This week’s feature is a short one. Short, mainly because the cell connection sucked. Cell phones have become the blessing and bane of interviewers. They’re great because you can get ahold of bands much, much easier (usually from the back of their van) and they suck because it’s like talking to someone on a walkie-talkie (from the back of a van). I don’t own a cell phone, by the way (*readers cringe in disgust*), so let me let you folks who own one in on a secret — you sound like shit from a land line and we’re not hearing the first word of most your sentences. And you drive like shit. And you’re annoying in elevators…

Anyway…

Here’s this week’s feature on White Whale (read it here). Bassist Rob Pope, formerly of The Get Up Kids, does a bit of compare-and-contrast between the two bands, about their music and their careers. Though I interviewed them back in 2002, I never much cared for The Get Up Kids, whereas I much dig White Whale’s debut on Merge Records. And as for Pope’s question to me in the story, my reply was, “Yes I do. When you grow up in the country (in my case, Fort Calhoun) all you ever listen to in high school is Led Zeppelin. Maybe a little Pink Floyd and Van Halen, but mostly just Led Zeppelin.” Pope said I was lucky, that he didn’t get into Zeppelin and Floyd until he was in in his 20s. He obviously didn’t grow up listening to Z-92.

A couple marquee shows tonight. I already talked about Black Squirrels at The Dubliner (in yesterday’s blog entry — You really should come down there tonight and buy me a Guinness). That one starts at 8:30 and will cost you $5. Also tonight, down at O’Leaver’s, our old friends Race For Titles is playing with Back When. I hear those RFT boys will be hitting the studio hard over the next week, working on a new album. It’s about time. $5, 9:30.

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