Sorry, I had Alice Cooper on the brain on this birthday (36, if you don't catch my drift). But I dug all the way back to his most delicate pop nugget 'cos last weekend, the fantastic Aerosols from San Francisco dropped a stunning Alice Cooper cover on a living room fulla new fans at their show with Sleepy Beach and G.Green. In honor of our thermostat kicking the heater on for the first time in almost eight months, I've also dished such delights as this rare gem of Swedish rawk and New Order's dubbiest moment. Also, if you're on the west coast, get ready for another facial-melt from Eternal Tapestry. See below for details...
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COCOBEURRE | Ciba Ciba | demo CDR | no label *new arrival THE GIRLS AT DAWN | It's the Only Time | 12" EP | Captured Tracks *new CHRISTMAS | Winter | Winter 7" | Endless Latino *new STIV BATORS | It's Cold Outside [The Choir] | L.A. L.A. 10" | Bomp 1994 (orig 1980) WELFARE | Turn the Heat on | On a Mission | Rocknroll Blitzkrieg 2000 NEW ORDER | Turn the Heater on [Keith Hudson] | Peel Sessions 12" EP | BBC/Strange Fruit 1986 (orig 1982) GODS GIFT | No God | Pathology 1979-1984 | Hyped To Death *new (orig 1980) GHOST FINK | Catacombs | v/a: TCAC vol 1 Oakland CS | The Church & the Commune *new UZI RASH | High + Free | v/a: TCAC vol 1 Oakland CS THE BASSHOLES | Swannanoa River, Concl. | ...and Without a Name | Columbus Discount *new THE BASSHOLES | New Values NECROPOLIS | No Tongue, No Talking | Love Theme from Necropolis 7" | Columbus Discount *new MATT K. SHRUGG | Reef Harp | Instant Images CDR | Guiness Book of World Records *new WHATEVER BRAINS | Saddle Up | Saddle Up 7" | Bull City *new THE FEELING OF LOVE | What's Your Name? Who's Your Daddy? | 7" | Avant! *new THE ELKS | Brain Damage | Date Raped/+Elks+ CS | Yellow Goth *new THE ELKS | Porchlight Remedy DAN MELCHIOR UND DAS MENACE | Daylight Robbery | split 7" w/ Fresh & Onlys | Volar *new DAN MELCHIOR'S BROKE REVUE | To Try & Bust | O, Clouds Unfold | Hook or Crook *new DAN MELCHIOR'S BROKE REVUE | Tide Rolls on THE RUB-TOUCH PROPELLOR | When Heads Start Falling | I Don't Wanna Suffer, Man | Poe/Slutfish *new EXPENSIVE SHIT | Dreamcatcher Culture | Powwow With Chopper CS | Not Not Fun *new ETERNAL TAPESTRY | Brain Drain | The Invisible Landscape | Not Not Fun 2009 DYLAN ETTINGER & THE HEAT | Miami Heat (The Stakeout) | Smokin' 7" | Not Not Fun *new FRED BIGOT | Extinction | Mono/Stereo | Holy Mountain/Tlön Uqbar *new WAXY TOMB | Grey Ice Box Gardens | self-titled CDR | no label *new SCORN | Days Passed | Evanescence | Earache 1994 TROPA MACACA | Canos Serrados | Sensaçao do Principio | Siltbreeze *new TRETETAM | Pacific Coast Feather | self-titled CDR | Ikuisuus *new SONNY & THE SUNSETS | Strange Love | Tomorrow is Alright | Secret Seven/Soft Abuse *new ALICE COOPER | Apple Bush | Pretties for You | Straight 1969 AME SON | Seventh Time Key | Catalyse | BYG 1970 TALK NORMAL | Lemonade | Secret Cog EP 12" | Just for the Hell of It *new THE AEROSOLS | Last Cup of Tea | 3-song CDR | no label 2008
Eternal Tapestry on tour...
Tue 11/17 in Chico, CA @ The Down Lo Wed 11/18 in Oakland, CA @ Heco's Palace w/ Heavy Hills, Pod Blotz, Heco (himself!) Thu 11/19 in Los Angeles @ L'Keg Gallery w/ Sun Araw, Pocahaunted, Pearl Harbour Fri 11/20 in San Francisco @ The Hemlock w/ Barn Owl, Moon Duo, Real Estate ** Sat 11/21 in Sacramento @ Funcastle (2309 L Street) w/ Ganglians & G.Green Sun 11/22 in Arcata, CA @ Steve’s House w/ Starving Weirdos Mon 11/25 in Portland, OR @ Abyssal Behemoth (pocket sandwich) w/ Wet Hair, Pete Swanson, Chrome Wings
** Denotes my official birthday party....I guess someone's gonna mix some NOS coctails and try to trick me into drinking one??!?! Whatever...I'm just excited that three of my favorite bands are playing, and hopefully a buncha friends will come have a power-hang and a mega-dangle. Starts at 8pm, I think. Don't walk on the neighbor's newly seeded lawn or sit on his newly renovated porch, please!
