The Pope is coming over.
I'm going to use yesterday's mention of Bobby Bare, Jr. as a way to segue back into talking about my favorite records of 2006, which happens to include his (and his Young Criminals Starvation League's) album, The Longest Meow. My record collection might suggest otherwise, but I have serious reservations about new-school country-rock stuff, but only because it can get pretty insufferable and pretty hokey, and because I'm not always in the mood to prematurely enter my thirties (or even actually enter my thirties). I can make an exception in Bare's case because The Longest Meow is pretty loose and pretty on point (if you can be both of those things at the same time), the lyrics are good, and, not counting a few iffy vocal affectations, he seems to be coming from a real place; a real, human, sometimes absurd place. And the whole record's got a nice raucous Replacements vibe (not to mention a song like "Demon Valley" reminds me a lot of "Swingin' Party" off Tim), which is always a good thing. I like "Gun Show" a lot, too. A couple of the slower numbers, but you can't help what you like:

Bobby Bare, Jr. - "Gun Show" (from The Longest Meow)
Bobby Bare, Jr. - "Demon Valley" (from The Longest Meow)

Song of the day comes from the Minutemen--"The Product"--off their Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat EP. My favorite songs always have the most boring titles. And I swear that, vocals and trumpet line aside, this is what Ten Tents jams sounded like. This or Shellac.