Listening Too Long To One Song: The Pastels "Nothing To Be Done"

Often when you discover the band that is your new favorite band, the reaction is immediate. There is something contained within those first few chords that makes you realize, "Oh right, surely this band will change everything for me." Other times (most times I find) it's a slower process. You hear one song, maybe enjoy that song then kind of forget about it, but something makes you go back and listen to it a few more times. So then you buy one album from that band, and you listen to that album a few times. Then you figure, "Well I really like that album, I should have all of their albums." Then you can't stop listening to those albums, and so on and so forth until you realize that you probably have a new favorite band.

Such was the case with me and The Pastels, and I think,"Nothing To Be Done," is one of their strongest songs. It opens with the kind of guitar riff that tends to inspire air guitar then keeps that energy going throughout. And no matter how many times I listen, I always get caught up in the story. It's about a relationship which may or may not happen with the boy character being the one who wants to go all in, and the girl remaining skeptical until the song nears it's close. Stephen Pastel presents the line, "Simply nothing to be done, tell me I'm the only one..." which Aggi Wright picks up and carries on as a refrain until the end of the song. If you have become invested in the story, this makes for a very satifying ending. If you haven't become invested, the melody of that refrian is so good you probably won't be able to stop humming it for the rest of the day. And you probably won't mind one bit.

You can find "Nothing to be Done," on the compilation "Truckload of Trouble" which is a very good place to start if you feel like you might want to get into the Pastels. If you simply want to hear the song, there is a VERY good chance that I will play it at our Squaregirls night on December 12 (next week!) at the Scene Bar in Glendale. Oh yeah, and there will be awesome bands there too...