Mapping a Song #1: Space Punk Starlet

Hey earthlings,

Since folks are always asking about the stories behind our songs, and most of the time I just make up an answer like "it's a call for peace on earth" or "Marshall and I were fighting over the same girl- she was 6'5" I thought I'd shine some official light on our songs & their narratives.

For space punk starlet, I had a show-tunes sing along melody stuck in my head. That ooh-eeh-ooh part that you hear throughout the song and prominently during the outro. I also had a little ditty- something like "Going through life is a minuscule man who sleeps in his hands. . . dogs are barking out on the street everywhere and nobody cares."

Now lets get one thing straight. I may have a moment or two when it comes to words, but Marshall is the poet. So I played him what I had and he went to work on a new concept: She's daughter of an intergalactic warlord. He's in a band. He teaches her guitar to keep her father happy and saves the world in the process. It's a love story.. sort of like most of our songs.

Now the outro is another story. Dusty Rhodes is this writer for the Houston Chronicle who gave us a crappy review. Oh, it wasn't TOO bad, but she was gruff and we were young and green and the whole thing was funny as hell. What a name! Dusty Rhodes- if ever there were a girl destined for porn-stardom. "Dusty why aren't you ever coming through? You wrote a bad review." Thing is, I don't know if Dusty has ever heard the song. We should play it for her.


And that, folks, is the story behind Space Punk Starlet. It was one of the last songs we wrote for the album and it was one of the first songs we mastered. Obviously we liked it enough to name the album after it.

-B

more to come

Tomahawk found, Sad encounter with stranger

I think my last post was really funny. I can't stop chuckling about it. Have you ever seen your ex in public and have that person look completely horrified to see you. That happened tonight. I just gave a meek wave. What I got back was her patented weird face. It's a basic facial expression - she's either shocked, depressed, angry, or confused. I got that one.

Speaking of meekness, I really don't like Jimmy Kimmel. I want to know how he got that job. I don't have tv, so I don't ever stumble across his show, but I do see advertisements. He's got this meek, puppy dog smile spread across a billboard. I want to choke him with his tie.

Look at this tomahawk I found in my yard yesterday. It's covered in tar. I think it's tar. Could be dried blood now that I think of it. I've got an alibi. I spent that afternoon trying to find a cholula hot sauce.

Gruesome Scene, Sandwiches Brutally Murdered

The perpetrator then took his own life.

Weekly Press Roundup: The Two Week Late Edition

Spent the week battling my scrabble addiction. Couldn't find time to cook up a weekly press roundup until now. Hey, did you hear that I played the word "frenetic" in a Travis v. Moses scrabblethon? Yeah, I kicked that guys @$$ (that's internet lingo for ass).

And now for the press:

The Berkeley Place brands itself as "A little bit of BK in VA" and features a striking logo borrowed straight from Microsoft Paint. Logo mishaps aside, I can tell this blogger has his head screwed on straight because describes our album as the answer to a musical question: "What if Neil Young had been the frontman for the Spiders From Mars?" (Just like jeopardy)

I guess I shouldn't show Marshall this review. I'm worried that the Neil Young / Steve Malkamus / Robert Smith comparisons are going to his head. Besides, he's way uglier than those guys and those guys are pretty ugly.

Anyway, Ekko and his Berkley Place Blog seem to really dig the album so you know what?- I really dig them back. Check it out.
Found this picture at Berkeley Place. What's not to like?

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The UK's Zap Bang Magazine is like SO trendy. Totally brillz if you know what I mean. In the name of retaining street cred, reviewer Jeremy Williams praises our music, but with a caveat. The album reads like the Texas 2 step. A compliment. A critique. 1,2,1,2.

Compliment: While the album is easy to listen to..
Critique: it doesn’t offer anything new.

Compliment: it is a genuinely rounded and enjoyable album
Critique: dressing in spandex is not the most flattering of looks

Compliment: A strong vocalist and an ability to break genre barriers makes this an extremely easy to listen to and thoroughly enjoyable debut from a band who show great promise.
Critique: Sadly, Space Punk Starlet does not fully deliver on the out-of-this-world level promised.

In the end, Zap Bang Magazine gives us 4 out of 5 stars so... I'm a little confused. Are we totally brillz or are we like so totz lame?
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Last but not least! Let's talk about the venerable Josh Shepherd and his Backline Show. We first met Josh at ME TV, Austin's not-quite-MTV caliber music station. Well, he left ME TV (ME TV was a victim of the recession actually, I think it's a ghost network now) and started a blog. He interviews bands. Like us! The interview almost didn't happen. Marshall and I slept through our interview not one but TWO times. And it wasn't like some phone interview. Josh CAME to our house and KNOCKED on my door and we slept right through the racket.

Needless to say, I was surprised when saintly Josh Shepherd agreed to meet us AGAIN. The review went really well. We've been following the advise of our rad new publicist, Romina. Romina, Romina, yeah yeah, Romina. She's cool! She's hot! She's everything we're not! Romina!

Check out the interview with Marshalla and IHERE.


- B

Friday Visuals (Opening for Afroman at Ace's Lounge)