Saturday Songs – Nov. 19

1. “On Your Porch” – The Format

Not too long ago, I stumbled upon this song—a sad, vivid depiction of a young man’s relationship with his dying father. Buoyed by a mellow harmonium line and a few toned-down drum parts, the song is largely acoustic guitar, partly strummed but mostly picked. Over that fabric, the singer collects some haunting images: “I was on your porch / The smoke sank into my skin / So I came inside to be with you.”

The entire time I was listening to this song (probably seven or eight times in a row at one point), I kept wondering: whose voice is this? The voice was unmistakably familiar. It was the same sense of familiarity I’d had when I heard Desaparecidos’ Read Music/Speak Spanish. When I found out that Conor Oberst was behind the raw sound of that band, I was at once shocked and yet totally unsurprised. Although I’ve never been an Oberst junkie, I have always respected him for being able to at once turn a phrase (more like several phrases) and write a melody. That fact that Desparecidos and Bright Eyes were both vehicles for a versatile songwriter was no surprise.

Likewise, I wasn’t surprised to find out that Nate Ruess was behind “On Your Porch.” For those unfamiliar with Ruess, not only is the voice of the now-disbanded The Format, he’s also the voice behind the indie band fun. (To be clear, that’s “fun.” with a lowercase f and a period.) In fact, fun. has previously been featured on Saturday Songs with their song “All The Pretty Girls.” That song, which I deemed a “maniccross-polination of Electric Light Orchestra and Queen,” could not be any further away from this mournful tune. But, as is the case with Oberst, that’s what you get with versatile songwriters.

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2. “Hymn 101” – Joe Pug

I’m almost at a loss to explain why Joe Pug hasn’t yet made an appearance on Pueblo Waltz. Although hailing from Chicago, Pug sounds as if he might have walked straight out of deepest Appalachia and then taken a few shots with Townes himself. I think the obvious comparison is to The Tallest Man On Earth, Kristian Matsson, but that would be a slight to Pug’s voice. Unlike Matsson, whose grating (if entirely interesting) voice has “Dylan” written all over it, Pug’s voice manages the neat feat of sounding world-weary, but never whiny.

There’s also my less explicable sense that when Matsson sings about “[holding] a pony by a flagging mane,” I buy the performance a few jots less than when Pug sings, “And I’ve come to meet the sheriff and his posse / To offer him the broadside of my jaw.” As much as I love Matsson, he comes across as a little too precious. Pug, on the other hand, sounds like the real deal.

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3. “Inní mér syngur vitleysingur” - Sigur Rós

As bad of a music critic as it makes me sound, I will admit that I listened to Sigur Rós for the first time this past week. As much press as they’ve gotten over the past several years that I’ve been an avid reader of music criticism and journalism, you’d think I’ve have been at least a little curious…especially given the fact that their body of work is almost entirely not English—either Icelandic or gibberish. After all, the success of non-English speaking bands in the United States is almost unheard of.

Anyways, feeling somewhat better than I was finally introducing myself to them, I sat down for their most recent album Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust. And I loved it. It was bizarre and otherwordly; some songs were perfect pop songs and others were meandering aural explorations. The sheer range of the album’s soundscapes was staggering.

This song was one of the songs I latched onto from the get-go. It’s fun—something I hadn’t expected Sigur Rós to be. It was also one of the best pop songs I’ve heard in a long time. Everything about it—from the mysterious, Icelandic lyrics to the final blast of trumpets and keyboards that closes out the song—was brilliant. Apologies, Sigur Rós, that I’ve ignored you for so long; I will visit Takk… in the near future…

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4. “The Fireplace Poker” – The Drive-By Truckers

I drop this tune into the Saturday Songs because I saw the Drive-By Truckers for the second time this year last Wednesday night. They were, of course, fantastic. In some ways, the show was an improvement on the concert over this past summer: more Mike Cooley songs, more stage chatter out of Patterson Hood, and an encore that stretched far away from the typical three songs into several.

But the highlight for me was the third tune they played—“The Fireplace Poker”—which is off their most recent album Go Go Boots. The song is the story of a small-town reverend who pays a high school buddy to murder his wife so he can take up with another woman. For those who don’t know the song, I won’t spoil the story, but it should be obvious that some serious problems ensue.

Despite how many times I’d listened to the studio version, the song assumed a new kind of life hearing it coming directly from Hood. The song might be dark as hell, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a fun one.

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5. “Come Back Home” – Matthew Mayfield

Entering into a solo career after the demise of his band Moses Mayfield, Mayfield pushes towards Goo Goo Dolls territory with this album—not that it’s a bad thing. “Come Back Home” is at once intimate and anthemic, breaking out into a giant chorus around the two-minute mark that you don’t see coming, especially on the tail of his warm, gruff voice. Download the entire album for free of Noisetrade below.

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I want to make an offer here: if you have any music to suggest to me or music that you’d like me to review (keep in mind that I want to maintain the directness and critical value of my site at all costs…so don’t go submitting your own music or that of a close friend unless you want to risk my hearty disapproval—I am not cruel, but I am honest), then I would welcome the ideas and suggestions. If you think you’ve got some music that I would really dig, then please pass it along! You can leave a comment below or send me an email at tjcpoet@gmail.com. Thanks for reading!