Nope, you’re thinking of The Zambonis. With that, you can just about imagine for yourself the disgust Hockey Night lead singer Paul Sprangers would have in his face right before he slammed a little boat of cheese fries into the smart ass’ face, and then wiped it off with the man’s Boston Bruins jersey as a rebuttal to any sort of hockey quip. These Minnesotans are not putting on a novelty act, oh no mon fraire, this is serious business. The laborious trifling over pulling the sweetest lines from what sound as if they’re magical guitars worthy of a trip-wire-protected holding showcase at a museum, of what capacity is up for discussion, but a museum for positive, is a matter of national priority. It should be. We can look around and see things in disarray, people actually buying copies of an albums by The Fray and Fergie in great numbers instead of records by these guys and Drakkar Sauna and Joanna Newsom (because they just steal that one – as sad as that is) and not paying too much mind or we can take a stand for one of the most ambitious bands in the country that still plays it so faux lackadaisical it’s like the whipped cream on top. Sprangers is getting moderately involved with political thought and still making it sound like love. Scott Wells is still a man with thrill-seeking hands, the dual percussion of Alex Achen and Adam Harness is infinitely trickier and more spry while Zach Rose’s bass guitar is the taskmaster in a blend of sparks and sloppy brilliance that gives them away as the next greats of something that’s still to be determined. – Sean Moeller

Let’s hear what Sprangers, Wells and Achen loved about last week:
Sprangers
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho – It’s an amazing, amazing book. Blew my mind open.
Mind numbingly beautiful passages on the simplicity of life, and the importance of following signs. It is a must read for all those out there who are frustrated, confused, anxious, fearful, and sad. Life isn’t easy, but it certainly isn’t hard.

Community Gardens—My house and also a band I’m in with Carl from Malachi Constant. We just had an amazing housewarming on Friday. All the friends we loved came.

New Hockey Night demos are blowing my mind. “How much is too much?”

The summer. The Twin Cities. I love the Twin Cities. amazzing.

Achen
Jokes – So, as far as things that made me laugh, well a bit ago a friend of mine farted (always loved immature humor and always will) and he looked at me and remarked, “Some asshole’s talking shit behind my back.” It took me a second and then I just couldn’t stop laughing. Good times.

Books—The Great Bridge by David McClullough. Not a book I thought I was going to like, but I ended up really enjoying it.

TV—My roomie and Hockey night bass player, Zack and I recently discovered the Joss Whedon TV show, “Firefly.” It was canceled before even one season was over, but they released it on DVD and I love it! Sci-fi-make-me-high!

Places—A wonderful home/art space/music venue/party location named Community Gardens located in the wonderful Prospect Park neighborhood. Thanks for the good times guys.

Beer—HAMMS.

Wells
Blood of the Beasts, documentary by Georges Franju. Mostly shots and descriptions of the everyday workings of old-timey, hands-on slaughterhouses. Pretty heavy-duty. It’s shot and cut really beautifully.

Tiger Rag, Bunk Johnson’s New Orleans Band. Great example of heavy traditional jazz circa the mid-40’s. It reaches full-on ecstatic cacophony by the end of the recording. Great simultaneous soloing by all horns, backed by non-stop boogie-stomp.

Phantom of the Opera, Iron Maiden. Ambitious prog/metal from their self-titled album, featuring some nice 3-part harmonized arpeggiated breaks.

The Protector, not as good as Ong Bak but still generally righteous.

Touch Too Much, AC/DC. Totally pumped-up rock with beautiful double entendre from Bon Scott, featuring not-yet-crystalized Def Leppard-style John Robert “Mutt” Lange vocal production.

The nutty Hockey Night Daytrotter Session Circa 2006