Standard & Poor
Let’s Take Care of Our Own
Label: D-Spite My Height
Released: June 24, 2012

Mr. DeVille, vocals
Lurch, bass
Tony Love, guitar
Trace Element, drums

1. Let’s Take Care of Our Own
2. Let’s Go
3. Love Knot

I love this single. It screams of 1970’s punk rock. Punk before hardcore, punk when musicians knew how to play and still worked in great hooks and choruses.

I originally saw these guys live back in July of 2011, thought they were cool, but I haven’t crossed paths with them since, so I kind of forgot about them. After listening to this single I see that I need to keep my eyes open for their next show.

I don’t know how else to describe their music other than to say, that there is a certain purity to what they do. The music is basic and honest.

If you get the chance, buy this.

Rating: *** three out of three stars

On to the story . . .

Sometime back in 1993, I met a girl that, unfortunately, would be a part of my life forever. Watch who you have kids with fellows. Anyway, back in 93 I met this girl who had a bit of an edge to her, almost ghetto-savvy.

Met her at the pool of the apartment I lived at, she had matching bathing suit and nails. We swam for a bit and agreed to meet later for a beer, big romance, huh?

Anyway, things were going OK for a bit. No fights, and one night she confesses to just getting out of jail. For some reason I didn’t care and I didn’t ask why. She continued and told me that she was doing this get rich quick thing and was selling drugs, got caught, did time and now she was out. Years later I would find out selling drugs meant prostitution. At that time, again I didn’t care. I was trying to make a living at boxing, and it wasn’t working, I tried giving lessons and that worked even less. So, I wrote poetry as a hobby and looked for a regular 9 to 5 gig.

The girl was living in the same building as me, but with some old guy that liked to house young girls fresh out of the clink, and in exchange for their services he didn’t have to drive up and down Sepulveda or Sunset to buy a girl.

Well this girl didn’t like that arrangement and he threw her out. So, one night at about midnight she’s knocking at my door saying she was homeless, I took her in for a bit, which led to many, many fights and a child.

Because of her upbringing, both parents heroin addicts, and her profession – turning tricks, she had a deep hatred for men. It would come out at the weirdest times.

Our first fight happened on a Friday night. I dropped her off at the mall; she worked at a music box store. As I dropped her off she said, “Go get me a carton of cigarettes,” as she liked to blow through my cash like mad, and I had other plans, I wasn’t going to do it. So, I said, “We’ll get them after work.” She said, “No, get them now.” I ignored her.

I came back four or six hours later to get her and told her we were going to go out with my friend Ed and a bunch of his friends.

Immediately she started in with, “Where are my fucking cigarettes?” I decided to be a smart-ass and said, “I left them in the machine.”

She said, “Get them now!” I told her that we didn’t have time, Ed and them were waiting for us.

I went to the house we were supposed to meet up at, and it was owned by a girl that I went to high school with, so we talked for a minute, about mutual friends, etc.

My buddy Ed went to talk with the girl I brought. She started in with the whole, “That motherfucker won’t get me cigarettes, fuck him!” Ed came back and asked if I could calm her down, she was weirding some of the people out?!

I went to ask her to chill and she flung her purse at my head. I blocked it. And the contents spilled all over the street. The girl whose house we were at was getting mad, she yelled, “Knock it off, my neighbors don’t need to see this!”

The girl I was with yelled out a lovely, “Fuck you white girl, mind your business!”

I turned to tell Ed to leave without me, and the purse hit me in the back of the head. Ed headed towards his car, and said “Call me tomorrow.” They all left with disgusted looks on their faces.

So, I turned to the girl and said, “Congratulations, you took ghetto trash to a new level tonight.” She started to throw her purse again, but I said if you throw it, I’ll take it and leave you here.

She ran for a house and starting beating on the door, screaming “Help, he’s got a gun, he wants to kill me.”

I took this as a queue to get out of Dodge. As I started the car she yelled, “I’ll have Latin Kings smoke your ass!” All righty then . . .

I crashed at a friends house that night, had breakfast with my dad and him and I went to check my place in the morning. Lot’s of stuff gone and a note saying I fucked with the wrong bitch.

Was this the end of her, no. Next time I ended up in jail for a week.

LAST ONE TO DIE is officially out, order at: https://www.createspace.com/3669330.