The Next Big Thing

It seems like a good time to bring up “Pardon Us For Living But The Graveyard Is Full”. Been meaning to do that for some time but really wanted to tie it in with some kinda screening, someplace, sometime. And that will taking place in the fine city of Stockholm over the weekend of 12/13th February. The band is headed for Scandinavia this coming week kicking of in Copenhagen on Thursday (4th). Then they return for a run through France in March. Of course you have their site bookmarked so you’re hip to all this right?

Clocking in at 61 minutes, the storyboard for the doc is based on Joe Bonomo’s “Sweat”. Indeed the author offers much informed commentary as to why anyone with a penchant for the real stuff loves the band. Indeed many folks out there don’t know they exist because their inundated with guff on far lesser combos. I defy anybody to watch this thing and not be left with a craving to see them. Their infectious nature is right here for all to catch.

Peter Zaremba’s notion that they’ve been written out of history chimes with something that Don Waller mentioned to me last week about those who are writing it not necessarily being there. That’s the diplomatic take. I think that their not being mentioned in “Please Kill Me” is a massive oversight on the part of the authors. End of. There’s no other excuse. Still, only a handful of folks from that period remain on the road. Some of those are as good now as they were then, perhaps better.

It is criminal that they never enjoyed “material” success but any band that can pummel out a show like they do is in many ways more precious than what tangible popularity might bestow.
It’s no secret that the NBT bullpen are biased and that we’re hardcore supporters. They’re a sweet bunch of guys and watching this really makes me wish I could be raising a glass with them over at Morten’s pad next weekend when they return to the House of Rock in Moss.

Total entertainment is guaranteed and there aren’t too many acts out there that can promise that. Be glad that they’re out there then. Hopefully, somehow they might be able to return to the UK and indeed to Scotland. The sick administration of work permits makes it a little expensive for them to visit this fucked up isle but believe me, there are people working on rectifying this quite frankly wrong, restrictive practice. The world has changed beyond all reasonable recognition but it needs this band. The sobering statement that they'll continue to roll until one of them dies is reassuring in the meantime. Fingers crossed that they run for a long time yet.

You’ll see Andy Shernoff, Miriam Linna, Dave Faulkner, Peter Buck, Jeanine Attaway and wir ain Steve Coleman and Joe Bonomo among others, testifying as to just why you should care. Geoffray Barbier and Dorrotya Mathe at Coldcuts Productions have made a concise appraisal of a genuine, fuel injected phenomenon.

Like Handsome Dick says, “They never mail it in”. Amen.