1. Every day, I will post "Today's 'It' List" which will contain items of interest for they day such as good shows, parties, Dj nights or whatever. You can send information that you want me to write about to: weshotjr@yahoo.com, and if it sounds good, I'll post about it. You can also send me pictures, albums for review, or anything else. If nothing is going on that day, I will simply not post an "it" list.

2. There will be two lists of local Dallas bands that both change from time to time. One will be the "It" list and the other will be the "Shit list." This is self explanatory.

3. Most days I will write a little something. Usually about Dallas music, but sometimes about bands from outside of Dallas, politics, art, books, whatever. Some days I will make multiple posts and some days I won't make any. But you'll see new stuff all the time. If you would like to write something and post it, email it to me and I will consider adding it, and will give you full credit for it if I do.

4. I can be pretty rude sometimes. Just remember that a lot of the offensive things I say should be taken lightly.

Thanks

At first, I was planning on writing a little something about the most overrated artist of 2005. It was to be called "Sufjan Stevens- Making English Majors Feel Hip Since 2001," but I decided that I would better serve the public interest by writing about the most underrated band of 2005, something that you might actually want to listen to. And that band is Akron Family. Whats that you say? I didn't get a best new music email about them from Pitchfork? Well fear not, reasonable indie rock consumer, they did make a couple year end lists, and you probably shouldn't pay so much attention to people that listen to Clipse anyway (check #15). Their split CD with Angels of Light that came out this year might not have had the impact that other indie releases did (see Wolf Parade, Caribou, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah), but it is just as strong as any of those, and certainly more timeless and ambitious in scope. On their CD with Angels of Light (not to be confused with the full CD they released earlier this year), they sould like Brian Wilson fronting The Police and playing covers of Radiohead versions of Modest Mouse songs. Their contribution to the split, the first seven tracks on the album, contains the qualities of avant garde expiremental song structures with bright sun shine pop fighting the noise to get through to the surface. And yes they do sound a bit like Radiohead, but so completely different and new at the same time that it will matter to you very little once you start actually listening to the record rather than playing "spot the influence" with the guy at CD World. I'm actually suprised that more people don't rank them with Animal Collective and Oneida as one of the best New York art rock/folk bands around, because they are without a doubt just as experimental as those bands, yet much more accessible than either at the same time.

And maybe thats the problem with Akron Family AND Hipster publications like Pitchforkmedia. Akron family won't ever be as "cool" as Animal Collective because they are much easier to listen to, and writers for Pitchfork and record store clerks and the jerk down the street that reads Brooklynvegan every day don't get off from talking and writing about accessible music. They are in fact around to point out those bands that you "really have to take the time to listen to." Anyone can pick out a good pop record, play it, and enjoy it. We don't need pitchfork for that, and they don't want to do it. They want to tell us about German microhouse, avant garde jazz, and music that you can only dance to in theory. Thats fine, I like a lot of that music too, and I usually agree with those people on most of the records they like. However, because they are the tastemakers, and they have a desire to publicly announce their love for "difficult" music, bands like Akron Family will never be held in the same esteem as Animal Collective or Can simply because its not as fun or rewarding to point out how good they are. That fact certainly shouldn't make anyone hesitate before listening to a record that is just as fun to listen to as it is to talk about.

JR- weshotjr@yahoo.com

We are going to be adding links to various websites and points of interest, but, um, we don't know how to do that yet. So give us a while. And if you grow impatient, just remember that you probably don't even have a blog, much less one with hyperlinks to various points of interest on the world wide web. And sorry but you gotta walk the walk if you wanna talk the talk, bitch.

So this is a blog about Dallas music, or the lack thereof. I'm not sure if Dallas has ever really had a good music scene. Of course, I've heard rumors about "Exile on Main Street" being a reference to the Deep Ellum blues scene of the 1950s, but as anyone in Dallas knows, Deep Ellum, blues, and the Rolling Stones are deader than Terri Schiavo. Some people also like to talk about the glory days of the early 90's when Tripping Daisy and Hagfish ruled Commerce Street, before there was such a thing as "Uptown," back when Dallas bands "meant something." That of course is bullshit too, but it does bring up a good point about the current situation in Dallas: If people are longing for the days when Dooms U.K. was considered cool, our generation is in big trouble. I remember being young, going to see Hagfish, and thinking about what kind of bands would be around when my peers and I were in our 20's, and how they would be better than bands like Soundgarden and the Toadies. While the kind of mark that our generation will leave in the realm of pop music overall remains to be seen, I can tell you that there isn't much in Dallas currently that is better than either Soundgarden or the Toadies, despite the awful music that both of those bands produced in their prime. Instead, I think there are a total of three bands in Dallas with rotating membership. They have many different names and faces but the same basic sound, and I'm convinced that they are in fact the same three bands. They are called:

1. Coldplay: There are about five thousand Coldplays in Dallas. Crybaby singer songwriter post-Radiohead Travis ripoffs that write songs for the sole purpose of kissing girls asses and boring me to fucking tears. I won't name any names for today... that is what the rest of my blog posts will be for. But I will say that these are the bigger bands in Dallas, the kind that SMU sorority girls go see, and might even make out with from time to time. But remember fellas, even if you are in one of these bands, your commuting to Garland ass is never going to get one of these uptown girls living in their uptown worlds for more than a night of kissy face at Lush, which makes your band's very existence utterly pointless since you only formed it in the hope of getting a date with one such aforementioned girl. Sorry, you lose. Quit now so that the rest of us don't have to suffer with you.

2. Interpol- There are about five hundred of these bands in Dallas. They are "edgy," they wear little ties, and they have keyboards. And act like Duran Duran. Even though their music is better than the Coldplay bands, I hate them even more because while the Coldplay bands are utterly clueless, I feel safe knowing that they don't make music for me, and don't care whether or not I like it. The Interpol bands, on the other hand, make music for me, and think that I either do or should like it. They are wrong on both counts. Its bad enough that we all have to look at these people and get tricked into thinking we have taken a time machine back to Williamsburg circa May 2002, but its another thing to pick up the Dallas observer and read about a cutting edge Dallas band thats totally into the 80's and Goth and blah blah blah. Like we need to be reminded that Dallas is three years behind on the world's dumbest trends.

3. Drowning Pool- That guy died. Its sad. Do I really have to mourn by hearing 2000 "real" rock bands reworking a sound that was about as exciting and complex as a date with Fred Durst at Chilis? The answer is no, and Dallas rock bands have been violating my civil rights for some time. Too long, I say.

The point of this blog isn't just to be an asshole, although that is a big part of it. I'm going to go to some local shows, listen to local CDs, and write about them. You are going to read these writings and enjoy them. Sometimes I will be mean to the bands that annoy me. Sometimes I will be nice to the bands that I like. But I will keep my identity secret. And since I'm not involved in the local "scene" that doesn't really exist, and surely am not friends with anyone in a local band, you can be assured that personal politics will never get in the way of my main goal, which is to feel superior to everyone in town.

Shows suck, scenester parties suck, and all the DJ nights suck ( if you can call some dude with an ipod full of Pulp b sides a "dj."). Maybe this will change, and maybe it won't. But I'll be here to chronicle some of the details. Join me, won't you?

You can Email me any time at weshotjr@yahoo.com

send me mp3s, party and show announcements, pictures that you want me to post, or whatever you want.