At first listen, what immediately pops right out of "Mother Mary" is the familiarity of the sound. Haven't I heard this before? Yeah, I have. It's a knockoff (or an homage, depending on one's viewpoint) of The Stroke's "Last Night." It's derivative. The band's not too terribly original; we've heard this stuff before. Why's the song here then?For one, the musicians are tight, and the harmonies are, too, as if the band's been playing together for a decade or more. The Foxboro Hottubs they are, and they're brand spanking new, as this single comes from their debut album. Their expert record-making surprises from a group so young.
The lyrics, well, they're deep, man, full of Freudian slips and Catholic imagery. It's emo, too, as the singer proposes that he and his l'amour "hang in love from the gallows." That's so sweet, so romantic, so wonderfully naive.
The music and the melody--straight out of South Carolina. South Carolina? Sure. This is beach music. Myrtle Beach music. Frankie and Annette danced to this music. You saw that movie, didn't you? The one where they both wore black eyeliner? It was the ginchiest.
These rad rock-and-rollers may be green, but the day will soon come where their experience will pay off, and they'll start making exciting original records; heck, they may even have it in 'em to one day create a cliched concept album about how the media and government are corrupting America. They're not there yet; they've got work to do, and till then they'll walk alone...or with the help of a great Strokes song.
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