Thursday, February 28, 2013

"The Skinny" new album...so called review


what's with this journalists... 0_o


Album review by Chris McCall.
 
 Published 28 February 2013
 
BRMC built their name on sharp blues-rock stompers that were big on hooks and less keen on legible vocals. But as great as Whatever Happened To My Rock N’ Roll? might sound at 2am, remind yourself it was released more than a decade ago. Since then, the San Franciscans have dabbled in stripped back blues and instrumental albums with diminishing levels of success.

Yet they still retain a sizable following, and fans will likely find something to enjoy on Specter At The Feast; the brooding mid-tempo stomp of Fire Walker hints at a still-burning passion, although the dripping gospel sludge of Returning leaves a bad taste. But chief among any criticism is that, at just shy of an hour, Specter... is simply too meandering to command the listener's focus, leaving a dense collection of slow-jams that might have benefitted from a little brevity. [Chris McCall]

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Tuesday, February 26, 2013

credits for great web and photos to fuckyeahleahshapiro.tumblr.com


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'The Call' will be reuniting with B.R.M.C.'.s Robert Been for two select shows!!!












Ladies and Gentlemen,

It gives us great pleasure to announce to you all that seminal rock group 'The Call' will be reuniting with B.R.M.C.'.s Robert Been for two select shows!!!

It has been over twenty years since their last live show, disbanded in 1990 The Call's original members Scott Musick, Tom Ferrier, and Jim Goodwin will be taking the stage with Robert Been, taking over the role of bass and vocals in honor of his father, the late Michael Been.

The Call best known for their groundbreaking songs 'The Walls Came Down', 'I Still Believe', 'Everywhere I Go' and 'Let The Day Begin'. Formed in 1980 the group released 10 albums over their history, their music has endured and inspired countless artists and fans alike (for more information visit 'the call's' official website).
But now for the really exciting news:

April 18th: San Francisco, CA / Slim's
April 19th: Los Angeles, CA / The Troubadour


Tickets go on sale on Friday March 1st from www.the-call-band.com

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Black Rebel Motorcycle Club stickswoman on new album, kit and tour

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Rich Chamberlain (Rhythm Magazine)February 25, 2013, 13:03 GMT
 
Leah Shapiro has enjoyed and endured a bumpy ride since joining Black Rebel Motorcycle Club back in 2008.
Despite clocking up reams of air miles with sold-out shows all over the globe, 2010 album Beat The Devil’s Tattoo, stalled at a disappointing peak of 58 on the UK chart. The band are now back, with Specter At The Feast dropping next month. We caught up with Leah to get the lowdown on the band’s return.

What was your approach, drum wise, on Specter At The Feast?
Many of our songs start out by us just playing up and loud together. We aren’t really the greatest at talking, so when we write it tends to work out better if we don’t talk too much but let the music do the talking. Its usually pretty obvious what a song wants from us, so really the music tells me what my approach needs to be. That being said, I tried to be mindful of not leaning on old tricks and habits and make sure to get out of my comfort zone.”

There’s plenty of tasty playing in there, were any tracks particular troublesome?
“Funny Games took a long time to complete and gave us quite a bit of headache. The groove for the verse came first in this song and I played it for Rob to see if he would like it. Then it took us forever to figure out where it should go from there. Lose Yourself sounds really simple, but recording that song was quite a challenge because it needed to have a very particular feel and its pretty delicate in that way. It’s also a fairly long song so there is quite a lot of room for fucking that up.”

What kit/set-up were you using?
“My trusted Sonor Hilite and Paiste cymbals. I have actually been playing Sonor drums since before I was in Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Nick, their old drummer, played Vistalites so when I first started I played his old drums but I love my Sonors and ended up bringing them out on the road after a few months. The black Hilites that I have been using for a while now were the first drums my dad bought for me when I moved to the US. Sonor actually built new drums for me that I will be using for this tour. I have only seen photos of them but they look so beautiful and I can’t wait to play them!”

What’s coming up in 2013 for you guys?
“Right now I just wrapped up five days of promo in Europe and tomorrow morning I fly home. As soon as I get back we start rehearsals for tour. Our first show is 10 March.”

