Song, by Toad

Here’s a bit of a weird one, Toadlings. I am going to moderate all comments on this post and then approve them all at once, after everyone has had a chance to weigh in. The reason for this is because I want to avoid any sort of peer conformity, and want a pure and honest opinion from everyone. Sound a bit contrived? Well let’s give it a go, shall we.

From is a band, and From is Roni Brunn.  She’s had something of a varied career, from handbag designer to web developer, and has some pretty hefty academic credentials  behind her – she majored in economics at Harvard, and is a self-taught musician.  All this is from her own bio, so I couldn’t tell you if any of it is embellished, but it’s an impressive list.

The reason for this blind-commenting, secret ballot nonsense is this: I have been involved in a conversation about this music, and one where I was very, very much at odds with the other party, and surprisingly so since we tend to agree on musical things.  The two opinions went vaguely along these lines: Argument A: she is a self-promoting, talentless joke; Argument B: the early stuff isn’t that good, but the new single is really infectious and it will be interesting to see where she goes from here.  Basically, given that our opinions were so completely at odds, we both thought it would be really interesting to get an entirely innocent and non-partisan reaction from Toad readers, which is what this is.

Here is her website so you can check that out, and here are three songs to help you make up your minds:

The new single: From – One Spring Away
The cover version:From – Fall On Me
The old song: From – American Girl

So, we need answers.  Remember that she is an unsigned artist so if you are going to come down on the negative side of this argument, don’t be too mean, in case she reads this, but basically we’d like to know: promising popstrel or worthless waif?

If you do like it, remember to chip in your $0.89 here at Amazon.

And here’s the video of American Girl, as further grist to the mill:

I’ve been listening to this album for ages, trying to decide if and how much I actually like it, and it’s still hard. It’s almost like a nice, safe version of lots of things I’ve been listening to for a good while now, and that safety should make it seem a little anodyne, but it doesn’t.  My inner indie-snob feels I should dismiss this for being a bit too lovely and warm and nice, and despite the fact that I find some of it less than gripping and the sea shanty of the title track just a little hackneyed, I am still really enjoying listening to this record despite myself.

It sounds in some ways like what the Decemberists might sound like if they were ten years older, a little less riotous and generally just a bunch of really nice friendly people having you round for a glass of wine.  Just one, though.  There’s no bite to it really, despite some of the lyrical content – “There is no purpose in killing the president, the world is full of fuckers just like him/ sowing seeds of fear and watered with lies, fertilised with shit they spew from within their hearts”.  It’s far from tame, but there’s still something very comfortable about it.

Depression is a tense, treacley song that seems to manage to translate the very emotion of the situation directly into the atmosphere of the song.  Coal-Hearted Woman is light hearted to the point of novelty, and that kind of variability perhaps comes from the fact that the songwriting is spread amongst the entire band, and maybe that’s why I like an album that I am, idiotically, continually surprised to enjoy.

Maybe it’s time I just got over myself a little and confessed that, although it’s not all brilliant, this is just a really good album whether or not my inner indie snob would sneer at me for saying so.  Have some courage man, and stand up to the little troglodyte!

Listing Ship – Archaeologist
Listing Ship – A Sad State of Confusion
Listing Ship – Voice of the Future

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