You know what drives me nuts? Honkys. I donít think Iím coming down too heavy on my pale brethren when they sell themselves short. Allow me to explain.

Last Thursday Vince Neil (sans the Cr¸e) played the Water Street Music Hall to a tragically small crowd. The band sounded great and seemed stoked to be playing Motley Cr¸e tunes with Neil. The man has the pipes but kind of resembles an aging, overweight drag queen.

What pissed me off were all the honkys, racked with guilty pleasure, who apologized for being seen there, as if admitting you like í80s excess metal is suddenly shameful. I can dig it shamelessly and so can you. Honkys.

Which of the following statements is true?

ï Britney Spears is pregnant with my two-headed love child.

ï OJ didnít do it.

ï The Quitters were recently on MTV.

If you picked three (ding, ding, ding) youíd be right. The Quittersí ìSomething Goodî was featured on last weekís episode of Sorority Life. Thatís right: rock íní roll on empty-V, a sure sign of the apocalypse. Wait ítil all the little brace-faced honkys start bugging Carson to play The Quitters on TRL.

Saw Olympia, Washingtonís Bangs rock out all poppy and catchy-like at the Bug Jar. The band was a well-oiled rock machine despite the bassist giving the new drummer the stink-eye at every minor infraction; címon, itís not like anyone noticed. A pretty, rather statuesque blonde in a cast (a drinking while-in-high-heels accident) bit me after the show. I wish this would happen more often.

Left last Friday for downstate while the Blue Angels buzzed the skyline. It sounded like Beirut. When I was a kid, blue angels were what you got when you lit farts. Stayed in a cottage in Copake (i.e. the middle of nowhere with spiders the size of terriers). You could almost hear banjos in the pine-scented mist. I was one scared honky.

Hippie champs The Samples seem to be a great band to ignore. The throng that braved the Thursday Party In The Park drizzle seemed more intent on guzzling beer and playing hacky-sack. See, more honkys.

Seeing Jucifer is like getting a pep talk from Lucifer; you walk away feeling motivated and capable of doing anythingÖ bad. Take a Sabbath 45 and play it at 33 and youíve got this Athens, Georgia, duoís groove-dirge. El Destructo (one of the main reasons ìI Scene Itî got started) gloriously opened the show. Rock stars, superheroes, scarlet women, and honkys, yaíll just better stand aside; thereís a new sheriff in town.

--- Frank De Blase