How The Lassue Yous Changed My Life

or The Reason Why I’m The Type of Indie-Rock Nerd Who Goes Online and Pretends To Be A Music Journalist For Fun!!!Music is very important to most young men between the ages of 15 and 25. They base their cliques on it, they base their vocabulary on it, they design their rooms and lockers by it. But then most guys reach an age of responsibility, where music starts to take a back seat in their lives. Just a few short years ago that’s exactly where I was. I was bored with classic rock radio so I moved on to alternative rock radio. I had grown bored with that too, and I figured that I was finally reaching that age where music is just simply not that important anymore. After all, I’m now an old married man and music is, well, it’s for teenagers. Right?

Then something happened that fateful day (if I believed in fate, which I don’t!) just a few years ago. The wife had planned an “evening out with the girls” and I was left to entertain myself for a few hours. The thought had crossed my mind to possibly go to the local Chapters and read several magazines without actually buying them. Or perhaps I’d rent a couple of movies. However, I picked up The View, a local free indie-paper and I read an interesting article about a band from London, Ontario called The Weekend. They sounded very interesting. They were to be playing that evening at a little place called The Hudson in Hamilton at 9pm. Hmmm. That sounds like something. I didn’t have to pick up my wife until about 11:30 or so. Why not?

Now, being new to the way the whole “small band at a small venue” thing works, I didn’t realize that “doors at 9” actually means that the band will likely go on closer to 11. The opening act that day was a little band consisting of 3 brothers from Dundas, Ontario who call themselves The Lassue Yous. The Hudson was empty. I grabbed a beer, and sat down at a table near the stage. After nursing that beer, (by myself) for just under two hours, The Lassue Yous were ready to take the stage. As soon as they hit the first note, I was starting to believe that I may be in the midst of a particularly historic moment in the life of yours truly. The jangly guitar! The crazy lyrics! The handclaps! The energy! The excitement! They reminded me a bit of Thrush Hermit. Or Sloan. Or, heck, they even reminded me a bit of the Liverpudlian fab four themselves! At that moment, I felt as if I was Rodney Bingenheimer, and I had just discovered the GREATEST BAND OF ALL TIME! Yes, that is truly how they sounded to me that night! You see, that was the night that I realized that I was still in love with music as much as I ever was. The problem was that mainstream radio was not providing me with anything new. And these crazy Dundanites were! And if these guys have been kept a secret from music lovers everywhere, than how many more unsigned artists are hiding out in the clubs of their respective towns? How much music have I missed out on over my 20-something years of existence?

Well, from that day on, I have constantly been on the prowl for new and interesting music. Sadly, I didn’t get to see The Weekend that night, but I have seen them several times since. I’ve seen The Lassue Yous a few more times as well although I think they’re on a bit of a hiatus at the moment. I’ve been introduced to so many other bands that have changed my life and rocked my world. I’ve had the opportunity to expose some of my favourite bands to others as well, by means of my blog or by introducing them to podcasting. And the music scene has never been more exciting to me than it is right now. I often wonder, if it had been a dude with a casio singing Pat Boone covers that night, I may have given up on music altogether. Thank goodness for The Lassue Yous!

Download:
Rock “N Roll Your Saturday Night mp3
Toughen Up mp3