jucifer - calling all cars on the vegas strip

released in 1999

i was lucky enough to be right up in the front to let my eyes and ears drown in the joy that is jucifer live...singer amber valentine is able to produce frozen mollases with her guitar strings while singing like an angel and a banshee...drummer (and amber's mate) ed livengood hits the drums like john bonham never existed (he literally played himself off of his stool more than a few times)...and all of this goes on under the watchful eye of multiple amps that tower over them from behind

but before they were the sludgy behemoth they are today...they had more of a pixies meets melvins kinda thing going on

what drew me to the band was the video for the song "superman"...i was at home in the kitchen...and i had the tv on in the background...and as i was making a sammich...this heavy HEAVY song came over the speakers...so i rushed back into the room to see only 2 people making this heavenly noise...a dynamic duo indeed

so here you go...i'm thinking you know what to do

http://www.sendspace.com/file/vp8ctm

and now this...

12 rounds - my big hero

released in 1998

i witnessed this band in chicago back in 1998 at the aragon ballroom...they were opening for marilyn manson as part of the promo run for the mechanical animals album (yes...i was at a marilyn manson concert...it's all part of my dark past...we've all been there)...originally i was under the assumption that the band rasputina were opening (which would've been just as ok...but when the curtain went back and there stood 12 rounds...my nips got a little hard)...everyone around me was a little more than confused as to what the gender of the singer was (female)...and i a stood there waiting for them to play the song "pleasant smell" as i had just recently discovered them through the showing of the video for said song on the mtv (remember mtv and videos?)...needless to say that i was probably one of the few that left with a tshirt that night

and the marilyn manson part of the show...um...seeing him in a sexless white costume (as seen in the "the dope show" video) and standing at a pulpit tearing apart a bible and throwing the pages into the audience...let's just say that the eyeliner wearing crowd had something to talk about in study hall

as for the music...it could be described as portishead and nine inch nails making dirty gothic psychobilly jazzy love on halloween while nick cave sits in the corner and watches

that's quite the image right there...go on...get that in your head

this was the band's second album...and they have a third one recorded and ready for public consumption...but for some reason it was put on hold (and that was back in '98-'99...so it's not looking so good)...and the band has been on hiatus since about the same time

so...if you're looking for something to accompany the flickering of a candle...do it

http://www.mediafire.com/?esimyvymglt

questionable gender songs

jesus
elvis
bob ross

and now...you can add my name to that list
i've returned (albeit for only a few hours)

apparently they like it when you pay for your usage of the internet...i had no idea seeing as how i didn't receive that memo...so i've been having to make the walk to the local library...and let me tell you...it's strange to have to be wearing pants while in front of a computer

i'd also like to take this opportunity to thank a one mr. gray for holding everything down...if it weren't for him...i'd never know the multiple joys of waking up drunk next to random midgets and smelling of birthday cake

and i'd also like to give a big UPS to the 28 of you that follow this blog...it's nice knowing that this short bus is getting a little bigger

and i'd also like to thank the random members of bands that frequent this blog and don't get all lars ulrich-y about things

we here at the SGM are gonna continue bringing you the product that you so desire (NOW WITH MORE AFTERTASTE!)

as for the colostomy grab-bag...honestly...i just don't know...part of me wants to delete it from the blogosphere...and part of me wants to keep it around because i feel sorry for it (i'm sure most of you know that feeling)...who knows what'll become of it...give us your input on that...we like your input...we really really do (and yes...we were totally saying that as we raised our eyebrow and licked our lips)

and we're going to try and stretch out the boundaries around here a little...it's called "adapting"...get used to it mr. uptight trousers

ok...so...seeing as how i'm here for a limited time...i'm gonna make some insertions...and i know how you all like insertions

and i know that most of you are wondering what a david hasselhoff soap dispenser has to do with any of this...and the answer is this: it has everything to do with everything...and if you even had to ask that question...why are you here?

