TEENAGE COOL KIDS

ahh

2011-03-15T11:46:00.001-07:00

this blog is obviously inactive. check out our fb page for updates
http://listn.to/teenagecoolkids

SXSW 2010

2010-03-05T11:24:00.000-08:00

So you wanna see TEENAGE COOL KIDS at sxsw?

Though we will not be playing any official showcases, you (rock music enthusiast) will have a few chances to see us play (enthusiastic rock music) in Austin during the annual "week you won't remember." Each of these shows look promising of good vibes and sweet tunes.

We will be running around town with our sister band FERGUS & GERONIMO and two bloggers from London, trying to squeeze as much fun and good music out of our state's capital before heading south to Monterrey to keep the party going.
Thursday night's "KVRXplosion" (1109 n. I-35) is one show we are really looking forward to. The fact that we are playing with Wu Tang's own GZA (the Genius) is mind-boggling in itself but to make things even more "rag-tag", the bill also includes raging hardcore/grind from Canadians THE ENDLESS BLOCKADE and Austin locals HATRED SURGE. F&G are playing the Weekly Tape Deck "Shake Some Action!" party Thursday evening as well.

Friday starts off with the Transparent showcase at the Tiniest Bar in Texas on 5th, with F&G and other bands from the UK label. TCK play two shows Friday. The first is Don't Tell Mom Fest at the House of Commons co-op. This is a free show that will have great bands playing all day (including but not limited to: THE PHARMACY, SHANNON & THE CLAMS, HUNX AND HIS PUNX, WILD AMERICA.) This looks like a great show to post up at and see a lot of good bands. We are scheduled to play at 5:50, and are followed by Denton bro-bands OCCULT DETECTIVE CLUB and STYMIE. You can see the complete schedule on the last.fm event page.

Then it's back to Karibu Ethiopian Restaurant on E 7th for night two of Weekly Tape Deck's "Shake Some Action!" party, TCK are scheduled for 8:40

Saturday you get a chance to see TCK and F&G at the same show. Both bands will be playing the KVRX showcase at Domy Books. Later that evening F&G will be playing the Woodsist showcase at Red7 (w/ WOODS, REAL ESTATE, FRESH AND ONLYS) which will no doubt be an awesome show.

On sunday all surviving members of the troupe will head down to Monterrey, MX for the MTY MX festival where F&G and TCK will play one more time before returning home to our respective homes.

We look forward to your patronage and appreciate the interest, we will try to have some sort of merchandise to peddle off on you, we will definitely have some records and hopefully shirts too, we shall see what we can get together in these next couple weeks.

Until then... One Love,
TEENAGE COOL KIDS

howdy y'all

2010-03-05T01:44:00.000-08:00

So we somehow managed not make a single post for the entirety of 2009, crazy considering how many interesting things happened last year. I'm going to do my part to post relevant things here and hope it encourages the other guys to do so as well. Expect a SXSW breakdown in the next couple of days.

In the meantime, here's a video from our show in Paris that recently surfaced, I need to remember to take my fannypack of before playing. Do I always look that awkward?

Also subscribe to Andrew's blog if you haven't already.

2008-07-06T14:42:00.000-07:00

TEENAGE COOL KIDS/TRIFLE TOWER 2008 TOUR

JULY 7 Fayetteville, AR New Delhi w/ French Quarter
JULY 8 Western Springs, IL Church of Rock w/ This Forest
JULY 9 Appleton, WI The BFG w/Tenement
JULY 10 Columbus, OH The House of Rice w/FIYA, Tin Armor
JULY 11 Latham, NY The Landing Zone
JULY 12 Three Rivers, MA 2042 Main St Apt 3 & 6
JULY 13 Lewiston, ME Guthries w/ Daniel Striped Tiger
JULY 15 Berlin, CT Bison Manor
JULY 16 Boston, MA
JULY 17 Brooklyn, NY Bodega w/Juiceboxxx
JULY 18 Philadelphia, PA The Thunderdome w/ Algernaan Cadwalader
JULY 19 Baltimore, MA Charm City Art Space
JULY 20 Washington, DC DC Party Pit
JULY 21 Richmond, VA Mammal Mansion w/ Friendly Fire
JULY 22 Chapel Hill, NC
JULY 23 Cookeville, TN Temple Skatepark

'08 Summer Tour Blog #3

2008-06-15T00:35:00.000-07:00

OK! Here it is! The video is pretty long but it does cover 4 days on the road. Enjoy!

blog #3???

2008-06-14T17:23:00.000-07:00

HI ALL! Chris P. here posting from Olympia, WA on tour with RESIGNED TO FATE. I finished editing the third blog video but every time I score an internet connection it's too slow to upload to youtube. Anyway, expect another installment of the tour blog soon. Also, if you want to keep tabs on me, I'm going to do a similar tourblog for RTF on my blog (releasefromalliance.blogspot.com)

Thanks!

2008-06-11T15:10:00.001-07:00

We've all made it home alive and well from another great tour.

I'd like to thank all the amazingly generous people we met along the way who helped us out, fed us, got us kicked out of their mom's house, let us sleep on the floor (trampoline), touched our butts, made out with us, listened to our music, bought stuff from us, and hung out with us on behalf of myself and the rest of the boys.

See you next time!

Hey Yall

2008-06-08T16:15:00.000-07:00

This is Andrew, I'm sitting in a coffee shop with Bradley in Baton Rouge. This little 10 day tour has been lots of fun. We have met some fun people, played some cool shows. All of us are really tired ("and dirty" adds Bradley) right now due to two nights of very little sleep.

ANYWAY, here is what we have been listening to in the van.

Favorite things about this tour:

1. Hanging out with Bradley, Chris, Daniel and Tony. Mostly Tony.

2. Going to the beach

3. Free food

4. I got some sweet records.

5. Sleeping in the van

6. Swimming with Dolphins.

<3>

'08 Summer Tour Blog #2

2008-06-06T16:13:00.000-07:00

This is Gainesville & Orlando. We're in Delray beach right now but we're a little behind on the bloggin'. For those wondering, I, Chris Pickering, newest member, am posting this jive.

'08 Summer Tour Blog #1

2008-06-02T17:49:00.000-07:00

We're in Atlanta, Ga on the porch at the i can fly house getting jived by some drunkass neighbor. I made the mistake of accepting his invite to smoke pot and now he won't leave us alone. We just threw this little videoblog together for your viewing pleasure. Also tonight's show was featured on some random college website's daily what's cool video. Available on fox news!

Review from Soundaslanguage.com

2008-04-24T18:42:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you hear a band name and you have a good idea of what they might sound like before even listening. Teenage Cool Kids were one of those bands for me. Granted the name sounded more pop/punk to me at first. But, with a name like Teenage Cool Kids it just had to be a fun, right? And I was correct. Queer Salutations flashes by in a garagey lo-fi haze that recalls the great, but tragically underrated Scared Of Chaka. The band hails from Denton, TX but geography certainly plays no part in the band’s sound. Echoing bands as diverse as Meneguar and The Thermals to Built To Spill and Superchunk, the band is covering ample scenic territory here. But, where the band makes the greatest impression is when they slow the tempo down. On songs like “Reasons Why” and “Prose” you can see those Built To Spill comparisons truly coming to life. Other than a few songs that show a real depth, Queer Salutations is just a fun stab at lo-fi rock n’ roll. Teenage Cool Kids might come off as a bit amateurish but that is the band’s charm as well. This is all in good fun but it certainly is not going to change the world. I suppose with a name like Teenage Cool Kids, that was never the band’s purpose though.

HEY WHATS THIS ALL ABOUT

2008-04-12T10:20:00.000-07:00

If anybody can tell me the significance to this picture to Teenage Cool Kids

OR

What the boy and girl are saying in write back soon...

you will get a prize.

