LADY IN A TRANCE

Fergus Brown – John, She Was Never Only Dancing

On reflection, the level of enjoyment I get from a sly pop culture reference is probably a little extreme but if you take some indie rock and add a subtle reference to basically anything else you’ve sealed the deal for me. My favourite part of Camera Obscura’s ‘Lloyd, I’m Ready To Be Heartbroken’ was the reference to Lloyd Cole and the Commotions’ ‘(Are You) Ready to Be Heartbroken?’, and I get a kick every time I hear the bit in ‘Popular Mechanics For Lovers’ by Beulah that goes “I heard he wrote you a song / But so what / Some guy wrote 69 / And one just ain’t enough.” I know jangly guitars + trainspotting is pretty much the whitest thrill ever but I guess I’m pretty white.

Anyway, the clever reference to Bowie’s ‘John, I’m Only Dancing’ meant I was always going to like this song by Fergus Brown, but luckily for me it’s pretty fucking excellent (luckily for Fergus Brown too; nice work on being talented!). I like the klepto attitude and brutal level of nonchalance as he tells John he’s fucking John’s woman and wearing his pants. BOOM. Musically, it’s totally late ‘90s indie which is just fine by me because I still believe in whoa-ohs and organ in the chorus. It’s also sweet-sounding enough that some clueless dudes are not gonna bother to listen to the lyrics before they put it on a mix CD for their girlfriends and put all kinds of ideas in their pretty heads.

[Fergus Brown MySpace]