Bang Camaro II is released nationally today!

That means the album is now available in Best Buy, Wal-Mart, and Hot Topic stores around the nation. So hey... go buy it!!

Seriously... this is a really cool album from a group of guys who deserve to be famous. And I think they're well on their way... appearing on Conan O'Brien is nothing to scoff at, after all. And trust me when I tell you that this is one of the most fun albums I can imagine listening to... these songs will simultaneously make you smile and fill your veins with blood red rock. I think the disc's standouts for me are "She's Gone (Critical)," which is a song about launching your crazy girlfriend into space (it even employs a David Bowie/"Space Oddity"-style countdown for the bridge) and "The Hit," a sensitive ballad about not lying to girls so you can fuck them (I think that's what it's about... I dunno, I just listen to the song waiting for the sweet guitar solo to kick in).

Here. Just look at this video of the first single from the album, called "Night Lies."



Did you look at it? Okay, good. Now go buy the album, okay?

Where have I been?!

I mean, seriously. This nigh month-long absence is pretty unacceptable on my part. I'd like to thank Evie of Awesomed By Comics for giving me/the shop a generous shout-out in her last post, thus inspiring me to write again. Since I've kinda missed a lot of stuff, I think the best thing right now would be to do a quick kind of recap post, briefly running down a lot of the important things I've missed in the realm of things that matter to me. So, in no particular order:

Secret Invasion: Kind of anticlimactic, awesome last page.

Batman RIP: Is awesome.

Final Crisis: Is awesome to the maxx!

Grant Morrison: Should bear my intellectual children.

Brian Michael Bendis: Is still, in my opinion, a really good writer, and I loved the first post- SI New Avengers.

Mortal Kombat vs. DC: Shockingly very cool. Highly recommended.

Fox vs. DC (via WB): If Watchmen doesn't come out on time, I might cry.

The holidays: Busy and overrated.

Bang Camaro on Conan O'Brien: Incredible. I have now stood where Conan has stood in relative position to the Camaro drum set. This is probably the closest I will come to being a rock star. I love it.

The recession: So passe. Let's be hiply ironic and go spend money on frivolous things like comic books, okay?

The winter weather: Also passe. Cleaning off my car is so 9:00 AM this morning.

Blackened, Chicago's premiere Metallica tribute band: Is playing tonight at 10:00 PM at JJ Kelly's in Lansing. I am going to see them. My friend Jim is in this band and they are very good. If you like Metallica and/or talent, you should check them out.

Take Cover, Chicago's hottest new cover band: Will be storming your area soon! (probably not but hey, this is my own project and I'm psyched about it. Check out entertaining videos at myspace.com/takecovernow)

Blog entries that are phrased in such a way that they could have been taken from Rorshach's journal: Satisfying. Must investigate further. Hrm.


I think that covers about everything I would've talked about in the few months I haven't been reliably blogging. I promise I will be back with regular posts soon. YEAH!

Hey! Go to this show!

Bang Camaro plus Leslie and Sound and Fury at the Double Door (1572 N Milwaukee Ave), today, Thursday September 25th in Chicago, Illinois. Doors at 8:00, show at 9:00, a mere $10 to get in... how can you go wrong?

I should mention I am performing it in. For real this time. ROCK!

Also, Bang Camaro just posted a new song at their MySpace called "She's Gone Critical"... I'm pretty sure I heard this song during soundcheck on their last tour and they referred to it as "Girlfriends in Space," which in my opinion is a cooler title... but it's a sweet song no matter what. You can hear it at www.myspace.com/bangcamaro.

Anyway, hope to see you at the show!

I'd like to announce a new blog project.

I'd like to. But I've got nothin'.

...

Okay, sorry. Here we go:

I was talking to my friend and fellow Chicago Camaro Choir (C3?) member Andy over the weekend, and he mentioned that he was thinking about starting up a blog specifically for and about C3 (yes!) members and goings-on. I told him that I thought this was a stellar idea, and he ran with it, making the excellent Chicago Camaro blog at chicagocamaro.blogspot.com. There's already a few posts up there, mostly recapping the awesome events of Lollapalooza that, if you read my blog, you'll know I missed out on (and I totally made peace with that but, not gonna lie, the fact that they got to meet KG makes me more than a little jealous).

