Three Imaginary Girls - Happy Happy Birthday to Me

Athens Popfest roundup: 5 days of awesome

imaginary keenan — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 20:00:36 +0000

{a rare Popfest sight - an empty 40 Watt, by Rich Guiterrez}

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Athens Popfest is always the best week of the year for indie pop nerds, and this year was no exception. Think five days straight of raging shows, surrounded by so many old and new favorite bands and your "camp buddies" you only see once a year + 100 (or more) degree heat and southern humidity + cheap booze + insane nerdery. All I can really say is that it was epic, for so many reasons. Here are a few highlights.

Top five favorite bands:
1. Go Sailor
There was kind of no way that this wasn't going to be my favorite, as I'm a die hard Go Sailor fan, but their set was amplified by me and about 20 other die hard Go Sailor fans screaming along every word to every song. You just can't buy that kind of camaraderie and sense of community. At that moment, Go Sailor were our Beatles. We spent the whole set singing specific favorite lyrics to each other and jumping up and down and dancing our asses off. I consequently spent the rest of popfest without a voice. It was totally worth it. Their whole set was recorded and is on youtube, but here's my favorite song of the set "A Fine Day For Sailing". (That's us in the background.)

Portrait of an Artist: Fred Schneider part 2!

D. Crane — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 22:10:07 +0000

This is the second part of the first installment of Portrait of an Artist. D. Crane will interview musicians and artists who blow his mind. Read along and see him sharpen his interview skills to that of a slightly sharp pencil. Fred Schneider was the inspiration for the song “(do the) Magic Centipede,” off of BOAT’s Setting the Paces LP. His new band is called the Superions. They make the most ridiculous surreal/silly dance music around. Read part 1 here.

Fred, here is my attempt to ask you some clever/wacky/personal questions. The level of cleverness/wackiness/personal-ness seems more minute now that I know that you appeared on Howard Stern, last week! But here I go anyway!

Assuming you go to Totally Nude Island, what piece of clothing would you miss the most?

My wallet! To buy all the fabulous things at the gift shop!

Are you vegetarian? How long?

Since ’72. A friend talked me into it after I dropped out of college. I never liked fish anyway!

Where should I eat when I visit Athens for the Popfest?

In Athens there is a great vegetarian restaurant called the Grit, and a lot of other places that are really vegetarian friendly.

What happened with the ham in the video?

We bought the ham and were gonna donate it, but it fell on the floor during the video.

Do you like the song "Monster Mash"? It’s maybe my favorite song of all time.

Yes! I love everything Halloween. I love old school Halloween.

What is Sprechstimme?

Talk singing. When I started I am just singing as I go along. If you listen closely there is hesitancy. It is not for dramatic effect. I’m trying to think of what to say next.

Portrait of an Artist with Fred Schneider: How many guys would rhyme bodices with goddesses?

D. Crane — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:14:12 +0000

Or: How I Got to Interview Fred Schneider for 25 Minutes---SPONTANEOUS—BASIL LOVER—HERO OF THE SILLY AND ABSURD

This is the first part of the first installment of Portrait of an Artist. D. Crane will interview musicians and artists who blow his mind. Read along and see him sharpen his interview skills to that of a slightly sharp pencil. Fred Schneider was the inspiration for the song “(do the) Magic Centipede,” off of BOAT’s Setting the Paces LP. His new band is called the Superions, and they have a brand new self-titled EP/LP on Athens, GA's Happy Happy Birthday to Me Records. They make the most ridiculous surreal/silly dance music around. Stay tuned for the second part later this week.

How did you get in touch with Mike from Happy Happy Birthday to Me Records (HHBTM)?

I am a record nut and he runs a record store, so naturally we hit it off. I heard that he runs a label with two of my favorite acts, Cars Can Be Blue and the Lolligags. I knew he was an honest guy and a hard worker, so I suggested to the Superions, “Hey, let’s put this out on a small label.” Originally, it was going to be a single, but there were some remixes that I thought turned out great, and I couldn’t be happier.

How long ago did the Superions start?

We started about 5 years ago as the Del Morons. The first song we did was a song called “Totally Nude Island.” Dan and Noah came up with the music and I just went in the bathroom and came up with the words off the top of my head. We thought it was fun. People said they liked it and told us to put it on Itunes, and that they’d buy it. Most of the HHBTM recordings were recorded soon after.

Brand new video from Casper & the Cookies!

imaginary keenan — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:25:30 +0000

It is my pleasure to present a brand new video from Athens, GA's Casper & the Cookies for the song "Sharp!" from 2009's Modern Silence (one of my favorite albums of last year). I just love this 70's glam influenced song that's really funkier than it has any right to be. Shake it!

