No amount of weed could make B Michael Payne find Waterboy jokes funny.
The other day I was sitting at my desk wondering if maybe I weren’t missing out on a basic human experience by abstaining from weed. (Yeah, that sounds like the thought process of someone who needs to smoke weed, right?) Synchronicity being a thing, Jeff sent over a link to a piece on a band called Weed at the same damn time. It was basically fated to happen, you know?
Weed is a three-piece rock band from Vancouver. (Of course.) Truth be told, they embody pretty much everything about why I used to love smoking weed: a lot of ebullience and soaring emotions – with none of that crippling self-doubt that came later on. And not only do these kids keep things rocking and fancy free, they apparently have some sort of work ethic, or at least charisma, being named one of Vancouver’s best indie bands of 2012 on the strength of whatever they do in town plus the pretty good Gun Control EP.
With a name like Weed, you might think they’d sound “sludgy” (or maybe “kludgy”, “pudgy”, or “smudgy”). They’re not. I think they’re probably just a little too high to get the mix right – or maybe they’re too high to care. But compared to Sleep’s “Dopesmoker”, ”Set Me Back” sounds like the work of a bunch of speed freaks on truck stop bath salts.
But really, browse through Weed’s blog, and you get the sense that they’re pretty relaxed guys. There are lots of disposable camera shots of places of disinterest and many a tall boy being drunk, along with the occasional S.O.S. about needing, you know, a working vehicle. If you had to listen to just one noisey, squalling rock band — without feeling like you were auditing Very Important Influences 101 — you could do a lot worse than a trio of stoned kids from Vancouver.
Weed is on tour right now with Cascadia, a fellow Vancouverite noise band. Spliffs optional, earplugs probably not.
Touring Schedule
MAY 21 – CHICAGO IL – Big Forever w/ The Funs
Weed – “Ben’s Tour” from Cruising USA on Vimeo.
MAY 23 – KALAMAZOO MI – Black Lodge
MAY 24 – ??? – NEED HELP
MAY 25 – ??? – NEED HELP
MAY 26 – ??? – NEED HELP
MAY 28 – PLATTSBURGH NY – ROTA
MAY 29 – NYC – Death By Audio
MAY 30 – BALTIMORE MD – Sidebar
MAY 31 – WASHINGTON DC – Comet Ping Pong
JUNE 1 – PHILADELPHIA PA – Little Berlin
JUNE 2 – BETHLEHEM PA – The Secret Art Space
JUNE 4 – ??? – NEED HELP
JUNE 5 – COLUMBUS OH – TBA w/ Nude Art
JUNE 6 – INDIANAPOLIS IN – Hoosier Dome
JUNE 7 – ST LOUIS MO – Lemp Community Arts w/ Little Big Bangs
JUNE 8 – MILWAUKEE WI – Cocoon Room
JUNE 9 – MADISON WI – Project Lodge
JUNE 11 – MINNEAPOLIS MN – House Show w/ Al Scorch, B. Arthur
JUNE 12 – FARGO ND – Slanty Battle Fuck Cauldron on the Prairie
JUNE 13 – MINOT ND – Duff Mountain
JUNE 14 – MISSOULA MT ?? – NEED HELP
JUNE 15 – SEATTLE WA – Cairo
