Make a Wish on a Satellite

"Better to light one candle than to curse the darkness."

--Old saying

"Listen to your heart

And it'll lead you through the dark 

'Cause somewhere in you 

Burns a light lit by some eternal spark."

--New saying

Joey and Kelly Kneiser (Glossary)

Neutral Skate Supply, Murfreesboro, TN

October 4, 2011

I'd like to send this one out to a dear friend on her coughcoughieth birthday. Shot just a few weeks ago at a hometown in-store, it's Joey and Kelly Kneiser of Glossary performing an acoustic duet on "Some Eternal Spark." You can hear this tune in slightly gussied up form on the band's new album, Long Live All Of Us (see below). At heart, though, this is a stripped-down country song with just a few moving parts: 3-4 chords, a simple melody, beautiful harmonies, nothing to hide behind. That piercing, stark beauty is one of the main reasons I love this band.

Like so many great country songs (several of which are already Joey's), it's about loss and hope and the distance in-between. It's about pain and the possibility of redemption. In other words, it's a love song. "The only thing I truly own, I can never touch or hold/No, it's buried in this body waiting for its day to go on home." That's as succinct a description of love as you're gonna find and I guarantee you, a thousand shitty songwriters would gladly stab a drifter in the neck to come up with that line. And it doesn't matter if the love is for your mama, your daughter, or maybe the first person you ever loved and never stopped loving ("a straight line will take you right back to where it all began"). In the end, your life comes down to a choice. Do you curse the darkness and wallow in your misery or do you light a candle with some eternal spark?

Listen to your heart

Lead you through the dark

Somewhere the moon

Burns like a candle lit by some eternal spark

Ain't nowhere to run or to go

The Earth's a giant sphere I know

And a straight line will take you right back to where it all began

So make a wish on a satellite and hold it close

‘Cause you know the stars all died a long time ago

And I've seen the Northern lights

But you make the South seem bright

So come on let me get you alone

We all got a hole to fill

Some try and try and it's empty still

I guess the blues, baby, the blues

Are just you crying somewhere down inside

If this is all we ever get

I'll learn to live with it without regret

Make the sweet a little sweeter

The pain a little easier to bear

And make a wish on a satellite and hold it close

‘Cause you know the stars all died a long time ago

I've seen the Northern lights

But you make the South seem bright

So come on let me get you alone

The only thing I truly own I can never touch or hold

No, it's buried in this body waiting for its day to go on home

But, listen to your heart

And it'll lead you through the dark

‘Cause somewhere in you

Burns a light lit by some eternal spark

So make a wish on a satellite and hold it close

‘Cause you know the stars all died a long time ago

I've told a thousand lies

Been lied to a thousand times

Looked up at a starry sky

And felt lucky to be alive

And I've seen the Northern lights

But you make the South seem bright

So come on let me get you alone

BUY LONG LIVE ALL OF US

Stream Album In Full + Download = $5

CD = $10

Black Vinyl = $12

Limited Edition Gold Vinyl = $12

PREVIOUSLY ON THE ADIOS LOUNGE

Check out all Glossary-related posts

Glossary Presents Long Live All Of Us Cinema

Y'all should know how much I love Glossary. I've posted about the band several times (click here to visit all Glossary-related posts) and last week they released their outstanding new album, Long Live All Of Us. However, preceding said release were a pair of video trailers you may not have seen. Allow me to rectify that for you.

Ladies and gents, you may know them for their soulful brand of southern roots-rock, but you probably didn't know that they arrived at this point in their careers because of their mad dance skills.

Trailer 2 (starring Bingham Barnes)

  

Trailer 3 (starring Kelly Kneiser and Todd Beene)
  

See, I automatically root for any band that can write passionate, heartfelt songs, yet also have the balls to poke a little fun at themselves. Imagine that, having a sense of humor. It's like reverse engineered Wilco. But, instead of Tweedy's pretentious, unlistenable shitstack™, Glossary gives you memorable riffs, melodies, and vocal harmonies, and you don't need to construct an intellectual Rube Goldberg device to "prove" its excellence. That's because Glossary's excellence is innate. Dig it, friends. THIS is what American music is supposed to sound like.

