UnknownComponent

Hello, I’m Unknown Component’s newest fan, and I’m stoked that we are going to have him on Little Village Live later today.

Confession: When I arrived on the Unknown Component MySpace page, the first thing that struck me was how borderline cliche it seemed – with such a serious tone all over everything – but I chalked it up to the fact that I’m a cynical bastard who would rather hide behind a veil of irony than listen to the earnest (and verbose) philosophies of artists like The Books, or It Ends at Etcetera…or Unknown Component.

The second thought: Oh dear, an onslaught of power chords! Flashing neon lights warn me to run away, but it’s too late – my heartstrings have already fallen prey to their swirling manipulation and together we are swelling and retreating, swelling and retreating.  If Keith Lynch had then arrived with some perfect voice, I might just have had to soar down the pipes of the Interweb to confront him right then and there, in his hidden lair, inside his MySpace page, where I fear I might have throttled him with some pipe.  Instead I became a big believer in his big arrangements, thanks to some weird logic that makes me love a singer with a very limited range and a raspy voice. The sum total reminded me of J Mascis and Dinosaur Jr., and I loved it.

Now I realize that I’m not actually cynical, and I don’t actually love irony – I just think the truth is contradictory.  In Unknown Component’s swelling and retreating sea, I find a lot of authenticity in Keith’s way of falling into a disaffected groove.  There it is, that’s the formula.  Disaffected + Groove = Truth.  Thanks for playing.