a child just gives Fate a hostage").

What we get is a really entertaining thriller road trip. We get to go with Daniel and breathe the air in the alley behind Nashville's most famous honky tonk bar, Tootsie's Orchid Lounge, where Hank Williams supposedly took breathers during Ryman shows. We get to stare into the abandoned Stax Records building in Memphis. We get to track down an old studio musician in Detroit. We get to wonder what exactly Mr. Atibon is and how he manages to turn up everywhere.

Price gets uncomfortably bloody in a few places. For instance, early on one minor character gets brutally carved up by the violence-loving Rabidoso. I assume it's in an effort to communicate what is at stake; after all, Daniel spends much of his time worrying what might happen if the mobsters get a hold of his son before he can repay the money, but when so many other parts of the book teeter on the edge of lovably ridiculous (Rabidoso lusting after Moog's dozen Big Dat doughnuts, Daniel driving an 18-wheeler through a line of police cars), the tone shift jars.

But despite that, the story still manages to feel light. It's a satisfying, and fast-paced read. Most of all, Price leaves the reader with an appealing and hopeful thought. As Daniel realizes, "Perhaps there was truth in every legend."

Review: 'Nashville' Episode 10

At the end of most episodes of Nashville, I usually find myself wondering where the hour went. Stuff is always happening, but change in the plot is typically marginal at best. I think it has to do with something a writer at the A.V. Club pointed out a few months ago– the characters on the show hardly ever cross paths. Most plot lines run parallel and therefore, don't touch. I think it's because there are so many to keep up with that there's just not enough time in an episode to move any one of them forward significantly. It's so much more efficient and satisfying when they do. That said, let's get to the rundown.

Dateline San Diego: We open on a press conference for Rayna and Juliette's Red Lips and White Lies tour. Reporters hurl questions on Juliette's non-wedding and Deacon's absence. Astute Nashvillians will notice local yocal talk show hosts Crook and Chase in the press gaggle. Later on Rayna Facetimes her girls from the arena in San Diego. Things remain strained with Teddy. Also strained? Her relationship with the new guitarist. He doesn't sing right or play right or make her feel like she's playing in a unit and YOU KNOW WHAT SCREW IT. Dude tells her she's hard to please and quits. Good thing the mischievous sprite and truth teller we call Liam shows up. He won't play anymore than three shows with Rayna, though. What he will do, though, is chase Juliette off the stage when she goes 15 minutes too long on the sound check. She gets pissed and tells her manager "Just get my damn jet!" I hope to say that one day myself, coincidentally. More on that later. Rayna buys Liam some sweet and no doubt expensive as hell cowboy boots as a thank you for playing, but Liam doesn't look thrilled. When Rayna asks him about the boots later on, he tells her that he's not Deacon and that he thinks she's scared to go out there without Deacon and blah blah blah she's never going to find another Deacon. I mean, it's totally true. Liam is either is an honest Puck for saying so, or a really lame expository device crested by the writers. You decide.  However, that doesn't stop her from playing off him during the show. After said show, Rayna decides to fly home to be with Teddy on election night. Again, more on that in a few.

Juliette struts around in the background through all of this. She's been wanting a divorce from Tebow, but Tebow wants an annulment. Thing is, annulments are more time consuming and she's not about to admit to fraud. Walking out of the arena though, she gets served with papers to show up at an annulment hearing. After demanding her jet, she shows up in Oakland to greet Tebow as he gets off the bus with his football bros. He tells her that she embarrassed his parents, hurt his little sister, and generally messed up considering that she knew what marriage meant to him. He wants the annulment because he only wants to be married once. You can hardly blame Tebow... expect for the part where he eloped with a woman he barely knew. You know. Technicality. Backstage on the way to the show a short while after, Juliette has another run in with Liam. Liam lays down some truth about how Juliette never apologies or is always right or I don't even know. Something about that inspires her to withdraw her petition for divorce. It's not an entirely pleasant parting with Tebow, but I am glad that whole thing is over.

