Why was this show not sardine-y (i.e., packed)? While a rhetorical question, maybe it’s the same person who can tell us why the dB’s never hit it very big. This 75 minute free show highlighted new songs from a new record, Falling Off The Sky, Bar/None Records. Please new audience, help break this band. Though all four members are probably rolling their eyes at this idea. (Can you tell that I’m a purist strident old school ideologue?)
Anyway, I love The dB’s. Take their philosophy on love – a song title like “Love is for Lovers” (so true), or lyrics like “I see love as something that works or it doesn’t”, or “And when you ask yourself just what went wrong is the time to sing one more love song”. Latter is from the recent single “World to Cry”. And it confirms that the band can still write a primo pop song. Try their records, available new or used, in a real store or online, in legal or illegal downloads and in whatever quality you want.* (Their website is the place to get their first 2 records on one Collectors Choice cd! Read what Fred Mills said, albeit ten years ago: )
And neat, drummer Will Rigby got to sing his new one, “Write Back”, and of course it’s a clever ditty. The title track is the last one on the record [though it’s actually titled “Remember (Falling Off the Sky”)] and it’s very poignant and chilling. For the latter, perhaps it was because it was getting late in the day and a jacket was required (uh, the show was outdoors). And you know, maybe I like Chris Stamey’s songs over Peter Holsapple‘s (“Hey Herb, who do you like better, your mother or your father?”).
*Earlier in the day, I watched parts of “The Shield Around The K” on VHS and saw the part where Calvin Johnson tells of marveling at the KAOS library as a teen, ~1977 For it gave him the chance to finally listen to the records he had only heard about. Too funny.
