My hands are enormous. Mason Jennings is perhaps the only person with larger hands than I. They’re all long fingers and chewed-up nails. Despite the impressive size of my hands, and strangers telling me from an early age that I have “piano hands,” I have not taken a single piano lesson in my life. I wish I had, but by now my brain is too addled by cell phone reception and television to be able to make sense of bass clef, let alone playing two different things at once. Perhaps this explains my deep affection for piano-led bands, for those who eschew the aggressive roar of overdriven guitars for the tinkling highs and bone-shaking lows of the baby grand. Maybe I’m just a sucker! Please join me in this retrospective of pianists, embarrassing and not, that have charmed me throughout my life. And watch me stretch to the breaking point the definition of “rock.”

Billy Joel

I remember getting three cassette tapes for Christmas as a young child, and I like you enough to tell you what they were. One was The Sign by Ace of Base. Not embarrassing at all. Another was We Can’t Dance by Genesis. Have you heard? Phil Collins is hip! The last and most relevant to this list? Billy Joel’s The River of Dreams. Anyone who tells you they never liked Billy Joel is a damn liar and probably started the fire. More than anything, I think this song appealed to the creepy religious child that I was. The piano part isn’t even that memorable! But, hell, when I ruthlessly quit the “family band” (me, Liz, and Mikey locked in the bathroom with a tape recorder), what were the lyrics to the protest song I recorded over our demos*?

In the middle of the niiiight
We record stupid soooooongs
From the bedroooooom
To the baaaaathrooooom….

Vicious.

Hanson

Let me just say right now: this list does NOT get less embarrassing as it goes on. It just gets more cred. I’m not going to defend Hanson on here again. I’ve done it enough times. I’ll take Hanson over any of the tween popstars around today. Fun fact, these guys were my faves for a while, and I never ever ever saw them in concert. They screened their documentary at GW once though, and I totally went to see it. After the movie, they answered some questions. As I was leaving, I got within three feet of Isaac. What a regrettable lexical gap that no words in any language could adequately convey my conflicting feelings of “play it cool” and “SHIT YOURSELFFFFFF.”

Something Corporate

Remember when they reunited?  I wrote, “Certainly I can’t attest to their enduring legacy as a band, or their influence on music, though I can’t think of any other punk bands (and I use ‘punk’ loosely) that feature a piano like SoCo did. What I can attest to is that once upon a time, a weird girl from a small town in Pennsylvania really loved this band, and I hope that is worth something to someone.”

That’s about all I have to say on the matter.

Ben Folds

Recent shitty songs aside, I had a life-changing moment at a Ben Folds concert in DC. The year was 2002, and I was the extremely cool and well-adjusted high schooler I so often refer to on these blog pages. Folds’ performance was magical. He was charming, downright entrancing alone on stage with his piano. He sang “One Angry Dwarf” which, up to that point, I remembered as a song about a dwarf. But at that show, my adolescent mind latched on to the actual meaning of the lyrics and I was like, whaaaaaaaaat?

On the walk home, Liz’s friend Liza launched into a speech that I believe boiled down to “Fuck the haters.” I’m pretty sure that was the genesis of my current cool, alternative self.

Fiona Apple

Recently, I’ve been on a renewed Fiona Apple kick, hoping that if I play the song enough times I’ll convince myself that I really am an extraordinary machine. Apple writes songs like she’s every mad heroine in literature. She’s trapped in a loveless relationship, or she’s the woman scorned, or she’s just out of her damn mind.

Regina Spektor

At one point, I printed out the sheet music for the entirety of Soviet Kitch and could fumble through “The Ghost of Corporate Future” and “Us” on the electric keyboard I begged for many Christmases ago and regularly plunked away at, thinking I could teach myself to be a great pianist. I never got to great or even good; at best, I can memorize the familiar parts of a couple of songs or absent-mindedly tap out a whimsical line with no regard for key signature. But I wanted to learn because Regina can write nonsense lyrics and pair them with precocious piano compositions and not only is it quite popular, it’s really very good.

