Hue Blanc's Farewell to Favre

So little brother's always saying the best reality show on earth is SPORTS. I tend to agree, especially after my roller-coaster ride with the Minnesota Vikings this past season. For most of my life, Brett Favre has been the arch-enemy - the bane of my existence. When he chose the Vikings as his final bow (?) I had to eat the fact that Lex Luther was joining my team. Purple kryptonite now was my captain. It think perhaps it was a honeymoon of sorts, we came so close -- and by the end of that fateful game with the Saints, I knew that by embracing my (new) inner Favre, I had learned my lesson. He got me from the inside. Live by the Favre, Die by the Favre. And I even rooted for the Bengals week in and week out for penance. Still, knowing his legend, and what he is capable of -- he owes the fans of Minnesota another try at that championship season.

Imagine what the past few years have been like for a band from Wisconsin? The dregs, mang. For many a boy in WS, Favre is a turncoat, comparable to Jesus becoming Judas with a change of uniform. It was such a tragedy, some, namely one, Hue Blanc's Joyless Ones, make a whole 7" inch affair (their first for Columbus Discount) dedicated to Favre's eulogy. This is likely one of the most hilarious and deadly serious sports/rock tie-ins in the history of underground music. Not that the tunes here have anything to do with our Wrangler-clad hero/antichrist -- the Joyless Ones are a hard nut to crack, in terms of terms. Terms to describe them. It's not that's it's difficult or impenetrable, quite the contrary, this is bare bones, sometimes "Smuggler's Choice" gets so smoke-filled though, that those earnest melodies and scrappy knuckles get obscured. This is a record, that like a quarterback that's won you game after game of hall of fame play, is reliable and comfortable, stripped of any aesthetic other than the aesthetic to work for the listener. That said, the guy is known to throw an interception now and then, but like the rough touch of Hue Blanc's crew, he rarely apologizes for those. R.I.P. Brant.