The Broken Family Band and Clem Snide

12:14p.m., Sun 14 Feb 2010

I was chatting to a friend last week and found out they love Clem Snide but have never listened to The Broken Family Band. These two acts dominated by listening habits throughout the noughties and I think there's some similarities between the two acts - the quality of the vocals and the tone of voice, and not least because there's an element of country music pastiche in there.

The Broken Family Band formed on a pact to "only write songs about booze, sex and Jesus". It's a glib, tongue-in-cheek quote that's been re-quoted again and again, but one that could have easily come from the lips of Clem Snide front man, Eef Barzalay.

Anyway, I pulled together a Broken Family 'best of' (more of an 'introduction to' really) for my acquaintance. Here's the tracklisting:

1. Walking Back To Jesus Part 2 (demo)
2. Nights In The Tractor Beam
3. Off The Radar
4. Don't Leave That Woman Unattended
5. Mardi Gras Rescue Mission
6. Back Of The Chapel
7. Kissing In The Rain
8. Living In Sin
9. Yer Little Bedroom
10. Cocktail Lounge
11. You're Like A Woman
12. It's All Over
13. Alone In The Make-Out Room
14. Diamonds In The Mine
15. Dancing On The 4th Floor
16. Salivating

And, if you're reading this as a Broken Family Band fan who's never listened to Clem Snide, here's you introduction compilation for the 'Snide.

1. Nick Drake Tape
2. Exercise
3. I Love The Unknown
4. Loneliness Finds Her Own Way
5. Ice Cube
6. Chinese Baby
7. Don't Be Afraid Of Your Anger
8. Moment in the Sun
9. Tuesday, October 24th
10. All Green
11. Find Love
12. End of Love
13. Tiny European Cars
14. Something Beautiful
15. Weird
16. Encounter at 3am

Now do some shopping. If you're only gonna buy one record by each band I'd recommend Soft Spot by Clem Snide and BALLS by The Broken Family Band.

On February 23, 2010, Clem Snide will release their seventh long-player, "The Meat of Life" on 429 records. Woot! :)

Relevant Links

• BFB Discography on their official site
• Clem Snide discography on Wikipedia
• Clem Snide official site
• Download BALLS from Amazon
• By Soft Spot from Amazon