Prime Squared

I need to actually write in here once in a while.

The past few weeks have been rough for me - I've been in bit of a depression and am just now getting over it. I don't want to get into that right now, though. Maybe later. Maybe never.

Something I do want to talk about, however, is how much my musical tastes have changed in the past couple of years. I used to be really into a lot of what I'm going to call pseudo-punk, pseudo-hardcore, and well, emo, stuff. One song, covered by one guy, at one show, really changed that.

It's strange, too. A song that, if I had heard it two years ago, would have scoffed at it for trying too hard, sung by a guy who is in a band I liked up until their recent album and even the demos that leaked before it. There was just something though, that changed in me, when I heard "Oh Comely" for the first time. Covered by Jesse Lacey it's a song that forces you to listen, to not hear, but actually listen. When Jesse sings the his standards from Brand New, his voice makes my skin crawl, but there was just something about this song, that I had never heard before, that just caused me to pause. It was different, and I needed to know more.

The day after the show, I googled the lyrics, and thus discovered Neutral Milk Hotel, who have since become one of my favorite bands. I only recently discovered them, so by no means would I act as though I'm the first person to ever hear of them, nor will I act as though Jeff Mangum is the most brilliant writer that I've ever heard. What I will say, though, is that no matter how many times I listen to this album from beginning to end, I never tire of it. On Avery Island is a great album, too, but it just hasn't had the same impact on me.

After NMH, I found or gave another chance to bands that I had before checked off as too indie for me. I guess, in a way, one song opened my eyes to things that I would have never bothered with before, and I am thankful for that.