(no subject)
I had an 8-hour bus trip today to DC and back for our homeless advocacy group's congressional reception, and when I came home I was rewarded with new music!
About a week or so ago I was driving somewhere and I actually said out loud to myself in the car, "Look, Ryan and Jon's band's name is going to be horrible, you just need to accept that and move on." But it's not -- it's totally livable! I mean, it's not super-fantastic, but I have absolutely no desire to shoot myself in the head upon hearing it! (My standards are low, I admit.) I was also worried about the song; it reminded me of how before empires came out with their stuff I was all worried that it would be bad and thinking, "please, just let it be mediocre, I can totally live with mediocre." And of course it was much better! That was a little different b/c I had no clue what Tom would come up with, while Ryan & Jon have had many opportunities to give me clues.
The verdict: better than mediocre! hurray! I like it a lot, actually. The music is very retro, but it's not making me say, "oh, hey, thanks, but I already own a Beatles album," the way I worried. And I really like what I can understand of the lyrics -- they're quirky and fun and interesting, and remind me a lot of what I really liked on Pretty. Odd.
And what I really like are the extra-subtle titles of these singles. New Perspective! Change! I look forward to both bands' second singles, which totally coincidentally will both be named, "Here's the New Song by My New Band that's Totally Different From Anything We Did Before! Really!" I'm actually looking forward to the second songs from each group -- I feel like both first songs are a little weighted down with the fact that they're not the old panic anymore, whether it's our own interpretation of the songs or their own commentary (and I think it's a little of both, really). So I'd really like to hear what each of them create without that baggage.
One last thing : nobodygirl posted something that reminded me of one thing I've always admired about Ryan: his bravery -- his willingness to put himself out there, from the start in the way he approached Pete (which is one of the first things I knew about Ryan, and something I really, really respect -- imagine if Pete had blown him off, or not liked his stuff, what a hit that would have been). There's something very similar in starting the new band, in leaving something that was pretty successful because he wanted to do something else, something new. I understand people being angry that he left but I think it was a pretty brave thing to do, and I have to respect that.
About a week or so ago I was driving somewhere and I actually said out loud to myself in the car, "Look, Ryan and Jon's band's name is going to be horrible, you just need to accept that and move on." But it's not -- it's totally livable! I mean, it's not super-fantastic, but I have absolutely no desire to shoot myself in the head upon hearing it! (My standards are low, I admit.) I was also worried about the song; it reminded me of how before empires came out with their stuff I was all worried that it would be bad and thinking, "please, just let it be mediocre, I can totally live with mediocre." And of course it was much better! That was a little different b/c I had no clue what Tom would come up with, while Ryan & Jon have had many opportunities to give me clues.
The verdict: better than mediocre! hurray! I like it a lot, actually. The music is very retro, but it's not making me say, "oh, hey, thanks, but I already own a Beatles album," the way I worried. And I really like what I can understand of the lyrics -- they're quirky and fun and interesting, and remind me a lot of what I really liked on Pretty. Odd.
And what I really like are the extra-subtle titles of these singles. New Perspective! Change! I look forward to both bands' second singles, which totally coincidentally will both be named, "Here's the New Song by My New Band that's Totally Different From Anything We Did Before! Really!" I'm actually looking forward to the second songs from each group -- I feel like both first songs are a little weighted down with the fact that they're not the old panic anymore, whether it's our own interpretation of the songs or their own commentary (and I think it's a little of both, really). So I'd really like to hear what each of them create without that baggage.
One last thing : nobodygirl posted something that reminded me of one thing I've always admired about Ryan: his bravery -- his willingness to put himself out there, from the start in the way he approached Pete (which is one of the first things I knew about Ryan, and something I really, really respect -- imagine if Pete had blown him off, or not liked his stuff, what a hit that would have been). There's something very similar in starting the new band, in leaving something that was pretty successful because he wanted to do something else, something new. I understand people being angry that he left but I think it was a pretty brave thing to do, and I have to respect that.