Is this what it was like to hear guitar feedback for the first time? Like, “What the hell is making this sound and what’s broken about it?”
I am genuinely fascinated by “Famous Last Words” from Har Mar Superstar’s new album. The first time I heard it I thought something was going terribly wrong with my headphones — maybe an especially loud kick drum did some damage to them, or maybe the song included a frequency they couldn’t reproduce correctly. Mrs. YHT thinks it sounds like when someone in a movie is having a mental breakdown. I tend to think it sounds more like someone in a movie sustaining a concussion, or when a sound designer is trying dramatize a vacuum chamber being punctured.
The crazy thing is that, when I’m listening to the song, I can’t wait for those moments (when you listen you’ll know exactly which ones I’m talking about). My brain braces for them, thinking that there’s going to be a blast of volume that never comes. And I feel it in my chest, like anxiety attacking and releasing at the same time. It’s wild. And awesome.
Sorry to be all Marvin Berry about this, but it really feels new and different to me. See what you think:
Har Mar Superstar — “Famous Last Words” [Spotify/iTunes]
You Hear That 
Boy am I confused! I wasn’t even going to listen to this because he was so effing awful when I saw him open for Father John Misty years ago, even with J. Tillman himself on drums. But this is pretty cool, and those glitchy moments are awesome. Guess I have to take him a little more seriously. But I still never want to see him in his underwear again!
Ha I hadn’t heard about the underwear performing! Very jealous you got to see Mr. Tillman on drums. I’d happily take a time machine back to see a Helplessness Blues-era Foxes show.