5 posts tagged “therecognition”
(This was originally posted here where you can see any media links, etc.)
This is frustrating. The IT department at UAB no longer believes that I'm a current student, so now I can't log in to BlazerNet so that I can adjust my schedule for the upcoming semester. After talking to two helpdesk guys, one person in the Registrar's office and two people in Admissions I still can't log in. The latter two offices both see me as active, and can think of no reason I shouldn't be able to use the system. I think I've finally convinced the IT department that there is something wrong.
The Recognition, my band, played at The Bottletree this past Friday with Sex Dragon[1] and The Gore Gore Girls. We were sandwiched in between two groups both aiming for that garage rock authenticity thing, which with few exceptions (The Oblivians, Nine Pound Hammer and The Mummies), I have little patience for. It's not quite as irritating and full of uniform signifiers like the whole rockabilly/"psychobilly"[2] thing, but it's close. The crowd was a little different from usual, but a lot of fun and the set went well minus one amp taking a little one song vacation. Plus, I think we got our first piece of honest to god hard copy press. Birmingham's own Manhattan dwelling crazy right wing music critic, JR Taylor gave us a blurb. It's positive, if, well...a little odd. "Working-class rock"? I mean, maybe. I'm down with some organized labor, but I sell coffee and type on keyboards for a living. Hey, though, we "might...be pioneering a new genre of post-MTV punk.[3]" What's yr band doing?
Speaking of the band, we had one of the most successful practices ever last night, adding three songs to our repertoire. We've got a new (well, a reworked) original, a cover of Jawbreaker's "Shield Your Eyes" for a comp (at least, I think there's a comp) and a cover of the attached song by one of my favorites, Discount.
[1]Awesome name, though. It's one of the guys from The Immortal Lee County Killers on guitar/vocals and Sweetdog on drums. Sweetdog is a name that apparently rings out in Birmingham, unless like me you don't really run in a circle where a name like "Sweetdog" rings out. (Note that this is in jest. Sweetdog was a charming individual; I'm merely jealous that I never have gotten a nickname.)
[2]My own private little hell is a Reverend Horton Heat and/or any band with a high pompadour quotient with tendencies towards Misfits covers show. I mean, I love the Misfits but it's in the same way I love the Three Six Mafia/Hypnotize Minds catalog. It's hilariously over the top, there's a depth of musicality that is lacking in many of their peers and it's fun to listen to while driving.
[3]So, do I get my first mill soon? Or, will we merely toil in relative obscurity too far ahead of our time? Watch out for The Recognition 2027 middle age reunion tour!
The band took a trip up I-65 the other evening to play at the Baker Entertainment Center in downtown Cullman, where they have set up quite the nice little venue. I love subcultures in small towns, because you get such an interesting mix of people, so Jake and I took some photos of the patrons that night.
A quick update.
Long time friend This Is Me Leaving has made his trek across the Atlantic Ocean and is currently spending some time in Ireland, and judging by his pictures, it is a seriously beautiful place. This is also where I offer my mea culpa for being the worst-friend-ever and not seeing him off (or, you know, pretty much at all in the past few months). So, Rob, here's my public apology and penance for sucking at friendship.
The Recognition ran into a little snag with our (former) recording engineer. The main complaint could be summed up as "that dude drinks way too much" which is saying something fierce coming from a band like us. We were able to at least salvage the drum tracks, and have been tracking in our own space with considerable success. It has been a long time coming, and there's still much work to do, but we can finally see the end of the tunnel.
The band spent a little time in the studio a little while back (with more to come). I forgot I had these pictures.
If you had a band, what would you call yourselves?
Question submitted by Zoot.
Well, that's easy because I have a band and we are called The Recognition. We're in the midst of recording our first demo/ep/album/whatev so I don't have anything to show for it other than a link to our (drumroll....) MySpace page.
I once had a band called Blue Eyed Boy Mister Death, and I think I'll put up a sound clip of that. It's much more noisy and aggressive than The Recognition.
A clever pun title, for sure. I think it was probably the best song we recorded.
