How I got a Boy Prostitute today

Up in the northeast part of Miami, just inside Little Haiti, and not too far from where I used to live, sits what is probably the only independent record store in the city.

Sweat Records first opened in March 2005, which was before I came to Miami. They were forced to close after their quarters on NW 23rd Street were pounded by the hurricanes that year (which I arrived just in time for). Owner Lauren Reskin took up temporary residence in the back of Churchill’s Pub, Miami’s only real rock club, which is also in Little Haiti. November last year, the space next door to Churchill’s became available, and Lauren promptly moved in.

I knew peripherally about all of this as it was going on, but because Sweat Records is at the opposite end of Miami from where I live, I hadn’t had a chance to visit. Oddly enough, it was a blog entry about coffee that finally got me over there.

The other day, I was tooling around the Internet when I ran across the Meatless Miami blog. Now, I am far from a vegetarian; in fact, I had a big juicy burger to go with my beers at lunch today. So never mind what I was doing on that blog. Anyway, an entry there mentioned the coffee bar inside Sweat Records and boasted that the coffee is “Definitely our specialty and [our] best-seller is our dark, velvety espresso, which is meticulously prepared in true Italian fashion (seriously, we had to take classes on this!).”

It was the “dark, velvety espresso” that finally got me to Sweat Records. But it’ll be the music that brings me back. Sweat is no mega-store (a big plus), but they offer a nice selection of new and old CDs and LPs. Most important, though, they offer a selection of local music. I was pretty overwhelmed as I shuffled through the rows of disks. I hate when I pick something up that looks good only to have it turn out to suck. And I’ve been lead astray in the past by well-meaning clerks and salespeople. Usually I’ll trust my own judgment and I’m OK more than half of the time.

This is where Boy Prostitute comes in. When I saw their self-titled disk, I figured I could safely pick it up. I guessed by the band name and the fact that I’d seen them advertised playing alongside bands such as Johnny Sexfuk and the Fleshrockets that I could trust my judgment here.

Good call. Boy Prostitute shows heavy influence from the Ramones, with the hooks of Green Day. I listened to the CD three times on my way home and loved it. I tried to find some information about the band, but really all I learned is that when you Google “Boy Prostitute,” you can get to some weird Internet places. On their MySpace space, I found a short blurb about the band, but not much other info:

“Boy Prostitute started in 2005 in an English pub called Churchill’s, located in Little Haiti, Miami. ... Matt Touchstone, Michael Midnight, Josh X-mas, and Chris Timebomb Critic are Boy Prostitute. We came to rock – bottom line. We know the world sucks, so keep the politics to yourselves. We don’t like Bush either. Everyone should shave down there. We are anti-racists, though we make fun of everyone. We are anti-homophobic, but agree that bestiality is just sick. Boy Prostitute rolls off your tongue like the finest caviar, bitch. So take heed all you haters and hotties: We want your money, but most of all we want your blood....”

Boy Prostitute’s next scheduled show is March 22, opening for The Unseen at Studio A in Miami.

You’re Going Home in an Ambulance.mp3
I Want to Kill You but I Don’t Want to go to Jail.mp3
Boy Prostitute.mp3

Buy your own Boy Prostitute.

Labels: local stuff, punk

posted by aikin @ 7:13 PM