Cutting Ties

Self-produced summery sweetcake indie pop. Lots of keyboard and high-pitched beamy guitar, at-times metallic sound that may be a by-product of this whole record being cut on a laptop. Vocals a la Grandaddy / Nada Surf / Ben Gibbard. Not the most contemplative lyrics ever, but good stuff to blast out yr surf speakers. Most songs have a weird undercurrent of detachment / loneliness / selfishness, despite cute lyrics about crush love. Beachy and airy and adorable.

This band is one guy and an iBook. Cat’s name is Mike Boggs. I worry when a one-man band calls itself “We Were Pirates”. “We” who, dude? And “pirates”, now? Oh really? Blondo here with the Cape Cod cuffs and scruff goatee is gonna single-handedly hold up whose battleship, exactly?

try: 2, 3, 4, 10
no FCCs

1. ~5 sec to start. slidy moonbeam guitars. picked strings + airy verses. cheery pop.
*2. upbeat irresistibly boppy riffy guitar zoomer. somewhat explosive vocals. positively darling. “what the hell are we waiting for?”
*3. omfg! these lyrics! hilarious shiznit. cutesy upbeat tambourine-on pop song details an inconvenient love triangle in super-simple mebbe-ironic kid language. featured on “this american life”, apparently a cover, but i’m not sure who’s responsible for this absolute feat of unbearably marvellous songwriting.
*4. darker minor bass-n-counterpoint, but still poppy. mock-insidious sidewinder. rockin drum kit. sort of charming unpolished chorus.
5. slower, relaxed. soft bass + shakers, airy sighing dashboard-style vocals. is that a fucking harpsichord?
6. dig-in riffmeister guitar, zagging bass, busy tambourine. a warning/scolder about a drunk dumped girl out for revenge sex. ends with an airy vamp: “it will get easier”.
7. beach boys! happy handclaps and moony synth. “i just can’t let her find out i’m bringing nothing to the table!”
8. mellower, bittersweet. twangster electric guitar. syncopated strummed acoustic a la “november was white” by say hi. light-touch held vocals.
9. clangy melodic guitar over laid back acoustic strum. sweet, but no real hook.
*10. fairly insistent padded syncopated beat & gushy tambourine. warm vibes/synth. smooth chorus harmonies: “don’t forget me when i’m gone.”