new lodger album and why i'm a terrible person

It's fairly common for people to describe a lot indiepop as 'immediate'. I guess it's based around the sense that if you don't notice catchy melodies and clever lyrics the first time you hear something then when will you? While I can understand why some people feel this way, I feel it's completely off the mark. I find it's music like this that takes me a while, and a bit of effort, to work out whether I think it's inspired or contrived. Very few of my favourite popsongs grabbed me the first time I heard them, rather they tend to knock me on and fifth and sixth listen. By contrast I remember how much I enjoyed my first listen of Panda Bear's 'Personal Pitch' album from last year, yet I don't love it anymore now than I did then. People often talk about how the internet, and myspace in particularly, encourages a disposable attitude to music where a band is evaluated by one song before the listener moves on to the next. It's something that seemingly everyone agrees is bad, but then everyone does themselves. In fact I'm arguably guilty of worse; usually when I'm listening to a new band through last.fm or something I'm at work, I've just got one earphone in, battling with a book scanner and keep having to stop to unjam photocopiers.

In my last post I mentioned how I had ignored Pants Yell! for quite a while after listening to them in the kind of situation mentioned above; well I'm sorry to say I've done it again with The Lodger. I quickly dismissed them the first time I heard them for reasons I can't understand, but after picking up their album 'Life Is Sweet' on a whim this weekend I'm absolutely smitten. Once again it took me a while. When I first put it on I thought it was 'too much', but then listening to it on my way to and from work for the last few days I enjoy it more every time I hear it. The herky jerky soul rhythms of songs like their first single 'Good Old Days', points to bands like Orange Juice and Comet Gain, although the mix and frantic pop punctuated with tender string led melancholy suggests a similar spirit to The Lucksmiths. It's quite an intense sound that can be a little bit jarring if played a background music, but wandering around listening to them on my minidisk (yeah I'm stuck in the nineties) has made me appreciate late buses and train delays more than ever before.