You're a crisis, you're an icicle

There have been many bands that I missed the boat for. These are bands or musicians that I hear of long past their prime, not because I missed them due to age, but because I remained in the dark even during their prime years (see: Jay Reatard). One such artists, I would have for certain missed their prime if they had lived to see it.

In 2003, Elliot Smith committed suicide in his LA apartment, he was seemingly still on his way to the peak of his career. How can I make this conjecture you ask? At the time of his death he was working on a multitude of new tracks (most of which are still trickling to the surface posthumously.


Those are not some of the tracks that I am writing about though. The song is off of Smith's freshman effort Roman Candle. "Last Call" is a classic indie rock song with my beloved lo-fi sounds (I will always love you Mountain Goats).

The first time I heard a Elliot Smith song was on the soundtrack of one of my favorite movies, The Royal Tennenbaums, since then I have alway adored his song writing abilities especially when coupled with his simplistic electric guitar melodies that really give his music incredible character. Like most of Smith's songs, the lyrics are incredibly sad and filled with pain, "Last Call" being no exception as Smith's final refrain reads: "I wanted her to tell me that she would never wake me, I'm lying here waiting for sleep to overtake me." Not only can you hear the pain in his lyrics, but you can hear it in his voice and in his sad guitar style. It was a great loss to the music world.

"Last Call" by Elliot Smith from Roman Candle (2004) (Re-Released In 2007)

-S