There To Stay

OKAY, I'M GONNA TRY to explain this, and it might not work. Ryan's posted an amazing, amazing song by Beaten Awake (not a hXc band) at the Catbirdseat. You know how the strongest memories are tied to scents - the smell at the lake, the car's sun-baked upholstery, her old perfume - you know? Well, this may be harder to pick up on, but it's the same with sounds, I swear. Like with this song, "Browns Town," which recalls exactly what I felt when I'd listen to Algebra One's "Fireball." I don't know anything about Algebra One besides this song which appeared on an old Sub City comp. This mystery, I suppose, was crucial to the construction of this strange mental space I occupied whenever I heard "Fireball." I felt an essence too romantic to share with anybody, like I was the one hollering for my shining sun. I liked the way the instruments veered out of time with what can only be described as punk passion, because it never sounded bad, just excited. And when things did come together, when the song started walking high-wire halfway through, and he sang "Been waiting all night/ Three hours of sleep..." with perfect pitch and measure, I nearly died. Two minutes later and it was gone, and to understand where I'd been I had to listen again.

"Browns Town" plays like an updated "Fireball," retrofitted to match the evolution of my taste over the years. It wraps me in the same air, I feel the same lift when I hear him sing "So I'll rock you right down to the floor" like a promise that's more determination than anything else. A promise made under low lights on slow nights, or something similarly astral. It's a place I'm only too happy to revisit, whatever it is.

Algebra One - Fireball [mp3]

Beaten Awake - Browns Town [mp3]

Buy Sub City's Take Action, featuring "Fireball," here. It's also got a special version of the Weakerthans' "Everything Must Go!," which I prefer, and my favorite Scared of Chaka song. For, like, four dollars.

Visit Beaten Awake online, and buy Let's Get Simplified when it comes out on Audio Eagle in September.

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Please go listen to Thao Nguyen's Daytrotter session while reading what Mr. Moeller's so graciously written. "Feet Asleep" is one of my favorite songs of the year, if that means anything to you.