Hey, here’s something I haven’t done before. I want to share some of the music I grew up with… some of the stuff that sort of shaped my silly self and maybe bought a tear to my eye and probably made the hairs at the back of my neck stand on end and possibly soothed my angry soul.
Music is important, we all get that. Even with so much of it around, there’s always that select list of bands and musicians that have that special place in your heart. You have your reasons, I have mine. Those artists that you hold dear bring you memories and inspiration, and in some strong cases, teach you meaning and lesson. Or you may just like the beats, I dunno. In any case, a band that first came to my attention in my mid teens held a massive impression on me. I also may have had a bit of a ladycrush on the lead singer. I also might still have one. I bring you The Distillers.
It was around the Sing Sing Death House era that they crashed into my life. Scuzz TV blaring out City of Angels, holding its own fort among a sea of testosterone… I guess it’s safe to say that my attention was caught. I wanted to know more, so off I skipped to hunt the album down and subsequently, well… over the next 10 years I almost wore it out. I remember being gutted about being too young to venture down to Birmingham to see them live, I remember being distraught that I couldn’t catch them at Download Festival, and I recall eagerly awaiting for Coral Fang to come out. I’d had my heroes, sure, but Brody was an icon of my time; fresh, in your face, with her music evolving and growing over the years in the same sense that I was. When I was young, lost, and angry, the earlier songs bought me through. When I was older, making mistakes and learning lessons, the later music made me think.
Although the band split in 2006, I finally got to see Brody years later when she was flying solo. I liked what she did with Spinnerette… a different, calmer, approach, while retaining some of the fire. They didn’t get so much attention as The Distillers, and never made quite the impact, but still, the songs were decent, if maybe a little forgettable. Her complete solo effort, Diploid Love wasn’t too bad, either. However, with the shock confirmation earlier this year that the Distillers are going to be playing together again, I gotta say there’s more than a few happy faces about!
MOSH 