A scuttled bender

In 1997, Chris Rosenau and I started a rock band with some friends. We couldn’t find any good vocalists, and since none of us could sing, we decided we’d just play instrumental songs. We called the band Pele, and over the years, members came and went, but it was some of the most memorable experiences I’ve had. The music was fun and energetic and we left plenty of room to try different things so it stayed interesting for a long time. Eventually though, enough was enough, and we all moved on to different things.

Now, years later, Polyvinyl records has released an overview of all the rare and odd tracks that were sprinkled throughout the groups existence. A two disc set with a full color booklet, it’s amazing and hilarious to look through and listen to some of this stuff. I remember the hotel room disasters, 3am white knuckle drives to get back home, to OUR STATE, so that someone could get to work in the morning, the crazy characters we met, and the moments of exhilaration on stage. Those were the days, I guess, and thanks to Polyvinyl, it’s nice to know that someone took notice.