Fans of Dinosaur Jr and Yo La Tengo will find something to love in Oakland-based indie rock band Spurt’s new single “Jeff Tweedy.” The track is a slice of indie paradise with introspective lyricism, a lush guitar solo and a delightful sonic climax, all wrapped up in under two minutes.
The song is aptly titled as the lyrics indeed discuss Jeff Tweedy. Inspiration for the single ironically hit as the band was reading Tweedy’s book How To Write One Song. The band spoke of the experience, commenting, “In this book, Jeff Tweedy takes a kind of “tough love” approach where, at least in my reading of it, he tells the reader to stop making excuses and get off their ass, and just write a song. While I actually think this is good advice, and a creator can’t simply wait for inspiration to hit, it didn’t sit well with me at the time of reading. At the time, I was like, “Easy for you to say, Jeff Tweedy! You’re a famous rock star who can sit around all day making songs in your downtown Chicago studio! I’m a public school teacher who can’t find the energy to clean my own car! How am I supposed to make an album?!” The song really came into being one day after I put the book down, opened Instagram and saw a photo of Jeff Tweedy looking happy and fulfilled. I guess I wrote it out of bitterness and jealousy. That being said, I love him!”
The song is from the band’s forthcoming full-length album That Was Mean And I’m Sorry which is set to arrive on May 3. The group is comprised of vocalist and guitarist Robert Sanlis, keyboardist Nathan Graves, bassist Chris Schubert and drummer Jack Kovacich.
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