Glossary - A Shoulder To Cry On

BUY LONG LIVE ALL OF US

Stream Album In Full + Download = $5 (via This is American Music)

CD = $10 (via Last Chance Records)

Black Vinyl = $12 (via Last Chance Records)

Limited Edition Gold Vinyl = $12 (via Last Chance Records)

Vulture Whale: You'll Be Thanking Me Later

Vulture Whale is:

Wes McDonald - vocals, guitar, powdered wig
Les Nuby - guitar, bowchickawowwow
Keelan Parrish - bass, how low can you go?
Jake Waitzman - drums, both real and air

As the calendar turns to October and we cool down from the searing, brain-scrambling, triple-digit summer temps ("I really should've layered today, it might get down to 90."), let's take a look at an album that probably slipped through the cracks of our respective heatstrokes: Vulture Whale's Long Time Listener First Time Caller. I've written about the Whale before (see below) and this new album is one of the best releases of 2011 you probably haven't heard.

Strictly speaking, LTLFTC is also a return to form. Early last year, the band released the Bamboo You EP, which was musically in line with previous efforts, but featured McDonald inexplicably singing in a heavy, faux-British accent. While it was amusing in parts, it was also kind of annoying. I kept listening to it and thinking that the Green Day lead singer has to be rolling over in his grave. Oh, who am I kidding? We all know Billie Joe Whatshisnuts hires somebody to do his grave-rolling for him.

Photo: Liesa Cole 2011

Anyway, I say all that to say this. Long Time Listener features an acceptable level of faux-Brit vocals, along with a whole trunk full of the classic Vulture Whale sound: '70s cock rock mixed with '80s new wave. It's a strange combo of influences, best encapsulated by this list of McDonald's 10 favorite albums. The Cure and Van Halen? Mmmmm OK. However, this 21st century schizoid brew works, best illustrated by the whip-cracking leadoff track.

Vulture Whale - Devices

Straight-up swagger rock that reminds me of AC/DC. But, where the Highway to Hell was paved with Bon Scott's bad intentions, "Devices" ... and to an extent, LTLFTC as a whole ... is carried less by McDonald's singing than by the Nuby/Parrish/Waitzman power trio. Not that Wes doesn't have the leering vocals, it's just that this song is locked down by Nuby's spidery guitar work complementing the tornadic rhythm section.

Vulture Whale - Friday Night Video Fights

I've heard this tune compared to Dinosaur Jr. and I think that's fair. But, it really reminds me of that great southern rock institution, Superchunk (who've also received the Dino Jr. comparisons, and are equally apt). Take away McDonald's vocals and you're telling me that couldn't be the backing track to something off of On The Mouth or Foolish? Again, I love the push/pull dynamic of the rhythm section (for tension?), with guitar chords and minimal leads beautifully filling in the sound, and McDonald's voice riding on top. 3 minutes, in and out, this is the kind of economy more rock dudes should aim for.

Let The Drummer Get Wicked

I spend most of my time on the Lounge talking up guitarists and rhythm sections in general. But, let's give some love specifically to Vulture Whale drummer, Jake Waitzman, rockin' out here in a fierce, pitched battle at Air Drummerpalooza.



True story: Waitzman warms up before each show by punching lesser drummers in the face. Keep that in mind next time you're choosing bands for your Indie Rock Fantasy League. I also love that he chose to air drum to his own band's "Peace Out," a song that just so happens to appear on Long Time Listener First Time Caller. I'm sure most of the airdrum nerds were slapfighting each other over which Neil Peart song to use. Waitzman and his balls said, "F that." By the way, is it just me or when you hear "Peace Out" do you wonder to yourself, "I have this strange feeling that tonight there's gonna be a jailbreak somewhere in this town. If so, and I'm just spitballin' here, don't you think it's probably a good idea that I not be around?"

Buy the Damn Album Already!

I realize we live in an era when pretty much anyone younger than 30 thinks music is automatically free. So, here's my pitch on the Whale's behalf. You can stream the entire album (linked below) and decide if you like it. If you don't, no harm no foul, you'll be getting a visit from Waitzman's fists at some point in the near future.

If you do like it, you can either download it for $5 or buy an old-fashioned compact disc for $10, and that sucker comes with a free download. $10, big whoop. You were probably gonna do something stupid with that money like spend it on food for your kid. Trust me, my dad fed me with Ray Charles and Beatles records and other than periodic hallucinations, I turned out just fine. You don't hate your kid, do you?

Stream Full Album + Download = $5 (via This is American Music)
 
CD + Download = $10 (via Ol Elegante)
 
More Whale Watching

Introducing ... Vulture Whale (Adios Lounge)
 
SXSW Music: Tuesday @ Hole In The Wall (Adios Lounge)
 
SX Sam's Town Point 2011 (Adios Lounge)
 
Vulture Whale Website