Brooklyn’s The Jaguar Club have been playing around the city for a couple of years and have just finished up their debut album, which they recorded with Kevin McMahon (The Walkmen, Die Die Die, Frightened Rabbit) at Marcata Recordings. Their debut is full of perfectly crafted New Wave pop songs, with Will Popadic’s vocals soaring above it all.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse / Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
Picking one Neil Young song to talk about is an impossible task for me. This song is a great one to pull out when people complain that Neil is all about one note solos that last ten minutes. I also love the solos, and there are plenty of those later on this album, but the title track is a great little three minute country rock song. Everyone can relate to a little homesickness.
Rod Stewart / Mandolin Wind
This is off Every Picture Tells A Story. Rod has one of the truly great rock ‘n’ roll voices. An old boss turned me onto this early solo stuff, as well as The Faces, one summer. Before that I only knew the Rod Stewart of If You Think I’m Sexy. This song is overshadowed by Maggie May, which comes right before it on the record, but this is the better song. The feeling I get at the start of the outro when everything slams back together with the drums is the reason I play in bands.
Blur / Beetlebum
My favorite song by my favorite band from all the years when your favorite band really matters. We used to cover this in my high school band, The Huxtable Residence. We played it in my basement so much that my mom knew the words. It’s so dark and murky, yet really gorgeous. Graham’s playing is always incredible, but the ending of this song is extra amazing. To me it’s the epitome of what a band should be. You can hear each member’s distinct voice, but they’re all working together to create a perfect piece of music.
Talking Heads / Nothing But Flowers
This is off their last album, Naked, the one with the monkey on the cover. I think the guitars on the later bigger production Talking Heads songs are at the root of my longtime obsession with very clean guitar sounds. I used to try and play this song in my room with tab printed off the internet. It’s the lyrics that really make this one, though.
Pavement / Gold Soundz
I associate this entire album with my first semester of college, specifically with afternoon naps. I’m not normally a napper, but I must have been staying up late a lot at the time, sampling living on my own. Its just a song that transplants me to certain time and place and stirs up lots of little memories of friends i’ve forgotten, girls I was into at the time, and just generally being eighteen. I guess that’s a fitting reaction to have to this song considering what the lyrics are about, as much as you can ever know what a Pavement song is about.
Idlewild / Readers & Writers
Idlewild’s new album was sold in advance to the diehard fans who essentially paid for the recording and production costs. I recently flew to Glasgow to see them play five nights in a row, so I suppose I fall into that category. I just picked this up at the post office after a very long wait. It’s great when bands do unexpected things, and this is certainly not a typical Idlewild song in any way. It’s very poppy and catchy and all centered on a joyful horn and xylophone riff. I couldn’t tell you what he lyrics are though, aside from the two words in the title.
David Bowie / Modern Love
The only song on this list that I really would consider a guilty pleasure, considering how much truly classic music Bowie has made, this is pretty fluffy stuff. Its not that I don’t love the classic 70s Bowie, but this song from Let’s Dance just has a certain perfect pop thing going on. I’d forgotten it existed until I heard a bizarre acoustic cover of it recently. But the real deal is far superior. Underneath the big reverbed drums and piano intro (kind of an 80s workout video vibe) there’s a really beautiful song. And Bowie kills it on the sax solo.
Damon Albarn-Mali Music / Sunset Coming On
Is it weird to put two Damon Albarn things on a list of only eight songs? Probably, but this album has been back in my life a lot recently. The most beautiful melody I’ve ever heard.
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