The Good Ship Rediscovery: Creeper Lagoon – Take Back The Universe And Give Me Yesterday

I can still remember it, friends, as though it were the day before yesterday. I would be sitting in the living room of my wonderful apartment in Tuscaloosa, mooning away over my gorgeous neighbor, and watching MTV2 (you know this is a while ago, because back then they used to play videos). On one such day, I heard a song/saw a video that did all manner of things to me. That song was "Wrecking Ball," the band was Creeper Lagoon, and the end result was me falling in love with the band's second LP, Take Back The Universe And Give Me Yesterday.

College was great at slowly but surely breaking me out of my Britfixation (well, true, I'm still a bit fixated, but you should have seen my record collection in the olden days), and Creeper Lagoon was a part of that awakening. TBTUAGMY had, and still has, a breathless feel to it, an air of excitement and newness that I loved instantly. "Wrecking Ball," the song that hooked me, is full of that sugary rush, replete with lovely, big riffs and cajoling vocals with just a touch of roughness to them. A younger, more impressionable me was in heavy smit. But there was more than just that video-friendly song, and though I often used to blast that song on repeat many a time, I learned to enjoy and revel in the record as a whole.

For example, immediately following "Wrecking Ball" lives a song called "Sunfair," a magic carpet ride of a song filled with golden promise and more of those enchanting vocals. Polished, yes, but I never held that against the record. I love the acoustic interlude "She Loves Me Not," a breath of the low key amongst all those big, dazzling moments. The expansive "Up All Night" has long been one of my most favorite songs on the album, the guitars filling dozens of speakers and the poppy undertones doing pleasant battle with the pretty rockness. "I was elastic/And I was stretchin' everybody's dreams" might not win the Ivor Novello award, but taken in context it sounds awesome.

There's an almost down-home feel to "Under The Tracks," with the lyrics almost storytelling in content and close to wistful. "Dead Man Saloon" is another one that's near the top of my list, with the guitars referencing "Jesse's Girl" in the intro and the careening pace of the song. Right on its heels comes "Hey Sister," the swagger palpable in a subtle, indie boy sort of way. Like the rest of the record, there's almost something playful to the song, which takes the edge off all that professional studio sound stuff. The album closes with "Here We Are," a song that reminds me just a shade of The Broken West, California sunshine with a heavy dose of wistfulness.

This record was a major part of my late college/early aimless post-graduate life, and the songs are ingrained in my being, carrying over from those more innocent times. Perhaps it won't stand the test of time, but I will forever cherish Creeper Lagoon for the making of this record. I really do hope you'll enjoy it.

m4a: Up All Night (Creeper Lagoon from Take Back The Universe And Give Me Yesterday)

Comments

  1. Lovely write up! Creeper has reunited for a show in San Francisco: http://creeperlagoon.com/

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