The Best in Lit-Rock

If there's one thing that can define music of this past decade it's that we will constantly find new monikers for every conceivable genre to describe nearly every single musician's unique take on the art form itself. More genres have popped up since the millennium than houses foreclosed upon in the last year. (What? Is it too early.) Lit rock is one such genre.

Without getting into too many specifics, lit rock is basically a form of progressive/alternative/ college/indie rock that is highly literate and almost pretentiously filled with references to all the great novels and their endless themes. Lit rockers are either failed novelists writing songs to pay the bills. Another way to identify lit rock is to find music that English students would love. Dylan, the Kinks, and Costello are probably the greatest influences on the genre.

Here is my list of the ten best lit rockers right now.

10. The Hold Steady
Admittedly, I don't even listen to The Hold Steady. I can't get past front man Craig Finn's vocal style. It just sounds like he's reading straight from a book. I guess some people like that stuff.

9. Camera Obscura
Camera Obscura comes to us via Belle & Sebastian territory. I don't know how literary their lyrics may or may not be, but they do sound like a band that an English major would love.

8. Bright Eyes
I already realize people will have a problem with this pick. People hate the little Dylan from Omaha, but he can write. Sure, his songs are typically overwrought with allegory and self-pity, but what could be more literary than that?

7. The Mountain Goats
this is another band on the list that I haven't really adopted as my own. It doesn't mean I don't like them. They just have stuck. Anyway, I cannot deny what I have heard and what many, many others think. Songwriter John Darnielle insures the band's spot on this list.

6. Decemberists
Reviewers' attempts to describe this band might be where the term "lit rock" originated. This what you get when a bunch of grad students who love Morrissey as much as they love Faulkner get together and write songs about pirates and gay teenagers.

5. Destroyer
This one was a stretch, but I think Dan Bejar's lyrics speak for themselves.

4. Silver Jews
Lead Jew, David Berman, is one of the few (if not only) musicians on this list who is actually a published author. He's a poet with a penchant for all that is dirty in Nashville. American Water could stand up to any novel written in the last fifty years as a great literary piece of Americana.

3. Belle and Sebastian
Our friends from Galsgow are every thinking man/woman's favorite mope rockers. Stories about failed artists and transgendered school children litter B&S's seven albums and numerous EP's. The name comes from a French children's book.

2. Okkervil River
Besides the literary tales Okkervil River weaves, they might have the most compelling figure in Will Sheff of any of these bands. All the great writers were dynamic people, but few could captivate an audience the way Mr. Sheff does.

1. So I lied. I don't have ten lit rock bands. A list of the top nine just didn't have the same ring. Besides, I'm sure all of you have thought of at least one band I have left off this list. So, speak up. suggest your favorite lit rock performer in the comments.

Camera Obscura Sings in Misery

I caught Camera Obscura last night at the Blue Note. It was surprisingly good. CO are all the good parts of Belle & Sebastian (fellow Glasgow-ites), Stereolab (indie pop perfection with a French twist), and early Cranberries (lingering). I have only recently gotten into this band; so don't expect a play list from me.

CO's songs have infectious grooves with old pop-influenced overtones. While much of their work sounds like Belle & Sebastian with its nods to 1960's pop and melancholy lyrics, CO separates themselves with stronger female vocals and coming by their irony much more earnestly. CO puts on a good show of solid performing with just a touch of showmanship, but not too much. (For one of the songs, the band's multi-instrumentalist banged on the cymbals with the main drummer.)

The highlight of the set was a string of three faster-paced songs, ending with the title track from their album. I'm not sure of the order, but I'm fairly certain that "Lloyd, I'm Ready to be Heartbroken" and "If Looks Could Kill", ending with "Let's Get out of this Country." The third song in this faster portion of the set was preceded with a bit about the band actually feeling this way at the beginning of their US tour, but things were looking up now that they were in the middle of the county. The band expressed much fondness for small-town, mid-west living. They even suggested that two songs and a trip to a local bar would be better than three songs for an encore. I'm sure a much savvier blogger than I caught up with the band at some watering hole down the street. I don't even know where the hipsters would go in this town. (In Columbus, it's either Larry's or St. James.) "Country Mile" was another highlight.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised. Camera Obscura put on a solid and fun show. I'd see them again. Although I'm sure they won't be through anytime soon. Next up: The Shins in St. Louis!