"Dude, that band totally sold out for playing at ___"

A while ago Lawrence Arms bassist/vocalist Brendan Kelly posted on his blog The Bad Sandwich Chronicles about bands playing big venues (specifically he was referring to Against Me!) and how silly and stupid it'd be to stay an underground band with bills and a family and NOT want to progress to making more money...This makes absolute sense to me. His band hasn't blown up like underground sensation and friends Alkaline Trio, but they've probably come to terms with that. They've got super loyal fans all over, but just don't have the 'sound' to be dragged across radio waves on a mainstream level. Now I can see from both sides how the cause and effect of a band once small blowing up can be. From the fan's point of view, you loved watching your favourite band play intimate venues and hung out with them afterwords at the bar. They get bigger and play larger venues with a hefty ticket price or with bigger bands you don't have the slightest interest in. You then feel like they've 'sold out' since they're playing with band you don't care for, maybe on a sponsored tour package...such is life right? Imagine being the band starting out with next to no money, making the records in living rooms using a closet as a vocal booth. They hand-silk screened the shirt you're wearing and pulled up to the venue in a rusted van that also doubles as their hotel for the night. You watch them play that night as they give it their all putting every drop of energy into their set. They pick up their small amount of cash they made (since the venue screwed them over once again) and drive to the next town. Fast-forward 8 or so years from now. They've made 5 or so records, can afford a better vehicle and now can make the record at a somewhat better recording studio. Hell, they can even tour more cities with a better chance of hitting your hometown again. I guess after years of struggling to get bigger in the music scene and business, I can't turn my back on a band that deserves success. I mean, what band would want to stay on the bottom food chain while their buddies in other bands make a more comfortable living doing the exact same thing they do? It doesn't make sense to me. We all have goals in life. And Every band most likely would enjoy to continue to be successful doing what they love: playing for the fans and spreading their music. That would be like telling your favourite athlete they should have stayed playing minor ball or whatever because that would be "keeping it real".

Alkaline Trio-This Addiction-Strangely addictive, with some side effects

Alkaline Trio recently released their 7th studio album This Addiction, on their new label they started called Heart & Skull, which is a sub-label off Epitaph. They also returned to Chicago studio Atlas Studio to record with Matt Allison (Lawrence Arms/Less Than Jake) to record the album. They stated in 09, that it'd be a stripped down record while returning to their punk-rock roots. While their 2008 release of Agony and Irony which promoted health, happiness and better things, This Addiction has a different vibe. It may be because Guitarist/vocalist Matt Skiba recently went through a divorce, & they've had some personal losses over the last year. So after a week and a half of listening to the album in my car, This Addiction is a decent 7th album. I first heard their first song and single "This Addiction" a few months back and it defiantly peaked my interest in the new record. It's straight forward with the classic Trio style. It's Matt's comparison of drugs and love, and is super catchy. Great way to start off the record. "Dine Dine My Darling" is next and the first song sung by bassist/vocalist Dan Andriano. It's catchy as well, with a great hook. "Lead Poisoning" is third. Matt's leading the vocals on this one too. The critics are hating it because of the NOFX-style trumpet part, but overall, it's an alright song.

