As I was on the train, followed by the bus full of drunken wankers yesterday- I was listening to one of my favourite bands ever- The Organ. The split up a year after I got into their music. It broke my heart, I don’t talk about it. It’s like when The Long Blondes split up- the wound is still open and it hurts a lot to mention it. They are two bands that never should’ve split up. Purely selfish reasons as I adored their music and just wanted so much more. However, there’s solo projects and past releases to ease the pain.

The Organ was in a way, the female version of The Smiths. How so? Listen to the lyrics. Katie Sketch, aside from having one of the most distinctive and gorgeous voices ever- was and still is a bloody brilliant lyricist.

Their music in some parts is sheer loneliness and desperation; I suppose that’s what can make them appealing to some. Even the vulnerable need something to lean on even if they don’t wish to admit it. I love The Organ because they came at a time where there was nothing like them. They came at a time where the Riot Grrrl movement was starting to fade out (I firmly believe it exists, it’s just underground) and something else was needed. However, after The Organ called it quits in 2006 nothing else really emerged. I suppose now you can say that Warpaint are the band to inspire females to get into music and start a band. Of course there are other female bands, but Warpaint are the ones doing it RIGHT at the moment.

The Organ had some amazing lyrics and their songs were divine and highly heartbreaking.

I suppose I adored The Organ so much because of the lyrics. Love, Love, Love is probably one of my favourites. I have no idea what Katie Sketch intended with it, but my take on it is- wanting to find love, find love and your/their stupidity causes it to be destroyed. It’s an easy song to relate to-like all of their songs. That’s the beauty of music; you can create your own meaning. Make it your own.

My favourite lyric penned by Katie Sketch has to be, “Our hearts didn’t come together, but I saw the two collide.” I’m not entirely sure what it is about this specific line, but it just captured my heart the very first time I heard it. Grab That Gun is such a glorious album; there are no bad songs on it at all. I believe it should be included in those lists of albums you need in your life that various publications like to annually create. It was the only full length album the band ever released, and it’s such a shame because it was just a blueprint of what the band could’ve truly become.

As they only released one album, it is so easy to want more from them. That’s what happens when you become emotionally attached to a band that then split up. Yes, I am also aiming that at The Long Blondes.

The Organ, I feel, will always be the underdogs- so highly underrated; it’s just ever so unfair that a band with such talent was just overlooked.

Steven Smith is a song that I adore, and probably because it is a tribute to the genius that is- Morrissey. Certain lines in the song, if you’re a Morrissey fan make you grin slightly because you feel it too. I really love the last part of the song, “When everything is quiet, the ringing in our ears will be awfully violent. And then there will be silence.”  It is quite a sullen line, but I just love the feel I get from hearing it. You can imagine driving around with just the city lights bouncing off the pavements, it just creates a desolate feeling- but that isn’t always a bad thing. As they give off such feelings of loneliness in their songs, it makes the actual feeling less painful and daunting.

The Organ could’ve been as big as The Smiths- who knows. All I know is that they are one of the most important bands to have ever existed.

I didn’t want to touch on this specific fact due to it not being anything to do with the music. However, with the amount of “out” lesbians in music being close to scarce, bands like The Organ just made it slightly easier. Of course homophobia exists in music as does sexism- but put The Organ against any band regardless of gender and sexual orientation- and they are just as good, probably better. They had something, they had this spark in their music that just got to you in ways that you thought were unknown and thought you couldn’t feel.

The power in Katie Sketch’s lyrics still overwhelm me, even though I’ve listened to them so many times- I still get that same feeling. Their song, Brother has such a euphoric build-up in it, it just takes you over. You have to just shut your eyes and allow yourself to feel so vulnerable and weightless to truly feel the real essence of the song.

Bands such as The Organ made me feel slightly more comfortable with who I am. I’ll always have a twinge of uncertainty with regard to who I am, but it keeps me going- as does music by the likes of The Organ.