Review of Queer Salutation in MRR

2008-03-15T10:29:00.000-07:00

TEENAGE COOL KIDS - Queer Salutations CD
I think the title of this is supposed to be wacky versus being part of the queer punk scene. With that being said, this is OK amateur punk. I hear a little ATOM AND HIS PACKAGE, maybe a little Lookout! records comp style stuff. Maybe a lesser GRUMPIES. (RL)

SXSW

2008-03-13T10:21:00.000-07:00

So we are playing a couple of shows in Austin these next few days. Come hang out with us! Also we are interested picking up more shows, so get in touch!

Friday March 14th
2105 Comal St. Austin, TX (HOUSE SHOW)
sex advice (6:20pm), teenage cool kids (5:40pm), conniption fits (5:00pm), pretty boy thorson (4:20pm), dead dog (3:40pm), party garbage (3:00pm), stupid party (2:20pm), something fierce (1:40pm), naw dude (1pm)

Saturday March 15th
@ Pangea's Patio 2712 B Guadalupe St. Austin, TX
Another day show, alls I know is we play around 2pm

Queer Salutations by VivaLaVinyl user Patrick80

2008-02-29T14:17:00.001-08:00

i am guilty of ignoring bands with names like this. but someone wanted me to help set up a show for them and have my band play so i went to listen. this album is awesome. Write Back Soon makes my cock hard. then i stroke it and ejaculate. because i like this band. i going to the gym and lifting to it. i bet i put up big numbers. then im going to swim laps with it playing on my headphones and i bet i don't get shocked. then im going to the steam room and getting my dick sucked by some anonymous Nosferatu-looking albany ny cocksucking ghoul. im going to make them play this album while the whole thing goes down. then i'll shower. this album rules.

Summer Tour Dates

2008-02-08T21:45:00.000-08:00

Okay so a little bit of news. We are writing songs for a new full length. Possibly some 7"s in the future too? If you enjoy putting out 7"s get in touch. We are maybe maybe not going to be down in Austin the week of SXSW, hopefully maybe though. Unfortunately we had to say goodbye to Jordan, he is studying a broad in Germany this summer (get it?). But with that we got Chris Pickering of Trifle Tower fame filling in for bass. And I guess the big news is we will be doing two tours this summer, around the Deep South, Lower Midwest, East Coast and Appalachian States. This is going to be a blast! Here are the dates:

DIRTY SOUTH RYDAZ
May 31 Little Rock, AR
June 1 Huntsville, AL
June 2 Atlanta, GA
June 3 Gainesville, FL
June 4 Orlando, FL
June 5 Tampa, FL
June 6 Ft. Lauderdale/ Miami, FL
June 7 Pensacola, FL
June 8 New Orleans, La
June 9 Houston, TX

EAST BY MIDWEST (EXMW) w/ Trifle Tower
July 7 Tulsa, OK/ Fayetteville, AR
July 8 St. Louis, MO/ Carbondale, IL
July 9 Chicago, IL
July 10 Cleveland, OH
July 11 Albany, NY
July 12 Amherst, MA
July 13 Portland, ME
July 14 Burlington, VT
July 15 New Hampshire
July 16 Boston, MA
July 17 New York City, NY
July 18 Philadelphia, PA
July 19 Baltimore, MD
July 20 Washington DC
July 21 Richmond, VA
July 22 Chapel Hill, NC
July 23 Nashville, TN
July 24 Memphis, TN

GET IN TOUCH IF YOU WANT TO HELP BOOK machomanandysavage@gmail.com

Still have 7"s, CD's and whatnot, thanks for all the orders. We are out of shirts though, we are kind of shopping around until we find a place that does fair trade AND union made shirts. In other words not American Apparel. The wait will be worth it trust me. Okay so...

Mailorders

2008-01-23T15:18:00.000-08:00

Hey guys if you have ordered anything in the last two weeks hang in there cause so have a lot of people. We have to make more copies of the 7" covers, I will get them out ASAP! Thanks!

If you can read Swedish...

2008-01-19T17:43:00.000-08:00

Let me know what this means... http://leppe.blogspot.com/2008/01/teenage-cool-kids.html

Tour Blog

2008-01-13T18:28:00.001-08:00

Okay so keeping a travel blog while on tour proved to be harder than I thought. After the two sick days I just got too behind, so... sorry but finishing it now after I am back seems kind of silly. Sorry guys. But be sure to bug Jesse to post the rest of the video footage and to make a DVD! Here are some pictures!!!

Kiwi films teenage cool kids from kiwifilms on Vimeo.

Excursion Into Philosophy: Bay Area

2008-01-08T21:33:00.000-08:00

We had planned to leave early that morning from Sacramento. Chantelle had already gone to work, but we left her a note. The weather was terrible outside, raining cats and dogs. My suspicions were confirmed when a lady, who I assumed was Chantelle or Dave’s mother, came down very surprised that nine guys were sleeping in her living room. I tried to get everybody moving as quick as possible, but it was hard with “Son in Law”, on of Paulie Shore’s best, on the TV.
We finally headed out. The weather was pure hell. The van smelled terrible and we were all soaked and I don’t think anybody was in too good a mood. I was feeling 100% better besides the usual sore throat that I wake up with every morning of tour. The drive was short, just under two hours. We went through Berkeley, then Oakland and passed the massive Bay Bridge into San Francisco. Our first stop was Thrillhouse Records, collectively run punk rock record store. A few members of the party were not interested in record stores anymore at this point, but what else were we going to do? It was raining cats and dogs in a city we didn’t know. I was pretty impressed by Thrillhouse, the store itself is small, but when you take into account that its all punk its pretty impressive. I traded some Teenage Cool Kids stuff for a Reds LP.

Earlier in the day I had asked my buddy Alex Hughes what a good place to eat at in the bay area was. He was a seasoned tour master. He recommended a place in Oakland called Golden Lotus. Tyler asked the volunteer at Thrillhouse if they knew how to get there. They didn’t but they gave him directions to Oakland. Driving in the Bay Area was ultra stressful, for me at least. I was riding shotgun and all navigation; itinerary and general questions were directed at me, to which I couldn’t answer. That and the crazy city driving. After calling the restaurant and not being able to understand the thick Vietnamese accent on the other end of the phone and getting lost, I called my roommate Daniel Bass in Denton who got us directions online.
We finally arrived at Golden Lotus in downtown Oakland and had one of the best meals of tour. Everybody was glad to be out of the van. I called Jackie, who’s house we were playing at that night and got directions. Things were starting get less stressful. We had food in our bellies and the rain had stopped.

We drove to west Oakland, where the show was going to be. The Cesspool house, as it were called, was located in pretty dilapidated, blue-collar neighborhood. We met Jackie inside who was hanging out with four or five kids that we later found out were tripping on LSD. The house was dirty, smelly and all around pretty punk. We hung out with the tenants and bands as they arrived.

Kids in Oakland were sketchy. It reminded me of Amarillo in that everybody was drunk or high. We got a T shirt and some 7”s stolen from us and Jackie raised less than $20 in gas for us, but all that said, the show ruled. Kids were going nuts. We played in the kitchen of the house. Not only were kids going nuts but they also knew the words to our songs, and were requesting them, which blew my mind. Somebody that I had never met in a place I had never been requesting a song I wrote in my bedroom in Denton, TX. Crazy. We decided not to stay in Oakland that night, because we were a long way from LA still and we wouldn’t be able to get any sleep at the Cesspool house anyway. We said our goodbyes and Jesse lamented not having hit on a cute girl with glasses. Jesse and Koji Kondo were all drunk, especially Jesse though. He kept going on and on about this girl. Daniel was DJ and treated us to a smorgåsbord of 90s radio pop as we made our way out of the bay and into central California. We made a pit stop at Del Taco where the whole set acted goofy on account of our delirious/inebriated conditions. I fell asleep in the van and that’s all I remember.

TCK/KK Tour - Day 10 (Sacramento to Oakland) from Jesse Spurlin on Vimeo.

Just posting a

2008-01-07T13:40:00.000-08:00

Show review from our show in LA at House of Vermont.

