around a month ago, i set up a record player and some small speakers in my room. i got to buy around five LPs from a record store a few hours from my home: Deathconsciousness, Sister, Souvlaki, Marquee Moon, and On Fire. out of these, On Fire was the only record i didn’t already listen to. i wanted to try something new. a couple weeks later, i listened to On Fire for the first time, and honestly, i didn’t get it at first. it was slow, the guitar tones felt repetitive, the vocals were weird (though i really liked naomi yang’s vocals on “Another Day“).
second time i heard it, it began to make more sense. dean wareham’s lyrics are quirky, they describe mundane things, but are intimate and lonely. the instrumentation is expansive, slow, and relaxing. i could best describe them as something between dream pop and slowcore, before either really existed. my favorite tracks from galaxie 500 right now are “Snowstorm”, along with “Blue Thunder“, “Flowers“, “Don’t Let Our Youth Go to Waste“, and “Tell Me“.
“Snowstorm” describes a narrator watching the weather forecast and feeling incredibly bored as the weather cuts off the power. it kind of reminds me of Groundhog Day, where Phil can’t leave the town due to a blizzard. the chords and bass line are melodic and minimalist throughout, but eventually get into meandering, wah-heavy soloing in the end, lost and exploratory. it’s longing, a little detached, a little lonely. and the chorus-if you can call it that-is a nice, ethereal swell as wareham hits some high notes. it’s a little repetitive, but perfectly captures a lazy, isolating sunday. give it a listen! 🙂
q-street 