By Troy Brownfield

Here we go, yo.

Samsell Advances: Praise with great praising the work of webmaster Shawn and the rest of Samsell! The band, which consists of Shawn on vocals and guitar, John Elder on vocals and guitar, Dave McKinney on bass, and Michael "StrongBad" Daubs on drums, play Brit-inflected indie rock throughout the region. This past Wednesday, the boys took part in Indianapolis's annual Battle of the Bands. This is no small affair; 114 acts entered the contest this year, which is sponsored by local label Benchmark Records, IndianapolisMusic.net, Budweiser, and The Patio in Broad Ripple. All prelim rounds are held at The Patio, and the finals, featuring the top seven advancing acts, are held at The Patio's sister club, the storied The Vogue.

In some towns, a BOB might not be a big deal. I happen to believe that Indy's is special. The BOB drawns large crowds for the Wednesday prelims, and the finals are staggeringly large, which is why the monolithic Vogue is required to house it. It's a proving ground for new bands; a solid BOB peformance here can make a reputation and line up a solid slate of shows. It can score you opening slots. It can get you booked alongside the national touring acts that play the small clubs here. It can get you laid. All right, maybe not.

Still, I've known Shawn for a lot of years, and we've always kind of had a love/hate relationship with BOBs. You see, webmaster Shawn started playing guitar over 14 years ago. Since that time, he's been in any number of bands, but he's always stayed true to his major influences: shoegazing Britpop and DIY indie rock. Hell, in a BOB in high school, waaaay before the Nirvana explosion, Shawn's band played originals and covers by Sonic Youth, Social Distortion, and X. The other bands were still doing hair metal and Doors covers. Obviously, Shawn's band lost.

Obviously, there's an element of popularity contest to some of these things. That's another element that makes the Indy BOB cooler than most. The outcome of each prelim round is divided between audience vote and judge's vote; the identity of the judges is a closely guarded secret. SO, even if you bring 100 friends and still suck, you may not have a lock. Judging counts.

All of this was in our heads on Wednesday. Samsell and crew brought friends, that's true, but not necessarily any more that one troop of frat-rockers that brought out some hot, fake-tanned, large-breasted fans. It really was a packed house. It was a good opportunity.

And, not to any surprise on my part, the boys kicked ass. I expected that they'd advance (the top two bands in each prelim round of six do), but I wasn't sure about first. When the scoring was done, Samsell took first by over 60 points; amazingly, they were separated from the third place band by 300 points.

In the grand scheme of things, victories like this might not often matter. But I think that for a guy like Shawn Delaney, a guy that has followed his musical instincts in a particular fashion for a decade and a half, a guy that's played in any number of bands looking for the right combination, it was a victory that does matter. It's a validation of the original music that he's always tried to make, and it's a validation that those four guys really do play some amazing tunes together. So forgive me if I took some time to congratulate my pals. Ladies and gentlemen, this is Samsell. Give it up for 'em, all right?

Rex Rex: By now you've probably heard about the dog that got hit by a car, shot by policeman who was trying to put it out of its misery, tossed in a morgue freezer, and was found by an attendant sitting up, wide awake and alive with no broken bones and a superficial bullet wound, still in the bag in the freezer. I have a few thoughts on this.

1) If you're that morgue attendant, wouldn't you have just shat yourself? I mean seriously, if I'd been the one to find it, the rest of the staff would have heard me screaming like a little girl and burst in to find that dog with a wooden stake sticking out of it. I mean it, man. I've seen waaay too many episodes of Buffy; when something gets up off the slab, you don't fuck around.

2) How LOUSY of a shot is that cop? Really, if you want to put an animal down, you get close to shoot. How far away was he? Thirty feet? Thirty-five? This guy is either a terrible, terrible shot, or the biggest pussy on Earth. You think the other guys want to be partnered with this schmuck now?
"Hey boys, we're takin' down a crack house. Smith, you take Johnson."
"Johnson? He can't hit shit!"
"Come on, Smith . . .."
"No way, man! Motherfucker can't hit Lassie when the bitch is under a car! Give me the drug dog; at least I know then Johnson won't accidentally shoot us when we go in."

3) And last, isn't that the kind of dog that you want? It resists cars, bullets, and freezing! Imagine if a guy tried to break into your house; he'd be like the Terminator. Maybe the owners should rename that sucker Krypto.

Free Comic Book Day!: I must reiterate this. Saturday, May 3rd is Free Comic Book Day! Comic shops all across the country will have one free title from most publishers ready to give to store visitors. The event is timed to coincide with the opening of X2 (fans of UXM #129-#137 . . . get ready to freak). So, be sure to get thyself to your local four-color store and, as we say so often here, support the scene.

May 1st: God knows you probably aren't from Terre Haute, Indiana or Indiana State University or Rose-Hulman or St. Mary-of-the-Wood's, but if you are, be prepared for Team Shotgun to hit the Haute like the uru hammer of the mighty Thor come next Thursday. Lucky attendees shall bear witness to a cooperative show put on by us, ISU's Hulman Memorial Student Union Board, and local radio stations 100.7 and Y96. The show features some of the best and brightest in regional rock, including the aforementioned Samsell, The Nods, Miranda Sound, The Common and Loretta. Stuff starts at 7pm by the Fountain on ISU campus. Listen to the bands on Shotgun Radio!


Troy Brownfield is the Editor-in-Chief of Shotgun Reviews. Someday he will kick Shawn's ass for getting "Ashamed" stuck in his head. This he swears. Email Troy at psikotyk@aol.com

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