I imagine you just like you're real

dear friends,

lotsa work this week at ye olde job that requires math which means that I've been listening to music as wallpaper. must. concentrate. on. numbers. 2. +. 2. =. 5. NOOOOO! damn those bad math songs!

nevertheless, because I have a quota, here's a short, important list of 5 coming atcha:

1. the duke spirit (also at my space) is a feral blues meets indie rock band from the uk.

2. their album cuts across the land played & played in my ears this year. in fact, I've written about the duke spirit here & here on soft communication.

3. they are fronted by liela moss, who sings like she's coming down with cat scratch fever. she's the nails, you're the eyes & ouch! nevermind the pain, you'll want more of that, right quick. what on earth does that mean? well, there's an element of understated menace to her vocal contributions that's more disquieting than soothing yet somehow terribly...seductive. it's the texture of her voice, I think, somewhere between sandpaper & velvet, & her presence in the songs. while guitarists, luke ford & dan higgins, create walls & wails of rising guitars to counterpoint the serious as cancer, almost tribal, rhythm section of toby butler (bass) & olly betts (drums), she stands still in the center of the music, haughtily commanding your attention with precision, swagger, & narrowed eyes. eyes icily focused right on you.

4. I've never seen the duke spirit live so I'm imagining the swagger & narrowed eyes. she might just stand there comatose for all I know...bear with me, I'm coming to the point.

5. SO because I have to know & because the live duke spirit tracks I have heard make the album sound like overcooked rotini (& these are GOOD album performances) I will confirm or deny my fevered flights of fancy when I go see the duke spirit open up for ted leo & the pharmacists at the hook in brooklyn on thursday, march 2. tickets are on sale now here. it's $15. you really should go. it will be so, so worth it.

c'mon, don't cha trust me?

(insert your favorite photo of me smiling like a shark)

love, d

band to see live: the duke spirit

songs to seek: love is an unfamiliar name, drinking you in, cuts across the land, nine and scramble