We had the pleasure of having Before Braille stay at our house for the entire weekend. It all came to pass thanks to my old roommate Jason who feels comfortable securing accommodations for Arizona travelers. Anyone interested in future Huntington Beach housing arrangements please e-mail Jason at jscanman@hotmail.com…. Zona is an interesting place. The girls from Zona are all searching for that polished J. Crew guy who tucks in his shirt and wears a braided belt and drives a Volkswagen. All the guys from Zona are obsessed with electronics and take pride in their surround-sound systems, digital cameras, and big screen TV's. The biggest enigma about Zona is that they all seem to love Unwritten Law. I'm not sure why but every time I talk to a person from Zona they ask if I like Unwritten Law. It seriously is a weird phenomenon. What did that band do in Arizona to make all the A.S.U. girls love them so much? Zona musically have been placed on the map thanks to the likes of Jimmy Eat World. I have yet to run into a person from Zona who hasn't gone to a Jimmy Eat World show or doesn't know someone that went to high school with one of the members of the band. Before Braille came into our life as a little piece of Zona. We were expecting to cheer up sad little EMO kids by taking them to the beach and letting them ride our long boards to give them something to live for. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that it was actually just the opposite. These guys were stoked to be setting off on a mini-tour to show what Mother Zona is made of. We became friends with these jokers pretty quick and felt ever so special to be a part of their new life as rock stars. Hans is the gentle giant who got all our girlfriends' numbers. Reggie is straight from ATDI with his Omar fro. Kelly is the happy go-lucky kid who doesn't shower. Brandon is the computer geek who is smart enough to not offend Slinky by eating at TK Burger. David was the polite lead-singer who was concerned about our overflowing toilet.

Their new CD, "The Rumor" was given to us as a gift of their appreciation. Being the sensitive, closet EMO-KID in THEBENDIES, I actually took and enjoyed the CD. They dynamically entertain you and I was impressed to know that the same guys that turned down TK Burger for Jamba Juice had created an impressive CD for all the EMO kids and non-EMO kids to enjoy. The songs follow the standard EMO harmonies and yells apparent on most EMO albums in today's world. They will hate me for this but they do sound like the lost tracks to Jimmy Eat World's "Clarity". No worries guys, Hoobastank are Incubus Jr. and Oasis copied the Beatles. There could be worse bands to sound like. Unfortunately, not everyone can be as original as Sir Jackson and the Long Ride.

Before Braille's popular track is "24 minus 18", but my favorites were"The Spanish Dagger", "Paranoia Pays Off", and "Low End of Luxury." The only fatal error on this CD was putting the lyric "Olli-Olli-Oxen-Free" in one of the songs. You think it's cute and creative but girls won't answer the phone if you pull this again. At some point you will have to start producing 3-minute melodic rock songs for future success because unfortunately college radio is not going to put Jamba Juice in your hands for the rest of your lives. We appreciate the visit and thank you for not keeping us up with endless Refreshments covers.


before braille streaming audio page.