Constrained Bliss Point

Last week I purchased Tegan & Sara’s new album Sainthood, which has quickly become my second favorite musical purchase this year. For those of you just tuning in, Tegan & Sara are Canadian identical twin lesbian singer-songwriters, which is even more awesome than it sounds. They are streaming their new album on Myspace, so if you’re into that sort of thing you can navigate over there and listen to their glorious tunes as you read the rest of my post. I implore you: such a decision is full of epic win.

Even though they are like seven years older than I am, I feel like I’ve been watching (listening) to them grow up. I was introduced to Tegan & Sara through Grey’s Anatomy, back when it was good. I think I bought their album So Jealous first, which was new at the time, and which, while I still like it a lot, was and stayed my least favorite of their albums. So Jealous was their third-or-so album at the time, not including a beautiful little gem called Under Feet Like Ours which they released on cassette when they were just starting out, and which you could order from a website that charged you in Canadian dollars.

Under Feet Like Ours was insanely worth the purchase. It is incredibly genuine, without the studio finish that comes with big budgets and famousness, and all the better for it. You can hear how T&S developed and matured through their albums. Every album is different, every one is good, and they all lead to where they are right now. Which, right now, just happens to be Sainthood, but it used to be The Con, and before that So Jealous (and then If It Was You and then This Business of Art).

And some day in the future they will grace us with something we will have been waiting for the whole time.

It is my firm contention that Ben Gibbard is among the top three lyricists of our age, if not the very best. Death Cab for Cutie is a fabulous band with a bunch of great tunes, and my only qualm about The Postal Service is that they only have the one album. I love their sound, but the lyrics keep me coming back.

For instance, check out My Mirror Speaks (YouTube video here). It’s got a sound that’s got me thinking it will be my favorite song for weeks if not months. Death Cab has done that to me far too many times. For a few more examples, check out Crooked Teeth, Title And Registration, We Looked Like Giants, Title Track, and to a lesser extent I Will Possess Your Heart (the whole thing, not the radio edit, because honestly the first four minutes are brilliant).

I purchased The Open Door EP for $4 at Best Buy, and it was perhaps my most efficient musical use of money to date. Cut from tracks that didn’t make Narrow Stairs, I actually consider it superior. For example, I just didn’t appreciate Talking Bird until I heard the demo version off Open Door. Come to find out I prefer when the song focuses on the acoustic guitar and not the bass.

If you don’t already like Death Cab for Cutie, you should seriously consider it.

I love nerdy bands, so it makes sense that I’d love Freezepop. Yes, I was introduced to them via Rock Band. My friends and I would have freeze pop parties where playing their song “Brain Power” was required.

The great thing about nerdy bands is their lyrics. My favorite is the first song on their Futurefuturefutureperfect album. I am convinced Freezepop wrote “Less Talk More Rokk” for one amazing line at the end: “Someone yells ‘less talk more rokk’ / mostly unironically”. The implication that someone could be ironic, but at the same time be partially unironic, is incredible to me.

Check it out, I implore you: