vets' day rambling...

As of 1:22 pm PST, still no word from Taking Back Sunday. So we'll mark that: Day 2. No calls.

...and Joel, I did fall for the ploy of joining the TBS street team, but it was all in the name of unprofessional journalism! Huzzah!

This morning, as I was driving to work, I was listening to The Smiths' "Louder Than Bombs," and I want to share the story with you on how I first heard that particular album:

August 1994: I had just turned 13 and I wandered to the old Tower Records in lower Queen Anne in Seattle (it has since been demolished). I had some birthday money to blow and my dad bought me a portable CD player for the big 1-3, so naturally, I had to buy CDs. I must've spent about an hour in the rock-pop section before I saw that "Louder Than Bombs" in one of the many listening stations. I'd heard Morrissey before and completely hated him, probably because when I first heard "The More You Ignore Me..." I was 11 and my favorite albums at the time were "Mack Daddy" by Sir Mix-a-Lot and "Check Your Head" by the Beastie Boys. I looked at the track listing and took notice on the third song, "Shoplifters Of the World." I played it and the Moz's operatic voice filled the headphones. It was the most unique and beautiful song I'd ever heard. I even thought about lifting it, but never buying it. In the end, I left "Louder" at the listening station and bought "Illmatic" and "Midnight Marauders" instead.

In relation to my Smiths story, I'm going to cover "Panic" for an upcoming release.

Check out Bedford Falls, a band from Tacoma, WA. It's really some of the best stuff I've heard come out of the Northwest in the last few years.

And finally, I have some new writing over at Redefine.