Monday, November 24, 2008

The Murder City Devils: The band that made me want to drink a lot of whiskey at 15

I've had a pretty busy weekend acting like I'm in high school again, from gas being $2.11 a gallon to running from the cops.

Official Pony Girl Club tip: If you're gonna drink in public, like oh say the beach, or a certain lagoon, wear flats. It's not fun hiking a round trip of five miles on some janky-ass nature trail in the tail end of the witching hours sporting three-inch wedges just because you don't really feel like getting arrested. Plus, clomping around like a goddamn Budweiser Clydesdale doesn't increase stealth points.

All this talk of delinquency got me thinking about one of the bands that I really loved while in engaging in most of my teenage delinquency, The Murder City Devils. While I blame Kathleen Hanna for my shitty 'tude, MCD are probably the reason I am teetering on the edge of having a drinking problem and am utterly irresponsible on a daily basis. Rock 'n' roll, man.


I don't remember how I heard about them, but I know I still have all 4 shirts and I really wanted to see them before they broke up when they were touring with At the Drive-In but my friend that was supposed to drive's appendix burst or some lame-ass pussy excuse like that. Fucking bummer. I don't collect records but the ones that I own are prized possessions that are all gifts and one of them is a red and black swirl limited pressing of R.I.P., the recording of their last show in Seattle on October 31st, 2001.

This here video is the only official one, for one of my all-time favorite songs, "Idle Hands:"


This isn't actually a video so much as it is a picture of the album cover, "Rum to Whiskey:"


Fan vids are terrible but at least you can listen to the song and keep reading, "Press Gang:"


Recovering from being really punk (doing shit like wearing cut up Casualties t-shirts to ballet and listening to the worst shit imagineable) and easing back into being a functional member of society was a little rough, but these guys were there to pad my fall. They aren't the inventors of anything, but had elements from a lot of bands that I already liked blended into fun, catchy and a little bit creepy rock.

So now what? VH1's million dollar question, where are they now?

The good news is, guitarist and token guy that is so hot it's stupid Dann Gallucci (formerly of Modest Mouse fame) still has a really bad case of the hot. Be still, my 15-year-old heart. Singer Spencer Moody still probably has at least a little bit of a drinking problem and is still making music. Other than that, according to the internets, Moody busies himself running a "junk shop" named after a pirate and a practice space. Bad news is, he has a beard now. Leslie Hardy, keyboardist and former Hole member (for about five minutes) has been pretty much M.I.A. since her carpal tunnel surgery but I heard she might be a realtor now. Who knows? Bassist Derek Fudesco moved on to Pretty Girls Make Graves and the less hot guitarist Nate Manny is a graphic designer now. Adorable drummer Coady Willis is in Big Business and...apparently The Melvins? Weird. Gabe the roadie and the merchbot seemed to have nothing listed for curent projects, which just makes me think at least Gabe is hiding out in the woods hunting bear with his pet wolf.

Can't wait to hide out in the woods and hunt bear with my pet wolf,

'stina

4 comments:

Nolan said...

I honestly think Idle Hands is the only Murder City Devils song i've ever heard...and that was years ago.

Oh and I had my own weird little blast from the past moment this weekend: on my way to see JCVD at the Ken a good friend of mine tried desperately to justify his spending $150 on an American Nightmare hoodie.

I'd link to a picture but apparently the shit is so rare I can't even find one. You probably remember; it just had A on one side and N on the other. All the fucking kids had them back in the day, and now they sell for a fuck ton on ebay.

'stina said...

The way I feel about it is, yeah they aren't the most original band in the world, whatever, but at least I wasn't listening to life metal.

American Nightmare is one thing, Give Up the Ghost can kiss my black ass. So can Boston youth crew kids.

Your Maugham said...

Watch out, someone might try to shoot your pet wolf from a helicopter.

megan elizabeth said...

God damn, I am so glad I knew when to call it a night on Friday. The last thing I want to do in my somewhat weakened condition is run around the lagoon hiding from the popo all night.