Always Ready to Go

There’s a dude getting ready to get in the van and rock.  As she sees him off, his woman implores him to remember to keep her in his heart while he’s out on the trail.  He spends his time when not on the road in a state of not-so-secret disdain for his day job, dreaming about the day he can leave it all behind forever.  Elsewhere, there’s s hungry young gun trying to make his bones as a press photographer in the big city, looking for an in to the stars, hearing from his editor what it’s going to take to get the shot.  And out on the wild rock and roll road, the first guy doesn’t take long to fall off the wagon in several senses and leave her after all, ’cause he’s just got to be free to live it all the way!  He’s not too politic about it either, although he did take the trouble to say it in a song.

Meanwhile, just above the atmosphere, just above our ability to detect, there’s a ship full of creatures who followed our radio transmissions back to us from a very long way away.  They first picked up the opening credits of I Love Lucy, with that satin heart and Ricky’s band tearing through the theme song, and they followed the trail all the way up through Mary Tyler Moore, to Roseanne, to Jersey Shore.  At which point, deeming us unready, they retreated for at least the next thousand years, to watch and wait…

…while the fence posts fly by and the rumble strip keeps him awake in the driver’s seat.  It’s still another six hours to Philly, to play to thirty people if they’re lucky.  Then New York, DC, Baltimore, Richmond, then back in time for work on Monday.  Yesterday was her birthday, but he doesn’t feel right about calling her anymore, especially not since the blowout over that last drinking and dialing fiasco.  And on top of that, it turns out that hot bartender in Cincinnati has a thing for touring bands, emphasis on the plural.  Ouch!  Underneath his cool, he thought they might have been more to each other, but it looks like he thought wrong.  She was witheringly unconcerned about it, too.  Enylise would have never done that to him.  It’s too late for that now, though.  But you can’t let it show, you gotta be hard, you’re on your way, man, buck up!  Still, that little devil desire sitting on his left shoulder really did a number this time.

After enough times through the circuit, cities all blend together into colored streaks of neon and sodium glaring against the rainy windshield as the wipers keep the beat.  He got close, but the peak happened two years ago.  It’s becoming impossible to deny anymore; the draw has been going down for awhile, and the fire in his belly is sputtering, too.  But what next?  Time to be a man and make amends if he can.  Even if it’s too late, at least he can tell her he finally knows what it means to have something real.  Maybe that will be enough to win her back.  Will it?

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That is the CliffsNotes version of our quasi-concept record, “Primetime,” released at 12:01 on 1/1/11.  To the best of my knowledge, we at least share the distinction of being the first band to hold a record release on 1/1/11 in the history of earth, although I suppose someone could have put out a gramophone 100 years ago.  Ah man, someone probably did.  Well then, the first release of 2011 anyway, and the curious numbers on the calendar line up nicely with the title of the record: 2011 is a prime number.  So is eleven, the number of songs on the record, and of course, the number our amps go to.  These little synchronicities are what make life interesting for us, and we’re all very happy that New Year’s Eve just happened to fall on Friday night this year.  We want to thank Church for continuing to treat us so well and for providing a great stage to have a party with everyone!  Our friends and show openers Apple Betty cheekily exhorted us to go to Tennessee, to go to Alaska, to replace that TP roll when you use the last square, I mean it’s not hard, ok?!  The Upper Crust was a revelation of tight, AC/DC punch and powered wig aplomb tied to aristocratic disdain.  JustBill outdid himself as usual with great camera work, both video and still, and Joe Turner surprised us with by stepping in last minute with a laptop full of projection imagery to kick things over to the next visual gear.  These guys really helped make it a show and not just a gig, if you know what I mean.  Thanks, dudes!

We also have to shout out to Boston Music Awards “Producer Of The Year” Benny Grotto (Aerosmith, The Dresden Dolls) and Mad Oak Studios for delivering what I think is a superb sounding record.  The experience of recording it could fill another blog, but I’ll just say it was the smoothest ride, best sounds and most fun I’ve ever had in a recording studio.  I hope you’ll agree that Benny did a great job of getting that live urgency out of us, a notoriously tricky thing to accomplish in the petri dish of a tracking room.  We can’t recommend these guys highly enough.

So now what?  Well, it’s time to go out and play our record about playing out, and try not to live through some of the worse moments our protagonist brought upon himself.  We could be writing our own future, or we could be living vicariously through an imaginary guy as we take a less toxic and parallel track and keep the rest of our lives together while logging those road miles.  Or both.  Or neither.  But it’s been immensely satisfying, and gratifying to make.  We’re looking forward to seeing you soon, wherever you are, to find out if we tickled your rocking bone. (Don’t be dirty, you know what I mean.)  See you out on the trail!

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Own a copy of “Primetime”:

• Physical
• Digital

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Take a YouTube tour through “Primetime”:

• Teaser

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“Primetime” Buzz:

AOL Music

• “Full CD Listening Party”
  • The Boston Band’s second album is all about the pursuit of fame.
    

The Music Slut

• “Premiere: ‘Primetime,’ The Lights Out”
  • A theme record about the pursuit of fame: why we do it, what we gain and lose while we’re working toward it, how it can be earned or stolen, the business of building up and tearing down celebrity, and wondering what “making it” means in this day and age

The Boston Globe

• “No arena required: The Lights Out goes full-tilt on ‘Primetime’”
  • It takes a grand total of two seconds to situate exactly where “Primetime,’’ the second album by the Boston-based the Lights Out, stands — or rather, roars — on the musical spectrum.
• “New Year’s Eve events: NEW YEAR’S EVE AT CHURCH”
  • Arena-ready rockers
• “Promises, promises: Local rock luminaries offer their New Year’s resolutions”
  • My New Year’s resolution is to not let the zombie apocalypse stand in the way of my band hitting Primetime

The Weekly Dig

• “Astounding Ascent”
  • Dangerous…soulful…downright sultry

The Phoenix

• “Live Review: The Lights Out Rock New Year’s Eve”
  • Rock hooks…upswing of buzz…arena-ready confidence akin to what Foghat must’ve been like in the mid ’70s.

The Deli Magazine

• “The Lights Out release new album “Primetime” New Year’s Eve @ Church!”
  • One of the hardest working Boston bands…[Primetime] speaks to many about what the reality is of being in a band

Ryan’s Smashing Life

• “For Those About to Rock”
  • In the top 5 live rock bands in New England…devoted to their art, improving with each new release…at the core of the scene…value to that longevity…better than ever…2011 promises to be the rock band’s best year to date

Boston Band Crush

• “C.D. On Songs: The Lights Out – ‘Primetime’”
  • Full of happening…whirls around you…mobile rhythms punctuating splashes of bright, melodic guitar…fuel for your stomp-tastic dance moves…thumps out like an accelerated heartbeat……total power saturation

Playground Boston

• “New Year’s Eve at Church with The Lights Out”
  • Some of Boston’s finest pop rock, and this album is set to take them to an entirely new level

Exploit Boston!

• “15 Questions with Boston Musician Adam Ritchie”
  • If you’re content with your level of success, you’re not working hard enough

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