It’s A Soldier’s Job To Die

Society Of Rockets “O Sing, Transformer” – The Society Of Rockets were once the Shimmer Kids Underpop Association, a band that I believe to the best neo-psychedelic band of the last decade, Elephant 6 be damned. The Shimmer Kids’ sound was characterized by their lo-fi kitchen-sink maximalism, which often resulted in songs so jam-packed with sonic detail that the arrangements melted together into an appealing soft-focus blur of buzzes and whirs. It suited their aesthetic very well, what with their lyrical and visual obsession with low budget sci fi, vintage comic books, neglected histories and cultural detritus.

The Society Of Rockets’ debut album Sunset Homes is still indentifiable as the work of band leader Joshua Babcock, but the music is obviously different from the Shimmer Kids, and would not have made much sense if released under the old name. The new songs are stark and minimal, with a distinct singer-songwriter vibe. Whereas the Shimmer Kids often went for a grandiose, epic sound, it’s pretty clear that this album is meant to be small and intimate. “O Sing, Transformer” is a melancholy wartime hymn which bridges the gap between the two bands, combining the spacey sound effects of the Shimmer Kids with the crisp, unaffected production style of the Society. (Click here to buy it from Parasol and here for the official Society Of Rockets/Shimmer Kids website.)

Zooey Deschanel & Leon Redbone “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” – I’ve been getting a lot of requests and Google hits searching for this song lately, so here it is once again for everyone who missed it last year. This rendition of the Christmas party classic was recorded for the soundtrack of the Will Ferrell vehicle Elf, and features the rather impressive and charming vocals of actress Zooey Deschanel, a woman who obviously was born into the wrong era. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)