“You Threw Pennies In and Wished” (the 2006-10-29 Sunday Fetch-it)

Memorize the City begins with electric guitar jangle, backed with electric organ chords, which is soon joined by hi-hats and then bass as the song gets up to speed. Katie Sketch's vocals are subdued and effortless – she's clearly not setting out to prove anything. The tune is quite simple; it doesn't hurry from one note to the next. This dwelling on one note really drums the words in.

During the chorus the vocals remain subdued, and only occasionally stray from a single, insistent note. The guitar carries the main melody, with the singing and the bass each assuming a different counter-melody.

Coming out of the chorus, the second verse uses a different melody to the first and sounds more like an addendum to the chorus. By half-way through the second verse, the tune has rejoined that of the first verse. Again the lyrics are punched in at the end of the second verse, with almost mechanical determination. Sketch tersely sings "...more. More. More. More." leading into the warm guitar melody of the chorus.

The bridge reassumes the tune of the second verse, as the organ provides an extra melody and the lead guitar hammers out a rhythm very reminiscent of Fingers in the Factories. The guitar, organ and drums build to a crescendo and then subside, giving way to the lead guitar and an instrumental chorus.

Unusually, the instrumental feels more agreeable and has less tension than the sung choruses. Reduced to just the primary melody and without Katie's brooding vocals, it evokes less hostility. To cap it off, there are tambourine shakes and handclaps on every other line, but shrewdly not on all of them. I don't know why, but somehow it seems better that they're absent from the second and fourth lines.

As the lyrics come full-circle, the guitar, organ and vocals combine to lead the song up to its pounding conclusion.

Handclaps. If you download one song this week, make it Memorize. Stay tuned.

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(This entry was originally published on Last.fm.)

“In Your Eyes that Certain Shine” (the 2006-10-20 Friday Fetch-it)

I can't figure out why I like Rush Hour quite so much. It uses the same driving 8-beat throughout; the chord progression is bog-standard; the instruments are probably all synthesised; the lyrics aren't particularly inventive or clever; Jane Wiedlin's vocals are nice, but not astounding; you can spot the guitar solo a mile off; and at the end it just repeats to fade.

In fact it's almost stereotypical of a 1980s pop song.

But it is impeccably produced. At no point does either the singing or the backing sound at all jarring or contrived. The entire song flows seamlessly from one part to the next, largely due to the way the vocals spill over from one bar into the next. So by the time the song finishes, you don't realise you've just spent the last four minutes listening to it.

And Jane's singing is nice – very nice – without sounding sugar-coated; her personality hasn't been overproduced away.

And she played Joan of Arc in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure – what more could you want? If you download one song this week, make it Rush Hour. Stay tuned.

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(This entry was originally published on Last.fm.)

“Something’s Drawn Me Here Again” (the 2006-10-15 Sunday Fetch-it)

There's drama in Give Me Strength right from the outset. In the intro the droning chords, simple drumbeat and ominous electric guitar riff set up an intense atmosphere, which is maintained by the grungy guitar strums that lead into the verse.

Dischordant, eerie electronic warbles appear amongst the brooding guitars and vocals, half-way through the first verse and again at the end. Going into the bridge they give way to rumbling guitar, joined in the chorus by lurking, offbeat percussion, that sounds like steel drums heard through an unnaturally heavy fog.

All of this accompaniment is offset by Over the Rhine's usual country-esque singing. The vocals come to the fore going into the second chorus, when the instrumental melody recedes, its echo lingering, as a swirling ambience swells to engulf the resonating vocals. All of this noise is carried into and throughout the second chorus. It all disappears in an instant as the final line is sung, a cappella, and resonates into the silence.

When I first heard the song, I thought it was Dido singing; it's not, but she does share a writing credit.

So she's not entirely awful. If you download one song this week, make it Give Me Strength. Stay tuned.

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(This entry was originally published on Last.fm.)