Wii Like This Scarecrow Collection

It was difficult to tear myself away from the Wii-B-Q. Brats and Italian sausages and burgers and marinated chicken consumed, most of us, including the women, headed inside to pop our collective cherry with the next level of interactive gaming.

As four of us took center court at the Wii version of Wimbledom — coincidentally, I play well on grass — I couldn’t help but notice the stunning role reversal of normalcy and lunacy. One of the first truly hilarious nuthouse scenes in the Dudley Moore vehicle, Crazy People, shows the asylum’s inpatients playing volleyball…without the ball. How crazy, we’re all led to believe. Look at how crazy these fuckers are!

Now look at us. Four schmucks standing in a small New York living room swinging handheld remotes like a Steffi Graf slicing drop shot. The Wii itself is amazing and I want one now. But the joke’s on us now, right? At least the characters in Crazy People were getting fresh air.

Nevertheless I broke away from Friday evening’s shenanigans to head down to the Knitting Factory for Scarecrow Collection, a five-piece band that’s getting more attention as the live music scene narrows its focus more on quality songwriting than jammier jams. Already this year, SCC has earned New Groove of the Month from Jambands.com, and they’re currently among the 10 finalists in the running for the last JamCruise slot, part of the Vote to the Boat campaign.

After Friday’s show, I can see why the buzz is building. Mixing in some inspired covers with a batch of well-written, tightly-performed originals, SCC threw down about 80 minutes of song-based rock that showed off the frontman talents of Gerard Fee and the unbridled shredding skills of lead guitarist Nick Setteducato. They’re the kind of band that won’t force a jam but won’t let the music take a back seat either.

Still, don’t go by my account — check ’em out and see whether they deserve your precious JamCruise text: