AIPTO: Hanukkah Rocks (The LeeVees)

Who?So Thursday was the kick-off for the holiday season, and you’re probably already sick of hearing Christmas music on the radio. Thus, I present The LeeVees, a combination of Dave Schneider (of the Zambonis) and Adam Gardner. Which, of course, gives us our chance to discuss Adam, the other lead singer of Guster. That's a weird thing to say. First because I think that if we're talking about the three original Gusters they were all equal players because you can't write off Brian as just the drummer. And if you're talking the post-Joe era...there are more Ryan songs, I think, but that doesn't mean that Adam is any less of a key figure. I don't know why I'm touchy about this, but I guess I am. Maybe I don't feel the need to pick just one 'lead' singer because I'm used to BNL and the Ed/Steve dynamic. And that's kind of the thing--Adam's of an equal awesomeness as the other Gusters we've discussed. Excellent musician, great song writing, dig the voice...the kind of blow-your-mind amazingness that you come to expect from a member of this sort of band. The only thing about Adam is that he's not as social in person as the others, but I can't blame him because seriously...I'd be the same way. And Adam started Reverb, and is trying to save the world (he even got to testify before congress). Boy gets madprops for that. One more piece of fun trivia and then we can move on: on the cruise, I was alone in the Greening lounge with Adam for a good solid five minutes, but I couldn't think of anything to say other than, "You're Adam." So I didn't say anything at all, until he said hello, and even then all I did was smile and say hi back.
Why it’s awesome: For someone who’s not particularly religious, I have a lot of holiday music. And subdivided in that, for someone who was raised by southern Baptists, I have a lot of Hanukkah music. But when every other dorm in the country has the classic Christmas music that they play on the radio blasting at their Christmas party, I have alternatives. I have Romanian carols. I have traditional Christmas tunes as played by rubberbands. If we're talking less random, I have Barenaked for the Holidays, and I have the LeeVees. This is certainly a must-have for the holiday season (or any Guster fan to listen to all year round because it does, actually, rock that hard). The songs on this are so fun, and they have a great sound (kind of Cake-y sometimes, but who doesn't like Cake?).
In One Word: Confetti
Song Rec: At The TimeShare. Hear me out on this one. There’s a bit in the middle (and again at the end) from Dave’s mom, and it’s very obviously staged, but at the same time, it’s so obviously staged that it’s authentic. You know, like…you’re making a record and you’re trying to get your parents to help and they’re just trying to play along because they love you. Perhaps I read too much into her overacting, but seriously…he’s got a good mother. Also, use the link below and watch the video for How do you Spell Channukkahh. It’s wonderful.
Link: TheLeeVees.com