The best place is to find your home; the coolest is to find your way

March 31, 2018 3:38 AM

Symphonic and psychedelic pop band The Polyphonic Spree perhaps reached their zenith with their second album, 2004's Together We're Heavy. (It picks up where the first left off) Side A: Section 11 (A Long Day Continues/We Sound Amazed), Section 12 (Hold Me Now) [video]

Side B: Section 13 (Diamonds/Mild Devotion To Majesty), Section 14 (Two Thousand Places), Section 15 (Ensure Your Reservation)

Side C: Section 16 (One Man Show), Section 17 (Suitcase Calling)

Side D: Section 18 (Everything Starts At The Seam) [which on the album runs into], Section 19 (When The Fool Becomes The King)* [which on the album runs into], Section 20 (Together We're Heavy)

Bonus Section 1 (The Best Part) (from the Japanese version)

posted by hippybear (5 comments total)

I enjoyed the first two Polyphonic Spree albums immensely, then there was that whole not-entirely-ironic uniforms thing. But that's not the story.

Sometime after Together We're Heavy The Polyphonic Spree did a Big Day Out tour, which happened to coincide with my flat-broke, music-festival-cheap-jewellery-market years. The boss I had at the time was a great believer in... uh... workplace enhancement. So, for my one-hour break at the Melbourne BDO, I had planned (as any good brain-frazzled experimentalist in the early oughts... ought to...) to get my face drilled off by Kid606. And planned my evening appropriately.

However, Miguel apparently viewed the BDO tour with the appropriate amount of disdain, and was CDJ'ing AC/DC covers (I don't know either...), so me and my mate headed to the next stage over, where The Polyphonic Spree were just kicking off.

Look. I'm not recommending the combination of uplifting probably-not-a-cult pyschedelia and greasy tweaky biker speed... but...

What is it with me and music threads right now?
posted by prismatic7 at 7:25 AM on March 31, 2018 [2 favorites]

This recording of the Polyphonic Spree is for me the canonical example of that strange and imo highly infrequent phenomenon where a band performs a song (ok, technically two songs) live somehow infinitely better than they ever sounded on the album
posted by Panthalassa at 9:27 AM on March 31, 2018 [1 favorite]

I've only seen the Spree live once, but it was on the tour for this album. They were awesome and Billy Bragg joined them for the encore, in robes.
posted by YoungStencil at 11:22 AM on March 31, 2018 [1 favorite]

Hippybear turned me on to the Polyphonic Spree at a Metafilter meetup (he had a burned CD in his car that ran out and got and gave to me.) That was a real gift as their music was super helpful in getting through the shit I was going through at that time.
posted by vespabelle at 11:44 AM on March 31, 2018 [2 favorites]

I had planned (as any good brain-frazzled experimentalist in the early oughts... ought to...) to get my face drilled off by Kid606.

Because he brings you the fucking jams.
posted by octobersurprise at 2:16 PM on March 31, 2018 [2 favorites]