Let there be no mistake: “Oh Mandy” by The Spinto Band is quite possibly the greatest song by a Philadelphia band since “Nanny In Manhattan.” (Much love to MarathonPacks for that one, btw.) Before that, it’s kind of all Hooters and Robert Hazard, as the truly most galling thing about our Philly indie heritage is that it’s all album-oriented sludge and none of us ó seriously none of us ó were ever very much good at writing singles. Fast forward to Fall ‘05, and yo: “Oh Mandy.” Those crazy space mandolins, that wild falsetto vocal, that pounding, pounding, pounding beat. Go to the party and “Oh Mandy” is there. Put on your iPod and “Oh Mandy” is there. Now turn on the TV! Go ahead, just do it: “Oh Mandy” on a commercial for Sears. Fucking Sears. Ha. Gotta love it. At this point, you might be expecting us to say something like, “Oh man, that sucks. These guys sold out.”
Whatever. Some of you lot might even be saying this right now. But you know what? Fuck all of that. We are going to say this once, and say it loud: SELLING OUT DOES NOT EVEN EXIST ANYMORE. The cold facts of the matter are that licensing songs and playing shows are the only ways bands can make money anymore. So out of this, the Spintos probably got enough money to buy a new van or something, and for once, heave a sigh of relief that they know where November rent is coming from. This is good. Does this make Sears cool? Well, not really. But on the other hand, Sears sold Levi’s ó sweet boot cut ones, I bet ó to the dudes who built the railroads. That’s always gonna be cool. But we digress. The point is this: You gotta love this modern world, and even more than that, dude? You gotta love “Oh Mandy”:
Spinto Band: “Oh Mandy” [mp3]
Attn: Philly Pop World. The bar has officially been set.
Related: Spintos On The Web

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 20th, 2005 at 2:07 pm.