cass mccombs

it's not often these days that a new musical artist gets me REALLY excited. having had my mind blown so thoroughly the 1st times i heard the smiths, guns n' roses, public enemy, queens of the stone age, and outkast, a mothafucka's gotta REALLY impress to get up in my grill nowadays ...

cass mccombs is that mothafucka. i 1st heard him on public radio international's "fair game with faith salie" podcast. i didn't expect much; "fair game", while a great show, generally spotlights the wimpiest of wimpy whiteboy singer-songwriter wimps. i'm talking dudes so sensitive and fragile, they make a dandelion look like kevlar. what makes those kinda "guys" (assuming they actually possess testicles) and their generally lifeless music so attractive to some? i guess my inability to comprehend that is (at least in part) why i'm not gay ...

anyway, i know NOTHING about the personal details of this "cass mccombs" character (and his obfuscating online presence seems to make it clear that that's at least somewhat intentional), but musically he is AMAZING. his songs are beautiful, unexpected, weird, haunting, depressing yet uplifting, surprising, otherworldly, full of life, catchy, strange ... all of which are phrases i might use to describe elliott smith (who mccombs is definitely kindred to), but he's wholly original sounding at the same time.

i love everything i've heard by him, but the 2 that "did it" for me were "pregnant pause" and "crick in my neck", if you need a recommendo. viva mccombs! and viva great music!