Moldy peaches, Black Eyes, and Overbites: My Worst is Their Best

I have always tried to avoid schoolyard fights that lead to black eyes, my braces and headgear, which I wore to correct my overbite, and well.. moldy peaches. These have been the stuff that bad childhood memories were made of. But as I am growing up, I realize that maybe all of these things are not so bad after all. Maybe I should welcome some music which defies the sickly sweet nature of pop, and the delicate softness of folk. And I am going to face my demons, in music and in life.

As a child, my favoriate book was James and the Giant Peach. I can only imagine what would come of a peach that size, were it to, um, rot. I don't believe it would be good. I have been convinced though, that the band The Moldy Peaches is in fact not really rotten, but somehow in defiance of that which is too perfect, pretentious and sweet. Supported in their rise to success by some in the family connections with the band The Strokes, The Moldy Peaches has made significant progress in American and especially European charts over the past few years. I can best describe their sound as AFNY or, anti-folk new york. anti-folk is to folk what no wave is to new wave; it is a retaliation. Anti folk is a movement of bands out of the beat cafes which would not accept them, and into the clubs that saw the potential of energetic and sometimes abrasive music. One song that particularly strikes my fancy is Jorge Regula, a song with a strange off key trumpet, and a sing along verse. It is like a campfire song for downtrodden 20 somethings, who are living in cities, who would rather not see the future.

The Black Eyes are a bit of a mystery to me. I am not sure where they live, or why they exist, but they do, and I am glad about it. Their song Deformative Has a discopunk feel, in line with bands like the Rapture and the Moving Units. the vocals are something like the Taking Heads versus Le Tigre in a mighty duel. Deformative is not the type of song your mother would like, it grates on your soul, and moves you to action. A perfect dorm dance party song. It makes me wish I had given Marchelle Miles two black eyes in the 7th grade, when she deserved them instead of being chased through park all the way home, but at least now I can dance my revenge.

It could be The Overbites that will wreck social havoc upon our youth, or maybe just play stange happy songs to annoy the grumpy majority. And so they will challange the music scene of New york. I would watch out, because Snap Rabbit and Dee Cup are out to change the face of the boring Pysche scene. These two ladies are jamming with fancy xilaphones, bells, and tamborines. they have some neat rythmic harmonies and a lo-fi sound that compares to both forementioned bands. I especailly like The Long Ride For the magical harmonies.

Yea.. I guess my childhood bad memories aren't so bad, now that I have some positive outlook on past pain. Thanks bands.