KIDS IN PHILLY, CONT.

I like to have a sense of place with bands, which is why I love what this guy wrote that was shared on Serge Bielanko's Facebook page about the wonderfully Philly-centric Kids in Philly, which Marah re-released on vinyl to celebrate its 15th year anniversary:

One of the many grave miscalculations the modern record industry has wrought is the belief that music will appeal to the widest audience possible when it speaks in some kind of pop Esperanto that betrays nothing of its origins. Whatever their charms, it matters not very much where Lady Gaga or Nickelback come from. They could be from anywhere. Or nowhere. For them, that’s the point. But it wasn’t always like that.

Irrespective of birthplace, the music of Elvis and Booker T & The MGs comes from Memphis. The Beatles’ music is of Liverpool. The Gallagher Brothers’ sound sprang from Manchester. Bruce is Asbury Park. Neil Young, Winnipeg; Curtis Mayfield, Chicago; Buck Owens, Bakersfield. Everything on Motown is from Detroit. Jay Z = Brooklyn. The Velvet Underground is the sound of the Lower East Side. The Ramones are the Bowery.

Marah is Philadelphia. The record you hold in your hands is their long-form birth certificate and it’s also your visitor’s visa. I realized this the first time I visited Marah on their home court. It was a blazing hot summer weekend and as I walked the streets of South Philly, everything seemed curiously recognizable. Keep your virtual reality Oculus headset, through a hundred spins of Kids In Philly, I had Dave and Serge Bielanko leading me around by the elbow, steering me through the streets and haunts of their town. It was all familiar. It was all new.

BUY YOUR DAMN COPY HERE TODAY!!!!