If you are a resident of the northern Georgia mega-opolis Atlanta, then by all means get off your sorry ass, and get to Club 529 in East Atlanta Tuesday night, June 1st.
Big Dad - their first show, bass and drums, total fistfuck of grinding noise rock and thudding doom-sludge. Featuring Michael Keenan of Hawks fame(?)
Bukkake Boys - dirty, dirty, dirty hardcore that gets it done quick and uneasy. No sing-a-longs, no big choruses, just the soundtrack for putting your head down, and plowing through a wall.
Wymyns Prysyn - music that alienates your family, gets you fired, and raises red flags with local law enforcement. Featuring members of Hawks and Vera Fang
Twin Stumps - total abuse, not unlike the late, great Gob, everything louder than everything else!
Come out and ruin your hearing real quick. And if you are going, let me know in the comments section...I might need a ride home.
What the fuck is with certain words being highlighted, and then taking you to ads? Are we that hard up for money? Shit man, I'm all about economic downturns and shit, but this seems a bit much.
This 'lil gem was first posted over on sister blog Colostomy Grab Bag back when nobody ever checked it, and before it shit the bed, only to be reborn and have nobody check it. Sooooo, I figured I'd do it up Shiny Grey Monotone style cause you probably missed it otherwise.
The personnel on this record are no joke, you got:
Brooks Headley (Universal Order Of Armagesson, [Young] Pioneers, Born Against, Skull Kontrol, Body Part)
Cundo Si Murad (Nazti Skins, Le Shok)
Andy Coronado (Nazti Skins, Skull Kontrol, Monorchid, Body Part)
Sam McPheeters (Born Against, Mens Recovery Project, Patrick Henry impersonations)
And musically, this was a return to hardcore form for these dudes after farting around with more noisy projects, and whatnot. So you end up with a Black Flag approach as played by noise rock guys, and that's not too bad. Not too bad at all. Sam McPheeters being who he is, and having the personality he has, dominates the proceedings with the lyrical style he perfected in Born Against, just before crawling up his own ass and making each performance an attempt to "outsmart" his audience. It was good to have him back in top form.
All in all, it's a scorcher, and perfect for an especially aggro lawn mowing session, or whatever the fuck you do on a Saturday afternoon. Good shit. Go break something.
Here's Tad's last, brutal studio album titled "Infared Riding Hood" from 1995. This is some of the most low end, metallic stuff put out by Tad and if they continued in this direction instead of breaking up you would get... well... Brothers of the Sonic Cloth. Soak up the heavy.
this was the set they played for the touch and go records 25th anniversary show
1 - intro 2 - richard 3 - king of sex 4 - the rub 5 - the rub pt.2 6 - the rub pt.3/hot n' tot 7 - new pants and shirt 8 - live your life like you don't exist 9 - cotton bolls 10 - la grange*/man of meat 11 - cyst 12 - good lovin' gone bad**/going to the beach
seeing as how these folks were name dropped in the russell hall interview...why not post some of their stuff
they shared a member with the united sons of toil (in the form of original drummer chad burnett...who played both drums and guitar in this band)
this was their half of a split they did with a band called the suit
musically...they share a lot with tusot
if you like bands such as shellac...six finger satellite...the jesus lizard...(well... practically any band found on this here blog)...do what comes natural (no no...not that)
if you've dropped by this blog randomly...you'll know that the band the united sons of toil are just one of the few SGM house bands...so much flattery has been heaped upon them...you'd think we were sleeping with them (which we're not able to confirm or deny...they know folks that know folks)
when you think of wisconsin...the first thing that pops into your head 99% of the time is cheese...or that monument to tourist consumeration (yeah...it's a word) that goes by the name of the dells
but what you might not know is that whole grunge thing that made it's $200 combat boot/$50 flannel shirt presence known back in the 1990's (supposedly) got it's start in madison back in 1983 in the form of a band called killdozer
why bring up killdozer and madison,wi?
the united sons of toil are from madison as well...and really...you should listen to the band killdozer...they'd like to make you a hamburger
but i'm getting off track
i was first approached by tusot vocalist russell back in june of '09...he had come across SGM and felt that maybe his band would play nice with everything else that goes on around those parts
speaking for myself...when it comes to music...i'm a jaded bastard...i felt that music hadn't been music since the days of the aforementioned combat boots/flannel shirt clad years...but he somehow talked me into posting the album HOPE IS NOT A STRATEGY...and to make a not so long story short...i ended up posting both of their albums (the other being Until Lions Have Their Historians,Tales of the Hunt Shall Always Glorify the Hunter)
my soul smiled that day
but enough with my words...you want to know my feelings...go back and read the reviews i'd written...or try and find my diary
now comes the fun part
tusot frontman/guitarist russell gets to speak for the rest of the band
SGM: ok,russell...i have to get this out of the way...bjork...how do you feel about that?
