First(ish) Listen: Neon Trees

So, you know how there's those bands that you keep hearing you should listen to, but for whatever reason, they just never seem to work their way out of the stack on your desk and into your player? Yeah, I've missed the "early boat" on quite a few really good bands because of that, so I'm trying to be better about it. I have a 5-disc CD changer stereo in my office (I know, it's so 2001 of me), so recently I've been trying to pick 5 CDs I haven't listened to yet, put them in randomly, and go. Well, recently we've been busy with a few projects and I'd slacked off a bit on my CD swapping, and hadn't changed the discs in awhile. (Not gonna lie, I was mostly just listening to the new Maine joint, which I had loaded in Disc 1.)

Well, for the past couple days, I've been too busy to hit the "disc repeat" button on my little remote control, so the stereo was moving past Disc 1, and I kept perking up whenever this little 8-song gem would come on. I had actually forgotten what I had put in Disc 4, so at one point I got up to check, and when I realized it was Neon Trees, I had to have one of those, "Yeah, everyone who told me I would love this band was totally right" moments. Maybe I should start listening to the people/publicists who seem to know me and quite being so stubborn.

I realize this next line is brought to you by Duh! Industries, but the vast majority of fans connect with music on an emotional level. Because something speaks directly to you, describes exactly what you're feeling, or says something you've heard/thought many different times but in a completely new way. 

Aside from being a really fun and catchy rock band, Neon Trees are speaking to me right now with "Love And Affection." I found some rando YouTube video of it (the audio's actually pretty decent–the steadiness of the camera, not so much) to share:

The question the song poses is simple enough: "I just don't understand/Why my love isn't good enough." But there isn't a single person who hasn't felt that way at some point in their lives, whether it pertains to a relationship, a friendship or a passion for a job or  a hobby. And even though it's a pretty basic human sentiment, somehow when Neon Trees are jamming it, it seems like a brand new idea, that they created just for me, so I could say, "Yeah, why ISN'T it good enough?!" 

I dig music that makes me feel like I'm the muse. Who wouldn't? It's flattering. And even if there's no super-secret message being beamed straight to your synapses, Neon Trees' whole album, Habits, is still super-tight, glammy, good-times indie-rock that you should put in your player of choice immediately, if you've been procrastinating like me.