Days N Daze Go Guerrilla with Demos (& Summerfest Passes!)

I swear, I’m always amazed (and somewhat impressed, as well) at the quirky levels to which bands will go to promote themselves… The latest example is self-described “riot-folk” band Days N Daze (or “Days ‘n Daze,” whichever spelling you prefer), who’ve gone appropriately guerrilla-style to promote their latest album, Ward Off The Vultures.

As of last Monday, April 11th, the DnD crew has supposedly sneaked 250 free copies of Vultures into the CD racks at unsuspecting stores all over the Houston area, from Wal-Mart to Starbucks; “wherever there is a CD rack and an employee with his or her back turned long enough to not see a CD with no bar code being left behind,” in the band’s words. Each of the clandestinely-placed CDs has a secret code written on it, and not only do you get a free CD (which: hey, y’know, free), but one extra-special magical code will also get you 2 free passes to the upcoming Free Press Summerfest this June.

So keep your eyes peeled, Houstonians, and if you happen across one of these CDs (the cover art for which will look like the little micro-sized version over there on the right), email the band at “daysndaze” at “yahoo dot com” to see if you’re the big, Charlie Bucket-esque winner. Maybe I’m just a little on the odd side myself, but this seems like a particularly inventive, under-the-radar way to highlight a show/release — in this case, the band’s both promoting the new album/demo/etc., but also celebrating the fact that they’ve been picked to play the Super Happy Fun Land Stage at Summerfest.

I’ve finally gotten a chance to listen to the band, btw, and I have to say, I’m liking it; it’s bizarre, folky, low-to-the-ground, and resolutely DIY, and it works surprisingly well. When I listen to tracks like “The Empress Bridge,” I find myself thinking of similarly high-pitched weirdo-popsters Machine Go Boom, if that band were actually an anarcho-punk collective like Anti-Flag. Throw in some Less Than Jake-esque ska-punk elements, and things get even more interesting, especially once you realize they’re playing washboard, banjo, and mandolin at various points.

Very cool…