SONOR welcomes Leah Shapiro from BRMC!

 
SONOR is proud to announce the latest addition to its artist family and welcomes Leah Shapiro from Black Rebel Motorcycle Club!
Leah has played with The Raveonettes in the past and joined BRMC in 2008. She is featured on BRMC’s 2009 live DVD, as well as on their latest and sixth studio album Beat the Devil’s Tattoo, released earlier in 2010.
On the band’s current world tour that finishes off in December in the UK, Leah plays a 1980 HiLite Exclusive Kit with 22” Bass Drum, 13” Tom Tom and 16” Floor Tom – all Heavy Maple construction.

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3 comments:

ASK iAN * ODE TO A PIN WHEEL COCKSUCKER ON THE TWIT


   “Extreme disappointment in the new Black Rebel Motorcycle Club album. Corporate and typical. Can’t believe how this sounds. A fave band!”
Tweet from some random cocksucker that shall
remain faceless & Nameless

THE ALBUM ISN’T RELEASED UNTIL MARCH 18th/19th
SO YOU’RE WELCOME FOR THE FREE ALBUM
YOU FUCKING SCUMBAG

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1 comments:

gear is shipping out to Ireland :]




...13 days to see them..happy me...

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Sunday, February 24, 2013

amazon.co.uk & amazon.de listing the new album







so looks like we got all CD, Digital and Vinyl prices and listing...
hmmm Amazon was always fast :)

links

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Leah custom kit getting ready for tour


Getting Leah's new drum kit ready for tour. Many thanks to SONOR @sonordrumco for making this custom kit for her. Truly a labor of love.

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Thursday, February 21, 2013

first physical copy has arrived!


First physical copy has arrived. 
Art direction by Robert Levon Been, 
Design by Simon McLoughlin The Uprising Creative
sketches by Paulette OrNot adapted from original photos by James Minchin. 

Can't wait for you all see this for yourselves. 
#letthedaybegin

1 comments:

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

ASK iAN * A PART OF YOU IS ENDING…A PART OF YOU HOLDS ON*


Hello iAN

I just wanted to share something with you.
I woke up this morning with tears in my eyes. As I forced myself out of bed the tears flowed down my cheeks like a river.
Being a single mom and knowing that my daughters would soon see me and ask what’s wrong I wipe them away as fast I can but they keep pouring down. I jump in the shower and I explain to them I’m sick and that’s why my eyes are red and puffy. As they stare at me and tell me they love me they come up to me and hug me. I then remind them of my love for them as well and hurry them off to school.
I then arrive at my office that I manage and as I sit I realize everything is becoming blurry and tears begin to pour down again. I then gather my things and leave without making eye contact with anybody or before anybody has the chance to ask me anything. ( are you ok? ) I get home, I put on my Bose earphones on and play sympathetic noose and fault line, then open invitation and then I’m left in silence and I could hear my sobbing. Automatically I start feeling better because that’s what BRMC does to me. They have become my meds. They provide comfort when I need it the most. If they only knew the role they have played in my life. So as I’m left with the traces of the sweet sounds of open invitation in my memory I get a text on my phone with a link to the new song you just posted (RETURNING)…. I press the link and wow. I can’t even explain in words the feeling that song gave me. Some type of hope. BRMC reminds me of hope every single time. That song is now my hope, my shield, my sword.
Just wanted to share this just now moment. I know you’d listen and understand somehow the feelings Ive experienced.


P.s.
Thank you for listening to my little nephew  in his times of darkness as well. That kid has been thru so much at only 18 years of life. He confessed to me the other day that he was about to commit suicide right before I introduced BRMC into his life. He said I was his Angel of life, and that BRMC’s music made him want to stay alive a little longer. Long enough to savor the sweet sounds.
It meant so much to him
When Pete took the time after the show to talk to him and share raw moments of wisdom and encouragement.
God how I love him, you and the rest.
Anonymous


BRMC doesn’t have fans…we have Friends* – iAN

1 comments:

first "Specter At The Feast" review


Specter at the Feast is the sixth album from this long-standing San Franciscan three-piece. With its name alluding to the haunted theme running through the tracks (possibly inspired by the recent loss of bassist Robert Been’s father), the album also calls up spectres of the ’90s with strong overtones of big grunge rock.


