Let’s play a game. It’s a pretty simple game: think about all the things you know about Poland. Can you name a city in Poland? Alright, Warsaw, obviously, but can you name any others? Nope? Not even Krakow? You’re slapping yourself for that one, aren’t you? Alright, who’s the Prime Minister of Poland? Don’t know? Is it even a Prime Minister, or is it a President, or something else? Don’t go and get on Wikipedia, there’s no prize or anything, I’m just trying to prove a point.

The point being that you really don’t know a damn thing about Poland. That’s because if you’re reading this there’s a better-than-50% chance you’re an American, and if you’re an American there’s a better-than-50% chance you don’t know or care about other countries. I’m not trying to make you feel bad, I’m just speaking the truth, and letting you know that about 1.2% of our readership is Polish and is pretty disappointed in you for not knowing about The Car Is On Fire.

Of course, I’m an American as well, so I’m no different. My knowledge of the Polish indie-rock scene begins and ends with The Car Is On Fire, and that knowledge only goes back like three days. I wouldn’t have even brought them up if I didn’t think they were totally fucking rad and that you would love them. How rad are they? They had an album out a few months back, and if I had heard it back then it’d be a shoo-in for any best-of-the-year list you care to mention. It’s that good. First of all, it’s produced by John McEntire, who worked with Stereolab and Tortoise, so it sounds crisp and clean. The songs are bouncy and bright and they hit you instantly; the chord changes are like swinging across the jungle floor snatching onto vine after vine. I’d say they sounded like of Montreal, except a) I don’t really like of Montreal and b) those kinds of comparisons don’t make any sense. I could just as easily say they sound like a cross between The Beatles and Tupac Shakur. Like They Might Be Giants had a baby with Gogol Bordello and named it Phoenix. I’m not sure what I have to tell you to convince you to click the little arrows at the bottom of the post that make the music play. Just click them and you’ll see what I’m trying to get at.

And for your information, this isn’t some nobody band from nowhere that I picked up in a thrift store and am talking up to boost my credibility. Their last album won a Fryderyk, which is basically the Polish equivalent of the Grammy. Bet you didn’t know about the Polish Grammys, did you? There’s a 98.8% chance you didn’t. And again, I’m not trying to make you feel bad. On the contrary — I’m just trying to get you to listen.

The Car Is On Fire – “Ombarrops !”
The Car Is On Fire – “Cherry Cordial”
The Car Is On Fire – “A Song Like No Other”

You can buy their albums here.

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