After the ridiculous cool-concert drought of February 2007, I was more than enthusiastically snapping up tickets to the many SXSW-related shows happening all over NYC in March. Belatedly realizing, after clicking the 'Confirm Payment' button, that I had bought tickets for two shows happening on the same night. Moreover, the first was happening in Williamsburg, the other in Park Slope, a true Brooklyn logistics horror.
My double-booked evening did not start well, I stood in the lush Luna Lounge anxiously hoping The Pipettes would start in time for me to make it to the nerdy Union Hall in time for the uniquely Swedish indie-pop of Loney, Dear (but more on the Swedes in my next post). The Pipettes were late, and nervous; their tech-guys checking up on the same keyboard five times. The suspense was killing me, I hardly even noticed my teen-idol, the ever-present ex-Pumpkin James Iha, lounging around behind me. Still, when girl-group-goddesses Gwenno, Becki, and Rose stepped on the stage, dressed in three different, but equally polka-dotted dresses, all was forgiven. The group performed choreographed literal dancemoves, alternated on vocals, awkwardly said 'cheers' between songs, and played all my favorite tracks off "We are The Pipettes".
With my favorite Pipette B-side already featured by NPR, I'll post a different under-three-minute classic by this contemporary British version of The Crystals, The Ronettes, or The Shangri-la's. Starting off with a faint crackling, "Because It's Not Love (But It's Still A Feeling)" combines handclaps, a Spector backbeat, and surfy guitarlicks to soundtrack the girls' glorious pop. The ideal end-of-prom song for any fashion-forward sixties film, this song dares you not to sing along, not to invent your own silly synchronized hand gestures with your friends, not to feel as though school is over forever (and there's a polka-dotted boy or girl waiting for you right by the gate).
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