Jukebox: Saint Etienne

This one goes out to all of you out there who will spend the entire day slowly and repeatedly dry heaving at the thought that Sarah Palin is actually going to pull it off at the debate tonight. (It could so happen!) You need succor, I know. Because I do too. That's where Saint Etienne come in. This London trio has been making blissed out pop for over 15 years now, so they know what they're doing. They released their first three albums during the God-awful grunge era of the early '90s. Yes, while hordes of unwashed whiny American doods were shitting out awful songs like "Jeremy" and "Plush" and Courtney Love was publicly menstruating all over her baby doll dresses, Saint Etienne were busy being slick and classy, releasing polished singles like this one, "You're in a Bad Way," from their second record So Tough.

So don't worry. Sarah Cracknell and her back-up dancers are here to help. And I reserve the right to bring them back tomorrow, depending on how things go tonight.