{"id":2427,"date":"2010-09-15T19:31:54","date_gmt":"2010-09-15T19:31:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/?p=2427"},"modified":"2010-09-16T20:36:09","modified_gmt":"2010-09-16T20:36:09","slug":"mates-of-state-on-top-of-the-covers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/2010-09\/mates-of-state-on-top-of-the-covers\/","title":{"rendered":"Mates of State&#8211;On Top of the Covers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-large wp-image-2437\" title=\"crushes_cover_hires\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/crushes_cover_hires-650x650.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"635\" height=\"635\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/crushes_cover_hires-650x650.jpg 650w, https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/crushes_cover_hires-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/crushes_cover_hires-400x400.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/crushes_cover_hires.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 635px) 100vw, 635px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>If you are looking for straight-ahead, unadulterated pop music in which the lyrics deftly dissect relationships with heavenly harmonies, look no further than Mates of State.\u00a0 They have set that sub-genre&#8217;s standards extremely high, particularly with their last two records, &#8220;Bring it Back&#8221; and &#8220;Re-Arrange Us.&#8221;\u00a0 This married duo (originally hailing from and hailed on in Lawrence, Kansas before relocating to San Francisco) is hyper-melodic, inventive and the perfect accompaniment to the breakup or breakdown of relationships.<\/p>\n<p>They have just jumped on the covers bandwagon by recently releasing a new record entitled, &#8220;Crushes: The Covers Mix-Tape.&#8221;\u00a0\u00a0 They cover everyone from Tom Waits to Nick Cave to Death Cab to Belle &amp; Sebastian to Mars Volta.\u00a0 But perhaps the best song of the new record is the great Girls&#8217; <em>Laura. <\/em>Check it out and then check out a couple of our favorites from their earlier records.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mates of State&#8211;<em>Laura<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n[audio:https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/01-Laura.mp3|titles=01 Laura]\n<p><em>My Only Offer <\/em>illumines couples and the ease with which they can drift apart.\u00a0 We like the following counterpoint stanzas:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Bought a home we bartered right.<br \/>\nTwo kids, two car delight.<br \/>\nPosed pictures on the walls.<br \/>\nSmall talk in the bedroom halls.<\/p>\n<p>Can&#8217;t make it home tonight.<br \/>\nGo to sleep but leave the light.<br \/>\nI pretend to make a call.<br \/>\nLoose talk into bedroom stalls.<\/p>\n<p>Oh, oh, oh is my only offer.<br \/>\nStifle copies of myself.<br \/>\nOh, oh, oh, or someone else.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mates of State&#8211;<em>My Only Offer<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n[audio:https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/03-My-Only-Offer.mp3|titles=03 My Only Offer]\n<p>We love <em>Running Out <\/em>and its throw-it-all-away atmospherics, not to mention the heights of the chorus.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mates of State&#8211;<em>Running Out<br \/>\n<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n[audio:https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/10-Running-Out.mp3|titles=10 Running Out]\n<p>And the lyrics of <em>Think Long<\/em> are worth reading in whole:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;On our picture shelves.<br \/>\n(Get on, or get out).<br \/>\nStatues mocking me.<br \/>\nHow am I supposed to feel?<br \/>\nHow am I not put at ease?<br \/>\nTalk yourself to sleep.<br \/>\nFall into it deep.<br \/>\nI will wash off mine with rolling waves of worry.<br \/>\nIt doesn&#8217;t have to feel so wrong.<br \/>\nBethany you&#8217;re riding this one to its grave (the gates).<br \/>\nYou never understood the difference between someone&#8217;s beating and refusal to trade.<br \/>\nBless these tangled veins.<br \/>\n(Get on, or get out).<br \/>\nNone of which will grow the same.<br \/>\nNow am I supposed to fake it?<br \/>\nNow are you so poised, at ease?<br \/>\nThink long, think, think long, think think.<br \/>\nCan you feel it surround me?<br \/>\nI think it&#8217;ll drown me.<br \/>\nAnd I wonder how you could say that we (you) really owe (us) anything.<br \/>\nThink long, think, think long, think think.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Think long, people.\u00a0 No sudden moves.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mates of State&#8211;<em>Think Long<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n[audio:https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/01-Think-Long.mp3|titles=01 Think Long]\n<p>And finally, for you parents out there, check out <em>Nature and the Wreck <\/em> in which Kori sings over delicate piano about the couple&#8217;s baby and the aftermath of a car wreck the family survived together.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mates of State&#8211;<em>Nature and the Wreck<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n[audio:https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/07-Nature-The-Wreck.mp3|titles=07 Nature &amp; The Wreck]\n<p><strong><em><br \/>\n<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you are looking for straight-ahead, unadulterated pop music in which the lyrics deftly dissect relationships with heavenly harmonies, look no further than Mates of State.\u00a0 They have set that sub-genre&#8217;s standards extremely high, particularly with their last two records, &#8220;Bring it Back&#8221; and &#8220;Re-Arrange Us.&#8221;\u00a0 This married duo (originally hailing from and hailed on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2427\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}