Nellie McKay

The first Nellie McKay song I heard was “Long & Lazy River” which, despite finding I had misheard a lyric, I have always been pretty certain is about male privilege. It might be the best intro possible to Nellie’s quirky, sarcastic, jazz-tinged piano pop; a delightful voice, a soothing melody, a simple piano, and enough charm to sucker you in before she reveals the radical politics and tongue-in-cheek take on love that make up the rest of her songs.

Jukebox the Ghost

Well, here we are. A classical pianist, a punk drummer, and a prog guitarist making music that makes me ever so happy. I know I’m a snooty blogger who’s supposed to like boring “dad-rock” bands on principle, but I don’t. I like this slightly silly, twee power-pop, and good luck convincing me to feel otherwise. (First step would definitely be to stop calling it “dad-rock” though.)

*I called them demos because we were LEGIT.

I made an “official” list of 20 but let’s just say I had to pad it a little because I’ve been unemployed for 6 months and haven’t bought any new music, and that I recognize what the National and Sleigh Bells do well, but I mean, I just liked other things more!

So here you go! What did I miss? It’s not too late for me to look them up on Grooveshark.

April Smith – Songs for a Sinking Ship

Big voice, big band, big hit. Also the video for “Terrible Things” is the grossest thing I’ve seen in a long time.

MGMT – Congratulations

Yeah, I went there. Though about half of all fans and critics declared this album unfocused, arrogant, and unlistenable, I humbly disagree. Then again, I tend to forgive artists for being pretentious, if I like what they’re doing. The weird tones, the nonexistent structure, the musings on fame, even the bits where they just geek out were much more enjoyable to me than some of the weaker songs on Oracular Spectacular. And I don’t think I heard anything as bittersweet as the title track in the last 12 months.

Jukebox the Ghost – Everything Under the Sun

I mean, duh. I have spent far too much time debasing myself at the altar of this band because they put out records this enjoyable. And because sometimes they tweet back at me.

Jenny & Johnny – I’m Having Fun Now

So pretty, so catchy, so sunny, so vibrant. So Jenny and Johnny!

SSLYBY – Let It Sway

I still love them.

Spoon – Transference

I saw Britt Daniel at a Jenny and Johnny concert in Portland. That moment ranks up there with Riverside Farm and when a cute boy smiled at me on the street last week as one of my top Oregon funtimes. When a band is as consistently great as Spoon, it’s easy to miss an album like Transference.

Sufjan Stevens – The Age of Adz

Again, a weird and divisive album. Maybe, having just moved across the country and struggling to meet people, I really identified with Sufjan’s broken voice as he sang lines like “Now I have known you/ for just a little while/ I feel I must be/ wearing my welcome/ I must be moving on.” Maybe the dude can just write some songs.

Josh Ritter – So Runs the World Away

Josh Ritter is a songwriter who makes me jealous of his beautiful feelings. If puppets give you the creeps, don’t watch this video.

Janelle Monae – The ArchAndroid

Sometimes, when you listen to a lot of bands all the time, you slip into a funk. Nothing impresses you any more, and instead of enjoying things you start to think only about what an artist is doing poorly. You worry that you’re on the verge of using words like “chillwave” and “fuzzcore” even though those words are stupid and describe music you don’t really like. Maybe all your favorite bands put out albums in a ten-week window and you didn’t have time to care about anything else. For those moments, there’s The ArchAndroid. At once classic and futuristic, personal and political, it’s song and story and past and future and an expert fusion of contradictions. In a year notable for a lot of reverb-heavy surf-rock and abuse of overdrive, there’s Janelle Monae: an intelligent songwriter; a student of great R&B, soul, and funk teachers; and a great voice. Thank goodness.

Surfer Blood – Swim

On whom can you depend?/ Swim to reach the end.

I can’t pinpoint what I love most about this song: the heavy reverb, the melody, the glockenspiel when they sing “Oh, oh oh,” or shouting along with this band of tiny children. You know on Top Chef when Tom and Padma telling the chefs that really simple, familiar things have to be perfectly executed to stand out? That’s this song.

Florence & the Machine – Dog Days Are Over

Leave all your love and your longing behind/ you can’t carry it with you if you want to survive.

