Rambling while trolling the Craigslist job board, procrastinating.
Music critics. Gotta love 'em.
Now, admittedly this is a very old exerpt from the Orange County Register, written before I auditioned for Big Drill Car in '92 (I played like ass, didn't get the gig, resulting in a hugely hronting roadtrip nonetheless), but one really has to laugh:
"One of Orange County’s best bands is Big Drill Car, whose feisty yet melodic garage rock, reminiscent of the Hoodoo Gurus, is far more memorable than much of its college radio competition."
I have no idea who wrote that, but it begs a very short examination. BDC and The Hoodoo Gurus are two of my very favorite bands. And I'm sitting here scratching my head, trying to figure out what they might have in common.
'Feisty' is probably *the* desert island word to describe BDC. OC surf/skate fast-rock band from the late 80s/early 90s. I first saw them in the Porter dining hall at UCSC, opening for Primus. It was a pivotal moment for me to be sure, and definitely a breath of fresh patchouli-free air at Porter. Bob Thompson, whose role in the band I regrettably was destined not to have, was a revelation in musicianship and showmanship, a diminutive whirling dervish with a Tele bass. Frank "Noooooooowwwww" Daly was the perfect front dude. In a different universe he might have been Don Dokken but for a more grounded vocal sensibility and the Vans, and without the mousse. Mark Arnold's guitar tone was the perfect combination of gravel and champagne, a grit I've been trying to find my whole life. And Danny Marcroft, drums? I kicked his ass repeatedly on the pool table at the Berkeley Square before one particularly memorable BDC/All show. We didn't become friends. Looking back, I may have gloated a bit.
The Hoodoo Gurus. I suppose on one very abstract level I can see The Common Thread with BDC. There's certainly some punk influence there. But essentially aren't they really more or less a turbo-charged Australian country band? The two bands have zero in common sonically, lyrically, visually, or presentationally. The one time I tried to go see them at the hopelessly lame Gathering of the Tribes Festival they cancelled. I ended up getting assaulted and verbally eviscerated by Bill Graham that day, but that's another story.
Procrastination is a horrible disease.
Posted by eric at March 10, 2008 02:18 PM