In the future, you will probably see posts from me on that blog over yonder, and I'll definitely keep up some Camaro posting over here as well. So please add it to your "favorite blogs" list if you have one... or make such a list and then add it if you don't. The link will also be over on the right-hand side of this blog permanently (as soon as I finish this post, that is).

And since we're on the topic, I thought I should pimp a few more of the blogs that I've taken up reading since my first post on the matter when I started this here blog. So, with puns a-blazin, here's a few more reads you might want to check out:

- For news on the comics industry and pop culture in general, this blog can't be beat. (Sorry, that one's kind of obvious, but honestly I consider this site, part of the Publisher's Weekly webring, essential reading for anyone interested in the comic business. And it updates a ton!)

- Found by following a link on the above site, I am totally awesomed by this blog. (That one was even more obvious. What can I say? These are easy names to work with. It was harder to work in the actual names of my friends like in the first post... but I don't personally know the people who do these blogs).

Alright, to make up for it, I'll try one for me.

- This guy may not Garknow too much, but I like it when he posts funny videos.

How was that?

I woke up early to download Rush's "Moving Pictures" album for Rock Band

and it isn't up yet. Apparently there are technical difficulties. Rumor has it there are problems with the song "YYZ," which has no vocal track. This leaves me bored. This also leaves me with time to post, so I'm gonna do one up that I'd been thinking about for awhile. I already listed my top 5 songs for the forthcoming Rock Band 2... but right now I'd like to take a look back and name my top 10 DLC (that's downloadable content) for Rock Band 1. These are songs that I feel are so awesome that it is a sin to not have them in your RB1 collection (unless you have the game on the PS2 or Wii... in which case, you don't really have a choice. Sorry guys):

10. Vesuivius, "The Promised Land" -- I must be a shitty movie critic, because The Rocker totally bombed, failing even to make it into the top 10 weekend movies (it got beat by Death Race and The House Bunny?!). Still, I love the movie, and I love this song, a free download to help promote the film (again, an obvious failure). This is the first really "hairy" track in the game and it truly lets you rock out arena-style on the drums, which also facilitates the aping of Rainn Wilson's previously-mentioned rock faces.

9. The Cars, "Just What I Needed" -- Awesome song, really fun to drum. It's got a driving rhythm and I always feel like a rock star when I hit the crash cymbals in the chorus. Singing it is a blast too.

8. Bang Camaro, "Rock Rebellion" -- Any Bang Camaro song is awesome, obviously. It's unfortunate that the Rock Band mic really hates more than one person singing into it, because this is the kind of song you need a dozen or so people to belt out (especially if some of those people know the harmonies!).

7. Oasis, "Don't Look Back in Anger" -- The funny thing is I didn't really like this song til I was playing with my friend Todd and it came up as the second to last song in a random setlist. Todd pointed out that it was awesome to put a ballad right before the end, which hopefully would end up being a rocker (it did). It was at that point I realized that Rock Band is short on true ballads, thus making this song important to the game. It is also super-fun to drum, giving some of the best/most doable fills of all the songs available, in my opinion. When this song inevitably gets played at Rock Band parties, I make sure I'm behind the drum kit.

6. Boston, "Peace of Mind" -- Another song with a really driving rhythm, it's just EXCITING. Pretty much every part is good for this song, although my first choices are drums or guitar (I love singing it but Boston singer Brad Delp hits some ungodly notes in there). Even though this clearly isn't the biggest song in Boston's excellent catalog, it is my favorite.

5. The Police, "Roxanne" -- I tend not to play this song a lot, but I get a perverse thrill from watching lots of my friends do it. This tune is a great party song that almost everyone knows and that any man with balls (metaphorically, perhaps not literally) will attempt to belt out just like the Stingster. In particular, this song makes my list because of my friend Craig's rendition of it. Too cool.

4. The Who, "Baba O'Riley" -- Though I was slightly dissapointed with the Who mega-pack, one cannot deny the epicness (sorry to use such an internet term) of this song. Once Rock Band 2 comes out and you have the ability to make your own setlist for almost anything you do, I reckon this song will go at the start of a great portion of those setlists. I mean, that intro alone... man. It gets you pumped.