RH:I like some of her stuff quite a bit actually. My tastes are fairly wide ranging and the glitchy electronic stuff she does is often pretty cool.
SGM: how long has the band been together?
RH: Four years.
SGM: how did it all begin?
RH: January 2006: Chad Burnett, guitarist (and former drummer) for the excellent Madison band Colony of Watts, finally convinced me to start playing rock music again and offered to play drums. We played a few times with Jon Terrones, the bass player in my old band Pound WI, but he bailed pretty quickly. Chad and I decided we were having too much fun to stop so we kept writing.
May 2006: As we were looking around for bass players, I ran into an old friend and scenester, Bill Borowski, who said he’d give it a shot. I think my opening gambit was something like “would you be interested in playing bass in a noisy mathrock band?” At our first rehearsal, we ran through all five of our songs three times each. Bill figured out what we were doing and wrote parts on the spot. As he was packing up, he sort of shyly said, “well I’m really into this so if you guys want me…” Our response? You’re fucking hired!
October 2006: We played our first show at The Inferno in Madison. It went really well and we were encouraged. The next week we tracked our first record and then Bill went on tour for three months playing in Exene Cervenka’s band. Chad and I finished the record and started writing the next one.
July 2007: We played our second show – a record release for “Hope Is Not A Strategy” at the Corral Room in Madison. The response was exceptional. The Onion’s AV Club previewed the show calling Hope the “best hard-rock record of the year.”
March 2008: We recorded our second record hurriedly due to the impending relocation of Chad to the west coast.
May 2008: We released “Until Lions Have Their Historians, Tales of the Hunt Shall Always Glorify the Hunter” and played a farewell show with Chad to a packed and sweaty house at The Project Lodge in Madison.
August 2008: We recruited long-time fan Jason Jensen to play drums. The first time we got together, he claimed to know the first two songs from the first record. I counted it out and away we went. Damn if he didn’t hit every stop, start, and time-signature change. Once again, I said “you’re fucking hired.”
December 2008: We played our first show with Jason at the Cactus Club in Milwaukee, including a song written with the new lineup.
SGM: rumor has it...back in october of last year you were somehow coaxed out of wisconsin and to pile 3 bodies inside of a car to make a journey...how was that for you?...what were the ups?...what were the downs?...did you find out a little too much about your bandmates along the way?
RH: We did a couple of weeks around the Midwest. It was good for us as a band but the crowds were thin to non-existent. Highlights were Minneapolis (great club and audience), Cincinnati (great venue and bands) and Carbondale (pickup show when Lexington fell through). Lowlights were Saint Louis (apathetic promoter and zero crowd) and Detroit (douchebag promoter cancelled the show after we showed up). Look for our tour documentary on YouTube.
SGM: how about a little story from the road
RH: Around 10pm after a rather dismal show in Belleville IL (just over the river from St. Louis), I got a Myspace message from the booker at Chaosome in Lexington saying that he was pulling the plug on the show for the next day. Outraged and demoralized, we slumped in defeat. To add insult to injury, no one gave us a place to stay and we had to once again shell out for a Super 8. We spent the next couple of hours sending desperate e-mails to venues in Nashville, St. Louis, and Champaign trying to scare up a last-minute gig.
We awoke to a day with no show. Made a few more calls and e-mails to no avail. We overstayed our checkout time by an hour and then found a coffee shop with wi-fi. After mucking about for a couple of hours, a light bulb went on over Bill's head: "Let's call PK's." PK's is a dive bar in Carbondale that Bill blamed for ruining his college career. Jason, the salesman, got someone on the phone there and after delivering our tale of woe was able to secure a gig, though it was attached with the caveat, "we don't ha a PA." Our response: "we'll figure it out later."
