The Smiths, “Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want”
She & Him, “Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want”

The Smiths are enjoying a resurgence of sorts due to their prominent role in the excellent new film, (500) Days of Summer (Rhombus review forthcoming). In a nutshell, the movie’s romantic leads initially bond over a shared love of the British mopers, seemingly exposing an entirely new generation of young moviegoers to Morrissey and his melodic mastery of melancholy. (A sidenote: Any film that features a non-ironic fantastical dance sequence set to Hall & Oates‘ “You Make My Dreams” get eight billion thumbs up from me every single time. This is Reason 1A why you should buy your ticket to (500) Days of Summer immediately.)

This comma-averse ditty should already be familiar to many moviegoers, although most were almost certainly unaware of the Smiths connection: the music to “Please Please” was featured in the iconic scene at the Art Institute of Chicago from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Of course, the original track included here features Morrissey’s harrowing tenor: you can almost feel the depression dripping off every word. Accompanied primarily by a simple chord progression on an acoustic guitar for much of the song, “Please Please” is a study in the misery inherent in much of pop music, effectively raising the timeless question of John Cusack’s Rob Gordon in the film version of Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity: “Do I listen to pop music because I’m miserable, or am I miserable because I listen to pop music?” (We shall probably never know — and perhaps things are best this way.)

She & Him‘s ramshackle cover of the track, featuring the always lovely Zooey Deschanel (co-star of (500) Day of Summer) doesn’t stray too far from the original, except to add some trademark M. Ward electric guitar noodling. The cover is a little rough around the edges, which almost makes the track feel like it was cut in a single take (although I have no evidence to corroborate such a notion.) Regardless, She & Him do an admirable job covering all of Morrissey’s bases: Deschanel’s sultry croon adds an unexpected dimension to Moz’s original performance that is, unsurprisingly, uniquely feminine, and Ward’s ragged guitar work on the song’s infamous interlude is less polished but seems more heartfelt than that of the Smith’s maiden voyage. Altogether, a sufficient effort from one of indie’s most likable acts.

Which do you prefer: Morrissey’s original mope or Zooey and M. Ward’s scruffy re-do? As always, we’d love to hear from you in the space below.

Listen to: The Smiths, “Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want”

Listen to: She & Him, “Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want”

And just to get you psyched, imagine the always exceptional Joseph Gordon-Levitt dancing to this classic Hall & Oates tune, complete with a color-coordinated mob of commuters, a marching band and an animated bird. Yeah, it’s pretty awesome:

Listen to: Hall & Oates, “You Make My Dreams”

Thursday evening marks the third installment of Salt Lake’s Twilight Concert Series at the Gallivan Center. While the first two shows boasted the likes of Bon Iver, Jenny Lewis and the Black Keys, tomorrow night promises to continue the hit parade with the musical stylings of M. Ward. Coming off the release of his well-received seventh solo album and a successful collaboration with actress Zooey Deschanel (as She & Him), the indie folk giant will bring virtuosic guitar skills and great tunes both new and old to downtown.

In honor of M. Ward’s visit to our little corner of the world, we here at Rhombus have selected the second track off his latest solo album, Hold Time, as today’s Song of the Day. Featuring Deschanel on backing vocals, “Never Had Nobody Like You” starts with a pulsing, “We Are The Champions”-style drumbeat before Ward breaks in with his laid-back vocals and persistent rhythm guitar. The song perfectly melds blues and folk into an amalgamation of rocking loveliness. You should probably take a listen and venture up to the Gallivan Center tomorrow night. It is free, after all.

Click here to hear M. Ward’s “Never Had Nobody Like You”

First of all, please don’t immediately navigate away from this page: I promise you the horrible, horrible name “Monsters of Folk” does not bely equally crappy music to follow. This indie-folk supergroup, comprised of Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis, My Morning Jacket’s Jim James, and M. Ward, could definitely have come up with a better name, but the sheer volume of talent included therein should be enough to at least intrigue music fans.

The first song released off their upcoming September album just cropped up on their Web site this morning and is entitled, “Say Please.” I’ll be honest: it’s not the greatest song in the history of the world. However, it is a fairly straight-forward, solid folk rock song. The group eschews the traditional lead vocalist, instead opting for group vocals throughout. The voices of Oberst, James and Ward blend surprisingly well, and certainly sound better than I’d anticipated from Oberst and Ward’s limited vocal ranges coming in contact with James’ heavenly falsetto.

