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Mcluskyās thoughtful, weirder alter ego. Five perfect albums. Starting points: Suddenly Itās a Folk Song, Arming Eritrea, Goals in Slow Motion, I Am The Least Of Your Problems, Beneath the Waves an Ocean
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The Laās made their first and only album three times, and rejected all three for not being good enough. The label got fed up and released the third attempt without frontman Lee Maversā permission. Mavers has dismissed it ever since as being āall fucked up like a snake with a broken back.ā I get that itās his burden to strive for perfection, but his failure is my inspiration.
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I relistened to this album a while back and have been stuck on it for months. There is not a single wrong note, not a single moment of hesitation on the whole record. It is pop rock written and performed with a despotic level of focus. As far as songwriters go, Lee Mavers may well be the equivalent of a mad scientist deep underground trying to create a perfect vacuum night after night. The songs are concentrated, some of them so economically structured that they barely even exist. They may not be ambitious in scope or message, but they are crystal clear statements.Ā
I love Lee Maversā voice more than anything, he sings like he wishes his voice could be as perfect as a guitar. Heās straining so hard, he hits each note so squarely on its head, never a syllable out of time, heās got no room for attitude, heās trying to write songsā¦
Feb 6, 2025
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In March of 2023 I was on tour with my band Trophy Wife. We had just played a set on the second date in a dingy hardcore bar in Philly that was selling microwaved White Castle sliders and packs of American Spirit for cheap. Ahead of us was a 17 hour drive to New Orleans that would have to be made in one day.
I woke up in the backseat somewhere in between and leaned my head on the window beside me. It was pitch black but before sunrise. The road becomes something different when you're traveling for that long, resembling more of a habitat than a construct with its own set of strict rules and guidelines. In the dark, protected by the shell of a Honda CRV, I would watch the trucks pass by like behemoth steed; big iron whales, and I am so small.
'Wooly Mammoth's Absence' became gospel during that drive. I found it before we left, sometime during our day in Philly when I was getting ready for the show. I listened alone at first, the woody nylon guitars and hushed words of Phil Elverum were a trusted secret for my ears only.
Once I showed it to them we discovered multiple versions of the song that were released over the years, my favorite of which is the first one I heard, from 'Seven New Songs'. It was a perfect companion; something wiser than me that kept me moving forward, like the only torch in a dungeon.
"Quickly forgotten was this forgetful way of life, when I left home and I lived as if I had died" he still sings quietly, and only for me.
Jan 26, 2024
My friend Matthew Caws went about his music career completely backward.
His band, Nada Surf, had an MTV hit very early in their career, "Popular," and were then dropped (let go, get it?) by the major label that signed them and proceeded to make the best album of their careers on an indie label, without pressure or deadline.
As he told me once: "It's as if we got to start over again, a new band."
Matthew was living a musical life; working in a Brooklyn record store called Earwax, going to shows, writing music. In a way, "Let Go" is a record that asks "what if you had a second chance to do it all over again, the way YOU wanted to do it all along?" And then diving from head to toe into that opportunity.
I've had "Let Go" kicking around in one format or another for more than twenty years and always find something new to love about it; isn't that the very definition of "Favoritte album?"
"Blizzard of '77:" A mellow little piece of recoverred (drug) memory with a decidedly Elliott Smith vibe to it. Produced by then-Death Cab for Cutie member Chris Walla for $100, which the band paid to him in $1 and $5 bills from their merch sales at shows.
"Treading Water:" Linked here, the sound of what adulting in Manhattan looked like then (and still does). "Always rushing, always late."
"Neither Heaven Nor Space:" just high. "And if you sit long enough, you can hear ghost trains/As if the city speed is just in our brains/And coke's as close as we get to sugar cane."
"Blonde on Blonde:" Living that below-14th Street life, soundtracked by Dylan.
"Paper Boats:" a floaty, dreamy ode to depression. "Been thinking and drinking, all over the town/Must be gearing up for some kind of meltdown."
Years later, Matthew and I met up while they were recording their album "Lucky" at a live-in studio in Seattle called Robert Lang (it's the same place where Dave Grohl recorded the first Foo Fighters album). He had just discovered he was a dad and was in the middle of a custody fight over the child -- the mother hadn't told him it was his, there were lots of complications -- and we were comparing notes on fatherhood and just generally in the same headspace about having plenty of problems but being fortunate to have them. He's one of my favorite humans and "Let Go" is his masterpiece.
Oct 2, 2024
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Today is one year since my top surgery. My tits served me well but they no longer sparked joy. there is so much anti-trans sentiment about yucky surgery, but I would go through my recovery ten times over to have the fucking awesome chest I have now. I want to go topless everywhere all the time.
Jan 27, 2024
