Belatedly Liking Stuff: "Yeah Yeah Yeah" by New Politics

I never quite know when new music comes out. For example, I heard the above song on our local alternative rock radio station, WBRU, late last night when I was coming home from the newspaper. It is by New Politics, and it is called "Yeah Yeah Yeah", which strikes me as a bit of a silly idea given the immensely popular band of the same name. (By the way, Karen O? I'd hit it.)

Suffice to say, if I'm writing about the band, you can guess that I'm a fan. "Yeah Yeah Yeah" has a sort of raw, loud energy that reminds me some of the bands I liked as a kid and teenager. You know, kind of like The Strokes or early Everclear, before they realized they could make $80 billion doing stuff like "Father of Mine".

Poking around the Internet, it seems like the single was just released in May, and they don't have a full album out yet. I typically worry that when I talk about a band I've recently started liking, it can be way after the fact that they actually started becoming popular. For example, Vampire Weekend has multiple albums out, but I wrote about them in February 2010 oblivious to this fact.

Therefore, let me recommend New Politics before they become super-duper popular. Heck, that video only has about 13,000 views on YouTube, which is several million short of what it should have. It's the pretty standard "low budget" video, with just the band singing in a room, but it works for the gritty rawness of the song. Check it out, fools! (And p.s., treat your mother right.)

iTunes Running Diary – Sunday, August 23

This week's artists.

Please excuse the somewhat late posting tonight. I got a little busy playing hoops in Wakefield today, which meant I started this a bit late. Since this is the second post of the day, I figure a little latitude toward me is appropriate. Anyway, on to the running diary...

- “Still Not A Player” by Incubus and Big Pun. If it seems like I use a lot of cover songs in these running diaries, well, it's true because I love covers. This is a pretty decent one, even if the swears from the original Big Pun song are taken out. The hard-driving guitar helps speeds up the rapping a bit, as the original is a bit slower-paced.

I also have fond memories of this song because my high school friend Adrienne and I used to sing it when we worked at Dunkin' Donuts when I was 16. In reflection, that crew was a weird mix of Chariho people I never really saw again, but it was fun times while it lasted. There were also some A-holes from other towns there too, but some cool people that I'm still Facebook friends with. I think every minimum wage job is like that though – Half assholes, half decent people trying to make a buck.

- “Sink Into Me” by Taking Back Sunday. I know, this might be shocking, since it is a song that has been released this year. I heard it on WBRU a couple days ago, and the sound reminded me of my first exposure to Warped Tour artists in 2001 and 2002. On the bill that year were bands like The Vandals, Little T and One Track Mike, Ween, Less Than Jake, Alien Ant Farm and Me First and the Gimme Gimmes.

Now, I feel largely disconnected from a lot of that music, mostly because I don't fit into that scene at all. I remember going to the Warped Tour and seeing people loaded on booze, moshing and throwing fists in pits, getting absolutely filthy in the 90-degree weather. While it seems odd to someone who has ever seen my room, I hate getting messy, and as I said in previous posts, I'm not much into dancing or tattoos or piercings, which was all in abundance there.

- “Everything Is Alright” by Motion City Soundtrack. Appropriately enough, we're concluding this mini-diary with another of my few trendy favorites.

I originally downloaded it about three years ago, and listened to this and “The Future Freaks Me Out” about 500 times on my way to work that summer. While I eventually got over my addiction – with a lot of prayer and the help of the Lord, of course – I still never, ever change the song when it comes on the radio (which is rare) or on my iTunes (which is much more common). There aren't many songs that achieve this status, but Motion City Soundtrack has two of them, and even writing this entry makes me realize I should check out more of their stuff.

iTunes Running Diary – Sunday, August 16

Just doing a normal edition this week. I will probably do a theme next week; feel free to offer some suggestions, if you'd like.

