This Modern Empire - Love Is The New Black

Coldplay, Fix You. Death Cab For Cutie, Soul Meets Body. Talib Kweli, Get By. The Verve, Lucky Man. That song Lupe Fiasco put on a Twilight Soundtrack.
These are songs I almost like.
Some say almost doesn't count. Those people have never heard NYC by Interpol – everything was awash in melancholia so beautiful you'd halfway expect virginal elf babies to have cried every drop of it – then Paul Banks cooed something about the subway being a porno, and the fact that subways reek of urine made me wonder what kind of porn Paul Banks watches.
Have you ever heard a song that went the wrong way once in its chord progression and made you deduct points? Things were flying smooth on that 5-hour flight, everything was great for the first 3; the movie was Judd Apatow, it was censored but you didn't care; attendants came quick as you humanly could press the button, with your drinks, before you could ask for them; the in-flight meal was steak, and was prepared by someone who actually ate red meat; hell, y'got laid in the bathroom. THEN a half hour of turbulence left you shaking for the rest of the flight, and you told everyone it was the worst time you've ever spent off the ground since that time someone who isn't me took mescaline in the Mojave.

It should affect one's summary of the overall product in the way one bad song affects an otherwise good album: scarce mention of the misstep, and a high score nonetheless. Problem with songs are, they're only about 3 minutes; people don't like gray areas in that amount of time, either suck or don't.
The way it realistically affects said song is a considerable drop in the approval rating, rather than a slight one in the case of an album - unfortunately, this often means that an otherwise good or at least TOLERABLE song falls to the wayside, forgetfulness scattering it the edges of the mind.

Love Is The New Black, is one of these songs.

Therefore, I call the modernity of this imperialism into question (fyi: you can't see this grin, but I'm doing it as hard as I can)!!

First, this kind of reminds me of Throwing Copper-era Live. Not necessarily a bad thing; hell, if I could churn an “I Alone” and a “Lightning Crashes” out at the same time, I'd make super-serious, vaguely spiritual videos too.

That solo, though, pure Southern Rock. Or at least English blues trying to ape Southern Rock. And damn if that isn't a sound I miss hearing. In fact, that won back a few of the points this track lost when it took a wrong turn (more on that in a sec).

In itself, that jump's a fairly admirable move - going from melodic indie pop to ballsy rock is a dynamic shift I would LIKE to see Frank Black brag about (and am glad Cobain didn't live to steal, considering his guitar skills).

I suppose the point that it bobs whence it should weave, so to say, is the point where a fuzzed out mini solo segues us into the bridge. There's something strangely twangy about it in that semi-alt-country sense that, in a flash, reminds me of too many Whiskeytown misfires when Ryan Adams shoulda known to edit himself. Its a complete tonal shift, and I understand that it was a chord change, and that was sort of the point, but DAMMIT, if you can't make a chord change fit the overall aesthetic of the song, it runs the risk of detouring someone completely out of the groove! The groove is important, it's the little universe that a song (a good one, at least) creates; it's the illusion of that intimate setting. That segue broke the fourth wall.

Melodically, its lovely; not quite “majestic”, but of course, I haven't used that word to describe rock and roll since the Verve were together the first time.
It maintains a momentum that keeps the listener's attention quite unwaveringly, until that twangy guitar pre-bridge thing made me think Nashville, when I'm pretty sure you're going for Zeppelin, or at least Oasis.
The chorus is sufficiently lighter-worthy, and the refrain at the end is a great touch. And YES, while there're parts I do like of this song, before and after it broke my heart (sniff), at this point, it feels like you're trying to win me back. But I've seen the character flaws now, and as enamored as I am with the rest of you, the back of my mind will always be on that short misstep. I have already subconsciously deducted those points, and put “Love Is The New Black” in the pile of those songs that, for one reason or another, I will always, almost like.

(sigh)...