Will Westbrook of The Gerbils

I’m somewhat ashamed at not knowing that Will Westbrook from The Gerbils passed away last month. In my defense, I was supposed to be on Vacation From Music. I think their Are You Sleepy? is just about my all-time favorite E6 album there is (well, maybe tied with Beulah’s “When Your Heartstrings Break”). Spazzy and shaggy, The Gerbils made lo-fi indiepop into fuzzy sweetness. “Is She Fiona” is one of my favorite tracks of theirs. Like many E6 bands, definitely a hint ‘o tweeness, though I heard their later CD was less so.

They broke up in 1999, but the sad thing is that they had just recently gotten into playing again and even did SXSW this past year. I was thinking maybe I’d get a chance to see them play live if they toured.

I only ever had the one CD from them, but it was enough to really like their music. Anyhow, here are some video clips from them playing SXSW I found on the E6 Townhall Forum

Vid1, Vid2, Vid3

and other Gerbils Links:

Gerbils on the Unofficial E6 Site
Gerbils on Wikipedia

by Palebear