This was a weird day. I was at The Saint until about midnight last night trying to lose myself in some live music and picture-taking as I worried about a meeting I had this morning. Didn't really sleep much and spent the morning all agitated until my 9:30 call. Turned out the call wasn't about what I thought it was going to be about... ...this time. But I never really ratcheted myself down to normal levels.
I spend most of every day here at CDMHQ alone with CoolDog; and, while he's a great listener, he doesn't really say much. The only conversation I really got today was the droning of people on conference calls who were just expecting me to act all normal when I'd gotten myself so worked up.
Sorry to be all cryptic here, but the details aren't important. The only thing that's important is that, sometime around midday, Philadelphia's Beach Slang released the first single from their upcoming The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us. "Bad Art & Weirdo Ideas" wraps everything I love about this band into a neat little package.
Frontman James Alex is far from a kid, but he writes songs and embraces the world with all of the enthusiasm and crazy romanticism of someone 20 years younger than he is. In his interview with me, the 40 year-old said, "Really, man, I'm still that same kid going to basement shows, reading zines, spending everything on records, slashing at my guitar, you know?"
So, when I heard the guitar that opens "Bad Art & Weirdo Ideas" echoing through my little home office; and when I heard James Alex straining to sing, "I've always felt stuck, alone, or ashamed!" I thought back to a couple of weeks ago when I was screaming lyrics at the stage like some kind of kid. Like the kid I've always been.
I kind of decided that I would just let go of everything for three or so minutes as the song blasted through my little speakers. And then I decided I'd do it again. And again.
The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us is due from Polyvinyl on October 30th.
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