Florence Welch may be a victim of KT Tunstall-style overhyping. Her debut album, Lungs, is pretty good but kind of endless and I don’t like anything as much as I like “Dog Days Are Over”. Just saying. Nonetheless, this song is fucking furious. DO NOT watch the actual music video. It makes me want to die. This live performance is much better.

Miniature Tigers – Bullfighter Jacket

I’m terrified to lose you/ but more afraid to change

What a frenzy! Why do I love to sing this one while riding my bike?

Blair – Wake Up, Shake Up

We’re all stars and we’re gonna go out/ One day you will make a flower/ bloom in the soil and/ that’ll be the greatest thing you’ll ever do.

The bonds of family, the pain of abandonment, hope in creation… Blair hits all of these in a song that has not been posted ANYWHERE on the internet. Ugh.

The Tallest Man on Earth – The Wild Hunt

I left my heart to the wild hunt a-comin/ I live until the call/ And I plan to be forgotten when I’m gone/ Yes I’ll be leavin’ in the fall

Kristian Mattson’s voice makes me want to give up. I read Thoreau in high school (and hated it and titled my essay “Thoreau Whines” because that is all he does) but if there’s anything that makes me want to go sit in the woods and contemplate nature, it’s this song. Whatever that’s worth.

Cee-Lo Green – Fuck You

I said I’m sorry I can’t afford a Ferarri/ but that don’t mean I can’t get you there./ I guess he’s an X-box, and I’m more an Atari/ but the way you play your game ain’t fair.

This is certainly the song most likely to overstay its welcome this year, but until it sounds dated and cheesy (circa March 2011), let’s all acknowledge how much we’ve always wanted to get away with winning an argument by shouting “Fuck you, and fuck her too!” It’s also not the only throwback to old soul music on this list! (Foreshadowing!!!)

Freelance Whales – Generator (First Floor)

We get up early just to start cranking the generator/ our limbs have been asleep, we need to get the blood back in them.

The transcendent five-part harmonies and dream-like aura really make this song.

April Smith & the Great Picture Show – Terrible Things

I keep things carefully covered/ so no one will discover/ that I could be the culprit/ I’m sorry, I can’t help it.

What a spitfire! What a voice! What a deliciously morbid song!

Y La Bamba – Juniper

I am the cause that is dangerous/ This is our loss.

And it’s your loss if this song doesn’t shake you from your cynical East Coast stupor and remind you that there are beautiful things in the world.

Jenny & Johnny – My Pet Snakes

If you don’t believe in destiny/ then take what you’re given/ You and I got caught between/ magic and business.

Nothing before or since this song will ever sound so goddamn delightful while being so eviscerating. For sure, Jenny hasn’t needed Blake since Rabbit Fur Coat, but I mean, I still like Rilo Kiley! Still, the song ends I could lie, say we’re even/ All the best of luck with your career. I’m not holding my breath for a new album.

Jukebox the Ghost – The Stars

What if we were created to gaze at the stars up above?

Jukebox the Ghost couldn’t completely escape the apocalyptic overtones of their first album on this year’s Everything Under the Sun. Thank goodness! The dance-beat energy they assayed on earlier tracks peaks in this song about tidal waves. The crashing cymbals and quick, rhythmic guitar riffs sound like rushing water and… hold on a second, was that a cello?? HOLY SHIT THERE IS A CELLO PLAYING ON THIS TRACK.

Janelle Monae – Tightrope

When you get elevated/ they love it or they hate it/ you dance up on them haters/ keep gettin’ funky on the scene.

I blurbed this one for the other site, and it took me a long time to write, so I’d like to just quote myself a little bit. You’ll notice that I write like I know what I’m talking about for them!

“‘Tightrope’ is a finely tuned machine of a funk song. It’s efficient; every word or sound strikes precisely when it needs to – never before or after. No one gummed up the gears with synthesizers or heavy effects. Stuttering drums, stammering vocals and horn breaks capture a sort of industrial energy in the song that seems in danger of spilling into the streets of Metropolis itself. Such classic song craft distinguishes Monae’s ‘Tightrope’ from releases by her pitch-corrected, ’80s revivalist contemporaries. She’s doing something different, and she’s doing it damn well.

