Every Tuesday lunchtime in 2008 I went from my desk to Spillers Records in town and bought an LP. I'd not long moved to Cardiff and by the start of the year I was back on top of my finances enough to start buying music again and very keen to hear some new things. Of the 50 records I bought (I missed two weeks for holidays, but justified it by buying records abroad) there were some great albums, some average ones and, on a Tuesday at the beginning of February, the greatest album I've ever heard.
It's very easy to drift into hyperbole when talking about In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, and in every corner of the internet is someone raving about it. If you were hoping this would be a too-cool-for-school critique then you might as well stop reading now; I fucking love this album. I can't begin to express how happy it makes me every time I put it on, how it blocks out everything else on my mind and drags me into Jeff's fast-paced world. It's incredible and up until that Tuesday I'd never even heard of it.
Spillers usually have a small description on the sleeves and, whilst I've long forgotten the exact details of what was written on In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, it clearly intrigued me enough to chance my £10 on it for that week. I went back to the office and figured I'd have a read about it on the internet. It was at that point I realised how highly regarded this record was and that somehow this cult had passed me by for years. I very eagerly put the needle to the record when I got home, sat there following the continuous block of lyrics and fell in love with the record more than I ever could have imagined. Possibly the best thing is that almost every time I play this album I love it even more (the gift that keeps on giving) and nearly five years later I'm still getting more and more out of it.
Part of the reason I get so much out of In the Aeroplane... must be that, in my mind, it straddles indie and punk in a way no other records do. It's undeniably an indie record, but Jeff sings his lyrics so fast he's practically spitting them out and the music at times feels like a punk-rock band stripped down to just an acoustic guitar and a scattering of horns and drums. I also love the fact it has none of the structure of a regular album; there's no dissecting this album into singles and filler, and The King of Carrot Flowers, Pt.One feels like you've come in half way through a song but at the same time opens the album perfectly. I remember the first time I heard "I love you Jesus Christ" in Carrot Flowers, Pt. Two and it shocking me, but also realising it was supposed to. It almost goes without saying, but also wouldn't a be right to write about In the Aeroplane... without saying that Two-Headed Boy, Holland, 1945 and especially Oh Comely are truely incredible (the simple drumming on the guitar during "Know all your enemies..." is such a minor detail but one of my favourite bits of the song).
If I had to write the song titles in order of my favourites it would change nearly every week. One song that deserves a special mention here though is The Fool, a song that jumped up dramatically in such a hypothetical list earlier this year. I had the good fortune of seeing Jeff Mangum play live in March (four times in fact, more on this another time) and each night he finished with Two-Headed Boy. As the song came to a close, from the sides of the stage came the beautiful sound of unamplified drums and horns as Julian, Scott and friends walked on turning the slow and mournful end into the triumphant celebration of The Fool. Even thinking about it now sends a shiver up my spine. I couldn't imagine a more incredible way to end such a special set, and each night it surprised and amazed me as much as it did the first night.
Format: 12", insert
Tracks: 11
Cost: £10 new
Bought: Spillers
When: 05/02/08
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no
