Back in college, I used to get drunk and listen to the first Frank Black & the Catholics album, and at the moment it was coming through my stereo it sounded like the best thing in the goddamned world. Same thing with Small Change. Point being, some music just sounds way better (to me) when you're drunk.

Tonight I went out with Lori-the-drummer and ended up at a bar in the West Village populated mostly by femme dykes and pretty gay boys, and in this way it was an odd version of heaven: just a really cute moving painting I could sit back and drink and watch and there was no pressure. The femme dykes did a bar dance, and swung around, and everyone danced to Madonna and JT like they were at a wedding. It was great. And then we went to a lesbian bar on 2nd Avenue called (accurately) "The Hole," and that was great too--dancing and drinking and Cher exercise videos.

And as I left the bar and walked to the subway, I listened to the All Girl Summer Fun Band's 2. And fuck, it sounded great.

I've liked the AGSFB for a while; I've even started a post about them a few times, mainly focusing on how they get pop music in a way that no one else on K does. But fuck all that. Their perfection and love is a present sidelight to my alcohol-fueled joy and the sounds coming through my headphones. The guitars on "Dear Mr. and Mrs. Troublemanker" just sound amazing. "Down South, 10 Hours, 1-5" has the best "sha-la-la-la-la-la" beat-dropping break I've ever heard. "Ticking Time Bomb" goes "A-wah-a-ow-a" like it's the Gettysburg address. "Jason Lee" is so good it makes me sing out loud, some looney vocalizing apropos of nothing down second avenue, "Jason Lee, doing kickflips in my dreams,' and when they sing "We both like obscure music / and we're both 33," it's just what pop music can and should be sometimes. And the hook for "Video Game Heart"--so, so good.

This may all wear off tomorrow, but so does the love of a late-night hookup, too, and that's still OK. There's no shame in having a one-night stand with the music.
posted by Mike B. at 4:30 AM 0 comments