Monae establishes herself as a powerful vocalist and star pupil of great teachers like James Brown and Michael Jackson. Her lyrics exude cautious optimism without being saccharine. There will be uncertainty, fear or jealousy. There will be haters. But regardless of the highs and lows, you’re meant to follow your own passions. To ‘tip on the tightrope’ at once evokes being true to yourself, taking risks, and finding balance, three things Monae embodies herself and as the heroine of The ArchAndroid.”

Janelle Monae – Cold War

I’m trying to find my peace/ I was made to believe there’s something wrong with me/ and it hurts my heart/ Lord have mercy, ain’t it plain to see/ that this is a cold war/ You better know what you’re fighting for.

Did anyone see this understated of a video coming from this powerhouse of a song, especially after the last two elaborate videos Monae released? Especially when her closest pop counterpart, Lady Gaga, releases ridiculous video after ridiculous video? Monae has said that the androids of her album represent the Other, and everyone who has ever felt like an outsider; this song, then, is a call to arms for the outsiders, for the ambivalent, for all of us who have ever felt like there is something bigger working against some people. And it’s a really fucking great song to boot.

I’m not saying I want Jukebox the Ghost to stop writing the quirky power-pop I love so much. What I am saying is that they are one of the only bands I would be willing to listen to play a lot of covers in a row. Whether instigating a frantic dance party with “Temptation,” or leading a straight-laced crowd into mosh territory with “Guerilla Radio,” the band has a knack for selecting well-known songs that make children of the 90s swoon, fitting them to the JtG sound, and turning out a great three minutes of dance music. At Mississippi Studios last night, their covers of Leona Lewis’s “I Love You Always Forever” and The Cure’s “Close To Me” got the crowd dancing harder than any originals.

But let’s begin at the beginning.

I arrived at Mississippi Studios in time to see Hooray for Earth and crush some celebratory Woodchucks in a room of, ohhh, probably about ten people. Though I dug their aggressive rhythm section, Hooray for Earth’s vocals were overwhelmed by reverb on the vox, keys, and guitars, and I think only one mic was turned on despite as many as three band members singing at times. The perils of being a young band! If they can approximate the balance live that they do in their recorded material, they’ll be okay!

As Jukebox loaded in, a photographer and self-described “huge fan” called me out on “looking giddy” while standing there. I admit, I was planted in the middle of the room, gaze fixed on the stage, clutching the collar of my lucky flannel (lucky because I always get hit on in it YEAHHHH), and grinning. But when asked, I left out the part where I stalkerishly blog about them and just said I’d been listening for a few years, since I lived in DC. He mentioned having a friend who went to college with them, so I actually hope his photos (and name) turn up somewhere, because obviously I want to facebook stalk!

And then the show began.

Let me make this clear: Jukebox the Ghost deserves every fan, every album sale, and every success that comes to them. Few other bands would play a full, frenetic set on a Monday night to 30 people, but the freshly massaged Jukebox did just that. Once they began playing, they skillfully intertwined old and new material, generally tending towards the more energetic numbers to keep the attention of the small crowd. With twice as much officially released material to choose from these days, the set was more surprising than any show I saw on the East Coast recently. For the first time that I can think of, none of the “end of the world” songs from Let Live and Let Ghosts made the cut.

At times, the performance felt very measured, almost like a rehearsal; Ben and Tommy gave dramatic cues to Jesse, and they counted off songs like a less traveled band. But the songs themselves were those of a band who’s been across the country a few times. “Static” was as relentless as ever, and “Summer Sun” packed every dynamic and stylistic possibility into just two minutes.

The band relaxed a bit after Jesse threw a maraca at Tommy and Ben flubbed the lyrics on “Hold It In.” They reverted to old habits of telling stories and chatting between songs. I’ve missed some of these quirks, which were consciously phased out to appeal to the larger crowds and increasing media attention the band was receiving. Happily, Jukebox still finds a few shows to be chill and crack wise on stage. They even asked the crowd what they wanted to hear, to a resounding cry of “Victoria!” Of course, they obliged.