Slow-burning opening track Fire Walker sets the tone with a steady stride, followed by a successful update of The Call’s 1989 track Let the Day Begin, off which they peel the 80s veneer and add ’90s grunge guitar and all the quality of a U2 anthem.

The album quickly begins to feel a bit stodgy with the sombre track Returning, and Lullaby suffers from a metronome-strict rhythm of military snare. But things pick up with the superb Hate the Taste, in which the band funk out with a dirty blues riff and infectious backbeat, but here, as with much of the album, they could afford to let rip more. Perhaps they’re saving that for the live show. The other stand-out track, Rival, sounds similar to begin with but quickly introduces a much grubbier grunge chorus with a bit of the vitriol and gruffness of Nirvana, and soon the comparison with its bluesier neighbour is forgotten, leaving behind a great rock song.

The anger ramps up with the racing Teenage Disease, with snarling lyrics “I’m a total waste” and “I’d rather die” – it’s an anthem adolescents will turn up loud but seems a bit out of place on this album. The atmospheric, spiritual Some Kind of Ghost pacifies with its Deep South twang, though more could surely have been made of this track, which finishes before it has really gone anywhere. End track Lose Yourself has a melancholy yearn and a tender touch but is so very long, at 8 minutes 40.

It’s not really clear who the album is aimed at, although most of the tracks will certainly go down a storm played loud in a live setting. The recording, though, is slightly underwhelming – more rebellion required.

Verdict: •••
Emma Cooper

3 comments:

Key Club January 24th 2008 video


just found that over 5GB set on my DVDs ( unfortunately DVD were damaged and track 11,12,13 are missing but you can get them from here - Chris Jones YouTube  ) and wanted to try new Kim Dotcom service that apparently have great down and up speeds so here it is
 ---------------------------------
video:
MPEG 1/2 video ( mpgv )
640x480 30fps

audio:
MPEG audio layer 1/2/3
mono 64 kb/s


1.Grind My Bones 

2.Complicated Situation 

3.Shuffle Your Feet 

4.Love Burns 

5.Berlin 

6.Weapon Of Choice 

7.Howl 

8.All You Do Is Talk 

9.666 Conducer 

10.Six Barrel Shotgun 

(...)

14.Sympathetic Noose 

15.Visions Of Johanna (Dylan cover) 

16a.As Sure As The Sun 

16b.As Sure As The Sun 

17.Took Out A Loan 

18.Killing The Light 

19.Spread Your Love 

20.Whatever Happened To My Rock n Roll (Punk Song) 




1 comments:

"Specter At The Feast" US iTunes b-sides


 so b-sides are "Warning Sign" , "The Knife" and "Angel Baby"

i presume the EU pre-order will have the same set up...it will be announce shortly...

2 comments:

US iTunes New Album Pre-Order and second track unlocked !



Specter At The Feast is now available for pre-order on iTunes in the US. This deluxe edition is mastered for iTunes and includes 3 additional b-sides not found on the physical CD and a digital booklet. More information on the UK/European iTunes pre-sale and the Official Band Pre-Sale (including physical and vinyl) will be coming soon!

Last week we encouraged people to share what "Let The Day Begin" means to them on Instagram using #letthedaybein. We have received nearly 1000 photos already! You can now head over to the Official BRMC Website for to watch the lyric video for a new album track called "Returning" as well as download that song for free along with a live version of "Let The Day Begin" from the Troubadour show in December. Keep sharing your photos and see them added to the gallery.
We are making a video for Let the Day Begin and we want you to be apart of it. Similar to the Instagram page that we have going now, we'd like for you to send us your home videos! Upload them to Youtube with the tag #letthedaybegin

"Let The Day Begin EP" is available for free now from http://www.blackrebelmotorcycleclub.com

This special EP features the new album track "Returning" as well as both the studio recording and Live from the Troubadour recording of "Let The Day Begin"

While on the page - you can also now watch the official lyric video for "Returning" by clicking on the tape above the Instagram Gallery. Keep sharing your photos and tag them #letthedaybegin


What we're looking for are moments of everyday life that span from birth to the golden years.
Here are some ideas to inspire you:

Mothers-to-be
Newborn babies
Learning how to ride a bike
The moment your team won a game
The best vacation
Your favorite place
Your favorite person
Showing off a special skill you have
Someone who has a great laugh
The oldest person you know
The oldest couple you know
Birthday parties of the young and old
Prom night, game night, date night, stormy night
Someone you lost, someone you miss, someone you adore
Family gatherings, Saturday outings, Anniversaries

...basically anything that is a part of the human experience.

