SuN Kit Moon TINY CITIES So when you walk into a bar with some friends and you hear a live band playing “Sweet Home Alabama,” what’s the first thing you say to yourself? You say, “Damnit. I fucking hate cover bands.” Or am I wrong? Do you like untalented, uncreative, des- perate 20-somethings trying to make a quick buck by butchering “Hello Time Bomb” four times a night in two different bars? I did- n't think so, Cover bands always blow, right? They always, always blow, right? Yeah, about that... One of the most interesting projects in recent times has been a side project of Mark Kozelek’s (Red House Painters, Retribution Gospel Choir) called Sun Kil Moon. I can see our indie-geek readers’ eyes light up just at the name. Sun Kil Moon is, essential- ly, a cover band. You probably already know that Sun Kil Moon doesn’t suck though, because this is a Modest Mouse cover band. “Blasphemy!” the world says in unison. And don’t get me wrong, Isaac Brock popped my indie music cherry in high school. I have more love for that drunken bard than a fat kid for non-low- fat Rolo ice cream. But goddamn if that Kozelek can’t turn “Dramamine” into something goddamn cool. . Tiny Cities is a compilation of Modest Mouse songs from a vati- ety of albums, from This is a Long . Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About to Moon and : Antarctica’and even 2004’s Good News for People who Love Bad News. The eclectic sampling gives Kozelek an opportunity to play with a variety of different styles that Brock and the rest of Modest Mouse have explored during their prolific career. Obviously, for Modest Mouse fans who haven’t heard the album, the question becomes, “How the hell can ‘Exit Does - Not Exist’ possibly get any bet- ter?” If it ain’t broke, why fix it, right? Well, think of it less as fix- ing a broken wheel, and more like giving that same wheel a shiny, pretty new set of rims instead. Kozelek takes songs like “Neverending Math Equation,” “Jesus Christ was an Only Child,” “Ocean Breathes Salty,” and eight others and takes them from Editing the Sad Parts: Sun Kil Moon_Tiny Cities if Kevin Lalonde, OP Contributor quirky, punctuating rock albums and turns them instead into beautiful, rolling folk songs filled with unassuming acoustic guitars and gentle percussion. The style is reminiscent of Iron & Wine’s take on the Postal Service’s “Such Great Heights,” taking something already perfectly catchy, poppy, and lush, rolling it up into a little ball, soaking it in singer/songwriter power-juice, and letting it slowly and gently unfurl into something com- pletely different, but equally perfect. In this respect, it’s very easy to forget that Tiny Cities is lity: must be graduating within 4 months, and the benefit of this plan ly; offers are time limited and may change without notice. Dealer may sell for less. .2% APR. Total lease obligations are $10,750. 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Fa 1 ing, steady voice serves to compliment the steady acoustic guitar picking on the song, turning it into possibly the most perfectly sup- posed-to-be-depressing-but-isn’t song ever written. Or covered. Anyway, if you’ve missed the hype about Sun Kil Moon, don’t worry about it, the album is still available, dummy. Tiny Cities may just be my favourite cover experience since seeing Unit 347 playing Simple Plan at the Generator in Prince George in 2002. Except that Tiny Cities is pretty good. 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