Independent Rock Music: January 2005 Archives

I have resisted writing about Lync, even though they are one of my beloved bands, because I'm really not sure what to say about them. They are an amazing band in a way that's hard to describe. Part of me thinks maybe you had to see them play, and watch the drummer, Dave, light his drum kit on fire while playing, like, "Two Feet in Front." But maybe that's snobbery. Anyone can like Lync.

Do we care about the requisite bio? Three boys from the suburbs of Seattle, mid-'90s, releases on K Records, only a band for a few years. You get it, right? Their album These Are Not Fall Colors is sublime. I spent so many hours listening to it during my high school years, it's not even funny. I remember seeing them play at the first Yoyo-a-Go-Go and Sam Jayne was wearing a Lone Ranger mask. He seemed like he was in on some kind of personal joke that I, at sixteen, so badly wanted to be a part of.

The other day I made a list of reasons why I have loved Lync for the past decade or so and here they are, transcribed from the back of my checkbook: Sam, the singer, kind of sounds like he has a stuffed up nose. Lots of lyrics about being bored. Singing "Satellite is now!!!" while driving in my best friend's car on weekends and not knowing--and not caring--if those were the correct lyrics. Good hair. A song called "Turtle" seemingly sung from the viewpoint of one, but whose lyrics are sort of also about relationships. General sense of urgency imbuing all their songs. You can totally dance to "Lightbulb Switch." The opening noted to "B" still gives me shivers.

I think that show in Olympia was maybe the last time I saw Lync, unless you count the all-asian Lync cover band, Chync, fronted by the illustrious George Chen, who I saw play on Halloween in San Francisco one year (and I sort of do). And really, I can say how urgent and meaningful and enduring Lync's songs are, but maybe Chync was all you needed to know about. Can you think of another band who has one album and a couple singles, around only a few years, who, half a decade after their demise, inspired an asian cover band fronted by George Chen? Only Lync, the Greatest Band of All Time.