Songs of Advent 3

Dec 8, 2006 · 2 minute read

Shimura Curves — Stronger

Given the (somewhat surprising) news last night that ‘Ver Curves are no more, it seems only appropriate to dedicate today’s entry to them. They were destined to appear anyway, as their mixture of spacerock, classic Phil Spector girl-groups, and laptop pop (or LapPop, as I insist on calling it before being threatened with hammers) was a highlight of the past twelve months.

(note of bias: I spent a lovely afternoon with Kate Shimura Curves and members of ILX before a SC concert back in June. The strawberry beer does not cloud my judgement)

I could have chosen Noyfriend, with its wonderful “das ist my noyfriend! chorus (complete with dance!), or the Jesus And Mary Chain / The Ronettes homage of Just Like Friends. But I didn’t, ace though they are. My favourite Shimura Curves song is Stronger, mainly for the lyric towards the end of the song:

My sin wasn’t that I was angry or was hateful;
It was that you wanted to save me, and I wasn’t grateful

With that, the space-y guitar solo takes the song straight out into space, gazing up at the heavens. It’s a beautiful moment.

The best band to be named after an elliptical curve used to prove Fermat’s Last Theorem? I think so.