And, if that wasn't enough, they have a bunch of tour dates coming up (including a lot of SXSW awesomeness and a TBA Seattle date)!

Brand new Fishboy coming out this Summer

imaginary keenan — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:15:57 +0000

Well, it's about time, and I was delighted as the official news landed in my inbox this afternoon! Denton, TX's Fishboy officially have a brand new EP coming out August 18th!

The songs off the new EP, Nom, were originally written for 2007's brilliant Albatross: How We Failed to Save the Lone Star State with the Power of Rock and Roll (a 2007 of both me and imaginary Liz), but were scrapped as plot lines changed or to fit the flow of the album. And, instead of having the band toil in the studio, Mr. Fishboy himself Eric Michener had some Denton superstars dubbed "the Om Nom Noms" record all the songs.

Debut of two brand new Smittens videos

imaginary keenan — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 17:34:17 +0000

I am pleased to announce the debut of The Smittens new video for "One Hundred Roses" off their HHBTM album The Coolest Thing About Love. This song has been ruling my world since I got the record last summer, with its perfectly Magnetic Fields-y chorus "It doesn't mean that I love you any less/It only means that I'm a mess".

Not only that, but we also have the debut of another video from The Coolest Thing..., "Magpies and Eccles Cake", which is a collection of live videos.

The Coolest Thing About Love

Diana Salier — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 15:18:11 +0000

6.9

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001C3MY5I/?tag=wwwthreeimagi-20

513QnjBf1bL._SL500_AA240_.jpg

The Smittens are a sugary mound of twee girl-boy pop, and if you are a fan of A) indie pop, or B) being in love -- you just might become smitten yourself. After all, as the title suggests, The Coolest Thing About Love celebrates all the good things about love, missing your better half from a long distance, and knowing that they're the one. I found the coolest thing about the Smittens wasn't just their penchant for writing catchy keyboard melodies, but that they have 3 singers with distinctive tones and thus go beyond the usual boy singer/girl singer indie pop modus operandi. Singers Dana Kaplan and Colin Clary man the helm as the main singers, and sometimes Max Andrucki's baritone pops up out of nowhere, sounding eerily similar to Stephen Merritt (never a bad thing, really).

Out of the 14 songs on the album, a few stand out above the rest, including "Something Sassy" and album closer "The One For Me." The next time you're looking for the words to say "let's just have fun and not analyze things," just have your partner listen to the former, in which Kaplan and Clary declare "I don't want something drastic/i'm just looking for something sassy." The sweetness is in full swing with "Gumdrops," a horribly catchy tune (trust me, you won't get the chorus out of your head for days) that starts with Andrucki singing the puzzling lyric, "I really like you/my new librarian/but where you been?" before the equally puzzling gleefully sung chorus, "bubble floss heart-shape candy shell/something's started/can't you tell?"

The laidback and downtempo "Magpies and Eccles Cakes" is a welcome respite from the upbeat pop of the rest of the album, and sounds like a collaboration between the Magnetic Fields and Belle and Sebastian. The final minute is a breath of fresh air, a concession that everything changes while we keep pressing on: "but the planes are turning round/and the world keeps spinning round/and your head keeps spinning round."

Overall, The Smittens are like a trip to the candy store, full of extremely sweet and sometimes overwhelmingly saccharine morsels -- definitely not for the faint of heart, or at least the un-indie-pop-initiated. But if you're indeed not up for anything serious, just looking for something sassy -- look no further.

The Smittens are like a trip to the candy store, full of extremely sweet and sometimes overwhelmingly saccharine morsels -- definitely not for the faint of heart, or at least the un-indie-pop-initiated.

oh:io

Chris Estey — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 17:00:42 +0000

7.8

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0016KHAKQ/?tag=wwwthreeimagi-20

bearsuit08nov.jpg

"Foxy Boxer," about midway through this carnival wreck of a happy collage-rock album, is the single and key track. Sweet mod girl vocals promising sultry controlled violence, Stereolab burblings as the UK band swings through a space cadet anthem of Pizzicato Five on Everclear martinis proportions, this album is quintessentially Happy Happy Birthday To Me (their U.S. label) and also perhaps one of the best things that Athens funhouse has ever released.

Since Siouxsie first took the stage with Sid Vicious on drums, there have always been these sort of all-talent no-skill art-yob experiments on and off Brit-punk stages, when fun can come back into the scene every so often, and it's all about make believe and thrift store clothes and everyone you know clapping hands and screeching on the chorus.

