This weekend’s awful weather notwithstanding, we’ve been getting prepared for summer. We’ve spent endless unproductive hours debating whether to buy a new bathing suit even though we hate swimming, used our immersion blender to make pesto (our ultimate summer food) and begun dreading the return of ice cream trucks. Don’t get us wrong. We adore ice cream, most especially ice cream sandwiches and most especially ice cream sandwiches from ice cream trucks. What kills us about said trucks is their terrible, terrible music. Although the ice cream truck near us plays some sort of truncated version of “Turkey in the Straw” and will probably be responsible for the eventual loss of our damn mind, really, nothing beats the Somerville ice cream truck that plays “Send In The Clowns”.
It’s quite the pity that neither our neighborhood truck nor the Somerville one seem to have heard about Songs For Ice Cream Trucks. This solo album from Michael Hearst of adorkable band One Ring Zero is, as its title implies, composed exclusively of songs for ice cream trucks to play in lieu of their current jangly jingles. The idea sounds a mite precious, and, truthfully, the output is a touch twee, but it’s also inordinately charming. It sounds like summer, but like a more idyllic summer than any we’ve experienced. We’re especially fond of the opening track “Ice Cream”, which is now stuck in our head every time we open a pint of Phish Food. We dare you to watch this video of Hearst getting ready to wheel an ice cream cart to a show and not get childishly excited.
We’d like to make an official petition to our friendly local ice cream truck operator: please please please buy this album. We just don’t know if we can handle another season of “Turkey in the Straw.”
We All Scream For Ice Cream [ReadyMade Blog]
Songs For Ice Cream Trucks [Official Site]
One Ring Zero [Official Site]
Michael Hearst: Songs For Ice Cream Trucks: Ice Cream Truck [YouTube: oneringzero]