Teddy is boring this week as usual. Lamar wants him to guarantee the election by buying votes. Teddy is like, you're killing me bro. In any case, he's happy that Rayna comes home, only Coleman's concession speech makes it awkward because of all the love and commitment he's spouting about his wife. Rayna and Teddy make twisted faces on the couch. But late that night when everyone's cleared out, Teddy gets a knock on his hotel door. It's pill-popping Peggy who really just wants to see him on his big day and... almost kiss him before leaving. Ugh. She's going to be a problem.

Speaking of problems, Avery is busy in Atlanta getting played liked a ping pong ball between Maneater Marilyn his manager and Wyclef, his producer who wants to sign a contract with him. Marilyn says the contract is not good enough, Wyclef says it's standard and that Marilyn is trying to get a higher rate because Avery will drop her once he takes off a bit. Who is right? Doesn't really matter. Wyclef gives him a car so, where's that dotted line?! PS, Avery tells Marilyn she works for him.

Finally, we enter the Bluebird Universe. This part is mildly seedy. So. Gunnar is going to drive home to Austin, Texas "after work" and Scarlett asks if she can come along on the 15 hour drive. Deacon is playing a show there with the Rebel Kings and offered tickets and backstage passes. Gunnar, however, is acting "weird" according to Scarlett, muttering stuff about family obligations and trying to shake Scarlett but she is like a mongoose who won't let go. So, they go to Austin. She crashes at the Hilton with Deacon and Gunnar takes off. Turns out, Gunnar has an older brother named Jason who is being released from prison after 8 years. They get a hotel together. Jason remarks "at least I get to shower alone."

They wind up singing Merle Haggard's "Fugitive" together, which is oddly appropriate. Gunnar talks about getting Jason into a halfway house, getting a job, maybe even moving him to Nashville. Alas, Gunnar goes to get Chinese food and when he come backs, Jason has a gun in his jeans and Gunnar's beautiful sunburst guitar is gone. That's low. Really low. In the ensuing verbal tussle, we learn that Jason basically took care of Gunnar as a kid. He tried to rob a convient store or something with 16-year-old Gunnar, and Gunnar split when a gun came out. Obviously, we know which one went to jail. Jason splits himself after awkwardly hugging Gunnar and saying something like he was glad Gunnar stayed on the straight and narrow. I feel like I said "Gunnar" a lot in that graf. Oh well.

Let's duck away for a second. Backstage and the Rebel Kings show, Deacon introduces Scarlett to the chief Rebel King Cy who emits creepy-ass vibes. After the show, he side tracks Deacon with autographs and maneuvers Scarlett into some room, which he promptly clears. With a security guard posted out front, he starts pushing himself on Scarlett. It's awful. Luckily, Deacon's Spidey sense kicks in and he's all WHERE'S MY NIECE. God bless. He gets past the guard, tackles Cy, and quits the band. The next morning Scarlett and Deacon are bummed, but he's kinda glad to be done with the Rebel Kings. Gunnar comes to get Scarlett and winds up telling her a bit about his brother. She decides to take some interest in his life.

Phew. What a work out. If all these crazy kids could get some more screen time together, this would be easier (like the Gunnar-Scarlett-Deacon overlap). All that effort and here's where we are: Juliette is emotionally twisty. Rayna and Teddy are on shaky ground. Gunnar and Scarlett are back to neutral. Not exactly progress.


Stray Observations:

+ WKRN must have laid down some cash. They had multiple news people popping up on this episode. If there's anything that inspires trust in the media, it's a real anchor reporting fake news.
+  The arena in San Diego was definitely the Bridgestone Arena here in town.
+ That woman "journalist" showed up again, kissing him and telling him about her deadline in the same breath. Gross.

Phoenix Announces Album Title (Or Begs For Help)

From the Phoenix Facebook page.

More news from camp Phoenix. The French alt-rockers announced the name of their upcoming album today. Bankrupt! is set to hit shelves (or Amazon. Whatever.) sometime in April. It would suck if the band was actually bankrupt and we were just sitting here rubbing our hands together at the prospect of new music and they're all "We had to sell our instruments and the bassist's kidney to keep the sharks at bay, guys!"

Regardless, if you're into Internet-induced seizures, check out their website.

The new album follows 2009's Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix which was, in a word, asickalbum. Stay tuned.