Shallow, North Dakota - This Apparatus Must Be Earthed

Label: Sonic Unyon

Year: 1997

Big time sludgy, metallic, thick necked, thud rock out of Canada. Nasty, spiteful stuff that makes a nice blend of Unsane + Cursed (which there's a member connection) + Tad + Milligram. You get a lot of rumbling riffs that go from molten magma to hot spitting lava (volcano reference!), meaning they can get all doomy or kinda thrashy, but mostly it's mid-tempo hammering. Just know that it is heavy. Really, that's pretty much the gist of it. Also, if you were ever into hardcore music, you stand a better chance at liking this one, just cause you can tell the dudes in this band are/were into hardcore and that vibe comes through. Also, there are a few moments where they get a little experimental on that ass and throw some noise, or found sound, or sickeningly de-tuned instruments into the mix, so if you're prone to like things that veer off into the neither regions of metal, than you'll also find happiness here.

The band started out in the early 90's releasing two albums (this one being the second, I don't have the first one), then went AWOL for awhile before showing up in 2004 with a new record (that also fucking slays), and now they're AWOL again. Hopefully, they will resurface sometime soon to bludgeon again, but until that day, please enjoy this trip into the Great White North.

DL

Loudspeaker - Rubberneckers Vs. Tailgaters

Label: Sympathy For The Record Industry

Year: 1994

Well, since the other Loudspeaker record I posted seemed to be a popular item, may I present to you the follow-up album. And if you grabbed the first one, then you know the drill, cause this one sounds pretty much the same. If you didn't grab the first one, this is bluesy noise rock, that features members (at one time or another) of Pussy Galore, Swans, Foetus, Boss Hog and Crucifix, so you get this Helmet smoking two packs a day kind of NYC dirt rock. It's good alright. Have I steered you wrong yet? I mean, you like black tar vocals right? You like bass that emanates from below the street right? You like the guitar to scrap in and out of the song structure right? Right?!

DL

Cows - Effete and Impudent Snobs

Label: Amphetamine Reptile

Year: 1990

More Cows. More fan-fucking-tastic shit to listen to. More weirdness.

This album is sometimes considered the last of the "original" Cows sound before they switched gears a bit and began relying more on dynamics and song structure than flat out white noise. The guitar has zero low end, it's a squealing pig running all over the songs. The bass is fuzzed out throb. The drums are...well, you ever watch the Muppet Show, you know Animal, the drummer for the house band? And on this record especially, the vocals are blown way out. The whole mix is painful, the antithesis of your mom's Leo Sayer albums. 

Like the Butthole Surfers post below, here's a good chance you have this already, but in case you don't here it is. I'm sure eventually I'll post all the Cows records on this blog, it's just something I'm compelled to do. You young folks need to have these things on your Ipods to bum you out while you're...doing whatever the fuck young people do. Yachting? Do you guys sail much?

DL

  

Butthole Surfers - Locust Abortion Technician

Label: Touch And Go

Year: 1987

Hey...look who's back from visiting his parents in Virginia for Christmas...me. Sorry for the lack of posts, but you gotta celebrate the baby jesus every once in awhile.

As a result, I have some stuff on my computer that I need to either post or dump, so why not make a steaming, corn riddled post? Great idea!

You should know this record, and most likely should own it, it's a "classic" as it where. You should also be painfully aware of what Butthole Surfers sound like, but in case you don't...drop LSD and listen to Roky Erikson and Black Sabbath simultaneously. There you go, that's what they sound like. In all honesty, I was never a huge fan of this band, and certainly the records that came out after this one are utter crap. Not to mention they and their bloated egos almost put Touch And Go out of business, but that's a story for another day. My point being, this, to me anyway, is the one Butthole Surfers record you need. It's the heaviest, the darkest, and has the best songs. They mix fast and slow, guitar based, and non-guitar based, and basically make a fucked up mess that somehow coalesces into very listenable noise rock. 

If you don't have this for some reason (maybe you're young, maybe you had it on vinyl and it scratched, maybe you heard the 90's version of the band and [rightfully so] ignored them, or maybe you're a big homophobe and just the mere mention of "buttholes" is too much to take) then you should look into it now, it stands the test of time. 

Of course, you see what label this is on, so when the link disappears, it's gone for good.

DL

Cavity - Supercollider

Label: Man's Ruin

Year: 1998

I know Hydrahead reissued this record after the fact and added two songs, and omitted one from the original release, but I don't own that, I own the Man's Ruin version, so that's what you get.

