I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: VAMPIRE WEEKEND-“Arms” (Live) (2013).

This track is a bootleg-quality live recording of a new Vampire Weekend song which may or may not be on the new album.  The sound quality is lousy, but you can hear all of the elements of the song.

It sounds like Vampire Weekend, but a bit slower than I’m used to.  I love Vampire Weekend more than I should, and while I’m open to them changing, I’ll be bummed if they turn into a different band (as their version of  “Unbelievers” on Jimmy Kimmel suggested).

Every VW album deserves a ballad, but I hope it’s not all slow songs–VW gives you pep!

You can hear it here.

[READ: January 23, 2013] “Mayfly”

This story opens with a beautiful and sad image–thousands of butterflies flying across a street on their annual migration to Mexico.  And hundreds of them getting hit by cars–smashing into windshields and grilles.

James, the driver of the car is not happy about it, but hi co-pilot (in the car and soon in life) Molly is distraught.  She demands he pull over.  Which he does, only to see that tractor trailers and other cars are not pulling over and are similarly smashing into the butterflies.  Finally James says there’s nothing they can do, so they continue on through the carnage.

They arrive at their destination–James’ old friend Sam and his wife Jenny’s house.  Sam and Jenny have three kids, including a new baby.  And they weren’t expecting James until the next day, but they welcome James and Molly warmly.  They have dinner and drinks and a nice time catching up.  James has a business trip to Denver the next morning, but he’ll be back that night.  They agree that Molly can accompany him since she wanted to visit a friend in Denver.  James and Jenny stay home.

Jenny tells James about an accident that Sam was in and how he seems more interested in his drinking than his family.  James helps a little around the house.  When Sam and Molly don’t turn up (and don’t answer cell phones), James and Jenny settle in for the night with drinks.  James wonders about his own life and how Sam and Jenny are getting along–if their marriage will last.  That may be answered in the middle of the night when Jenny climbs into bed with James.  James imagines Molly not coming back–what kind of free life he might have if she stayed in Denver with Sam.

I kind of liked this story, despicable as it was, because of the imagery that Canty used.  But I have to say that as the story ends, (and there’s something of  a spoiler here), a used pair of underpants are introduced into a woman’s drawer and she only says that she doesn’t remember buying them.  And I’m not buying that.  She would freak out.  Nobody suddenly starts wearing new underpants that they find in their drawer.  Nobody.