Eulogy...

Kidding! I know we're well past the 30-day drop dead date for blogs, but who the hell cares? I'll update when I want. Get off my lawn. Also, I can't compete with the kids who have both the time to update daily and advance copies of badass albums to peddle.

Coupla things happenin in my native Philly...

1. I like Man Man. I reviewed their album. I suggest purchasing it. If you don't blindly trust my opinion, you can sample Van Helsing Boombox on their website.

2. I also like Armalite, and I hope not only for nostalgic reasons. Armalite (ho may or may not be referencing Gang of Four's "Armalite Rifle" -- they don't sound like Gang of Four, thank god) features Dan Yemin (of Lifetime and several lesser bands since), Atom (of Atom and his Package), and Mike McKee (from Kill the Man Who Questions). There were days in high school when I listened to Lifetime and/or Atom exclusively. They were both excellent in concert, which bodes well for Armalive. KTMWQ was also enjoyable -- I had their demo tape and jumped around at their shows in the church basement.

All these bands share a kind of humorously righteous anger, which can be totally sincere (Yemin's later projects), or halfway joking (most Atom songs). Though I'm sad to see Yemin off guitar (in my opinion, Lifetime had the finest guitar sound on any album, anywhere, ever), the stuff I'm hearing is pretty great, and I'm looking forward to the album. They may have a split personality, though; check their site for "Entitled" -- gotta be a Yemin/McKee song, kind of an Avail feel -- and "I am a Pancreas (I Seek to Understand Me)" -- obviously an Atom/Pollard collab. Kidding!