Whenever I think that I’ve grown too old for music to touch me in the magical, primal, soul-wrenching way it did in my teen years, I’ll happen upon something like the new Cigarettes After Sex song, ‘Tejano Blue’ and suddenly the world feels fresh and exhilarating and gorgeously terrifying in the best way. Many a ‘Cigarettes After Sex’ song has had a similar effect, from the very first time I heard ‘Apocalypse‘ to the latest peek at their upcoming ‘X’s’ album. Drummer Jacob Tomsky is largely the reason I became aware of them, as I was a huge fan of his ‘Heads in Beds’ book; when I discovered he played for the band, I gave them a listen and music was once again that thing that gave me inspiration and hope in a world, and an age bracket, where those things were largely gone.
Way back then, the band wasn’t as big as it is now (they are set to play the TD Garden and Madison Square Garden on their forthcoming X’s Tour) and Jacob was kind enough to invite a swooning fanboy like myself to meet him backstage before one of those early Boston shows. Suzie joined me and we fanned out like we were teenagers again – the best thing music can bring out in anyone.
Headed by Greg Gonzalez, Cigarettes After Sex often sounds like it could be the love-child of Angelo Badalamenti and the ‘Laid’ album by James – two of my very favorite things in the whole world. And while this sort of exquisite, dreamy music doesn’t seem to rely on the drum work to make its statement, it requires the sort of consistent precision and controlled innate rhythm to potently cast its hypnotic spell. Credit Tomsky with the latter, and you have one of the many reasons he is our Dazzler of the Day.
A year or so ago, my niece Emi, by then already a teenager herself, marveled at the fact that I knew about the new favorite band she was listening to: Cigarettes After Sex. Happy to pass the torch of musical fandom to someone who shares a special and, pardon the hubris, spectacular taste in music, I shared my history of loving the band, and how one day I got to meet them before one of their early shows – and how they were just as cool as you’d want them to be. She’s going to see them in New York on their MSG date, while I’m looking into seeing them in Boston again. The world is growing up, the world is growing darker, and the world is growing older, but through it all the good music will keep us going. Thanks to Jacob Tomsky for reminding me of that.
