The oddly yet accurately titled “Ping Pong Ball in a Concrete Room” is a song we can all relate to. We all have those days, those weeks, those months even where we seem to spread too thin, where we are pushed and pulled all over the place; such is the frenetic and fast pace of modern life. Imagine said ping pong ball being dropped on that concrete floor and then spiraling and spinning, bounding and bouncing randomly around. That is you and me in the modern world. That too is Names Without Numbers. Man, I know how you feel.
Such an analogy, one of speed and pace and chaos, needs an effervescent song to deliver the message home, and so Names Without Numbers bolts this idea onto a big sound: a slice of indie grandeur mixed with power-pop grace, a song that rocks hard but never loses sight of what’s important: infectiousness, accessibility, contagion, and effectiveness.
“Ping Pong Ball in a Concrete Room” is certainly all that. A big song for a big idea, a song that builds a cool dynamic, from its initial, come-in-big opening to its more considered verses, from the grand scale of its choruses to the perfectly placed breakdowns, it is a song with style and substance, a song that is both big and clever. Both of those are combinations and juxtapositions that we don’t often come across in today’s musical climate. More’s the pity. Well, at least we can rely on Names Without Numbers to redress the balance and deliver the goods.
