I am going to say something to you that will come as a great relief: You have my complete and unfettered permission to go ahead and enjoy our music as… music. There is no need to become anxious about some “inside joke” that you may not be getting, nor is there cause for excessive worry that you might “feel something” only to find out later that what you were “feeling something” about turned out to be merely “ironic.” (We don’t really do ironic, at least not in the over/misused, beginning-in-the-90s sense of the word: Yes, irony is best left to happenstance itself.)

In other words, even though we play a lot of different types of music (and sometimes even get all conceptual on your ass), it doesn’t mean that any of these things negate one another. It is truly possible to play a “lock groove” in the park for nine hours and be able to sing a pop song with complete sincerity (no winking required). Additionally, it is possible to perform a driving rock song with a 4/4 beat and whip out a 12-minute epic with myriad changes, instrumentation and time signatures. Without compromise! Our (albeit hopelessly finite) tenure on the planet allows us these freedoms.

(You know how you can be driving in rush hour, getting all frustrated and stuff, and then arrive home to find your boyfriend or girlfriend waiting to make love with you? One minute you’re a nervous wreck on the verge of implosion, the next minute you’re bathed in ecstasy without a care in the world. Well, you’re not any more yourself or less yourself in either scenario, you’re simply experiencing a range of human existence. It’s kind of like that with music!)

I know it’s your job as a journalist to “get it” (and it’s your ego’s job to “not get gotten”), but when the concern for “getting it” starts to outweigh any content that you might otherwise be “getting around to,” I think it’s time to take a step back, live a little, and maybe see if there’s something else present besides your own blinding, all-encompassing, vocation-induced anxiety.

The vast majority of people out there (journalist or not) didn’t even need to read this. Through the miraculous act of listening/feeling/experiencing, they already “get it.” Ironically enough.

I’ve noticed several of you coming very close to dancing at our shows lately. This is good! We’ve always been a dance band. When we were in France recently, and were not linguistically proficient enough to say “We are a dance band” en francais , there were quite a few people who were actually dancing. Just because the music compelled them to. (Or maybe because there was not a culture compelling them not to.) (I’m just sayin’.) So, don’t worry! I know that there are some unfamiliar rhythms in our music. And some starts and stops. But these tendencies needn’t be obstacles toward movement. Don’t overthink it: There’s almost always a groove present to allow your nervous system the field day it so desperately craves. And don’t worry about “getting burned” by the brief breaks which sometimes occur: Silence is a beautiful thing to dance to.

Just because you don’t understand it doesn’t mean that we do understand it. The joke could very well be on us! Therefore, it is not an in joke, but an on joke. Thank You For Your Continued Patience!

The Hideout served as the scene for yet another release show. Such a warm room, that. We love playing there. Thanks to The Hideout and all who attended the official unveiling of No Ifs, Ands or Dogs.