30 seconds of ecstasy

Click here to hear the music

:00
It starts with a little gasp of breath, not too much, as if to say “we’re gonna rock, just a little bit.” The breath sounds like two people… It’s in stereo, and the effect is good through headphones.

:01
The drums, bass, guitar, voice and “Mellodio Horn” all kick in at once. (I was trying to place that instrument at the beginning of the song. It sounds reedy, and not quite synthesized. Kind of bagpipey, kind of accordiony…I went to their website and it says “Mellodio Horn.” Googling “Mellodio horn” only finds references to The Long Winters. If anyone knows what this instrument is, leave a comment.) It sounds kind of like a combination pop song, rock song and Scottish march. It’s full of energy, and some fast strumming on the guitar along with the drums and bass keep the song moving while the vocals and horn drone along on just a few notes. An interesting contrast, and it works well.

:09
They finish the first progression, and move to the second. The music continues, but we hear the breath one more time, just at the right moment, just after a drum fill. Delightful.

:17
The lead singer comes in, and the horn drops out: “I’m leaving you all my car parts/ I didn’t have the money, or I would have got-en roses.” Listen to his pitch: he’s got a lot of vibrato for a rock singer. There is also the (Beatle-sqe?) little vocal counterpart: “lalalala—-ah—ah.” These guys are having a lot of fun, and it’s infectious. The counterpart comes back on the next progression. It brings back the feeling of the horn, but is far less intrusive.

Also, listen to the enunciation of the lead singer. His t, and more surprisingly, n sounds are quite hard, and it works well. It adds to the rhythm and “fullness” of the sound.

All in all, the first 30 seconds of Carparts are a case study in great ways to start a song. Give it a listen sometime, they keep the energy up for the rest of the song, and the lyrics are fun to listen to. Somewhat impenetrable, but interesting nonetheless.

This song was my first ringtone, I liked it so much.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 16th, 2006 at 11:47 am and is filed under Indi, Indi Pop. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.