Well, I'm officially charmed!
So, Empires. EMPIRES. AKA - that random, unsigned, Chicago-based bandom band that people get all capslocky about because they are an actualfax REALLY GOOD BAND who make REALLY GOOD MUSIC and are total faily dorks. You should check them out. Try their website , where they will give you their first album, HOWL FOR FREE, and their second album, BANG (which is AMAZING) for rather cheap. There's a fandom primer Over here for more info that isn't on their website.
They recently did a great big sale at their webstore, with a free B-side and everything 50% off, so I went and ordered their hoodie. Sure, it's white, and I generally avoid light colored clothing, but 50% off, and the band needs cash to come out to the west coast (PLEASE), so I figured Tom Conrad and co. could help me avoid invisible pedestrian syndrome this winter?
My hoodie arrived in the mail today. In a hand addressed envelope. With TOM CONRAD'S apartment as the return address (same as when I ordered a photo print, but I figured that wasn't really band-related, and there's only 10 of them going out, so there's less danger of stalker fangirls?). It smells a little like cigarettes - which is actually a smell I LOVE and miss a lot, to the extent that I will walk near smokers for a tiny bit of secondhand smoke from time to time.
see:
Okay, you are thinking "Bang hoodie. COOL ENOUGH". And then I UNZIP it, and find:
A personal THANK YOU NOTE! On a post-it! From Tom Conrad! HIDDEN INSIDE MY CLOTHES!
CANNOT STOP SMILING. BOYS! How are you so EARNEST and DEDICATED and working SO VERY HARD when you really should be VERY famous! I AM CHARMED FOREVER! I totally forgive the misspelling (no "H", Tomrad!) Please raise enough money to come to my city so I can go smile at you in a tiny little club!
They recently did a great big sale at their webstore, with a free B-side and everything 50% off, so I went and ordered their hoodie. Sure, it's white, and I generally avoid light colored clothing, but 50% off, and the band needs cash to come out to the west coast (PLEASE), so I figured Tom Conrad and co. could help me avoid invisible pedestrian syndrome this winter?
My hoodie arrived in the mail today. In a hand addressed envelope. With TOM CONRAD'S apartment as the return address (same as when I ordered a photo print, but I figured that wasn't really band-related, and there's only 10 of them going out, so there's less danger of stalker fangirls?). It smells a little like cigarettes - which is actually a smell I LOVE and miss a lot, to the extent that I will walk near smokers for a tiny bit of secondhand smoke from time to time.
see:
Okay, you are thinking "Bang hoodie. COOL ENOUGH". And then I UNZIP it, and find:
A personal THANK YOU NOTE! On a post-it! From Tom Conrad! HIDDEN INSIDE MY CLOTHES!
CANNOT STOP SMILING. BOYS! How are you so EARNEST and DEDICATED and working SO VERY HARD when you really should be VERY famous! I AM CHARMED FOREVER! I totally forgive the misspelling (no "H", Tomrad!) Please raise enough money to come to my city so I can go smile at you in a tiny little club!