Excursion Into Philosophy: Northern California

2008-01-07T10:30:00.000-08:00

A Timeline of Our Journey from Eugene to Sacramento

-Everybody wakes up, feels sick and has sore throats. Lorax Manor is immediate scapegoat.
-We leave without saying goodbye, I am feeling a little bit better, well enough to play a show.
-We drive south into California and are starting to get semi pumped about playing a show that night.
-Baggins takes off his shirt.
-It rains a lot.
-We get into California and traffic is insane.
-Turns out we have to have snow chains to get past a check point, which is what the traffic is all about.
-Baggins proclaims that its “barely rainin’, hardly cold”, and “don’t wanna pay no heed to no snow chains”, and takes off his shirt.
-We make a couple of attempts to put on snow chains. Ours don’t fit.
-We get to the check point and Wilford Brimley lets us pass cause we have a 4X4 or so we tell him.
-We sat in traffic between Yreka and Weed, California for three hours.
-We get to weed and buy snow chains that we will actually never use.
-The weather never gets bad at all and we get kind of aggravated because we are four hours behind and we have already missed the show.
-We get to Sacramento and call David who booked our show but he is sick so we talk to his girlfriend Chantelle and she give us directions to her house.
-Chantelle and David’s place looks like married couple house but she looks like she is probably 17 or something.
-She is really nice though.
-And makes us pasta.
-We go to bed and it was definetly the crappiest day of tour yet.

Excursion Into Philosophy: Eugene

2008-01-06T18:51:00.000-08:00

Hey, sorry if these next few blog entries are a bit cut and dry. I am in LA trying to catch up from my sick days where I couldn't write!

The rain poured down hard when we woke up in Portland. I was feeling somewhat funky. It was the first time, but not the last, that we would deal with rain, and I was glad that I brought my Gor-Tex rain slicker that my parents bought me when I was 14 and still fit cause it was huge. I was starting to feel kind of funky, so I took some wellness formula. I swallowed the three huge horse pills on an empty stomach. Bad idea. I immediately felt weird. As everybody was packing and loading the car I paced around the room and then ran to Kyle and Jesse’s porch and barfed three nice big chunk-loads. I felt my head and it was getting warm. I was officially sick.
The weather was shitty but there were still a lot of things we wanted to do in Portland. We wanted to go eat, go to a record store and I wanted to check out Laughing Horse Books, a collectively run radical bookstore. Kyle and Jesse, who we were staying with and Portland, were to be our tour guides for the day. The first stop was Vita Café, where we ate lunch and I got what was probably the best (and only) vegan fried steak in my entire life. I was starting to feel sicker but still had enough energy to keep going, mainly because I wanted to keep morale high by staying energetic. Portland had dampened the spirits of the van and I felt responsible to keep everybody in good spirits.

The next stop in our tour of Portland was the Laughing Horse, a collectively owned radical bookstore. We followed Kyle and Jesse through the streets of Portland. The weather was gloomy but the city looked really nice. The Laughing Horse was a really cool store with a good selection of books from Anarchy, Politics, Gender studies, fiction, philosophy and what have you. Lots of zines too. I talked to the clerk, who had been volunteering there for fourteen years. She was real nice. The next stop was Green Noise, a pretty badass record store, which was owned and operated by the guy who runs Dirtnap Records. After that everybody kind of wanted to hit the road, I was feeling double crappy and really just wanted to crawl up in the van and pass out. We said goodbye to Kyle and Jesse and thanked them for being such great tour guides, and to Monet, Lauren and Madison until we met them again in Denton.

I was asleep during most of the ride to Eugene, passed out in the very back seat of the van under a pile of clothes. By this time I felt really, really bad. I was looking forward to Eugene and spending time there, but it wasn’t looking like I was going to be able to.
A little background on our show in Eugene: before we left for tour I emailed Karam, a former Denton resident that had recently moved to Eugene. All I asked for was a place to stay, since we were having poor luck finding a show in Eugene. Karam offers us a show in Eugene at this place called the Lorax Manor. I do a little research to discover it’s a Co-Op house. So I thought, “Cool, house show in Eugene. Awesome.”

Back to Eugene: We arrive at the Lorax Manor. I stay in the van because I feel like doo doo and just want to sleep. Meanwhile the rest of the van was getting a tour of the house. I later walked inside. It was a huge place, the building used to be a fraternity or sorority house. The inside had all your staples of a coop house: bikes, huge kitchen with bulk foods and huge fridge, the aroma of weed, arbitrary paintings of random crap (yin yangs for example).

I found a random room and crashed for what felt like a couple of hours. When I woke up I called Bradley and asked him when the show was. I had a fever and was sicker than I had ever remembered being but I swear I would have played. “Um.. Yeah I don’t know if the show is going to happen…” said Bradley. Apparently Karam had “booked” the show by telling somebody who lived at the house that we were playing, I’m not sure who, but the rest of the house seemed really out of the loop. But instead of being overly apologetic, Karam was ridiculously nonchalant and couldn’t give two shits if we played or not. To add insult to injury the tenants of Lorax Manor were complete dicks. Most anarchist or “alternative housing” places like say… Boing! House for example, are so inviting and nice but these kids were definitely giving us all the cold shoulder. One resident, Cohen, who was a flautist, shared with us his amazing life. He was a registered Republican and former millionaire and currently employed on Wallstreet. He made $75 an hour in front of Wal-Mart playing the flute. He once was fought over by two strippers whom he seduced by playing flute over a Sublime song.
I ended up falling asleep in a freshly painted room, unbeknownst to me. Jesse and Daniel awaked me about four hours later. “Wake up man, this room is gonna fuck you up,” said Jesse. I was really ready to go to sleep, and I appreciated being taken out of the paint room, but I wanted to get right back to sleep. I moved into the room where everybody else was sleeping, but felt like a burden because they wanted to watch a movie. I felt like crap and was really tired but I didn’t want to ask the other dudes to be quiet so I just tried to go to sleep.

Portland to Eugene

2008-01-06T16:47:00.000-08:00

TCK/KK Tour - Day 8-9 (Portland/Eugene to Sacramento) from Jesse Spurlin on Vimeo.

Excursion Into Philosophy: Portland

2008-01-05T18:01:00.000-08:00

I woke up next to Adam in a little room in Dog City. Everybody else was in the main room and somebody, I can’t remember who, was in the van. I still felt great from the night before. One of the bands that had played last night, Yes, Oh Yes, had invited us to a New Years breakfast at their house, so we all started getting dressed and said goodbye to Reed.

Jordan and I gave the van a thorough clean up and we left for the Yes, Oh Yes house. Apparently everyone had gotten really chummy with these kids the night before but I didn’t remember any of them. They lived in a really nice house right by the docks in Seattle. We got there and there was food already being cooked for us. The first of many courses was already being cooked for us. Those who hadn’t already met made their introductions. We hung out, arm-wrestled and exchanged accents. One thing about girls in Seattle is that they are really pretty and I wanted to marry all of them. Kids in general there just seemed really nice and sincere.

We must have hung out there until about 2 or 3, when we decided to leave and said all of our goodbyes. The drive wouldn’t be long but we weren’t quite sure what time our show in Portland would be. Really we didn’t know anything about this show. Baggins had booked it and from what we had gathered it was a bar, possibly a restaurant in Portland that was 21+.
The northwest is a really beautiful part of the continent. Driving down everything was very green and the trees were very tall. Portland is an impressive city to drive into at night, but maybe that’s just because I like cities on rivers. Something about the reflectivity of lights on water.

