Ed’s Note: Today marks a new wave of Fridays here at TVD. Sal Go joins us this morning as she will each week with her own soapbox ‘Love You Till Friday.’ We’d introduce you to her, but she does a fine job of that herself:
I’m pretty excited to be a contributor to someone else’s blog. As a wanna-be journalist, this is a big step for me. Now the trick is to write something that you, The Vinyl District Reader, actually wants to read, and doesn’t just glaze over on your daily RSS scroll. There’s no formula to follow, so I’m just going to dive in with a brief description on what I think I have to offer.
Like you, I am in love with the format. I am in love with the idea of vinyl and the value a tangible form gives to music with it’s art and execution. I love the 7″, the 12″, the 10″ and all inches in between. I love that vinyl records remain the choice output as far as underground music goes and even that it’s getting mainstream attention in a real way (/end soapbox).
I am not a serious collector/music nerd, for I can’t tell you who played what wearing which color pants on the B-Side of some obscure limited edition of your favorite band’s side project–I don’t know about this shit, and I don’t care. (Not even enough to Google it.) I just really love music, I love going to shows and supporting bands that I like.
HOWEVER, my goal here is not catered to the detail oriented. This is for the no bullshit, punk/rockandroll/garage/underground/ show goer, an evangelist if you will. I’ll do record or show reviews, and I’ll try to highlight some lesser known bands, especially if they are going to be in the area anytime soon. Why? Because this seems to keep happening to me: Paul Collins Beat, (formerly of the Nerves) will be playing at the Talking Head in Baltimore on Monday, February 2nd.
Monday, of course, because who wants to play this area on Friday? But in even better news, Gentlemen Jesse and his Men are touring with them. G. Jesse had a sensational debut 7″ ‘I Don’t Wanna Know’, and has since put out a self titled LP on Douchemaster Records. It’s a well written, solid, hook-driven power pop album that you will love if you love bands like the Nerves, The Exploding Hearts, The Modern Lovers… And there’s something both tough and sweet about his voice that embeds the song into your brain, so that you’re singing the chorus’ all day whether you like it or not. If you don’t have to get up early, (or even if you do but really don’t care about sleeping vs. good music) I suggest checking them out.
Oh yeah, and I lied earlier, because I totally Googled to find out where the apostrophe goes in Paul Collins Beat. (I still don’t know.)
Paul Collins Beat – Helen (Mp3)
Gentlemen Jesse and his Men – I Don’t Wanna Know (Mp3)
Gentlemen Jesse and his Men – You Don’t Have To (Mp3)