Thursday, October 30, 2008
Rock and Roll Knitting Needles
Tonight, I realized I was grown up. Back in the day (that would be 1994 or so), I spent a lot of time hanging around a record shop in Moncton, New Brunswick called Room 201, flipping through thousands upon thousands of vinyl records, picking up 7" vinyl records of all the indie bands at the time - Eric's Trip, Orange Glass, the Monoxides, to name only three (and I know some of you reading this may remember shows at the Aberdeen Cultural Centre or at that awful tavern whose name escapes me at the moment). One song that was ALWAYS covered, by every indie band, at almost every show, was Gigantic by the Pixies:
Kim Deal is the basist/singer of this song. It is still one of my all time faves, and if I ever needed a little pep before an exam or just to get into a good groove for a long walk, this is the song I listen to.
After the Pixies, but still during our "Nirvana Years", as Scotian likes to call them (we had not met yet but he had a similar experience with indie music here in Halifax at the time), Kim Deal teamed up with her twin sister Kelley to form the Breeders. They had a hit in 1994 that one or two of you may remember:
So this evening, I was at our local Chapter's store, buying a replacement of the Karen Katz book "A Potty For Me", one of Spunky's favourites that was so well loved, its pages were strewn about the house, when I found myself (as usual) wandering into the "crafts and hobbies" section. There, staring me in the face, was a KNITTING book by Kelley Deal! Bags That Rock: Knitting On The Road with Kelley Deal. Okay, how cool is that? Somehow, my teenage love of indie music has combined with my love of wool to create a knitting book! I stood there for a minute, reliving those years of the mosh pit, shows that never started on time, my Canadian Tire satchel with band patches sewn to the front, filled with all of my "melancholy teenager" gear - this consisted of a journal, glittery silver pen, my 1970s Pentax manual focus camera, extra rolls of black and white film, probably a mixed tape or two, a beadwork project to work on between sets, and my signature Revlon cocoa lipstick.
By the time I reached my second year of university, I was so involved in engineering studies that I had pretty much given up the indie rock scene. It's funny how the strangest things can trigger such memories, and how things come full circle. I'll now have "Gigantic" stuck in my head each time I pick up knitting needles or start winding a skein into a ball. And to Patchouli Julie, I know you'll be able to relate, and you'll probably be signing along!
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