Getting caught by surprise is kind of hard to do these days. Sure, there's still flat tires and finding a twenty on the ground, but you generally know a lot about the band or movie or restaurant you are going to check out. You tend to have a pretty good idea about what you are getting into. Add to that the fact that I am voraciously looking for new music and keeping track of my favorite people pretty steadily. Or so I thought. I still don't know how I didn't hear that Rose Melberg had a new band - and I'm still lucky that I found out when I did. Because it's awesome. And I haven't stopped playing it since I got it in November.
I've been a massive Rose fan since she was in Tiger Trap twenty years ago. I love The Softies - a perfect blend of tender harmony and hook-laden indie pop. And her solo stuff has been pretty darn good too. Happily, her new band, Brave Irene, distills the best bits of her career so far. Jangly guitars, overdriven Farfisa organ, sweet harmonies, catchy songs... it's not gonna change the world but it's gonna keep me in a good mood.
Brave Irene is an EP with eight great songs. I love them all, but start with Tangled (one of my top, top tracks of the year), Grass Running, and Good Ideas.
Those three are on my Spotify playlist Marquee Mark's El Perfecto De 2011.
So how did I track this fine band down? Well, it sure helped that they are on my label of the year: Slumberland Records. (Making an amazing comeback exactly when labels are supposed to be a thing of the past. More on them later...)
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