Friendship isn’t something
you can feel or see
So what can your friendship
do for me?
Photos by Loren Lenox. Words by Jason Lee and Georgia Pettit.
While we are not technically friends with I’m Going To Marry Your Dad—heck we wouldn’t even recognize ‘em on the street without their Pierrot-style clown makeup on—we do aspire to be so especially given that they’re going to marry our dad it seems, ergo this review, cuz as the band pointedly point out on their latest single, “The Friendship Song,” friendship is a transactional means to an end, and if we’re not on good terms with IGTMYD we could easily see them screwing us over by persuading our highly suggestible father to write us out of his will entirely bequeathing all that remains of his 401K savings to these clowns…
…which is *not* intended as an insult by the way cuz they’re literally a band of clowns and clowning is an honorable profession especially when put to good satirical use as IGTMYD do on this song and elsewhere (see: Pierrot Lunaire) in response to a world that seems to grow crasser and more craven by the day and frankly we see no harm in reducing friendship to a calculated expansion of social networks in order to gain access to resources, opportunities, and clout all driven by an underlying black hole of existential insecurity and grasping desperation for approval unsure if your family even loves you to paraphrase the breakdown section of the song or more like the meltdown section really…
…cuz hey we’re part of the big time music biz and this definition of friendship just sounds like an average Saturday night and we’re well aware few people would give us the time of day if it weren’t for the fact that we run this enormously influential music blog and look we’re fine with it cuz at least this way people (or musicians at least…jk!) are desperate to curry our favor and that’s the way we like it (the more strings attached the better!) and we’d actually like to thank IGTMYD for laying out the subtext so clearly cuz hey we’re not ashamed…
…and indeed it’s mutual too cuz really why would we even be writing about these clowns (literally!) if they didn’t give us something that we wanted and what they give us is fun easy-to-learn-and-sing irreverent little ditties about corporate creatives and meritocracies and incest in the literal sense (more daddy issues!) with humor as dry as the martini we imagine ourselves sipping indifferently every time we listen to IGTMYD which is exactly what we want what we really really want…
…with the transaction made even more attractive when I’m Going To Marry Your Dad teams up with several of their labelmates over at HOUSE OF FEELINGS and throws a big ol’ release party held at the likes of TV Eye less cuz at least there we can order an expertly mixed dry martini for real and enjoy a full night of entertainments seeing as HOF is known for signing some of the best local creatives around across a wide spectrum of styles and fashion senses (Pierrot-style clowns included) as can be witnessed in the pics posted on this page from said release party a couple weeks ago plus they attract a pretty good-lookin’ crowd too…
…and just to put the cherry on the transactional sundae we got an actual HOUSE OF FEELINGS performing artist namely Georgia a.k.a. Our Lady Of Sorrows (who’s actually more of a cake-lovin’ gal, see the video below) to write up a lil’ summary of the show for your delectation and edification not to mention graciously sharing these sick photos of the happening with no evident ulterior motive except maybe for us to say how much we dig the couple of grungy-yet-sweet anthems Our Lady’s put out so far with her bandmates and to get in our “Good Graces” in general we just hope it was “Worth It” but either way we do genuinely enjoy rockin’ out to these two songs and look forward to whatever OLS has in store next and here’s that lil’ summary…
The vibe was fresh and the bands were uniformly excellent as is always the case from this crew. Julia Pierce, lead singer of Tits Dick Ass, began the night with a combination of electronic/dance experimentations and her tried and true punk/pop songs for which she is known. She was followed by Le Bang, who never fail to deliver an incendiary set and get the crowd frantically moving. Josephine Network followed and lit up the stage with a huge band that played the best kind of 70’s power pop, complete with a cowbell player. I’m Going to Marry Your Dad, in complete clown/Yellow Submarine attire, were the crown jewels of the night: hilarious, irreverent, and musical. The legendary Macy Rodman capped off the night was a brilliant electronic pop set that left the crowd speechless. House of Feelings is clearly creating its own lane, showcasing punk/experimental performances drawn from the exciting underground percolating in the city these days.
