DON'T YOU LOVE A SINGER

That's advice given in a song called "Honest" from the new Long Winters album, Putting the Days to Bed. It's too late for me, though, cause I love John Roderick. I love him for his literate pop songs and I'm not ashamed to admit it. My feelings started growing with 2003's When I Pretend to Fall and last fall's EP, Ultimatum. The new record is my latest obsession. Come for the great pop/rock tunes and stay for the incredible words...

"Unkind girlish walk/Like a deed to the world without the talk/As you wade through the crows/I sit next to you, the seat's still warm" - "Pushover"

"If you're my anchor/then I'm throwing you over the side" - "Hindsight"

"Crave translates into slave" - "Ultimatum"

"Your magic beans mean at least you'll have one giant friend!" - "Clouds"

I could go on, of course, and most of the songs have a couple lines like that. Then there's the danceable groove and guitar of "Fire Island, AK" and the flat out rock of "(It's A) Departure" and the pop beauty of "Honest."

What I'm really saying is that you need this record. This record should be blasting out of every car as summer mellows into fall. It's top ten of the year all the way, probably top five. Go get it and enjoy.

P.S. You can also download a podcast from KEXP featuring almost an hour of songs and chat with the band. Go through iTunes and look up KEXP's live podcasts or just go to their website. It's free!