Okay, its been a month since I posted. I officially suck. But all things considered its been pretty quiet around here since Panic at the Disco, and there hasn't been much to say. That's not true. There's been plenty to say, and I said it in a post that got deleted by my stupid computer. So maybe we'll talk later.

Its the greatest thing you'd ever imagine.

Okay, well maybe not quite that good, but pretty darn awesome.

So, I saw The Honda Civic Tour last night. It was amazing. Panic at the Disco has a really good live act, and Phantom Planet was really good, Motion City Soundtrack was pretty good, and I didn't really hear much of The Hush Sound because I was busy being manhandled by the crowd. All in all, really, really, good. And now I have an awesome new hoodie.

Anyway, that concert totally made my top 5 ever. Yes, I keep a list of the best concerts I've ever been to. Of course, it takes into account the entire concert, not just the live band. It would look a lot different if we were just looking at individual bands. Okay, so here's the list right now:

1. Bowling for Soup (Summer 2004)
2. Tally Hall (Fall 2005)
3. Sleeping with Giants Tour featuring Cobra Starship, The Academy Is..., Armour for Sleep, Sherwood, and The Rocket Summer (Fall 2007)
4. Honda Civic Tour featuring Panic at the Disco, The Hush Sound, Phantom Planet, Motion City Soundtrack, and The Hush Sound (Spring/Summer 2008 (now, that is))
5. Van's Warped Tour (Summer 2003)

Now, if I were just talking about individual bands, it would be a bit harder. The Format would be on the list. They were amazing (AMAZING, seriously), one of the best bands I've ever seen live. Perhaps THE best, but they had 4 self-indulgent, mediocre bands playing before them, and the crowd was full of a lot of underage girls, and a few older guys buying them drinks. If the people suck, it tends to make the concert suck.

The point, if there was one, was that the concert was really good, the bands were really good, and you should probably pick up Phantom Planet's new album, if you haven't already. Okay, well I just added that new part, but its still true.

Anyway, now,

The doves have died
The lovers have lied

See you around.

It could be dangerous...

Okay, so at this point I should just be calling this blog "Adventures in CD buying (and occasionally watching Survivor)" but, despite this apparent flaw in the entire blog concept, I fully intend to tell you about my recent exploits at my local music emporium.

So, needless to say that "Whisper War" by The Cab was a bit of a flop. I mean, it wasn't a bad album by any means, it was just a little more Maroon 5 and a little less Fall Out Boy than I'd been expecting. But its still better than some other recent Decaydance bands (Are you listening Tyga? No? You're relaxing in your bathtub full of money? Damn.) Back to the point, since that wasn't all that good, and there wasn't anything else coming out this week, I decided to spend a little money on a couple of more unknown (if only slightly in the case of The Cab) artists. Luckily MTVU was there to fill the void in my life. For some convoluted reason, it was more economical for me to get more channels of cable tv, then to go on getting just the ones I had before. So, now we have MTV Jams, MTV Hits, MTV 3, VH1 Classic, VH1 Soul, CMT 2, BET, Fuse, and, the aforementioned, MTVU (The U stands for University, by the way). Anyway, after a few hours of watching MTVU, two videos stuck out for me: Love Me Dead by Ludo, and The Kelley Affair by Be Your Own Pet.

Okay, so I guess its 'review time' now:

You're Awful, I Love You by Ludo

Let me start this by saying that I fully intended, in fact, even tried to hate Ludo. I first heard of them when I was handed a Ludo sticker outside of a The Academy Is... concert. I make it a point to hate any band who feels obliged to hand out stickers at other bands' concerts, I'm not really sure why, I guess its just a thing I do, that's not the point. I saw the video, I was charmed by it, and it expresses a certain genre of unrequited love that I happen to be a very big fan of (for further examples, see Self-Esteem by the Offspring, or anything by Taking Back Sunday). Basically, it was good, the cd seems pretty good (I haven't listened to it much yet) and it was cheap. I guess that's three for three on Ludo.

Get Awkward by Be Your Own Pet

So, the first thing to notice about Be Your Own Pet, is that they're asking for a Paramore reference to be made. You just can't have a band of guys with a diminutive female lead singer with badly dyed hair without making a Paramore reference. Its a sad thing, but I'm afraid they'd take my blog away if I didn't properly compare them. Basically, BYOP is like Paramore, if Paramore were cool. I mean, really cool, punk rock, I've-tried-all-my-life-to-be-like-that sort of cool. If my secret ambitions of being genuinely punk were ever realized, I would like to be just like that band. The point: They're really cool, and I like them a lot. That is all.

