Well, I don't know if I would go that far, but I stumbled on to the newest effort by a band called The Weepies last week, and I keep going back and back again to this cd. In this age of ipod shuffle (and yeah for Mom and Dad for getting me the new ipod for Christmas), where no matter how much you may like a song it might be just too much trouble to spin the little dial to find it to listen to it, that's saying a lot.
The Weepies aren't so much a band as a couple of folkies who have hooked up to cut an album. But Deb Talan and Steve Tannan meld together seamlessly, with simple lyrics and a sound that is a little haunting even though it never veers far from poppy and rarely hits a minor key. My favorite cut, Gotta Have You is a catchy, missing you song and given that I am stuck in D.C. apart from my dear Tara it's not hard to see why I might be attracted, but the song cheekily thumbs its nose at life's vices, boiling it all down to what's important - "No amount of coffee, no amount of cryin', no amount of whiskey, no amount of wine, no no, no, no, no. Nothing else will do, I gotta have you." In World Spins Madly On, Tannan shows off his stuff in his comment on the inexplicable way the sun always continues to come up after a love has slipped off into the ether. Also a stand out is Nobody Knows Me at All, a take on the anonymity and isolation that can permeate even the happiest soccer dad's life. It's short, plucky melody would be at home on the soundtrack of the show Weeds, where cynicism and sweetness mix to create an arresting scene of domestic bliss gone slighty askew.
There are other nuggets to find in the album, so check it out.
