Yes, I'm going to talk about my band again.

Yes, I'm going to talk about my band again.

I've been doing a lot of music and arts writing at Chicagoist lately, to help kick-off Margaret's tenure as our new editor-in-chief in an impressive fashion, so sorry if the music-related writing here is a little lower than usual. However, I can write about the one band I can't write about on Chicagoist here!

So we've been demoing America's #1 Sweetheart songs, but this morning was the first time I've heard our new version of one of their past classics. I'd actually had to stop listening to the original version, since I had changed some of the drums pretty significantly -- because I learned the song before hearing the original demo -- so it's pretty cool to have a rough version of the tune to listen to. It's still a little weird since the new incarnation of A#1S is grounded in the same pop sensibility that permeated the old line-up, but the songs have a different feel: at times they've gotten a little more aggressive, and at other times they don't sound like anything you would've expected Kip to come up with. For instance, I'm really digging this new tune, "Drunken Sweethearts," but it sounds kind of like a Pavement tune, which is really odd ... but super cool.

Our first show is November 3, and I think we'll be in really good shape for it. I would like to play out once or twice before then, unannounced, just jumping on a bill for a few songs here and there, to get the live jitters out. I'm actually more nervous about having to play in a costume in front of people* than I am about playing drums, but it'd still be nice to get the initial public exposure out of the way under an assumed name.

Overall though, I am really pleased with how we're sounding, we just keep getting tighter and tighter, and louder and louder.

*This is actually something that's causing me a bit of distress. I can be goofy, but i can also be incredibly self-conscious about stupid things. I thought I was okay with costume thing, but as the show gets closer I get more and more nervous about it. I actually woke up from a nightmare about it last night and had trouble getting back to sleep.