Music nerdom can sometimes be frustrating. Sure – you have the typical irritation points, like when you see that Maroon 5 sold out the local Bud Light Lime Dome, or that the massive pool of Top 40 fans were amazed and horribly irritated when Bon Iver won a Grammy, despite their not knowing who the fuck Justin Vernon is.
But all of that annoyance is well worth the valuable blogger lives lost each year due to blood pressure spikes and nasty brain aneurysms, when by accident, we finally get to know a band that has fluttered gently across our radar screens for years, but somehow never made a big enough blip to cause us to click on that MP3 file in our inbox.
Well, this morning, a promotional email crossed paths with my Hopscotch Music Festival schedule spreadsheet (don’t hate), and Secret Cities‘ name, soulmate style, jumped out and caused an unplanned download of our Jam of the Day, “The Park.”
Red marker and yellow highlighter in opposing hands, it was make/break time for these Fargo kids. Luckily for all involved, including you readers out there, it took about five seconds to drop that red Sharpie like it’s hot and highlight the shit out of these guys. What I heard was glorious indie-pop, that somehow reminded me of that first time I heard The Shins’ Oh, Inverted World way back in the day before they became famous/boring.
Instant “thumbs up” on Facebook. Kablow.
Download it out below – and see them Saturday night, September 8th, at the Longview Center in Raleigh, NC. Pick up their second album, Strange Hearts, here.