The Modern Society Website on Myspace
Tales of Our Misspent Youth on iTunes
I’m coming down off the high I’ve had from winning the best music video award for 2006. The only thing that keeps me thinking it even happened is the little trophy I’ve got sitting on my shelf that says I won. I’ll probably have to continue pinching myself for the next week or so just to make sure I’m not in the middle of some madcow induced dream.
The other night at the awards a band from London England were performing. They were called the Hoo Hah Conspiracy. It wouldn’t be fair to lump The Modern Society in the same vein as them, but the only reason I do is because they both sound like they’re based out of the UK. Not a bad thing mind you. I love the UK. I would very much like to get back there and spend some more time there. Someday I will.
Stylistically I would say the two bands are similar. Since this post is for The Modern Society then I’ll just say listen to it as I type something less than profound to relate to you. Firstly, I’m drawing a strange connection to the Cure meets something like The Wonders sprinkle in some artist from the soundtrack of Aspen Extreme and I’m getting a clear vision of confusing you by making all those references. If you’re not familiar with Aspen Extreme its a ‘B’ grade movie about two guys who loved to ski. Maybe you’re not aware that I grew up skiing and was a nationally ranked freestyle skier.
Thus I love to ski. It’s a way of life. I can remember one time where I was skiing with some friends Brad Holmes and a couple of other guys. This one particular time we were riding up the the gondola in Park City and there was a way for us to open the door to the gondola with a ski pole. So what do a few young bone-heads with nothing better to do do? We open the door of the gondola over the biggest drop of the whole lift up the mountain. We’re talking hundreds of feet over an area where it spanned from one side of the lower mountain to the higher side of the other side of the mountain where there was a little bit of a valley in between.
Anyone with half a brain would prefer to stay locked in the box car and quietly hope that a strong gust of wind didn’t come along and blow the gondola off the cable. It would be one hell of a long way down to think about the pain you’d feel when you hit the ground even if it was covered in snow. As I was typing, we decided to open the door of the gondola and see who was the bravest of the bunch to stand in the doorway as we passed over that monumental drop. I’m not afraid of heights, but thinking back upon that situation I’m sure we all realized how stupid it was to do that – however does that ever stop someone?
Prime example of misspent youth right there. Don’t go looking for the gondola. Park City ripped ’em out and replaced ’em with several high-speed chairs. In a way its a bummer because it was a great way to sit in a car out of the elements as you trekked all the way to the top of the mountain in one lift. I don’t know about you, but I’d still like to know the rush of going over that giant chasm. Though I can understand why they’d have taken it out. Especially if they got complaints from those who really can’t stand heights. Are there vertigoically challenged skiers? Maybe not. I mean think about it, you spend a good deal of time riding lifts that are generally about 50 feet or so above the ground.
Ok, on the Aspen Extreme soundtrack there’s a song with a male artist singing a “do do do do” type line. For some reason that melody haunts my brain as I’m listening to this song. Secondly, the clap rhythm that comes in after the guitar… transports me instantly to That Thing You Do and the drum beat that was so prevalent throughout that movie and all it’s songs. Mix in the Cure and you now understand where I’m coming from right?
I do enjoy the arrangement here. Doh, let me take back what I said about the Cure. I think the better fit would be Elvis Costello. Either way, the songwriting has a bit of a retro feel to it with a more modern production to the recording. Imagine that. Personally, I’ve been going for modern songs with modern production using retro sounds. Go figure. Either way, I dig the chorus and the drive they incorporated in the guitar part. It moves the song and that’s important. Another great thing is, The Modern Society was bright enough to get themselves onto iTunes, gotta love that. For that alone you should buy the song!