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Home » Blogs » scribegrrrl's blog » Northern State likes rhymes and rainbows

Northern State likes rhymes and rainbows

by
scribegrrrl

Lately I can't stop listening to Northern State's new album, Can I Keep This Pen?, which was released August 28 and has been getting great reviews.

Hip-hoppers Sprout, Hesta Prynn and Spero can keep all of my pens if they want to. The trio, which is named after the Northern State Parkway on Long Island, sort of sounds like a cross between Luscious Jackson and Le Tigre, only less mellow and less riotous, respectively. But not less luscious or less, uh, tiger-y. Rrrawr.

Here's the video for "Better Already," in which these fine MCs make it clear that they don't need to leave the living room to have a good time — but a few rainbows and unicorns can really make their day. (Am I the only one who feels like saying "Planet Unicorn, heyyyy" after watching this?)



Northern State is currently on tour in Canada with Tegan & Sara. Visit their MySpace page for details.

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    • Submitted by
    scribegrrrl
    on September 21, 2007 - 9:20am.
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    evolve's picture

    Yah

    Submitted by
    evolve (69 posts)
    on September 21, 2007 - 12:07pm.
    Very cool to see Northern State on here.  One of my favorite songs is from their last album "All City" called Girl For All Seasons - check it out.  :)  Thanks for the blog scribegrrrl.
    Awesomely Awkward's picture

    Northern State is Awesome!

    Submitted by
    Awesomely Awkward (20 posts)
    on September 21, 2007 - 7:29pm.
    Yes its true! I have been listening to them for years now and each album gets better and better. They are also great in concert. Its like hanging out with some friends at a bar. Northern State is also very fan accesible and just good people. So you all should go see them and get there early if you are going to Tegan & Sara!
    spotticus's picture

    Cool vid. Loved the tinfoil hats!

    Submitted by
    spotticus (642 posts)
    on September 21, 2007 - 9:28pm.
    I am going to have to check this band out further. Thanks Scribegrrrl!
    Alyssa's picture

    Saw them!

    Submitted by
    Alyssa (3 posts)
    on September 22, 2007 - 2:25pm.
    I just saw them in concert yesterday night! They were really awesome! A fantastic precursor to the divine Tegan and Sara!
    Daphne's picture

    I have to disagree

    Submitted by
    Daphne (28 posts)
    on September 24, 2007 - 12:47am.

    Sorry, I have to disagree.  I saw them yesterday at Tegan and Sara's show in Vancouver and I wasn't into them at all.  The friends I was with and I thought all their songs sounded exactly the same with the very same beat.  If they had only played a couple songs, OK, but I just didn't enjoy them after that.

    Tegan and Sara,  however, were fantastic!  Better live than on disc.  I'd see them again anytime.

    Daphne's picture

    I have to disagree

    Submitted by
    Daphne (28 posts)
    on September 24, 2007 - 12:50am.

    Sorry, I have to disagree.  I saw them yesterday at Tegan and Sara's show in Vancouver and I wasn't into them at all.  The friends I was with and I thought all their songs sounded exactly the same with the very same beat.  If they had only played a couple songs, OK, but I just didn't enjoy them after that.

    Tegan and Sara,  however, were fantastic!  Better live than on disc.  I'd see them again anytime.

    Daniger's picture

    I was at the Vancouver show

    Submitted by
    Daniger (3 posts)
    on September 26, 2007 - 3:29pm.

    I was at the Vancouver show too, and I have to agree that a lot of their songs sounded the same, but I still enjoyed them enough to buy the CD. Plus I really like 'Away Away' which was a nice break in the middle of their set.

    And yes, Tegan and Sara were divine.

    MaebyFunke's picture

    Not sure how I missed this

    Submitted by
    MaebyFunke (39 posts)
    on September 26, 2007 - 7:30pm.

    Not sure how I missed this blog post the other day, but glad I'm catching up now. I love, love, love Northern State. "Dying in Stereo" is never too far away from my car CD player. When I first started listening to them, it was a little hard to get used to Hesta Prynn's nasal style. But after listening to them for a while, I quickly figured out she has some of the most clever rhymes out there today, like "Professor Plum with the candlestick in the Conservatory, Dr Prynn mixes rhymes in the underwater laboratory..." And that's just the first one to pop into my head; there are so many more, on all three albums.


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