A Taste:

Beck, cLOUDDEAD, The Weakerthans

The Indie Rock quartet So Many Dynamos take their name from a popular palindrome. After supporting acts such as The Postal Service, Junior Senior, and Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, it’s finally their time to shine once their record, The Loud Wars, drops June 9.

The band members huddled up in their hometown Edwardsville, IL with an iPod to give commentary on the first 10 tracks that show up when shuffled for us.

See what they’ve stirred up for us below!

So Many Dynamos’ Playlist:

1. Say Panther – “That’s Just Fine”

Ryan Wasoba: [laughs] I like this one! We recorded this at the Dynamos house.
Griffin Kay: I asked James (Butler, Say Panther singer) when this was going to come out and he said “I had the money to put it out and then I got fired, so now I don’t know when it’s going to happen.”
RW: That keyboard in the chorus, that’s the Micro Moog Aaron borrowed to record The Loud Wars
Aaron Stovall: I listened to our record for the first time in a while the other day and all I could think was, man…I really miss that keyboard.

2. The Avalanches - “Flight Tonight”

AS: The Avalanches?
RW: I guess so, since they keep saying “Avalanche” in it.
AS: Are they saying “Jamaican, Jamaican, Jamaican”?
RW: I’m not sure. Don’t they milk this “I need to book a flight tonight” sample forever?
GK: It seems like sample-milking is kind of their thing.
AS: (two minutes later) Is it done? This song is like being on mushrooms and just wanting it to stop but it won’t. Like “AHHH, this is cool and everything, but I just want to go to bed.”

3. The Beatles – “Michelle”

GK: This song kind of feels like The Beatles haven’t started to do a lot of drugs yet or maybe they started doing drugs but were trying to keep it on the down-low.
AS: It’s okay when it comes up on shuffle.
RW: I heard “Hey Jude” today and there’s that part where Paul goes “JUDY JUDY JUDY JUDY,” it’s like, Come on Paul…

4. Beck – “Novacaine”

GK: It’s weird to think that this came out way before rap metal.
AS: Yeah! I was thinking the same thing
RW: Oh wow, horn sample right into a bass slide!
AS: Horn sample into bass slide is like sax solo into key change, it’s just what you do.
RW: It’s really weird hearing DJ scratches in music you actually like.
AS: Oh man, this end part is awesome. All of those little noises there, that’s just what the Micro Moog sounds like. Damn, I miss that keyboard.
GK: I bet (keyboard owner) Eddie is pretty hard up for money.
AS: I don’t know if he’ll ever talk to me again.

5. Wilco - “I’m Always In Love”

GK: They should use this song in a car commercial.
RW: “I’m always in love with my Volkswagen.”
GK: I can see, like, two middle aged white people driving a Jetta to this.
AS: And he has his hand on the gear shifter and she puts her hand on top of his.
GK: And then they drive off into the sunset with their happy dog in the backseat.
RW: And they superimpose the VW logo onto the sun.
GK: [laughs] Volkswilco.
AS: The end of that kind of sounds like the end of a Saved By The Bell-type show and there’s a slow-motion high five on the last chord.

6. cLOUDDEAD - “Rifle Eyes”

RW: This is one of those ones where they actually rap.
AS: It’s so weird that Andrew, our booking agent, books all of these guys.
GK: It’s just weird to think of them performing, they seem like guys that don’t really leave their house much.
RW: I want to be friends with them.
GK: I still want a guest spot, I want to get good at rapping just to be friends with them.

7. The Weakerthans - “Diagnosis”

RW: I love The Weakerthans, but Aaron ruined them for me when he said that John K. Sampson sounds like Kermit the Frog.
AS: Man, sometimes he does a lot more than other.
GK: Especially on the acoustic songs.
RW: Because you can just imagine Kermit the Frog actually singing it.
AS: With a little acoustic guitar.
RW: Yeah, and a straw hat.
AS: I’ve only fallen asleep at two shows in my entire life, one was The Weakerthans and the other was Bright Eyes.
GK: I fell asleep at Matt Sharp’s solo show, but that was encouraged.

8. Demetri Martin – “The Start”

GK: The other day after watching Lost I watched an episode of Demetri Martin’s new show. It’s pretty funny.
AS: I’ve only seen the first episode, it was good.
RW: And the music is good too. The theme song kind of sounds like the copyright-free version of that one really sweet song by Blitzen Trapper, the first track on Wild Mountain Nation.

9. Death Cab For Cutie - “Information Travels Faster”

GK: The first time I bought this CD, I got it at Best Buy.
RW: That’s back when you would go to Best Buy and see the obscure band you like and you couldn’t believe they were in there.
GK: “Cursive is at Best Buy?!”
AS: I hated this the first time I heard it. It just wasn’t angsty enough. I was like 16 or 17.
RW: It’s kind of funny now because after recording with Walla, we know some of his tricks and listening to his older recordings, they’re kind of cute.
GK: I was listening to The Photo Album the other day and just paying attention to the drums it’s like, (in proud mom voice) “He’s just gotten so much better at recording drums. His hi-hat sounds have just really improved.”

10. Franz Ferdinand – “Darts of Pleasure”

AS: This is the most fun thing in the world to play. We did that tribute band for New Years a while back.
RW: Franz [sic] Ferdiband.
AS: And Nathan (Bernaix, singer of Target Market) wore guyliner.
RW: Oh wow, I forgot about that. Remember the first version of “Let’s Move Mountains”? I think we tried to make it sound like Franz Ferdinand and that didn’t really work.
GK: And the bridge to that version wound up being in “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things”.
RW: Aaron, if you ever sing like this I would want to punch you in the face.
AS: [laughs] To this day, this is still the last CD I purchased. I guess I haven’t bought music since 2004.

—Frances Zapanta
05.12.09