#thom powers

Alisa and Thom behind the scenes for the “Come As You Are” video.

The Instant Classic That No One Has Heard Of

https://open.spotify.com/album/4c7fO6dTXyfGe4yydkYhPL?si=KRLbuWzwQWCT-fl2ngVpjw

‘Passive Me, Aggressive You’ is the debut album of the New Zealand band ‘The Naked and Famous’ released in 2010. It had a mixed critical reception and debuted at number one in September of 2010 on the New Zealand album charts. At this time the band consisted of Alisa Xayalith (vocals and keyboard), Thom Powers (vocals and guitar), Jesse Wood (drums) and David Beadle (bass).

I was first introduced to this band when my brother thrust his earphones in my face in the taxi on the way back from the airport and I heard the final echoing choruses of ‘Punching in a Dream’, being eight at the time, I didn’t think about the song much when I was distracted by Fifa ‘05 on a DS, but when my brother reminded me of it a few months later, I was hooked and I haven’t been able to get enough of them since.

From start to finish you are bombarded with beautifully simple lyrics, grand production and a craving for more.

The first two songs - ‘All of This’ and ‘Punching in a Dream’ - are two of my favourites from the album. The fantastic lyricism from the opener expresses a relationship that’s slowly breaking apart, paired with fantastic harmonies and raw vocals from Xayalith and Powers as well as the productions driving drum and bass and simple yet effective guitar solos, it’s the perfect opener. The next song ‘Punching in a Dream’ is one of my favourite songs of all time, it’s three and a half-minute run time feels like forever and thirty seconds at the same time. The usual soft vocals from the leads are loud and proud, making the song more powerful, the entire song seems to exist to make you want to do something, anything. Words cannot describe just how great this song is, if you take my word about anything - it’s to listen to ‘Punching in a Dream’. And if you recognise it from anywhere, the last thirty seconds are played in Pitch Perfect (2012).

The next three songs - ‘Frayed’, ‘The Source’ and ‘The Sun’ - offer respite from the loud and fast paced beginning. They are, in my opinion, some of the most underrated tracks of the album. With quietly profound lyrics describing the difficulties of making ends meet as well as the the feeling of burnout that many adults have, ‘Frayed’, is one of those songs that stays with you for a while after you listen. The layered voices at the end are hauntingly beautiful and adds to the feel of the song. The instrumental ‘The Source’ is short but sweet with a perfect lead into ‘The Sun’ - a meditation on addiction and the spiral into it, with the repetition of ‘And I run’ at the end being almost hypnotic in it’s nature. 

‘Eyes’ - track six of the album - is admittedly not one of my favourites, but it does bring the energy back up with an 80s era banger with a wall of sound type of production that sounds like it could be the ending of an teen movie. The comes TNAF’’s most famous track, ‘Young Blood’. It has the bittersweet energy of Walk the Moon’s ‘Anna Sun’ - or most of their first album actually. They have somehow created a song that could slot into most playlists but is still completely individual. It is a first-rate song, everlasting lyrics, production that is catchy and timeless - would definitely recommend a listen. The eight track - ‘No Way’ - really is the emotional core of the album. It’s dreamlike depiction of a breakup or devastating argument hurts to listen to in the best possible way. The sudden bursts of noise encapsulates the pain that Xayalith is trying to convey, the lyrics are sparse but feel like getting stabbed by needles in the heart and, as always, nearly perfect production adds to the energy of the song.

Now we’re in the final stretch of the album, it transitions from almost classic electronic  to more experimental - but no less dance-orientated music.

The next four tracks really epitomizes this change. ‘Spank’ is by far my favourite of the latter half of the album, with the signature TNAF layered vocals crossing each other, energetic drums, guitars and synths blending into each other and more vague lyrics; it’s a great for workouts or just lying in bed. The tenth song ‘Jilted Lover’ feels like an early The 1975 song, with it’s minimal lyrics and beautifully full production that bends to the words. ‘A Wolf in Geek’s Clothing’ is the oddest of the album; squeaking guitars and overhyped synths gives it the feel of an Idles or Black Midi song but with the almost ever-soft vocals of Xayalith and Powers make it a great listening experience - it’s the kind of song that my Dad would call ‘just noise’ but I promise it’s worth a listen. The penultimate song ‘The Ends’ is another that sounds like the EP era of The 1975, it’s the only song on the album that could be classified as a skip but I would not recommend doing so.

The final track, ‘Girls Like You’, is a six-minute masterpiece spearheaded by Powers’ vocals and that build like LCD Soundsystem’s ‘All My Friends’ but ends on a quietly sombre feeling. Like most of the album it combines heartfelt lyrics with an upbeat feeling that leaves you either dancing or crying. Ending the album with another song that makes time feel like time melts away - sonically it’s one of their simpler tracks, but works nonetheless.

Overall, it’s electronic/pop/dance perfection that will make you repeat and repeat each song until you know it inside out. Quietly emotional lyrics, almost perfect production and a clear joy for music which is hard to convey.

Favourite Tracks: Punching in a Dream, All of this, Spank.

Least Favourite (this was very difficult btw): Eyes, Jilted Lover, No Way.

Similar Tracks: Cruel - St. Vincent, Dreams - Passion Pit (Cover), Deceptacon - Le Tigre