Quickie: The Indelicates

Ye gods - July 9?! It seems I'm lazier than even my teachers assumed. Luckily I don't have to deal with educators for the time being, and with my fiance in another part of the continent I'll focus on the blog.

I'll start with The Indelicates. I talked about them before, but didn't really do them justice. As you probably know, they sound twee and are actually rather deep if you read their lyrics without the superbly constructed musical background. They take social observation to its most pervasive heights, and you should expect to find yourself rather critical if you hear them on a regular basis.

Since I've already said most of what I could in previous posts, I'll talk a bit about my top 3 songs of theirs.

1. Sixteen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcM9QsZNRxM
(lyrics)
Let's go to town and switch the magazines
Drink milkshakes until we're sick
Oh oh, it'll be so funny
Oh oh, it'll be so funny
Drop ace drum and bass feat. Hitler and Chairman Mao
If we don't do it now then someone else will
Oh oh, it'll be so funny
Oh oh, it's the power not the money

This scene is the scene to be seen in
Not that the scene is what we'd be seen with
We just wanna be 16 (16) 16 (16)
Even though we're 23
Yes, the scene is populated by older people living the way the wish they'd lived as teenagers. It's one of the funniest songs I've ever heard, mainly because it takes one look around at any indie gigs to see what they mean. Let's not get into Myspace.

2. Waiting for Pete Doherty to Die
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eq9ZGxJN_p0&feature=related
(lyrics)
Someone come and tap this pain!
I haven't cried since Kurt Cobain.
Take my money all away
I never earned a penny anyway
Give me drugs and give me sex and
Blood diseases! Broken legs!
Give me peace and give me news
Cry me to sleep with the blues.
I remember I made a card for a friend's birthday last year. Amongst other quotes I wrote "give me drugs and give me sex and blood diseases, broken legs, give me peace and give me news, cry me to sleep with the blues" in a spiral in the middle of the page. I couldn't remember where the quote was from, try as I might it wasn't on any lyrics website, but it goes to show how good songwriting becomes as much part of the listener as the artists themselves. "Someone come and tap this pain / I haven't cried since Kurt Cobain" is another one of their brilliant observations. Think Jimi Hendrix. Tim and Jeff Buckley. Nick Drake. Sid Vicious. Elliott Smith.

3. New Art for the People
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsYvIpoS5Dk
(lyrics)
Under the covers forever
Everything well within reach
A small price to pay for our freedom
And for our celebrity
Such ornaments and gorgeous things
Like string lights at the beach
Intensive care and conditioned air
And our faces on tv
And it's so sad but they're so glad that you're so bad for me
The dark days ahead and the blood on the bed and the cover of the nme
They gave us a cheque and took us by our necks and swore undying loyalty
We'll make a new art for the people,
A new art for the people
A new art for the people
You and me.
The video shows how the song was obviously about the relationship between Kate Moss and Pete Doherty. Is this a recurring theme we see? In any case, it's perfectly constructed. Check out the change in rhythm at 2:17. Once again, lovely songwriting and wonderful craftsmanship.

The runners-up were Our Daughters Will Never Be Free (on the death of feminism) and Fun Is for the Feeble-Minded (on the sheer stupidity of nostalgia - like they say, you can't have the '60s without the Vietnam War).

Go buy their records and catch one of their shows! They're even better live.