Joan Cusack

   Lately there's been some popular graffiti around town. It's not very good, but it's good at getting attention. First there was the ubiquitous "Mohinder" graffiti, which people seemed to like because it was so amateur-ish. Then along came the "John Cusack" graffiti, probably done ironically by some young sap, not by some older nostalgic graffiti artist. I saw a bunch of the John Cusacks, including a sticker someone had made, and then I came upon one that had been altered afterwards by someone who clearly wanted his sister Joan Cusack to get some attention. Well, why not. She's done some great work, too.

Crush Groove

   Ah, rock and/or roll (to quote Reverend Lovejoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHl0J-PqEAQ)---it's a funny game. Sure, you have to have talent, or at least decent looks and a manager with money, but sometimes all you need is the energy to keep going, day after day, year after year, and then some bands only become famous for some mysterious reason. Some sell millions and you wonder why, while other, more worthy bands, toil in obscurity. A lot of bands, to be sure, just lose the energy and forget the reasons why they started playing music in the first place. In the case of Vancouver metal/grunge band Crush Groove, the lead singer Jamie Ferrigan just "lost his inspiration to continue and left the band". https://soundcloud.com/biljanaires
   They had some minor success in Vancouver, as well as having their song "Grunts" included in the movie "Christina's House" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0216620/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1, and having their album produced in Seattle by famed Jack Endino. Years later, however, Jamie and Ed reunited and now play in a band called the Biljanaires.
   Other than what I can glean online, the only other thing I can tell you is that I've seen the band play in a Vancouver club, and I met the singer Jamie through a mutual friend. Friendly guy, a bit intense (well, listen to the songs!).
   To be honest, other than these two songs, the music sort of gets lost in a sameness. But these two songs are worthy of your attention.
   Another in a series dedicated to daylighting stuff that got lost in the shuffle.

Crush Groove - Grunts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILqdMg_gxoc

Crush Groove - Dear Koba
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZScUCi5iZsc


Or Soundowl, if you prefer:

Crush Groove - Grunts
http://soundowl.com/track/68jc/crush-groove-grunts

Crush Groove - Dear Koba
http://soundowl.com/track/68jf/crush-groove-dear-koba