There are many reasons for Good Men Die Like Dogs winning the artist of the year for J.V.A.C. the first being, they are amazing people. I genuinely like them as people, if you’ve had a conversation with any of the three you see what I mean. But you don’t win the J.V.A.C. Artist of the Year for merely for being, umm good men. You have to make great music, and boy do they! Billy is a truly fuckin’ honest songwriter; I have always appreciated that about him. I remember upon hearing that Parkway Wretch broke up being bummed out for a number of reasons, but one of them was the last batch of new songs were amazing, I could tell Billy was on a roll. Well here we get a brand new band in 2010, Good Men Die Like Dogs, with not only Billy as Parkway alum but also Nasty D! And moving to the drum kit was the recently relocated back to Arizona Fuck You Ups guitar player Abe Ruthless. I remember hearing about Good Men before I had actually seen these good men play, interest was obviously peaked, and a recent project I was involved in, the Personality Disorder comp. had to include them, if for no other reason then for their mere existence as good men. But holy shit was “Spilling On The Floor” quickly becoming on of my favorite tracks on the comp!
I was assembling my birthday show, when these fine men were asking to be a part of it, of course! They had slayed me with one recorded track, what else was in store? I think they were great, really I don’t remember, it was my birthday, I was getting married the next week, I was pretty drunk! But the good men of Good Men Die Like Dogs were pressing a 10” and for my birthday had presented me with a test press of that record.
I took it home, and played it over and over and over again! Oh fuck, this was the roll Billy was starting at the end of Parkway and continued with this new band…Needless to say I LOVED it!
I remember professing my love of the record to Billy as he told me about their next record they had just recorded, Postscript.
The songs on the record would string together in the form of a letter. Sounded very interesting, I was intrigued, couldn’t wait to hear it, and of course picked it up first chance I could. I have to admit before I played it I was worried, concept records usually work as just that, a concept, yikes, would this be the point where they had jumped the shark? Fuck no, they are a pop punk band, who write, great songs! Each track stands out on it’s own as a great song! Proof, I picked one song off of this record to be in on my Best Of ’10 tape. Remember when I said many records were left off that tape because it didn’t fit the confines of a mix tape? Obviously it fit the parameters of that rule! Slam Dunk #3 of the year for the Good Men!
Good Men Die Like Dogs still had one more release to give us before years end, and this time a split 7” with friends and comparatively younger kids on the block, That’s Life!
This time with three different colors cause folks like me and Nate Cause Dizziness need all variants! Green, Black and mix! Two more great tracks, especially any one mentioning going to the record store!
(Green, Black And Mix Repectfully!)
Good Men Die Like dogs did in 2010 what most bands don’t do any more, and that is make shit happen for themselves! They got together, wrote fuckin’ great songs, and put out three records in one year! That doesn’t happen any more, and nothing feels more rewarding then falling in love with a band and having them give you a comp track, a 10”, a 7”, and a split 7” all within the year they formed! Thank you Good Men Die Like Dogs! Thank you for giving a track to a comp I was a part of, thank you for being a band, thank you for being honest, and truly amazing in every way! And congratulations on being the Artist Of The Year in the utterly useless Johnny Volume Awards Ceremony! www.goodmendielikedogs.com/
