#thatmag

Hey fans, friends, and people of the Internet! Nice to see all of you again. Our show last week was pretty awesome, in case you were wondering. The concert was thinner than expected due to the snow, so we decided to postpone our audience gag for another time. We should be back at Dobbs in March and in May so we’ll have plenty of other chances to do it. Make sure you don’t miss the future concerts.

So, a few days ago I reviewed the new Tegan and Sara album, Heartthrob. Every now and then I do album reviews for ThatMag. (You can check out some of the other ones I’ve done there like T-Swift’s Red, and Mumford & Sons’ Babel). Anyway, I listened to the album and it was pretty cool. Nothing legendary or anything, but a nice, fun, pop record (in the way that only Tegan and Sara could do pop). 

Since hearing the album I’ve been listening to it non-stop, and it’s growing on me like crazy. As I said, I liked it off the bat, but it wasn’t anything special to me. Now, however, I’m finding that I’m really starting to love Heartthrob. I’ve been thinking about the weird power that music has to gain your appeal over time. It’s happened to me with other albums and artists before. I vividly remember HATING the song ‘Gives You Hell’ by The All-American Rejects when I first heard it. Whenever it came on the radio I got pissed off. But at some point I sat down, watched the video, and realized how fucking brilliant it was. Come on, that shit’s HILARIOUS. I had this same exact experience with Taylor Swift’s 2012 hit ‘We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together’ and Carly Rae Jepsen’s notorious ‘Call Me Maybe’.

Granted, I felt more open to Heartthrob than the others from the get-go, but they all grew on me in that weird way that music does. I’m sure I’m not the only person who’s experienced that, right?

…right!?

(Here is where I assume someone agrees with me)

Ok, awesome! I think this sort of thing has a lot more to do with our lives and us as people than it really has to do with music. Like I’ve said before, I love music like crazy, but I think it tends to be more of a medium through which we experience life and emotion, rather than some static object that we love purely for itself. I know that when I listen to a song or a record, it always mentally puts me into the part of my life I was at when I discovered it.

I think that when we go from hating a song to loving it, we’re really reflecting on our lives rather than the song (like I said, the song’s just the medium to channel that period of our life). My thought is that when we discover these songs our lives are at a sort of ‘neutral’ point. You know what I mean? Nothing spectacular has been happening, but nothing bad either. We’re just sort of going. I think that reflecting on those times later on help us see that we probably were pretty happy or content, and the music lets us sort of feel that contentedness again. I could be wrong, but I think it’s a nice sentiment.

If you’ve got any thoughts on it, shoot us a comment or something! I’d love to see if anyone else has any ideas on this kind of thing. I love talking about this stuff. Until next time, you stay classy Internet.

Okay, wow. I really do SUCK at this whole blogging thing! I want to keep up with it so badly, too. I'm just mega busy basically all the time. But I think I can spare a little time for tumblr. I'll try! 

I'm so busy because I now work three jobs, go to school full time, and maintain a pretty spiffy social life. Starbucks 5ish days a week, 4:30AM to 1PM, nannying M-F 3:30PM-6PM. And I write for ThatMag, a local Philly music magazine. If anyone's actually reading this, check it out! Search my name or somethin'! Four classes at school. Four again next semester. Then, hopefully, I'll be at TEMPLE next fall! Eeeeeeek! I can't wait to move out and be living in the city, since I'm there at least weekly for shows, anyway.

Speaking of shows, I've been to a ton lately. In the past month(ish) I've seen Ben Folds Five, Miniature Tigers, Ballyhoo, Conor Oberst, Circa, Sufjan Stevens, Daniel Johnston, JJAMZ... and there are a few more I'm forgetting, I'm sure. I'm seeing Anthony Green twice in a row next month, Good Old War next month, Circa in January in ATLANTIC CITY! Where I'll probably get to meet some of my Circa friends for the first time :D! I'm mega pumped.