Viva las Ergs!

Oh man. Saw the Ergs! last night in Richmond, and shit went well and fully off. One of the best live bands in America right now, no doubt, especially when the crowd is enthusiastic. The 6' 4" macho beefy dude standing next to me sang along to every word of "Pray for Rain" like his heart was going to break. That's the power of Mikey Erg's utterly infectious, heartrending songwriting. Dude's like the nerd wallflower answer to Paul Westerburg, and he writes songs as fast as Robert Pollard. The Ergs! released something like 8 seven inches and a full length last year, and the internet is chock full of their various unreleased tracks and demo sessions.

Almost all of it is blitzkrieg pop punk done by dudes with super chops who just happen to think the Descendents are the best band of all time. (Who says they're wrong?) And like the best of the Ramones influenced bands, they take the template of da brudders and add their own stuff on top. (They have a song dedicated to the Riverdales called "Xerox Your Genitals, Not the Ramones.")

Of course, there has to be more to a group than Simpsons references (though you gotta love that they named a song "The Award for Most Violent Rap Group") and Doc Hopper tees. Mikey write songs that speak to our inner nerd. They reek of alienation, resignation, dorky glee, and the wounded humor and sincere enthusiasm that comes from the relationships that most of us have. I think you can decode the entire Ergs! discography from this line in "Kind of Like Smitten": "When I see you tonight it's gonna be so cool/We can watch TV and maybe listen to some Husker Du." It completely avoids romantic cliches and speaks to me because when I hang out with girls I like (my girlfriend for instance), I want to watch some stupid show or listen to a rad record. I'm a dork through and through, and songs about wanting to drink, hang out, and argue about music more reflect my life than some pain-expressed-through-grunting, lyrically vague "buzz ballad" shat out by the likes of the Goo Goo Dolls or Plain White T's.

For the rest of my life, I'm going to keep the memory of Mikey standing on his bass drum (did I mention the drummer sings?) and conducting 75 super-enthusiastic punks singing along to "Books About Miles Davis" like it was it was the last thing they would ever do. Moments like that remind me what I love about the thing that has sustained me for the last 11 years. I share with you many, many songs in the hopes that such a wonderful gets the recognition it deserves. They have a singles comp coming out soon on Dirtnap - check it out, especially if you're lame and don't have a turntable and thus have missed the last year's worth of awesome seven inches.

A Very Special Song for a Very Special Lady, Pt. II - http://www.mediafire.com/?3odycl1bhvx

Books About Miles Davis - http://www.mediafire.com/?icnfmijzsyt

Introducing Morrissey - http://www.mediafire.com/?4jx90aijpmv

Kind of Like Smitten - http://www.mediafire.com/?v1x1pdjw4xt

More Vox in the Monitor - http://www.mediafire.com/?y261b1gmbqm

Radio K - http://www.mediafire.com/?dw3zm1fcxmn

Stinking of Whiskey Blues - http://www.mediafire.com/?cb9d9hddtyj

Trouble in River City - http://www.mediafire.com/?ft0pjyxzrd8