Things I Like
 
What's a blog for if not to tell people things you like that they should be liking too?

I've discovered some guys I really really like.  Coming home from B'burg one Sunday afternoon, I heard a weekend version of NPR's "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross.  The guests were a band called One Ring Zero.  I'd never heard of them before.

They're two guys, Joshua Camp and Michael Hearst, who met while working at the Hohner Harmonica Factory in Richmond, VA.  They bonded over their love of a weird instrument called the claviola, a combination between an accordion and a breathalyzer.  (The claviola apparently flopped horribly and, after very few were made, production stopped altogether.)

So they decided to get together and form a band, having the claviola be the heart of their sound.  Well, first of all, they formed a Klezmer band called the Klezbians.  Then they went on to form the band who became One Ring Zero.

That story alone was egging me on to go check them out.  Then I heard about their new album.

Their new album, called "As Smart As We Are," contains songs - yes, songs! - with all the music written by the One Ring Zero guys, and all the lyrics written by famous authors.  Let's see, we have Dave Eggers, Daniel Handler, Jonathan Ames, Margaret Atwood, and many others.  

And that alone (even though it was now coupled with the story of the band) was egging me on to check them out.  Then I heard a soundclip in the interview.

It was for a song called "Radio," which starts out with an eerie yet rockin' claviola intro and launches with the couplet, "If I had a radio for every time you loved me so, I wouldn't have a radio at all."  I was hooked, and I knew as soon as I got home I'd be seeking out "As Smart As We Are" and ordering it for my very own.

So I got the album the first of this week (sadly, it didn't come in time for me to take it on my weekend trip).  And this album is so much fun, you all need to go out and buy it immediately.  The band - now, don't be scared by this - is somewhere between the Beatles and They Might Be Giants.  A couple of gals guest vocal on a few songs.

The above-mentioned "Radio" is without a doubt the fucking catchiest song I've heard since Fountains of Wayne's "Red Dragon Tattoo," and that's saying a lot.  But there's also "Natty Man Blues," the lament of how there's no Sin in Cincinnati, and "Half and Half," the unabashedly happy and carefree ode to hermaphroditism.  There's even a 28-second song whose lyric is a haiku.  Oh, and "Frankenstein Monster Song," where The Monster pleads for a woman.

The whole album is just infinitely interesting and fun, and you can get it at Amazon if not in your local record store.  So do that.

PS - I also really like the Office Max Rubberband Man.  He's just such a happy dude.  I wouldn't even mind going back to school in the fall if the Rubberband Man would come and bring me some neato supplies.

PPS - I also like Tony Packo's Pickles and Peppers.  They're probably eating the lining out of my stomach, but I like 'em.

PPPS - Any of the above can send me free stuff and I will accept it.