We got to Rotture, which was inconspicuously located in a back alley factory street with no sign. We checked in with the sound guy, who told us to be back by 9.30. I couldn’t tell if he was being a dick or not, but he seemed agitated. Turns our Rotture was just a bar, not a restaurant, so we were on our own about food. Downstairs from Rotture was a gaming store specializing in role-playing where kids where playing magic and painting Warhammer figures. Here we met up with Monet, Lauren and Madison who came down from Seattle to see the show. Everybody was getting pretty hungry, so we walked around and tried to find something to eat. Most everything was closed, on account of it being New Years Day. We stumbled upon Taco Del Mar, the place we stopped at in Boise. Half of the troop was fine in settling there and the other half wanted to keep going. I really didn’t care. On one hand it was mediocre at best, but we didn’t have to eat like kings every night of tour. So Koji Kondo and Jordan stayed at Taco Del Mar and the rest of us kept walking. We walked past this Lebanese restaurant were Yacht of indie rock fame was dining. I honestly had never heard of him but the rest of the people in my party were really excited about it. We ended up eating at the Lebanese place after much walking around, a return to Taco Del Mar and Bradley being kicked out for touching a sign.
The show at Rotture was okay at best. Oregon has a weird law that performers under 21 have to stay in the green room the entire time they are not performing, so Baggins and Tyler watched most of the show from a little room next to the stage. I hate playing on stages and I hate dealing with sound guys, I hate mic-ing my amp no matter how good people say it sounds and I hate playing bars. No matter what, I can always forecast a bar show badly. We played with this band Red Herring, who were amazing. One of the girls from Haram Scarum was the lead singer, and played banjo (along with a tuba, and trumpet/drummer). The few locals that came out were really cool. A couple of them, Kyle and Jesse, offered us a place to stay. The club owner, whose name I can’t remember, but was wearing a Jawbreaker shirt, bought our CD and told me he was sorry, but New Years Eve is a shitty day to get a show anywhere, and to contact him about a house show next time.
Daniel called Kyle and got directions to their house. The girls followed us. At the house we hung out and talked about music and fell asleep watching Rambo: First Blood.

TCK/KK Tour - Day 7 (Seattle to Portland) from Jesse Spurlin on Vimeo.

Excursion Into Philosophy: Seattle

2008-01-03T22:09:00.000-08:00

Hey sorry the updates are coming slow, the last few days have been pretty crazy, but you'll hear about it soon.

I never thought that one of the best days of my life would start at 7.30 AM, but it did when Tyler’s alarm went off in our Knights Inn motel room in Pendleton, Oregon. The floor was covered with sleeping bags, backpacks and duffel bags. We had planned to make an early start so we could spend the day in Seattle. We were all up and atem’ and had checked out by 8.20.
Washington was some of the most visually breathtaking country we had seen on tour and in our whole lives. The sun was out and the light illuminated the snow around us. Before we reached the mountains there were apple orchards that stretched to the horizons with snow capped mountains. As we started to crawl into said mountains the magic really started happening. Snowy pine trees and jagged cliffs dominated the scenery. The Wenatchee National Forest is so captivating, it left us all in awe. The pine trees stretched to the sky, literally taller than buildings. The mountains were jagged and unpredictable and almost swallowed the thin narrow roads that cut through them.

And suddenly the snow was gone, just like that. Almost as if it was never there; and an army of green pine trees had infiltrated the winter wonderland. We wondered when we would start seeing the city, when suddenly out of the forest it came. The city grew around us and before we knew it we were in the heart of Seattle looking at the Space Tower.
The agenda was to go straight to Mighty-O Donuts a vegan donut show that we all wanted to go to. The Koji Kondo guys had gone there when they were in Seattle earlier that last summer. We parked the neighborhood the donut shop was in and started to walk a few blocks to the shop. Seattle was sunny and green. I guess we got lucky cause I’d heard it was notorious for its gloomy weather. We approached the shop to see chairs on tables through the window. It was closed. And only by less than an hour said the sign. It was 12.40 and the shop closed at noon. I felt so disappointed; it probably wouldn’t be open the next day, being New Years Day. Baggins began running around the corner. We followed him, wondering were he was going. When we found him he was digging in a dumpster, and pulled out a bag. We all looked inside. It was a bag of donuts. What luck. Free donuts minutes after the place had closed. We feasted on the vegan donuts until we realized we still planned to eat lunch.

The Koji Kondo crew also recommended a place called Thai Tom’s. We drove over to the district where Thai Tom’s was located, all the while admiring the beauty and scenic aesthetic of Seattle. We checked out a record store across the street from Thai Tom’s and called our friends Monet, Lauren and Madison from Denton who were meeting us in Seattle. They were taking a vacation on their break from school. The record store, Cellophane Squares, was a really big store with a good selection. I picked up Animal Collective and Built to Spill.
We met the girls across the street at Thai Tom’s. It was so packed we had to wait outside, not to mention all thirteen of us would have taken up most of the restaurant. The waitress took our orders while we waited outside. I got the yellow curry with 4 out of 5 peppers. We sat at a bar inside were we watched who I’m assuming was Thai Tom cook our food right in front us at lightening speed. It was almost stressful to watch.
After Thai Tom’s half of the dudes wanted to go to another records store. I decided to limit myself to one record store per city so Daniel, Bobby and I decided to just walk to the house we were playing at, called Dog City. It was only four blocks away from Thai Tom’s.

We were able to spot the house easily. There was graffiti on the walls, a bunch of vans outside and the power line had about 6 pairs of shows hanging from it. Hallmarks of a punk house. We walked into the garage/basement, which was obviously the show space since gear was coming in and out of it. “Is this Dog City?” I asked. “It is,” answered a tall dude who identified himself as Reed. I introduced myself and said it was nice to meet him and that we had been corresponding through emails. Reed was wearing cargo shorts and a cutoff shirt, unbefitting of the chilly weather. Dog City was a cool house, three stories tall in total. On the third story, which was the main story and accessible from the street by a huge three-tiered stoop, was a main room with a huge bike rack and kids cooking a vegan potluck. At this point we had just come to expect free vegan food. The bottom floor was the basement, which had a street entry and the show room and the middle story was just kind of a limbo floor of rooms that existed between the other two.
Once everybody was at the house we hung out waiting for the show to start. We all talked with the Seattle kids who seemed really cool. The potluck was really delicious. At one point we were all looking for the keys to the van. Daniel thought Jordan had them last, but Jordan said that Baggins had them last. Baggins said he may or may not have locked the keys in the van.

Everybody started to panic because Koji Kondo and Teenage Cool Kids were third and fourth (out of eight) in the lineup. Luckily Tyler had his Dad’s AAA card. This guy that looked like a combination of Santa Clause and ZZTop came about 40 minutes later to unlock the van, and sure enough the keys were right inside there.

The show ended up being amazing that night. We got to play with Talbot Tagora who I was already a fan of, and who were absolutely amazing live. Koji Kondo tore it up, and Teenage Cool Kids did one of the best and most exiting shows of the bands existence. The room was backed and kids were going nuts. By far it was the best show we had played on tour up to that point. Also, The Last Slice of Butter, is one of tightest bands out there right now. We were fortunate to play with them on their last show for months as the two members of the band were moving to Canada and Cuba for a semester.
We sold a crazy amount of “merch” that night, I didn’t keep track but the number was pretty crazy. I walked outside the house just after everybody had done the countdown to the new year and I could see the fireworks going off at the Space Needle. My band and Monet, Lauren and Madison were by the van drinking champagne and singing. I walked down the enormous stoop of Dog City and joined them.

TCK/KK Tour - Day 6 (Seattle) from Jesse Spurlin on Vimeo.

Excursion Into Philosophy: Another Drive Day

2008-01-01T01:32:00.001-08:00

“Is anybody awake?” asked Dalen. “We are gonna start handing out food.” We were all lying on the floor in the upstairs room of the Boing! House in Salt Lake City, Utah, except Tyler and Bobby who were in the van and downstairs respectively. It was freezing cold. A very friendly house cat named “Bad Cat” had crawled into my sleeping bag with me and was purring like crazy.

