Attack of the Killer Track! is a series that explores lesser known tracks from artists from a variety of genres. Some of the tracks were singles, some of them were obscure b-sides or long forgotten album tracks. One thing is certain – all of them are killer tracks.
Continuing on where I left off with Suede’s contribution to this series, we shift to another band with a Britpop pedigree that was almost unknown in the United States (even more so than Suede). The band was led by Jake Shillingford and straddled the line between Britpop and full on chamber orchestra – similar to fellow Britpop comrades, The Divine Comedy. This song was the 1st song I ever heard by My Life Story (though in an extended version called “17 Reasons Why”). It presents a conundrum for me – how can you view anything else in the band’s catalog with a balanced view when you’ve heard one of the greatest songs ever recorded? Dramatic strings, flamboyant & emotional vocals in tandem with lyrics that resonate deeply – that’s called perfection. The album this is taken from is The Golden Mile released in 1997. The band released one more record before disbanding in 2000 (they’ve since reunited sporadically and have released a greatest hits package as well as a b-sides double disc compilation). The original studio albums range from good to great – but this track is quite simply a masterpiece for the ages. Feel your pulse race as the strings swell and Jake Shillingford belts out these words:
One She prefers the night to day
Two She never calls me when she says
Three Motorcycle riding to the south
Four The way she puts her fingers in her mouth
Five Running just in time to miss our train
Six The old park benches where we scratched our names
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlGY24vhdJY]