BOOK REPORT

I highly recommend Black Postcards by Dean Wareham to anyone who is in a band, anyone who loves music and really anyone that can appreciate a good story. Wareham, the frontman/guitar player for a couple of my all-time favorite bands, Galaxie 500 and Luna, spells out his life story from the beginning to the end of Luna. It reads in a lot of parts like a novel. There is much drama in both bands and in Wareham's personal life to read about in this well-written and incredibly honest book.

The amount of detail in this book is amazing. Clearly, Wareham kept good notes on his touring/recording/life experiences. I was particularly fascinated by his accounts of the recording process. Some albums took 3 days to record (Today), others took months (Pup Tent). It's hard to say which of those two albums I like better.

Beyond the recording and touring a lot of focus is put on how a band can have the kind of success that Luna had and still have to struggle with money. There are ups and downs. Label signings and labels disolving. Advances and massive debt. Making a living off of t-shirt sales. This is an unglamorous look at being a rockstar.

Wareham can be arrogant at times, especially when talking about other bands, but he is also self-depricating. Either way, he doesn't pull any punches. Anecdotes from his years on the road are entertaining and I found myself laughing out loud a few times.

On a personal note, I was very happy to get to page 295 and have a mystery solved. Every once in a while for birthdays and mother's/father's day I give my parents mix CDs mostly comprised of Brooklyn bands and other indie stuff. One mix that I gave to my mom had Broken Chair on it from Luna's album Rendevous. My mom and I both really like that song (written and sung by guitarist Sean Eden) but we always wondered why it was called Broken Chair. There is no reference to a chair in that song at all. Wareham offers this explanation:

"The song refers obliquely to his former girlfriend, who had bought him two matching vintage leather chairs when they lived together - as a birthday gift. One of the chairs was broken. When Sean moved out, she let him take the broken chair."

Now I feel better.

Wareham calls his book a Rock and Roll Romance and I love that description. I couldn't put it down. Now, go get it!