Ball of Wax 35 Songs: The Ex-Optimists – “Let’s Go to Sleep and Dream”

Former Seattleite and now apparent founding father of College Station, Texas’s rock and roll scene Kelly Minnis (also, in full disclosure, first drummer in my band The Luna Moth and onetime sometime hitter of skins in my other band The Library)  is a man of many talents. He is a force to be reckoned with behind the drums, of course, but he can write a pretty great pop song, too. His band The Ex-Optimists (whom we haven’t heard from since Volume 17) released a fine album called Bee Corpse Collector last year, which if I were a better blogger I would have written a glowing review of or included on a list of notable releases from 2013. “Let’s Go to Sleep and Dream” is a wonderfully concise bit of propulsively romantic shoegazery that should act as enough of a teaser to get you to buy the whole record (12″ vinyl, $10 postpaid! Now that just warms the cockles of my Dischord-lovin’ heart).  It’s also a fine counterpoint to Sam’s track, completing the one-two punch that kicks off this particular volume.