Dryvetyme Onlyne

The Hard Lessons
B & G Sides (Volume 1)
Quack!Media; 2007

Isn’t technology wonderful? From traditional venues like pop and R&B-formatted commercial radio stations to the new school scenes like MySpace and iTunes, music fans don’t have to search very long or very hard to find several fistfuls of groups who are seeking to make their mark. The upside to having greater access and a lower bar for entry to releasing music is that there’s seemingly no dearth of options. However, that’s also the downside – the market is glutted with just-above-average, seemingly interchangeable bands, all vying to be the Next Big Thing. Sure, it’s great to have lots of music available for quick and easy download into one’s computer media player of choice. However, the music industry and a great many bands seem to have forgotten the tangible pleasure collectors derive from holding a new record (whether single, EP, or LP) in his or her hands.

Thus, with the release of the first single in a four-part series entitled B & G Sides, The Hard Lessons seek to bring new life to the art on record sleeves and fresh joy to the hearts of nerdy record collectors everywhere. The four singles will presents various pieces of interrelated puzzle-like artwork, which is unassailably cool, but the hallmark of these releases is and will be the swagger-inducing rock-n-roll performed by this rollicking outfit. Part 1 features the songs “See and Be Scene” and “Don’t Shake My Tree” (written and sung by Augie & Jo respectively), each brimming with gender-specific ruminations on the life and times of 21st-century young adults. Mixed with equal parts verve, zeal, and sexual energy, these are no-holds-barred tracks that bring to mind the best of ‘60s and ‘70s rock. With the other 3 singles not dropping until 2008, it’s easy to be filled with anticipation as to what’s going to happen next in the story that is the B & G Sides from The Hard Lessons.