Ought make music like a man with long limbs, poor coordination, and less than no interest in what people are saying, dancing in the dimly-lit, sticky-floored backroom of a student haunt of a provincial town, three drinks down at 3pm on an unremarkable Wednesday with a denim jacket that fits just right and an empty week ahead of him. Habit is my favourite example of this music. Just like our aforementioned hero’s limbs Habit is liable to explosively shift in direction with scarcely a moments notice, then scattily losing interest and seemingly drifting absent-mindedly, before suddenly remembering where it is, what it was there to do, and how good it felt before. Keep your distance, watch your drinks, enjoy.
Tim Beeler’s voice darts erratically above and through the track. Like the shelved design for an unfeasible rollercoaster, like a moth about a light, like a fugitive plastic bag dancing down the street on an unsettled day. Television, Jonathan Richman, the Soft Boys, and the dB’s are all obvious touchstones for this slickly shambolic, medium-resolution, jaunty tumble of a song.
Loz
[Track – Habit, Ought (More Than Any Other Day, 2014)]
