Our Band Tee Could Be Your Life

If you're a fan of indie music (and these days, who isn't? Hey, Nicole Richie, see you at Pukkelpop?), it's likely you've got a pretty decent collection of band t-shirts. I myself like to use the t-shirt purchase as a way to assuage my guilt about all the CDs I don't buy; thus, I have a healthy — or perhaps unhealthy? — obsession with cute band t-shirts. But I haven't made many purchases lately...here's a look at some that are out there right now, just waiting to be turned into a peanut butter sandwich for your favorite starving artist. Observe:



Here we have an adorable kitty shirt, a genre which you basically can't go wrong with. And this is an asthmatic kitty, see (awwwwww), representing the folkie label of the same name, home to overrated folkie Sufjan Stevens.





Above are two more classic kitty shirts from your friends at K Records. No pocky for kitty, no pie for kitty: What fun stuff does kitty get to eat??







Speaking of kitties, above is a shirt designed by artist/musician Daniel Johnston, subject of the recent documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston. He actually has a bunch of t-shirts for sale featuring his drawings (which you can also buy as drawings); unfortunately the chicas will have to put their sewing skills to work to reconstruct them into something flattering — only boxy man sizes here. Probably worth the effort, though.





And here we have an adorable octopus design from Providence, Rhode Island's Get Him Eat Him (great band, by the way). Unfortunately, it only comes in boy sizes (boo! hiss! strangle!). Girlies get a slight break with the red and pink comic-book-inspired tees, which can be purchased in youth sizes — apparently whoever's making this band's merch decisions has never heard of a little company called American Apparel.



You wouldn't have to be a fan of bunnies or the Buffalo band Cute Is What We Aim For to purchase this slightly wacked-out bunny shirt. You could just say it's your motto. Eighteen bucks in a full range of girl sizes. Bravo, Fueled By Ramen.



Now, this shirt is not actually that cute, but hey, might as well get a Sleater-Kinney shirt before they break up for good at the end of this summer. (Maybe they'll have cuter stuff on tour?) All the better if you happen to like horses.



If you like animals but are sick of chickadees, owls, horses, squirrels, etc., and crave nontrendy creatures adorning your person, this Animal Collective (oh yes!) tote is for you, featuring not-yet-played bats and a beagle. I'm pretty sure beagles will never be trendy — they're only the worst dog in the world.



Wiemeranders, however, I approve of.



But you're not sick of owls yet, right? Right?? Here's a shirt from the band Owls.











Jade Tree (and indeed, any label that markets mostly to teenagers) has a whole bunch of animalriffic shirts, a few of which you see above. Lions and tigers and zebras and, uh, geese and eviscerated rabbits, oh my! (Sorry, couldn't resist.) But moving on, finally, to non-animal prints, we have....



Wilco with a timely "footballer tee." Show your true loyalties at the next World Cup drinkathon!



Loving this Koufax shirt. And loving the price, too: Five dollah!



I like Bright Eyes, but I wouldn't wear a Bright Eyes t-shirt unless it was as deliciously ironic as this one. Yes, I still like irony.

Also on the gross tip: I think we can agree that hearts on shirts, even in various degrees of, you know, heartbreak, are a bit cliched. But stomachs? Stomachs are totally fresh! I want this Les Savy Fav shirt. Who wants to buy it for me?





Kayrock Screenprinting, out of Brooklyn, who make very cool (and occasionally disturbing) show posters (as well as wedding invites, omg, quick, someone propose!), also have a bunch of cool tees for sale on their site, should you be unable to make it to the next noise-rock show in a weedy Williamsburg empty lot. Dig the Morriscula shirt especially.



Kayrock works a lot with country-psyche band Oakley Hall, who are awesome and are totally getting a shit ton of press for their new album, "Gypsum Strings." You should really check it out. And then buy this cute (if perhaps a bit extra-long in the torso) tee, featuring TLo's favorite animal, the owl. Hoooo....

And I guess that brings it all full circle. I'm always on the lookout for good band tees. If you've seen any, do be a doll and let me know in the comments....