Celluloid Bachelor #33: Fool's Gold "Surprise Hotel"

It has almost become trite to say that seeing a band live can completely change the way you hear their recorded music. Trite, sure, but also true. I've said it often, so much so that I've found myself, when referring to albums I don't like, saying things like "maybe I just need to see them live in order to get what I'm not currently getting." I remember saying that about the last Ponytail album (saw them, but still didn't like the album), and said it recently - in two separate conversations with people in different cities - about that last Dirty Projectors album. So it may be a tired cliche, but there is still some truth to the matter.

What I've not said before, however, is that seeing a video can change the way you hear a band's recorded music. I've never even thought it before. However, today's selection - Fool's Gold's "Surprise Hotel" - makes this a first. I remember first receiving a copy of the self-titled album "Surprise Hotel" is featured on and not thinking much. Now, I listen to A LOT of new music, a dozen or more albums most weeks, so listening once or twice and then letting a record slide into my subconscious isn't a slight, it's just reality.

However, when I received the video for "Surprise Hotel" and took a look, I found its visual themes so catchy and surprisingly perfect for the music, it made me go back and listen to the whole album. Several times. And now, well, I'm kinda hooked.