There aren’t a lot of people for whom I’d drive to Raleigh, to see them play a 45 minute set, on a weeknight; maybe four or five bands of the 2500 in my iTunes, and two or three solo acts to boot. But Micah Schnabel (and his band Two Cow Garage) is one of them, because Micah is one of the best songwriters working today, and also one of my favorite people. He didn’t disappoint last night — he’s doing a handful of fly-by-night solo dates in early promotion of his second solo record, the upcoming I’m Dead, Serious, and last night’s set was primarily songs from that disc. (Record out sometime this fall on Suburban Home Records. Whenever Micah finds art that is bloody enough for his taste, I would assume.) Y’all know that I flat-out adored Micah’s 2009 solo debut When The Stage Lights Go Dim, and I think this new one, if the songs he played last night are any indication, is going to be amazing.

He’s also the only person in my life who would write a love song and called it “Sid & Nancy”, and that’s only one reason why this album is going to be fantastic. The rest of it has to do with the way Micah writes upbeat songs about functionally terrible relationships and broken hearts and the way that being a musician fucks you up immeasurably but kind of in a good way. Seriously, he’s fantastic, and if you don’t believe me, go pick up last year’s Two Cow album Sweet Saint Me, which was my 2010 album of the year by a large margin.

If Micah’s solo disc isn’t in my top three this year, you guys might want to check and see if I’m dead. (Full set here.)