A couple of hours later we were in Carbondale. Nick the bar man was friendly and said he thought one of the regulars that would show up around 10 might have some sort of PA. (He didn't.) We loaded in and set up anyway, trying to convince ourselves that we could just shout into the room and get by. After a while though, I started to have grave misgivings. When I expressed this to Jason and Bill, Jason astutely pointed out that if we didn't play now, we'd have to pay for all the beer they'd drunk so far. Suddenly a kid appeared out of nowhere. Jeff offered to make some calls about a PA. He struck out but did say that he had a microphone and he ran home to get it. We plugged into the extra channel on my guitar amp and launched into our first song.
The vocals sounded alright and Bill and I sang Beatles-style side-by-side into the single mic. As we played Revolutionary Panic Attacks, people started looking up, moving forward, and dragging stools forward. We went directly into Reconsidering The Green Mile and when we finished, the room exploded with cheers, hoots, and hollers. People were whipping out their phones and texting their friends to get down here. We decided we would have to play two sets if we had any hope of pulling this off so we played all the songs from the tour song list plus a couple of Joy Division songs (including No Love Lost -- Bill reviewed the lyrics on my phone just before singing it). Apparently there are a lot of people in this town that were hungry for some noisy rock and as well as more than a few JD fans. Jeff and his roommate Alex put us up at their place, a typical student party-house. We were ready for bed, but apparently a touring band was an excuse for a party, even on a Monday night, so we hung out with the until 4am.
SGM: and speaking of bandmates...we should probably speak of them a little bit...how did you meet them?
RH: Bill has played in numerous bands over the years so I knew him from around the scene. I remember telling him one night after a show “a reviewer once wrote that on a good night Peter Hook from Joy Division could eat JJ Burnell of the Stranglers for breakfast. The same could be said of you.” Jason saw us for the first time opening for Qui (David Yow’s post-Jesus Lizard band). He was so impressed that he introduced himself and then showed up for every show we played from then on. Nice kid, we thought. Turns out he played drums too.
SGM: from what i've heard...madison has a decent scene...are there any bands you'd like to give some lip service to?
RH: Right… Czarbles (crazy mind-bending mathrock). Coloratura (Dischord-inspired art rock). Dissent and Revolt (super-technical grindy metal). The Hemlines (stripped-down indie rock). Dick The Bruiser (bass+drum+theramin-fueled post-punk).
SGM: tusot isn't your first band....let's talk of the others (and if any of you are interested in hearing some of his other musical endeavors...i have some posted on SGM over yonder)
RH: Most notably, Pound WI (Touch&Go influenced indie rock) and P’elvis (instrumental post-rock). Also, I played bass briefly in Bullethead with Paul Zagoras (who later replaced Bill Hobson on guitar in Killdozer).
SGM: word on the street is...you're a huge joy divison fan...so much so that you were them for halloween last year under the moniker leaders of men...this is the part of the show where i let you get all fan boy...but part of the deal is that you have to get all high fidelity about it and list your top 5 songs
RH: I have indeed been a long-time JD geek/fan-boy. I think Bernard's guitar playing is still, to this day, my biggest influence (not that you can tell much anymore). Due to our instrumentation, skill sets, and proclivities, we focus on the more aggressive, guitar-based material. Favorites? Colony, Shadow Play, The Sound of Music, Transmission, Ceremony.
SGM: if someone has never listened to tusot...who would you say are the band's biggest influences? (you can find a little something here and here)
RH: Well, it shouldn’t be hard to guess: mid-90s Touch & Go, Amphetamine Reptile, and Dischord bands with a heavy dose of Unwound. Lately I’ve been listening to a lot of epic post-metal/sludge like Year of No Light, Mouth of the Architect, and Isis. Bill is all over the map with a profound love of early Sub-Pop and The Fall. Jason likes a lot of weirdo pop bands like The Apples In Stereo.
SGM: do you agree with the saying "record collectors should never be in bands"?
RH: Well, then I should probably quit. I am an insatiable music nerd, always searching out new things, rarely staying put for very long. (I remember paying $25 for Tar’s “Play to Win” 7-inch and combing e-bay for all the Godflesh EPs.)
