Courtesy bthesite.com

I thought we put an end to this already? This being the needlessly drawn-out, silly, and annoying fight between D.C. and Baltimore, and which one is the “better” city. After the Baltimore Sun’s b magazine trolled D.C. by providing 100 “reasons” why Baltimore is supposedly better than D.C., it re-sparked the long-dormant “D.C. vs. Baltimore” debate briefly, that is until Baltimore City Paper’s Brandon Weigel put it all to rest with his article outlining nine reasons why the Baltimore vs. D.C. debate needs to die.

Now, car insurance company GEICO seems to be trolling both D.C. and Baltimore with their new “Indie Across America” tour, which features intimate performances by “today’s hottest emerging bands” in their home cities. And for the Baltimore stop of the tour, did they tap any of the countless hometown heroes? No, they picked D.C. psychedelic garage-rockers Shark Week.

Which would be fine if GEICO didn’t realize Shark Week was a D.C. band and not a Baltimore band. I wouldn’t expect GEICO to be that hip to the local music scenes across the country, they are, after all, a multi-million dollar corporation. But, in the latest promo for the event, GEICO basically does the worst thing it could do, and throws shade on Baltimore by saying it basically has no music scene, which is why they’re bringing a D.C. band in for the performance.

Understandably, Baltimore is pissed. “Here’s the thing, I looked into Baltimore and I couldn’t find out a whole lot about its music scene,” Indie Across America host Dave Holmes tells Baltimore City Paper. That is, without a doubt, complete bullshit, considering all of the popular bands coming out of Baltimore right now—like Beach House, Roomrunner, Dan Deacon, and Wye Oak. Not to mention record labels like Thrill Jockey Records, that’s putting Baltimore’s music scene in the national spotlight.

But the worst part about all this is how this all is making D.C. look. Obviously, Baltimore City Paper has taken this as an opportunity to fire more shots at D.C., criticizing our lack of a “cohesive music scene,” and taking more jabs at our city. Shark Week is a fine D.C. band that’s just one of many, many bands in our city’s vibrant music scene. Yes, the music scene in D.C. isn’t as cohesive and nationally prolific as it used to be, but the fact of the matter is that both D.C. and Baltimore have many great bands and local music scenes. Different? Yes, but nonetheless good.

Look, the last thing we want is for another round in the D.C. vs. Baltimore fight, but here GEICO had to go and start it again. Maybe Dischord and Thrill Jockey can put out a split 7″ to bury the hatchet on this whole debate (Editors Note: Thrill Jockey is in Chicago, but has many Baltimore bands on their roster, which is why I mistakenly thought they were in Baltimore. Perhaps A389 and Dischord could do that split 7″)