Dishwalla

Dishwalla is an alternative rock band from Santa Barbara, California. Members include Jim Wood (keyboards), Rodney Browning Cravens (lead guitar), J.R. Richards (vocals, guitar, and keyboards), Pete Maloney (drums), and Scot Alexander (bass, Juno 60). So why the name Dishwalla, you might ask? The band’s name comes from an Indian term for a person who uses illegal equipment to descramble a television satellite signal and share it with their neighborhood. Go figure.

Anyway, I’ve only really found out about this band when I was in college. My friend introduced their music to me, and guess what, I loved it! Well, actually, I can’t really say I love ALL of their songs. I’ve only listened to their Opaline album, and there’s probably only 4 songs that I really like in it. But these songs are really good, that I had to place them in here. I remember playing these songs over and over, to the point that when I hear them back now, they pretty much remind me of my college days. Oh well, I guess music does that to you. Especially, if you play them one too many times. Listen to these songs and find out why I like them so much…

1) Candleburn – I love this song. Listen to the piano. I love the smooth, soulful, almost haunting melody it plays. I’m not really sure what the lyrics mean though. In my opinion, this is about a girl who has been burned (figuratively speaking of course). Waiting… exhausted with life… with love (I may be wrong of course), but it’s really nice.

2) Angels Or Devils – This is a cool song. I love singing along with this. The first time I heard it, I thought it had a great melody. Great vocals too. It’s got a good beat, and the message of the song is really nice too. It tells of the angels and devils in each and every one of us. We all have good and bad sides to our personalities, and I guess that’s what the song is trying to capture. Which voice is stronger, which are we predisposed to, angels or devils? Take your pick.

3) Every Little Thing – The words in the lyrics, “wish i could be, every little thing you wanted” could potentially strike a lot of chords in people’s hearts, and I’m pretty sure, in one way or another, you might have experienced falling in love and wanting to say the exact same words to a special someone. Right? Well, even if you haven’t and you can’t relate to the song, it still doesn’t matter, coz the melody of the song is really catchy. Kind of acoustic and country and alternative rolled into one. It’s great.

4) Home – I love this song too, it has a certain warmth in it, and kind of sentimental sound to it. Probably because the title itself, “Home” gives me that nostalgic feeling. I don’t know, but anyway, the songs speaks about this big trial we call life, and how sometimes we get so overwhelmed by problems that all we wanna do is surrender and come home. Even for just a little while. The message is really touching actually. Sometimes, just because a song is alternative, the tendency is to overlook the lyrics, and we neglect to really understand the meaning of the song. J.R.’s vocals are awesome as always by the way, and it fits perfectly in this song. Nice.