Someone Else's Deja Vu

admin — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:13:00 +0000

What would it be like to do a double-take at the memory of another? How would this be communicated? The simple dot-with-a-tail in this band’s name changes it from a death van for male offspring to a juxtaposition of a human and vehicle - or a parent, hand on shoulder, naming the thing with the siren as it passes. That’s exactly the sort of pondering that this music inspires, an album that Son, Ambulance’s own site bills as music for irresponsible, cat-petting, days.

Someone Else's Deja Vu is pretty and makes me feel better. At that’s a good thing because - in addition to a global e-mail advertising a found kitten to pet on irresponsible days, free to good home (tiny, feisty, hilarious, Rorschach-splotched in black and white) - I received another e-mail from a good friend pointing out a t-shirt for sale on Amazon.com with the slogan “Anti-Abortion, but Pro-Date Rape.” This immediately harshed my bliss, and I forwarded it with the question, “Would they sell a t-shirt emblazoned with 'Anti-Birth Control/but Pro-Castration'?”

In such a world, it is good to have people making nice music. I never listened to Pink Floyd, and their other possible influences are beyond my ken… Cream? The Moody Blues? I do not know, but still like Son, Ambulance. If they were a boat, it would be a junk with decorated sails displaying optical illusions printed in cyan, yellow, and puce. Or a galley where the rowers wear fake-fur cuffs and are served whimsical fruity drinks with paper umbrellas. Or a folded paper boat from an article about the green polyester pants of C-list celebrities that we’ll never have to read about again racing down a rainy day gutter filled with a purple-tinged torrent. They’re playing at Schuba’s in Chicago on July 15. I believe that I’ll float on by.

Written by: Erika Mikkalo, July 22nd 2008