More Wussy

Should that be 'Wussier'?

Anyway, just in case you weren't immediately persuaded that this is a band worthy of a little obsession, I thought I'd offer an update.

Last Friday's Guardian review of Buckeye was in deliberately circumspect mode, critical antennae stunned by Christgau's gush, Tim Jonze dubious about 'a 17-track compilation that shows the band's progression from earnest, fuzzy college rock to … more earnest, fuzzy college rock'.

Now, come on: don't worry - this will not end in embarrassment.

Evidence?

OK.

Exhibit One: a beautiful, belated vinyl release for the band's first album from 2005 Funeral Dress. This is ideal for the inner fanboy - heavy duty green vinyl with multicolour streaks, absent from Amazon ( both co.uk and .com) so you have to deal with a - very efficient - record store in Cinncinati. The thrill of the chase! And a lyric sheet which helps with...

Exhibit Two: great, quotable lyrics to go with the surging and soaring music. Who (but a stony-hearted churl) could resist the opening couplet of 'Yellow Cotton Dress'? 

The yellow cotton dress is beautiful, no doubt,

But it becomes a motherfucker when you fill it out.

And I'm sorely tempted to quote 'Airborne' in its entirety. One of the great break-up songs, where the loft and lift of the entwined voices in the chorus:

You did not even send me airborne anyway.

Why in the world I hung around it's hard to say.

give the lie to the fuck-you bravado of what it and the rapid-fire, close-rhymed verses purport to say... But I'll let you you check it out for yourself here.

Wussy: a new obsession

You know those times when you hear a band for the first time and they've just got it and then you have to rush around enthusing and telling people to go and listen to them for themselves?

You do? Good. This is one of those times.

I was alerted to the existence of Cincinnati five-piece Wussy by an email about upcoming local gigs. The write-up sounded interesting and I'd started googling them before I realised I was going to be out of the country when they played in Brighton. Rats. Because they were good, really good.

This SWSX showcase was a pretty impressive place to start: give it a go. Nice bikes, too...

As I googled further, I found - unsurprisingly - that I'm not the first person to rate them. Eminent US journo Robert Christgau has already dubbed them the best band in America. It could be that they just know how to press the right buttons of male, white, rock critics of a certain age... but I've tried them on my daughter, too, and she was keen.

Anyway, if you like IRS-era REM, Loaded Velvets, pretty-much-any-period Yo La Tengo... chiming, well-struck guitars... yearning, less-than-perfect-but-so-what vocals... strong, strong songs... I think you might get Wussy too.

And what's more you can see the best band in America in Brighton's pocket-size Green Door Store on 29 September. I'm going to have to make my way up to Brixton's Windmill the week before...