You know that fit of rage you dissolve into when driving in a car for 45 minutes and hearing the same pop song seven times on the FM dial along the way? That's what I forced the people in the Impose office to go through with Naomi Punk's The Feeling. What you might not know about a music office is that it's actually really quiet because everyone has headphones on, so to break the silence I found myself playing the album on repeat… repeatedly. It's safe to say Naomi Punk is one of my favorite bands, so of course I'm excited to hear they finally announced plans for a new album, Television Man, (August 5 on Captured Tracks).
They've kicked off the album announcement with the title track; one I've heard live and in-studio without ever a second thought. As it's noted, they've been playing the track live now for some time, finally giving “Television Man” a proper studio recording. But as I mentioned, I've listened to The Feeling ad nauseam, and only yesterday after hearing “Television Man” the recording did I come to the realization that it sounds pretty close to a sped-up version of “Trashworld” from their 2012 album.
Now, if we are to take Pitchfork reviews to heart (or at least the parts that accompany every ticketfly listing), we would know their approach to making music is about deconstruction and rebuilding. And like every great chef deconstructing a popular dish to make it that much more appetizing, I believe this is what happened with “Trashworld” —> “Television Man”. When I asked the band about this, their reply was simple: “smells like teen spirit vs rape me” (sic). My guess is that they just figured it sounded better sped up, but also liked the slowed down version, so it became two different songs. And conceptually speaking, trash and television are not that far off. But again, that's just my guess. You can use your own judgment by streaming both below. Meanwhile, the rest of the Impose office will be counting the days until August 5 when they will be forced to listen to Television Man the album on repeat.
