Tag Archives: featured

Episode 11: The SHE’S, part 1

Eva Treadway of the She’s.

Now, we don’t know about you, but back in high school we didn’t have a lot of experience with filled-out rich bitch popularity queens, jocks in corvettes, or vaguely racist portrayals of exchange students. When we were 16, our main priorities in life were pretending we already knew how to smoke cigarettes and trying to seduce our junior year crush with some strategically requested Color Me Badd at our birthday party. We just kind of figured everyone’s high school experience was like that, until we heard that not only have The SHE’S already played the same shitty dive bars we’ve played, and not only have they already played venues we could only dream about playing, like the Fillmore, but that they’re also only 16, for chrissakes. Continue reading Episode 11: The SHE’S, part 1

Episode 9: Social Studies, part 1

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Natalie & Michael of Social Studies.

Everyone knows that senior prom is basically a bunch of horny build up followed by dashed hopes, drunken disappointment and, if you’re one of the lucky ones, bad sex and a not-too-exorbitant dry cleaning bill. We’d been trying to get Social Studies to the prom—um, into the back seat—for months. It turned out to be nearly as tough as convincing your date to wriggle out of that Jessica McClintock taffeta nightmare, but far, far more satisfying. Continue reading Episode 9: Social Studies, part 1

Episode 8, Part 1: The Definite Articles

Sean & Arjun of the Definite Articles.
Sean & Arjun of the Definite Articles.

It’s a damn shame my public high school didn’t have an orchestra. No orchestra means those kids contentedly playing D&D in a corner while everyone else was busy pretending to get laid before their 17th birthday were denied achieving their full nerd potential. In addition to reaching Level 10 wizarding status, they could have been honing their skills on classical instruments that would someday result in them rocking the panties off a crowd of adoring fans. I have seen this alternative reality, and it looks a hell of a lot like The Definite Articles. They collectively prove that you can love Star Trek, attend ComicCon, and be effing hilarious to hang out with while completely shredding the bow of your instrument. Continue reading Episode 8, Part 1: The Definite Articles

Episode 7: Magic Bullets

Backseat Beat Episode 7: Magic Bullets
Phil of the Magic Bullets singing to a cold grey rainy day

When it sometimes feels like every other band in our fair foggy town is doing their best to mine obscure 60s garage nuggets in a bald attempt to please the PBR toting scenester crowds, it’s more than a little refreshing to find a band that draws its influences from an entirely different era. And if that band rocks the dirty, striped athletic socks off the same crowds with, of all things, witty and infectiously danceable New Wave–influenced pop music, well then, it’s even more impressive. Continue reading Episode 7: Magic Bullets

Episode 5: Still Flyin’

Backseat Beat Episode 5: Still Flyin
Sean Rawls breaking it down in a downpour with Still Flyin’

It was supposed to be a joke—a fake reggae band backed by a stage full of non-musicians drinking beer on couches. But somehow, along the way, the joke band became a living breathing organism, which itself became an unholy cross between a party band supergroup and an international exchange program.

Still Flyin’ may be the only band in the world for which a) you’ll never see the same line up twice, and b) it doesn’t matter because regardless of how many people are playing which instruments, you’ll be dancing your butt off. In most bands, if someone splits, it’s a crisis. But when your band resembles a Cecil B. DeMille epic, with a cast of thousands and a core lineup that overlaps with more stellar bands than we have space to name check here, you’re guaranteed to bust a block every time. Continue reading Episode 5: Still Flyin’

Episode 4: The Downer Party

Sierra Frost Rocking out with the Downer Party
Sierra Frost Rocking out with the Downer Party

If it’s Friday night and you’re facing a quiet evening at home, perhaps playing Farmville while finishing off the cold second half of the burrito you bought for lunch, then the Downer Party would be the perfect soundtrack. The perfect soundtrack, that is, to burn your ears off with hook-laden tales of whiskey-soaked debauchery, and to propel you off your fucking couch and into that loud dive bar you’ve been meaning to go to but haven’t yet because it’s on top of a hill and you only have that stupid fixie. Continue reading Episode 4: The Downer Party