For a band with only two records under its belt, Meeting of Important People has had a lot of release parties. Technically, the local garage-pop trio is about to hold its fourth.
But it's not just because they like to party. The latest release show, this Saturday at Thunderbird Café, marks the re-release, on vinyl, of the band's eponymous first album. The record, released with the assistance of Authentik Artists in 2009, is being reissued by the legendary North Side-based garage label Get Hip. The new version has been re-mastered for vinyl and features new artwork (by CP designer Michael Artman).
Last spring, Meeting of Important People played a show at the Rex Theater with Aviation Blondes and The Cynics, the band behind the Get Hip label.
"[Cynics guitarist Gregg Kostelich] really was totally blown away by them," says Get Hip vice president Barbara Garcia-Bernardo. "We saw them a couple of times, and Gregg asked if they'd like to release something."
"Normally I do have to beg and plead," Meeting of Important People guitarist and vocalist Josh Verbanets says with a laugh. "But this came together just from them liking our band."
The digital rights to the album still belong to Authentik -- which sits just fine with Verbanets.
"We get the best of both worlds," he says, "because Authentik Artists treats us like a modern indie band, but now we also have Get Hip, which has a great history. When you get together with the people from Get Hip, they want to talk about the stuff I want to talk about -- I can tell you about every Syd Barrett bootleg, but I don't know anything about the new indie bands."
Get Hip keeps an international roster of garage and throwback bands in addition to The Cynics (whose new album, Spinning Wheel Motel, comes out at the end of May). The label also reissues records on a regular basis -- but not always records whose original release was so recent.
"We re-release stuff from the '60s a lot," says Garcia-Bernardo. "But this record has that sound. This is going to be a classic."
MEETING OF IMPORTANT PEOPLE with PETE BUSH & HOI POLLOI, VALEDICTORIAN. 9 p.m. Sat., May 7. Thunderbird Café, 4023 Butler St., Lawrenceville. $5. 412-682-0177