What can I tell you about these other records??? Maybe a lit'l later.....check back....I'll really try to post some reviews this time, okay?
Thanks for listening...I hope you liked some new things!
Too tired to write anything right now...sorry! Check back tomorrow, maybe? Just enjoy listening for now! Sorry, garage turkeys...WEIRD is back in November!
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(Email me if there are any downloading problems, please!)
RIB CAGES | In Wilderness | Right on or Wrong 7" | Lemon Session *forthcoming CUDEVASO | Kurwa | Tryin' to Fuck You! CDR | Fater Disks *new TODDI WELLMAN | Saba | self-titled CDR | Le Temps Qui Seche 2008 TODDI WELLMAN | Nane BIPOLAR BEAR | Goth Time Rag | Harlem Pripyat | Mexican Summer *new AIDS WOLF | Old Fashioned Values | Dustin' Off the Sphynx 7" | Skin Graft *new WIRE | 2 People in a Room | Document and Eyewitness | Rough Trade 1981 PIER | Perplexed Beach Scene | The Bree-Fings vol. 1 CDR | For Noise's Sake *new REPRESSIVE PROTEINS | Centurion at the Mall | Centurion 2xCS | no label *new PIER | Playing Shapes | self-titled CDR | Tigerasylum 2008 GOSLINGS + WARMTH | Unleavened | The Heaven of Animals | Archive *new MOON DUO | Ripples | Killing Time EP | Sacred Bones *new GALAXIE 500 | Don't Let Our Youth Go to Waste | Today | Rough Trade 1991 GANGLIANS | Make It Up | Blood on the Sand 7" | Captured Tracks *new SUN MANTRA | Honeymaker | self-titled CDR | no label *new INDIAN BINGO | Casim Glue Co. | Scatalogical | Independent Project 1989 THEE OH SEES | The Fizz | Dog Poison | Captured Tracks *new TYVEK | Invisible Girls | Blunt Instrumentals 2: True to the Game CS | no label *new TYVEK | untitled | Blunt Intrumental EP | Night People *new PUFFY AREOLAS | Bowel Movement (It's All About) | Lutzko Lives 7" | Columbus Discount *new LITTLE CLAW | Human Taste (Below the Tide) | Human Taste | Not Not Fun/Ecstatic Peace *new TALK NORMAL | Grinnin' in Your Face | Secret Cog EP | Just for the Hell of It *new 17 PYGMIES | Lazarus | Jedda by the Sea | Resistance 1984 DOWNY MILDEW | Floorboard | Mincing Steps | Texas Hotel 1988 TURKISH QUEEN | Blood and Gold Dust | Cusp | no label 2003 KRYSMOPOMPAS | Gesa | Gesa 7" | Avant! *new MATTRESS | Lost & Found | Low Blows | Malt Duck *new FACTUMS | Solar Wind | Flowers | Sacred Bones *new INCA ORE | Shine On | Silver Sea Surfer School | Not Not Fun *new OAXACAN | Ost Zephyr | Immolation CDR | no label 2009
Vichy Water are a Sacto trio that formed this summer. You might remember that I had them on AFS as guests when Ratas del Vaticano visited. They had literally formed about 72 hours before that program, so they didn't really have full-fledged songs then. But lately, they've been wowing Sacto's live-show roll-call (one of whom was so impressed, he's gonna release their first 7" on his Weird Forest label) with some dazzling performances, and I was so struck by how far they'd progressed, I invited them back to the KDVS studios to play their effervescent postpunk for you. If it seems like Sacramento has a ton of bands lately, it's partly because these three people have started more bands this summer than anyone else, and they also flank Andrew in his rock quartet version of G.Green. There's also a Mayyor in there.
This week on AFS...
* Sacto band Vichy Water revisits for a more fully-fledged, fleshier live-in-Studio-A performance! * Vichy Water interview reveals a fun, earnest band that sometimes shoots sparks! * HoZac's "Fall 2009 4-Pack" sounds pretty, pretty, pretty good! * Today's cassette subculture's gnarliest scuzzmongers!
