scene but not herd

2004 is almost over and I've been reading a lot of "best of" and "top ten" lists lately. I'm not going to do that here because, frankly, I can't even remember exactly what came out this year. I've also been buying a lot more old stuff that I missed out on the first time around rather than newer bands. I'm always interested in seeing what a consensus of people seem to be raving about at certain times and right now it seems to be the Arcade Fire. I need to hear their entire album, but right now I don't see what all the fuss is about. I've heard a couple of songs, but they didn't make me want to run out and buy the record or go see them live. I guess I'm lucky that I'm not interested in seeing them because they already sold out three shows that aren't occurring until next month. I know that I should accept that other people have different tastes than mine, but it always amazes me when so many people are raving about certain bands while other quality bands fall by the wayside. So instead of complaining about the hype surrounding Arcade Fire and others, I'm going to briefly mention some bands that I think have been somewhat neglected. I'm just going to focus on three groups which could all be categorized into the realm of pop music. They are the Go-Betweens, Chamber Strings, and the Pernice Brothers. Why aren't these bands mentioned more often? It's not like they are hard to listen to or are mentioned in the realm of being an acquired taste. People seem to love Belle and Sebastien, so if you like them you really should give the Go-Betweens a chance. They write great literate pop songs. The song "Devil's Eye" is a perfectly concise couple of minutes expressing the care that one person has for another. "Streets of Your Town" is so catchy that it should have been a number one hit, but at the same time it has some dark lyrical undertones. All their albums have been reissued so it would be a perfect time to acquaint oneself with this great band. The Chamber Strings remind me of a mix of Nikki Sudden and the Raspberries for some reason. They have a song called "Dead Man's Poise" which is just a great rock song and rates quite favorably with the best of the Rolling Stones or Faces. I had the pleasure of seeing them twice live and this song I think best describes their live sound. On record they also remind me a bit of some of Todd Rundgren's work. Unfortunately, last I heard, the singer seems to be caught up in the downward spiral of heroin so who knows what the future will bring. Hopefully he can clean up his act because he is too good of a musician to let it all slip away. I've always thought that the perfect concert bill would be the New Pornographers and the Pernice Brothers. I would be like a kid eating just enough candy for the perfect sugar high. I read a review once that stated that Smiths fans need look no further than the Pernice Brothers to find their next fix. I would tend to agree with that assesment. They have melodies to die for and the lyrics can get quite dark. I love the frequent juxtaposition of super catchy music with quite somber lyrics. Like I stated previously, everyone has their own tastes, but it seems a crime to me that these bands aren't being hyped up to the high heavens as well.