We do it for the kids



A couple of years ago, I was browsing through the Deathray website when I stumbled across a link to a band their lead singer was producing. The band was The High Speed Scene, and their lone downloadable song "For the Kids" was so infectious that it made me an instant fan. And so I waited for their promised first LP to be released... and waited... and waited. But nothing ever came. Eventually, I stopped checking their website and forgot about them altogether.



Until last week, when I stumbled across their debut CD at Futureshop. Apparently it came out a couple of weeks ago-- and on the Neptunes record label, for some reason! So I bought it. And it is good! They sound a lot like a synthless version of Deathray, specializing in the same kind of incredibly basic, incredibly catchy power pop. But a few tracks are undeniably Weezer-esque. I was not expecting that, but they pull it off well so I'll take it. The CD is solid fun all around, even if it is only slightly deeper than a pizza pan.



Of course, for all I know, these guys are all over the radio and you've already heard them a million times. I haven't turned an AM/FM on in so long that I don't even remember the numbers for my local stations. Oh no, I may have inadvertantly recommended a popular band! Weep for my indie cred, friends.



Sam Logan

We've got the fire but does it mean anything



Top Five Possible Reasons Why Those Two Cans Got Mixed Up:



5. Fuzzy set the knock-out gas down on the bakery counter while attempting to "liberate" oppressed pastries.



4. Mr. Knock-out Gas and Mrs. Whipped Cream traded places because they were starring in a wacky fish-out-of-water reality television show called "Spray Swap."



3. Super Squeeze Dairy Corporation and Industrial Aerosol Immobilizers are outsourcing to the same packaging company.



2. The whipped cream always had the power to be knock out gas. But she wouldn't have believed me. She had to find out for herself.



1. The cans were swapped by a horse. A horse named... Hidalgo.



See you on Friday!



Sam Logan

Make sure it's got a big trunk



Sin City kicked my ass. I followed every step of the film's production -- gobbling up every last leaked frame and teaser trailer -- but on opening night I was still floored by how accurately it captured the style of Miller's comics.



Unsurprisingly, some critics are having the same sort of struggles with the film that others had with the original books. And sure, if you're in the habit of looking for messages in films, the unapologetic violence and amorality of this one is probably pretty disturbing. But Sin City is a tribute to a genre and nothing more. There is no message, no connection to to the real world, no moment that is intended to tell us anything about ourselves. It's entertainment because it is so alien. A perversely fascinating place to visit, maybe, but no one wants to live there.



The new Reel Big Fish album lands tomorrow. Finally!



Sam Logan