Review: She & the Sun by She & the Sun

Alrighty. Here's another review I wrote for Consequence of Sound. This was a happy assignment because New York-based duo She & the Sun's debut album is lovely. Check out the review below.

She & the Sun - She & the Sun

Dawes to Release New Album in April

dawestheband.com

You've got plans for the April 9. That's when L.A. band Dawes is set to release its third album Stories Don't End. 

Frontman Taylor Goldsmith talked to Rolling Stone about the new album which was recorded over the span of five weeks at a studio in Asheville, North Carolina. 

"These are the same four guys that you've gotten to know very well on the first two records, but at the same time, this album feels like a growth," Goldsmith told the magazine, discussing balancing Dawes' 1970's Laurel Canyon sound with something more contemporary.

Check out the rest of the interview with Rolling Stone here. 

Review: Every Last Piece by Aspiga

Here's another review I wrote for Chicago-based music site Consequence of Sound about New Jersey punk trio Aspiga's latest offering.

Every Last Piece by Aspiga

Review: 'Nashville' Episode Nine

Rawr.

On tonight's episode of ABC's Nashville, Scarlett hooked up with Avery in a moment of... well, something, I don't know what exactly... and I thought to myself, "Why would she go back to something that is regularly disappointing?" This is funny because I'm sure if someone out there were writing reviews of me writing reviews on Nashville, he/she could say the same thing. Also, that would be trippy. Anyhoodle, let's get this rundown started.

As the episode opens, Rayna is in the studio recording "Wrong Song," waiting for Juliette to show up and record her part. Juliette is otherwise occupied doing the nasty in the back of a limo with the new Mr. Juliette Barnes. Yes. The crazy kids got hitched. When Juliette finally gets to the studio, Rayna tells her that they need to start their tour on Sunday, riding the massive wave of hype post Ryman performance. On the subject of tour details, Rayna later tells Teddy that she's going on tour and she's going to take the girls. And somehow Teddy manages to climb out of the pit of shame and remorse he should be swimming in after stealing $2 million, nearly causing a woman's suicide, and dragging his family through the tabloids. Yes. He gets up on his hind legs to get pissy about how Rayna is leaving the family and darn it, he will fight her if she tries to take the girls. Where does he get off? No. Really. Someone answer my question. Please. He should be so far in the dog house that he spends his evenings spooning Snoopy. (Sorry, Snoopy.) Anyway, at campaign HQ, Teddy tells Tandie what's going on and expresses concern at what this election is costing him. But God forbid he develops a conscience, the goon squad (Tandie and Lamar) show up at the house to confront Rayna about her choices. Lamar, looking like a squirrel in a taxi cab without his wood panels and liquor, once again threatens to let slip who Maddie's real dad is. Bastard. If we've learned anything about Rayna, though, it's that the woman shall not be pushed around. She goes to HQ to find Lamar and Teddy talking, and tells Teddy that Lamar tried to use Maddie as blackmail. FUNNY THING. Teddy already knows about Maddie. And while he might be a thief, he is something that Lamar is not: a loving father. "I will come after you!" Teddy yells, tearing his shirt open, foam bits flying out of his mouth (I might have made up the last part).

Later on, Rayna and Teddy talk again. This winds up being one of the better moments on the show. She loves him, but neither of them are happy. However, that takes a back seat to whether the girls are happy, and they are. And it needs to stay that way. So. The tour is basically a good excuse to take a break. The girls can join her periodically, and Rayna will come home when she can. Deal. It was a sad moment, but ultimately satisfying because even though the show is frequently nuts and characters are ruled by any variety of base emotions, it's nice to see Rayna and Teddy act like adults who want to protect their children.

Speaking of children, Gunnar and Scarlett are damn near unbearable. Apparently he's all pissed because she rebuffed him (it's called freewill, jerk) and they haven't really been able to write. Life is so hard. Meanwhile in Atlanta, Avery is feeling scummy about the prospect of splitting from the Avery Barkley Band... but Wyclef owns his soul now, so... yeah. When snivel-y, thin-lipped Avery finally tells the guys, bandmate JT almost kicks his greasy ass. After the near ass kicking, Avery goes to return his keys to Scarlett and somehow manages to seduce her because having a haircut like Severus Snape is hot.

