Streetlight Manifesto- Here’s To Life

And I don’t know much, but I do know this
With a golden heart, comes a rebel fist
But I can’t help agreeing with those that would not quit.

Hey guys Tristan here. My friend James did last month and he had some solid picks. I wanted to start off my month with what is probably my favorite song.

Most of my friends grew up listening to their parents music: Zeppelin, the Beatles, you know all the classics. My parents mostly had jazz and folk, so less John Lennon and Jimmy Page , more Cat Stevens and John Coltrane. Not to mention at the ripe old age of 9 I picked up an alto saxophone, soon to be followed by a slew of other brass from tuba to trombone to trumpet. Needless to say I was destined to be awkward in high school. 

As a result, I’ve never really been one for guitars. I bought a decent bass earlier this year and I kind of enjoy wrestling with it, trying to make 10+ years of jazz theory make sense on a instrument that makes absolutely NO sense to me. Its fun, but if I want to really play what I’m feeling, I speak with my brass. I moved from Boston to New Brunswick, NJ a few months ago and my trombone sat right next to me in the passenger’s seat of the moving van the entire way down.

As for Streetlight, I remember the day I heard this album. I was in 10th grade, and I was doing my weekly radio show at the local college. My friend Barri pulled this particular cd out after hearing me play Reel Big Fish for the third week in a row, and I played this track blind on the air, without even having listened to it. I still remember her laughing at me as my jaw slammed into the ground. This video is my favorite version, since Streetlight is very much a live band, and it kind of showcases just how much insanity the horn players have.

Say what you will about ska (particularly 3rd wave). Most ska bands aren’t particularly known for complexity, but the 15 year love affair I’ve had with Catch 22 and Streetlight is mostly due to just how INSANE the hornlines are. My poor girlfriend has to deal with it in the car whenever one of their songs come on and whatever we’re talking about fades away while I crank the volume up for a second on the stereo for a horn solo and for a brief moment i’m floating, seriously floating on the wings of a wailing trombone.

Look forward to some choice tracks, my friends. A month of horns and amazing energy. I’m excited to work on this project.

Tristan