Tuesday Tunes: The Offspring

The first band I ever fell in love with was The Offspring – I mean that I didn't just like them, I loved them. 

I was in 8th grade in 1997 when their album Ixnay on the Hombre came out.  I, of course, had heard "Smash" and "Self Esteem" on the radio (on the long gone KOME), but Ixnay was my gateway drug, so to speak – it introduced me to The Offspring's back catalog, and due to the amazing amount of punk compilations at the time, it introduced me to Epitaph bands, then to Fat Wreck Chords bands, and then to Nitro bands (the Offspring's own label) where I discovered the second band I became absolutely devoted to: AFI.

The Offspring gave me a taste of something, and I wanted more.  Because of this band I discovered 70s punk, and hardcore bands, and local ska-punk bands (it was the late 90s, remember).  I went to shows, loads and loads of shows.  I saw bands at big venues in The City, and small shows in people's garages, local YMCAs, and memorably, The Fishbowl, which was inside of a Le Boulanger.

Anyway, my tastes have evolved somewhat over the past 15 years, and I haven't listened to much of their new albums past Americana, but there is still a very special place in my heart for The Offspring.  So, when I learned I could get discounted tickets to their show next Tuesday, I jumped at the opportunity.  And my Jr. High self has been giving me high-fives all day.

Wanna join me and be nostalgic?  Get your tickets here!  I'll be the one acting old, standing in the back.

Also, check out their new album Days Go By that is mostly pretty solid (and complete with a reference to one of my favourite films, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb!)

Tuesday Tunes: Japandroids

Guys, I cannot stop listening to this band. 

This is one of those weird cases where I've known about Japandroids for ages, and in fact, they'd been recommend to me over and over.  I had heard them a few times, and there was no real reason that I didn't listen to them, except that I didn't.  That sometimes happens.

Then Celebration Rock came out and, seriously, I have been listening to almost nothing else (except books on tape in the car because of reasons).  "The House that Heaven Built" is the single, and it's so damn good that I feared that it would be the best songs that the rest of the album couldn't live up to it (I'm looking at you, Walk the Moon).  But I needn't have worried – the album starts of with "The Nights of Wine and Roses" and never lets up.  In fact, the only song that didn't blow me away was a cover of "For the Love and Ivy" originally by The Gun Club.

Japandroids will be in at the Fillmore in November, and I'll be there and I'll yell like hell to the heavens!

Desaparacidos

Have you ever loved an album so much, but knew you would never ever get to see any of those songs live?  This can't be that strange of an occurrence, especially if you are a fan of bands that broke up decades ago (like my sister, Bear, the Zeppelin superfan).  But since I tend to like smaller, more accessible bands, and since I live outside of SF, I've always been very lucky in this respect.

Boyfriend's favourite album of all time is In the Areoplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel, and by the time he really started to listen to it, they had already broke up. So, when Jeff Mangum (the singer/songwriter) was touring this past spring, he was so excited.  And were blown away – he played 90% of the album live!  A dream come true for Boyfriend, who thought he would never ever hear his favourite songs live.

Tonight, we're going to see Desaparacidos and The Velvet Teen, which will be a giant musical blast from my past.  They're touring for the first time in 10 years, and goddamn and I excited.

Desaparcidos is best known for being fronted by Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes fame.  They formed in 2001, released Read Music/Speak Spanish in 2002, and then disbanded.  And in those 10 years, I have listed to their one album over, and over, and over.  For me, there's just something about it that album that I can't get enough of.

I've seen Bright Eyes live twice, and nearly back to back – once during the I'm Wide Awake it's Morning tour, and once right after for the Digital Ash in a Digital Urn tour.  And based on those performances, I imagined that Desaparacidos would be just as amazing, louder to be sure, but amazing.

And tonight, I finally get to find out.



photo from desaparecidosband.com