They Say It's Your Birthday...

Although I now live in a pinko-commie commune within organic-broccoli-throwing distance from a Whole Foods out on the East Coast, a tiny little piece of my liberal bleeding heart still remains in the state of my birth. Oh Kansas, despite your evolution-questioning, abortion-doctor-martyring, red-meat lovin' ways, there's still something about you that remains deep in my soul (and arteries). You were a rare bastion of freedom in the Midwest during the Civil War - fighting off evil Missouri slave owners, and harboring the likes of bat-shit crazy (and awesome) John Brown. During the 1930's you were a hotbed for a socialistic government takeover that nearly caught on due to capitalism's failures during the Great Depression and in the 1960's your residents struck a victory for civil rights in Brown v. The Topeka Board of Education. So one has to wonder - what the fuck happened to you?

Like an ex hippie who now owns shares of Halliburton, you've lost your way but you do have a glorious past to look back on and hopefully, one day, live up to. You also have a really kick ass basketball team! In honor of the day you took your place in the union - January 29th, your birthday, and one epic college showdown this weekend, we here at AOoN thought it only right to post a link to our previously written list of the top ten bands from the Jayhawk State. Keep rocking Kansas (you know, in lieu of any progress in any other areas).

To see the list click here

-Travis Hare

Rock On The Range

Maybe it's something about the silence that seems to consume everything else around; So quiet sometimes that you can hear the dew freezing itself across the brown, Flint Hill pastures on frigid December mornings. Maybe all that natural silence leads to an inner desire to create a holy racket. If you are under the impression that the state of Kansas is nothing but a hotbed for redneck, gay-bashing, dinosaur-denying, right-wing, Christian Conservative, militia-forming-nut-jobs, well, you're not far off the mark. But there are a few nooks and crannies in the state, intellectual oasises for heartland ex-pats to hatch their secret-Muslim, socialist, public option healthcare-loving, takeover plans. The college town of Lawrence, Kansas could go toe-to-toe for in-the-know, tight-pants-hipsters, with the Williamsburg, disposable income kids. In Lawrence, Kansas City, and a few other freaked-out farm towns, kids go to great pains to rock the Great Plains.

For anyone who has ever wondered what the hell happened to Dorthy after leaving Oz and returning to Kansas, here's what I can tell you: Dorthy's all grown up now and she drinks PBR.

Here are the top 10 best bands from the Sunflower State.

10. Paw
For a second or two in the nineties it looked like Lawrence was going to blow up on the music scene. Rolling Stone Magazine went as far as calling the leafy college town 'The Next Seattle.' For better or worse that prediction never came true, but there's little in the way of explanation as to why bands like Alice in Chains and Soundgarden got huge and Paw didn't.


9. Minus Story
Beatles influenced, dreamy Kansans making some of the best indie-pop in the Midwest.


8. Ghosty
These guys have a record produced by Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes, Monsters of Folk), shared studio space with The Flaming Lips, write perfect little Big Star-inspired pop tunes with a sincerity that rivals Death Cab for Cutie but tempered (thankfully) by a cool distance ala Pavement. The fact that they are not played all over college radio stations is a freaking travesty.



7. The Anniversary
One of the more successful Kansas bands in recent memory. Until their break up, The Anniversary spread their big anthemic choruses and guitar-heavy rock music around the world.


6. The Embarrassment
It came out of Wichita. The Village Voice once called these guys, 'A great lost American band.' But from 1979-1983 their blistering punk-pop (think a stoned-out, beefed-up Elvis Costello) wasn't lost on anybody.


5. Ad Astra Per Aspera
What started in a basement in suburban Kansas City quickly became one of the most exciting stage shows I have ever seen (and I've seen a lot of shows). A few years back Ad Astra was set to open for Clap Your Hands, Say Yeah but a few hours before the show Clap Your Hands abruptly told them they would not be opening up after all. Rumor has it that Clap Your Hands label, Wichita Recordings, was afraid Ad Astra would blow them off the stage. I'm inclined to believe it.



4. The Get Up Kids
Long before 'Emo' became a dirty word, The Get Up Kids (alongside Sunny Day Real Estate) invented the genre. You can't blame Nirvana for the existence of bands like Nickleback, just like you can't blame the Kids for pretty much all the whiny crap on the radio right now.



3. Split Lip Rayfield
This thrashy speed-grass band is a household name in the state of Kansas. Beloved by Jayhawks, Wildcats, farmers and hipsters alike. Sadly, one can't speak of Split Lip without mentioning the tragic loss of lead singer Kirk Rundstrum to cancer. Despite the loss, the band and it's music lives on in the hearts and iPods of bluegrass fans around the world.



2. Mates of State
Although this husband and wife duo have taken their candy-sweet infectious pop tunes out west to California, their music and their love blossomed in Lawrence. Despite the fact that they've graced the pages of the most read magazines in the world, back in Kansas they're still just Jason and Kori.



1. Appleseed Cast
Listening to the Appleseed Cast is like being in a tornado warning. You can see it coming from miles away, it's beautiful and threatening, sirens start whaling, the wind comes up and before you've reached safety everything around you is swirling and pounding against you; collapsing and breaking down. When it's all over, if you survive, there's nothing left but the most breathtaking sunset you've ever seen.



-Travis Hare