The song feels like it would fit best on Oberst’s recent solo albums, boasting a more expansive, Americana-tinged feel than the bedroom poetry of his earlier Bright Eyes releases. As previously stated, Monsters of Folk (that really is a terrible name) aren’t reinventing the wheel here, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worthwhile. The musicianship is tight, the lyrics engaging, the melody memorable — everything we have come to expect from these performers in their individual ventures. This is just flat-out fun, immensely entertaining, well-crafted folk rock — and that’s not a bad thing.

As always, please feel free to listen to Monsters of Folk’s “Say Please” and share your thoughts in the comment space below.

Thursday evening marks the first show of the Twilight Concert Series at the Gallivan Center in Salt Lake, which will feature the excellent indie-folk group Bon Iver and opener Jenny Lewis. The free concert series has become increasingly relevant in recent years by recruiting top-notch national acts, including Nada Surf, the Roots, Andrew Bird, Broken Social Scene, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Neko Case, among others. However, the Salt Lake City Arts Council (the series’ host) has really upped its game for 2009. In addition to Bon Iver and Lewis, Salt Lake City will welcome a plethora of talented artists to town this summer, including the Black Keys, M. Ward, Sonic Youth, Iron & Wine, Okkerville River and Black Joe Lewis and the Honey Bears. This excellent line-up should have downtown rocking every Thursday night all summer long.

Thursday’s headliner, Bon Iver, took the music world by storm in 2008 with its sparse, aching debut album, For Emma, Forever Ago. Crafted in a secluded Wisconsin cabin by frontman Justin Vernon, the album and its recording process instantly reached mythical status amongst critics and fans alike. The album ended up on virtually every critic’s “Top Ten” list for 2008 and propelled Bon Iver onto the national stage. Since then the group has released an excellent EP, been featured on multiple television shows and toured the world. Not half bad for a couple guys from Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

You may remember Jenny Lewis, who will open Thursday’s show, from her childhood role as the young lead character in the 1989 movie Troop Beverley Hills. If you were fortunate enough to miss that flick, you may also recognize her as the frontwoman of beloved indie band Rilo Kiley. Lewis’ first solo album, Rabbit Fur Coat, received critical praise following its release in 2006 and her latest full-length effort, Acid Tongue, has continued in its predecessor’s worthy footsteps. If you like sweet folk melodies and angelic vocals, Jenny Lewis is your girl.

If you’ve ever lamented the (previously) sad state of Utah’s concert scene (or even if you haven’t and you just like great music), you should be at the Gallivan Center every Thursday night for the next two months. Nowhere else in the country will you be able to see this caliber of artist for free. This type of cultural opportunity doesn’t happen often in Utah. Take advantage of it while you can.

Bon Iver and Jenny Lewis will play tonight (Thursday, July 9th) at the Gallivan Center in downtown Salt Lake City. The show starts at 7:00 p.m. and admission is free. To hear tracks by these artists, check out the songs included below.

The band announced the details of their upcoming North American tour on Tuesday and — surprise! — will make a stop at Salt Lake City’s In The Venue on September 1st. Considering the state of Utah’s general concert depression for the last x number of years, this is a boon — and one I really don’t understand.

For years it has seemed that good artists avoided Salt Lake City like the plague. No one would come near it and, if they did, it was only once every five years. Sure, we got the Gwen Stefanis of the world, but very few acts that didn’t completely suck.

Then (miraculously) the heavens opened and 2009 became the year of great concerts in Utah: the Twilight Summer Concert Series stocked up in a big way (Bon Iver, Jenny Lewis, the Black Keys, Sonic Youth, M. Ward, Iron & Wine, Okkerville River — all for free!) and the shows, big and small, have been pouring in ever since. Conor Oberst is playing a benefit at Library Square. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart will be rocking the tight confines of Kilby Court. The Killers will grace the E Center (but, to be fair, they do come every year.)

In years past, the aforementioned shows would constitute the all-time greatest summer concert line-up ever. Yet, in 2009, they serve only as an introduction, with so many great show slated for the coming months that I can’t even begin to name them all.

I’m not completely sure how to handle this, so I will simply fall to the earth and praise the Music Gods for blessing northern Utah in ways that we have not even begun to fully realize — but soon will.