When we got downstairs there were lots of Russian and Asian immigrants scavenging through the Food Not Bombs food. Dalen reminded us that we were welcome to anything we liked. I found a piece of Foccacia bread that was a big hit with everybody and was dubbed “party loaf”. On top of all the great food spoils, we were cooked a breakfast of hash browns a fry sauce, a Utah favorite, by Eric, Eta and Dalen.
Dalen told us about a record store that we wanted to check out. I never caught his name, and I don’t think anybody else did, and I don’t think any of us told him ours, but one of the house residents walked us down to the store. On the way there we had an impromptu snowball fight that I think Baggins started. The store was called Slow Train and had a pretty good selection of indie/punk stuff, not a whole lot of hardcore though. I ended up getting a Q and Not U record.
We headed out shortly thereafter and said goodbye to the beautiful people of the Boing! House who had treated us with such love and generosity. We had been so fortunate to have met such great people. I had learned the valuable lesson on not judging a city by the stereotypes a society assigns it.

On the way out of the city we got a sight of the Great Salt Lake. Riding into Idaho from Utah is like riding on the planet Hoth from Star Wars. The jagged mountains turn into pure white rolling hills of untouched snow that are born around every corner. Everyone was really excited to play a show after not having played one last night. Bobby was air drumming to the music in the van and everyone was in a pretty good mood, despite the fact that visibility was the worse yet, and we were in the middle of a genuine Idaho blizzard. The bad weather didn’t last for long though, and Bradley pulled through. When reached outside Boise Baggins decided to call Nina, who’s house we would play at.
“Hello, Nina?...
This is Baggins from Koji Kondo, we are playing a show at your house….
Yeah…
yeah…
Teenage Cool Kids…
umm, tonight?...
Ohh… umm… oh… okay.
Bye”

No show in Boise. Apparently another band had booked the show for Baggins and Nina had no idea about it at all. That brought the mood in the van down pretty fast. We decided to stop in Boise to rest, eat and decide what to do. At Taco Del Mar we decided to keep driving until we were too tired, that way our drive the next day wouldn’t be too long, and we could make it into Seattle at a descent time.

I fell asleep most of the ride after Boise. My body still wasn’t used to Mountain time, and when we hit Oregon we had changed into Pacific time. We stopped in Pendleton, Oregon and got a motel room at the Knights Inn, and crashed. We all took showers, as we smelled double terrible. I fell asleep on the floor as Bradley and Tyler watched Futurama.

Sante Fe to Salt Lake

2007-12-31T07:39:00.001-08:00

TCK/KK Tour - Day 4/5 (Drive from Santa Fe to Salt Lake City) from Jesse Spurlin on Vimeo.

Excursion Into Philosophy: Drive Day

2007-12-30T23:42:00.000-08:00

I slept better than I had all tour that night. When I woke up that chilly Santa Fe morning I had no idea what time it was since there was no passage of light into the basement. When I walked upstairs Matt was already cooking us vegan pancakes as promised from the night before, and my comrades had congregated in the kitchen. Breakfast was delicious and we had good conversation with Meg, Chris and Matt. When I packed that morning I realized that I left my glasses in Amarillo, which upset me, but not too much because I was thinking about getting new glasses anyway. We said goodbye to all at Meg’s house after eating and showering and hit the road.

The plan was to drive all day to Salt Lake City. At the show last night a kid named Mateo tipped me off about an Anarchist collective called the Boing! House in Salt Lake, which blew me away because I didn’t know there, was any leftist/anarcho culture in Salt Lake City. I would soon be proved very wrong.

The long, long drive was a fun bonding experience for all of us. We all saw country we had never seen before. We passed from northern New Mexico into Colorado the massive Rocky Mountains started towering over the van. The piñon turned into pine and the roads wrapped around the giant mountains. I sat next to Baggins for the entire ride, who had his shirt off for probably 80 % of the trip, and smelled pretty rank. One thing about Baggins is that he can be super stressful sometimes because get you built up by saying things like “Holy crap!” or “Oh my god you guys!” then taking a long pregnant pause that leaves us all on the edge of our seats and then saying, “Oh… never mind… nothing.” He and Bradley also brought me to tears laughing.
By the time we got to Utah it was dark and snowy. We couldn’t see very well, but could in a way feel the huge mountain walls around us and wished it were daylight. We were well into the Rockies and could feel their mammoth presence.
To give you an idea of what was usually happening in the van, Adam was usually reading, Jesse was most of the time editing video on his laptop, Baggins was either reading or cracking me up with his jive, Tyler was usually in the very back row which can only seat one with all the bags and gear in it. Daniel, Adam and I were the DJ’s most of the time.

We arrived at the Boing! house at about 11 PM that night, after over 11 hours of driving. We were greeted by Eta, a pretty lady who told us that we were welcome to sleep anywhere and any food in the kitchen. The house had lots of residents, an extensive library and two kitchens, one, which housed a Food Not Bombs chapter. I met several of the residents that night including Dalen, Eric, Ian, Coleman and several other residents whose names I can’t remember. Eric told us that the next morning there would be a Food Not Bombs redistribution and that we were welcome to anything. He also gave us some Odwalla juices that they found in a dumpster. Eta showed us the upstairs room where we all crashed except for Bobby who slept in the van and Tyler who slept downstairs on the coach along with another traveler from Ohio. I was bummed that we didn’t get to play a show that night, but we were really fortunate to have discovered such a great place on tour.

Excursion Into Philosophy: Santa Fe

2007-12-30T09:31:00.001-08:00

The night we stayed in Amarillo was loud and long. Adam and I made an attempt at sleep, but with the party still going on it was too hard. The house was a mess and pornography was strategically place by one of the kids, Gabe, who had an entire magazine cut up and scattered through the house (clocks, frames, jacket pockets, mayonnaise jars, etc.). With all this commotion Adam and I decided to rough it out and sleep in the van. Somebody had to because all of our gear was in there, and I didn’t trust these kids for anything.
I woke up at about 8 AM to the discomfort of my own freezing. My and Adam’s breath had fogged on the windows and froze on the inside. It was probably ten degrees outside tops and my feet felt like icicles. I had to pee something fierce, and there was no way I was going to leave the van. I looked at Adam. Out like a light. I looked at a half empty Vitamin Water bottle. I looked back at Adam.
“Here we go,” I said to myself, my hot breath visible inside the van. I opened the van door and spilled the remaining Vitamin Water and noticed that my shoe was on the ground, frozen, and had been there the entire night. I took the shoe, closed the door and started to refill the Vitamin Water bottle while Adam slept next to me. The most difficult part was having to stop after I filled it up, empty it, then refill. I tried to go back to sleep but it was just to cold. I devised a plan on how to get to the door with a frozen shoe and no socks. I couldn’t stay in the van, it was painfully cold. I put my knit cap around my foot as a sock and wearing one shoe, hopped to the door.
Inside everybody was fast asleep. The other six guys were passed out in the living room. Kelsey was asleep in Sarah’s room. Sarah was MIA. I took advantage of the serenity and took a shower. When I was done my alarm was going off, which woke up everybody. I had set it for 9 AM, so that we could get an early start and beat any snowy weather. We packed the van and dropped Kelsey off at her house.

Driving from the Texas panhandle into New Mexico like watching a flat wasteland turn explode into a mountainous landscape of mesas, plateaus. The change in terrain is rapid and subtle. I sat up front, which was fun because I got to play DJ. We listened to Daft Punk, Jawbreaker, the soundtrack to Angus, Belle & Sebastian and Meneguar. We stopped at Cline’s Corners, which is located at the intersection of I-40 and 285 which leads to Santa Fe. Imagine a huge travel stop filled with knick knacks, Native American paraphernalia, wolf t shirts, New Mexico souvenirs and cheap toys of all kinds.

