I used to do my best to make it out to local shows; I’d pay my three bucks and watch five or six bands do their damndest to impress the fifteen people in attendance, especially trying to bowl over the 5 or six people that they didn’t bring with them.

After a spell (sorry, I’ve just been reading To Kill A Mockingbird, so I’m prone to say “after a spell” and “ain’tcha ‘fraid of hain’ts?”), I decided that pretty much every local band was terrible, including any of the ones I was involved in. Most bands would do something to give me a healthy dose of the “douche-shivers”, such as laying sheets of wood on the stage before their set, (as not to damage the stage when they trashed their instruments), or only jumping around during the cover song they were playing, displaying that, like the audience, they were also completely bored with their originals.

I’m glad I didn’t stop attending these local mistake pageants, because I began to discover one or two dynamic bands whose records ended up in my regular rotation.

The first of these bands were the Candidates. I saw them open for Die Cheerleader (then known as Cheerleader 666), and was mighty impressed with their banter, which included mocking a band made up of Jehovah’s Witnesses that failed to turn up for the show, and several boasty claims of rock n’ roll superiority. Theirs was the first local CD I bought from a band that a) didn’t go to my high school or b) my brother wasn’t in. After the ‘Dates broke up, two of the members “stole” my best friend out of my band to form the Machines, which was great because a) they're way better than my old band and b) they recorded a record superior to the records of the bands from whence they came, and I’m all for musical purification.

The Machines – Time

Another group I discovered was the Sourkeys. I was, admittedly, confused upon my first experience with the ‘Keys. That might be because, before the first time I saw them play, someone described them as “the Pixies crossed with Weezer”, basically causing me to expect...well...Weezer's cover of "Velouria". They were a little more involved than that, with their off kilter time shifts and intricate melodies. After a spell (gee!), I began to follow each song, and began to become accustomed to the sudden musical shifts. My friends and I delighted in creating interpretive dances to their songs outside of the bars in which they played. That’s a true story. I never get sick of their records, and their live shows are great even when they’re “bad”.

The Sourkeys - Locked & Loaded

So support your local artists, because you never know: there might be another artist there who’s better than them. That’s about as clear as I can get, huh?

Buy Music From My Friends Pt.1 (The Machines - After My Misspent Youth)
Buy Music From My Friends Pt.2 (The Sourkeys - The Spectacle)

- kevin