Reindeer Section...

A good friend of mine turned me on to these guys about 2 years ago. They're a scottish super group of sorts. Supergroup may be a bit of hyperbole in the sense that calling Golden Smog a supergroup isn't really true. Sure, they're super but most of the world hasn't heard of them. However a term like reallygoodbutnotwellknown Group just doesn't cut the mustard. The Reindeer Section, as the story goes, was the drunken brainchild of Snow Patrol's Gordon Lightbody who solicited just about everybody in the Scottish music scene to be in his sideproject while everyone was at a Lou Barlow show. The "everybody" came to entail members of Astrid, Mogwai, Arab Strap, Belle & Sebastian, and Mull Historical Society. Yeah I know, a bit of who's who of the Scot scene. I've listened to just about all those bands at some point or another (and some more than others) but I've always come back to Reindeer Section. Some people find the entire project excessive. But I've always found Reindeer Section to be first class pop music and completely different from what the band members normally play in their "regular" gigs. Album #1 was released in 2001 it's called Y'all Get Scared Now, Ya Hear. It's full of very slow developing moody songs. I, to this day, put this on when I'm driving late at night. It just seems so perfect to listen to on the way home from a debaucherous night of clubbing. It's gentle but pointed, if that makes sense. The lyrics are a bit sad sack, but Lightbody and company are able to coax the most delicate melodies out of some serious depths. The 2nd album (2002) Son of Evil Reindeer is more upbeat in tempo if not lyrical content but feels a bit more shallow. Y'all seemed to like a friend pulling you aside to whisper a very personal secret, one that they'd kept for a bit too long. I've got three from Y'all and two from Son of...

Y'all Get Scared Now, Ya Hear:

The Opening Taste

Deviance

If Everything Fell Quiet

Son Of Evil Reindeer:

Your Sweet Voice

Cartwheels