‘Bing Bong’ a Dark Horse for Song of Year

 

Seattle’s The Fools came out of nowhere (I’m not sure if that’s true or not, since we have strict budgetary constraints that only allow us enough money for occasional interview artwork and Birthday Cake Pop Tarts) to deliver what is possibly the best song of the year so far. Between ethereal reveries of emotional resignation and unpretentious lamentations of bedroom sadness, “Bing Bong” is the perfect combination of drawn shades and hiccups of hope. With shades of The Innocence Mission and The Sundays, The Fools shake up their dice with a rhythmic sense of disappointment and quiet resilience (too many long, blue-in-the-face descriptions; sorry). These super talented artists – Will Murdoch, Zach Burba, Lauren Ashley Moore, Lilly Morlock and Tyler Martin – created a self-titled album that mixes lithe, airy melodies with youthful despondency.

And dogs.

 

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There are mentions of dogs throughout The Fools entire release, but the line “all I want to do is cry and hold a small dog” from “Bing Bong” hits me to the core (eat your heart out, Morrissey; get sadder lyrics, Ben Gibbard; I don’t believe that you were ever really sad in the first place, Townes Van Zandt). After hearing this song I sighed in sadness for forty-five minutes. I sounded like a dying air balloon housing a thousand broken wave machines. This is my favorite song referencing a small dog since Greta Kline came out with “Family With a Dog” – why are you doing this to my bullshit heart, guys? I didn’t think I could process another beautifully written, under three minute track, about the loss of goodness in people and the gain of greatness in animals.

 

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As it stands, “Bing Bong” is the perfect coupling of indispensable gloom and taffy-like self-realizations. I’m not sure exactly what that sentence means because I cant see through my tears to proofread it. I don’t know what you want from me. The Fools quietly – and maybe deliberately – released the best track of the year, and they don’t even care about advertising it.

 

~Life, amirite?~

 

Author: Rob Patrick

The program director of the Olympia Film Society, Rob is also a former San Diego Film Critics Society member. He has written for The East County Californian, The Alpine Sun, The East County Herald, The San Diego Entertainer, and the San Diego Reader. When he isn't curating a film festival, he is drinking rosé out of a plastic cup in Seattle or getting tattoos from Jenn Champion.

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