Greetings from Laurel Canyon!
Drenched in summer—sometimes lost between a new and old year—I’m self prescribing what I call “summer fun.” Play, be silly, go to a rave, go to the beach and crash around the surf, get wet, sandy, and let your hair frizz!
Funny that I hadn’t made it to the beach until last Sunday. Per a recommendation from a fishing pal, we hit Crystal Cove in Newport. It’s a beachfront with a glimpse back to what California looked like in the ’50s and ’60s. The waves were pounding and the current strong. We had a blast. It felt timeless and young.
So play. Why not? Musically I tried to follow suit and be playful with this week’s Idelic Hour.
I was having lunch with Liz Garo, an old friend and the booker for The Echo for the last 20 years. She was telling me about a new crop of bands with Rough Trade/riot grrrl roots and it hit me, “white mice and brown rice.” It doesn’t really mean anything, but after a touch of digging through hot crates I found more songs about rats than mice. Neither has much of chance if they run against our kitty Nori.
I’ve always dug songs about animals. Sometimes light and sometimes heavy stuff to think about on a lazy summer’s day…
I was lost just wandering round downtown
Many people pushing me around
Hate spreads just like infection
Those rats jumping on and off my back
Fat black rats holding me down
I see rats in every direction
No time to catch your breath
Crazy people lost their heads
Masses trampling on my feet, inconsiderate in their heat
Those rats breeding angriness and spite
Never have done anything right for people like you and me
Walk over all the people you can’t see
If they die there’s more bread for me
Like snakes crawling through the grass
No time to catch your breath
Crazy people lost their heads
Masses trampling on my feet, inconsiderate in their heat
Those rats breeding angriness and spite
Never have done anything right for people like you and me
See that face man look at me, he’s much too selfish to see
Once he was warm and was kind
Now all he has got is a pinstripe mind
See that face man look at me, he’s much too selfish to see
Once he was warm and was kind
Now all he has got is a pinstripe mind
Slack off and enjoy!
The Idelic Hit of the Week: The Paranoyds – Rat Boy
