The Double - Up All Night
Staples is a feature about, you guessed it, staples in my music diet. Albums that no matter how (im)perfect they are, or how old or new they are, I always come back to them because they're that awesome.
I saw The Double open for Pretty Girls Make Graves a few years back and was totally blown away. It's not very often that an "opening" band can do something like that but The Double is pretty special. I picked up Loose In The Air that night and it's never left my side since.
The Double is a dark band. Dark and scary. Their songs have a very abrasive, rusty-metal-scraping-concrete quality to them. But they're bizarrely poppy, too. There are songs on Loose In The Air that are pretty light-hearted, catchy, and even dancey but there's always this menacing feedback lurking behind each one that throws you for a loop. And then there's the organ/synth thing that gives all of it a wicked '60s vibe. It's the weirdest fucking thing but so completely amazing.
Each song is entirely different from each other. From the wall of sound on the opening "Up All Night" and the creepy lullaby of "On Our Way" to the atonal "What Sound It Makes The Thunder" and straightforward booty shaking on "Dance." It all fits together thematically while at the same time being so diverse. A truly unique band with an unparalleled vision. It's just a shame they haven't done anything in 3+ years. They recorded a few new songs in August but no updates since then. Come on dudes, you're leaving me hanging.
Posts
2 comments:
I liked that a lot - creepy at first, jarring middle section, then it goes all poppy. I'd like to check out their other stuff - is there a specific album you suggest?
My all-time favorite "opening" band might have been Alice Donut (playing w/ Blind Melon + Meat Puppets). Incidentally, it was also my first rock concert, so I could have just been over-appreciating their sheer volume.
Well, I'd definitely recommend Loose In The Air. It's simply amazing. I've heard Palm Fronds but haven't listened to it enough to be that familiar with it. I just remember that my first reaction to it was that it simply couldn't compare to Loose. They have another album, Loose Crochet that I know nothing about. So yeah, definitely pick up Loose In The Air. It's on Matador and shouldn't be that hard to find.
I've never heard of Alice Donut. I remember going to shows back when I was in high school and being really easily swayed to liking an opening band. So often I would see them and be really excited, pick up a CD at the merch table, go home and listen to it and think it's shit and never listen to it again. So after going through that a lot, it's nice to see an opener that's actually pretty cool.
Post a Comment