In a long and distinguished career peddling southern fried sludge, Cavity went out on a high note. A really, really high note. Prior to Supercollider, Cavity were the Florida version of Eyehategod, misanthropic, bathed in feedback, strangled vocals, and bludgeoning at every turn, they were really good, but had yet to release a record that would elevate them from the Florida swamps. Then, along comes this monster, holy shit. This album smoothed out some of the rough edges, and created massive waves of warm, suffocating tone. The songs ebb and flow, always heavy, but now allowed more dynamic breadth than before. Even the vocals had gone from screeching to bellowing, again, honing the attack. This record should have been huge, but with Man's Ruin about to fold under financial pressure, it just kinda languished. By the time Hydrahead got around to re-releasing it again, I think the thunder was gone.  It's too bad, because with all the faux stoner metal around at the time, the world needed Cavity's Black Sabbath by way of Black Flag assault. They stuck around and put out two more albums, both of which are really good, but Supercollider is the turning point of their sound. Essential.

I once had Cavity play my house in Athens, Georgia, and even though there were only a handful of people there, they still slayed, threatening to cave the entire house in. Interesting sidebar, my roommate slept through their set, a mere 10' away from the band atop a pile of his dirty clothes. Try doing that. Also, I learned that day that Cavity bassist Daniel Gorostiaga was in New Age Records straight edge band Powerhouse, and we shared a deep admiration for Chain Of Strength. Nice huh? Also, they had a member of the Miami band Load playing with them, and were perplexed that I could be, in my own words, "a huge Load fan". That dude was left on the side of the road before the end of that tour.

They have also had among their ranks members of Floor, Torche, Dove, and Where Fear And Weapons Meet, along with others. In fact, Henry Wilson plays on this record. 

DL

Boss Hog - Drinkin', Lechin', and Lyin'

Label: Amphetamine Reptile

Year: 1989

Maybe more famous for the cover than the actual music, this record is a nasty, bluesy, noise rock crawl through the gutter. This, the first record from the band, features John Spencer (formally of Pussy Galore, currently of Blues Explosion...you know, the band that shouts "blues" all the time, lest you forget they are a "blues" band), his wife (and cover model) Christina Martinez, plus a couple folks from Unsane and The Honeymoon Killers to flesh it out. You get what you probably are expecting from that crew, a droning, lethargic, punks version of what blues sound like. Say whatever you will about the band being douchebags or opportunistic assholes, but the Boss Hog records are all really good, and this one is my favorite. Plus, it's not long, so it makes for a good introduction to the band.

Interesting sidebar, as I was trying to find a cover image for this, I ran across a posting of this very record, in this very blog. Whoops. I guess I should have checked the archives first huh? Well, fuck it, I'm already this far...and chances are you haven't been scrutinizing this blog since day one anyhow. Apparently I haven't.

DL

Cure - Pornography

Label: Fiction

Year: 1982

There are a handful of bands that (in my mind at least) operate outside the parameters of "cool" and "uncool", bands that don't require a secret society to appreciate them. Nine Inch Nails is one of those bands, and Cure is another. Sure, the high school thespians made you want to hatecrime (now a verb!) the Cure back into the closet, but at the end of the day you cannot deny the gloom/pop masterworks of their early canon. It's original music that sounds like no other band, and that's hard to come by these days. Shit, it was hard to come by when this record came out!

Pornography is part of the concept trilogy that also includes albums Seventeen Seconds, and Faith, and is easily the darkest and most despondent of all their records. Robert Smith was quoted as saying, "I wanted it to be virtually unbearable"...I mean, shit, what the fuck?! Don't be fooled into thinking the Cure is for fat goth girls, or "fags", it's really not. Really. If you like any droning, psychotic, art damaged rock, then this just might be for you. If you think you hate the world...try these songs on for size.

DL

Xysma - Deluxe

Label: Spinefarm

Year: 1994

Haven't posted much Finnish metal on this blog, so let's remedy that shall we? How about "Finland's first grindcore band"? Yes? Back then they were known as Repulse, and around 1988 they began blitzkrieging Helsinki with a bombastic death/grind style, which only lasted a few years. They quickly appropriated the stoner sludge of the 1970's and mixed that with their death metal and lo and behold they hit on that same "death-n-roll" sound Entombed were toying with although Xysma ends up being stranger and less straight forward than their Swedish bros. In fact, I hear some Helmet being appropriated here and there on this record, maybe some Kyuss as well. Regardless, it's dirty, chunky, and vaguely groovy. 

