06/27/2005 12:38 AM
Posted by Pandabob

I Got A Girl Tripping Daisy

For some reason I got it stuck in my mind that I wanted to do a Polyphonic Spree song for the very first one of these. They did, after all, gain a great deal of notoriety from an iPod ad. The problem is that I already own most of their songs on CD and I wanted this daily review column to center around songs purchased daily from Apple’s highly addictive music store.

Therefore, I reached back a bit. “I Got A Girl” is a song from Polyphonic Cult Leader Tim DeLaughter’s first band Tripping Daisy. This band has a special place in my heart and I remember them fondly from my high school days. They were a “local” band that was making it big that had the pleasant distinction of not being Deep Blue Something, a band you may recall for their song “Breakfast At Tiffany’s.” This particular Tripping Daisy song is the big single off of their second album “I Am An Elastic Firecracker.” For the record, their first album of psychedelic alt-rock “Bill” was the better effort. But, like the Spree’s two albums and various singles, I already had it.

“I Got A Girl” is a perfect compliment to the Flaming Lips’ “She Don’t Use Jelly,” another awesome psychedelic-alt-rock tune from the same era. iTunes labels “I Got A Girl” as Grunge, but don’t you believe it. Tripping Daisy and others from the North Texas local scene in the early to mid 90’s tapped into what proved to be the fading sound of college alt-rock pioneered by bands like R.E.M., The Pixies, They Might Be Giants and Talking Heads.

I would invite anyone who doesn’t care much for the Polyphonic Spree to check out Tripping Daisy. You can hear Tim’s style in both bands, but Tripping Daisy is a more traditional straight-ahead rock band with more guitars and less people in robes.

If you happen to be one of the faithful then you might be interested to know about these upcoming events:

July 1st - The 15th Annual Concerts In The Garden – Fort Worth Botanic Garden with a MASSIVE fireworks display (GO USA!)

Sept 9th Hollywood Bowl Los Angeles, CA – Opening for Brian Wilson who will be performing SMiLE.

There are also a number of European dates. More details on these events can be found on their website. Careful, it’s bright. www.thepolyphonicspree.com


"I Got A Girl"


Bill


The Polyphonic Spree


"Breakfast At Tiffany's"