Perhaps in celebration of the one year anniversary of us sending them the album, Matt Shimmer at Indieville.com has posted a review of Ok Fine. It's, like many of our reviews have been, mixed:

This interesting keyboard-infused pop album comes encased in a glossy origami-folded package (don't unwrap it, or you will fucking regret it!!), the most overt indication of Pants Pants Pants' quirky, electronic-heavy style. Their second album so far, this twelve-song collection endears its audience by way of (usually) cute female vocals and silly song structures. The latter characteristic, however, also causes Ok, Fine to fall flat on occasion. While catchy "Dino Love" and silly "Stay in School (Don't Play The Fool)" (dig the Horatio Sanz reference) are among the record's best, others (bizarre "Human Machines," too-long "You Have Died of Dysentery" [a reference to ancient educational computer game Oregon Trail]) drag down the fun due to weak melodies and mediocre overall sounds. Others, like Bettie Serveert-esque "Moonpretty" and experimental and compelling "Graphite" are almost really good, but fall just short of being completely realized. I'm not sure how often I will be pulling this disc out, though as far as goofy female-led pop music goes, this does the trick. A notable cover of Pearl Jam's "Jeremy" is included for good measure, replacing the PJ sound with a lighter pop vibe.

They also included this little fun fact:

Like Modest Mouse (which this band doesn't resemble in the least), Pants Pants Pants' first songs were recorded on answering machines.

Actually, our first song was written using messages left on our answering machine, not recorded on answering machines. I think this is a great illustration of the difference between the two bands. I couldn't sum it up any better myself.

It always strikes me how different everyone's take is on this album, and on our band in general. Much of this, I'm sure, has to do with our varying style. But I'm most stricken by how differently people hear our music than I do.

For example, I've always considered Human Machines to be one of our most straight ahead pop songs, but this reviewer considers it "bizarre." I've also always assumed that fans of Dino Love would like Human Machines as well. I lump them together, but obviously Matt Shimmer does not.

I've also never thought of our Jeremy cover as having a "lighter pop vibe."

I thank Matt for his faint praise of Graphite ("almost really good"). You see, one thing you might not know about my other two band-mates is that they are total Graphite haters. This is despite the fact that numerous individuals of impeccable taste has expressed their enjoyment of the song (including Lauren Lauren's very own MOTHER!). Maybe Matt's words will help to sway them back over to the side of good. Come on you two, it's "experimental and compelling," we just need to completely realize that fact.

High points of the review for me include the Bettie Serveert reference, "(usually) cute female vocals," "almost really good," and of course the affirmation that we in no way resemble Modest Mouse.

In the end, we're left with a wonderfully cherry-pickable review. Look for out of context quotes from this review in our press pack soon.

I'm encouraged that every reviewer seems to be able to find something they enjoy in our album, even if it's just the album art (thanks a lot East Bay Express). When we start releasing our ep's by genre (more on this later), I think those who find themselves in Matt's boat can procure a piece of work more to their liking.

Frankly, though, I think some of these reviewers could stand to take a lesson from this review. Now THAT'S how you review Ok Fine!

Myspace has become somewhat of a necessary evil for bands these days. You pretty much have to keep up a myspace page now for the sake of booking, press, and even to reach certain fans. It's like a standardized form that all bands are required to fill out in order to gain access to the club known as "legitimacy."

Now personally, I can't stand myspace. The site is terrible, it's down all the time, it's full of spammers and other creepy types, it's messaging system is horrendous, and the layout (even given some of the TOTALLY SWEET myspace layouts we're constantly barraged with emails about) is horrible. Not to mention the all the Murdochian issues with it. One of the many reasons I was excited to get this new site up and running was that it meant that I didn't have to use myspace as often (my lack of internetting skillz and overall laziness require an ease of updating that did not exist with the old site). But so many band, bookers, and press use it, that you have to keep up with it.

That said, I certainly will occasionally choose to check out a band's myspace page over their actual site. I know I will be able to instantly hear their music and see pictures/videos(I judge music mostly on looks, as should you).

So yes, a band's myspace page does have inherent value, despite the numerous problems. However, I read something recently that leads me to believe that things are getting ridiculous:

The Eureka Reporter was nice enough to wrie a short blurb about our show in Arcata a few weeks ago. Here's the relevant portion:

Apparently, there’s a new band out of Arcata called Blame the Factory, and they are playing with Shay’s Rebellion at Central Station in McKinleyville on Friday night. It should be worth going to just to check out the new meat, so new they don’t seem to have a MySpace.

