“I Clap for Strangers Now” is a song that benefits greatly from headphones. It’s a simple, short, straightforward song that features a very prominent, untreated Robert Pollard vocal. As such, the music tends to get buried a bit. Strap on the cans, however, and you hear all of the little things Todd Tobias did to [...]
Archive of posts filed under the Coast to Coast Carpet of Love category.
Look is What You Have
“Look is What You Have” is a strange little song that seems perpetually stuck in second gear. It starts with a stuttering little rhythm that leaves my ear hoping that Robert Pollard will engage the clutch and shift the sucker into third. It’s not unpleasant, at least at the start, but it feels like something [...]
Dumb Lady
It’s easy to go back again and again to Who references when writing about Robert Pollard, and I plan to do so again here. But it’s not as clean here as it is elsewhere. Rather than call this a Pete Townshend homage, let’s chalk it up as something John Entwistle might have brought to the [...]
Life of a Wife
If Robert Pollard ever settles down and writes the true rock opera that is surely in him, “Life of a Wife” proves he has the knack for it. The song, with it’s quietly strummed acoustic guitar and tinkling piano practically screams “I was influenced by Tommy!” That’s no surprise, given Pollard’s Who fandom. Hearing lines [...]