SGM: how do you feel about the current state of music?...should it be called music or "music"?
RH: There’s always been a lot of crap floating around; there’s always been a ton of great stuff to be unearthed with a little effort. I have yet to throw up my hands and declare that no one is making decent music anymore. A prime example is my new favorite band, Dublin’s Wounds. They just put out an EP that is the best thing I’ve heard in the last six months, maybe the last year.
SGM: in the review of the HOPE IS NOT A STRAGETY album...i called you the bastard son of steve albini and page hamilton...how does that make you feel?
RH: It’s never a bad thing to be compared to one’s heroes.
SGM: and since were on the subject of being called things...have you ever been called a "cheese head"?
RH: Only by my in-laws from New York.
SGM: word on the street is...you have a new album that "drops" (as the kids say) in august...and i've gotta tell you...when i saw you play the song "state-sponsored terrorism" from the upcoming album...i got a little excited...and from what i've been reading...you're gonna bring in a little sludge into the mix...and if so...could there be any melvins covers in the future?...and of course...talk about the new album
RH: I feel quite confident that there won’t be any Melvin’s covers. We’re not really a covers kind of band (the JD stuff is tribute through and through). That said, we’ve recently been asked by a label in Germany to do a song for a Codeine covers comp. The new record is taking longer than expected but we hope it will be out in the fall on Cincinnati’s Phratry Records. The new songs are longer and more epic than the either of the first two records with less overt mathrock influences. Vocals are more screamy though, so who knows?
SGM: well,russell...i do believe i've taken up enough of your time...i'm just gonna let you say whatever it is you want to say here...tell it to the kids...and hopefully you can be coaxed out of wisconsin again in the future
RH: I’d like to encourage anyone who likes what we do musically to learn about the issues we talk about in our lyrics and the organizations we support. Please read “A People’s History of The United States” by Howard Zinn and “The Essential Chomsky” by Noam Chomsky. Please subscribe to the FAIR blog (fair.org) and Left I On The News (lefti.blogspot.com). Understand that most privileges in Amerikkka have been built on the blood-stained backs of indigenous peoples, workers, women, immigrants, and minorities. We encourage you to get involved with struggle and resistance against the status quo. Be skeptical. Distrust your leaders. Speak out. Consider joining a socialist organization (like the ISO or the Socialist Party) and volunteering to help lessen the suffering of those less fortunate. Work towards radical democracy.
i had made a post about this band over on the shiny grey facebook a few days ago...and folks were all like "whaaaa?! how do i not know of a band with a name such as this?!"
this is a guitar/drum duo from minneapolis
take all the good parts of bands like the melvins...godheadsilo...lightning bolt...and native minneapolis-ians v9r9d...and viola!
GAY WITCH ABORTION
add this to the list of reasons to attend the amphetamine reptile 25th anniversary bash (the band themselves aren't on the label...but they did release a 10" collaboration with amrep head honcho thomas hazelmyer's band halo of flies)
i recall someone asking for something by this band over in the forum section back in 1935
and seeing as how we are all things timely around the SGM...here it is
this is one of them there "post-punk/post-hardcore" bands from chicago,il
if you were to see this is a music store...it would possibly have a "for fans of: early/mid 90's dischord records" sticker slapped on it
they also have members of other SGM-friendly bands that go by the names of big'n and sweep the leg johnny amongst their members (which ones exactly?...look that business up for yourself...SGM is all about the education)
what better reason to post this album (see post below)
this is the album that had gotten me turned onto the band (actually...it was the song "sex jam two: insect incest"...the best song ever written comparing humans to praying mantis')
The Calvin Krime post from a few minutes ago (remember it...it's right down there...just below this one) prompted this current Milemarker post from right now (remember it...you're in it right now...at the end of your eyeballs). The bands share a similar world view, if not completely similar sonics. Both emerged from the world of punk and hardcore, and both embraced the post-hardcore and emo sounds of the era to create something to penetrate the dwindling attention spans of college age people everywhere.
If you're from North Carolina (and praise sweet Jesus if you are), you may remember Milemarker member Al Burian from his time in Hellbender previous to this. Or maybe you would have remembered Milemarker member Ben Davis from his time in Sleepytime Trio previous to this. Not ringing a bell? Okay, well then maybe you would travel into the future to remember Milemarker member Dave Laney's work in Challenger or Auxes...er...after this band.
