Now Hear This: Getting Your Shit Together Edition

What's all this business I hear about growing up? People are always saying things to me like, "Just you wait, someday you won't like living in a dirty loft with six roommates," and, "I can't wait 'til you get sick of wiping the noses of concave-chested scenesters," and also, "Buy some high heels and get a real job." And I'm like, "Whoa, guys!" First of all, I only have five roommates and our loft is pretty clean, and secondly, I will wipe my imaginary boyfriend's nose if he needs it because I'm helpful like that, and you should know that I wore heels out the other night for the first time ever and they almost killed me. I think growing up is less about fitting some dumb "grownup 2.0" mold and more about figuring out how to jerry-rig the universe to let you do whatever it is you happen to like doing, even if it's a silly thing like writing and not lawyering or investment banking or putting sprockets into widgets on an assembly line. I think everyone needs a reminder sometimes that you shouldn't let people make you feel bad for being yourself, especially if those people are your own crazy family, to whom I will say glass motherfucking houses and leave it at that.

Matt and Kim Try Out to Be Suicidegirls

Not really but look how naked they are!



I know I've taken some good-natured jibes at them in the past, but Brooklyn's happiest party couple have won me over with their latest effort, Grand. It's all about being young and broke and psyched on life and staying up all night and having lots of lo-fi fun.

Lock knees, no keys/ Brooklyn, Grand Street/ Four flights, late nights/ Black socks, white tights.

Sit back and wave through the daylight...
Step back and here comes the night time.

I bought my first watch but it feels all wrong.

How could I not have a soft spot for them when they're singing about my goddamn life?

The music itself is simple as always, and Matt's omnipresent nasalness can get a little annoying towards the end, but they've upped their production quality and catchiness just enough to make Grand listenable for more than a few songs, even adding nice touches like handclaps, strings and electronic beats.

On the theme of making your childish passions work for you, let's juxtapose the Village Voice's video of Matt and Kim's apartment with a recent WTF Bacardi ad that syncs up "Daylight" with one fashionably scruffy young professional's quest across schmancy white people parties through the ages to find a mojito refreshing enough to make him forget he is not, in fact, Jake Gyllenhall.



I bet Kim bought a lot of ice cream with that check!

They're on tour to pretty much everywhere right now, and I defy even the grumpiest of you to last through their set without catching the smiles.

Orphan

If you like your boy-girl duos more evil than adorable, here's some stronger stuff for you. With their bass and drums setup, Orphan is bound to get compared to experimental noise rockers Lightning Bolt, but to my grateful ears, the two aren't all that similar. Contrary to their name (which, for me, conjures some jacked, twitchy orphan packing sharp swords with which to avenge his parents' deaths), they have deep roots in 70's blues metal as well as grunge, hardcore, and weirder art metal motifs.

I discovered Orphan when they opened for the also-great Pontiak at the lower east side's Cake Shop. Despite sparse attendance, they rocked their black little hearts out. Badass drummer chick Speck Brown pounds classically menacing, Sabbath-esque beats straight into your brain while Brendan Majewski screeches doomsday lyrics and grinds through distorted, catchy riffs to kill you with, proving once again that bass is the best instrument if you're good enough to play it like a lead guitar.

They also make funny videos with footage culled from youtube:



Their latest album, Aborted by Birth, came out on white vinyl with great cover art and a run of 666 (awesome). I'm embarrassed I slept on this one for so long.

Love Is All Is All You Need

Even grownups need to dance it out sometimes. Thankfully, everyone's favorite Swedish indie popsters are back with a new E.P. and tour. I've always liked Love Is All for the balance they strike between noise (distorted guitars, lo-fi production, skronky sax) and pure, joyous pop. Delivered in Josephine Olausson's cute, accented wail, lyrics about love, loss, and loneliness make me want to do a happy-sad dance of identification before lying down and spooning with my cat.

They're currently touring Europe and the U.S. and bring copies of their new E.P. with them, which consists of covers of their favorite Swedish classics (in Swedish!). Because they only made 200 copies, they're also giving the music away online. Spread the love.



Camera Obscura

Do you ever wish you could stop falling in love with people who suck? When I grow up, I'm only ever going to love people who love me back. Psyche! You can't control who you fall in love with. What you can control, however, is how you deal with it. Camera Obscura's Tracyanne Campbell deals with it a lot on the recently released My Maudlin Career, with too-close-to-home lyrics like these:

Ooh and how many times will I let you get away with murder?
Ooh and how many times will you make me feel more alive?

I was waiting to be struck by lightning,
Waiting for somebody exciting like you,
I wanted to control it,
But love, I couldn't hold it...
I was criticized for letting you break my heart.

This maudlin career has come to an end,
I don't want to be sad again.

I feel you, Tracyanne. But then you wouldn't make beautifully sad pop songs anymore. And you wouldn't be playing those songs all over the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. right now, either. It's a bittersweet trade off.

The music has matured too, with touches of '50s girl group and country, and lovely string arrangements. And according to twitter, which doesn't fucking lie, it's a current favorite of Missy's. What more do you need? Buy that shit, put it on, and pretend you run a bangin' girly website. Or just hold yourself and sway back and forth while spooning with your cat, that is, if you're flexible enough.





Hunter is a Brooklyn-based writer currently contributing to Vice, The New York Press, Impose, and The L Magazine. If you email her at hunter.suicide AT gmail DOT com, chances are she'd love to add your publication to that list. Seriously, she's got some time on her hands.


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