*I suppose it also helps if you attempt to smoke your bodyweight in pot on a nightly basis, but you can pretty much stipulate that sentiment over this whole blog.
Pull Tiger Tail, "Animator" - I cannot for the life of me imagine how Vincent Vincent and the Villains managed to release two singles on the unstoppably awesome
Young And Lost Club label while
Pull Tiger Tail only has one to their credit; admittedly, this probably owes at least partially to the fact that Pull Tiger Tail are split seconds removed from emerging from their chrysalis and that "Animator" is their first single, y'know, ever, but THAT'S NOT THE POINT GODDAMMIT. In a very real way, I can't see how the Club haven't been pushing Pull Tiger Tail for new material day and night; "Animator" is about as close as you're likely to get to a bridge between the post-Libertines playful balladry that marked the singles on which YALC built their reputation (hellooooooo Larrikin Love) and the more fashionable haircut indie that actually, y'know,
sells these days (relatively speaking, of course). And the end result is
utterly awesome - "Animator" was one of those songs that had me grinning in anticipation of that moment where everything all fell into place on the chorus as early as three chord changes into the song, yet unlike most songs of that family actually managed to deliver when the chorus just breaks stride and bolts for the promised land. It helps considerably, I might add, that these guys know how to write a song; it's easy to notice the only-slightly-grating cleverness when the song suddenly mirrors its narrator's, er, suddenly vanishing tumescence, but what's much more subtle and
much more satisfying are all the little lyrical touches - you gotta admit that these kids have an undeniable gift for finding words that sound awfully good when set to their music. I mean, I never would have considered the word "animator" to have a whole lot of power either as a signifier or just as a word with syllables that can be sung in a kickass way, but goddamned if the chorus to this song isn't basically just vocalist Marcus Firefly (PROBABLY NOT HIS REAL NAME) swinging the word over his head until the center just won't hold anymore. It's also worth pointing out that "Animator" is probably the best-produced single on Young and Lost Club yet, a fact owing to the presence of Sunny Day Sets Fire boardsman
Manolo Remiddi, and while it may be tempting to fantasize about what Pull Tiger Tail might do with a more ideologically-minded producer, you can't really argue with the results of Remiddi's unobtrusive and impeccably manicured mix - I mean, I'm sure "Animator" could have been turned into something that rapturously tortured the woofers and tweeters fairly easily, but Remiddi was wise enough to let the song's merits stand on their own. It's just a remarkable song, instantly among both the best and the most encouraging indie-rock songs I've heard this year - I'm not sure if Pull Tiger Tail'll ever top "Animator", but it's clear that at least they know how. Let's hope they've got a follow-up planned really soon - or better yet, that they get ahold of the same pictures of the heads of Young and Lost Club engaging in unseemly congress with a donkey that Vincent Vincent and the Villains must have. (
Click here to buy the "Animator" single from Rough Trade - it's limited as hell, so get while the gettin's good.)