Darker My Love - "Two Ways Out"

so this is a pretty good video from a band I've never heard of before, Darker My Love. It starts out with ringing, sunny guitars and then goes into early Weezer fuzz and a Pavement/Grandaddy slacker vibe. Good stuff.



The Californians will be in DC on September 22. Here's their Myspace.

(The code changed, the right code is up now.)

Dan Deacon etc at the Black Cat

So I went to see Dan Deacon, Matt & Kim, etc at the Black Cat last night for the F Year Tour. Here's a video.



And here's the DCist review I wrote.

Facebook Ads

so I saw this ad on Facebook. Yeah, that girl is totally a Christian single.

Metal Detector Morons

so probably my biggest pet peeve lately is with metal detectors. People, take the crap out of your pockets before you get to the metal detector!

We have a bunch of detectors at work, and the security guards used to be pretty lackadaisical about checking - folks would beep and they'd just wave them through. Fox 5 did a big expose, some folks got fired and the Protective Services chief was suspended, so now they check more.

But what drives me nuts is the people who wait until they get right up to the front before taking all the crap out of their pockets. Then everybody else is just sitting there, waiting for Joe Moron to take his cell phone, keys, wallet, change, etc etc out of his pocket. Then he forgets to take his Bluetooth cyborg I-look-like-a-doofus earpiece out, so he has to go back through again.

Folks could have done all that 5 minutes ago when they were still in the middle of the line, but they don't, so it results in gridlock in the morning when everybody is waiting to get in. I'm sure people have been through a metal detector at least once in their life before, they shouldn't be shocked by this electrical device and forget how to function. The line was literally out the door the other day; it took ten minutes or so to get from the front door to the elevators.

Plus they still just wave you through if you beep.

Awesome photo by jasoneppink

Buzzerball

So I've been playing this free online basketball manager game called Buzzerball for awhile, it's pretty cool.

You get players and train them, trade them, set your strategy, and so on, and your team plays against other peoples' teams from around the world. It's fun. My team is called the Marion Barries and we're 2-2 in the league so far, but my shooting guard, Devin Reggie, is tearing it up.

It's free, so check it out. You can play against me too.

And if you like soccer, I'm in a similar soccer game called Hattrick. I think Buzzerball is based on Hattrick.

MP3: Albert Hammond Jr. - "GfC"

so Albert Hammond Jr. is a guitarist for The Strokes and also makes pretty good solo stuff - a little bit like his band but less fuzzy and gritty and more classic rock sounding. Here's the MP3 of "GfC," the first single off of his new album ¿Como te Llama?

It's a nice 60's number, starting with a rolling, echoey, sunny guitar, adding in "ooh-oohs" and a hint of rockabilly, then getting noisy. Hammond's voice reminds me a little of Britt Daniel from Spoon, and it's a good, timeless, and well-crafted song that avoids the trends. I'm looking forward to the album, which comes out July 8 on Black Seal Records.

Photo from his Myspace

Writing

So I be writing a lot recently. I reviewed the Republic Tigers' good but a little awkward show at DC9 (they also have a really good new CD) and interviewed Bison Roughbottom of DC band Assrockers. I also wrote the blurb about Fort Reno Park reopening.

Click the links if you want to live.