From that point on mountains and adobe houses emerged steadily, until we finally reached Sante Fe, a beautiful city made of clay. We were all starving. I had been to Santa Fe several times in my youth and kept a vague memory of a restaurant in or around the Santa Fe plaza that my family would always eat at. Upon recalling this to my band mates it was unanimously decided that we would eat at this nameless restaurant which existed in a hazy childhood memory. It wasn’t till we actually got to the plaza that I realized everyone was following me as if I were leading them anywhere. I called my mother and asked her if she knew the name of it, but she didn’t. In the square there was a tourist information center, where Daniel found a restaurant a couple of blocks away that had cheap burritos. We made our way through the chilly streets of Santa Fe, crowded with yuppies and tourists. We were all bundled up when we went inside Bumblebee Bee Baja Burritos. It was pretty okay burrito fair, but we were all famished. I finally went “number two” for the first time on tour, which I think was building up because I went three times that day.

It was time to start heading to the venue, Meg’s House as we knew it. I called a number I had on my computer and talked to a voice named Matt who gave me directions from the plaza.
The house wasn’t hard to find. It was in a neighborhood of small adobe houses. We were met inside my Chris, Matt, and Meg who lived there. They were really nice kids about our age and were preparing a vegan potluck for the show. If only we had known, we wouldn’t have eaten lunch. The fare included homemade New Mexican green chili. I jokingly asked Chris why the house wasn’t decked out with Kokapelli, terra cotta suns and dried chili peppers. “Cause we actually live here,” answered Chris.

The show was a little weird. The kids in Santa Fe seemed a little unenthused. There were a ton of people there crammed in a tiny basement. Our hosts were some of the best house show organizers that I had met. I got a chance to talk with all of them, and they were all very genuine people, and they made delicious food.

After the show we were really tired. The party was still going on so I asked Chris if we could stay in the basement. He told me that we shouldn’t because in Santa Fe radon rises from the ground and can cause cancer. The upstairs room was way to fool, and Tyler was about to sleep in the van, so I double checked with Matt who said it was probably no big deal for one night, which was good enough for me if it meant Tyler didn’t have to sleep in the van. It was supposed to get down to 5 degrees that night. So Baggins, Tyler, Jesse and I slept in the basement.
As I went to sleep that night I reflected on how wonderful the trip had already been in just three days, and how happy I was to be going on tour with these eight guys. The anticipation of the next two weeks filled me with excitement.

TCK/KK Tour - Day 3 (Santa Fe, NM) from Jesse Spurlin on Vimeo.

Excursion Into Philosophy: Amarillo

2007-12-29T09:09:00.000-08:00

“The hobos are still here,” said Cago’s sister, as we all woke up. As the light of the day invaded my eyes and the sound of sleeping bags unzipping filled the room T Mac announced that he was still drunk. We all lay around each other in a den in suburban Oklahoma. I stayed at my slumber pallet while my entire caravan congregated in the kitchen. As I fooled around on the internet I heard choruses of “Hell yes!” and “Thank you so much!” so I followed them. When I arrived in the kitchen I saw a spread of about seven different cereals, soymilk, rolls, veggie bacon and sausage. We thanked Cago and her parents extensively as we dug in and assembled around a dining table to make plans for the day. It was agreed that we would check out a record store, Size Records, which James from Steeples worked at and tipped us off about. We packed up, which was a bit of a challenge as Cago’s dogs kept running away. We told Cago goodbye and thanked her a million and one times. With T Mac in tow we headed back into the city.

Size Records had an exterior like a Mondrian painting, and was much larger than I had expected. Oklahoma City had actually surprised me on all fronts, the people, scene and city itself. We cruised and perused and talked with the shopkeeper. I traded him a couple of 7”s for a couple of bucks of the Jay Retard LP I bought.

After we all bought records we dropped T Mac off at his van, which was parked in front of Joline’s house. “Let’s end this the same way we started it T Mac,” said Daniel as he hugged T Mac goodbye.

Jordan had job of navigation as we headed to Oklahoma. Highway 40 West is bleak and flat, but the trip started with The Marked Men on the van CD player so morale was high. As we crawled deeper into the heart of the Texas panhandle snow started appearing faster and faster until there was hardly any visibility and there were snow flurries all around us. The vast flat horizon of the high planes had been swallowed by a winter fog and was crystallizing on the windows. Baggins, who had driving duties, was doing his best to drive on the icy road. It was dark now and visibility was zero. We were probably an hour outside of Amarillo and were all on the edge of our seats. I made an attempt to call my coworker Krisha who was in Amarillo for the break at her parent’s house, but I got her answering machine.
At last we were in Amarillo proper, a flat ghost town covered in snow. The absence of cars and people from the street created an eerie landscape. Baggins listened as I gave directions and we slowly churned down 6th Ave, a part of historic Route 66. The Goldenlight Café and Cantina stood waiting for us as we pulled into the parking lot that had obviously been untouched by anything since the snow had fallen. As we spilled out of the fan we were all happy to be alive and happy to be in a winter wonderland. I tried to call Krisha to alert her of our arrival but again no answer.
The interior of the Golden Light was as empty as the streets. “You boys must be damn crazy to come all the way from Fort Worth on a night like this,” said the lone bartender after we introduced ourselves as the band. “We actually played in Oklahoma City last night,” countered Bradley.
“Shoot…”
He told us that the restaurant would comp us a meal and that we had to be done by 11, but that he didn’t think anyone was coming. We said that was okay, and that it would be good to practice and get food in our stomach. Everyone ordered grilled cheese sandwiches, expect for Jesse and Jordan who got food and myself who got fries. The fries were damn good, some of the best ever. I felt bad because I new that our waitress wouldn’t have any more customers, and that nobody was going to come to the show. I was just glad to be off the road and happy that we got a chance to see so much snow. It was Baggins idea to go to a coffee show down the street and try to recruit show attendees, or at the very least use the WiFi. We hung out in the coffee shop, the 806, for an hour or more and hung out. It was warm and we could all check our email. The question to weather or not we should even play came up, but in the end everyone conquered we should all at least practice.

That night at the Goldenlight each band played for the other band, and the possibly annoyed bartenders. People would come in and leave after hearing about the $3 cover, so Adam told the door guy to drop it. In the end a vagrant wino came in and really had a good time. The practice was good, but the experience was exactly morale lifting. I wasn’t bummed, but I could tell others in the caravan were not so enthused. After the “show” we loaded up and played in the snow, which was actually a blast. Finally I got a text from Krisha saying that we could not stay at her house. We were relying on here house, so it was a bit of a blow. We put our heads together and started crunching numbers for a hotel room. With nine guys it wouldn’t be expensive. Jordan remembered that he had a friend in Amarillo and gave him a ring. “We might have a place to stay,” said Jordan after getting of the phone with Ben. “It’s this girl’s house, and we have to show up and see if it’s okay. No problem. We left 6th Ave in our van while Jordan spit out directions.
The house was in a middle class neighborhood right outside downtown Amarillo and two blocks away from Interstate 40. As we approached a kid in a hoodie and flat brim cap walked out. It was Jordan’s friend Ben. We all introduced ourselves and walked inside a stranger’s house were we hoped to sleep that night. At this point we met Kelsey, who didn’t live at the house but, as we later learned, was a part of a group of kids who work for a crazy millionaire who gives them odd jobs in return for certain favors. Kelsey said it was okay with her that we stayed there, but again she didn’t live there. We all set our stuff down and made introductions, which in a group of nine guys is basically pointless but it’s a gesture of courtesy. Everyone decided to walk down the street to a liquor store so that they could nurse away the defeat of the night. Bobby, Baggins, Tyler and I were distracted by giant hills of snow that we decided to play in.
When everybody got back at the house there were a lot more kids, including Sarah who lived at the house and gave us a hesitant okay. She wasn’t drunk yet so she still had the sense to be weary of letting nine strangers stay in her house, but she came around.
Somehow, it was suggested that both bands should play in the basement.
I’ll cut to the chase because this blog is getting really long. That night we played a badass show to 15 drunken Amarillo kids that went so nuts and so insane it was totally worth the disappointment of the Goldenlight. There was making out and Styrofoam eating. It was complete drunken debauchery, and it ruled.

