Short story: This is what the Black Keys would sound like if they didn’t have 3 foot poles up their asses. Long story: I took an elective for credit where I watched every Jim Jarmusch film, and it was taught by these two awkward film majors, except not in a cool way, but in a way that they were like kinda sweaty and sort of uncomfortable around women. This kind of sucked because Jim Jarmusch is so cool and it’s sort of the equivalent of standing next to the people that skank at a noise show. Anyways, I would make a big deal about wearing hot ensembles to see what they would do. I sat week after week, squeezed into mesh bodysuits and tall leather boots, but it just didn’t move them. For the last week, I made them both a mix cd in lieu of a final essay, because, you know, I could, and I made the song “Some Place”(off a 7” from a couple years ago where Waterhouse is backed by the band The Turn-keys, and found again on his new record) the first and last song on it. I believed, and still do believe, that this song can make anyone sort of lose their shit. Yeah, the skinny kid squealing and the squeaky horns and that one piano keys seem like a hackneyed formula, but, like, as if that didn’t work every single time! If you find yourself in the middle, there’s a very abbreviated, but completely important squiggly 60’s garage noodle. It’s a pretty charming combination, and the babble that starts and ends the song elevate it. Don’t get me wrong, this song isn’t that cool, but it’s really good. Good in a way that even those weird Jarmusch fans can get down with. Nick Waterhouse‘s most recent record TIME’S ALL GONE is out on INNOVATIVE LEISURE.

-Alison K