Oly Pyrate Punx Brought in the Secretions! Are you paying attention yet?

I'm starting to get really pissed off at the number of awesome conversations my phone loses. The newest and most precious was my conversation with Mickie Rat and Paul Filthy of Sacramento band, the Secretions. I remember them talking about the long standing the Secretions have had, Paul still being the new guy after logging eight years in the band, and being able to enjoy their friends bringing their offspring to shows.

I remember them telling me that this was near their first experience in Olympia, that this tour was awesome, and that, thanks to punks all over, this tour was not at all an uncommon success.

I first heard the Secretions (almost by accident) when I was 15. I was cruising MySpace for "socialist punk bands." I found the Socialfucks and quickly stumbled onto the Secretions by way of Ashtray. The Secretions are a punk band that pull influence from horror, pop, street, and the 50's (even if they don't realize that.) It's a fresh sound that brings back memories of security. Grandma's rocking-chair was a lot like this. That is, if Grandma sang about boners or fucking in a cemetery.

The show was everything I've been waiting for. It's been a decade since I found their music, and they held up to my idealizations. They were tight, fought technical difficulties with an iron fist, hit every song perfectly with only a 1.5 second break, and still managed a nice comedy break in the middle.

Mickie and Paul are employees of the State of California, and Danny is a fourth grade teacher. If you ever thought your dreams of being a punk rock star were out of reach, these guys are here to slap you in the mouth, in a fatherly way. They may be the most supportive and positive old-timers I've encountered thus far. Their biggest praise of Washington was the tight-knit scene, and the fact that we don't "try too hard to be punk."

They even went out to McCoy's with us after show. You know, the black bar straight down from the Track house. They have cheap shots and local scene-heads around every corner.

Either way, these guys should be familiar to you. If not, you probably know at least one band on the roster that night. Ain't Got Time to Bleed. Red White and Die. The Deceptives...

It was an amazing show. Those guys really made my night, though I found out (in a conversation that wasn't deleted) that Paul joined the band not too long after they played the first live show he'd ever seen. That's what childhood dreams are made of. That... and getting to drunk with your heroes after their fans slam you against a low ceiling.