TCK/KK Tour - Day 2 (Amarillo, TX) from Jesse Spurlin on Vimeo.

Excursion Into Philosophy: Oklahoma City

2007-12-25T18:24:00.000-08:00

This tour started Christmas night as I got everything together to load in the van, which I would pick up the next day. I pilled shirts, 7"s, CD's, food, gear, blankets and my own bags into a corner by the stairs at my house. The night before my brother and I had packed all the 7"s, and I spent about an hour stuffing them with lyrics sheets. Casey came by before I left to tell me goodbye and to get a shirt, CD and 7". I explained that we only had 40 CD's going out, so she would have to take a rain check. My father had already pried two of them from me after I told myself I wouldn't sell any more before the tour. That night Daniel and Bradley surprised me by coming home early. They said they couldn’t wait to get home.
The night before we left I slept like a kid on Christmas Eve, which was weird because it was Christmas night. I woke up to a text message from Casey requesting that I don’t die on tour. Shortly thereafter Baggins, the bass player from Koji Kondo, called and let me know they were on their way from Fort Worth. Everybody was waking up and packing, and at this point I didn’t realize that I wouldn’t be in Denton for two and a half weeks.
Koki Kondo arrived at 11.40. Adams, Baggins, Bobby and Tyler spilled out of a van that was followed by Baggins’s father, Dennis, who came to pay for Baggins’s part of the van. Baggins’s real name is Matt Gibbons, and I always forget, but was reminded when Dennis kept referring to him as Matt.
When everybody had arrived Dennis, Tyler and I went to pick up the van at Enterprise, which was just down the street from my house. It took probably 45 minutes to get the thing because we had this guy that was new and unfamiliar with the computer system. We left with a beautiful white 15-seater van. I wouldn’t normally call a van beautiful but in this instance, all my dreams having come to fruition, I’m calling it beautiful.

When we got back to the Panhandle house we started loading, which was the hardest game of real life Tetris ever. To put it in perspective we have gear for two bands, and bags, sleeping bags and food for nine people. Bags were consolidated and seats were taken out, but finally nine guys were able to fit comfortably in the 15-seater. There was Koji Kondo: Adam, Baggins, Bobby and Tyler, Teenage Cool Kids: Bradley, Daniel, Jordan and myself and Jesse who we brought to do merch and videotape. We grabbed a quick lunch at Mr. Chopsticks, I picked up by check at the Cupboard and deposited it, we did a quick walk through of the house and we were off.

The ride in Oklahoma was marked by changes of terrain and patches of snow that began to appear on the ground around us. With all the luggage and body heat in the car, there was no need for the heater, even thought the temperature outside was below freezing.
As we approached Oklahoma City I called the kid who booked our show.
“Hey this is Andrew from Teenage Cool Kids” I started. He told me that there was going to be a “ton of food” ready for us at the Oklahoma City Infoshop, and that there were kids already there waiting for us.
“What was your name, I didn’t catch it?” I asked. “T Mac,” the voice replied. “T Mac?” I repeated. T Mac. So we made our way into the heart of an industrial part of Oklahoma City and neared the address as I gave directions to Bobby, who had driving duties. I recognized the exterior of the Infoshop from the website. It was completely dark and vacant, and nobody was waiting for us, but we all piled out to stretch. Bradley and I ran around. A truck pulled up and a kid pulled up and met Daniel and me. His name was James and he was in the band Steeples. We talked for a bit in the cold until the keyholders of the Infoshop came to open up. James showed us around. It was a very impressive DIY space. Aside from the actual show space, there was a library filled with zines, anarchist/leftist literature, a bike coop and a free store. It was very well organized, especially for a place that had only been open for one month. I sat and talked with James about the space when I heard in a distance the voice on the other end of the phone. It was T Mac. He came in the room demanding to meet all of us.
“We give hugs around here!” he said when I tried to shake his hand. T Mac, whose full name was Taylor Mackenzie we later found out, was a 17 year old kid with a blond mullet who was very enthusiastic about life in general. I thanked him for setting up the show as we all walked back the show room.

As more people arrived so did food, and soon before us was a huge piping hot vegan spread. There was bread, vegan macaroni casserole, lentils, chilli, salsa, hummus, rice casserole, apple cobbler, pecan pie and more. I should point out that everyone in our party was vegetarian besides Jordan and Jesse, so this was overwhelmingly hospitable. As we sat and ate we looked at each other dumbfounded on how we could have gotten so lucky.

The show was fun, Steeples, a screamo type band played first, then Koji Kondo then us. The sound in the concrete room was soaked in reverb, but that’s to be expected at DIY spaces. It was so cold in the room that before the show I put two pairs of socks on to keep my toes from freezing off, and in between bands I would go outside to an oil drum with a fire inside that kids were congregating around to warm up. After we played the numbness subsided and I felt fine. The kids in Oklahoma City were very congenial, and some offered us extra gas money in addition to what we made.
After the show this girl Joline invited us to go Karaoke singing at this bar called Cookies. We all accepted and followed to the bar. We approached cookies planning to sneak in Baggins, Tyler and T Mac, who were all under 21, but to no avail. The stayed in the van and drank beer that Daniel bought them at a nearby gas station. The rest of us went inside. As soon as I walked inside I saw a girl from the Infoshop in the spotlight, but what she was singing I can’t remember. In fact there were a lot of kids that made the pilgrimage to Cookie’s from the Infoshop that night. We looked at the song selection. I begged Jesse to sing “Hypnotize” by Notorious B.I.G. and he signed up for it, but we found out that there were 18 people in the queue ahead of him. I went and hung out with T Mac, Tyler, Baggins and Cago in the van. Cago a friend of Koji Kondo and would be putting us up for the night at her parents house.
We all decided to call it a night and headed to Cago’s parents house, which was about 30 minutes north of Oklahoma City. T Mac came with us. He had planned to stay with Joline, but she was still inside singing. Upon arrival the first thing I wanted to do was sleep, so I put my sleeping bag on the floor of the den and crawled inside. Sleeping proved to be easier said than done as everyone, especially T Mac, was pretty tipsy and chatty by this point, and Cago’s dogs were licking and crawling all over me. I envied Bobby who was snoozing right next to me. Soon after everyone went to bed and the first day of tour came to a close.

TCK/KK Tour - Day 1 (Oklahoma City) from Jesse Spurlin on Vimeo.

Tryna Decide

2007-12-17T10:27:00.000-08:00

Teenage Cool Kids - Tryna Decide from Jesse Spurlin on Vimeo.

TOUR KICKOFF

2007-12-14T14:34:00.001-08:00

RELEASES

2007-12-13T11:55:00.000-08:00

SORRY, SELF TITLED TAPE IS SOLD OUT!!!
NPNR TAPES /100

"Queer Salutations" OUT NOW!!! FREE POSTER WITH FIRST 300!!!

Availabe HERE, Slave Union and Protagonist.

Queer Salutations/Remember Me as a Silhouette
Tape on Crooked Direction available on tour

Remember Me as a Silhouette
7" on C & C Music Factory availabe on tour

LYRICS

2007-12-12T13:21:00.000-08:00

"QUEER SALUTATIONS"

Queer Salutations
You were rolling on x the night that we first met. You said you don't remember, its funny how we never forget what we'd like to but never recall the thoughts we're tied to. "Nothing to do tonight, right?" "Tired of watching us drinking?" Its wishful thinking. I'm still waiting for your admission of defeat, Is it the 90 degrees of midnight or the confession of this street that keeps you long? There's a hole in my tongue, and all the words I recited just fell right inside it. I'm trying so hard to keep from lumping into this sunken shape that I take when you put on the smile that greets me like a wave goodbye. Queer salutations are so hard to forget. Reliving the moments we've sworn to have never repeated, now who's mistreated? The push and the pull of the night I wont say I'm completed, I feel alright though I'm still waiting for your admission of the feet Is it the 90 degrees of midnight or the confession of this street that keeps you gone?

