Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever-French Press

Mood Monday

Today, I am thinking about the curious paths of people. Family…friends…loved ones. They can be very similar or very divergent. As much time as you are together, do you really know each other? Or do you just pay attention and care about the parts you love? I am really thinking about this because I am in a family of four children. We are so different and disconnected. Each of us has chosen a completely separate path to happiness. We have all jigged and jogged to experience it, and some of us still have significant battles to win it over.

It strikes me as being really weird and unusual to be all reared by the same parents, have the same kind of experiences (good and bad), be loved by the same two people, but be so very, very different. I am actually fascinated by this thought. Fascinated by the fact we shared multiple Christmas mornings together, blew out thousands of birthday candles, watched hours of tv together, jumped many crashing waves, chuckled over the same silly jokes, and even cried together experiencing heartache and sorrow. Shared experiences should count for something, right?

Considering all of this, I recognize we are each beautifully unique. Yet, do we share that side or do we hide away that uniqueness ? Are the people we love really interested in what makes us different? Or is it all about what makes us similar? Isn’t love all about really wanting to know a person, the whole person? Connect or disconnect?

So believe it or not, I found a song and a band that captures the emotions I am feeling right now. Each person chooses a path, but can also choose to explore and be enhanced by the others who have chosen a different path. They only have to stay close with them, listen to them, be open to them. Or, they can choose to be alone and not share their gifts or receive the gifts of differences.

I want to always be open.

Sometimes all my mood needs is a really good band and an honest song.

Lately, I’ve had a little more time on my hands. In those glorious extra minutes, I explore music. This past weekend, struggling with family worries, I went through some old e-mails from the past couple months and found this impressive tune and band. If you are a fan of Parquet Courts, then you may make a special point of listening. But for those of you who might be similarly struggling with your odd differences or just the inner wish for others to want to embrace who you really are, this song might speak to you.

Rolling Blackouts CF-French Press

This Melbourne band has a big name to remember, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever. They are Frank Keaney, cousin Joe White, brothers Tom and Joe Russo, and drummer Marcel Tussie. I appreciate their melodic sound and tight lyrical stories. “French Press” is basically about two brothers who choose completely different paths in life. One is in a comfortable office and the other travels around the world. The lyrics are based on their terrible connection over a Skype call and somewhat symbolize…

“The freedom of one, having cast off physical and emotional ties and wrestling with liberation versus feeling lost, versus the grim routine – but also security – of the latter, all pivoting on a series of double meanings: The journalistic French press versus the coffee pot which symbolizes drab office culture, the disconnect people crave in escaping their homes versus the disconnect from everything they knew and cared about.”-Sub Pop Records

The beauty of the song is in the ending and 2 minutes of full-on instrumentals and crazy good sonic power, worthy of headphones and high decibels. It moves musically through a casual ease of toe tapping tension and then contrasts into a blast of guitars and drum beats, amid emphasizing cymbal crashes.

The tune, “French Press” is also the title of their latest EP coming out March 10th, alongside a brief tour across the US, beginning at SXSW. Sadly there isn’t a stop in Atlanta, but I can still listen and appreciate their incredible craft of songs which stem from “something rooted in real life before building them into clever quick vignettes…lines blurred between fiction and reality”.

Another beaut and favorite of mine is a tune from last year, “Wither With You” on their album, Talk Tight. I swoon at their stellar guitar playing and the punk vibe of the singing/shouting vocals. Give this a listen too.