The little moments good and bad that weave together and make life the beautiful journey that it is.
This video will be less about the band and more about YOU.

Special consideration will be given to videos that are uploaded in high definition (1080p). Also, any OLD footage of home videos would be great too! Please keep the videos to less than 2 minutes, ideally.

We'll sort through everything and use as much as we can, so stay tuned for the release and see if your video made it.

See you soon,

BRMC



0 comments:

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Instagram BRMC users TAGGING TIME ! #letthedaybegin


... we just got great opportunity from our favorite click below for full info ...

... great page idea !!! ...


... 12 % at midnight in just like 1 hour we'll ... get it TOMORROW ! :-]

1 comments:

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

"Sound City" Musical Memories with Robert Levon Been


0 comments:

Monday, February 11, 2013

(4 of 6) BRMC's "Specter At The Feast" Short Film Series



0 comments:

ASK iAN * Heaven & All &Then Some… .*







0 comments:

Q&A – ROBERT LEVON BEEN – Life, Death & Macbeth * Q MAGAZINE
















On the face of it Black Rebel Motorcycle Club‘s last performance at Belgium’s Pukkelpop was just another notch on the European festival circuit – get in, get out, on to the next event. However 19 August, 2010 was to have repercussions that the band are still delaing with today. Just hours after leaving the stage Michael Been, frontman of 80s band The Call, father of singer Robert Levon Been and BRMC’s soundman, died suddenly of a heart attack. Even for a group that had survived the behaviour of unstable band members and fluctuating line-up changes, the loss of the man who had been their mentor from their very early days to prove shattering.
Dropping out of sight for the next three years, the group – who emerged with the likes of The Strokes and Yeah Yeah Yeahs in the early 2000s – questioned whether they even wanted to continue after his death. However having regrouped to write and re-energised by a chance request from Dave Grohl, BRMC took on their heartbreak and crisis of confidence and eventually emerged from the studio with seventh album Specter At The Feast, released next month (18 March). Talking openly, Levon Been speaks about the impact of losing a father, a guide and a friend, the way it has transformed his relationship with his band and music in general, and why BRMC decided they had to ride again.



How the devil are you?
“I’m good, I’m good. I feel like my head is sewn on backwards. There’s a million things going on. Not only are we trying to learn our own songs, which we’ve forgotten quite thoroughly, but we’re trying to learn this song [Heaven And All] with Dave Grohl. He’s doing this thing for his Sound City documentary and we were in that, so we’re learning that too. It’s a clusterfuck.”

You’re in his new documentary about Los Angeles’ Sound City studios?
“We wrote a song on the spot for the film. It was this kamikaze writing session. He had an idea for a drum thing and lose song, but I didn’t know how to come at it, so I asked him, What if we just start from scratch and go in with no plan, just jam out in the studio and see what happens? I thought it would be low key. Then I get there and it was a 12 person camera crew, Dave and [producer] Butch Vig standing there going: What’s the plan for today… There is no plan! There was a real panic and I think that’s what ended-up making the song come. It comes really quickly when you’ve got a gun to your head like that.”

You’re back in at the deep end it seems. You’re not just doing your own record but you’re in a film that has the music world’s eyes on it…
“It was cool, Dave wanted us to be involved. We kind of got in over our heads! He’s really excitable, it’s like being around a kid for whom it’s Christmas morning every day [laughs]. He’s so happy and enthusiastic that you can’t say no. You’d follow him into a volcano because he would make it look so fucking exciting! He has this weird Pied Piper thing. It’s like the crazy juice, everyone just goes along for the ride. Thank God he’s crazy!”

