BAH RAM YOU has been a very busy sheep this past weekend. We gambled all of our moneys away in Vegas, where we opened for the ‘Misfits’. We also FINALLY dropped a video for ‘Hipster’. Check it out at the link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTgmnXIFh80

-Sam

P.S. Christmas songs coming soon! HO HO HO!

This past June I had the privilege of seeing Streetlight Manifesto play at Warped Tour in San Francisco. I’ve never circle pitted/skanked so damn hard in my life. Each one of their songs is a burst of energy and passion combined with the feel-good catchy sound of ska. It was clear that the level of musicianship required for a band of their size (7) far exceeds any other group that played that day.

Streetlight has 4 albums (including ‘Keasby Nights) that I know of, dating back to 2003. Their performance exemplifies a truly punk attitude, i.e. no ‘bull shit’. They don’t like to talk very much between songs nor do they pander to the crowds (which is a lot more than I can say for All Time Low, who desperately tried to start a circle pit that no one moved an inch for). Streetlight, however, simply makes fun of other bands and then starts the next song. There was one point during the show when frontman Tomas Kalnoky stepped up to the mic and mockingly said “buy our cd blah blah blah” then immediately started the next song. Through their brief banter they exhibit their disgust for any gimmicks or ploys to get the crowd riled up, they solely rely on their music for that. Streetlight Manifesto also takes on an ensemble persona. Nearly everybody onstage is singing or yelling at one point or another in the songs. Even the frontman, Tomas, does not place himself center stage during the songs, but rather lines up all the way to stage right. This allows for the entire brass section to line up in the center next to him. To top it all off, their music videos are all animated, thus highlighting that they don’t require any attention whatsoever.

The thought that ska is kicking its way back into the spotlight is very exciting to me. The movement could not be spear-headed by a better band than Streetlight Manifesto. I’m not sure of all the details, but I know through a post on their website that these guys have had a hard time with Victory Records. They deserve far more than they have received, but hopefully all that will change at the release of their next album. For now, please give them a listen. The first 5 songs on ‘Somewhere in Between’ are worth every cent of the album that you can buy off their website. The band urges fans not to purchase any of their music from itunes or other major distributors, because the money goes to Victory Records. Hopefully one day BAH RAM YOU will be able to share a festival or stage with Streetlight Manifesto.

-Sam

I mentioned in previous posts that we were going into the studio to record a couple of singles to release this summer, but I lied. Well, I didn’t lie, but one thing lead to another and now we are recording our first full length album. Early this week we finished all the drums and started working on the bass. Seth killed it in the studio, knocking out 20 solid tracks in 2 days. We are extremely pleased with the drums and are looking forward to finally having a body of work that reflects the skills of our talented drummer. Seth didn’t have the opportunity to record on our last EP, so it always felt slightly incomplete to us. However, this album is a complete collaboration through and through.

We are releasing the single “Hipster” this summer. It will be a fun teaser to our album that we will hopefully drop this fall. Thank you to the crew at Stagg Street Studio. We couldn’t have asked for a better engineer and tech.

Keep an eye out for more updates!

-Sam