Vinyl of the Month

Artist: LA Tool and Die

Title: My Brother-in-law Won't Go To Your Show/ 1983 (The Year Corey Hart Exploded In My Pants)

Format: 7-inch

Label: AAJ Records

Manufacturer: United Record Pressing in Nashville, TN

Fans of LA Tool and Die might already recognize the A-side, “My Brother-in-law Won’t Go To Your Show,” as the anthem against those sneering, aging college rock fans from the late 1980s and early ‘90s who refuse to try anything new, desperately hanging on to the days when Pavement was still a band and Stephen Malkmus hadn’t put his own

face on an album cover (for shame!). But this version has a very slight difference from the The Last Thorn of Summer track, with this 7-inch song being radio friendly (“13 friggin’ years ago”). But the vintage indie rock references are still there, with the Built to Spill, Silver Jews and Polvo name-checks echoing the time that indie rock forgot, or at

least the time that indie rockers think time forgot. Which is why we all need reminding so often. But, LA Tool and Die laments, there’s plenty more out there to be had, even from the remnants of those past bands (“Doug Martsch still plays a damn fine show”) with minimal instrumentation (strumming electric guitar, old-school keyboards and

a bit of drumming), the lyrics are in the spotlight, with singer Lee Grutman’s voice deriding his ex-college DJ brother-in-law for refusing to be introduced to any new music, scoffing that “He’s just too old /To go to your show / Ya, he’s too old / For rock ‘n’ roll / But he is too young / Too young to die.”

The B-side, “1983 (The Year Cory Hart Exploded In My Pants)” opens with eerily-familiar Top-40 synths, falling somewhere between Spring Break 1998 and Van Halen’s 1982 Arena Tour. Strangely enough, it’s not a bad place to be, with the catchy

Springsteen-esque lyrics, “Little one in the dark / You hold me close you’re driving me crazy” repeated over and over with a typical ‘80s electric guitar (probably shaped like a V and lipstick red) shredding in the background. You can almost smell the Aqua Net. And yet, for all its ‘80s music references and the indie-ironic title, the song still comes

across as sincere and heartfelt as any Morrissey track.

www.latoolanddie.com

-Leila Regan-Porter