You'll have to talk to Ipecac about this (once he decides to return from his tropical getaway), but I believe the sister blog Colostomy Grab-Bag will be put out if her misery soon, and we will be posting some material on this blog that might have been posted there. Case in point, Xysma.

DL  

V/A - Buddyhead Suicide

Year: 2004

Label: Buddyhead

This one is by request, as a follow-up to the Buddyhead compilation posted a few days ago. Primarily this was released as a sampler of their previous releases, and subsequently all the music on this compilation has been released prior to this, unlike the other compilation. The main selling point was the "Torture Machine" series of prank calls interspersed within, where they victimize The Locust, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Gideon Yago (remember that douche?), Burning Brides, and the management of both the Strokes and Tenacious D. While non of the calls are that outright funny, they are interesting to hear the victims' reactions.

If you were ever interested in the Buddyhead record label stable (sick freestyle yo) this is a good place to start, and quite a little time capsule of the middle decade. Mostly it's sleazy, anglophile, skuzz rock, with some metal, stoner, punk, and whatnot thrown in for good measure. The highlights (for me at least) are inevitably The Icarus Line, who at this point were on top of their game.

All bands included are:

The Icarus Line

Your Enemies' Friends

Radio Vago

Shat

Ink And Dagger

The Murder City Devils

Text

The Dillinger Escape Plan

Burning Brides

Souls She Said

Gayrilla Biscuits

At The Drive-In

DL - disc 1

DL - disc 2

V/A - Atlanta - New Noise

Year: 2008

Label: My Brain

I don't know if it was a rare bout of civic pride, or what, but for whatever reason I decided to pull together a compilation of Atlanta (and a couple Athens bands snuck in as well) bands that I thought the great reading public of Shiny Grey Monotone would enjoy, and might otherwise never hear. Bands that are rocking the fuck out to tiny, indifferent crowds across this fair city, bands that are scraping together their own releases, bands that are cobbling together their own tours, and bands that are doing their own thing. 

Most of those represented here are active bands, and I selected them because they aren't one of the handful of "big" bands coming out of Atlanta right now, i.e. Mastodon, Black Lips, Deerhunter, The Carbonas, Harvey Milk (there's that Athens thing again), Withered, Zoroaster, or whoever, and they aren't one of the many great bands that have existed in town only to vanish into the ether, i.e. Fiddlehead, Freemasonry, Car Vs. Driver, Dirt, Four Hour Fogger, Good Friday Experiment, and the like. If you want a history lesson on Atlanta music, check out Beyond Failure which is linked over on the right, and you'll find the older gems from this scene. Believe it or not, Atlanta has always had a bounty of great music circulating around, but for all kinds of reasons, it rarely gets heard beyond the city limits. I'm sure most towns say the same thing huh?

The bands were also selected because they fit the mold of what we post on this blog, meaning loud guitar based music. Whether that be noise rock, post-punk, math rock, metal, hardcore, punk, or the like. It's big, ugly music. Nasty music. Of course, know that there are just as many bands that I didn't include because I was running out of room, or risking a ten volume set. Atlanta has a great group of metal, hardcore, punk, rock, and other loud bands. A ton. Let The Night Roar, Organ, All Night Drug Prowling Wolves, Doomsayer,  Sons Of Tonatiuh, man, trust me, there's a ton. Maybe I'll have to do an "all metal" version of this compilation in the future. 

Anyway, the point is, there's a lot of great music floating around this town, and I want you to hear it. Then, if you like it, I want you to track these bands' releases down (check myspace...I know, I know...but just do it), check them out when they come through your town. At least comment back here and let me know what you think. 

Volume One:     

Chopper            

Hawks               

Vera Fang          

Chrissakes         

Bernard              

Lay Down Mains   

We Versus The Shark

Subrig Destroyer

So So Death

Pride Parade

Gray Ghost

All The Saints

The Liverhearts

Balkans

Music Hates You

Blood Balls

Mistaken For Them

Scars  

Volume Two:

Whores

The Sunglasses

The Felon Wind

Fag Static

Cinemechanica

Sonn Av Krusher

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

Hollow Stars

Club Of Rome

Brass Castle

Thy Mighty Contract

Hell Comes To Town

The N.E.C.