- “Spirit of Radio” by Rush. I have hyped them up a bit in past running diaries, but hey, it's not like they got any less awesome. If you like this weird, 1970s to 1980s sort of progressive slash electric rock, then Rush is at the top of the heap musically. They actually have multiple hits with some different sounds - “Closer to the Heart” and “Tom Sawyer” and “The Trees” - as opposed to a band like Frankie Goes To Hollywood.

More importantly, I know that Geddy Lee is in Rush, but only because of Aqua Teen Hunger Force. In one episode, “Spirit Journey Formation Anniversary,” Shake pays Geddy and heavy metal guitarist Zakk Wylde to do a brand new version of the birthday song. Not surprisingly, since Shake is the producer, they create a horrible spectacle.

While Wylde clearly plays himself in the episode, I'm not sure if Geddy Lee's lyrics are real. His presence is mostly alluded to, as opposed to guaranteed. However, if you're ever arguing with friends that ATHF is solely stoner comedy, then bring up this episode as a rebuttal. As far as Aqua Teen episodes go, this one is pretty linear while still being hilarious.

- “Crush” by Noise Ratchet. I know little of Noise Ratchet, except that this is a great punk cover song. I know little of “Crush”, except that Noise Ratchet does a great punk cover of it. Ah, what a glorious catch-22!

I only know that the song is a cover because of the album it is on, Punk Goes Pop. It was apparently released in 2002, and17 pretty nifty tracks. Most of the songs covered are 1980s, 1990s and 2000s pop, so I'm not sure how they got away with it. The best covers are, not surprisingly, by bands that went on to make a name for themselves - “Everywhere” by Yellowcard, “I'm Real” by the Starting Line, “Send Me An Angel” by Thrice. I am a bit of a cover connoisseur, and from top to bottom, the album is one of the better cover albums floating out there.

- “Wutang Remix” by some unknown artist. Back in the days of Napster, file names and ID tags were... highly optional. I found this track by randomly typing in “wutang remix” back in the day, and true to the search, this is what popped out.

The rapping itself is pretty good, but it is only a “remix” in the sense that “Wutang Clan Ain't Nothin' To Fuck With” is looped under the rapping from time to time. Outside of the lyrics, there is no identifying feature of the song. Curiously, Eminem uses some of them in the final rap battle in Eight Mile, but I get the feeling that passage is a fairly common homage in rap music.

- “Band on the Run” by Paul McCartney and Wings. The other week, I was talking about how I'd rather be David Bowie than Paul McCartney, but in reflection, it is by the slimmest of margins. And, if I had to pick between McCartney and Lennon, I'm definitely going with McCartney.

I really don't know much of the history of the band, and I haven't listened to every Beatles album ever. But from my casual observation, it seems like McCartney was a lot more easygoing and more interested in making hit records, which is probably how I would act too if I was in the Beatles. It would be hard for me to not roll my eyes as John was talking about getting into weird spiritualism with his freaky-deaky girlfriend.

Also, McCartney comes off as a decent guy from his post-Beatles career. He was great on “The Chris Farley Show” sketch on Saturday Night Live, and Dana Carvey also tells a great story about hanging out with him and Lorne Michaels. Wings heavily featured Paul AND Linda McCartney, and given the history of other husband-wife musical projects, I think it has to be ranked as the absolute best.

- “Level” and “Steady As She Goes” by The Raconteurs. This is a band that I've always wanted to get a lot more into, but outside of these two tracks, I simply haven't heard most of Broken Boy Soldiers, or any of their follow-up album.

It is an odd but common problem. A lot of times, I love a song or two from a band so much that the rest of their work pales in comparison. It can even vary from single-to-single: I love “Level,” but when it pops on to my iTunes as it just did now, it reminds me that “Steady As She Goes” is a superior song on nearly every level, so I scroll down a few tracks and play it instead.

I think both songs are also helped by sporadic radio play, one of the rare instances where I don't think an indie band is effed out on WBRU. Once the Racounters and other bands like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Interpol and (two months from now) Ida Maria drop from the charts a bit, WBRU doesn't bother to recycle their tracks as much as they would with a popular, effed out band. (I'm looking in your general direction here, Red Hot Chili Peppers.)