"Dead On The Floor" is fourth. Another Skiba-sung song. It's one of my favourite off the album, if not THE favourite. The opening riff is similar to an older track "San Francisco". The lyrics are great, the chorus is simple and wonderful. There's some light chimes highlighting the track, which really add to it. "The American Scream" is next. Skiba sings on this one. It has a darker feel to it since it's about a Army soldier coming back from over seas and killing himself over his mother's grave. It's a rare political song for the group, but works. "Off The Map" is next. Dan sings on this one. This is my favourite track, by far. The lyrics are your typical witty Dan-style with a great melody. Matt sings on the next track "Draculina". Probably my least favourite track. It's just not as exciting as I'd like to hope. "Eating Me Alive" follows it, which is once again, sung by Matt. This is the track that's got everyone scratching their heads, or perhaps even skipping the album. The synth part is very obnoxious, but since they're influenced by bands such as The Cure, it sort of shines through. The chorus is alright, but that damn synth part is hard to ignore. "Piss and Vinegar" follows that which is the third song in a row, sung by Matt. The guitar riffs on this one sounds pretty similar to "Eating Me Alive". Part of it. Chorus is alright for the most part. "Dorothy" follows it which ONCE again is sung by Matt. It's not a bad one. The drum part is interesting for the intro part. Lyrics are 'eh'. "Fine" sung by Dan, finishes out the album. Live, they're switching instruments around with Dan on guitar, Derek on bass and Matt on drums. Kinda freshening things up and keeping it interesting. This one sounds great. Dan captures great lyrics & a great melody. Now if you have the Deluxe addition, you've got the extra songs "Kick Rocks" and "Those Lungs" as well as three acoustic tracks. "Kick Rocks" is perfect. Danny sings on this one as well as "Those Lungs" and both are absolutely great. The drum part on "Those Lungs" on the intro sounds too similar to "Time To Waste" but it's still a solid song.

So as you can see, Matt clearly dominates the album with songs he leads on versus Dan who sings on just three (not including the B-sides) He's got some good songs, but there are a few that could be substituted for the B-sides. Dan shines very brightly leaving the listener wanting more on his side. Overall, not too bad. Less glossy then Agony and Irony, yet some tracks fall slightly.

Updates on my drum kit

So I've come to terms that my lousy kit I purchased off Ebay isn't that great, but since I don't have a lot of money, I can upgrade parts to make it sound and play pretty well. In the summer of 09, I purchased a new bass drum pedal. My DW 7000 lasted me many years and the parts started to bust and some of the nuts were stripped, so I picked up a Tama HP30 single pedal. I would have loved the Iron Cobra since a lot of drummers swear by that pedal, but this one was pretty affordable so it worked out for my budget.
Next upgrade was around the holidays. I was very fortunate to get some gift cards to Cascio Interstate Music (music store near my house) for Christmas. My family new all I wanted was to upgrade some things on the kit. So without hesitation, I picked up a new hi-hat stand. The one I've been using since day one of getting my kit back in 99 or 2000 was the original CB stand. That thing, lasted quite a while, but was kind of a pain since some of the parts that hold the hats were coming loose often. This stand is awesome. The clutch isn't really needed, but it's a good bonus feature.
Lastly, I picked up some great Remo pinstripe heads. I had the black pinstripe heads for quite some time, and they defiantly needed to be changed out. I went clear this time around, but am happy with my decision. I hope this year (but won't be for quite some time) to get some new hi-hats. Maybe some Sabian Xs20s. I've had B8 hats for too long. I've played 14 inch cymbals on other band's kits for a while now, and am not digging my current 13 inch ones. These will cost maybe 150 dollars so I'll have to wait a while. I'd like to change out my front bass drum head as well. Get one that's ported with nothing on it so I can paint something eventually.

Argh!

I'm not quite over the "end of the decade" crap foisted at us by pop-culture.

No, this decade is not over yet. 2010 counts as the tenth year of the current decade, century and millenium, no matter what the knuckleheads in the media tell you.

Think about it this way: When we started using AD after the year, the first year was 1, not 0.

Another way to think about it is that we're in the 21st century, yet the first two digits are 2 and 0. That means that the First Century was years 1-100 AD, not 100-200.

I know all my ranting and raving about this elementary fact won't change the way we think about it - after all, we like nice round numbers. But still, people, show some brains!

2009-A Year In Review

Ah, 2009. It's unbelievable how fast you went. Thankfully, you left a trail of great music and even some decent television shows! My favourite album of the year is almost a toss up. Decibully's World Travels Fast is near perfect, but at the same time The Lawrence Arms's Buttsweat and Tears is pretty amazing. It's too tough to call, so I'm going to call it even. I waited such a long time for both and listened to them way over 10 times in a week.

