originally this post was entered into a contest to win an arc (advance reader's copy) of a book by one of my fave teen authors (which btw, i didn't win...boo!), so if it seems more essayish than more like a review, well that's because it is an essay. besides, i can think of no other band more perfect to write about it in my inaugural weheartmusic post. btw, i'll likely be mining my personal myspace and livejournal blogs for previous posts about music that went mostly unappreciated and posting them here, with a little reworking of course. the majority of my friends aren't as obsessed with music as i am, so i can't be arsed to write music reviews there anymore. anyway, so on to the bestest band in the world.....
I'm not sure what year it was exactly, but I'd say it was about 5-6 years ago. At the time my favourite internet hang out was the old Jeepster Belle & Sebastian chat room. I frequented that room with not only hopes of making friends with similar musical interests, but I also hoped to maybe find some geek-tastic Scottish lad to whisk me away from the States. Well, there never was any whisking away by a Scotsman (though there was a certain guy from West Virginia of all places that managed to capture me briefly), but something else more profound happened to me. One day while waiting for the aforementioned West Virginian, an Aussie boy happened into the chat and struck up a conversation with me about his favourite band, the Lucksmiths. I told him that I'd never heard of them before, but he assured me that if I liked Belle & Sebastian, then I was sure to dig the Lucksmiths as well. Immediately after our chat I went to the Candle Records website to listen for the first time to the band that was soon to become my absolute favourite. The one mp3 Candle had up at the time was for 'Under the Rotunda'. From my initial listen, I was hooked. I must have listened to that song about 50 times that night and with each additional listen, I loved it a bit more. I couldn't believe that music like this existed and was disappointed that I was just then discovering it. My newfound love of the Lucksmiths opened up a whole new world for me: the world of indie pop music. I'd heard the term "twee" before, mostly in reference to B&S, but prior to the Lucksmiths I don't believe I'd heard of indie pop. Indie pop. What a glorious term! I thought the Lucksmiths were a fluke, but I soon came to find out that there was an entire genre of music devoted to jangly guitars and 'ba-ba-bada-bas'.
Do you have that one book or one movie that you turn to when you feel as though the world is closing in on you and you just need an escape? For me, the Luckies are my great escape. When I'm feeling my crummiest, they restore me to good spirits. The combination of Tali White's mellifluous voice and their guitar pop ushers up false feelings of nostalgia. All my dearest friends are spread out all over the world and I rarely get to see them, but the Lucksmiths are my constant companion, making me feel less alone whenever I listen to them. They might not be what I was looking for that day in the chat room, but they were exactly what I needed.
~kennie (tweeturtle)
and me on one of the happiest days of my life:
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