I knew it would be weird to see Jukebox 1) by myself, and 2) so far from their established fan base. I expected it to be a little sedate, a little tense. Instead, the crowd was delightfully responsive to the band’s charm. Now if only we could get a bigger crowd there in the first place. Get with it, Portland!

Set List:

The Sun
Under My Skin
Empire
Static
Mistletoe
Summer Sun
The Sun (Interlude)
The Stars
Hold It In
Schizophrenia
Half Crazy
I Love You Always Forever (Leona Lewis cover)
Victoria
Good Day

Encore – Close To Me (The Cure cover)

(After typing that set list, I can’t believe how many songs they played! This show was friggin’ awesome!)

From the liner notes of the album. Ahem:

One thing then leads to another
But don’t prematurely make her a mother.
Make sure that you want her ’til death-do-you-part.

I rest my case. Your public service announcement for today is: don’t get pregs, or get someone pregs.

Also this is post 601. Dang, you guys.

KKKKPPPZZZZZZZZZZHHHHHHHHH! Hear that? It’s the sound of Jukebox the Ghost blowing up. RIGHT? Please validate me by pretending that was a good opening joke. I anticipate some google hits for this post. I apologize, googlers.

If I tried to write a traditional review of Everything Under the Sun, (out today and currently the #34 album on iTunes, WHOA) I would get all gushy and probably cry like a proud mom. All these years of creepy fandom, and here they are dropping their second album after a summer that took them from Lollapalooza to Letterman! Yeah, friends, I love this record. They’ve pushed themselves to try new styles, as on Tommy’s dance sensation “Half Crazy” and Ben’s Motown homage “The Popular Thing.” They’ve closed some of the gap between their songwriting styles. They’re the most fun. I think “The Stars” is my favorite, at least right now, but that could change.

In addition to enjoying this album, I am also learning from it! Check it: after the jump, educational moments on Everything Under the Sun.

I’m Learning To Diagnose Mental Illness!
Song: “Schizophrenia”

Relevant Lyrics:
We first met in the summer of my 22nd year.
I got scared and they appeared out of thin air.
They knew my name.
They screamed and screeeeeeeeamed!
They knew everything.

I’m learning Sex Positivity!
Song: “Mistletoe”

Relevant Lyrics:
My mistletoe called me up on the phone
Tried her best to explain to the hearts that she had known
That though they’d misbehaved
She’d known it all along:
No need to feel ashamed.
We didn’t do nothing wrong.

I’m learning Atheism and Nihilism!
Song: “The Sun”

Relevant Lyrics:
If God exists in a place like this,
Then where else could a god or goddess be
If he or she is not trapped inside?
What if it’s all just a black abyss
And lips that kiss you
When you’re scared or feeling just a little out of touch?

I’m learning Fashion Tips!
Song: “Carrying”

Relevant Lyrics:
You were walking down the street in your patent leather
Wearing it out ’cause it looks better weathered.

I’m learning Disaster Forecasting!
Song: “The Stars”

Relevant Lyrics:
Didn’t want a wave but a wave was coming.
We didn’t wanna swim but the cities were sinking.
Though we wanted to react we were too busy sleeping
Through the ground that was shaking and the bass was thumping.
There’s a tidal wave coming, so you’d better start learning to swim.
I should have seen this coming!
It could not have been more obvious!
Like the storm that Noah dreamed,
Except bigger and more ominous.

I’m learning Social Skills!
Song: “The Popular Thing”

Relevant Lyrics:
Everybody else, everybody’s doing it.
If you wanna do the popular thing
Well, then follow away
But if you wanna find something unique,
You can’t look that way.

I’m learning To Practice Safe Sex!
Song: “The Popular Thing” (This song was in a children’s movie!)

Relevant Lyrics:
Have a kiss, babe, one little kiss
You will never, never, never, never miss it
Cause when you get kissed you also kiss.
One thing then leads to another
(something something) you make her a mother
(something something) til-death-do-you-part
But not because everybody else, everybody else,
Everybody’s doing it.

