Be patient with me, I need to address something here before the band writeup. It might have been 1990 or so when I witnessed one of the worst live performances of my life. There was a band from Los Angeles called They Eat Their Own that played a punk rock venue here in Columbus when they had a short lived pop hit titled Like A Drug (covered much later by Fiona Apple.) I stood and watched the nightmare of lead vocalist Laura B with a big artsy mask/helmet on her head surrounded by these long haired boy model looking studio musicians all with an eyebrow raised. If I hadn't (which I had) come to the realization before, this event solidified my belief that most known bands from California were a product of guys with slicked back pony tail nubs and expensive pastel colored suits deciding over an Appletini who should be the next big thing.
Before you CA folks get angry with me, please understand that I am well aware that this could NEVER happen nowadays, unless of course a chocolate martini...oh nevermind. Joking aside, I have a really good featured artist for you today. In the case of this track, the predictability factor is not a bad thing at all. The hooks and turns are right there where you want and expect them. Indie Pop bands often take a punch to the gut for various textbook sounds based on their influences, but when the artists do it well it's a good book for sure. In this case, a very good book that deserves revisiting often. You might find yourself sticking around for multiple listens.
Citizens Here And Abroad are a rockin Indie pop quartet from San Francisco, California. The band's debut full length release titled Ghosts of Tables and Chairs was released in early 2004 through the Omnibus Records label. There are only a few copies left to buy for $15 USD on Amazon and the numbers might be one less after I am done posting this. There are two songs and a video to download from that album as well as updated band info on the CHAA Website. Today's featured song is part of the brand new album Waving, Not Drowning that was released last week on 9/26 via Turn Records. There is also a Turn MySpace where some of you MML regulars will notice a couple more bands we've featured in the past. If you visit the CHAA MySpace Page there are 3 more great songs to stream. If you are in New York City and have nothing to do tonight 10/7, the band is playing Pianos @ 10pm with 2 other bands ($8 cover.) Finally, here is a really good YouTube video for the song You Drive...
Happy Saturday!
MP3: In The Dark
1 comment:
I'm quite sure that Fiona Apple has never covered "Like A Drug". A web search will bring a result teeming with lyric sites with "Fiona Apple - I Need You Like A Drug" but look at any discography and it'll be conspicuously absent.
A demo version of the They Eat Their Own version has been all over file-sharing programs for yeras, and as the singer's voice sounds somewhat like Fiona's it's been mislabeled.
Note that "somewhat." Anyone very familiar with Fiona Apple's voice can tell that it's not her.
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