July 4, 2004

the relic of dummy stripes

Lisa's old roommate Christina is in town, so it's been a relatively low-impact couple of days around here, although I did make a quick to-do list that filled two pages. But mostly I haven't been doing much more exciting than assembling a new CD rack, which has cleared a lot of floor space around here. (The two of them have gone out to watch the fireworks; realizing that I've got some deadlines tomorrow, and that fireworks every other year or so is enough for me, I'm listening to the one-night fake warzone outside while I work.) And I've started going through some of the books I picked up at Book Expo. Every year, I try to find the most ridiculous edition of the Bible anyone's offering. The runner-up this year is "Refuel," a version of the New Testament packaged to look like a teenage boy's magazine, with lots of sidebars and pictures. (The music reviews the cover promises are neither here nor there, but I just opened it up to a gloss of Thessalonians that begins "Everyone was stoked when Jesus walked the earth." I think John S. Hall had something similar to say.)

The winner, though, is "The Word on the Street," a translation/rewrite of the entire Bible that "talks today's language--gritty, earthy, witty." As in: "Second off, God says the word and WHAP! Stuff everywhere!" As in: the epistles are e-mails. As in: Revelation 22:20 comes out as "The one who makes these statements says, 'Yes, I'm on my way. My ETA's not far off!' Absolutely! Make it quick, Jesus the Boss!" Oh my.

So continuing the theological theme: today's song. Kreviss's "Going to Hell" (removed) was one of very few songs released by this eight-piece band--most of the references I've found to them call them riot grrrl types, but really the neat thing about them was that they had, I think, six guitar players--the Superconductor effect. There's nothing like hearing a gigantic army of guitars all playing one big dumb riff like this one; it originally appeared on a split single with Mecca Normal. Bandleader Sara Lapsley was subsequently in Vancouver Nights (with Dan Bejar et al.) and is now in The Gay. Thanks to her for permission to post this song.

Posted by Douglas at July 4, 2004 9:40 PM | TrackBack
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