3. Boston, "More than a Feeling" -- Even though "Peace of Mind" is my favorite Boston song, I think "More Than a Feeling" is more essential to a Rock Band library because more people, by far, know it, and like "Roxanne," that will make more people attempt to sing it. Unlike "Roxanne," this song also has awesome instrument parts for everyone involved (my favorite is probably guitar). It is a joy for this to come up at Rock Band parties when my friend Dwight is there, because he will sing it and he will crush it (even hitting the high note near the end of the song... it is truly impressive).

2. The Police, "Message in a Bottle" -- The second-best memory I have from one of my Rock Band parties is seeing five people crowded around the mic belting out the seemingly endless outro words "sending out an SOS!" This was too cool. In fact, here's a picture:

So, yeah, this song has one of those infectious vocal lines that almost anyone can take a crack at. It also has, in my opinion, the most fun drum part in the entire game. It's a winner all-around.

1. Oasis, "Wonderwall" -- But my favorite Rock Band party moment is due to this song. Some folks were playing in another room while me and some friends were gathered around a poker table. All of a sudden, this song starts... and poker stops. We all start singing along. There must have been at least 10 people in on this. It was pretty amazing. And not only that, but I think that bringing people together like that is kind of what rock and roll is all about. For Rock Band to imitate that aspect of the rock music experience is impressive. And the sheer fact that "Wonderwall" is probably the best-known, most singable song of all the Rock Band DLC means that it, without a doubt, takes my number one spot.

A quick check of the Rockband.com forums show that "Moving Pictures" still isn't up... damn it.

Rush is awesome.

Yup, I was right. No way.

So I just now found out that I am NOT actually going to be joining the Chicago choir for Bang Camaro at Lollapalooza.

I'm not that bummed about it, cuz I don't think I really believed it was ever happening. Ah well, there's always the next Chicago show.

Dude. No way.

Remember that post about Bang Camaro earlier in the week?

When I made that post, I wasn't sure this was happening. In fact I was pretty sure it wasn't, because, what the hell?! But now I am pretty sure it is.

I am going to be performing at Lollapalooza this week, on stage with Bang Camaro!

Friday, 11:30 AM, MySpace stage.

I say again... what the hell?! Is this really happening? I half-expect to show up to sound check and the band will be like "oh, not YOU." But as the days go by that looks less and less likely.

From what I've been told... I get a VIP pass for Friday. That means I go backstage, at least on the MySpace stage. Which, by the way, Bang Camaro is sharing on Friday with with Rogue Wave, the Kills, Mates of State, and Steven Malkmus & the Jicks... an impressive line-up of indie rock to be sure (these are all bands, by the way, my college radio station played when I DJed there. Except Bang Camaro. I wonder if they have jumped on the Camaro bandwagon yet). I'm not sticking around at Lolla the whole day (not long enough, for instance, to see if I can get backstage at Radiohead) but I will certainly be there long enough to at least meet Rogue Wave, which is a band my brief exposure to has made me pretty sure I like.

I'm just so elated about all this... geez.

And in case you're wondering, this post does have a point or two. I swear. Point one is that I'll be able to have something of a Lolla report from the inside (let's call it "inside-ish"), and that's fun. I'll try to get pictures and document stuff like I did on my last couple road trips. Point two is fuck you, this is my blog and I'll write about what I want to.

But no, seriously. In a way, I want this blog to be a document of my life and thoughts at the time of writing, and so it is that I can't go without covering this. Sorry guys. I'll get back to criticizing comics next week, I swear. For now... let's ride this.

(But, I mean, what's the deal with Black Panther, anyway? Am I right?!)

It is really weird to find a video of yourself on YouTube

but kind of cool, too.

I don't know why I didn't think to search for this before, but last night I got the urge to see if anyone had put up video from the couple of Bang Camaro shows I'd performed in, and I did indeed find a capture of one song, from the June 5th Milwaukee show. You can hardly see me in the video... I'm on the far left in a Masters of the Universe t-shirt (which got a lot of compliments that night), and you definitely can't hear me, but it's still cool. Plus I'm pretty sure you can hear my friend Laura hoot when the lead dude says something about "the guys who came up to rock with us on stage."



Though generally I am against using blogging as a form of self-aggrandizement, I am pretty proud of having done this with such an awesome band as Bang Camaro, and besides... they may be popping back in my life later this week...

(what does he mean?!)