*Turns out Stickfigure Records (right here in my backyard) has the re-released cd version of this record still for sale. You can purchase it direct from them..
The second album by the band oft-overshadowed as "the band Har Mar Superstar was in before he was a Ron Jeremy look-alike", and probably the best material the band ever recorded. You get to hear all of their influences in one solid package; the Minneapolis hardcore sounds of Guzzard, the Olympia art-emo sounds of Unwound, the Chicago noise rock sounds of Shellac, the D.C. epic emo punk sounds of Nation Of Ulysses, and the San Diego spazz rock sound of Drive Like Jehu. All that for the low, low price of Calvin Krime! You can't lose.
I'm not promising any new ground will get broken on this record, but I'll also promise this ain't just a nostalgia trip. I guess it's somewhere in the middle, the kind of shit you'll like if you like this kind of shit. N'ah mean?
this is one of those "ask and ye shall receive" things
this was the first LP released on the kill rock stars label
but enough with the history lesson
1 - bratmobile - girl germs 2 - some velvet sidewalk - loch ness 3 - courtney love - don't mix the colors 4 - nation of ulysses - n.o.u. cooking with gas! 5 - unwound - you speak jealousy 6 - mecca normal - narrow 7 - nirvana - beeswax 8 - heavens to betsy - my red self 9 - steve fisk - strong,warm and in command 10 - bikini kill - feels blind 11 - witchypoo - reaper song 12 - melvins - ever since my accident 13 - infamous menagerie - immediate impound zone 14 - kicking giant - make you come 15 - fitz of depression - everybody and their dog 16 - jad fair - red dress 17 - 7 year bitch - 8-ball deluxe 18 - kreviss - i.o.u. 19 - untitled
there was also a queers flyer/poster that came along with it...but i'm not gonna bother posting it...we don't want none of them peculiar folks around here...does we?
2 years ago on this day...SGM was belched onto the earth
and in celebration...there's going to be an office basement party...and everyone is invited
we're bringing back twinks the contortionist magician clown...seeing as how he somehow walked away from last year's shindig with only a slap on the wrist (that's him up above...apparently his meat wasn't meant to be on a grill...some folks just don't seem to have a sense of humor)
this year we're having the first annual david yow look alike chili cook off
the petting zoo is also making a comeback
music will be provided by the jesus lizard cover polka band...THEN COMES OOMPA
to quote one of the other SGMers..."And yeah, VSS live were a punishing proposition"
if you like bands such as death from above 1979/unwound/monorchid/the locust...
yeah
1 - death scene 2 - lunar weight 3 - (noise) 4 - chemical in chemistry 5 - in miniature 6 - i cut my teeth 7 - the flesh inside 8 - what of the ticks? 9 - nervous circuits
did you know that "where is my mind?" was written for the movie FIGHT CLUB?
true story
1 - bone machine 2 - cactus 3 - caribou 4 - crackity jones/dead 5 - debaser 6 - gigantic 7 - gouge away 8 - hey 9 - holiday song 10 - i bleed 11 - isla de encanta 12 - levitate me 13 - mr. grieves 14 - monkey gone to heaven 15 - tame 16 - there goes my gun 17 - wave of mutilation (uk surf) 18 - where is my mind? 19 - into the white
1 - trusty - capital hill 2 - lungfish - abe lincoln 3 - tsunami - crackers 4 - derf - duct tape 5 - wingtip sloan - waxing neurotic 6 - edsel - derelict fancy 7 - liquor bike - plain to see 8 - high back chairs - $1.60 9 - candy machine - from a boat 10 - revision - turn back the clock
(and i already know that lungfish aren't from dc...i had nothing to do with the making of this comp...so unbunch those panties and get them back in your mom's drawer before she notices them missing)
i was wandering about the local pawn shop the other day...when this caught my eye
and at first i was all like "um...am i seeing things?...am i actually seeing an amphetamine reptile album in a pawn shop?...in this pawn shop?...in this town?"
you see...in the area i live in...how can i put this...let's just say seeing this album in that pawn shop is equal to seeing liberace (then and now) at an nra meeting
know what i mean?
