Step Into the Breeze

... or lack of one. It is hot out there today. I took my band's demo downtown to hand to the guy who books the premier local venue, and I thought I was gonna have a heat stroke (not literally). Several pieces of good news, though. First, Tony (who books for The State) remembered me and my name even before I gave the demo to him, so that was slightly encouraging. Second of all, it looks like it's gonna rain, which is good because apparently last night a bird had 75 random attacks of diarrhea on my driver's side door and window.

I've been listening to Creeper Lagoon's "Remember the Future" EP a lot recently. It's good. The title of the EP is both ironic and a little sad, which isn't really surprising considering the crushing series of blows dealt to bandleader Sharky Laguana. After releasing one of the best albums of 2001, the band was dropped from Dreamworks. Their lead singer slid into drug addiction and quit, and then the rest of the band members walked away, leaving Laguana with the bill. Being a rock musician, there were little to no jobs Laguana could find, although he eventually landed one in a hot warehouse, taking CD's out of jewel cases. It's amazing to me, then, that Sharky carried on, releasing a new EP on Arena Rock and touring behind it. For more of a detailed take on the whole story, go here.

I think the song that sticks out the most to me is the second track, titled "The Way It Goes." Built on a beautiful piano line, a drum machine beat, echo-y vocals and soft electronic whirrings in the background, the song carries a simple wistfulness that is striking and at times profoundly moving. When Laguana sings lines like "Living where the angels cry/Trying to keep my dreams alive" you can feel a sense of desperation and an underlying sadness that colors the entire song. It's a supremely emotional moment, and it's brilliant in both it's delivery and candidness. When you have eveything stripped from you, you've got nothing left but to be honest. And this, to me, is what makes this EP both a tremendous success and a triumph of the human spirit.

Dreams are a delicate thing. I might've mentioned this before, but dreams are essentially the only thing that gets us up in the morning. No matter how much life sucks, I know there's gotta be something better out there, and so I get up each morning in the hopes that today it will be a little closer. I can't imagine not having that hope. It's what keeps me going.

Keep chasing that breeze.

Just-Plain-Old-Playlist:
Creeper Lagoon- Remember the Future EP
Retriever- Greatest Moments Of Doubt
The Amps- Pacer
Spiritualized- Lazer-Guided Melodies