If you came back as the deep sea, I would come back as the salt

I came home today to find this as a post from fellow music enthusiast on Facebook, it read; "cutest since Home," followed by a YouTube link. The reference, of course, was to the song "Home" by Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros which seemed to take the concert scene by storm late in 2009.


The video started off quietly, I wasn't really sure what to expect, maybe some folk type music and a great duet. As it turns out that is exactly what the Sheffield, England band Slow Club had to offer with their song "It Doesn't Have To Be Beautiful" off of their freshman album Yeah So. It was a black and white shot video, with kind of a Dan Deacon vibe (you'll see what I mean towards the end). The song takes on a less harsh tone than "Home" if that is even possible. It is slightly more mellowed out-the exchange however for that mellowness is a stage presense it seems far less than that of Edward Sharpe frontman Alex Ebert. Another stark difference is personnel, where Alex Ebert has almost 7 other members of the band, Slow Club boasts the duo of Charles Watson and Rebecca Taylor. One of the best parts of this song is the towering vocals that just kill it on this track (in a good way). And with the bass drum keeping rhythm-the song gets a chance to take itself to some interesting places with the complexity of the guitar part. All in all this is a close second in my mind to the Edward Sharpe ballad of "Home." Mind you though-it is a very close second place.

"It Doesn't Have To Be Beautiful" by Slow Club from Yeah So (2009)

-S