so i did my civic duty and saved this from it's surroundings
something told me that vertigo didn't want to get jiggy with will smith...they didn't want to be next door to toby keith...or have to stare at the backstreet boys any longer...this was not their neighborhood
so the $2.50 was laid upon the counter...and out we went
and i'm going to assume that since you come around SGM every so often...you've already got a grasp on what these folks sound like
and if you're a fan of cover songs...the album opens up with a cover of the song "fire escape" by the australian post-punk band the scientists
so now it's your turn for you to do your civic duty
This was originally released in 1997 on Hitit Recordings, and re-released in 2002 with two extra tracks by DeSoto, who presumably smelled a big mid-Nineties emo resurgence on the horizon.
We have touched on a small sub-genre of 90s emo here on this blog before, that I feel has aged better than the remainder of larger body of work dubbed "emo". Counter to the screeching, flailing, spastic, overwrought heavyweights of the scene, who's work was often delivered in a hand screened manila envelope, there were a handful of bands who took a more "mature" route through the emo section of a post-hardcore world. The dynamics were less contrived, the sounds were fuller, the vocals were richer, and the records came in full color, machine printed sleeves. It was a bold new world, and it didn't last long.
Times changed, dudes graduated college, and folks decided it was time to get "real jobs". Can't blame em really.
The legacy Shiner leaves behind is of particular interest as they straddle the line between the workman-like subtleties of Castor and the Smashing Pumpkins inspired big rock hooks of Hum. Maybe throw some Sunny Day Real Estate in there for good measure while you're at it.
when june 1st rolls around...you better had been camped out in front of your local music store since may 31st
now i know in the past that i'd said that i'd found the last couple melvins albums boring and that i missed the days of the meltrio (it's a word...look it up)
well...seeing as how i possess a time machine...i'm here to tell you that the band has somehow managed to travel back in time 15 years and released some of their best stuff to date
and now i'm gonna give you 2 reasons as to why you need to purchase this album:
1: their cover of the who's "my generation"
2: there's a guitar solo straight out of the 1970's (in a good way) somewhere on the album
3: because it's the melvins,ya ass
yes...i'm aware there's 3 when i said i'd give 2...but there are some folks out there that need to have that #3 thrown at them
so go and make sure you have a sleeping bag and plenty of snacks...and make sure to wear your king buzzo wig like a true melvins superfan
and just so you know...i'm going to cut in front of you in line
if you'd like to have some audio samples of the album...there on the youtubes...but again...you should've already known that...because it's the melvins,ya ass
it was a little too early in the morning to creep into your room to let you know i'm home (actually...by law...i'm no longer allowed to do those types of things...i'm not allowed to talk about it)
as you can see by the picture up above...seeing as how homeland security wouldn't allow an SGMfest to happen...the good folks over at amphetamine reptile took it upon themselves to do it (and cleverly disguised it as a 25th anniversary celebration)
when i first heard about this...i was all like "oh man! i have to tell everyone! here kitty kitty!"
but then it hit me...there's this new fangled thing called the interwebs...and it magically allows people to know things
and then i came here and saw that SGMer cara had already made a post about it (but with my new and improved post...you get to see the new flyer)
if you go here...you can find out all kinds of information on the shindig
it even has a counter to see how close you are to becoming a loser for not going (as of this posting...there's 550 tickets just sitting there waiting for you)
i brought back all kinds of new things for you people...and as soon as i'm able to coax them out of the basement...i'll be sharing
it was nice to see that fred made a few appearances in my absence...he doesn't seem to come around all that much anymore because i walked in on him trying to copy his urine...he got all shy after that...but anyone that urinates on a copy machine so they can share it with others is ok by me...so hopefully he decides to make a come back
and for all of you holding the place down while i was gone...thumbs up to you...and you can be expecting a special coupon to the pigfuckapalooza being held in the basement
So I just realised that my last two posts on this blog have been Slug related ones and I may as well continue this by uploading another album, "The Out Sound". I'm not going to go too into depth for this one since Slug has been covered pretty well on these pages.
This is a relic from the college days, and more specifically, the college radio days, and even more to the point, the music director of the college radio station days. Back then, in those college days, I was a real dick...who am I kidding...I am still a fairly immense dick, and have been my whole life. College or not, I am a judgemental prick most of the time, so I shouldn't try and frame this particular blog entry as, "oh, back in old days, before I matured...".