You've got the mark of the beast, you're born of a jackal, you're beautiful!

Now go away.

Dude looks like a lady.

So, it turns out that the lead singer of Tokio Hotel is a guy.


Who knew?

I sure didn't until I saw their music video yesterday.

If I ask nicely, will you just leave the island?

So, Jason Siska got voted out of Survivor, and with that a part of me died. Just kidding, I was actually just torn between finding him endearing and not wanting him to go, and being annoyed by his social stupidity. I'm sure he's not that dumb in real life, but man! Also, he reminds me way too much of Shaggy from Scooby Doo. Really, think about it.

Also, I finally listened to the new Phantom Planet cd, and I must admit, I like it. Turns out its about cults. Really about cults. Like, it would be Jonestown the rock opera if that weren't politically incorrect. Heck, it might be anyway, who cares about political incorrectness in Rock and Roll? (The answer to that seemingly rhetorical question is, by the way, lots of people, in fact, most of Billboards top 200 and just about everybody on the radio. And yet we keep telling ourselves that its all about rebellion. I mean, come on, even guys in makeup are pretty standard these days, its a bit of a shame. Well, not really a shame, I'm a sucker for a guy in eyeliner... anyway...).

I recently saw an interview with the band We The Kings on some version of MTV or another (we recently upgraded our cable tv, and now we have at least a dozen music channels), and while I enjoy their music throughly, I find it a bit silly that they were on the Really Really Ridiculously Good Looking Tour. Although I guess their presence could be balanced by Gabe Saporta (of Cobra Starship)'s sexy-beastness (or man-whore-ness). Then again, The Cab was also on that tour, and while I find one of the Alex's (they have 3) cute in a pat-him-on-the-top-of-the-head-and-then-give-him-a-cookie sort of way, they are a funny looking bunch of kids. So, I've officially dubbed it the Really Really Ridiculous Looking Tour. That being said, that tour ended no less than a month ago, so why am I still talking about it? I mean really, I might as well be talking about the most recent season of The Bachelor. Oh... that's still on... nevermind.

And by the way, The Cab's album is finally coming out next Tuesday. Illegally download it, but don't buy it because I'm bitter that they have a huge fanbase and its only their first album.

But don't tell the RIAA that I said that.

Pop culture ennui.

So, I think I'm officially bored of the internet. There are only just so many celebrity blogs and interviews with bands where they just say the same thing they've been saying since their album was released two month ago. But that was just a gratuitous aside, as my mother would say, its about time for me to stop complaining and start adding to the noise. So, anyway, this week in pop culture...

I got the new Phantom Planet album, and the new one by The Kooks. I haven't listened to either of them, so I guess that comment isn't going much of anywhere. My tickets for the Honda Civic Tour came, it seems so sad that I spent $95 on two little tiny slips of paper. I am totally excited to see Panic at the Disco again, though. I'll admit it, my inner emo kid is sulking somewhat less than usual. She might even smirk if she thinks you're not looking.

As for TV, this weeks "Survivor" was officially awesome. I won't bore you with the details, but it was pretty darn exciting. Also, somebody needs to talk to those damned tv people about scheduling. "Greek," "Bones," and "Gossip Girl" are now all on at 8:00 on Mondays. That sucks. It is a choice that i simply don't want to make.

So, rather than actually making a point, I'm just going to leave you here.

This is a scene, not an arms race.

So, there haven't been many posts lately, mostly because there haven't been any good new cds in the last few weeks. I mean, there was Fall Out Boy's **** Live in Phoenix. For the record, **** is pronounced like your favorite four letter swear word. But it's only a live album, which is kind of like a clip show. It might be decent, but you've seen it all before. Their cover of the song "Beat It" is new and pretty awesome, though.

In other news, Jason Siska (brother of Adam T. Siska of The Academy Is...) is going to be voted out of Survivor as soon as he loses immunity. I think he's awesome and adorable, if a little (or a lot) dumb. Also, Pete Wentz and Ashley Simpson are getting married. Good for them, I guess.

But as you can see, its been a bit of a boring week. I'll find more to talk about later... probably. My computer has seen better days, so perhaps I won't.