AC Newman - prophets, 2009

"The prominent use of tambourine actually adds a lot to the “surreal hippie party” atmosphere of some of these songs – Newman’s percussionist is nothing if not elated, as are his background vocalists, but there’s a simplicity to the way it’s all played and song despite how many beats and words might be crammed in there. Piano and acoustic guitar give this one a similarly unassuming opening until it cascades into another amusingly contradictory chorus, which finds the background singers repeating “One by one by one by one”, only to then insist, “Strike on zero”. This is a bit like Fleet Foxes attempting to sing a nonsense song written by The Flaming Lips for an episode of The Muppet Show."