Why?

I'd like to thank NeverShoutNever for ruining my favorite song. There are so many things wrong with this that I can't even begin. Okay, maybe I can... what's with this dude's haircut?



Here's the original, much better version of the video. How can you not love the Fight Club references? My only complaint is that Adam Lazzara wanted to be Brad Pitt, which led to everyone wanting to be Adam Lazzara, which led to punk music being infiltrated with millions of douchebags.

Taking Back Sunday - Cute Without The "E"


Forget about whatever MTV says and go back and listen to Taking Back Sunday's Tell All Your Friends album.

R.I.P. Houston Calls... You will be missed

I felt bad enough for realizing that I was in La Crosse the same night that Houston Calls was playing a show there a week after the fact. But, to find out today that they are calling it quits as a band just made the news that much harder to take.

Houston Calls was a band I found out about in Spring of '05 and was immediately hooked. There was something completely enjoyable about their brand of pop punk music. I did what I could do to spread their music to whoever would listen and I will continue to do so even though they aren't going to be around any more. I highly recommend checking out A Collection of Short Stories and End of an Error if you haven't listened to these guys yet. Also, their is a pretty wicked Counting Crows cover floating around out there (Einstein on the Beach).

For those who want to dig even further back, check out Face First which was a Ska band that Tom and Okie used to be apart of. They may prefer to forget that era, but I have plenty of good memories from the days I listened to some of those songs.

I have nothing but good things to say about that band as musicians and as people. Hopefully we see some of them reincarnated as new bands in the near future.

Rock Band - New Found Glory Edition

I don't own a Wii, Xbox 360, or a Playstation 3. The odds that I will ever own one of these is pretty small. Because I don't own one of the newer generation video game systems, I have not been really into the Guitar Hero or Rock Band games.

However, last night, while sitting around and enjoying some Sam Elliott endorsed beverages, I was able to play a little bit of this game. I must say that my "video game" bass playing skills need a bit of work. It seemed that the songs I knew were pretty easy to play, but songs I didn't know, or just didn't like were boring to me.

Having said that, I feel that there is one thing that may be able to convince me to run out and purchase a video game system and Rock Band set. That would be... Rock Band "New Found Glory" edition. How sweet would that be? It would be a perfect timing with their 12 years anniversay just passing.

Rock Band - New Found Glory track list

Nothing Gold Can Stay Set
Winter of '95
Broken Sound
Good Bye Song
Never Sometimes
Passing Time

Self Titled Set
Hit or Miss
Sincerely Me
Ballad for the Lost Romantics
All About Her
Vegas

Sticks and Stones Set
Understatement
My Friends Over You
Something I Call Personality
Forget My Name
Singled Out

Catalyst Set
Truth of My Youth
Your Biggest Mistake
Failure's Not Flattering
No News is Good News
Who Am I?

Coming Home Set
Hold My Hand
Coming Home
Familiar Landscapes
Oxygen
Too Good to Be

Not Without a Fight Set
Right Where We Left Off
Listen to your Friends
47
Don't Let Her Pull You Down
Truck Stop Blues

Covers Set
The Glory of Love
It Aint Me Babe
The King of Wishful Thinking
Don't You (Forget about Me)
Here We Go Again

Encore
The Minute I Met You
So Many Ways
Situations
Tip of the Iceberg
Dig My Own Grave

Hopefully someone with decision making power at EA is reading this and making it happen exactly the way I want it to. I think it would be worth it for my business and for all the sales from the punk fans out there. I'm sure it would beat the AC/DC or Beatles version.

Sirens on the 101

It's that time of year again when you can roll (push a button) the windows down and crank your favorite warm weather tunes (or laugh at the douchebag blasting Asher Roth). This spring, I have found myself a new one to place in my favorites list.

There really is a very limited amount of quality hip hop in the mainstream world which means you've got to search pretty hard to find something worth listening to... sorry T.I., Flo Rida, Fabolous, etc.

For some quality hip hop enjoyment, I suggest you look no further than Blue Scholars self titled album, "Blue Scholars". It's definitely the best hip hop album I've heard in awhile.

Upcoming Shows for June...

Here are your "need to know" June concerts in Wisconsin. Summerfest starts during the last week!

June 14th: La Crosse, WI @ The Warehouse - You, Me, and Everyone We Know
(Check out if you like Fall Out Boy, Say Anything, Motion City Soundtrack)

June 25th: Milwaukee, WI @ Summerfest - Rancid, Rise Against (Harley Davidson Roadhouse)

June 27th: Milwaukee, WI @ Summerfest - Our Lady Peace (US Cellular Stage)

June 28th: Milwaukee, WI @ Summerfest - Sister Hazel, Better than Ezra (Miller Lite Oasis)

June 29th: Milwaukee, WI @ Summerfest - The Gufs (US Cellular Stage)

June 29th: La Crosse, WI @ The Warehouse - John Nolan
The lead singer of Straylight Run (former member of Taking Back Sunday, Brand New) is doing an acoustic show. (Check out if you enjoy Straylight Run)

June 30th: Milwaukee, WI @ Summerfest - Willy Porter (Potawatomi Bingo Stage)