tom

a tom makes all the difference.

i'm not talking green power ranger tommy tom.

i mean drum tom.

this year/last year there was a sudden surge of toms being played by non-drummers in bands. just to look "cool".

the first i saw of it was the ting tings. although there were probs many more before that in this current surge of it. and the chick from ting tings did the bass drum/tom drumming thing cos she had nothing to do, she only sung and at the beginning was learning guitar.

tom + sailor shirt = win

how do i measure success? if you get on yo gabba gabba, you've made it.

ever since emiliana torrini did that jungle drum song with a simile in the hookline ("my heart is beating like a jungle drum"), she got played on video hits and all these young new teeny boppers ruined her concert for the original fans.

tom + the weird tribal beat boxing thing she does = win

why is indie the new trend. do you fuckers even know what indie stands for? independent = not conforming. what you're doing, it's not indie. i will accept hipster as your label. original indie kids now have to leave their pretty florals, long quirky necklaces, high shorts and vintage clothes and resort to tribal/rustic/other outlandish themed things to be indie:

enter grizzly bear. boy and bear. and all the other bears.

i commend myself for finding such great photos of these bands where they are dressed almost exactly the same. check out the one guy in glasses. and the one guy in a flannel shirt. and one guy in a button up blue shirt. schpooky.

last night, i played above the oxford hotel. and all the bands (but mine mwahahaha. the fat lesbian dyke sound lady said we were the best band of the night by far cos we were actually unique. fuck yeah) sounded and looked exactly the same. bearded, collar shirted or sloppy jumpered, rayban wearing, scarved, necklaced, extremey thin men. and high waisted shorts, skirts, vintage stuff on the girls, nothing ever above the knees.

but the sound was the worst. grizzly bear/boy and bear all over again. ethereal choral vocals of long woo's. extreme changes in structure. small percussion like tambourines and shakers. acoustic guitar with youthful bearded man. basically everywhere i turn, it's grizzly bear. but they all used the damn toms. like it's super fun. sure. i play them with my best friend jenna and my sister rainbow all the time. but if every single fucking band has a tom break down in every fucking song just cos it's the fad right now, fucking leave man. we already have the bears. i want some variety. gimme some trumpets. fuck they are awesome.

tom + the other five bands from last night = fail

percussion gun by the white rabbits. one deceptively simple drumbeat on the tom repeated over and over. so effective. radiohead like chords and singing. video clip is pretty cool. it's all spinny and lighty. so fun to try and play this beat. and it's like. two people on one tom. mindfuck.

tom + mindfuck + spinning = win

lost valentinos also have an awesome song/video clip. serio. they play toms all over like the hills and the forest and in a lake. it's fair epic. and they have like coloured dust, glitter (and wet stuff like water and paint i'm pretty sure) on the toms. so when they hit it, they fly everywhere. it's so cool. and the camera is on like super macro so you see everything. it's like looking at matt muir's eyes: "it was like the first time i heard the beatles". they even have super awesome nice photos of the making of it.

tom + flying craft = win

i love love love love love vampire weekend. seriously, they are sooo good. and a-punk was the first song i heard/saw of theirs. it's so awesome. one take. shitload of different shit (what's with the epic superbad quoting today) happening in each frame. their clothes change, crafty stuff also happens in an under the sea type sequence. but the coolest thing is the choreographed tom playing. two guys, two toms, benny hill type fast movements. so good.

tom + choreographed benny hill = win

i love toms in songs. but the overkill of pretentious fuckers trying to copy with nothing new and original to add at the moment are like *shoots self in head*

oh look, a hot sailor

remember this: make a wish tom, make a wish