Friday, February 1, 2013

Sometimes I Get Problems That Are Hard To Solve



This is one of the more decent pop-punk singles that I ever bought for just a dollar, although I don't always keep track of what I've paid for every record so it's possible that's not even true. I probably have a dozen Everready and Dimestore Halos singles that I only paid a dollar for, which would blow that theory all to hell. Anyway, if you're partial to stuff like Dillinger Four or any number of recent Dead Broke Rekerds bands (Awful Man springs to mind, how 'bout that), then you'll probably think this is pretty decent also. Like Dead Uncles and The Credentials? Like the only Propaghandi song you've ever heard, the one that's on "Physical Fatness"? Yes I do. There's even still a web site that has just about everything The High-Steppin' Nickel Kids ever recorded, even though they broke up in 2002. There's a site with some of their lyrics, too. The little metal-y riff that pops up towards the end of "The Good, The Bad" is kinda okay. Plus some of their songs are way too long.




The High-Steppin' Nickel Kids -

"The Good, The Bad, and The Midwest"

"Scratch & Win (Void Where Prohibited)"














2 comments:

Andrew Graham said...

Hey!
Thanks for putting this out there. I'm Andrew from the Nickel Kids—played bass and sang a bunch.

So, yeah; not that you asked, but here's some further info.

(Um, this went a bit long, so apologies in advance for co-opting your post/blog with a bunch of self-indulgent stuff; but I guess that’s what comes of taking an interest, am I right...? Ah, hell, these comments are moderated, so if I never see this, I'll take the hint.)

So: After HS5K hung it up, Morgan (played guitar/sang a bunch) and I started Bread & Roses, partly in an attempt to make the socio-political lyrics more accessible in live performance. I had to bow out after about a year (or thereabouts; I forget), but he carried on with a bunch of other good folks and made a pretty decent name for the band. We/they were pretty good and a lot of fun live.

Morgan is now in Awful Man, which you may not have realized, so it's cool and funny that you made that association.

Tigger (played other guitar/sang a bunch) moved back to Minneapolis and is doing music writing and some sporadic band stuff, but I'm not sure what. For his account of our farewell show, go here and scroll down to "Finale." http://www.modern-radio.com/board/t.php?id=32700&r=598

Joe (played drums/sang a bunch) is back in Indiana, developing the next awesome electric car battery. Not sure if he's still doing music, but his drum chops were the awe of every drummer we played with.

Along with music writing (for the Boston Phoenix: http://thephoenix.com/boston/authors/andrew-graham/), I started a band with Dan, the guitarist from Thumbs Up!, along with a multi-instrumental virtuoso (and attic recording engineer whiz) named Adam, on drums, called Boston Ruin. We strictly did covers, of lesser-known (to the general public) songs/bands, like Plow United, the Plugz, Jon Astley, Ghost Mice, Gorilla Biscuits, Hanson Brothers, Dictators, Snuff/G&W, etc. (Re: your posts on M.O.T.O., I always wanted to do "Dick About It," but we just never got around to it.)

We recorded a bunch of songs; if you like, I'll send you a link to the MP3s when I get them up online. Boston Ruin is in sporadic remission, but with potential flareups at the least convenient moments.

(Adam's current band is brilliant—sort of like Chromeo crossed with early/mid-period Ween. Maybe? Catchy hooks and hilarious lyrics. http://adampcmusic.com/ )

So, that's a handy, possibly search-engine-optimized rundown of Nickel Kids status. Thanks again for posting our record, seriously; I’m glad you liked it enough to include it on your blog.

Andrew

Brushback said...

Hey, cool info -- thanks!

Yeah, there's like a million MOTO covers that would work