I keep a running playlist that (roughly) consists of all the songs I’ve heard in the past 4 or 5 months interesting enough to make me want to give them a few more listens but which fail to immediately grab me. I often listen to it on random, leading to some weird experiences. Sometimes a song will come on and I’ll think what in the world was I thinking? This is terrible. Other times it’ll be the sixth or seventh listen before I realize it’s fantastic. For instance, I probably listened to “I Am John” by Loney, Dear 15 or 20 times over the course of a few months last year before it occurred to me in a flash that I absolutely adored it.
The Age of Understatement – The Last Shadow Puppets
And then there’s times like today. This song came on and my thought process was the following:
1. Hey, this isn’t bad
2. It really sounds like the Arctic Monkeys.
3. Well, musically, not really. It’s like, more dancey, and macabre, and vaguely disco. It’s just…the singer is a dead ringer for the Monkeys.
4. That’s a shame. This sounds like a pretty interesting band, actually. Why would they have the singer so obviously mimic them? Sure it’s an easy way to sell some records but you need to carve out your own place, y’know?
[checks internet]
5. [Sheepishly] I’m an idiot.
They’ve got a full album out called The Age of Understatement.