KATE NASH sings DO WAH DO all the way to PARIS /// The Burning Ear

you said you’d lend me anything, i think i’ll have your company

From the first few seconds of album opener “Paris” (above) it’s clear that Nate Nash hasn’t fallen off the wagon as hard as previous leak “I Just Love You More” led us to believe. I discussed my disappointment in the latter song here and it’s great to find that it is the black sheep of Kate’s new album My Best Friend Is You. The good news is that the LP’s 14 tracks are generally very solid, some even great (It was not easy to pick tracks to share with you all). Just an hour ago I was dancing around my kitchen to “Paris” and first single “Do-Wah-Do” (below) can easily have the same effect with it’s handclaps, ‘bum ba dums’ and universally relatable story of thinking that “other girl/guy” is a bitch.

♫ Kate Nash – Do-Wah-Doo

Other songs are equally spunky and upbeat but a few tracks are reserved for Kate’s mellower side. “You Were So Far Away” is just Kate and her guitar sorrowfully yearning for a lover. “I Hate Seagulls” starts off with a laundry list of ‘hates’ before switching gears to count all the things she loves about ‘him.’ It’s sincere, honest, tender and these are some of Kate’s most endearing qualities. On some tracks she gets a bit angsty and angry and even takes a misguided detour into spoken word during the intro to “Mansion Song.” Her passionate delivery is appreciated but I came for the tunes! I wouldn’t even bring it up except for that fact that this in an album I plan on listening to many times so lets focus here. All in all, My Best Friend Is You is more solid and even than Made Of Bricks and shows us that Kate has grown as a woman, a musician, and an artist and luckily we get to enjoy the fruits of that growth. I am only shocked at how little coverage of this album I have seen. Get on it everyone!

What is your favorite track on the album? Are you liking this better than Made Of Bricks?

Bury your face in MySpace

Written by: Brandon on May 20, 2010.

Tagged as: Kate Nash

jonathan_uk

Having read this I think I need to give this album a listen!! Despite loving and playing to death Do-Wah-Doo over the past few weeks, I've not even thought about listening to the album – will get on it shortly!
http://www.TheBurningEar.com/ Brandon @ TBE

hahaha, isn't it funny how that works? I've definitely been all into a song before and totally blanked on actually getting the album. It is pretty harsh when the album disappoints so severely though (i.e. Darwin Deez's LP after the magic of “Radar Detector”)
J Rich

just gave this album a listen this week and really liking it. (guess i’m a little late on it.)

my first kate nash exposure was hearing her sing in a chiddy bang jam, and anyone working with chiddy is worth a listen.

surprisingly to me, i’m liking this album a lot. except for track 6 – take me to a higher plane. that song being on the album is making me not want to listen to the album straight through. what do you do when you have a sweet album with one song so bad that it is almost unlistenable?
http://www.TheBurningEar.com/ Brandon @ TBE

It’s funny you mention that “one bad track” issue because I have the same issue with this album except for me it’s track 8 “Mansion Song.” I just skip it. Once I started doing that I started enjoying the album that much more!
J Rich

my friend just had a great suggestion for one bad track on an album. delete the track and replace it with big boi’s “hustle blood.” might be the smartest idea he’s ever had. (i’m biased because hustle blood might be my favorite jam of the year, but a good idea for any bad track.)
http://www.TheBurningEar.com/ Brandon @ TBE

Hahaha, nice! You do love that track and fair enough :)