In 2009, I discovered a band that has been around for a while. Tegan and Sara. One night, they played the Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien and rocked their new single "Hell". It was very Alkaline Trio-ish and I had to dig deeper to see what else they can do. My guitar player is a huge fan, and ripped me his favourite songs. All of them catchy and brilliant.

This year I didn't go to too many shows due to my wife and I purchasing a house in March. We did go to two great shows. Maritime+ The Smoking Popes at Turner Hall in April, and most recently, Decibully in December. Both shows were very memorable. After the Popes show, Jill because a big fan of them, and for the first time in many many years, Bryan and I got to go to a concert together.

And now, some of my favourite songs of 2009

The Slowing Drink At the Saddest Bar On the Snowiest Day in the Greatest City

-The Lawrence Arms

Somewhere in the World

-Decibully

Hell

-Tegan and Sara

Best God in Show

-NoFX

Airport Security

The Bouncing Souls

Hurricane Season

The Emergency Room

As far as television is concerned, Modern Family wins for best sitcom. We watch it every Wednesday, and it's pretty hilarious. Even the idiot from Married With Children is funny in the program.

2010 should be a pretty good year. Alkaline Trio has a new album coming out. I've already heard a few songs from it on youtube from live performances and they sound pretty good. Ted Leo has a new album coming out. Obviously that'll be awesome. So here's to another year, and cheers to 2010.

Decibully @ the Bayview Brew Haus

Friday, December 18th was a rare moment in time. Like when there is a solar eclipse, or if the planets all line up for a brief moment...So what WAS this rare moment? Bryan and I got to see a concert TOGETHER for the first time in roughly 9 years. Not just any band...Decibully, one of the best bands around headlined a show at the smokey Bayview Brew Haus. Fable And The World Flat and Invade Rome joined them that night to celebrate Decibully's record release of World Travels Flat. As Invader Room played, my brother, my wife and I shared a "Java Beer" which was 1/2 coffee and half beer. It was dark, strong and pretty good. We almost looked out of place with the rest of the crowd drinking PBR and Shlitz. Fable and the World Flat opened. They weren't too bad. Had some catchy grooves here and there. I chatted with Aaron Vold of Decibully for a bit during their set. I stupidly forgot to introduce him to 82. Oh well. Invade Rome played second. They were quite forgettable, but covered Decibully's "Rid of Me At Last" which wasn't too bad. Vocals could have been better, but the overall sound was good. Decibully went on around Midnight. They opened with "World Travels Fast" off their latest album with the same name. William sounded perfect singing acapella at the beginning of the song. His voice is very soulful which makes this unique band that better. Other sounds they played off the latest album were "Live By The Lake", "Don't Believe The Hype", "If I Don't Work", "Little White Girl" and a few others. "Broken Glass" sounded amazing live. I can't even describe how the opening song from WTF blew me away. They played their single off the record as well "Somewhere in the World". They played a few classic D-Bully songs as well including "Penny Look Down", "Sing Out Sing Out Sing Out" and "Meg and Magill". My wife started to get kinda nauseous while we stood in the crowd since it was basically like standing in a completely filled ash tray. We headed out after "Meg and Magill" (which was around 1:15am). The fresh air was a wonderful welcome to the quiet streets of Bayview. As far as the new ablum is concerned, I've listened to it way too much lately. But unlike other artists, you have to turn this up loud so you can hear all of the well-detailed layers. Like a painting, Decibully is well enjoyed by listening, relaxing and taking it all in. When you see Decibully live, it's like watching art come to life. All of the notes, rhythms and vocals are the brush strokes. If you haven't seen them live, you probably should go to their myspace and check the tour dates.

Singers/Actors who need to cover Holiday songs

82 posted the most dreadful holiday songs. I totally agree. But now it's time to list some artists or actors that should release some covers for kicks and "jollys"...

Christopher Walken-12 Days of Christmas

William Shatner-Frosty the Snowman

William Shatner With John Lovett-Mr. Grinch

Dr. Dre with Jimmy Buffett-Deck The Halls

Tenacious D-Feliz Navidad

Rivers Cuomo & Henry Rollins-Jingle Bell Rock

Happy Holidays!