Each Friday I pick a song–new, old, borrowed, blue–that’s been on my mind and in my ears, and write a short post about it.

Here’s “Atomic Love” by Beatsteaks:

I went to see Beatsteaks this week, mainly out of curiosity. I don’t know their music particularly well, but I know people who like them, and they’ve been around a long time, so I figured, what the hell.  It turns out Beatsteaks know how to put on a show.  I’ve never seen so much hands-in-the-air-clapping from a crowd (except maybe at Primavera Sound in Barcelona–but the Spanish seem to enjoy a clap-along; maybe the Germans [most of the crowd was Germans] do, too?). Beatsteaks older material leans more towards the punk than the pop, while the newer stuff leans a lot further into the pop; needless to say, I liked the older stuff better. But what I did and didn’t like is really besides the point. Beatsteaks is a band that obviously enjoys performing, and it’s a band that has a fanbase that loves them, and knows every song.  This is an infectious combination: everybody in the house was having a great time.