365 project:"riding in our shiny motor cars with eyeglasses full of stars"

27.

artist:eisley
album:room noises

several years ago, either back in 2003, i saw eisley for the first time. they were opening for brand new, and i couldn't care any less about who they were or what they did. as far as i was concerned, i was there to see brand new and the openers were just wasting their time.

this seemed to be the thought throughout most of the crowd, but once i heard those girls sing i was hooked. they were selling their first ep at their tiny merch table in the back, and i ran back and picked it up, and when their second ep was released later that year, i picked that up as well. its not very often that i see an opening band that i fall so hard for, but they were definitely an exception to that line of thinking.

i remember describing them to chad one night as "fairy music." between the softness and sweetness of the girls' voices and strong fairy-tale imagery used in the lyrics, "fairy music" was the best and most fitting description i could come up with.

i LOVED eisley, and then hated them, all because Jesse Lacey told me too. i mean, he didn't call me up on the phone and say to me, "hey, i heard you didn't like/liked eisley. change that at once or suffer the wrath" but i was a devout follower of all things brand new, and what Jesse said was truth. that was that. so i stopped listening to them, and carried on with my life. i missed this album, though. i would listen on occasion and then feel guilty, like i was cheating or something. finally, Sherri's side of the story came out and i felt immediate remorse for not paying more attention to the band over that stretch of time. i had the newest album, combinations, in my possession, but didn't pay it much attention, either. i was excited to be able to listen to this band again without regret.

even though it was now "okay" to listen, i never really went back to room noises. i don't know if i felt like id grown out of it, or if i was just bored, or whatever the case was, but i just didn't listen. i actually pulled this album off the shelf about a week ago to listen to, but never really got around to it, because life got in the way and other albums seemed more pressing, but when i was listening to it today, i found myself wondering why i allowed myself to get away from it in the first place. some of my favorite lyrics ever written are contained on that album...listen to songs like trolley wood, plenty of paper, or one day i slowly floated away and just take in the words. the images in my mind that are taken from those lyrics are magical and fanciful and all things girly.

i believe that this album will find itself back into rotation now. I'm anxious to hear the new album and see if that's any good. I'm betting it will be...despite my unfaithfulness to this band, they have never failed to let me down.