A Kiss Can't Kill, But Maybe This One Will

Jim Reid, "Song For A Secret" - If I'm being honest, I probably like the idea of the Jesus & Mary Chain as a band more than any of their actual, y'know, songs; Lord knows I love it when a pop song puts up a fight before forking over the gratification, but more often than not, JaMC songs usually just don't pay off for me. That's definitely not the case with Jim Reid's latest single (a split with his sister Linda, who you'll hear in the second verse) - this is the kind of straightforward Breezy Guitar Pop music that always has the potential for greatness when it's coming out of someone as idiosyncratic as Reid. It is, as you can probably imagine, filled to capacity with Atmospheric Stuff, but never so oppressively that the vocals get lost in the mix, which is probably why it's already racked up more plays in my iTunes than "Just Like Honey". Maybe that'll be the saving grace of 2005 - lilting, quiet little numbers like this and "Their Way" and such. I mean, I yield to nobody in my love for Richard X, but there's definitely still something to be said for the staying power of really good guitar pop. (Click here to buy the Jim Reid/Sister Vanilla "Song For A Secret/Can't Stop The Rock" split single direct from the label, Transistor Music)

Let's Go Sailing, "All I Want From You Is Love" - I was sold on Lets Go Sailing's home-burnt debut CDR EP the instant I saw the little Amoeba employee card comparing them to Belle & Sebastian; it's always best to jump on bands like that as early as possible, since if Belle & Sebastian have taught us anything it's that people still like to fetishize the really hard-to-find stuff. Fortunately, at least one of the songs has proven worthy for profound fetishization (if that's a word); it's pretty obvious why they had this achingly pretty nugget of indie torch-pop last on the record, since you can practically cut the finality in singer Shana Levy's voice with a butter knife. The rest of the EP is quite fine as well; maybe a little too twee to guarantee an eternal shelf life, but perfectly fine pop music in any case. I should really get off my ass and go see them sometime. (Click here to buy the Icicles EP directly from the band)