I'll try again.
I distinctly remember this record coming up for review at the radio station I alluded to before, and it was my job to listen to everything, evaluate it, and decide if it should be included in regular radio airplay rotation. Pretty good job for an asshole, huh?
Anyway, I specifically remember thinking, "m'eh". As in, it wasn't offensive, but it wasn't doing much for me either. It had some elements of Seaweed, who I really liked. It had elements of aMiniature, who I sorta liked. It had elements of Tanner, Garden Variety, Sensefield...a lot of stuff that I either liked, or thought was okay. I put it aside for a second listen and went about my day.
Then, some dude from "Seed Records" calls (as was his job to do) to ask if I had the album, what I thought, would it be an "add" that week, how many "spins" would it get, you know, annoying shit. He was especially amped to tell me that the band had actually hand screened some stickers, and that he would send me some. Neat? But, who cares? He's telling this to a dude who probably had no less than 6 different patches sewn onto his gas station jacket that had been "hand screened by the band". No big deal.
It also came to pass that he slipped up and admitted that Seed Records was actually a boutique label of some major label (that I know forget) set up to give younger bands more credibility or something. Until they were ready for 120 Minutes I suppose. Whatever the reasoning, it really rubbed me the wrong way (please remember, you're dealing with a self-proclaimed dick here), and I ended up telling the guy to forget it, Inch would never be played on that radio station, and neither would any of his other shitty fake-indie bands (Madder Rose [ugh], Ivy [who?], Fuzzy [huh?], or Daniel Johnston [wait, what? what was he doing there...oh well, if you're gonna be a dick, you gotta be willing to draw a hard line...sorry Daniel Johnston]). And that was that. Inch never was played, and rather than ever giving it a second listen, I promptly took it, along with whatever else was never getting played on the station, down to the record store (ha ha, remember those old dinosaurs?) to sell for a couple bucks. Enough for my fifth or sixth burrito of the week I'm sure.
Good night Inch.
Fast forward 16 years and lo and behold, look at what album I stumbled across on the internet? Maybe I was too brash? Maybe this has aged like a fine wine? Maybe it was really good all along, and I should have pulled my head out of my ass?
Big, big, B-I-G rock in the tradition of Karp. You know what I mean? And, it should not be surprising since the band features a member of Tight Bros From Way Back When, which also featured Karp personnel, and was produced by Toshi Kasai who is now in Big Business, which is made up of ex-you-guessed-it, Karp personnel.
It's full on boogie woogie rock and roll channeled by dudes who at one point in their lives had to turn their backs on that most beautiful music in order to not upset their fellow punkers, but who always had the radio dial tuned to the local classic rock station. When their buddies would complain about the Lynyrd Skynyrd tunes, they would have to quickly stammer an excuse to cover their tracks. "Oh, dude, yeah, Skynyrd sucks man, and their total racists and shit. For sure. Yeah, it's just that my Amebix cassette got stuck in the tape deck, so I'm stuck listening to this shit. Sucks man, totally sucks". Meanwhile, as they look out the window, a single tear rolls across their cheek in solidarity to their swamp rocking brethren.
I'm pretty sure Wantage USA is putting out their next record, or at least that's what I had heard somewhere, at some point.
Well, I felt that I was leaving you hanging by just posting the other self-titled Slices 7", and not this self-titled Slices 7". It didn't seem right did it?
So fear not, here it is, another puncture wound to the chest. This time the band takes their foot slightly off the gas to get a little more Die Kreuzen by way of Zeni Geva on that ass. I'm sure you won't mind, or at least you shouldn't, they're doing it out of love I'm sure.
Also, I will mention, they have a new lp out on Iron Lung, which is still in print (as opposed to this, and that other 7"), and you should go buy it. Today. Go and buy it today.
Furthermore, lest my terrible writing and ridiculous hyperbole has not already convinced you of Slices' greatness, I will offer up that the band features members of the wonderfully named Warzone Womyn, as well as the less wonderfully named Tusk Lord and Brain Handle (no offense gentlemen), so you can rest assured, it's quality stuff. Have I ever lied before?
