Is this a series? Can we call this a series?
April 2016. The Joiners Arms, Southampton. In a market overrun by hideously overpriced VIP experiences, Long Island rockers Patent Pending seem to have actually got it right – their exclusives go for around £30 and consist of early entry and getting to basically muck about in the venue for an hour or so.
This laid back set up allows for selfies and chats in a genial atmosphere, and I get talking to Joe Ragosta, Patent Pending’s irrepressibly likeable frontman. I’ve witnessed Joe be equally charming to everyone he encounters, be they first time gig-goer, or the reluctant accompanying parent. A rare example in the scene, he speaks to everyone who approaches him in a friendly and open way. As much as he flings himself around onstage and demands circle pits, offstage it is difficult indeed to feel intimidated by Joe. As we talk, I commend this attitude. I know first hand how much it means to a fan.
“I wish I’d had a band like Patent Pending when I was growing up!” I joke, a roster of since proven problematic former idols flashing through my head.
Joe brightens, grinning at me, “Now you do!” He declares “Now you do.”
I can’t remember if I replied or just laughed it off, but soon after this the venue staff started hustling the band backstage, as the gig was due to begin. Nice sentiment Joe, I thought, but I’m 25. I’m a grown woman. I’m okay. As fun as you are, I don’t need a band like Patent Pending.
To quote the vernacular, bitch you thought.
Let’s go back. Patent Pending were formed in 2001 in Mount Sinai, New York, which basically means they pre-date and have outlasted a lot of other bands of their time, which is impressive in itself. Like many others in the UK, I discovered Patent Pending via the medium of their frequent tour buddies, pop punk godfathers Bowling for Soup. Like BFS, Patent Pending have the same knack for mixing the silly with the serious; a single live set can feature songs covering topics from Super Mario and that douchebag from high school to mental health and ADHD. Yet there’s a wit, and a sense of the wordsmith to many of their songs too, some of them so very wordy that singer Joe has to pull of some serious vocal dexterity to fit them all in.
There’s an endearing immaturity to a Patent Pending live show. Jazz hands, pirate hooks and crowd surfing competitions regularly feature, as do mini pep talks and self-deprecating jokes. There’s never anything mean spirited about the band either. Whilst the guys sometimes poke fun at particular members of the audience, it’s all in good fun and totally lacking in maliciousness, as they select a victim who can usually give back as good as they get. With their varying levels of commercial success, questionable hair choices, and self-confessed dorkiness, Patent Pending happily set themselves up as targets of ridicule for their own targets to bat right back at them.
This is a band that people, particularly young fans need. Here’s the thing – as a musician you can try and defer responsibility as much as you want. You can say that you didn’t ask for people to look up to you. That’s fine. But you have to back that shit up. You can’t ask for devotion without accepting the consequences. You can’t demand loyalty and then drop it when it becomes an inconvenience. You can’t gather a fan base of young and impressionable teenagers, teenagers who come to rely on you, and then purposely, knowingly do something cruel.
Is this is a call out post? Well, yeah, if you want it to be.
My point is the band I have been a fan of for these past five years have never demanded devotion in the way some other bands have. Where some bands are the toxic friend who demand your attention, Patent Pending are the brotherly figure with an attitude of ‘if you want to talk about it I’m here for you, but only when you’re ready.’ For me, this sentiment is sweetly and simply summed up in the song Second Family;
“So take all that we have
All that you need
And welcome to our second family.
If you’ve ever felt alone
Or you think you don’t belong,
You’ve got a home
And you’ve got a song
So help me sing along.”
Take, is the operative word here. In that sentiment, played at more Patent Pending shows than it isn’t, the band offer to give, demanding nothing in return… just a voice.
Patent Pending don’t want you to bleed your heart out at their shows. They just want you to have fun. I needed that as an angsty, band-obsessed teen and turns out? I still kind of need it now.
I saw Patent Pending play a one off headline show last week ahead of a tour with (surprise!) Bowling for Soup. Joe walked on stage, two and a half years after our conversation in a pub venue in Southampton and grinned at the crowd, as thrilled to see them as them him and the first thing that crossed my mind?
Now you do!
Now I do. A two year old conversation and finally I realise that I didn’t miss having a band like Patent Pending – I just met them a little later.
Since that conversation in 2016 my life’s been pretty up and down. But hesitantly, I admit that things are getting progressively better for me. In Patent Pending’s words, in my favourite song from them, Brighter, sums it up pretty well;
“Got a long way to go
But I know, I believe
That the light at the end is brighter than it used to be.”
Essential listening:
- Brighter from the album Brighter (because, duh)
- One Less Heart to Break from the album Second Family (the pinnacle of serious!PP)
- Hey Mario from the album Brighter (the pinnacle of not so serious PP)
- Dance till we Die from the album Second Family (just. A banger.)
- Six Feet from the album Riot Hearts Rebellion (a banger for Stressed Adults)
They’ve also just released a covers album featuring Never Gonna Give You Up and Shape of You, because of course they have.
Riot in the Cheap Seats 