Mp3 exclusives: Therefore I Am and She's the Car
Top: She's the Car. Bottom: Therefore I Am
DOWNLOAD: Therefore I Am, “I Get Nervous In Cars” (mp3)
DOWNLOAD: She’s the Car, “Vibeke” (mp3)
We take an interest in scenes of all flavors, and right now the one that’s got the most juice in Boston is the teenpunk underground that’s grown up around venues like the ICC Church and bands like Vanna and the Receiving End of Sirens. More on Vanna and their Epitaph debut coming in a few days; a long overdue interview with TREOS coming later this summer. And right now, we introduce you to some kids we think you should know.
Previously available only on a vinyl split-single with their Epitaph-bound metalcore pals Vanna, Therefore I Am's “Nervous” is new-century pop-metal done right: one part Iron Maiden-y guitar duel, two parts soaring emo chorus. This time around, though, the kids aren’t drinking Jager and worshipping Satan; they’re just trying to stay sober and righteous. (Note also the intro, recorded live on the Boston College arm of the Green Line.) If you're in New England, they're probably playing a VFW near you in the next two months.
We've gotten to know She’s the Car, a super nice girlgroop, through their lead singer/keyboardist Grace, a good girl who's fallen in with a rough crowd. Asked for a one-sentence quote we thought for a minute and said, “Lilith Fair for emo kids?” To which Grace mentioned that she had in fact been to Lilith Fair. We're trying to do the math: she must've been, like, seven? We suspect a budding Tori Amos in 2006 would sound a lot like this. Truth be told, the only band they remind us of even vaguely is a Providence all-girl band called Can't Face the Falling, and as it turns out, both bands are friends (to give you a sense of how tight this whole scene is, both girlbands lent members to sing vox on the Vanna record.) She's the Car are veterans of Soulfest ("New England's Premier Christian Music and Teaching Festival"), and if you've got a problem with that, you can take it up with us. Over here at OTD we're like, second-generation agnostics, so get the fuck over yourselves. If kids can figure out how to love God and Metallica, we're all for it. Also, it's kinda sweet on this song the way Grace sings, "We will take you to a higher, brighter floor/with softer beds," as if they're the Lord's rock and roll nurses -- and not that we believe in God or anything, but if we did, we would believe fervently that He would have lots of rock and roll nurses in His employ.
By now most of you have heard of Paper, the weekly dance night that’s packing emo kids by the hundreds into rooms like Harpers Ferry, Club Lido, and the Middle East. We went to a few and decided we wanted to party with these kids as soon as fucking possible. So when the Phoenix asked us to set up some shows -- which we’re now doing on a monthly basis -- we called up our dude Eric and put together this show coming up THURSDAY at Bill’s Bar. Stay tuned for details. Each month we’ll be highlighting a favorite club, DJ, band, or promoter. Any of our acquaintences who want to get involved, let us know through the usual channels.