i Did It For The Devil's Brigade

i was backing up my hard-drive (it makes a beeping sound when i do so, maybe it thinks it's a truck) when i came across these festive photos. The first is of me (if i was an M&M), trying to smile for the photo while getting ready for a Dropkick Murphys St.Patrick's Day show. i have never lost my scally cap at a show and yes those boots are vegan.

The second is me, again trying to smile, waiting in line outside of the show. Fortunately we got there right before the Irish Robot did. He must have started celebrating really early because he was sooo drunk. Moments after this photo was taken he was puking antifreeze and oil all over the sidewalk.

The bouncers were eyeballing the elephant something fierce. Elephants, being intelligent and emotional creatures, are frequently fans of the Dropkick Murphys. They appreciate the blend of punk and traditional irish songs and love swaying truck in truck to ballads such as "Forever". Ah, the memories.

The Verve List

With The Verve getting back together i figured i'd start a new PunkMonk tradition and put together (from time to time) a list of must-hear tracks from a given artist. Obviously i will kick this all off with a Verve centered list.

*song - album it appears on*
1. Bitter Sweet Symphony - Urban Hymns: This is the one everyone knows... get it out of the way quick so that people aren't just waiting for it and can give the rest of the songs a real listen. i never liked the Rolling Stones before, this incident didn't help.

2. Gravity Grave (live at Glastonbury 93) - No Come Down: The Verve is one of those groups who are not done justice in album form. This b-side captures a bit of the early days' live shows.

3. Slide Away - A Storm In Heaven: This is the first Verve song i ever heard and that driving bass line will stay with me forever.

4. This Time - Urban Hymns: My personal favorite song from the Urban Hymns album, key because i never thought i would ever hear a new Verve song after the A Northern Soul album.

5. Life's An Ocean - A Northern Soul: These next three songs are a combo that would knock George Foreman out in one round. The only thing better than them together on an album is hearing them together live in a small club (makes the hair on your head stand-up).

6. Stormy Clouds - A Northern Soul

7. Reprise - A Northern Soul: A reprise longer than the original song and no formal lyrics. At their best they redefine everything they touch.

8. So Sister - b side: i went with acoustic songs to end up the set because the first time i saw them they were 'not completely getting along' (as usual) and Richard did a solo, all acoustic encore. This b side is one of many examples of songs not on formal records that are some of their best stuff.

9. You And Me - b side: There were a lot of other songs that almost made a spot in this set rather than this one. i went with this one because the concept of 'you and me against the world' makes this a song i sing to myself quite frequently at times when my significant other and i battle what seems like the world at large.

10. Lord I Guess I'll Never Know - b side: A brilliant song, this is why i held on to the concept of liking Richard Ashcroft's solo stuff for so long. Again, amazing. Solo stuff, not so much.

11. On Your Own (acoustic) - b side: An impressive song in it's original from on the album, a timeless, haunting ballad in it's acoustic b-side. Although their musical landscape of a sound makes them who they are, this song is the root, the silent core of what they are.

i tried to keep this mix, as always, to about an hour. With the epic lengthed early songs i could have filled that with just 5 songs which is why much of this comes from later stuff. Overall, this is a good starting point to introduce the unfamiliar with this amazing band. This music, however, is best when listened to at night, preferably either at the ocean or driving home. In my version of 'Garden State' this is the band that could change your life.

Punk Monk

Appearantly i am not the first of the punk monks. Records report of this punk monk of long ago in a galaxy... well in this galaxy. Actually it's from 1959 and Tibet, neither all that long ago nor all that far away.

This has got me thinking, maybe there should be a "Punk Monk Hall of Fame"? All though a 'hall of fame' is neither very punk-like nor very monk-like it would be fun and punk monks do need to have fun from time to time.

This fine gentleman would clearly be a shoe-in, but other possible nominees could be the likes of Ian MacKaye and possibly good ol' Hank. Maybe an established nominating system should be created for just this cause: some cross between internet comment votes and the Catholic Beatification process.

Don't worry folks, i'll work on it.