The weather has taken a turn for the "grey and nasty" this morning... March has arrived and its hard to enjoy Spring in central Texas because we're possibly 20 days away from temperatures reaching the 90's.
Grey mornings like today remind me a lot of Detroit. When I lived in the motor city, you could pretty much count on 120 days of 'sunny and nice'. Sometimes its "sunny" out and it happens to be 10 degrees outside. The sun is clearly fucking outside and its beaming rays onto the Motor City, but it's not warming a thing around you.
Actively trying to date english major chicks who look like this has led to me receiving a lot of headaches & really well-written-letters about how I'm an asshole. My advice to you, is to date Math majors...
Instead... you go about your morning commute wondering "why does everything seem different around me?" When in actuality, its nothing in particular. It just happens to be a little more colorful on account of the sun being out.
This is a very long introduction into an album I selected because I wanted to listen to something that fit my mood in the morning. Camera Obscura's - Underachievers Please Try Harder - is the perfect thing to listen to on "headache grey" days. The kinda days where it's cold enough to merit wearing a jacket and you kinda thought you put that fucking thing away for the Winter.
I discovered this band thru Belle & Sebastian... Stuart Murdoch had produced their first album and at the time, I was all about collecting music that fell into the "quiet core" genre. While I'm not one to exactly judge a book by its cover... it's kinda hard to look at the artwork of this album and not pass judgement on what you think its going to sound like.
It sounds just like the kinda record that the girls on the cover likely listen to at home. Bookish gals who have an overseas accent I can't place but that doesn't matter because I've convinced myself that I want that from a better half.
That's not entirely true... it's not entirely false either tho'.
Anyhoo, the album is filled with a number of incredible songs. Most of which are tender and penned by girls who provided me a glimpse into what its like to feel devastating heartache from their side of the fence.
Example: I Don't Want to See You
Stand Out Tracks:
- Camera Obscura – Keep It Clean
- Camera Obscura – Before You Cry
- Camera Obscura – Number One Son
- Camera Obscura – I Don't Want to See You
Artists: Camera Obscura
Album: Underachievers Please Try Harder
Producer: Geoff Allen, Camera Obscura
Label: Merge Records
Recorded: Cava Studios