It’s a wonderful thing sometimes when a band contacts me and says hey I love your blog idea. Please check us/me out. It’s even better when it catches my ear and I say to myself – self, you need to expose this on the blog. Today is just such a day.
Dan, one of the members of the group came across the site because of CD Baby. Contacted me and said dude, check us out. So I did, as I tend to do when someone sends me a link. They didn’t have an official website other than a myspace page (I’m recommending they think about getting a website other than myspace), which to me is fine and dandy, but social sites come and go. I’m not saying that Myspace has jumped the shark yet. But c’mon Friendster, MP3.com, et al have come and gone and left bands high and dry in the process. Though I think Friendster is attempting a comeback. But like the LL Cool J song – don’t call it a come back, I’ve been here for years – is what I imagine they would say.
Being that it’s Monday, I didn’t want to get too complicated with the music today. I wanted a simple message in a raw form and that’s exactly what I got here. Hey Everybody is a simple message saying sit up and notice us. The music, nice raw unpolished college rock. Ooooh, that just brought this image to mind…
I was in a fraternity at University. Yes, yours truly was part of the greek system. I can’t knock it, I had a fantastic time. It was all it was cracked up to be and more. I suppose the one thing I could have done without was the rigorous initiation week – that’s all the detail I’ll go with there. One thing I did enjoy was the parties. Especially when we threw them in the house and we were able to go wild. You see, I envision this song as a college/university party anthem. It’s a perfect example of that angst you have as you transition from just learning to really jumping into life with both feet. Unless you’re Ferris, then maybe you’ll be the coolest guy around.
Now, the second image this brings to my mind is also associated with the fraternity. We had nights that were just the brothers hanging around in an area of the house we called the pit. We’d be drinking and chatting then the singing would start. It was songs that were passed along from class to class then it would evolve into what I’d define as a white man’s version of a Rap battle. Where one guy would start saying something in rhyme to cut another guy down. Then the cuttie would cut back. It would go on and on until everyone got tired and passed out or too drunk to make coherent insults. It was too much fun and I’ll never forget it.
I can easily hear people using this song as a way to link something to those glory days of school. For all the reasons I listed above and more. I’m happy that Dan brought his band to my attention. I have the feeling they will be able to bring themselves a sustainable career with music. At least they’ve got a good direction to do it. Maybe just a little bit more spit polish on the production and it’s perfect. Though that’s just me. I like polish. Another thing that the Luminols got right is that they’re pushing themselves on iTunes – Bravo guys, smart move there.
I imagine their live show is a jumping fest of energy. Maybe at some point I’ll get to share the stage with them and find out. We’ll see. In the mean time, get to know this song, these guys and the rest of their music. I have the feeling we’ll hear a lot more from them if they don’t fall victim to fate of the Strokes, or the Vines or whoever was a hot for the moment college rock act. Eh, I doubt that will happen, I hear more talent here than there.