On Saturday at the Alibi, Speaker Speaker from Seattle will grace the scene with driving indie pop, (3208 My Space friends). That show is 21+ and starts at 11 p.m.

Around the corner at Jambalaya, Universalia Jane will perform her melodramatic songs, the Rubberneckers will encourage people to drink and dance and Pants Pants Pants will please the crowd with electro-pop ballads (1063 MySpace friends). Fun times; get your dancing feet moving. That show starts around 10 p.m.

Skipping ahead to Tuesday, at the Little Red Lion, New Mexico-based rock group, Super Giant (9,361 MySpace friends) will be playing with L.A.-based metal group HDR (1,838 My Space friends) and Vancouver, Canada-based band, Pride Tiger (5,693 MySpace friends).

Notice anything strange here? Every out of town band's name is followed by the number of myspace friends they have. My only guess is that the reader is expected to judge the quality of the band by their friend count. Does this strike anyone else as disturbing? Is this really a good way to judge the quality, or even popularity of a band?

One of the other annoying things about myspace is the constant barrage of friend requests from bands all across the country. Some of these are fine, and it's great to hear from interesting bands around the country and to check out new music. But a lot of bands just roll around adding whoever they can in order to boost their friend count. You essentially have this giant network that exists solely to boost this new artificial barometer of "bigness." This is not news, but seeing this article gave the concept of a "friend count" a legitimacy that I've never seen before. It must be stopped.

I realize that the internet does not need another rant against myspace, and I apologize. I'm not trying to call out the author of this particular article either, I think this is a symptom of a larger disease.

I also apologize for using said rant to disguise my real horror and embarrassment at having the lowest friend count in that whole article. Or for pretending that we would be so noble as to keeping our myspace friend count low and accurate (I admit only to occasions of nobility here and there in the most egregious situations or really terrible bands). I'm just asking if we want myspace friend counts to become a new and accepted measure of a band. 'Cause that would be totally lame.

But seriously folks, friend us on myspace. This is embarrassing!

In case there's a single person out there who believes that that painful Renaissance-Fair-dialect review was actually written by "a proper Englishman," let me assure you, it wasn't.

It was, however, written by a half drunk, half crazy fan of The Game. This guy did nothing but piss me off all night and then try to buy me a drink. But rather than try to describe him, I'll let Chris speak for himself through a transcript of our conversations.(Note: it was three of our friends' birthdays that week so I brought cupcakes to the club)

Conversation 1: (immediately following our set)

CD: (eating a cupcake) Hey, great job up there. You got some pipes.
Me: Oh, thanks! I'm Lauren. What's your name?
CD: Chris. I'm reviewing the show tonight. You put me on the list.
Me: Oh, right. You talked to Steve about it, right?
CD: Who's Steve? The drummer guy?
Me: No, that's Oliver. Steve is the bassist. You talked to him about coming tonight, right?
CD: No.
Me: Um, okay. Well, thanks for coming out!
CD: (on second cupcake) So you guys are all into being like "garage rock" huh?
Me: I'm sorry, did you say "garage rock"?
CD: Yeah, you know, like you were wailing just be heard over the background. You're all into that California "garage" sound.
Me: Wow, I've never heard anyone call us a garage band before. We don't actually try to play that loud. Sometimes it's hard to hear the vocals, though, in such a small space.
CD: How come?
Me: Well, the rest of the music has to be heard over the drums, but the stage is so small you can't turn up the vocals too high without them feeding back.
CD: I couldn't understand you at all. Are your lyrics even any good?
Me: I'd like to think so. We work pretty hard on them.
CD: So how come you don't want people to hear them on stage?
Me: If you come see us at a bigger space, like Bottom of the Hill, or Du Nord, I guarantee you'll hear the lyrics better. You know where else you can really hear the lyrics is on the album.
CD: Why would I buy a CD when if I know the right people I can download it for free?
Me: Because you know, you want to supp--
CD: (on third cupcake) Yeah, yeah, support the band. Whatever.
Me: If you want to keep being able to see live music, it's probably a good idea. Bands have to pay for things like equipment, you know.
CD: Yeah, right. How much does a melodica really cost?
Me: About a hundred dollars for a student model.
CD: So let me ask you something, what kind of music do you guys play?
Me: Were you even listening?

Conversation 2: (following the Vows set)

I let him buy the beer and put it on the table behind me, at which point I avoided it and him for the rest of the night. Steve tried to warn him not to mess with me anymore by explaining "she's from Brooklyn." "What does that mean?" he asked. "It means she'll cut you," replied Steve. I didn't have my knife with me but I came awfully close to pushing that jackass down the stairs.