Rizzudo

Gold Standard

Battlecat

High Marks

Scarab

Fox Trotsky

Shameless Self Promotion - Volume 3

 

Here we go again, another week, and another show. I'm still calling out those denizens of the Atlanta underworld (as that's the only locale we agree to perform in) to show themselves before Sonn Av Krusher so that they may be bludgeoned within an inch of their lives.

Friday night, December 5th

at Wonderroot (info here) 

The bands are:

Sonn Av Krusher - pummeling hatred via nasty metallic noise - (info here)

The Subliminator - fucked industrial noise, end of the world steez - (info here)

The Sunglasses - fantastic mid-90's style twitchy noise rock - (info here)

The Doppel Gang - (post punk + art rock) garage rock - (info here)

If you're around come on out, it will be fun, and it will start EARLY. There are members of at least one of the bands who have tickets to go see Polvo the same night, so we'll be done by 11:30 or so. Plus, Wonderroot is a non-profit arts space, which translates to NO BAR, therefore I cannot stress enough that you will need to get drunk/high before the show, and then sneak in a flask to keep your buzz during the show.

More music later.

Sunny Day Real Estate - Jupiter Sessions

Year: 1998

Label: live recording

This recording is a radio station broadcast (107.7 KNND Seattle, "The End") from the Jupiter Studios (hence the name eh?) which means the quality is cherry. Now, granted, I know that offering up Sunny Day Real Estate will call into question my sexuality, and open myself up to the catcalls of "fag" and "pussy", and to that I say, you're all homophobes and misogynists to boot. I hope you're happy with yourselves.

I, for one, think this band did, and still does, rule. I'm a sucker for the quiet/loud big dynamics, the soaring vocals, and the heart-on-your-sleeve lyrics. I'm gay I guess. For my money, this was the best band to ever play this style of music, there is nobody even in the same ballpark. The fact that they seldom toured, didn't do much press, and were generally mysterious was a big bonus in the early days of the interweb, when you couldn't just type in their name and get twenty websites dedicated to Jeremy Enigk's bowel movements (p.s. I'm the webmaster of shittydayrealestate.com in case you really are interested in photos of the band's turds). To this day, the greatest show I think I ever saw was Sunny Day Real Estate playing the basement of a club in Atlanta (as Drive Like Jehu played upstairs...also, not a bad show) in June, 1994 about a month after "Diary" was released to an audience of maybe 15 people. But they fucking destroyed the place, rocking the fuck out as if it were a packed house. Again, at the risk of being branded a poofer, it was truly amazing. 

So anyway, if you liked 'em, maybe you never saw 'em, here you go. 

DL

V/A - Gimmie Skelter

Year: 2003

Label: Buddyhead

Man, was Buddyhead killing it a few years ago. The yin to Vice Magazine's yang. That website, and more specifically it's gossip section, took no prisoners in a full-on culture war. Using connections and in-roads into the belly of the beast, Travis Keller and Aaron North had access to some of the heavy hitters in the Los Angeles entertainment industry, and used those connections with vicious results. They made it their life's work to dethrone those they deemed unworthy of their spots in pop culture, and usurp them with their own selections of what was worthy (usually their own bands, or their friends...but fuck, what else are you going to do?). They were arbiters of cool, and relished in their positions of privilege atop the hippest heap of the moment. 

I thought they were fucking hilarious, and while Buddyhead the website still exists and the record label still puts out records, they've sorted shifted their focus and energies away from the gossip and vitriol, and more towards being a music website. Of course, they still have no problems telling you how great their tastes are, and how much you should cower to their whims, but maybe in their old age they've calmed down a bit.

This compilation was ridiculed by one half of Buddyhead upon it's release with the comment, "compilations are like tampons, they're for pussies". Of course. 

The bands are:

Iggy Pop

Mudhoney

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Pleasure Forever

Burning Brides

Primal Scream

Dead Meadow

The Starvations

Beehive + The Barracudas

Your Enemies Friends

Le Tigre

Wire

Radio Vago

Cave In

Weezer

The Icarus Line

Shat

Nardwuar

DL