OMG!! taZer!!!

Well folks, shortly I’m taking off on vacation through Labor Day, and so Joe and Todd will be holding down the fort here. But before I leave, I want to drop a few special treats for everyone: four songs written and performed by my 16-year-old brother’s band, Tazer.

They’ve been together for three years, playing public parks, theater recitals, the school cafeteria, house parties and even a local bar. They are currently a power trio (their rhythm guitarist had to quit because of tennis lessons), and most of their songs were written for school assignments. They have even gotten press! The Roanoke Times, the regional paper, did a feature on them that painted them in this really weird context of being the world’s youngest rockists, when in reality Stephen (my brother) doesn’t listen to that much classic rock; the Blood Brothers, Bloc Party and Black Flag are his favorite bands, and right now he is hooked on the Blow’s Paper Television. (Stephen is a 17 Dots reader. Hi Stephen!)

^^^This is Stephen. Girls, isn’t he cute?

There are four songs they performed last year on WUVT, the Virginia Tech college radio station (they are from Blacksburg, VA), that I listen to regularly, and I just wanted to brag/share/pimp my kid brother. A few words on each:

“Unemployment Office” was Tazer’s first song. It was written by Stephen (drums) and Ryan (guitar/vox) for a civics assignment. They do not look fondly upon the unemployed (he and I need to talk about this).

I don’t think my mom likes “Hobo” because the idea of writing a song about a homeless person is “yucky” (my mom is cutely proper). I love the guitar riff — so catchy! — and the repetition of “hobo… hobo” I find funny. (The hobo they are singing about, btw, is Jerry, who has been the homeless guy in Blacksburg ever since I was a kid. He does, in fact, have a home, but he just wanders the streets all day.)

My favorite Tazer song. “Alexandria” was written for history class by Stephen, and consists of facts about the different cities around the world called “Alexandria.” It’s genius. Really. It is. The Ramones chorus is perfect, too.

The punk song. This is a more recent addition to the repertoire. It’s pretty sloppy and loose (they were tired by the time they got to this point in the set), but it has a goofy energy that I like.

Anyway, apologies if this was too boostery, but they’re kids! And they were originally named 800lb Gorilla (I have fought for them to return to that name)! Be their MySpace friend! Or, if you’re a label, sign them! xxx