All right class, here’s today’s new word: paraskedidekatriphobics.

Huh...? What the heck is that? A small village in Pakistan? Something you eat with a lot of sauce? A new social itch curable only by a large dose of penicillin?

Nope. It refers to people who are afflicted with morbid, consuming, irrational fear of Friday the 13th and everything associated with it.

However, all fears and superstitions aside, the local band known as Friday the 13th goes out of its way to embrace what most would shun regarding this date. (More about the phenomena of paraskevidekatriphobia later.)

Matt Lauer, lead vocalist, explains it this way. “It’s one of those things where we’re kind of making fun of the fact that you can’t overcome Murphy’s Law or whatever else.”

Ah, so the name has nothing to do with teen slasher flicks, either?

“No,” Matt said. “You never know what’s gonna happen. Something bad always screws something up at the last minute. Every time the band seemed like it was going to get somewhere, something always happened. Somebody quit, something would come up...”

In spite of all these guys have been through during their seven-year history, they’ve developed an attitude that combines a love for down and dirty rock, a hard partying aesthetic and just plain bulldog tenacity.

Besides Lauer (who goes by the moniker Thelonius O’Malley on the 13th), the current lineup includes drummer Scott Early (who also plays for the band Shunned), and guitarist Jimbo Lyshus, formerly of The Scary Tweezers. They are getting a helping hand in the bass spot for their CD release show on Friday the 13th at Legends, (4104 North Clinton in Fort Wayne). They will be joined on stage by the band Take Sides.

Their debut CD, Too Fast For Luck, was recorded locally at Digitracks Studio and produced by the band. Matt Carbone, who played bass on the project, is no longer with the band. According to their press materials, “...the band is looking for a new bass player after a bizarre drinking accident.”

Their first gig seven years ago was on the Friday the 13th, right before Valentine’s Day. “When the band was first formed,” Lauer said, “we originally were only going to play on Friday the 13th. It was just something to do for fun, but it’s still something to do for fun.”

Of course it’s kind of a stretch to think that any musician does this “just for fun,” especially a group of guys whose name is synonymous with perennial bad luck.

“I’ve had enough bad luck going in my life,” Early remarked. “I don’t really welcome it, but it happens. I’ve been in bands around the area for a long time. I’ve had a lot of set backs, but I’ve also achieved things I’ve set out to do. Basically, I’ve had every reason to quit doing this, but this is a good band to be in.”

It’s apparent this isn’t just a line. Early’s drum work on Too Fast For Luck is incredibly tight. The guitar work of Jimbo Lyshus is pure, unadulterated, balls-to-the-wall garage rock, but he does it well, very well.

Lauer ... er, Thelonius, rather, is one of those deep throated growlers who sounds like he’s getting ready to hack up his spleen. Unlike a lot of the so-so talented guys who sing this way, Thelonius has an understanding and sense of range and dynamics rare for this vocal style.

Friday the 13th are known for playing a short set. Lauer describes it as “... a 35-minute temper tantrum.” and this might be why the first recorded offering contains just six tunes. Short, definitely not sweet, and to the point.

These aforementioned short sets are also known for a degree of insanity and total unpredictability that has, according to Lauer, “... gotten us thrown out of almost every bar in this town at one point or another. Not because we’re a**holes, but because we have a lot of fun on stage.” A bar owner once commented that the band “... acts like animals and drinks like fiends, but when they’re on stage, every eye in the place is watching them.”

They already have another project in the can, tentatively titled Do The Wrong Thing, which will have a limited release in late spring or early summer. “It’s a very limited run for fans and people who come to the shows,” Lauer said. “We’ll probably only charge $5 for it. We want to make it affordable; that’s what everybody wants.”

These guys definitely make no apologies for what they do and what they like.

“You hear people talking about bands being pigeon holed,” Lauer said. “To hell with that. I want people to know what we’re about. I want people to always know what to expect from us.

“That doesn’t mean that we’re staid, or that we’re going to be writing the same song over and over. What I mean is, you know where we’re coming from.”

Basically, the place they come from loves what is often described as roots rock, or sometimes garage band rock. It’s the type and style of music that seems to come and go with no scheduled regularity. But, it is the type of music that survives all the mindlessness of whatever the flavor of the month happens to be - everything from Disco to Brittany.

“I hate the idea that rock n’ roll is unfashionable again,” Lauer said. “Sure, there’s a lot of guitar bands, but you can have a guitar band and not play rock n’ roll. We are stripped down, 3 chord, 1-4-5. We like that, simple, old rock n’ roll. People should never lose sight of that.”

“Roots are roots,” Early added. “They’re never going to go away. Roots are the basis, whether it be a tree or music. At some point, and this is just my opinion, it doesn’t matter what genre of music you’re doing. Roots are always going to be there. I think people are now starting to go back to the roots and are starting to embrace the basic, simple beginnings.”

Friday the 13th are also about supporting the local music community and working towards a sense of camaraderie with not only the audience, but with other bands as well as bar owners and promoters. “One of the things that makes me happy about being in a band in this town is to further the scene,” Lauer said. “That’s a big deal, because the scene here dries out, then gets better, then dries out, then gets better. Fort Wayne is a big enough town that it could have a lot more going for it than it does.”

Well, on Friday the 13th of February, this band (not to be confused with the date or the movie), will prove how serious they are. The show/release party for Too Fast For Luck will be at Legends. If you haven’t already seen these guys, their “35-minute temper tantrum” is open to the public. Also, check out their web site at www.friday-the-13th.com.

Writer’s note: I mentioned earlier a bit more information on the word paraskevidekatriaphobia, or with the suffix “phobics” if you’re talking about individuals. Dr. Donald Dossey is a therapist credited with coining this mouthful. He specializes in the study of phobias and claims that as many as 21 million people in this country alone may be afflicted. There is a correlative study released by the British Medical Journal in which is was found that falls, car accidents, animal bites and even poisonings were more numerous on Friday the 13th. No conclusion could be drawn as to whether or not “bad luck” on this date caused these problems, or it was just the psychological susceptibility of certain people who shouldn’t be allowed outside without an accompanying caregiver to get themselves in trouble. At any rate, enjoy the show on Friday the 13th, by Friday the 13th.

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