Turn Around (For) Bright Eyes

I want to like the band Bright Eyes, but something won’t allow it to happen. When I hear them on the radio, I like what I hear; it doesn’t drive me to dance, but it’ll put a skip in my step. I see that the singer wants to be an earnest singer/songwriter. He really wants to be earnest. He yearns to be earnest. He understands the Importance of Being Earnest.

But, based solely on one show I saw him perform, the yearning doesn’t quite build out to anything. It was like watching someone act like they’re being raw. It was like watching a man tell someone that they admire them, when you understand that said man really just likes to say the word “admire” a lot. It’s like getting a bagel and what you think is smoked salmon cream cheese, but it turns out to be strawberry instead.

Had I held onto my impression of Modest Mouse from when I first saw them in concert, I would probably have ended up hating them. They behaved like bratty teenagers, and admittedly this was back when they were bratty teenagers, and I was so put off. But, they kept producing music that made me tingle and that was enough to convince me to give them another try live; and I was happily blown away. I guess the thing is, Bright Eyes hasn’t produced that same tingle.

So I’m not really sure why I want to like them.

Now I’m doubting myself. Now I’m craving strawberry cream cheese and an English muffin. Now I’m wanting a nice cold beer with a breakfast item, like an omelet. Now I want to sit around with friends, drinking beer and discussing the ridiculousness of the word omelet; definitely listening to music, possibly listening to Moddy Mouse, maybe Lonesome Crowded West. Now I’m wanting to push time forward a month or so and be in Willits. Now I want to be helping GRa celebrate her birthday in the sort of style deserved.

A naughty, drunken style…


Confidential to GRa and Harpoon: Bif done found a restaurant that has Mythos and Alpha. Dig it.