Double Agent Records; Rose Melberg, My Favorite, The Telescopes


My Favorite
My Favorite crashed and burned in 2005. From a still-beating heart in the ash,
The Secret History was born.
See lostdetective.com for a lot more about My Favorite.
MY FAVORITE were true New York cult heroes, elusive and enigmatic stars of a secret history.
They crawled from the suburbs of Long Island to the battered boroughs of New York City, all the while managing to belong nowhere. They created pop songs that feel like films, casting as heroes the misfits, hipsters and monsters of modern life. Beneath shimmering walls of guitars, synthesizers, and melodicas, beat the burning heart of a new wave dream gone wrong. They proposed that our age is worth remembering. They redeemed us by caring.

Closer in spirit and methodology to bands like The Velvet Underground, The Go-Betweens, Yo La Tengo, The Magnetic Fields, and Belle & Sebastian -- My Favorite were sparks in a vacuum, originals in an era where originality is impossible. Pop saboteurs making music because they insanely believed their stories were worth telling, and the sounds of last century's end will haunt us long into this one. They were the next link in the glittering chain of outsider music, a desperate pastiche created out of dreams.

The Happiest Days of Our Lives (2003):
This 2CD compiles My Favorite's limited and acclaimed 3-EP series and the long-rumored, never-heard 4th EP "Famous When Dead". Bonus CD includes 14 controversial remixes by Soviet, Flowchart, Phofo, Future Bible Heroes, and more!

Love at Absolute Zero (1999): Two years and one nervous breakdown in the making, Love At Absolute Zero was released on Double Agent in May 1999. The record is a collection of stories about suburban outsiders paralyzed by a combination of dislocation, nostalgia and desire. These tales were set to a diverse mix of jangling guitars, blipping synths and art-damaged dub rhythms. The critically acclaimed record stayed on CMJ's Top 50 all summer and the band played triumphant shows with The Magnetic Fields and Papas Fritas.

Slate.com: The Return of Mope Rock and the First Pop Trend of 2003
My Favorite is the band that's clearly better than its like-minded peers. My Favorite prove themselves a worthy companion to their heroes. more »
Alternative Press: 100 Bands You Need to Know in 2002
My Favorite are the logical new choice for those disaffected folks who wore out their copies of the Smiths' Louder Than Bombs.
NY Newsday, Songs of Summer 2002
My Favorite "Burning Hearts" -- Ah, this charming band...lovely vocals and chiming guitars that would make Johnny Marr proud.
Gear Magazine: Hottest People and Things on the Planet in 2001
A pack of New Order fanatics from Long Island, New York, My Favorite's sterling debut LP, Love At Absolute Zero, filtered love, youth and longing through a pulsing synthesizer heart, achieving a warmth and immediacy their inspirations lacked. This pristine, heartbreaking panorama of teenage wastelands past and future is no mopefest: tight New Wavey instrumentation and clever lyrics give it a near-lethal bite and snap.
Rolling Stone
The Brooklyn quintet My Favorite use their time machine to reach the past as well as the future... The band's allure is the unusual upbeat baked into these sadcore retro-grooves. The title track could be a sarcastic, ironic statement of purpose, but their "nostalgia for meaningful things," which includes black anoraks and synthesized strings, creates enough distance from the music's initial inspiration to block the pain and allow them to bask in the unmitigated joy of melodies well-delivered.
Village Voice, NY
The soundtrack to a sad, reflective John Waters movie with little dialogue, shot in tinted blue hues... Dark new wave that finds beauty and romance in suburban disaffection. They should be your favorite too!






the happiest days
of our lives
released: November 4, 2003
» download from iTunes
CD and vinyl editions sold out
song list
1. The Happiest Days of My Life
2. Homeless Club Kids
3. The Suburbs Are Killing Us
4. L=P
5. Burning Hearts mp3
6. A Cathedral at Night
7. White Roses For Blue Girls
8. John Dark (Goodnight, Major Tom)
9. Half There and Dancing
10. The Black Cassette
11. Badge (Grace Under Pressure)
12. Le Monster
13. The Radiation
14. James Dean (Awaiting Ambulance)
15. Rescue Us
16. The Lesser Saints

love at absolute zero
released: May 25, 1999 » download from iTunes
CD and vinyl editions sold out
song list
1. Absolute Zero
2. Absolute Beginners Again
3. 17 Berlin
4. The Truth About Lake Ronkonkama
5. Let's Stay Alive
6. Go Kid Go
7. Modulate
8. Party Crashers
9. Between Cafes
10. The Informers
11. Working Class Jacket
12. You Belong With Us


the happiest days of my life / the suburbs are killing us 7" single
» available from Hungry Audio


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