Cowboy Up

I realized when the new Gram Rabbit arrived the other day that Madonna could have been Jesika Von Rabbit had the former been born in Wisconsin and moved to the California desert and got all involved in the occult instead of being born in Detroit and gravitating to New York and boning Jean-Michel Basquiat.

But, I suppose that's what happens in these more conservative times. Jesika could have been a big ol' dance party whore, but instead she's interested in Christianity, the occult and Charles Manson and perfectly happy to hang out in the desert with three dudes (one of whom is a Tim Harrington clone). And that's also probably part of the reason why her band's sophomore album Cultivation is 1,000 times better than the Dresden Dolls' Yes, Virginia.

Where Yes, Virginia feels rushed and contrived, Cultivation pushes boundaries. Instead of trying to, say, cultivate a hit, Gram Rabbit went with their drugged out inspirations creating a better and actually less hit-friendly album than its predecessor.

I decided to compare these two bands for a number of reasons: they both have amazingly hot and powerful frontwomen (at least we thinkg Amanda's a woman), they both kinda boomed in 2004/2005 and I stood next to Jesika while watching The Dresden Dolls at Coachella. That doesn't really mean anything. But in my head the two bands are linked now. So, congrats, Jesika. Amanda might be winning the monetary war, but you've got her aesthetically.

Since I have writer's block I'm going to stop chatting now, except to say "Angel Song" and "Jesus & I" are tracks I can't get enough of. (When I listened to Yes, Virginia I just kept waiting for each song to be over...)

Oh, and that new show Teachers is terrible. Not even Sarah Shahi from The L Word can help it. I can't even believe she took the job. Maybe she was sick of making out with ladies.