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September 28, 2005
a chest full of wet and angry cotton
When Wolf Parade played the Believer showcase back in the beginning of June, the setlist was both amazing and confusing. Even though the name of the 'written-last-week' song is still a mystery, and the one with the 'Be My Baby' beat attached to it by Arlen is still unknown, at least one thing's for certain- that jammed out version of 'You Are A Runner and I Am My Father's Son' is actually a Spencer-stitched medley, where the stark observations of 'Runner...' flow right into the assault of 'Fancy Claps'- so seamlessly that you'd think the songs had originally been conjoined.
Since 'Fancy Claps' had the distinction of being the only true new song on "Apologies...", there was a lot of expectation surounding it. And I think it's actually one of Spencer's best songs; the music is dramatic and haunting, and the lyrical imagery is on par with 'You Are A Runner...', 'I'll Believe in Anything', and 'Snake's Got A Leg' as some of his most compelling. If there's one surface theme that runs through his lyrics, it's the emphasis he places on body parts (either synecdochically or as body parts qua body parts): the mouth and heart in 'You Are a Runner...', the eyes, bones, blood and voice in 'I'll Believe in Anything', and the feet and hair in 'Fancy Claps'. I like especially when Krug imagines himself as a sort of Lilliputian, tiny enough to be stowed easily in the tresses of someone's hair, small enough to crawl down someone's throat to gently graffiti their heart's wall.
Wolf Parade are on tour now (sometimes with Dante DeCaro and Think About Life as openers), and they put on a good show, so you should try to get out to see them.
Thanks very much to You Ain't No Picasso's Matt for the live recording. Too nice.
p.s. I have the flu, or something like bronchitis and pain mixed together in my chest. That's why this was so late and semi-incoherent.
Posted by Kevin at September 28, 2005 10:51 PM