Drop the bomb
You just scored a dream apartment and on your first night in your new place your sleep is shattered at 4 a.m. thanks to the throbbing speaker next door. So you Google for help, and it tells you the best way to deal with the situation is to talk to them. Not what you wanted to read because you're always looking for the easy fix, but you decide to get up, walk to their door and knock on it, all the while asking yourself, 'who are these Shitty Neighbours anyway?'
“We are the people next door that never have to work in the morning, keeping you up with loud music and only inviting you over if you have pizza. We are three dudes and a gal. We are a band and gang. We're dumb when we want to be and we're smarter than you are,” screams a guy named Al who apparently is playing guitar.
Your first thought is to run, but you work up the courage to ask what pray tell was going on in there? “We do music. Punk rock. Alex plays drums, Shane plays bass, Matt and I play guitars. We play shows. We just did an Ontario tour in October. We're recording a 7-inch in the new year,” is hollered into the microphone, and you're left scratching your head. Next you ask this neighbour when all the racket got started? “A few years ago. This is a new line-up though, I used to play the drums. I moved back to Vancouver a few months ago and it made sense to play guitar, like Thin Lizzy."
Next your new neighbour Al asks you in for a beer and with some reserve, you follow him into his place and sit on the couch and ask him where he came from. “Well, a man and woman meet. They fall in love. They make a baby. They get divorced and the children turn to music. It's their escape and only hope for a shitty world. Sometimes you just wake up at age 31 and say 'what the fuck have I done with my life?' I'm making shit money at a shit job. I wish I was in a van playing music to five people in Sudbury Ontario," Al spits out. Then you ask, why are you doing this? “Because we like playing in this band. It's fun. It's fun to play. It's fun to drink other bands' beer and it feels good to meet girls,” says your new friend.
As you look around the place you notice a pile of tapes. “[It's] a release on Scumbuzz Records. We sold/lost a lot on tour. That's all there is left, I think. You can also listen to it on our Bandcamp page. Special thanks to Adam Payne who recorded it,” yells Al as you leave through the front door. You're left thinking that those neighbours weren't so shitty after all. Until 4 a.m. the next morning.
Shitty Neighbours play a real venue January 4 at the Astoria.
- More Betty
