I have a great appreciation for bands that I chance upon out of nowhere. This particular band, Old Best Friend, didn’t exactly fall from the sky as they were pitched to me by their publicist, but still, I had never previously heard of them, so it’s like I found them under a cabbage patch more or less.
Going from not knowing a band from a hole in the ground, to having their publicist send three days worth of emails basically interviewing you about your own personal hopes and dreams, giving you job pointers, etc. is an intimate exchange. And if there’s one thing I like, it’s intimacy. If there are TWO things I like, they are intimacy, and music. If there are THREE things I like they are intimacy, music, and excessively awkward situations. So here we are. And there it is.
Old Best Friend’s new song “King of Nowhere” is the musical version of tweeting “I enjoy my own company over anyone else’s, and that’s still only 50% of the time” and meaning it. Have a listen:
The main force behind the band is Brooklyn’s Mike Comite and we asked him the following question about awkwardness. You know, to keep things on topic for this post:
Question: When was the last time you were in the middle of a conversation and thought to yourself: “Wow, this is probably one of the top five most awkward exchanges I’ve ever had?”
Here’s what he had to say:
“Every conversation I’ve ever had has induced a near-crippling anxiety. There’s literally no way to narrow down an interaction that was more awkward than the others because I am a cowering puppy. A really, really, really fluffy and small cowering puppy. I might actually be a miniature dachshund.”
I guess we all have our dachshund days from time to time.
The band’s publicist described their sound as “what Weezer should be doing,” and “like reconnecting with human nostalgia,” but I think it sounds like a talented guy with a guitar sans bullshit. Isn’t that nice?
Old Best Friend is going on a mini tour and you can catch them, or think about catching them, at one of these shows:
5/10 – Ithaca, NY @ The Nines
5/11 – Buffalo, NY @ Mohawk’s Place
5/12 – Fort Wayne, IN @ House Show (message for details)
5/13 – Cleveland, OH @ The Bevy
5/14 – Cincinnati, OH @ The Drinkery
5/16 – Alexandria, IN @ Creative 765
5/19 – Nashville, TN @ Springwater
5/20 – Atlanta, GA @ Alley Cat
5/21 – Wilmington, NC @ Reggie’s 42nd St Bar
5/22 – Boone, NC @ The Clinic
5/23 – Roanoke, VA @ The Bazaar
5/24 – Washington, DC @ Dr. Clock’s Nowhere Bar