Or at least until Scarlett finds out he ditched his band and she's like oh yeah, I just remembered you're a scumbag. But here's the part I enjoyed. Scarlett steals the band. They have a gig and no singer, so she offers to sing because she knows all the songs. IT FEELS LIKE JUSTICE. Especially when Avery sees it on video the next day. Whaddah burn.

Thankfully, JT voices the question we're all thinking: When did Scarlett get all confident and comfortable performing in front of, you know, crowds? And you know what? I did not freaking write the answer down. My bad. Must have been lame. Anyway, she slinks back to the publishing company house office thing that I suppose Gunnar hasn't left in weeks. This time though, there's less grumpy going around and they play a song together.

Back to Juliette, let me just summarize the situation like this:

It's a big surprise that Tebow and Juliette have the following problems: 1) They can't sync up schedules 2) His parents are pissed 3) They have to get married fast  4) Her mom is a sore point 5) They seems to know nothing about each other. Marriage is so hard! Druggie Mom, however, dispenses some wisdom about how a marriage isn't going to chase away any demons. And more importantly she asks her daughter, "Are you happy?" Ugh. Life questions. So deep. But I guess Druggie Mom  knew what she was talking about because the last shot of the night is Juliette peaceing out on her jet.

Ok. One more storyline. I'm already over this episode. Deacon goes out on tour with the Rebel Kings. Mostly he complains about noise. A lady journalist shows up to write a piece on the band and we find out she is neither a lady nor a journalist as she flirts and finally beds Deacon. She's clearly someone from his past (14 years ago, specifically) but beyond that? All I know is that sleeping with sources is a huge no-no and I don't have the steam to articulate my disgust at how she violates just about every ethical standard for the profession, but David Tennant does.

So, a lot happened to tonight, but man the episode was slow and all the little things made it feel disjointed, a lot like the pilot, actually. So, why do I keep coming back when most episodes make me feel like this?

I'll be damned if I know. Maybe it's because writing about it makes me feel like this:

I have those sunglasses.

Stray Observations:

+ Want to see a real Nashville audience? Check out the front row during the former Avery Barkley Band show. Are they even breathing?
+ Liam thinks the tour is a bad I idea. Methinks he is right.
+ Astute viewers at home will realize that Rayna and Juliette's managers are basically the same middle-aged, gotee'ed schelp... but only after seeing them in the same room.
+ If the central question in the episode is "Are you happy?" The answer is "no." No one on this show is happy. Deacon included. I know this because he peered out from behind a curtain pensively.

Why Today is Magic in the Music Universe

I'm convinced that some kind of fortuitous portal in the universe opened up today giving us new tracks from Tom Waits, Keith Richards, Jimi Hendrix, and David Bowie (plus word of a new album). That's some good juju if I've ever seen it.

 And let's not even mention the unconfirmed speculation regarding a possible Postal Service reunion at Coachella. Don't even speak about it. I will say though, if it were to be true, it could probably only happen today.

 The stars are aligned, kids. Start a band or something today.

+ Tom Waits and Keith Richards - "Shenandoah"  (It's a sea chantey!)

+ Jimi Hendrix - "Somewhere" 

+ David Bowie - "Where Are They Now?" 

Shove Off : Luke Lalonde

Here's my first recommendation for 2013. While compiling a mix a few weeks back, I found a song called "Shove Off" by a guy named Luke Lalonde who released a solo album in October called Rhythymnals. Normally Lalonde fronts a band called Born Ruffians, but he took advantage of some down time with the band to work on his own stuff, according to an article Exclaim.ca.

The song immediately jumped out to me, starting off sparse with a quirky little three-note line, and then got pretty damn cool in the chorus. Besides the distant echoing sounds of LaLonde sining "If you want me to shove off," there's another part to this song I really like. Normally I hate commonly used phrases like "and stuff," but Lalonde expertly wedges it into a line that so solidly evokes a youthful other time. "So elated and so caught up, times were weird and wild and stuff, trouble's far away," he sings, and I totally buy it.

The album isn't on Spotify, sadly, but if you go to Lalonde's site you can stream it.