Life Without Velocity Girl - Pop 5

Before forming Velocity Girl, Archie Moore and Brian Nelson were in a band called Black Tambourine, formed in 1989. This band was America's answer to the New Wave of British Shoegaze that was being imported at the time. They were a pared-down no-frills sonic Haymaker to the unsuspecting face of twee pop.

It was their proximity to Velocity Girl that led to my discovering their music. I added them to a road trip playlist that I created to play while driving an hour to Sarasota. My first destination was a big cat sanctuary. The other was a celebration of life for a friend who had recently passed.

My wife accompanied me, and the mix was to satify our divergent tastes in music. Velocity Girl and The Amps shared playlist space with Madonna, Florence+The Machine, and Doja Cat. The Black Tambourine song that I added was called "Throw Aggi Off the Bridge". The chorus goes:

So throw her off the bridge Just toss her in the drink She's coming in between us You know the girl I mean It's time we were together It's clear that I'm the one So throw her off the bridge You just know it's gotta be done

The big cat sanctuary smelled of manure, stronger toward the periphery rather than the heart of this converted farm enclosure, crowded with pea hens, lions and ruminant animals. The memorial was held in a wooden house nestled in the woods, seemingly built around a mature, ropey banyan tree. Strangers greeted us warmly, and I memorialized a dear friend. To quote Dylan Thomas: "The memories of childhood have no order, and no end."