There really is no tag for the genre, it sometimes hides in Oi! rock as with Splodgenessabounds (DO check out), in death disco as Pop Will Kill Itself, sometimes gussies up and calls itself grebo a la Hayzee Fantayzee when it has a fashion sense.

Bearsuit distinguishes itself by drafting in waif-boy vocals from Scottish indie pop while keeping the Revenge of the New Wave Girlfriend female accompaniment, and then going total apeshit with noise-rock just when you've settled into the melodic side of the merry sing-a-longs.

I find the opening of this full-length a bit too much on the aggressive side, peaking with "Steven Fucking Spielberg," but starting with "Keep It Together Somehow" the cosmopolitan cacophony sorts itself out for an album-heartful of croony tunes not that far from Julian Cope or Divine Comedy's less elegant and more emotionally vulnerable moments. Even with all the timpani, detuned guitars, and cat out of breath dancing on the vintage keyboards, that's space rock I can forever float in.

Never underestimate a punch from a foxy boxer.

It's official: Cars Can Be Blue have the worst luck ever, deported.

imaginary liz — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 16:35:57 +0000

Nate and Becky have been denied entry into the UK to play their tour.

Free Music Friday: Casper & the Cookies exclusive!

imaginary keenan — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 18:34:34 +0000

This is a Three Imaginary Girls exclusive! Here's the song "Little King" from their upcoming TBD release Modern Silence.

Doubly Unbeatable

Chris Estey — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 05:37:28 +0000

7.6

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001C3MY5S/?tag=wwwthreeimagi-20

carscabbeblue08sept.jpg

I love this band. A small dual-ponytailed post-feminist rageaholic ranter frontwoman (Becky Brooks) and her penis-obsessed drummer male band partner (Nate Mitchell), coming off like twisted moral libertarians creating zines in their trailer on the edge of a Southern state industrial lot, meth fumes leaking in from the bikers next door, various poseurs buried in their beer-can littered backyard. Except instead of the small press they write, record, and perform those screeds as pop culture mocking girl group harmonized Borderline Personality Disorder (oh yeah, they got it, or they're fronting real well) Modern Lovers-driven love-hate odes to the haters and shit-lovers of this world.

Doubly Unbeatable follows up their 2005 debut All The Stuff We Do with a broader palette, a bit less angst in some of the tracks, and still contains the magic of a subversively simple sing-along perverted pop duo saying more than you think when you hear them sing.

The messages this time are often more subtle than the grateful odes to abortion and superhero-fucking on their first album, but the sixteen songs here add the production zing of red state production prince Jeff ("Flesh Hammer") Walls (Woggles, Guadacanal Diary). The cruelty of the parody here on the absolutely gut-gouging funny-as-hell but not cool, not cool at all "Cycle of Violence" (in which Mitchell growls uncomfortable lines like "if you want to raise a kid then you got to raise a welt").

Cars Can Be Blue are at their best when Brooks is slapping a sycophant silly ("Pretty Special" with its sweet band-slut bashing lyrics "You get them all with your big vagina / I guess you are their biggest fan" and "Please put that pussy down / because it's been all over town") or even slyly subverting a seemingly hopeful love song (the "sassy" opener, "Sun Blows Up," which is a gorgeous love musical love letter that hides its internalization of atomic annihilation until you've heard it maybe three or four times).

Oddly, some of the nastiest songs are also the most musical, whereas the more merciful tracks are not as catchy. She is one unbelievably mean elf though at times, and Mitchell is one joyful collaborator, injecting each of her poison frosting cake flowers with his own tumescent venom.

There are soon-to-be-classics here ("Pretty Special," "Seems We're Breakin' Up"), redundant satires ("I Think It's A ...," "You're On Drugs") and some things that stretch the band a little farther into "acceptable" touring independent rock band territory ("Sun Blows Up," "Coat Tails"). They even throw in a zombie song for good measure ("Eyeballs") which shows that their selected Schadenfreude may transcend the personal horrors of child-birthing, child-raising, rock band following, and sex in general. The next album might be full on United States Black Metal, with Becky wearing enormous antlers on stage stomping all over a miniature nunnery. CCBB is the kind of band where that wouldn't surprise you at all.

Doubly Unbeatable follows up their 2005 debut All The Stuff We Do with a broader palette, a bit less angst in some of the tracks, and still contains the magic of a subversively simple sing-along perverted pop duo saying more than you think when you hear them sing.

