"I've been searching all my life / slick seductions seen / on the Temple Mount / bad faith waiter in a restaurant / I once went to..."
The faded memoric folk poetry, the sung melancholic beauty of "Let's Take These Ice Creams and Go Home" by San Diego's artful duo Bang Bang Jet Away, and the title track of their brand new EP, is soaked in folk classicalism and abstractions like the kind of thoughts that invade you late at night after something emotional has penetrated your psyche that same day. I have written about these guys, the talented songwriting duo / artists / musicians Matt Binder and Mike Kamoo, on and off since 2019 and it is fair to say that their songs always feel like found footage from another time and while totally unique (most especially in terms of their penetrating lyrics). They are able to compose songs that gently punch me in the stomach and hug me at the same time. In this case, "Let's Take These Ice Creams and Go Home", with kind of amber colored acoustic shapes, that in tiny moments make me think of Simon and Garfunkel's "The Boxer", as encapsulated in a kind of lo-fi haze create the feeling that this is the stuff of vinyl records. There is the sense of existential dread, existential threats (albeit mild ones) and how life is weighted naturally, that is to have moments of joy you must have sadness and maybe counter-weighted in equal parts and potency, (I dunno).
BBJA's poetry, in all its loveliness, manage to make you smile too because of bits of acerbic humor while always having good bones, the bones of good guys doing their best and of survivorship of this thing called life. I love the opening lines of "Let's Take These Ice Creams and Go Home", they instantly put me in just the right mood for the song that unfolds like a warm blanket on a cold morning.
"I've been searching all my life / slick seductions seen / on the Temple Mount / bad faith waiter in a restaurant / I once went to / take me anywhere you go / I will follow you home / although life can be unfair / we'll always see it through / I swear..."
Yes it is nice to hear from my imaginary friends, Bang Bang Jet Away once more. I love everything about this track, the acoustic framing, the cello, the patina of ambience and the amazing evocative vocals. The (Link to their new EP below).
I think tomorrow is going to be a spectacular day.
-Robb Donker Curtius
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One evening, I sat down on my couch to watch Lars Von Trier’s 5 hour film, Nymphomaniac. By the time I made it to bed at 4am, I was in a very bad way. I did not sleep well, as my mind was filled with fresh horrors about the future of the world. I slept through my 7a.m. alarm and missed my morning meetings. The damage already done, I decided not to go to work. Instead, I picked up a guitar and started writing tunes, something I had not done in several years. By the end of the day I had enough for an EP. Thinking a new batch of tunes required a band to play them, I called up a few pals to see if they wanted to get together. However, these pals had all moved onto other things, and had no time for my songs. This is fine, I thought, the time to make music is behind me now. I, too, have moved onto other things. That night I walked over to my favorite Japanese restaurant and ate gyoza and ramen, while reading Volume 2 of Karl Ove’s My Struggle. Then it occurred to me that there had never been a time when I was living just one life, the life of a student, a lover, a salesman, a writer. Wherever I was, whatever I was engaged in, I was always leading multiple lives. I put down my book and called Kamoo to ask if he’d like to make a record with me. He said that he thought it sounded like a good idea. The project is called Bang Bang Jet Away, a small tribute to the best band in San Diego’s history, The Stereotypes. Hope you enjoy. - Matt
Bang Bang Jet Away, creatives, divergent sounds, duo, folk punk, indie rock, lo-fi rock, musicians, san diego, songwriters, thinkers, New EP "Let's Take These Ice Creams and Go Home", San Diego Ca band,
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THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://www.facebook.com/bangbangjetaway
https://open.spotify.com/track/1tWhzy3pIXLQr8rj2elcxH
https://soundcloud.com/bang-bang-jet-away
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAgrwdvdehVAFces8eG9MIw
One evening, I sat down on my couch to watch Lars Von Trier’s 5 hour film, Nymphomaniac. By the time I made it to bed at 4am, I was in a very bad way. I did not sleep well, as my mind was filled with fresh horrors about the future of the world. I slept through my 7a.m. alarm and missed my morning meetings. The damage already done, I decided not to go to work. Instead, I picked up a guitar and started writing tunes, something I had not done in several years. By the end of the day I had enough for an EP. Thinking a new batch of tunes required a band to play them, I called up a few pals to see if they wanted to get together. However, these pals had all moved onto other things, and had no time for my songs. This is fine, I thought, the time to make music is behind me now. I, too, have moved onto other things. That night I walked over to my favorite Japanese restaurant and ate gyoza and ramen, while reading Volume 2 of Karl Ove’s My Struggle. Then it occurred to me that there had never been a time when I was living just one life, the life of a student, a lover, a salesman, a writer. Wherever I was, whatever I was engaged in, I was always leading multiple lives. I put down my book and called Kamoo to ask if he’d like to make a record with me. He said that he thought it sounded like a good idea. The project is called Bang Bang Jet Away, a small tribute to the best band in San Diego’s history, The Stereotypes. Hope you enjoy. - Matt
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