In the first months of this blog’s existence, Pela, one of my favorite bands at the time, announced their breakup. Their debut LP, Anytown Graffiti, was the anthem of my summer as a camp counselor and a worthy companion on endless roadtrips I took at the time. Without a doubt, the impact this album had on me back then marks it as one of my favorites released in the past five years.
Fast forward to now. Pela is broken up, but it’s members are more active than ever. Guitarist, Nate Marinez, for instance, has a solo project called Thieving Irons. I bought the album back in August without catching its connection to Pela, and have fallen in love with its emotive lyrics and delicate arrangements.
Ashes On The Riverbank – Thieving Irons (Free Download)
Pela frontman Billy McCarthy and bassist Eric Sanderson are also creating something new with their band, Augustines, who until yesterday, hadn’t released any recordings to the public. Enter “Book of James”. This long awaited track from McCarthy and Sanderson successfully captures what I loved so much about Pela, but in a new and exciting way.
Book of James – Augustines (Free Download)
Over on their official website, a full explanation of “Book of James” from Ryan Berg reveals the following.
“The protective attitude McCarthy had towards “Book of James” was not only about preserving the integrity of the composition. For McCarthy it resonated much more personally. The song was written about his younger brother, Jim, who, battling drug addiction for much of his life, had been living in homeless shelters and on the streets of California since high school. As Jim grew older his mental state deteriorated. McCarthy tried again and again to help his brother. With his older sister, they attempted to place Jim in a psychiatric hospital. At one point McCarthy even paid for Jim to come stay with him in New York in order to get back on his feet but his brother’s condition was more volatile than he could handle and he returned to California.
One day, at a shelter where he was living, Jim attacked and seriously wounded a worker with a knife. While being held in prison he was diagnosed as schizophrenic, deemed unfit to stand trial and too dangerous to be housed with the general population. For four years he was placed in solitary confinement and remained there with only brief respites to psych hospitals where he was able to have contact with others. While residing at one of those hospitals Jim overheard he was to be remanded to solitary confinement and began to panic. Three days later McCarthy received a phone call from a legal advocate lawyer saying that Jim had hung himself.”