It’s quite a thing to get involved in considering it’s been three years since your record. Is it a little strange to be back with all systems go?
“Our record actually started when Dave invited us to come down and record on the sound board at the studios again. It felt really good recording the song on the equipment we used for the first record [2001's B.R.M.C.], it was so tempting that we asked: Would it be too much to ask if we snuck in here and tracked some of the songs we’re working on right now? It all spun out from that. Dave was completely gracious and said Come in, use what you want. So we got the run of the place to make our album. From there we hit the ground running, we were in good hands. Before that though, writing the songs, was a lot of work. All of us were all in very different headspaces and we were trying to figure out where we wanted to go – if we wanted to write and play music at all.”

It sounds like it was very difficult to get into the mind set where you personally wanted to do music, let alone be in a band?
“We all went through a pretty great loss with my father passing away. He was a really important person in our lives. He really held us together through a lot of hard times. And that was from the very beginning. As an example, I don’t know a lot of people know, but at high school Peter [Hayes, guitarist] was having a lot of trouble at home and was living in a van. So when I started playing guitar with Pete he would end up parking in the driveway. We’d go to school, play at night and he’d crash in our driveway, and so my father ended up taking him in and he became part of the family. It’s where he’s lived ever since. So it’s a huge thing to lose him. He went out on the road with us, every tour doing the front of house sound, so all us – not just me – were hit pretty hard.”

Because of that, his association with the band and the fact he was an artist in his own right, has that loss altered your own relationship with music?
“My whole relationship with music is completely different now. All the cheap highs are found elsewhere now, I can’t go to music for that quick fix. It’s more the mirror now and I don’t really like what I see all the time. Everything is there. To be honest I was always hiding that part. I was using music as the escape – I’d look in the mirror and see somebody else. There’s nothing left there any more. So yeah, it’s different. It took me a long fucking time to figure out how to write from that fucking place. I didn’t want speak in my own voice. It’s so scary, but something happened along the way where… I don’t know. Even though the lows have gotten lower, the highs have gotten higher. The joy and the richness of playing in what still feels like a family, I connect to more now. It’s life, it balances itself out.”

In a strange way, that is music’s strength. At one point in your life a song can make you smile, years later it can make you cry…
“Yeah. When you first start a band it’s like you’re dating a girl [laughs]. It’s really exciting, you have great sex and everything is new, and then a couple of records in and you’ve gotten to know the person better it’s, Fuck! This is beginning to get a bit more like work! Now, going through all the shit that we’ve gone through together, it’s that’s like that thing when you realise you’re with your partner for life! There’s a deeper love even with all the shit – if you can survive it. Not that many bands I know can stand the amount of shit that you have to take. Most of the time I don’t know if I can, but somehow you keep on keeping on.”

And you’re band has probably taken more shit than most. Labels, line-up changes…
“Yeah, we’ve had our fair share. We have enough to balance it out on the other side though, safe to say.”

Having endured it all, do you feel stronger, more settled as band? The new album isn’t necessarily a dark album, it’s even euphoric in places…
“A lot of the stuff we were dealing with we didn’t want to bitch on a record. No one needs another sad bastard! There was something of more substance that we wanted to express from the experience than just the sorrow. There is something in death that is also a rebirth and that’s kind of the beautiful side of it. With the writing, the part of it that was so difficult for us was that we decided if we were going to make an album we were going to show all sides of that. Not just focus on the darker, sombre elements. There’s a lot more to the process than that. You love someone, you lose someone, you go through all the feelings. At the same time that was not all we were experiencing in the last couple of years. Life has gone on and music in particular was the thing that was pulling us out of it. It’s more of a salvation and rebirth.”

There does seem to be a dynamic running through the album, it moves. Do you see it as a work rather than just a collection of songs?
“For this album we wanted to create not just a series of random songs, but we wanted the record to flow. To take you somewhere from start to finish, like a real record used to do. Like the records I loved when I was going up. Not overly conceptualised, because that could get tiring, but so it feels like it’s pulling you through it, as opposed to the iTunes, download a single song at a time culture. We wanted to pay a bit more attention to it as a whole piece. I think we came closer on this one than we have in the past. The listener can get a fuller picture.”