Here's the best parts of the old hardcore you love(d), updated with some fairly gnarled noise rock tendencies. Can't really fuck around too much with that combination huh? It's the proverbial peanut butter and chocolate mash-up, except with things that are rotten, foul, and spiteful, rather than things that are sweet, tasty, and delectable. But the point still stands.
If bands like Void, Corrosion of Conformity, and Black Flag beget the Vermiform Records roster, then think of Slices as the next step in that particular evolution. A little more noisy, a little more forceful, and a little more further off the road from straight hardcore.
I love, love, love this record, and this band. It's out of print, but you might be able to find it in some distros somewhere (Vacuum Mailorder...holla at ya boy!), or if you get in your car and drive to Pittsburgh, maybe the band has a couple in a closet in their practice space somewhere. You should try that route first. Go track down where the Slices practice space is, wait around until they show up, and then bug them for a copy of this record. I'm sure they won't be bugged out at all, it probably happens all the time, and certainly, they will give you the record and then invite you in to hang out, and eventually you'll all be the best of friends. Oh joy!
I tried to think of a "mother's day" angle to this post, but eventually gave up, as I realized that there is nothing about Zeni Geva that any of our mothers would find at all appealing. Most moms I know aren't too into the idea of being barked at over the incessant metallic grinding this band evokes. Maybe your mother is way cooler than mine, or I'm underestimating her tolerance for bludgeoning heaviness. If that's the case, I do apologize, and I should congratulate you for being birthed by what was apparently a 15 year old, drug addled, hesher. Otherwise, burn this one for your own mother, label it as "Leo Sayer" or whatever she's into, and give it to her today in a homemade card with a coupon for a free hug. She will love it!
Also of note, this was originally released on cassette in an edition of 100 in the Netherlands. Chances are, you weren't one of the 100 Dutch bastards to own it back in 1993. Or maybe I owe you another apology.
Do you like to dig holes on a hot day? How about laying sod? Shoveling gravel? That sound fun? Cause it totally fucking is! It's awesome, about as awesome as unemployment! Yeah!
After a long, sweaty, dirty, shitty day of that crap I just mentioned, I really need to turn off the ole bean (you know, because I was doing all that heavy thinking while swinging a pick axe) and hear something as brain-dead as I feel.
Helloooooo Angry Samoans!
I contend this is some of the best, but for whatever reason ignored, first wave of hardcore shit out there. Rivals anything Circle Jerks, Adolescents, or Dead Kennedys were doing (please note: I did not say it rivaled Black Flag....because nothing rivals Black Flag!). If you don't have this (maybe you weren't born yet?), or haven't heard it in awhile, please do yourself the favor of putting on tracks, "Ballad Of Jerry Curlan", "Light's Out", or "My Old Man's A Fatso", and turning them shits all the way up, then close your eyes and bask in the awesome stupidity that only Angry Samoans can provide. Bask in it!
Now, get some rest, you got a long day of laying stone pavers ahead of you tomorrow.
With all the Slug love on this blog lately, I find it only appropriate to post this ultra rare demo from 1990. 9 cool tracks. Awesome noise rock. More Slug material. What else is there to say?
Sometimes you forget that Dischord never stopped releasing good records, even after what seemed to be a dry spell in the very late 1990's into the 2000's. Certainly there must have been good records in that time period as well, but it seems that they had fallen out of my own fickle favor, and therefore I missed out on whatever they were or were not doing. Or at least I missed out on a lot of it.
Lately, out of some sense of allegiance to the label that provided so many great records in my younger, leaner days, I decided to check out some of those releases I missed out on a few years ago. And sure, some of it is...uh...bad? And yes, a lot of it carries a similar aesthetic, as in Black Eyes sound like Q And Not U, or El Guapo, or Faraquet, but that's not really all that different from the Dischord of the 1980's is it? And it should be noted that all of the bands I just mentioned still bear the sonic fingerprints of Fugazi, who's overarching shadow is a tough one to get out from under as a post-punk band playing in D.C.
So, if you are anything like me (and in my egotistical brain you are), take this opportunity to check back in on your former favorite record label, and maybe discover something you like as much as that Happy Go Licky record (and by the way, this is certainly better that Fidelity Jones, or Beefeater...just sayin').
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