The success of the best 90’s best alt-rock, and by extension the success of today’s best alt-rock revivalists, can be traced to two factors: Escapism and immediacy. These aren’t the only two factors, mind you, but merely two forces which drive songs like The Library is On Fire’s “Monkey in my Chair.”
Are they really singing about a monkey stealing some dude’s chair when that dude got up to go to the fridge for a fresh beer? The bigger question is, does it matter? Why would you want to spend your time dissecting the symbolic significance of monkeys in the living room when you can be rocking out? There’s guitars here. They’re big and noisy, crunching guitars. There’s a chorus here. It’s a big rousing chorus. The whats and whys are secondary compared to the immediate effect — The feeling you get from a pure Rock ‘N’ Roll blast.
VIDEO: The Library is on Fire – Monkey in my Chair
The Library on Fire’s latest offering, Magic Windows, Magic Nights is out now and available locally at Music Saves. You can learn more about the band by clicking here, and checking out this recent interview with the Village Voice.