Ok, seriously I am not sure what they are saying in that verse but I’m pretty sure it’s about not getting pregs. Good advice! Can anyone else decipher those mystery lines?

With that, scholars, I leave you to form your own opinions of the album, to live it, but most importantly to learn from it. What have you learned from this band?  Jukebox the Ghost are my new Yoda. Sorry, actual Yoda from Star Wars (my previous Yoda).

The rumor was circling Twitter all day yesterday—Jukebox the Ghost on Letterman! Jukebox on TV! Gonna shake hands with Donald Trump! Et ceterahhhh. I thought it might be a hilarious joke until all of their music friends reposted it with genuine enthusiasm, not more hilarious jokes.

As it turns out, yesterday afternoon, our dears in JtG donned their finest denim blazers and made their network debut by playing “Schizophrenia” off of next week’s Everything Under the Sun. (Order it, dawgs!)

I know I’m easily charmed, especially by this band, but here’s why: you can see the joy in their little faces to be playing right there at that exact moment, and that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Now I really need to find a place to live, because I plan to celebrate by ordering a ticket to see these guys at Mississippi Studios next month.

Start practicing your Siegel Salsa! Tour dates listed after the jump in case you’re still hemming and hawing. And hat tip to the Audio Perv, who appear to be the originators of this sweet video!

I’m on the road with Liz and Wes, which is of course tons of fun! Also, I have access to the music news, so here’s a bit of it that I might have blogged (I originally wrote blgoged there, which sounds like a delicious Korean dish) about if we weren’t busy having sing-alongs, eating fresh fish, and drinking wine.

• JENNY AND JOHNNY! JENNY AND JOHNNY! Stream I’m Having Fun Now on NPR! I’m only about two glorious tracks in, but I’ll get a review together eventually. Expect a bit too much fawning; as you know, Jenny Lewis can do almost no wrong in my eyes.
• Related: Aren’t Jenny and Johnny adorbs in this video from Spin? They show their industrial/cabin loft, which features a framed cardboard cutout from the movie The Wizard, a sensitive plant, Stumptown Coffee (PDX, whaaaaat!), and, uhhh, more!
• ESSENTIAL PORTLAND MUSIC NEWS: Jenny Lewis mail-orders Stumptown Coffee! No, not just that. Somehow, I’ve been in Oregon for two months and not mentioned Elliott Smith at all! That is a travesty. I’m ashamed of myself. Kill Rock Stars is releasing a compilation of his most essential tracks. For the uninitiated, Smith wrote some of the most beautiful acoustic music to emerge from the Northwest during the grungiest days of grunge. Then he stabbed himself in 2003 before finishing the epic album From a Basement on a Hill. Unrelated fun fact, Smith played the clarinet in high school!
• ESSENTIAL SEATTLE MUSIC NEWS: When we got to the city, Liz thought aloud, “They can’t still be trading on Kurt Cobain out here, can they?” And then his grandfather was on the cover of the Seattle Weekly. If I could find the article, I’d link it. But I didn’t even read it, so, I’ll instead recommend the exhibit, KURT, at the Seattle Art Museum, as well as the Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum for general awesomeness. Liz and Wes ran into the Black Eyed Peas at the museum!
• Hey, SSLYBY’s new album is out! I just bought it. In my defense, I don’t have a house, job, or reliable internet connection. Review to come!
• Jukebox’s U.S. tour is on sale! Get your tickets! There is no one more excited than I about this album and tour! NOT EVEN THE BAND THEMSELVES. Ok, they might be more excited.

Welp, I’m off to explore the Oregon coast! We’re in the town where Goonies was filmed, and I for one can’t wait to do the truffle shuffle all over the place.

Woooooo, I return to the blogging world with fantastic news!!!!

So since I have been home in PA for the summer, I have had little reason to blog, since nobody comes here, but on one of my many sojourns into NYC last week, me and my two old roommates Cal and Marcus were able to catch possibly the most exciting surprises of the summer.

