Welcome to Litsy!

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I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. I didn‘t know all of the music and this wasn‘t my era, but I still loved the passion of the lyrical analysis and could relate to the emotional connection to songs. I think my favorite parts were the sparks of Percy and Joe‘s creative collaborations. ⬇️

This book is such a unique love story - a love story about friendship and indie music. Creative partnerships like Percy's and Joe's have such a rich dynamic, and I loved how Holly Brickley takes us through their ups and downs. Life and love are complicated, and Deep Cuts is an honest and frankly refreshing look at the early 2000s and all that came from that time, especially when it is the right person at the right time.

This music industry story is more quiet than those told of sex, drugs, and rock ‘n‘ roll. It‘s chock full of song references made more fun because these days it‘s so easy to pull up said songs for a new listen. The setting is early aughts Berkeley and NYC, and it‘s about the love of the lyric. I don‘t know, I just really enjoyed a story concentrating on this aspect of music.

“I loved these Craftsman homes of Berkeley, especially the undisturbed, unkempt ones. They were soulful and comfortable and had all the amenities that actually make people happy, like porches and window seats, and none of the things we believed to make us happy, like open-floor plans and living rooms optimized for super bowl viewing. They were built for reading and close conversation. Berkeley felt like a glitch in the modern machine, back then,

“I KNOW I KNOW YOU HATE SUBLIME EVEN MORE THAN YOU HATE NO DOUBT”.

Sometimes I do miss the 90s.

I‘m listing all the bands and singers mentioned as I read this. I‘m now on ch 4. I‘ll post a full list at the end. No doubles. Here‘s hoping I don‘t miss any.

-Hall and Oates (Sara Smile)
-Joni Mitchell
-The Brian‘s Jonestown Massacre
-The Beatles
-Elvis Costello
-Elliot Smith
-Beach Boys
-Stevie Wonder
- Green Day (Dookie)
-Neutral Milk Hotel
-Tracy Chapman (Fast Car)

“Actually,” I said, unable to stop myself, “ I would call this a perfect track, a perfect recording. Not a perfect song.” I could tell he already halfway understood but I explained anyway, with a level of detail befitting an idea of far greater complexity: “ A perfect song has stronger bones. Lyrics, chords, melody. It can be played differently, produced differently, and it will almost always be great. Take “Both Sides Now,” if you‘ll excuse me

🤨No

Yeah, yeah I have to read this one.

We follow Joe and Percy from college to adulthood as they navigate heart ache, career highs and lows and their friendship. I loved the references to songs from my youth and found myself pausing my reading to queue up a particular song. This one is definitely for the music lovers. Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the ARC.

Percy and Joe meet at a college bar and start dissecting a song…We follow them becoming best friends, having a deep attraction to each other but the timing was never right.

They go their separate ways after college, but somehow keep circling back to each other because of music.

Loved the nostalgia on this. Loved their mutual best friend, Zoe.

Read it!

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Had this one preordered and it came today!

Been slowly reading this one for a few days and I‘m enjoying it, so far.

Pitched as High Fidelity for the Indie Sleaze Era but it lacks Hornby's charm. I would feel like I'm too old and boring for this one but as an elder millennial I'm actually the target audience here. I was in college listening to these bands. I had a blog. I get it. But like, this did absolutely nothing for me.

I'm going to pass this on to my coworker that's into Sally Rooney. I feel like that's the better comp than Hornby.