The Sumner Brothers @ the Fort Langley Hall Dec 3.10
Babies get rad!
Jewell and Bob get rad with birthday shots!
There's this lovely little community of people in Langley/Fort Langley that like to get rad. Elliot and Jewell are behind Moonshinin' Productions and they put shows together for local musicians, bands on tour and bring musicians out from the City. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=110732558944008&ref=ts
Paul Collins is just a regular guy who now plays shows for about the same amount of people I play shows for, which is to say, not a whole lot. But to 'people in the know' (as the kids say) he's actually "Paul Fucking Collins", drummer for the Nerves and the man behind power pop kings the Beat (who are also known as the Paul Collins Beat to avoid confusion with the ska band the Beat, who are also known as the English Beat to avoid confusion with the Paul Collins Beat. Ba boom!)
Thank you, parantheticals, now go eat a Snickers. You deserve it.
So the Nerves ended up being a very important power pop band even though they only toured once (but at least played with the Ramones...sorry to cut your break short, parantheticals). They put out only one ep that basically no one bought, except is now insanely expensive on eBay. But there's one song on that EP that everyone in the world has heard without even really knowing it, because a blonde uber-babe from New York ended up covering it a few years later and it was a big hit.
See what I mean? Killer stuff. That's Paul Collins in the middle, by the way. Now this stuff was all re-released by the amazing Alive Records label recently on a limited edition vinyl that looks like this:
After the Nerves self combustid, Paul Collins formed the Beat and in '79 put out one of the best power pop albums of all time, a self titled on COLUMBIA RECORDS! One of the first major label power pop records. It looked like this:
It had the coolest song ever written about the reason songs are written and they ended up playing it on American Bandstand!
Unfortunately for Paul, the Knack's "Get The Knack" came out that same year and completely overshadowed everything non-Knack. Bummer, Paul!
What I'm trying to say is, Paul Collins is a king amongst power pop men. All his records are pure classics, and if you're getting into power-pop they are a good place to start. A true songwriting genious with a workhorse attitude, Paul Collins new album "the King of Power Pop" was just released on Alive Naturalsound Records and it's really, really good, I'm not going to lie. I just ordered myself one, and I encourage you to do the same!
Ok.
So, on my walk home tonight, I thought of a lot of things that I should blog about...
... Really poignant things. Things of importance to others. Things of consequence. But alas, I arrived home without any memory of what it (they) was (were) that was (were) so important to me... (that was WAY too complicated... I blame Demon Alcohol.)
I guess this is a segue into my purpose on this blog. I'll give the youse a window into the world of shitty booze from a cynic's (but ironically, optimist's) standpoint. That's all I can offer.
So, tonight I drank PBR, a local staple, and this is what I thought: "Life is good despite the shittiness. We have a LOT to offer each other; support, objectivity, etc. But, for the most part, that compassion and support is lost amidst the cloud of pseudo-happiness we are comfortable with. Another day, another dozen... Amiright?"
snake vs the mongoose!! at this super rad house in Penticton!!
Norman's portrait!!
gettin' rad!!
We had a super rad epic weekend that took us all the ways to Deadmonton! Our journey to Penticton had all the makings of a good horror movie, ending in a surprisingly great time in that town! I love Penticton in the winter! Entertaining homeless dude, token drunk guy, costumes! Next we journeyed to Calgary where we met up with some old friends, met some new ones and took part in an amazing show at the Distillery, where Billy killed my finger and almost my head! Then on to Tedmonton where someone had a lot of BOAT RACES!!! Also beer, whiskey, wine, barf! haha. Thankfully there's this little thing called water.
Anyways, the Vicious Cycles are amazing! And we are so glad to have been part of their tour! To the dudes in Knucklehead, great job on the new album!! It was worth the wait! Glad to have been at the CD release shows!!
The Vicious Cycles @ the Distillery Nov 5.10 Calgary
The Vicious Cycles @ Tiger Alley Nov 4.10 Penticton
The Lizard People @ Tiger Alley Nov 4.10 Penticton
Aaron and I joined the VCMC on their trip to Alberta to join Knucklehead for their Hearts On Fire CD Release shows! We had the raddest of times with the raddest of dudes.
We have these lovely friends in a lovely band called Carpenter.
This is what their MySpace says.. "Sounds Like: The best party you've ever been to / Driving down a dirt road in a beat up Chevy / FARMCORE / John Cougar Emocamp / Naked ladies." My favorite part is the Emocamp one. Ha.
Anyways, these dudes are on a 6 week North American tour as we speak and we miss their pretty faces and hope they're having nothing but the raddest of times! Check them out if you haven't already. http://www.myspace.com/johncougarisgod
These photos were taken at their Sea to Sky CD Release Show / Tour Kickoff at the Media Club Oct 2.10
Rich Hope @ the Fort Langley Hall Dec 3.10
The Sumner Brothers @ the Fort Langley Hall Dec 3.10
Babies get rad!
Jewell and Bob get rad with birthday shots!
