I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: PLACEBO-Battle for the Sun (2009).

I’ve been a fan of Placebo since their first disc came out (I had to hunt it down after reading a great review in Q magazine).  Imagine my surprise when they took off with their next album and the huge single “Every You Every Me.”

Battle for the Sun is their sixth album and things haven’t changed too dramatically for them (except that they don’t have any huge singles anymore).  This album experiments with a few different styles (including a few places where it almost sounds like pop metal influences are creeping in). There’s even horns on a couple of the songs.  They don’t add a lot to the tracks, but they also don’t really detract from them either.

But even with these modifications, their sound remains hard guitar driven alt-rock with a touch of glam and the ever present love it or hate it vocals of Brian Molko.  Molko has a fascinating way with lyrics.  So on “Battle for the Sun” we have fascinating parts where he sings a word 7 times at the end of certain lines: “I, I, I, I, I will brush of all the dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt.”  And this will either drive you insane or you will accept it as part of the song.

As with past Placebo records, I have enjoyed this one quite a bit.  There’s always something catchy coming forth, and even if Malko’s lyrics aren’t the most original (“no one here gets out alive” (!)),  his delivery is wonderfully arch/angry/sexy depending on his needs.

The album overall isn’t as grand as Without You I’m Nothing, but if you like Placebo, Battle for the Sun won’t disappoint.  If you’re not a fan, it’s not going to change your mind about them.

[READ: October 15, 2009] “Victory Lap”

This is, hands down, one of my favorite short stories of the year.  The story takes some major sharp turns to get where it winds up, and it is very intense at the same time.

It opens with this hilarious look at soon-to-be-15 Alison Pope.  And if the story had stayed just with her it would have been fantastic anyhow.  Alison is in her own head: as she walks down the stairs of her house, she dismisses suitors on either side, speaking garbled French and mocking their word choices (“Had he said small package?”).  But when she gets to the bottom of the stairs, she sees a baby deer in the woods (of her living room).  And when she speaks to it, it answers (in the voice of her younger sister).  The section is full of {actions} and is charming and very funny.  Saunders captured this character perfectly, and as I said, I could have read about her for pages and pages.

Alison notices the dorky neighbor boy running past her house.  Like he does every day.  She remembers back when they were young and were friendly, but now, he’s just embarrassing.  It’s only when the doorbell rings that Alison breaks out of her reverie.

And then the point of view shifts to the dorky neighbor boy.  We see him traipse through his house, read the note from his father and then plop on the couch.  Then he realizes that he hasn’t removed his shoes. He has disobeyed a directive.  And he imagines what would happen if his parents came home and saw him like this.  More details accrue showing that Kyle, being an only child, is micromanaged and protected within an inch of his life.

And he has rules that must be obeyed for His Own Safety.  Some have to do with what words he should not says aloud (and the section is filled with wonderfully inventive curses that had me laughing out loud), and others are more physical: like not going onto the porch in bare feet, and most importantly, if he can see a stranger he is not to leave the house.

And the stranger that he can see is the meter reader walking up to Alison’s house.

The point of view then shifts to the meter reader.  And we learn that he is not an innocent meter reader at all.

The rest of the story is tense, horrific and very exciting.  I was completely unprepared for where the story wound up going, and I enjoyed every word of it.

After the opening, the funny, idyllic charm that suffused Alison and the raunchy pent up fun of Kyle, I was at first a little disappointed that the story turned so dark.  And yet by the end, I was completely hooked back into the story.  It was really tremendous.