The Silks photo by C. Johnston
Welcome to Songs, Stories, and Spirits. We’ll be jamming unwanted opinions on good music, good stories, and good booze down your ears, eyes, and throats on a weekly basis. We hope you enjoy. And if you don’t, there is a comment section below that we more than welcome you to ignore! Cheers!
Song: “Try All You Want” by The Silks
Daniel: Earlier this year, Dave Pezza walked into Writer’s Bone HQ raving about this band called The Silks he saw perform at a dive bar in Providence, R.I. I’ve learned to trust Dave’s taste in music, so I listened to the first track I came across on YouTube. It’s remained my favorite for a variety of reasons. The video is shot in a casual setting and features a band member playing an inflatable pool float. Also, it’s immediately evident how much these guys love playing together and enjoy making music in general. Their gritty, All-American sound forces you to start tapping your foot right away and makes you long for that first shot of Jim Beam to scorch down your throat, burning away the lingering aftertaste of another week paying the corporate piper. “When I’m gone, I’m gone/Won’t be back this way” sums up how you should feel on a Friday afternoon (and Saturday morning once your hangover has lifted).
As Dave wrote in May, The Silks’ are a band eking out a musical existence one show and one record sale at a time. They should be filling stadiums, people! To help them out, buy the band’s debut album and spread the word. Look for an interview with The Silks in the near future as well!
Story: “Beautiful Trash” by Jordon Harper
Daniel: Author Jordan Harper’s short story collection Love and Other Wounds cracked a beer bottle over my head repeatedly. Each story featured characters living on the fringe of society throughout the United States. Rebels, fugitives, thugs, and degenerates darken every page and struggle to keep their heads above the shadows threatening to consume them. It was hard to narrow down a favorite, however, “Beautiful Trash” is a tale that would be right at home on Writer’s Bone. The tale depicts a chilling romance between two people whose job it is to clean up the bodies left behind by homicidal Hollywood big shots.
“They meet over the body of a beautiful dead boy. Green likes her right away. Her hands don’t shake. She doesn’t make bad jokes or cry or act cold. A lot of people wouldn’t handle their fear so well. After all, it is her first corpse.”
I really don’t need to say any more, right? Fine, to borrow one of Sean’s favorite sayings, this story has no fat and a cinematic feel thanks to Harper’s day job as a screenwriter. If you’re ordering our drink of choice at happy hour, might have to make it a double if you’re Friday evening plans include Love and Other Wounds.
Spirit: Boilermaker
Photo courtesy of Roadsidepictures
Dave Pezza: The tried and true boilermaker is a perfect complement to this week’s song. Both are straightforward, badass, and perfect to kick off a good ole Friday night. Here is how you make it: Take your favorite whiskey and pour it into a shot glass, and then take you favorite beer and pour it into a pint glass. Shoot the shot and then drink the beer. Boom. Simple, no frills, and it gets you into the best kind of mood, an inebriated one.