notwist!

I do this a lot: if a band name sounds like something I wouldn't like, I probably won't listen to it. At least for awhile. While sometimes I'm right to judge a band by its name (examples: panic! at the disco - ucky - hoobastank - ha - she wants revenge - these guys bother me. the lead singer doesn't even play an instrument, they SUCKED at the depeche mode concert this summer, and they are - to my mind - trying to be interpol only SUCKIFIED - and some other ones, as well), sometimes, I am wrong, and well, I like to admit it. For whatever reason, *The Notwist*'s moniker bothered me, and while I accepted the free CDs that my friend recommended I listen to, it was probably a good 6 months before I played even one track. Luckily, that one track was "Solitaire". It drew me in immediately, with the cool string opening that segued into some sort of drum-loop with synths, and then the guy's voice is just the sort that I like, which means that it has no tangible quality, but a certain...there's a french word for this, I think, (googling...aha!) je ne sais quoi (which means, goddamn it, "a certain something, so i could very well have just said THAT, or an "indescribable attractive attribute or quality", hmph) and anyhow, I was hooked almost immediately.I did learn, fairly soon after, that they've been around forever (1989, for chrissake) and that the lead singer does work with *Lali Puna*, a band I've always been fond of, for some other undescribable reason. Anyhow, it's quite enjoyable, I've gotta say. Granted, I started with _Neon Golden_, the album that apparently opened them up to a lot of American fan-dom, but since then I've collected just about the whole back catalogue, and honestly, I'm what you could call a certified fan, particularly their very early stuff, which is almost ...grungy, I guess. I'm not good with music labels.The lyrics are fun, too:_We never ever lie, From ten in the morning We are honest til nine. We are overcute. We never will manage to be rude only twice._Anyhow, here's -"Solitaire"- "Pick Up the Phone" (couldn't find solitaire, goddamn it), so you can get addicted too:"'Pick Up the Phone' from _Neon Golden_":http://www.speedofdark-web.com/speedofdark/2007/January/Notwist_Pick%20Up%20The%20Phone.mp3 (right click to save, or click to stream, as ever)