Two Sheds

Sometimes the most unassuming packages hide untold treasures. So it is when a promo EP showed up in my mailbox by Two Sheds. I've never heard them, never heard of them, never seen one of their albums. It hung out in my "to listen to" pile for a week or so, and then I listened to it two days ago. Then listened to it again. And listened to it again. Then I searched around, found more tracks from them online, and listened some more (ipickmynose seems to be way ahead of everyone else on this one - go here for some exclusive live tracks while they last). Then I loaded it onto the iPod and listened to it while I went to sleep. Then I listened to it yeasterday. You get the picture.

It's only five tracks, which makes it ideal for repeat. And it's good. Real good. It's so spare, and raw, and emotional, and unglossified. It's bitingly morose. There's nary an upbeat note to be found. And yet, it's beautiful. You know when you find that album or song that matches your mood perfectly - this does it for me in this snapshot of time.

TO BE ALIVE

Pile of leaves color the ground, hollow wind chimes breathe beautiful sounds
Roads bleed with cars stuck in drive
And it breaks my heart to be alive

Having a mind that is always the same, beating through days in a solid refrain
It knows how all it loves will survive
But it breaks my heart to be alive

I know my soul is an infinite chain, weather will go while flowers remain
I hold the one who mirrors me best, and the happiest birds make the sturdiest nests
The sound of these things tell me Honey, it's alright.
But it breaks my heart to be alive
Sometimes
It breaks my heart to be alive

Two Sheds - To Be Alive : Two Sheds EP

Visit their website, their label Filter U.S. Recordings, and become their friend on MySpace.