My Space vs. MySpace

A while ago, say 2005, I was the bassist of a band that did not exist. Which is to day, we practiced every Sunday for the better part of five months, and we plunked down for a rehearsal space, and I bought a 50-watt bass amp, but we never played a show and never had a name. Creative indifferences and all of that. Nobody's fault, and no ill will. A thousand garage bands meet the same fate every month, I'm sure.

Well the bandleader has a new crew, Tell You Monday, and they have a Facebook profile, and they're playing their first gig down in Southern Maryland this weekend. I won't be able to make it, but I wish them well. What's interesting to me is that this is the first encounter I recall of a band hawking on Facebook instead of the inevitable MySpace. That's the one function MySpace has managed to hold onto, isn't it? Does every band still have a MySpace as a matter of course?

I mean, check out Yuck, the hip young gunslingers fresh out of Cosmopolistan, which Under the Radar hails as having "managed to craft a surprisingly accomplished album for a band that's only a little more than a year old." They've got a MySpace. And a year-old "tour" going (when does "playing gigs" become "touring"?). And a self-produced record out on Fat Possum.

What does this mean? I don't know. Other than I think Tell Me Monday needs a MySpace. And, you know, luck.

Wye Not?

The actual Wye Oak was the state tree of Maryland. It was 96 feet tall, spread 119 feet into the air, and its trunk measured 31 feet 10 inches in diameter. At the time of its destruction in a thunderstorm in 2002, it was 460 years old.

So there's a little hometown pride in me when discussing Wye Oak, the band. Not only are they from Maryland, they're from Batlimore. And they're a duo, a reverse White Stripes. Sure, they're folk-rock-dream pop, which normally induces boredom headaches, but after I got the free Starbucks download of R.E.M.'s new single (which isn't bad at all), I'm in a more charitable mood. Also, one of their songs is free on iTunes right now.

I think the song is "Holy, Holy," which ChartAttack singles out for praise in an otherwise disappointed review of their new album (which has a pretty bad name: Civilian). If I like, maybe I'll check out last year's EP (I love EP's) and make up my own mind.

UPDATE: I was right. The song was "Holy, Holy" and it is good. And Free.