We Were Dead Before Reaching the Top 12

First off, there are good reviews of The Hold Steady show in Indy written here and here. (UPDATE: There's also a killer photo of keyboard player Franz Nicolay's mustache here that is a must-see.) I made a last-minute decision to attend, and am very glad I did. When you take into account that the band dedicated "The Swish" to Tony Dungy (a proud Minnesota alum), went through the most alcohol I've seen a band drink on stage since Guided By Voices broke up, and waxed poetic about people on the coasts who think Minneapolis and Indianapolis are the same place, it was a killer show. They have secured a spot on my personal "I'll see this band anytime they play within 3 hours of me" list. But moving on.

Tomorrow brings the release of two anticipated albums. The first being the US release of the debut effort from 29-piece collective I'm From Barcelona. Back in December, I predicted that this would be one of the best albums of 2007, so don't say you weren't warned. These are killer pop songs at their finest, and at times it's refreshing when there's no underlying subtext to the lyrics. For example, the song "Oversleeping" is about oversleeping. "Treehouse" is about building a treehouse. "Collection of Stamps" is about...you get the idea.

On the other end of the lyrical spectrum, new Modest Mouse comes out tomorrow as well, and is getting pretty solid reviews thus far. The band who I definitely would have voted "least likely to ever have a top 10 single" before 2004 now has Johnny Marr in tow, and while I don't expect Kidz Bop to be covering anything off the new album, you can never say for sure. Let's all hope at least that nothing from the new release makes it's way into any "zombies of random decades"-related American Idol advertisement.