I'm not a glamour boy

At the first-time homebuyers class we attended three years ago, we were warned about several things to keep an eye out for when choosing a house -- radon, killer mold (a.k.a. the "new" radon), barrels of nuclear waste, proximity to traffic chokepoints -- but not the most insidous local hazard of them all, annual block parties.

Now I don't want to seem too mean-spirited about things. On a certain level, I see these yearly bouts of merriment as a sign that we made the right choice in moving here, what with the local pride and neighborly cordiality. It's just that I'm not really party-going material, and the onus of participation weighs heavily on my brooding loner's soul. (Okay, maybe the "brooding" part is inaccurate. Nom-de-plume aside, I am more Eyeore than Edward Rochester.) I accept that the fault is entirely my own; perhaps I lack the gene that makes it possible to shoot the shit with quasi-strangers over a heaping plate of German potato salad and barbecued pork ribs, and not reply to inquiries such as "So, Andrew, what line of work are you into?" with a stammered and potentially offensive non-sequitur.

So it has been since my teenage years. Andrew and large social situations just don't mix. Actually this weekend has tested my skills of social jujitsu (by which I mean "having my wife make excuses for my absence") to the utmost, with no fewer than three festive gatherings to be avoided in the space of forty-eight hours. I managed to make it to the other side without embarrassing myself or alienating my peers and/or relatives. Quite an accomplishment, indeed. Maybe I ought to throw a party in celebration of my achievement....

Joe "King" Carrasco & The Crowns - Party Weekend (from Anthology, 1995) - Texas Devo? Lone Star Boingo? Alamo Wall of Voodoo? You get the gist, I'm sure. Quirky new wave (or "weirdpunk," coined for an internet-release anthology of similar acts and which I think is a much better term for this style of music) from deep in the heart of Texas.

The Rousers - Party Boy (from a 1981 single) - Here some kids from NYC retrofit a Buddy Knox chassis with a supercharged power pop engine. As deep as a kiddie pool, but that's not atypical of the genre, especially when the party record motif is being pushed to the max. (The dead giveaway? The use of harmonica in the song.) The song was produced by Wayne Kramer, for any MC5 enthusiasts out there.

45 Grave - Party Time (12" version) (from a 1984 single; collected on the reissue of Sleep in Safety, 1983) - A more polished (and metal) version of the death rock classic made famous by Return of the Living Dead. A horribly mutilated version with revised lyrics reflecting the plot of the movie appears on the soundtrack album, but this is all you really need.

I bought my copy of the single (still in the shrinkwrap) at In Your Ear on Comm Ave in Allston back in the early 1990's. I remember there was much mockery from my friends about my musical tastes. At least I'm able with to sleep with a conscience clean of having ever claimed the Smashing Pumpkins were the greatest band ever.