Awkward Type of Girl
You've got a boyfriend, but that don't matter. It wont keep him from what he's after. He wants to make you his new obsession before you graduate from post college depression. You pride yourself as an awkward type of girl, but you're a self hating socialite, admit it. You wear a badge of the hardships you've endured. And you don't let your company forget it. Put on a record, he doesn't get it. "I'm not a fan of shallow indie," he admitted. You're not offended when he confesses that he laughs inside at all your vintage dresses. Convince yourself your not part of his deceit. He knows he's only a novelty distraction. A slain regret and a promise to repeat, but will you even get the satisfaction?

Sleeper Hold
I've got a swelling gut. You think its serious, I'm about to explode. You put your hand on me. You make it hard to breath, put me in sleeper hold. Try not to mind it when you get reminded it's nobody's job but yours. You tell the shitty jokes I'll convince all the folks its no one's fault but ours. You can't bury it and pray that it won't come back to life someday. You walk around and stomp your feet to keep it underground, I hear the thumps where I am. "Am I an idiot?" You asked me to shut up. "You'll wake my roommates bro." You make this hard on me, spilling your arms on me melting into my mold. You can't bury it and pray that it won't come back to life someday. Cause there's a mouth in my ear and its dragging names like empty lakes because you throw all your trash in there man.

Reasons Why
Midnight strikes, well I forgot. My empty skull rings "surely not". I hear it echo and I feel the morning light, and my brain is in the fog that grew on my floor overnight. I feel like I'm being eaten alive by the memories I've pushed aside. Am I burning out from the inside? Because something's biting on my brain, the thoughts I thought that I could hide. They are my reasons why I lie in bed to pass the time. I saw a picture and we were sitting on a couch in your living room. Me I was looking at the floor. You wore that drowning gaze. I looked away from you. There's a sign on you that I can't read, it's a side of you I've never seen. And the picture always reminds me how you claim you can read peoples thoughts, you've claimed since you were seventeen.

Excursion into Philosophy
I've seen into your future and I can see the things that you'll do. I could never trust you to disarm a bomb cause your just gonna sit and watch this kid blow up. And its not because of me? Well if you say so. Here's the chance that you have hunted, to do the things you've always wanted. Wear your clothes like you did once when acquaintances were not a hundred empty bottles in your bedroom, shoved in corners to make room for a twin frame where you've hosted many, with blue sheets, you would trade it all. A tree trunk for a twig, and two weeks alone is all you have to dig. I've seen into your future and I can hear the things you haven't said. I read it in the book that you keep hidden from me. You left it open when I found you there asleep. Two years almost two this day I sat where we once sat like I was visiting a grave, you told me here in confidence the only time that you got off is when your brothers friends threw rocks at you and forced you to eat dog shit and called you names that you make your lovers call you when they're fucking you. You were 13 in 1992. I can keep my eyes focused on this square of light on the floor I can't keep my mind off the framed picture on the wall.

Write Back Soon
Look at you, hippy girl, doing what you're supposed to do. White girl dreads on your head. "Want some flowers?" I said no. Powwow girl, think the world is a groovy fucking place. Smoke some grass, adopt cats, can you "dig it" if your shallow? And when the promises you meant to carry out leave you tasting doubt you chase them. You're a bohemian pilgrim, escaping persecution. Look at you, hipster dude, but I guess that's what you want. "Hold my Pabst?" Kiss my ass. Move to Brooklyn or Vermont. Get tattoos, Nike shoes. Tell us all just how you feel In the zine of poetry inspired by Kerouac and Salinger. And when the promises you meant to carry out leave you tasting doubt you chase them you're a counter culture victim, embracing devolution.
Crowd Aggravation I'll admit I'm ill prepared for what I was later told was done in fun. Lucky I made it. I was by myself. I gave you a rain check, I promised not to tell.

Crowd aggravation.
I could feel all the hate of your attack, I could see you standing there smiling. I could hold back the tears but not the screams, my friends told me after that I was lucky that I got away. Or am I lucky that I'm scared to die?

Self Abuse
There's so little I have left to scream about. I cant push out another word on your account. And I cant pretend to tell the truth if you fight back when I say what I wanted to. Do you remember last semester? You were so exhausted I was yelling out a lung and you said I'd lost it. You had covered my mouth so I asked you in my head. Are you feeling unsatisfied now with you situation? Your boyfriend drinks too much and you and he are out of touch and you went to your job the other day. You were insulted a customer and cried you said its hardly worth your wage. I just checked the mail today on my way out. I got the letter that you sent, the words you wrote, and I'm about to start telling you exactly what I think about your latest move. Tried to find the words to put to you, tried em' all and settled on self abuse. I've got a box of your old things that when you left you gave me I pull it out sometimes to remind me of the mess we made. I was over just the other day. You were there lying on your bed, sad in the dark, I gave you something I had made. I lie in bed thinking, sweating out a war. Pillow sheets are puddled, dripping from the fight the night before. Are you fine with telling me that I'm just another moment that has passed, another breath you let slip free?

Prose
All your writing is the same and your forcing stories to the page. And the girl that broke your heart's the star No you never let her get to far. And she's always happy on your page.
Sometimes life is only grand when the cum is falling into your hand. And your sessions begin to increase when your working on your masterpiece.

Tryna Decide
And there's a corner of you where I've never stood before the congregation you adore is pushing me away. I'm not a kid no more, so understand this please: this hear to heart is a reprise, I'll sing you every word but I won't fight you… "Look at this awesome town man" I'm tryna decide, I'm tryna decide. You begged me to climb down. You screamed we were surrounded. "Look at this awesome town man." I'm so bewildered by these candid fits I get, these cries of your abandonment that attest to your state I'm not a kid no more, so understand this please: our faults are never guarantees, its wrong to think that way. I won't fight you…

"Remember Me as a Silhouette"

Abbreviated Smile
Its not fair, you framed me for this fight
We wear the most predictable abbreviated smiles, I'm not trying to wax sentimental
but when you come to town I come to terms with who we really are
Cause when you come to town I come to terms with not coming at all

All faces change when in the dark, its an illusion and a metaphor
Decode a glance to put your face in order
And watch my mind wander

Bullshit I spoke with my eyes closed, could never find the perfect voice
Lost keys, a drunken dare you challenged me, I never had a choice
And every time I pick the scab on my left arm pick a time and place
When words are sounds were forced to hear and I am left deciphering your face
All faces change when in the dark, its an illusion and a metaphor
Decode a glance to put your face in order
And watch my mind wander

Akward Type of Girl
You've got a boyfriend, but that don't matter, it wont keep him from what he is after
He wants to make you his new obsession before you graduate from post college depression
You pride yourself as an awkward type of girl, but you're a self hating socialite, admit it
You wear a badge of the hardships you've endured
And you don't let your company forget it

Put on a record, he doesn't get it. "I'm not a fan of shallow indie," he admitted.
Your not offended when he confesses that he laughs inside at all your vintage dresses

Convince yourself your not part of his deceit
He knows he's only a novelty distraction
A slain regret and a promise to repeat
But will you even get the satisfaction?

Down the Street
I fought like hell to force the smiles that night; I guess I wanted you to be there
I searched the mirror for a face that I could try on to tell you I don't care
And my hands dropped to my side I always set em' where you can get them
I stare at faces boredly, they tell the same old stories
Remember me as a silhouette against a wood grain wall vignette

You condescend and I laugh till I cry
I'm barely awake and I'm taking abuse that would never thought that I'd a heard
From girls that I'm trying to make it with
Somewhere in this town on this boring evening I'll receive a call from my friends
I'll pretend I don't hear them
And when I said I regretted it I was trying to fit in

Yeah you speak so soft
And I'm trying to understand you
Regardless of of where you stay doesn't mean you're out of mind

CONTACT

2007-12-12T13:15:00.000-08:00

You can write to us at:

Teenage Cool Kids
715 Panhandle
Denton, TX 76201

or email at machomanandysavage@gmail.com