Can you put your finger on what unites all those songs to create that flow?
“The thing that difficult about the record was that everything was stretched to extremes. With the songs that are more intimate, emotional and heartfelt, we stretched down to that place more than we’d gotten to in the past. In the same moment, we were stretched on the other end of things. There’s some songs which are brutally anarchistic, angry, fuck-every-thing kind of songs. They’re the polar opposite. We felt our insides stretched apart. We weren’t in one mind on anything. So trying to show how those two words come together – the light and the dark – and to get them to exist and speak together was the challenge for this record, if not our own lives.”

You chose to cover one of your father’s songs from his band The Call on the record.
“Let The Day Begin was deceiving easy. We jammed out our version in six minutes and went: How the fuck did that happen? We thought we’d have it easy after that. Then we were trapped mixing it, it was just a quagmire. I think we went over 50 mixes for the song! We wanted to blow our brains out as we could never agree on one version. So I’m proud that it’s over and we didn’t kill ourselves [laughs].”

It does sound like you enjoyed playing Let The Day Begin from the recording at least…
“Yeah, in the beginning it was great. [laughs] It was only mixing it for six months that was murderous torture! We wanted to cover a song of my father’s that showed the joy of his life as much as the loss. We thought about doing a couple of his songs that were heartfelt ballads. I was tempted to do that because I connected with them deeply and emotionally on a persona level but that wasn’t showing the full picture for me of what we wanted to say and the gratitude we felt for him helping us to get to this place. That song is such an uplifting and luminescent song that I thought it was right for the occasion.”

It has some great lyrics.
“Yeah, though I always forget some of the words. It’s like this giant list of thank yous essentially and they all get jumbled up in my mind [laughs]. I’ve got to figure out a way to remember it. It’s going to get to me writing the words on the back of my hands!”

Are there any other songs that are personal highlights for you?
“The last song on the record, Lose Yourself, has significance for us too. The last time we were all together on the last tour was when we played a show at Sumer Sonic in Japan. We went on, then Jónsi went on after us. All of us were really moved by his show. It’s one of the few times we’ve all stood side of the stage together and watched. Usually on tour everyone scatters. It was one of the last times we were all together and were really moved. When Lose Yourself came along later on we all shared that moment together again with that song. It was definitely inspired by him but it wasn’t something that we talked about. We didn’t aim to get back to that spirit, but it was definitely understood. Every movement and every feeling was connected. I’m proud of that one because I haven’t ever felt so connected to Peter and Leah [Shapiro, drums] in the same room without any words been said. We were communicating purely musically. It came pretty fast, as the best things do.”

The album’s title has some pedigree, doesn’t it?
“We were playing around with the word spectre for a while and Leah actually found an act in Macbeth was called Specter At Feast. There are a few reasons for the title… Is it us, or outside of us? Are we three the spectres and the record is the feast? It just felt right for this time. There were lots of things going on involving Macbeth too. Me and Peter went to see a play in New York called Sleep No More, which is also from Macbeth, and we were really inspired by that play. It’s one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen. It’s this living play, on five stories and you wander through the rooms wearing Eyes Wide Shut masks. You stumble upon different actors playing parts… it was really inspiring. Then as we looked into it some more, we realised Joy Division’s Shadowplay is also from Macbeth so we thought, all in all, it was pretty good company. [laughs]”

Talking of stages, you have a tour next month to think about. Are you looking forward to getting out there again?
“It’s the only thing I’m looking forward too! I’m losing my mind doing all the things to set up the album, videos, artwork… I just want to play, man. I feel like I’m doing all my chores and if I can get them done, I can go outside and play! A lot of the albums have been a real struggle to play live, but with these songs we know what we have to do. They were written to be more than a record, so we feel like we’re only half way done.”

Plus you’re in the position of having a good selection of older songs to fit into the setlist too.
“I never thought we’d ever have the problem of having too many songs. It’s a high-class problem so I’m not going to bitch about it. Thankfully we have fans to bitch about it for us [laughs] we get constant complains about what we leave out! At least we’re still around to bitch about! [laughs]”

Paul Stokes @Stokesie

0 comments: