Tuesday, July 22, 2008

the girl who works in the record shop says i'm not avant garde enough


Last night I went to see Ballboy play live.
Former Peel faves, chronically underrated, great lyrical songwriting in the vein of Belle and Sebastian, killer scots melancholia with added humour, great live band, fab back catalogue, funny and moving when they play live, also quite a regular mention on RR.

Two songs for you.

Firstly "Avant Garde Music", because as Gordon explained last night, a song inspired by the girl who works in the record shop in Edinburgh accusing him of not being avant garde enough. I certainly know the record store, and I'm pretty sure I know who the girl was. Did Gordon then hook up with this mystery record store girl? The lyrics would suggest so:

"well we shot fake plastic ducks in the park
and drank cheap plastic wine out of cheap plastic glasses until it got dark
and the only thing we had to decide
was whether and where we were going to sleep together that night"

Secondly "Something Is Going To Happen Soon", because it was the best thing they played last night, and had me running to the girl selling their CDs shouting "give me the cd with that song on it!!!!" seconds after they'd finished playing the song. It's lyrically very interesting as when he sings "and the cellos kick in", they do indeed kick in; before he goes on to admit how open and emotionally naked he is on stage, and then proceeds to be as open as nearly any singer can be. A good moment of self awareness; very clever and effective indeed.

"and the cellos kick in
and the lights start to flash
and everyone watching me
can see right to my heart

surrounded by drink
and surrounded by drunks
i never knew
what a mess you'd become

but you made yourself
look great today
but nobody noticed you except me
and you never notice me anyway

and no-one will ever love you
as much as i do
no-one will ever love you
like i do"



Avant Garde Music by Ballboy
Something's Going To Happen Soon by Ballboy