So Long, Farewell: The Long Blondes

Mondays are crap enough as it is, but they're made even worse when one hears sad news. The news that made me glum yesterday involves those saucy nouveau wavers the Long Blondes, who made some of the smartest, sassiest tunes around. Here's the official word from their Myspace blog:

"We have decided to call it a day.

The main reason for this is that I suffered from a stroke in June and unfortunately I do not know when / if I will be well enough to play guitar again.

On behalf of the band I'd like to say a big thank you to anyone who ever came to one of our shows, bought one of our records or danced to one of our songs in a club. Thank you, if it wasn't for you the whole thing would have been pointless.

Finally on a personal note, thanks for all your well wishing messages.

Dorian xxx"

While the news of the split is definitely a bummer, we here at LET would like to wish Dorian the best of health, and best wishes for all the band's future endeavors. I'm really happy I got to see them live, but for those of you who didn't, there's two darned fine albums to listen to over and over. And videos to watch, like this one below, for "Guilt".

So Long, Farewell: Sound Team

Sometimes I feel like I'm always the last to know when bands I like dissolve their holy unions. The latest in this litany of band disbandings is Austin's most excellent, and sadly under-appreciated space cadets Sound Team. Evidently, while I was getting acclimated to living here in Richmond, the members of Sound Team were calling it a day. Here's the story, from the mouth (or blog) of one of the founding members, Bill Baird:

"Hello friends, By now you might have heard that Sound Team is disbanding, so to speak. The reasons are numerous and boring, so I will spare details. They are the typical band problems: stress of the road, diverging tastes, personal tensions, and monetary difficulties. Nothing too dramatic. Just time to move on, that's all.

As to the future

Jordan will of course continue drumming. The man is a machine. I have no idea who he will play for, but that band will be lucky indeed. Gabe has written some great songs on piano and I hope to help him hone / record some of these. Will has been playing and recording as Sleep Good, and will continue doing so. He has started a band with Michael Bain. Preliminary results indicate great things to come. Matt has written a fantastic set of songs, his best yet, and will likely record and release them. Bill (me) will continue recording and releasing music under the {{{ SUNSET }}} moniker ( I have actually changed the name to Silent Sunset). I'm hoping to release an album that far surpasses anything I've previously released. Brighter colors, sharper contrasts, better lyrics. "Raising the bar," it's been called. That is my hope. Sam, part of the original "rock" lineup of ST, left the band in December to pursue his art and painting. His work is prodigious and impressive, and can be found here. Michael, who also left the band last December, has returned to school. Big Orange will change, no doubt, but the dream will remain alive as long as there's breath in my body. I will try to operate the studio more as a commercial venture, engineering bands and producing when asked. If anybody wants help with their music, my rates are quite competitive. Sound Team's Catalog will be available on our website, completely free, and in high quality digital format. Unreleased material will also be available, including live recordings, radio session, b-sides, and outtakes. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Having founded the band with Matt, I feel emotional about all this. I invested years into the group, dreamt crazy dreams, laughed, toured, made great friends. I regret nothing. The band, in my mind, achieved great success and made fantastic music. I set out with this band to restore a sense of joy and exuberance to musical performance. At our best, we achieved that goal."

The silver lining, if there is one in this very sad breakup, is the availability of the band's music. Though the shit went down in September, the music is still there. If you've never gotten into the band, now's your time to give them a listen and appreciate just how good they were. I for one will be thankful for having been able to see them a couple times, and interview them ages ago. So go check them out, and raise a glass to the memory of Sound Team, gone to the great band afterlife much too prematurely.