ethical dilemma in re: tullycraft

As I am preparing for tomorrow's radio show, I am having a bit of an ethical dilemma.

Last week, someone called in to my show threatening to report me to the FCC because of the word "fuck" appearing in QWEE!'s themesong, Tullycraft's "Twee." The word appears three times throughout the song, in the ever-classic "You can keep the punk rock, ska, rap beats, and house, fuck me I'm twee!" My last show marked the three year anniversary of QWEE!, at least two and a half of those years have started with "Twee" at least bi-weekly. And no one, not once, has ever called in to complain.

So now I am faced with this dilemma, and I'm sure the answer to it is obvious. I've edited "Twee" to remove those three obscenities, leaving it squeaky clean in its references to the indie pop greats, but now I can't help but feel dirty. Am I destroying this song? Is this wrong of me? I certainly don't want to get WHPK in $21,000 worth of trouble (apparently the price at $7,000 an offense), but it just seems wrong... I am pretty sure, however, that would be the first obscenity fine in twee's history.

So to that asshole who called in: fuck you.

Good thing I can say that here.

parenthetical girls - new video, album out

Parenthetical Girls - A Song for Ellie Greenwich

It took me a lot of googling to remember that I first saw the Parenthetical Girls in 2004 opening for Mt. Eerie at what was formerly the Open End Gallery. I must have been a junior in high school, perhaps just learning about indie pop in the form that I know it now. But when I saw the Parenthetical Girls, who had just released their (((GRRRLS))) double-sided vinyl EP released on their own Slender Means Society, something about their brand of off-center, melodramatic, queer pop music struck a chord with me.

The band followed up with the critical acclaimed (and excellent) Safe as Houses LP and maybe even found a bit more notoriety after Casiotone for the Painfully Alone covered their brilliant "Love Connection" on his album Etiquette.

When their new album, Entanglements, came out, people saw it as an entirely different direction for the band. And sure, it IS different, but frontman Zac Pennington still has the same wonderful lyrics with the same awkward pop sense. The quirky instrumentation is abandoned for orchestration. It may not have the same lo-fi qualities as their debut, but just watch the video and somehow all the charms of the band come back.

Download:
The Parenthetical Girls - A Song for Ellie Greenwich

skwbn - #4!!! new single!

There are few bands who better embody the spirit of Swedish pop better than Suburban Kids With Biblical Names. Their music combines a joyous mix of electronics, fun melodies, and maybe occasional tendencies toward the tropical. It's already been three years since the release of their only full-length, #3, but now we have been blessed with #4, set to be released on February 4th on Labrador. How did we ever survive? Well, luckily the duo had other projects in the meantime: Peter Gunnarson played with the wonderful Springfactory and Johan Hedberg released a great solo EP on Labrador.

Sadly, however, #4 is just an EP! Oh well, I guess having four songs is better than having none.

To celebrate this good news, I woke up this morning with an e-mail from Labrador gifting us all an early February 4: an MP3 of Suburban Kids' new single, "1999." I don't think it is anything radically different from classic SKWBN. A few more songs are also streaming on the band's Myspace, so make sure to have a listen.

Pre-order #4 now!

Download:
Suburban Kids With Biblical Names - 1999

TOP 50 of 2008

This shouldn't even be a list. This is probably every song I have ever had on repeat throughout the year. It doesn't include the millions of pop songs I didn't hear, the bands who have yet to put out a release that has either leaked onto Soulseek, the blogs, or found its way into the WHPK record library. (Hey, I'm a college student, YOU buy me music.) I can already think of something I forgot...

THE 50 MOST TWEERIFIC SONGS OF 2008 as played on QWEE! on December 29, 2008:

50. The Lodger – "The Good Old Days" from Life is Sweet
49. Pelle Carlberg – "1983 (Pelle & Sebastian)" from The Lilac Time
48. Summer Cats – "Passion Pop" from Passion Pop
47. The Second Band – "No Song" from No Song single
46. The Airfields – "Yr So Wonderful" from Up All Night
45. Northern Portrait – "Crazy" from The Fallen Aristocracy EP
44. All Girl Summer Fun Band – "Oh No" from Looking Into It
43. Moofish Catfish – "Half My Size" from On A Sunbeam to Your Heart
42. Vampire Weekend – "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" from S/T
41. Je Suis Animal – "The Mystery of Marie Roget" from Self Taught Magic From a Book
40. The Just Joans – "Hey Boy... You're Oh So Sensitive!" from Hey Boy... You're Oh So Sensitive! EP
39. Slow Down Tallahassee – "Never Be Lonely Again" from The Beautiful Light
38. The Radio Dept. – Freddie and the Trojan Horse from Freddie and the Trojan Horse single
37. Cloetta Paris – "Secret Eyes" from Secret Eyes
36. The Organ – "Fire in the Ocean" from Thieves EP
35. Liechtenstein – "Security By Design" from Apathy 7"
34. Tafra – "Why Do You Have To Be So Complicated Baby?" from Why Even Bother
33. Retro Stefson – "Luna" from Montaña
32. Sexy Kids – "Sisters Are Forever" from Sisters Are Forever 7"
31. No Kids – "I Love the Weekend" from Come Into My House
30. The Smittens – "The Interstate" from The Coolest Thing About Love
29. Little My – "All But the Beeps Meep" from Little My's Sixth
28. The Sound of Arrows – "Danger" from Danger EP
27. The LK – "The Private Life of a Cat" from The LK vs. the Snow
26. The Parallelograms – "Without You" from 1–2–3 Go!
25. Crystal Stilts – "Prismatic Room" from Alight of Night
24. The Social Services – "The Baltic Sea" from It's Nothing Personal, It's National Security
23. The Magnetic Fields – California Girls from Distortion
22. Parker Lewis – "Bash the Cynicals" from Parker Lewis
21. Air France – "No Excuses" from No Way Down
20. Strawberry Fair – "I Can't Do Anything" from I Can't Do Anything EP
19. Hari and Aino – "Gold (Or Something Just as Nice)" from Hari and Aino
18. The Legends – "Seconds Away" from Seconds Away single
17. The Carrots – "Beverly" from Beverly 7"
16. The Manhattan Love Suicides – "Never Far From You" from Burnt Out Landscapes
15. Love Is All – "Wishing Well" from A Hundred Things Keep Me Up at Night
14. Utah Rangers – "March"
13. Slow Club – "Summer Shakedown" from Let's Fall Back in Love EP
12. El Perro Del Mar – "Somebody's Baby" from From the Valley to the Stars
11. The School – "Let It Slip" from Let It Slip 7"
10. Cars Can Be Blue – "Sun Blows Up" from Doubly Unbeatable
9. Comet Gain – "Love Without Lies" from Broken Record Prayers
8. Erik Halldén – "If I Ever Get Married"
7. Those Dancing Days – "Home Sweet Home" from In Our Space Hero Suits
6. Lykke Li – "Little Bit" from Youth Novels
5. Strawberry Story – "Boys (From the Story)" from Sci-Fi Guy EP
4. Johan Hedberg – "Var Dig Själv" from 5 Spårs EP
3. Vivian Girls – "Where Do You Run To" from Vivian Girls
2. Hello Saferide – "Anna" from More Modern Short Stories from Hello Saferide
1. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – "Everything With You" from Everything With You 7"

There you have it.

I should note that there are very few of these songs not available on the internet. I would post links, but that would take days.