The other day I decided Sleigh Bells had come up with the greatest song ever, and I made a point of doing errands that required lots of slow driving with the window down and the car stereo cranked. I slunk down a bit in the seat, head back, rocking steady to “Rill Rill.”
Right? Truly, it’s a perfect song for that kind of thing. But today I’m a little sheepish. Don’t know if anyone I knew saw me, but … a 51-year-old man in a 15-year-old station wagon cruisin’ to a song made by and for twenty-something hipsters….
… I’m thinking I should maybe groove out to that sort of music in private. Or out in back of the house.
But the good thing about getting old is that you can choose to enjoy Sleigh Bells’ apocalyptic thrash with a layer of sugar on top. Or not. And you have the Weepies too, who released their first album in four years yesterday. Which is positively thrilling to me. The young folks, I’m not so sure not all the young folks get the Weepies.
Deb Talan and Steve Tannen are the Weepies. They both had solo careers, then they got married. To each other. They have a son they took years off touring to have and raise.
Their music could only have been made by grownups. It’s got real wit and occasionally bizarre imagery, but to me it’s a lot about the thick and thinnin’ of married life. Dealing with commitment and contentment and little pleasures without making the listener feel brain dead.
Here is the first song from “Be My Thrill”:
Wise. Warm. Modest. Wry. Polite. Grammatical. “When I’m gone, Please speak well of me.”
Note the “please” and “well,” kids.
(Also, I still love Sleigh Bells).