Two Fingers

Pinegrove, “Darkness (acoustic)”

After a very good and well-received second album (Cardinal), Pinegrove ran into some serious problems that derailed the band after accusations surfaced about Evan Hall. It was a messy situation that Hall and the band tried to handle head-on, eventually going through mediation with the accuser and leaving their label willingly when another band objected to their presence. Overall, they seemed sincere in their attempts to handle things, and it seems like the accuser was satisfied by their steps. Anyway, all of this delayed the release of their third album by a couple years, and it eventually came out self-released. For all that, Skylight is actually a good album, and it came accompanied with an acoustic interpretation (called Skylight II). That’s where this track came from, and it’s a nice little listen.

Two Fingers, “Moth Rhythm”

Most of the tracks on the Amon Tobin side project feature Sway rapping on them, but this is one of the two songs that does not. As a result, this just sounds like an Amon Tobin song. Contemplative for him, sure, but still a Tobin song. Not that that is a bad thing.

British Sea Power, “Be Gone”

British Sea Power play pretty nuts-and-bolts indie rock. This is from their second album, which doesn’t show a ton of evolution from the first record. It’s good, but I’m not sure it’s super memorable.

Solid set today.

Two Fingers, “Not Perfect”

Another track from the self-titled Two Fingers album, featuring another collaboration with Sway. As before, this is just delightful.

Modest Mouse, “Tundra/Desert”

I wonder what Isaac Brock sounded like as a kid. Did he sound like, well, himself? Did he warble when he yelled at his siblings? Does he have siblings? I wonder if his parents thought “damn, listen to this kid, he’s gonna be a rock star, just listen to that!”

Hey, the AV Club’s “The Year In Band Names” is out! Oh, and we have music for today.

Two Fingers, “High Life”

Side project of Five Songs favorite Amon Tobin, Two Fingers is a collaboration with another producer named Doubleclick, along with some assorted MCs. In particular, Sway appears on most of the tracks here, including this one. And, damn, but it all works great. Stuttery and spastic in all the right ways, with some fun vocal work, this is a very entertaining album.