popular culture no longer applies to me

NB: the post below was written a couple of days ago, but was delayed thanks to my being diseased (there ain't no pleasin'). not only is this post poorly written BUT it appears to be moot as the show is SOLD freakin' OUT thanks to everyone & their mommy touting it. nevertheless, here goes...

dear friends,

so many bands. so little time & so very little cash. as I mindlessly typed all the code & gobbledygook that is required to get the pathetic show listing on the left here on soft communication, I was suddenly hit with a blind panic at realizing that I wanted to see most of these shows & that I didn't have the means.

now, I put the listings up there because there are shows I am going to, entertain notions of going to, &/or other contributors are going to. but the truth is, I only ever get to a couple if I'm lucky. sadly, I'm not in the exalted position of free ticketdom, so I have to break down my playtime money into a) cds to buy, b) shows to go to, c) drinks to have & the incredibly deadly... d) pharmacy breakdowns (wherein one buys way more than toothpaste at eckerd's because one is feeling vulnerable or some such idiocy & an avocado clay mask seems just the thing to combat that) or mac attacks (same as prior parenthetical but substitute avocado clay mask for toxic purple eyeshadow) but I digress... the point is, I can't see all this good stuff. but you should.

first up on the must-sees, we have art brut (touched upon back in may here), the occasion & test icicles at northsix on friday. uk art punks with tongues firmly in cheek, art brut, nyc luvvies with a pastoral indie bent, the occasion, & young, hungry, fast, loud screamers with a har de har name, test icicles. that's a very nice bill!

a lot of people like to fix on the fact that art brut's singer, eddie argos, is, well, hardly a singer, more of a talker & a self-aware one at that (see: formed a band's lyrical salvo, "yes, this is my real singing voice. it's not irony & it's not rock 'n' roll.") & that amuses. yes, he's tone deaf. but more importantly, the band is hot shit. art brut has impressive dynamics & their combined double guitar/drum/bass din comes off like math rock with emotions (shocktastic!) because the joy they're feeling at playing together comes across vividly like a big ole play slap in the face. & they keep getting better. but why listen to me, try & find instrumental rusted guns of milan OR go to the show on friday.

fellow bill sharers the occasion & test icicles are also quite worthy. the occasion's a dulcimer's fancy has been on repeat in my ears for weeks now. this languorous song plays like rolling over slowly on sheets that are just the right morning temperature. in other words, yummy. test icicles are the latest nme darlings, future of rock rah rah rah, but nevermind the hyperbollocks, they're a nice little punk band & their boa vs python is just the kind of song you want to hear to get aggro on a friday night.

hopefully, I'll see ya there.

love, d

songs to seek: rusted guns of milan/art brut, a dulcimer's fancy/the occasion, boa vs python/test icicles