New Eux Autres animation video cuteness

imaginary liz — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 17:13:42 +0000

The Eux Autres duo have been busy on their Macs to give us a super cute (and dare I say touching) video for "Anne Boleyn" from their 2007 album, Cold City.

Unclever

the sleepwalker — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 17:12:51 +0000

http://hhbtm.com/order.html

KJA.jpg

The United Kingdom’s Keith John Adams has three first names and his music is appropriately just as familiar and accessible. The aptly titled Unclever is, in fact, too comfortable, familiar, and accessible an experience. It certainly provides the soundtrack for some rump-shaking party fun, but that’s about the extent of it.

Unclever is full of some fine sonic sensibilities combining the blues-rocking of a sedated, but polished Jon Spencer, and the lyrical and vocal eccentricities of Jonathan Richman. Although the music is bouncy and bubble-gum joyous, there is relatively little arrangement or structure variance. In fact, the arrangements are extraordinarily simplistic with a minimum of instrumentation. As such, listening to the album as a whole leads to a sense that you might have heard the same song a few tracks earlier.

The lyrics are, at moments, intriguingly goofy and odd, but far more often, painfully silly and nonsensical. This shortcoming is somewhat abated by Keith’s skillful repetitive playground-chant delivery, which did make me wonder a bit if Keith might have had an earlier career as a middle-school bully. It is a bit too much to sustain for the whole album and it might make you feel like you’re being teased by a classmate, but the delivery does add a fresh and innovative shell to the otherwise lightweight lyrics.

The opening track, “Bed,” begins with a few lines that set the tone:

“Well you made your bed, now you lie in it. It’s an empty bed and it smells a bit. Get down, get down, get down, get down, if you looked into the mirror do you see a clown? Get down, get down, get down, get down, but if you looked into the mirror do you see a frown?”

There are some glimmering standouts. The best track on Unclever, “Elizabeth Hodgkinson Warzone,” has the subversive innocence of a rejected Shel Silverstein poem and a straighter alt-rock arrangement. Although the content itself doesn’t surpass the other tracks, something about its sneaky foot-tapping subterfuge and its ba-ba-ba chorus holds more water.

There is definitely an anti-folk gene pervading Keith John Adam’s DNA and as such, it’s never clear if he is mugging for you or at you, but it’s certain that his sincerity has been carefully hidden away back in the old country. You definitely won’t get much mental exercise listening to Unclever. If, however, Keith just wants you to tap your toes and shake your bum, he has succeeded.

There is definitely an anti-folk gene pervading Keith John Adam’s DNA.

Sing along with the new Keith John Adams' song, "Three Imaginary Girls"

imaginary liz — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 16:11:00 +0000

Keith John Adams wrote a song about Three Imaginary Girls... have a listen! Personally, we think it rules.

It's Eux Autres Day!

imaginary liz — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 20:52:53 +0000

Today is the release date for the new Eux Autres album! Cold City is their second full length and it is on Happy Happy Birthday to Me Records. It's in line with their last album, lo-fi, sweet, jangly, smart.

Countdown to the TWO fabulous TIG shows this Friday and Saturday! FISHBOY rules the school!

imaginary liz — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 17:21:24 +0000

I want to share an MP3 to prove it to you... but which one? I love "Racecar" and "Proper Name Spelling Bee" -- but I'll start our week-long countdown to the show with "Taqueria Girl" (another favorite).

Your very own Keith John Adams song (about YOU)!

imaginary liz — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 03:44:50 +0000

Our friends at Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records just emailed us about a neat preorder promotion for the new Keith John Adams album -- a song about YOU!

Giddiness, Giveaways, Vampires, and other reasons to be excited about our show at the Crocodile TOMORROW!

imaginary liz — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 15:19:59 +0000

We're soooo giddy about the show, we've got a couple giveaways to mark the occasion -- and this awesome video to sing along to...

Only TWO more days until the BIG SHOW at the Crocodile: Let's celebrate with a giveaway, video, and all out giddiness!

imaginary liz — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 15:56:30 +0000

Today we're going to take a look at our sweethearts Math and Physics Club. They're fresh off a mini-tour with The Lucksmiths (be still our hearts!) which capped off with MaPC's EP release show.

Only three days until this Thursday's BIG SHOW at the Crocodile! Let's celebrate with a prize pack!

imaginary liz — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 15:59:34 +0000

We are so excited about our big Tullycraft {album release} / Math & Physics Club / Patience Please {album release} show at the Crocodile THIS THURSDAY that we want to give away prizes!