Pick Your Poison: Monday 5-12-14

“Oh Morrissey, when will you ever learn?” is probably a phrase that’s been said far too often over the many years he’s been making music. The man is a living legend, responsible for some incredible records with The Smiths and some pretty good ones on his own, and perhaps because of that it’s allowed him to be an unrepentant asshole. It seems like he is almost always involved in some sort of controversy, like it’s something he thrives on. I heard a rock star tell a story once about how his band got kicked off of a tour opening for Morrissey because he deemed them “too boring.” If you’re spending time with the guy and are unable to keep him amused, look out I guess. But if he’s not tossing people aside, he’s doing things like writing an autobiography that was almost never published because he got into a fight with his publisher. Seems he wanted the booked to be part of the “Penguin Classics” series, which is a label reserved for only the most important of novels. In the end he got his way, as that’s something I’m sure he’s very much used to by now. Hence this latest incident, in which Moz was playing a show at the Observatory in Santa Ana, CA the same venue where a show with PAWS and We Are Scientists was set to happen at the Constellation Room nearby. Per reports from the PAWS and We Are Scientists camps, Morrissey felt that other bands performing close by might disrupt or cause sound bleed into his set, and was none too pleased about it. The venue first offered to pay PAWS double their fee to drop off the bill so their opening set with We Are Scientists wouldn’t overlap with Morrissey’s show. As they didn’t like the idea of being paid NOT to play and didn’t want to disappoint their fans, they chose to play anyways. The venue got worried this might cause Morrissey to cancel outright, and pushed back the start time of the PAWS/WAS show to ensure there wouldn’t be a conflict. Apparently that wasn’t good enough for Moz’s management however, and someone from his camp demanded that PAWS apologize for essentially refusing a buyout of their set. Apparently things got heated and Morrissey’s manager started screaming at the band (according to them). In the end, all three bands performed, though the PAWS/WAS show was delayed until after Morrissey had finished. We Are Scientists put together some hilarious tweets making fun of Moz after the show, as one might be inspired to do when dealing with somebody known for temper tantrums and getting his way. Naturally, once everything was said and done, Morrissey’s camp denied any problems took place and claimed that he was perfectly fine with the two other bands performing as long as there was no sound bleed. While I believe that the PAWS/WAS account of things was correct, I also kind of believe that Morrissey himself had little to nothing to do with any of it, and that his management team was acting on his behalf. Moz may have offhandedly said something like, “I hope we won’t have any sound bleed from the venue across the way tonight,” and his people then flipped out and tried in overzealous fashion to eliminate any potential problems. That’s their job, though they could have at least been polite about it, particularly with the whole “demanding an apology” part. Needless to say, I don’t think either PAWS or We Are Scientists will be joining Morrissey on tour any time soon, or ever for that matter. Now then, let’s talk about something significantly less controversial, which is the Monday edition of Pick Your Poison. Don’t miss tracks today from Cajsa Siik, Daytona, Kaela Sinclair, St. Tropez, TOWNS and W X L V E S. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream songs from Dave Harrington (of Darkside), High Ends, La Roux, Lxury, Matt Kivel and Twin Peaks.