(Darkness on the Edge of Marin Page 2 of 2)

While American Drag's lyrics may not have the blue-collar sensibility of early Bruce Springsteen - after all, Marin does not provide the same gritty, working class backdrop of urban New Jersey -- the message of finding hope amidst a sea of isolation and despair remains the same. Springsteen built his career on these themes in songs like Thunder Road, Backstreets, Darkness on the Edge of Town, and the granddaddy of them all, Born to Run which opens with the rousing battlecry:   In the day we sweat it out in the streets of a runaway American dream . And this is essentially what American Drag is all about: The runaway American dream.  

The new, independently produced American Drag record is driving, melodic rock and roll from top to bottom, with hints of Throwing Copper-era Live, Train (minus any reference to soy lattes or Tai Bo), and the driving guitars of Soundgarden, circa Superunknown. "If people love the new record, great. If nobody buys it, I'll die knowing we made the record we wanted to make. And we've ruined everything in our personal lives to get here," says Shaughnessy. Standout tracks include Throwing Fables, Drive, Holding On, Awake, and the gorgeous Spinning. The record is in stores April 15 th (check Red Devil or Bedrock), and you can see the band perform April 23 rd at 19 Broadway in Fairfax.  

I won't say much more about American Drag because you need to buy the record and hear it for yourself. But to borrow a phrase from the late, incomparable Lester Bangs, it doesn't mean that a juxtaposition of poets might not be in order:

Good morning your city is weeping
You've lost all your angels in the sky
Still humble still hungry still breathing
And by the grace of our souls we try
Your priests in your head are so worried
Your white collar still trying to fly
But you're stressed out, your payments, the bleeding
Grazing your heart and your mind

-- American Drag

Some folks are born into a good life
Other folks get it anyway anyhow
I lost my money and I lost my wife
Them things don't seem to matter much to me now
Lives on the line where dreams are found and lost
I'll be there on time and I'll pay the cost
For wanting things that can only be found
In the darkness on the edge of town

--Bruce Springsteen  

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