He Called Me Baby

One Eskimo and friends search high and low for Little Feather. He should have called Cheaters instead.

At 55, I'm the old fart on our music writing staff, but when I put One Eskimo's "Kandi" in my 2009 Top 10, I knew that young band grand-slammed it outta the ballpark, using the one weapon that never fails: a killer song. When Bob Lefsetz wrote about it yesterday, I grinned.

"Kandi" isn't just great, it's capital G genius. From its sample of Patsy Cline's "He Called Me Baby", one of her last songs, it's a throwaway - catchy and good for gettin' 'em on the dance floor, which was exactly the idea.

Who, then, heard and reinvented it as a buttery soul ballad for Candi Staton in the 1970s? What a fabulous slice of rich Southern soul! I dare you to listen and not be moved by the authentic sound of heartache, and Staton's smoky pipes.

But it's 2010 and good songs are hard to come by. Here's One Eskimo, a group of early twentysomethings from London who took someone's vision of another artist's work and created a thrice-beautiful product. Even the video is gorgeously engaging, with the visual story of One Eskimo jilted by Little Feather amid luminous vocals and musical orchestration. This is the version they want you to see, and it's worth watching if only because the boys of One Eskimo are adorable and the arrangement is different.

At first I wasn't impressed by it, completely entranced by only the song. By the third viewing and the echo of "It hurts beyond hurt" and "Does my love ever touch you?," I was in its thrall, carried through One Eskimo's myriad emotions and sense of loss, bolstered in spirit by good friends and a song.

And in the last week, three people have either stopped or written me to ask about One Eskimo, so I know it's catching on through satellite radio. Who knows, maybe it will be a surprise hit and One Eskimo will kill 'em at ACL Fest this fall. Until then, it's a real underground hit, complete with fan attention and a Find Little Feather quest.

By the way, I say let Little Feather stay lost. If she was too dazzled by dollars to see what a sweetheart One Eskimo is, she can stay in the castle with her sugar daddy. Bitch.