« Drugbees | Main | Kabuki Olympics »
February 07, 2005
I'm in mourning
Recoys - Shake Off Your Nerve
Speaking as I was (or writing as I was) of bands in the Walkmen family tree, the Recoys were the band that nurtured the talents of Hamilton Leithauser (W-men lead singer and Recoys frontman), and Pete Bauer (bass). 'Shake Off Your Nerve' is definitely proto-'Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me is Gone', viz. replace the harmonica in this song with an organ, and you've got yourselves a Walkmen track (which actually, 'Blizzard of '96', and 'That's the Punchline' were both written as Recoys songs).
'Shake Off Your Nerve' rocks as hard as anything the Walkmen have released, with a real galloping drumbeat and a sheer wall of harmonica lament (+ weird semi-barbershop back-up vocals) to accompany Hamilton's swagger and shout (who has never sounded more like Mick Jagger than he does in this song). 'I did a dance in the beam of your flashlight there/out on the grass/under millions of stars' is one of the more evocative lines that Leithauser has ever written, and that, along with parts of the chorus ('C'mon kids/lets show off your haircut') make this song essential. (for some people)
Quick note: I might be a little distracted this week by my sorrow for the Eagles and by my insatiable hatred of the New England Patriots (how is this team at all likable? It's not. Tom Brady is a scruffy douchebag (did anyone see his interview with Bradshaw? It was bizarre to say the least) and Boston cares only about baseball- most of the people who count themselves as Pats fans now only realized last week that they still had a football team in Massachusetts. Deion Branch: please die).
Posted by matt at February 7, 2005 11:35 AM