SONG OF THE DAY (#205)

'crying's what you need,' by future conditional

not only did glen johnson and cedric (both members of piano magic--a great band in its own right) name their band after a verb tense, they are both also headless.

future conditional's debut, 'we don't just disappear' (hence the ironic photo to the left. apparently the do just disappear) is a pretty deliberate homage to the likes of early-era o.m.d., new order, and kreftwerk. it's full of smart synthpop songs and great hooks. and not only are the songs great, but they've got a pretty great roster of guest vocalists including melanie pain from nouvelle vague, angele david-guillou from klima, and the man who never met a sad song he didn't like, bob wratten from the field mice and trembling blue stars. (angele does vocals for 'crying's what you need' and melanie does vocals for 'switchboard girl').

i just love 'crying's what you need.' not only does it completely [it's almost funny, actually, how identical they are] ape the melody to belle and sebastian's 'the boy with the arab strap,' but it's also got one of the best intro verses i've heard in a while. to wit:

somebody told me you never got over
the last girl that kissed you, though she was much older
she'd lived through the smiths and she knew how to kiss
she was in libraries and you were in college
she stacked up the shelves whilst you wracked up your knowledge
she archived her brains as you drank with your mates...

great. 'we don't just disappear' is out now and available at the usual outlets.

→ future conditional: crying's what you need
→ future conditional: the switchboard girl