we're all right where we're supposed to be

i like to think i stay pretty current with new music releases, but sometimes things slip through the cracks, ya know? so have a tendency to 'discover' bands or songs well after they've made themselves known to the rest of the world. so i'm fashionably late, so what? i guess sometimes it would be better described as a re-discovery. i'll hear a song and not really pay any mind to it, but then i will hear it a few months or even years down the line and it will jump out at me in a way it didn't before. i think it's about the curse of expectations, and the beauty of context. if a million people tell you how AMAZING such-and-such album is, often times you look so hard to find the AMAZINGNESS that you miss it. forest for the trees, yo. amazing things are better when they creep up on you. that way you can just love them for what they are, rather than because your friends or billboard or blender or pitchfork whoever said that you should. (i'm quietly stepping down from my soapbox now...)

such is the case with we are scientists. i first heard their music when i was looking at lonely island videos on youtube. the lonely island channel included a video for the band's song "after hours" because island dude kiv directed the video. true to island form, the video is hilarious. i posted the video on my personal blog and then promptly forgot about it.



fast forward to this january when i saw the movie nick and norah's infinite playlist. it's a cute story that stars the city that never sleeps and features the adorably awkward michael cera. it's a little teen-angsty in parts, but the central characters ARE teenagers, so... there ya go. as you might expect from the title, the plot weaves around nick and norah's mutual love for good and often underappreciated indie music. almost before the end credits were finished rolling, i was downloading the soundtrack. i recognized "after hours" and felt in a new way. it's held it's place as my favorite song for 6 months now, a pretty solid run. lead singer keith has reportedly said the song is about death (although after perusing the scientists' website and getting a sense for their humor, i really doubt that he was serious), but that's not how it reads to me. i hear a sweet upbeat song about getting drunk with your dear friends. so unless you are morally opposed to such things, i recommend you download the album (either WAS's brain thrust mastery or the nick and norah soundtrack will be sufficient), gather your peeps, and proceed to soak up the hours that everyone else throws away. cheers, y'all.