the darndest things by archie powell and the exports

so, growing up, i was, like most alternative-loving gen-xers, a fan of social distortion. they had a bit of a gritty punk sound to them - not quite polished against the shine of synths coming off of so many other bands of the time (and please, don't get me wrong, i addooooorrred many of those shiny, synth-y bands). i mention this because when i first had a listen to the darndest things by archie powell and the exports, i was instantly transported back to my high school days, sitting on my bedroom floor, listening to social distortion while studying the CD case.

for those of you youngsters, these things called booklets could be found in cd's, and they had pictures and lyrics and all sorts of things that you couldn't find on the internet, because, heck, the internet wasn't around.

damn, i'm old.

i josh about the teasing above (not the old part, sadly). but the point here is that archie powell has a bit of that gritty sound to his music that really features instruments stripped down to the basics (no synths on this song!) and a voice and lyrics that are both honest and a wee bit plaintive.

i like the imagery behind this song, the emotional resonance that comes with trying to figure out where you are and what you want:

well,we're caught in an avalanche, my love
and it seems a though we've no place else to go
so let's talk with a toast to lack thereof
in our brand new house we'll build under the snow

and it's not hard to see
you make me say the darndest things
oh baby, i do decree
oh mecy, mercy me

well, it's time that we've got to be alone
away from all the surface ebb and flow
and to think of the world that we've outgrown
in the comfort of our snow and ice chateau

well, they're sending out a search for us right now
and our faces are on flyers in the streets
though they always hate to stop and disavow
logic says by now we've had to freeze
oh please

you know if it was up to me
i'd get your lifetime guarantee
oh baby, i do decree
oh mercy, mercy me

stream/download the song for free below:



now check out the video for the darndest things:



go HERE to buy skip work, the album the darndest things is off of. FYI, two additional songs off the album (skip work and enough about me) are also offered for free!