Although Thao Nguyen’s Get Down Stay Down is a trio, on the just-released Know Better Learn Faster the lineup swells considerably, and with some considerable talent, including Andrew Bird, Laura Veirs, Eric Earley (Blitzen Trapper), Horse Feathers, Steve Berlin (Los Lobos), Jenny Conlee (The Decemberists), and Merrill Garbus aka tUnE-yArDs. None of those fun faces turn up in the video for “When We Swam,” but some others do as the Get Down Stay Down emerge from the water and pilot a loopy beach dance party that ends with an unfairly matched tug o’ war and Thao finding herself buried in the sand. There are metaphors to parse and play with there, but the sunshine and smiles paired with Girls’ similarly sandy clip from earlier in the day have enough appeal on a cold NY day like this one on face value alone. Start planning your beachwear and heartbreaks for summer 2010 and dig in:

Harder better faster stronger:

• Thao With The Get Down Stay Down – “Know Better Learn Faster”Download

Know Better Learn Faster is out via Kill Rock Stars.

Thao on tour:
10/15 – Santa Barbara, CA @ Club Mercy
10/16 – Los Angeles, CA @ Echoplex
10/17 – Santa Cruz, CA @ The Crepe Place
10/18 – San Francisco, CA (Treasure Island Music Festival)
10/21 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge
10/22 – Seattle, WA @ Chop Suey
10/23 – Vancouver BC @ The Biltmore Cabaret
10/24 – Spokane, WA @ Empyrean Coffee
10/27 – Minneapolis, MN @ Cedar Cultural Center
10/28 – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall
10/29 – Urbana, IL @ The Canopy Club
10/30 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle
10/31 – Detroit, MI @ The Cafe at the Majestic Theater
11/01 – Toronto, ON @ El Mocambo
11/02 – Montreal, QC @ Il Motore
11/03 – Cambridge, MA @ Middle East Downstairs
11/04 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
11/05 – Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church
11/06 – Washington DC @ Black Cat
11/07 – Richmond, VA @ The Canal Club Downstairs Lounge
11/09 – Atlanta, GA @ EARL
11/11 – Houston, TX @ The Studio at Warehouse Live
11/12 – Austin, TX @ Mohawk
11/13 – Ft Worth, TX @ Lola’s
11/14 – Lubbock, TX @ Jake’s
11/17 – Phoenix, AZ @ Rhythm Room
11/18 – Tucson, AZ @ Plush
11/19 – San Diego, CA
(all shows except Treasure Island w/ Portland Cello Project)

The KBLF tracklist:
01 “The Clap”
02 “Cool Yourself”
03 “When We Swam”
04 “Know Better Learn Faster”
05 “Body”
06 “The Give”
07 “Good Bye Good Luck”
08 “Trouble Was For”
09 “Oh. No.”
10 “Fixed It!”
11 “Burn You Up”
12 “But What Of The Strangers”
13 “Easy”