Beach Sloth

The Dirty Projectors – Swing Lo Magellan

                Yes, this is happening. Hope 2012 is a repeat of 2009. I remember 2009 having all these great releases. Then we had a few years off to let chillwave gestate, dubstep to generate, and post-rock to deflate. Now that’s all great but The Dirty Projectors never fit into any of those templates. Rather they appear to come to indie as the quirky band, the one with that hip, hip cover. 

                Now I have a confession: I never really got into them. I don’t know why. Maybe it had to do with hearing them literally everywhere. Everybody liked them. I tried multiple angles. First I tried melodies. Then next I tried the cuteness of the band, which worked in the past, at least with Stereolab and Autechre. Out of opinions I reminded myself: these guys are popular for a reason. Yet no matter what I did my soul refused to pass any judgment on them. Considering my obsession with music, having a band leave no mark on me whatsoever worried me. Did I lose my soul? What was wrong with me? 

                ‘Swing Lo Magellan’ may change all that. I hope. The cover forces me to judge. Wonder what the cover is all about. Feel one of the band members visited their relatives in some desolate part of the Midwest, I’m thinking Iowa, Wisconsin, or an equally bland, perfectly lovable place. Look at that guy’s gut. He’s pretty happy about the future. Like me that guy wears denim on denim. Only difference between me and that big rotund fellow is he owns his clothing. I have to borrow mine.

                Thus far the released song ‘Gun has no trigger’ has me somewhat interested. I like the song. I’m hoping the album might do that rare thing, that thing I’ve waited so long for: to get me to care about the Dirty Projectors. I don’t have to wait long. ‘Swing Lo Magellan’ is due out this summer, living up to its summer reputation. Here’s hoping I can finally form an opinion after years of dawdling.