Scary Times for travelin' bands

Ever wonder what happens to rock bands who are on the road a lot and their van gets burglarized? Everything essentially stops, that’s what.

The latest robbery happened last week to Black and Greene Records band Bryan Scary & the Shredding Tears.

Now the band has sent through a followup note, stating:

All-
So, the LAPD just found our van in downtown LA, sans engine, transmission, and differential. Also, still no sign of our trailer and instruments. Ugh.
We were hoping that van insurance would write us a check for a total loss and that we could get back in the saddle quickly, but now that the van has been found we've got to wait even longer for their appraisal and decision. Unfortunately, this forces us to cancel the rest of our tour dates, although we are aiming to be back on the stage for our Boston, NY, and DC shows May 29-31. We feel horrible about this development, and absolutely promise to make up the canceled dates as soon as we possibly can.
We can't thank everyone enough for their support and understanding throughout this, the lamest event in BSST history. We greatly appreciate everyone who has donated through paypal. It makes a world of difference, since insurance technicalities prevent us from receiving full coverage for our stuff.
Despite this mess, we promise to be back soon, bigger and better than before. In the meantime, get your BSST fix this Monday night when our tunes are featured on MTV's new reality show, The Paper.


Any other rockers out there whose prized gear ever got nabbed by burglars? If so, drop a note into the comments.

Bryan Scary & The Shredding Tears/The Pendletons - Mercury Lounge

Last night, Mercury Lounge. Two bands, two completely different musical experiences.

Bryan Scary & The Shredding Tears, combining ecstatic energy, brilliant musicianship, high concept musicality with flourishes of Zappa, Devo, ELO, early Genesis, mixing elements of psychedelia, classic rock, indie, and prog into their sonic stew. An insanely great show by the band last night, fueled up with excitement over their new CD Flight of the Knife (due for an April 1st release on LA indie Black & Greene Records).

[All pix by Dfactor]







Watch the last few minutes of their set right here - it captures all the insane tempo changes, sheer musicality and energy in one go!




The Pendletons played just prior to Bryan Scary, and were just as impressive, but in a completely different manner. The band had tightly bundled energy, clean songs, sunny vocals and an amazingly deft drummer. Clearly the brains of the band. :-)

All the songs sounded great, and lead singer Adam Saunders has a warm, bright way of singing. I felt he could use some help with some backing vocals to lessen the similarity of the songs, but it didn't detract too much. Watch the clip below of their rockin' track Sad Songs from the band's CD Oh Me.

[All pix by Dfactor]

Bryan Scary and the Shredding Tears - Thursday, Mercury Lounge

Sharing the bill with the Pendletons on Thursday night at The Mercury Lounge is Bryan Scary and the Shredding Tears. I'm enjoying the hell out of these songs, as Mr. Scary mixes mid-70s Freddie Mercury/Sparks/ELO glam musical fun with great vocals and lively, fantastical story-telling. Should be amazing in a live setting.



They are saying...

“Combining classic pop melodies, inventive chord structures, elaborate vocal harmonies, dazzling musicianship, and a quirky lyrical concoction of clever wordplay and outlandish third-person narratives, Bryan Scary & The Shredding Tears are poised to claim their own spot in the rich lineage of pop music."

Pitchfork - "FOUR STAR track review: Bryan Scary's debut album rocks the candy shop, pillaging it for as many audio confections as possible. It's adventurous, fully fleshed, and catchy as hell-- as indie pop should be."

PopMatters - "[The Shredding Tears] is one of the best records released in the last couple of years. There are precious few albums that truly and honestly deserve to be called masterpieces. Bryan Scary's debut is one of them."

Click over to hear some songs from the band's upcoming CD "Flight of the Knife". Or click here to download Imitation of the Sky.