Let me just start with the venue, 92Y Tribeca. an off-shoot of the 92nd st YWHA.  Now, when I hear YWHA, I think a pool, a gym, maybe some daycare, and maybe a racquetball court. I figured they must be playing in either the gym, or maybe some social area.  What we got was a swanky lounge complete with tables, plush seating, and get this A FULL BAR.  Not just a full bar, but a nice glass-topped bar with a huge selection and exorbitant prices ($3 for a PBR?  Get the fuck out).  I also don’t remember there being any age restrictions on the show, so the bar was a double surprise.

We got to the show right as the show was starting, and JtG was opening with perennial show opener “Good Day.”  After getting the audience on their side, they dropped a bomb so explosive I was taken aback.  They played their entire new album “Everything Under the Sun” in its entirety.  I’m not gonna lie, it was pretty effing amazing.  The audience was into the show the whole time, from the favorites that they have been hearing for months like “Empire” and “Mistletoe” to the new songs that they just started playing this summer like “Summer Sun”(my personal favorite) and “The Sun” (I see a theme forming here).

Due to my incessant stalking of JtG, the only song I hadn’t heard before was “The Popular Thing” (which apparently was used in the film Diary of a Whimpy Kid, and is a pretty damn solid song) but by hearing them in the album order they gained a new layer of amazingness.  I’m also super upset that “Ghosts in Empty Houses” did not make the cut onto the album, despite it being their only song ever about ghosts.

After giving the crowd such a treat, it was almost heartbreaking to know that we won’t get to hear these songs again until September 7th when their album comes out, or even later if like me you are gonna wait to buy it at their album release show (or you can go see them at Lollapalooza, which I am too poor to do but I like speaking for large crowds of people).

Not ones to leave a crowd on such a down note, they came back out with an encore of old classics, including their current terribly awesome 90′s cover in this case “I Love You Always Forever” which really seemed to piss off the asshole in front of me who had no sense of personal space, and really loved dancing like an idiot for the rest of the show.  Direct Quote: “I came here to hear their songs, not some shitty 90′s cover” I feel like he kinda missed the point.

To cap off everything, and to make a perfect show even more surreal, before the encore, Jesse whipped some random object into the crowd, only for an Everything Under the Sun themed stress ball to serendipitously come to rest between my feet (insert scene of Katie screaming with jealousy).

I’m literally laying on my couch, catching up on Twitter, and rasping “OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD.” Here’s some amazing indie rock news for y’all:

• Miniature Tigers video for “Gold Skull.” The song is a little synth-heavy for my taste, but still pretty in a weird, dreamy way.  The video? WTF, guys. (Stereogum)
• Related: Miniature Tigers TOUR DATES. I know I just missed them in DC, which is why I have to see them in Oregon in July when they’re touring in support of Fortress which I believe drops July… 7th? 17th? Fuck if I know…. (Due blogger diligence…) My research says the 27th which is neither of the dates I guessed. (Myspace)
• IN EXTREMELY IMPORTANT JUKEBOX THE GHOST NEWS their new album has a title—Everything Under the Sun— and a release date of September 7th. Also they have a promo video that features “Empire,” my favorite live song that isn’t “Temptation.” The question remains: who are the people giving testimonials in that video, and why aren’t I one of them? I’m like Superfan A#1. (Consequence of Sound)
• Have you ever heard of Musicfest NW? I hadn’t either, but since I’ll be out there and it sounds sweet, I’m going. The festival takes place in Portland on Sept 11th and 12th. The Decemberists and the National will be headlining. The rest of the lineup was announced today. I look forward to previewing some of the bands performing! (MFNW)
• Speaking of the National, apparently there are still tickets to see them in DC on June 6th at D.A.R. You could keep my friend Leise company!
• Finally, even if I was still working, I would have gotten equally if not more into yesterday’s #passiveaggressivebands meme on Twitter. Poutkast and Whateverclear are some faves, but doesn’t Death Cab for Someone With Personality deserve more credit? Same with Ra Ra Angry Blog Post When I Get Home. I crack myself up. Also, hey, if you’re on Twitter, why don’t you follow me? I’ll follow you too as long as you’re not a spammer/weird porn account/”social media guru.”