I don’t remember hearing Mason Lindhal, Elliott Smith, or Mt. Eerie the last time I listened to either Bad History Month OR Fat History Month, but it’s a welcome development that’s added a foggy sense of mystique to a sound I already was heavily invested in. Famous Cigarettes, a great-looking split with Dust From 1000 Years, connects the two young bands as they look to expand their whole “let’s forget about synths awhile” idea beyond the backyard-BBQ/indie/former-Goodwill arena. “You think you’re flying, but actually / You’re just falling in love”… That’s how BHM’s Jeff Meff starts his side before what seemed like a nice quiet evening turns into a roof cave-in, with some crashes and perhaps blood shed. It’s just a distraction, however. Soon we’re back in lone singer-songwriter territory, not wishing for the ‘old dayz’ because Meff actually is beginning to flesh his lil’ solo camper out a bit, buttressing it with percussion that comes and goes and me-thinks a few overdubs. And don’t forget the sadness. He’s definitely still feeling that. Not buckets-full, but he’s at the point in life wherein mortality is no longer a far-off abstraction but a real, to-be-dealt-with event. That’s my theory. Dust From 1000 Years, also, don’t seem too chipper. “I got a pack of smokes today / Somethin’ to do while I waste my life away” is not going to adorn a postcard anytime soon, is it? It’s like Marc Maron said: “Some people come to my show and say, ‘Hey, that guy’s funny!’ Others say, ‘I hope he’s OK.’” I kind of feel a bit like that right now, yet I know they’ll be fine because they’ve got a good band going, a place to turn to. How many of us can really say that, particularly those of us who are perhaps a few years older than these blokes? And how many bands can turn “Let’s party every day” into a morose statement? I also appreciate the little nods to Isaac Brock’s guitar playing, and the fact that both these bands are too young to have heard/heard of Duster.
More about: Bad History Month / Dust From 1000 Years
