I have decided this week to put a stop to getting new music for one month* because, for awhile, I have had too much new music coming in to appreciate it all (and I was seriously spending about $100 a week on music. So there.). So, I'll be chronicling albums, artists, songs, whatever that I think about or forgot about for this month, with a new post every day.
Day 1a: Sugar Ray - Answer the Phone
For the past few days, unrelated to this, I have started an iTunes Smart Playlist based on the least-listened-to tracks in my library: anything that has a play count of less than 1, chosen at random. Most of the time, it plays things I had from before I converted everything to digital files that I simply haven't heard on iTunes/my iPod before (case in point: I am currently listening to "In the Light" by Led Zeppelin). Sometimes, though, a real gem comes through, and tonight, one of those gems is "Answer the Phone" by Sugar Ray.
It's what can be considered a minor hit for them, the first single for their eponymous album. I'm by no means a Sugar Ray fan -- I got pretty fed up by the 10 billionth time hearing "Every Morning," and still cringe a little when I hear it at the grocery store. But I am also willing to champion great pop songs, and Sugar Ray (the album) was full of great pop songs(extra sugar). I think I will defend, to my death, Avril Lavigne's The Best Damn Thing (it's like eating 12 sugar packets' worth of sugar through a Twizzler! I swear!).
"Answer the Phone" isn't quite in that league, but it was a pleasant surprise to have pop up in my random list while I was feeding my turtle. It's blasted with power chords and layered vocals. It's a stupid love song, but it does the trick, as far as catchy bullshit goes. Hell, it runs through damned near every relationship cliche I can think of (rollercoaster, phones, doin' it, "this bed is big"... doin' it)
I also always had a soft spot for it because Mark McGrath tries to go for sweetly desperate but dips his toes ever-so-gently into the creepy pool when the bridge repeats "I practiced all my lines on a telephone while you were sleeping" before slingshooting (is that a word?) itself directly into douchebagland by bragging about his sexual conquest and the fact that he's in a band. It's a hell of a jump from part A to part B, there.
Anyway, I'm not going to dwell on it because it's not like I discovered a miracle in my iTunes. I just think this song is pretty stellar. And I can say "stellar" because I'm talking about a band that peaked in the 90s.
*one exception: Prince's new albums, out at the end of the month.
Day 1a: Sugar Ray - Answer the Phone
For the past few days, unrelated to this, I have started an iTunes Smart Playlist based on the least-listened-to tracks in my library: anything that has a play count of less than 1, chosen at random. Most of the time, it plays things I had from before I converted everything to digital files that I simply haven't heard on iTunes/my iPod before (case in point: I am currently listening to "In the Light" by Led Zeppelin). Sometimes, though, a real gem comes through, and tonight, one of those gems is "Answer the Phone" by Sugar Ray.
It's what can be considered a minor hit for them, the first single for their eponymous album. I'm by no means a Sugar Ray fan -- I got pretty fed up by the 10 billionth time hearing "Every Morning," and still cringe a little when I hear it at the grocery store. But I am also willing to champion great pop songs, and Sugar Ray (the album) was full of great pop songs(extra sugar). I think I will defend, to my death, Avril Lavigne's The Best Damn Thing (it's like eating 12 sugar packets' worth of sugar through a Twizzler! I swear!).
"Answer the Phone" isn't quite in that league, but it was a pleasant surprise to have pop up in my random list while I was feeding my turtle. It's blasted with power chords and layered vocals. It's a stupid love song, but it does the trick, as far as catchy bullshit goes. Hell, it runs through damned near every relationship cliche I can think of (rollercoaster, phones, doin' it, "this bed is big"... doin' it)
I also always had a soft spot for it because Mark McGrath tries to go for sweetly desperate but dips his toes ever-so-gently into the creepy pool when the bridge repeats "I practiced all my lines on a telephone while you were sleeping" before slingshooting (is that a word?) itself directly into douchebagland by bragging about his sexual conquest and the fact that he's in a band. It's a hell of a jump from part A to part B, there.
Anyway, I'm not going to dwell on it because it's not like I discovered a miracle in my iTunes. I just think this song is pretty stellar. And I can say "stellar" because I'm talking about a band that peaked in the 90s.
*one exception: Prince's new albums, out at the end of the month.
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