Video | It Was Romance – Philadelphia

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5MM44ktu1s[/youtube]

I’m posting this today for two reasons. One, this video has been out for a hot minute already and I’ve been slacking on posting it, so let’s get this show on the road, but also two, this band is called It Was Romance. You know what else is romance? Gay-marrying the hell out of someone you love. So, as you see, it’s appropriate to share this today and I’m not just super, super late.

It Was Romance is the project of Lane Moore, who is perhaps one of the best and most hilarious people on the planet today. I apologize for the intensity of my admiration, in case she is reading this, because as a stranger that’s probably creepy, but she judged at the Brooklyn air guitar qualifier, so she’s part of the family now.

So let’s talk about the song! “Philadelphia” is so chock-full of aching and longing that it’s surprising how upbeat it is; she describes perfectly the way it is to have a conversation with someone you’re crazy about but maybe haven’t quite broken that news to them yet, where you fill in the blanks of what they said and didn’t say to determine what they “meant,” and who hasn’t done that: “You say that you would miss me so / but not in so many words.” Her voice has this startling, gorgeous twang to it, laid over a velvety foundation, and it sounds like an old-time country crooner signed up for a rock band. The video sees Moore dressing as the cast of Cry-Baby, by which I mean specifically Traci Lords’ and Johnny Depp’s characters, to fantastic effect.

You can listen to (and purchase!) the self-titled album, which came out last month, on the It Was Romance bandcamp, which I recommend. Songs about regret and terrible friends and are-we-or-aren’t-we relationships, plus a Fleetwood Mac cover! What could you be waiting for?