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THE NYMPHETS | I See | I See 7" | Signed by Force *new TYVEK | Robots, Dogs | Blunt Instrumental EP 12" | Night People *new SILVER SHAMPOO | Dogs | Jethro Skull 7" | What's Your Rupture? 2009 CLUB TANGO | Performance | v/a: Messthetics #107 | Hyped2Death *new (orig 1981) GOD'S GIFT | Anaesthetic | Pathology 1979-1984 | Hyped2Death *new (orig 1984) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ VICHY WATERlive in Studio A Affirmation Action Shattering Spirits Oh, Diana Turn It Down The Samba Choice Pumps Sacto, Great Job! Drunk Jesus Ass Treatment Crap Culture (w/ Andrew of G.Green) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE DEFNICS | Suicide Trip | v/a: Cleveland Confidential | Terminal 1982 PLASTIC CRIMEWAVE SOUND | Shockwave Rider | Shockwave Rider 7" | HoZac *new WIZZARD SLEEVE | When I Die [the Pagans] | Make the World Go Away 7" | HoZac *new SHARP ENDS | Ghosts of Chance | Northern Front 7" | HoZac *new A CERTAIN RATIO | The Thin Boys | The Old and the New | Factory 1986 FLIGHT | Molly, Don't Fade | self-titled 10" | Kill Shaman *new CHEVEU | Sacha | Cheveau | Permanent *new ACCIDENT DU TRAVAIL | Landowski | self-titled 12" EP | Bruit Direct Disques *new LOW RED CENTER | Sun Outside | self-titled 10" | SS Records *new TWIN CRYSTALS | Boys Still Pictures | split CS w/ Ultrathin | Campaign for Infinity *new GAY BEAST | Pressing Hard | Multi-Purpose Anti-Form 7" | Gilgongo *new KALIBAS | Masticate | Eyes Forever Red 7" | Howling Bull America 2000 HELLHAMMER | The Third of the Storms (Evoked Damnation) | Apocalyptic Raids | Metal Blade 1984 EXTRA SEXES | Gap/Solvent Bone Remorse | Gash Bulb CS | Skrot Up *new BUTCHER COVER | Embracist | self-titled CS | Military Radio *new BUTCHER COVER | I'm Anti-Me ANAL BABES | Punk Rock [David Peel & Death] | Cocaine Swastika 10" | Incognito 1999 *request THE AXEMEN | Shacked Up in Yr Egypt Tomb | Scary! Part III | Siltbreeze *new (orig 1989) TIMES NEW VIKING | I Smell Bubblegum | Born Again Revisited | Matador *new BLACK TAR | Familiar | self-titled CS | no label *new FACTUMS | Three Sheets Rider | Flowers | Sacred Bones *new TEEPEE | Satisfied Heart | Morals | Senzei *new BUCKETS OF BILE | Growing Gone | Outside Mind CS | Speed Tapes *new
* The Slippery Slopes from Florida live in Studio A! * In the Red recording artists Black Time from England live in Studio A! * A Fashionable Idiots triple capsule of new releases * The end of Columbus Discount's singles club year one, and the beginning of year two * a couple shoulda-been AOR nuggets unearthed from the 70s
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MIDDLE AMERICA | Every Night | Every Night 7" | Fashionable Idiots *new FRESH MEAT | Get to Work | Problem Fixer 7" | Fashionable Idiots *new HERDS | Winter in the Midwest | self-titled | Fashionable Idiots *new MAYYORS | Deads | Deads 12" | Hurling Man 2009 *request ANAL BABES | Flabby Sagging Flesh | Delirium or Diarrhea | Accident 1994 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SLIPPERY SLOPESlive in Studio A Pizza, I'm Against It So Tight It Squeaks Space Paranoids Sad Tugs Bikini Binge No Nerds Dan Savage Carburetor ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CHEAP TIME | Wildlife | Handy Man 7" | Douche Master 2008 CHEAP TIME | People Talk | self-titled | In The Red 2008 BUZZER | Teacher's Pet | Teacher's Pet 7" | Tic Tac Totally 2009 XTERMINATORS | Occasional Lay | Microwave Radioation 7" | Radio Active 1979 THE DICTATORS | Faster & Louder | Blood Brothers | Asylum 1978 BROWNSVILLE STATION | Mister Robert | A Night on the Town | Big Tree 1972 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BLACK TIMELive in Studio A Black Time Theme Hostile Cosmos Contract Fascist Bathroom Infestation Asleep at the Wheel You Make Me Scary People Downtown Mystery Shudder I'm Not a Young Man Anymore ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ VOM | I'm in Love with Your Mom | Live at Surf City 7" | White Noise 1978 NITZINGER | Live Better Electrically | Live Better Electrically | 20th Century Fox 1976 PUFFY AREOLAS | Lutzko Lives | Lutzko Lives 7" | Columbus Discount *new PSYCHEDELIC HORSESHIT | Let Down (and Hangin Around) | Too Many Hits 2x7" | Columbus Discount *new PSYCHEDELIC HORSESHIT | Sun-Bleached Kool Aid THE PHEROMOANS | Phantom Darwin | Savoury Days 7" | Savoury Days *new GOD'S GIFT | People | Pathology 1979-1984 | Hyped2Death *new (orig 1979) RED MASS | Skank | self-titled | Semprini *forthcoming
