Thursday, October 24, 2013

The Dactyls/Bandit Teeth - Split 7"

The Dactyls/Bandit Teeth – Split 7”
Self Released, 2008
Acquired: Crossroads Music, Used, 2013
Price: $2
 
Of COURSE I found a split featuring two Lawrence bands in a Portland record shop. Crossroads Music was an intense place. It was packed with records. Most of it was junk. The impression I got was that it worked sort of like an antique mall for records: Independent sellers lay out their wares and the guy at the counter keeps track of who sells what. It was confusing until I found one or two little rows of modern indie rock 7”s and promptly spent an hour and a half combing through 45s from bands I’d never heard of. This is one of my favorite fucking things on the planet. The overhead is minimal, so I’m more likely to make an investment in something that just plain looks cool or I have even remotely heard of on the off chance it’s something tasty. Even if I had picked up a copy of this when it was released in 2008 (I’m pretty sure I attended the release party for this 7” and did not purchase a copy because it was during my “I’m about to graduate college and am currently unemployed and have no money” period (not to be confused with my current “I graduated college five years ago and am underemployed and the bulk of my extra money to Sallie Mae” period). While I always liked seeing Bandit Teeth and the Dactyls play live, I never really had any desire to listen to them outside of the Replay Lounge. It’s funny, because I listened to Bandit Teeth auxiliary projects Blood on the Wall and Rooftop Vigilantes at great length at home and in the car. Their contribution to this 7”—“Pajamazon”—is bringing back some fun memories. The nice thing about Bandit Teeth was that the Brad, Zach and Charley all seemed like this was the band that brought them the most joy. The band that was the most fun to be in just because they had all been buddies for forever. It’s ramshackle indie rock with some crustier garage influences. The Dactyls’ fondness for the glory days of indie rock was always firmly apparent. The specter of Pavement was always in the air anytime that played. They seemed so influenced by Pavement I remember remarking that it was strange they didn’t do a one off Pavement tribute because they would have been so good at that. They ultimately grew out of the Pavement knock-off and into a well rounded college rock troupe that seemed content to not set the world on fire and to exist as one of the better openers that Lawrence had to offer to national touring acts. This 7” is stirring up a massive wave of nostalgia for what was at my absolute worst.  My most dickheaded, my most drunk, my most destructive, and most ready to get the fuck out of Lawrence as soon as humanly possible. It’s all kind of funny in hindsight. A period jam packed with reality lessons that helped me grow and learn from my mistakes sound tracked by one of the better periods in the Lawrence Music Scene.

Even though it has only been five years, almost all evidence of these songs ever existing has seemingly vanished from the internet and I'm wishing I had a USB turntable to share these tracks. Preserve them in amber as an artifact of the time when $2 cans of PBR were king.



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