The Polyphonic Spree

Less is more … more or less

Monday, August 3rd, 2009 | musiX, pdX | 2 Comments

I’m escaping from the new apartment—away from the piles of boxes, paper and general disorganization—to the cool confines of Seven Virtues (a favorite haunt of the poor old dirt farmer) in order to clear-headedly reflect on my latest relocation. Two things: 1) Moving is for the birds; 2) I own too much crap. And those who helped with the move saw a whole different side of me—we’ll call it The Decades of Lore.

But I am impressed by how much I’ve actually gotten rid of. However, there are things I cannot and WILL NOT part with … for better or for worse. Like … [inhale]

… the Raiders of the Lost Ark shirt I got when I was 8. The boxes of baseball cards. The comic books (a 1967 Superman in there somewhere). The rock posters from different stages of my life. The rock T-shirts from different stages of my life (some complete with junior-high-my-body’s-going-through-changes-armpit stains). The life-sized cardboard stand-up of Indiana Jones. The KISS action figures. Fliers from almost every show I’ve played. My KISS pajamas (from childhood, not present) signed by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley. Boxes of newspapers containing almost every article I’ve written. G.I. Joe and Star Wars action figures. See how uncluttered I’ve become?

The other night I heard the demo for “Blurry” from The Polyphonic Spree. Not the 20-plus member Polyphonic Spree. Last week TPS frontman Tim DeLaughter posted acoustic demos for songs from the forthcoming release on the band’s blog. Although I love the the big “symphonic choral rock” the band typically employs, I was really enjoying the stripped-down versions. I know by the time The Polyphonic Spree officially releases the songs they’ll be big and sprawling. I also know that in a few years I will likely have accumulated more junk stuff. But for now I’ll enjoy the scaled-back approach … until I open the TDoL Virtual Memoir in 2049.

The Days of Lore