It doesn't always have to be beautiful.

I know I never got around to finishing that 30-day music meme (shame on me, I know), but I'm pretty sure one of the topics was naming a song that I loved the previous year. I had started a text file with my prospective answers so I knew what I was going to write about for that topic.

Anyway, long-winded intros aside, do you ever discover a new band you really, really love that you can't get enough of them, and you listen to them so much you fear that you'll ruin their music for yourself?

Slow Club has definitely been one of those bands for me. My friend Jackie suggested them to me because she thought their music sounded like it would be right up my alley. And she was right! Their sound is the perfect, sweet mixture of folk, pop and twee, plus the boy-girl harmonies are positively heart-melting.

This morning I've been feeling a bit under the weather and in need of a pick-me-up. The weather in Toronto has been uncomfortable and sweltering these past few days, but today is cool and breezy, with the right amount of sun. If the weather was cooperating, then I wanted to feel better to enjoy it. I opted for power pop tunes from Weezer (Blue Album followed by Pinkerton and then the bonus tracks from the Pinkerton deluxe release - totally an aside but, isn't "Long Time Sunshine" great? Not too keen on the overlapping "round" at the end, but otherwise an awesome gem of a tune).

To keep the toe-tapping, upbeat pop theme going, I chose Slow Club's debut album Yeah So next. Like I had mentioned, this album, at one point, was severely in danger of being played out for me. When I'm on the verge of possibly becoming sick of a band (due to my own repetition), I stop listening to them entirely. Before today, I can't remember the last time I listened to Slow Club.

Ah, the sweet reunion! With the first opening chords of "When I Go," I felt a smile spread across my face. Song after song, I felt myself perking up, cheering up and remembering how much I love this album. A wonderful feeling.

And so I leave you with the video for my favourite song off Yeah So: "It Doesn't Have to Be Beautiful." I don't think anything will ever stop me from loving this wonderful, infectious pop song.