Pop Rocks!: Episode 2.4: GIRL'S NAME SONGS!

That's right, this episode of Pop Rocks! focused on the indiepop/twee staple: the girl's name song. For years, tormented young men have vented their infatuations/frustrations with members of the opposite sex by writing songs about them. This was one of the most fun episodes of Pop Rocks! I've ever done! Thank you for all of the wonderful calls and requests!

Flop - Anne (Anne 7")
The New Pornographers - July Jones (Electric Version)
Unrest - Isabel (Imperial f.f.r.r.)
Tullycraft - Belinda (City of Subarus)
The Magnetic Fields - Lindy (Live)
Of Montreal - Jennifer Louise (Aldhils Arboretum)
Kaleidoscope - Jenny Artichoke
*Requested* Stephen Malkmus - Jenny & the Ess-Dog (Stephen Malkmus)
Blueboy - Jennifer Yeah! (The Bank of England)
*Requested* The Embarassement - Elizabeth Montgomery's Face (Hey Day)
Beulah - Emma Blowgun's Last Stand (When Your Heartstrings Break)
*Requested* The Specific Heats - Are You For Real Mehgan O'Neill? (Aboard a Spaceship of the Imagination)
The Concretes - Diana Ross (The Concretes)
The Icicles - Margie (Pure Sugar)
The Apples in Stereo - Ruby (Her Wallpaper Reverie)
The Magnetic Fields - Abigail, Belle of Kilronan (69 Love Songs)
Guided by Voices - Esther's Day (Bee Thousand)
Daniel Johnston - Laurie (Artistic Vice)
The Ampersands - Annabel Bleach (Annabel Bleach 7")
The Sea Urchins - Pristine Christine (Stardust)
The Tony Head Experience - Debbie One (Sleeper EP)
The Field Mice - Emma's House
The Lucksmiths - Danielle Steele (What Bird is That?)
Rocketship - Naomi and Me (Hey Hey Girl)
The New Pornographers - Jackie (Mass Romantic)
Sleep Station - Caroline London 1940 (After the War)
Neutral Milk Hotel - Naomi (On Avery Island)
The Minders - Frida (Hooray for Tuesday)
Beat Happening - Nancy Sin (Dreamy)
The Go-Betweens - Lee Remick
The Vaselines - Molly's Lips
Of Montreal - Penelope
Math and Physics Club - La La La Lisa (Math and Physics Club)
St. Christopher - Natasha, I Know (Man, I Could Scream)
Sparrows. - Hey Kari G
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - Vanessa From Queens (Pig Lib)

REVIEWS!

The National – Boxer (Beggars Banquet)
Rating: 7.5/10

True story: the first time I heard this band was on (gasp!) 96.5 the Buzz while I was driving around with my roommate (who listens to that station). “Is this the new Interpol?” I wondered aloud. “It sure sounds a lot like Interpol, except a lot more brooding. God what’s with all of these bands all of a sudden trying to sound like Joy Division!” I wondered some more. And then, after the song, one of those annoying little radio-voice-laden promos came on saying something like “THE NATIONAL…only on 96.5 the Buzz” playing clips of the song I just heard (“Mistaken for Strangers”). “So that’s the National, the band that’s been getting so much buzz lately like they’re some indie rock messiahs.” I picked up the album and started to listen. It sounded nice enough on the first listen. Not great, but pleasant and I didn’t want to turn it off, even though all of the songs sounded the same. Then I listened to it a few more times and, yeah, it started to grow on me. The singer has this Ian Curtis/Nick Cave voice that’s right up front in the mix that sounds rather enjoyable and although the songs all sound quite alike, they do a lot of pretty cool things. Like the percussion, for instance, is pretty interesting and the absence of guitars or the way they end up buried somewhere in the mix adds this wonderful atmosphere. This is a really good record.
Note: I just read on 96.5's website: "Like Interpol, meet your new favorite band!" and man I fucking HATE that shit. These guys are better than Interpol.

Focus: 1, 7, 8, 10, 3, 2
-Ian Hrabe, July 2^nd, 2007

Get Him Eat Him – Arms Down (Absolutely Kosher)
Rating: 6.5/10

Get Him Eat Him may also be known as “that-one-indie-rock-band-with-a-guy-from-Pitchfork-in-it,” but don’t let that dissuade you! While it’s far from perfect, I found something charming about this record. The sound falls somewhere between modern indie rock/pop and late 90’s synth-laced (think the Anniversary) emo. Sometimes it sounds like he is inadvertently singing for mainstream radio (“Diminutive”) but he seems good-natured enough. It’s a little boring, but more interesting than a lot of the nameless, faceless indie rock records coming out lately. And, for street cred, Matt LeMay (aka, the guy who makes it clear that this is HIS band in the liner notes) got Charles Bissell of the Wrens to play 12-string guitar on track 6 (I was WONDERING why it sounded like a Wrens song!) and Zach Condon (aka Beirut) to play his Neutral Milkish trumpet on tracks 1, 11, 12, and 13.

Note: I let this album sit for a couple of days and came back and now I really, really like it. I think "The Coronation Show" is one of my top 5 favorite songs of 2007 so far!

RIYL: Ted Leo, The Wrens, The Anniversary
Focus: 6, 1, 5, 11, 12, 13
-Ian Hrabe, July 2^nd, 2007

Bowerbirds – Hymns for the Dark Horse (Burly Time)
Rating: 9/10

Out of anyone in the world, John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats has the taste I trust the most. A month or so ago I read a post about his “favorite new band in forever,” Bowerbirds. Considering that Mr. Darnielle has turned me on to a number of great artists in the past, I downloaded it and was quickly blown away. “Only once every ten years or so does one hear a new band this good, this bursting with ideas, this audibly in love with music,” says Darnielle, and he is so absolutely correct. While Bowerbirds could be compared to certain artists in that whole “freak folk” scene, their music is not freaky. The music is rich and brimming with life, possessing an absolutely timeless quality, walking that line between heartbreaking and uplifting better than most.

Suggested Tracks: 4, 2, 1, 6, 8, 3, 10
-Ian Hrabe, July 2^nd, 2007