Sort of an adjunct to my big email about songs last weekend…
Does anyone out there still harbour a love for the kind of rough-hewn indie/DIY pop which many of us used to listen to (and in some cases make) back in the old days?
If so, let me introduce you to Love in Hell, the best thing I’ve heard in this general vein in donkey's years.
Should be pretty self-explanatory - you’ll know within the first minute of 'I Hate..' whether you’re in or out, I’m sure.
Interesting to note however that, despite ostensibly being based in Portland, OR, the band's lyrics seem to dwell heavily on UK references, suggesting that their principal songwriter (not sure which member that is) either originated on this side of the pond, or was at least in residence here when some of these numbers were written.
(See for instance the 63 seconds of unmistakable Brit nonsense which comprises ‘Coronation Chicken’, or, probably my pick for the best song here, ‘Worthwhile’, which drops refs to Belfast & the BBC within the first few lines.)
Speculating further, perhaps our balmy climes could also have exerted an influence on the band’s musical style, which mixes perky/thrashy upbeat tunes with disconsolate vocal delivery and disgruntled/imaginatively detailed lyrics, somewhat in the manner of Half Man Half Biscuit?
In fact, could we be witnessing here the embryonic stirrings of some kind of female, American HMHB…?
Probably best to wait until we have more data to consider before drawing such excitable conclusions, and my apologies for requiring you to try to get yr head around such an extraordinary concept on a quiet Saturday evening, but I just couldn't help myself.