UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF GIANTS

I usually save the dance-pop/dance-rock for Fridays, when I'm confident that everybody is so hopped up on ecstasy and crystal meth that they won't notice that the playlist has suddenly gone decadently low-rent. But it occurs to me: maybe Mondays are the more logical repositories for such guilty-pleasure ephemera. Play Radiohead on a cold/dark/damp Monday morn and you might just incite mass suicide. Which, come to think of it, I'm all in favor of -- so perhaps I should put up "Let Down" or "No Surprises" or "How to Disappear Completely" or some such. What's the friggin' point to all this, after all? What's it all about, Alfie? What's the frequency, Kenneth? Do you know the way to San Jose? Have you ever seen the rain? And who'll stop the rain? (It's supposed to rain here today, so maybe that's why this is happening. Or maybe it's the vodka. Or the fact that it's a cold/dark/soon-to-be-damp Monday morn. Mourn? Indeed... let's. Strap on your black Nikes and pass the Kool Aid. Salvation awaits.)

(Okay, enough. Pass the vodka and the Kool Aid and the tunes.)

I'm not sure where I first heard of L.A.'s Under the Influence of Giants. From Music of the Moment, perhaps? Hits in the Car? Your guess is as good as mine. Suffice it to say: they are not Radiohead. More like Daft Punk being gang-bang-buggered by the Bee Gees and Scissor Sisters. Yeah, that seems about right. Low-rent. But decadent.

Here they'll be >>>

Oct 17 2006 7:00P/Villanova University/with All American Rejects/Villanova, PA
Oct 18 7:00P/Monmouth University/with All American Rejects/Long Branch, NJ
Oct 19 7:00P/SUNY Albany/with All American Reject/Albany, NY
Oct 21 7:00P/University of Mass - Amherst/with All American Rejects/Amherst, MA
Oct 22 7:00P/Framingham State College/with All American Rejects/Framingham, MA
Oct 23 7:00P/Providence College/with All American Rejects/Providence, RI

Here they is >>>

[MP3] "In the Clouds"

[MP3] "Stay Illogical"

BONUS TRACK >>>

[MP3] "Mama's Room" [Weird Science remix]