"It's cool," Aziz says. "It's a marketing opportunity to get out there and let individuals know who I am." Nervous? Nah. "I've been in the studio with Biggie when he was alive, with Naughty by Nature, and those are the kind of people who will be in the audience." That very audience will determine the winner as well, which is just fine by Aziz. "You're talking about all your peers and people who have made it in the industry." Best of luck.
Hurst, Hurst Hootenanny: On Thursday there will be a benefit for Chris Hurst, who was hit by an uninsured driver while on his Vespa. The event will be held at Lee Harvey's from 9 p.m. to midnight and will include performances by Breaker, Vespin Love Kit, American Blackbelt Academy and Butter Knife. A donation of $5 is suggested.
This just in: Equipment was stolen from the Happy Bullets' Josh McKibben's car last Saturday. In addition to a car stereo, some little bastard ganked his brown SG copy guitar with an orange and yellow starburst on it and a tweed Fender cabinet. Be on the lookout, McGruff.
Rock the vote: If you haven't registered to vote, now's the time to do so. All registrations must be postmarked no later than October 4 to vote in the November election, which just so happens to be, you know, the most important election of your life so far. Don't be a lazy ass; just do it.
Single Most Wanted: "1985"
I don't believe in "guilty pleasures." It's like some modern hoax borne of social pressure and hipster shame. If you like something, you like it, and there's no guilt necessary. Tell people who don't like it to stuff it. With that in mind, it's time to heap hyperboles upon Bowling for Soup's latest album, A Hangover You Don't Deserve (Jive). Those wacky boys from Wichita Falls deliver another dose of thoroughly bratty, radio-ready, three-chord pop-punk as easy to love as free beer. In my car, at least, "1985" has become this year's "Stacy's Mom," an impossibly catchy blast of irony and feel-good melody, with the nostalgic namecheck of the year: "Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, way before Nirvana there was U2 and Blondie and music still on MTV." It doesn't hurt that the song evokes fifth grade about as quickly as a Members Only jacket, but you didn't have to grow up wanting to be Tawny Kitaen, goddess of the erotic car dance, to dig the song--or the album. In fact, it probably helps to be 14 and live in Plano. That way, when you drive up to work with your indie-rock game face on, the Classified people won't stare when they hear choruses of "All you need is an ice cream and a hug" blasting from the window. Embarrassed? Perhaps. Guilty? Nev-ah.
