Search - The Me Decade :: Gentrification Is Theft

The Me Decade is a five piece pop-rock combo from Chicago. Featuring singer-songwriter LARRY O. DEAN (vocals & guitar), TIM FERGUSON (bass & vocals), ERICH STERZING & JEFF GREAVES (drums), PAMELA RICHARDSON (vocals), and DEREK WALVOORD (viola & vocals), the band is an anomaly even considering the vibrancy and variety of the Windy City's musical palette. A song-centric band with string-driven melodies, ragged yet full vocal harmonies, an in-the-pocket rhythm section, and a charismatic leader who has been called ''one of the hardest working men in Chicago rock'' (Home Pride Chicago), The Me Decade defies easy description. Equally comfortable performing in intimate acoustic venues and booming coliseums, comparisons have ranged from Neil Young and The Violent Femmes to The Velvet Underground and Alex Chilton -- ''like Bob Dylan having dinner with The Left Banke,'' is one baffled scribe's reaction. Far from a soft or baroque sound, the band instead embraces a love of The Byrds and 20th Century composers such as Górecki and Pärt, creating a Frankenstein monster of beautiful proportions. You really have to hear them to believe them. The Me Decade is featured on Dean's second solo album, Sir Slob. Its official debut, titled Gentrification Is Theft, recorded with Mark Schwarz (The Blacks, Chamber Strings, Neko Case, Freakwater, David Singer, Sally Timms) at The Überstudio in Chicago, was released October 2002 on Chicago indie label, Spade Kitty Records. Since disbanding, Dean went on to form The Injured Parties. Ferguson plays in Red Plastic Buddha, and Richardson heads The Pralines. Walvoord sits in on Dean's monthly songwriter showcase, Folk You! held every third Friday at The Horseshoe in Chicago.