2009 was the year of the return of the "singles club", and Columbus Discount's series was the best. Just as Year Two kicks off to an outstanding start with Lutzko Lives by the Puffy Areolas of Toledo, Ohio, Year one ends on a brilliant note! Psychedelic Horseshit's Too Many Hits double-7" is certainly the most consistently satisfying release since their first single--Who Let the Dogs Out?--way back before anyone had a preconceived notion about the band. Seriously....if you think this band's discography is a like a steaming duke with some nice lit'l bits of corn in there, stop picking through the poo of the past and have a listen to this. This is like a heap o' huitlacoche. Naturally gnarly, amply swissed, not overly fucked over...Damn near perfect! Don't know what huitlacoche is? Google it! I want you to appreciate how I went to the next level with my metáfora de maiz. Remember when Sebadoh took a turn towards punk rock on their awesome Siltbreeze single? Well, if they'd never returned from that trip, but took another turn into joyful melody with a nod to the indie-rock gods of southern Ohio's past two decades before diving into the crucial works of The Fugs and David Peel & the Lower East Side, then they might've come out sounding like this.
And Puffy Areolas??? "Lutzko Lives" just absolutely smokes! That is my new pump-up jam! This is the band I most wish I could play in right now.
Tonight's special guest--Sonic Chicken 4--came all the way from Perpignan in the south of France to tour the USA for more than a month. Of all the bands I saw at the Gonerfest 6 in Memphis a couple weeks back, this band was up there with Box Elders and Davila 666 among the most smile- and laughter-inducing bands of the entire fun-packed festival. So, please download and enjoy one of the most contagiously fun bands on the planet today. Their set begins just past the halfway point of this program...
Also in this week's AFS...
* What is this mysterious Astro Boy(?)/Hamtramck(?) 7" anyway? * R.I.P. Dickie Peterson of Blue Cheer * New Sacto pure pop perfection by California Innovations
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ASTRO BOY | Rebel Now | Holidays at the Beach | Hamtramck 1994 (??) WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH | Ghost 20 | Art Galleries 7" | no label *new BATWINGS | Dr. Ohm vs the Exploding Amp | split 7" w/ When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth | Us Two *new OXFORD CIRCLE | Mind Destruction | Live at the Avalon 1966 | Big Beat 2007 BLUE CHEER | Second Time Around | Vincebus Eruptum | Philips 1968 FUNGI GIRLS | Clouds | Seafaring Pyramids | Play Pinball *new FUNGI GIRLS | Crystal Roads THE AXEMEN | The Church of the Loosely Brethren | Scary! | Siltbreeze *new UZI RASH GROUP BAND | New Clear Winter | Hight and Phree | Freedom School *new WILD MAN FISCHER | Don't Ever Get Mad at Me | Nothing Scary | Rhino 1984 WILD MAN FISCHER | My Friend Robert WOUNDED LION | Big Boots [Wild Man Fischer] | Friendly? 7" | In the Red *new THINKING FELLERS UNION LOCAL 282 | 2x4s | Lovelyville | Matador 1991 FRESH & ONLYS | Laughter is Contagious | Laughter is Contagious 7" | Trouble in Mind *new KITCHEN'S FLOOR | Failure | Loneliness is a Dirty Mattress | R.I.P. Society *new KITCHEN'S FLOOR | Sparkles PIGEON RELIGION | Scorpion Milk | Scorpion Milk 7" | Parts Unknown *new JACK STANDS | You Suck | Box of Feelings CDR | no label *new JACK STANDS | Black President GENERAL INTEREST | Sick of Waiting | Right by the Beach | Ride the Snake *new ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SONIC CHICKEN 4live in Studio A Neon Night Airplane Girl Margharita Shadow on the Boat Sonic Night Girl 66 Crushed Only Lose Shalalalalove Depuis que j't'ai Rencantre Right Side of... Creature in a Picture Too Much to Drink (Last Night) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BEATERS | Fishage | Fishage 7" | Volar/Single Screen *new ANDERS ANGEST | Just Nar Allt ar sa Roligt | v/a: Total-Pop! | no label 2009 (orig 1980) CONTAINER | Livet Stinker | v/a: Total-Pop! (orig 1980) CALIFORNIA INNOVATIONS | Love is not a Gun | cassingle | Palace of the Golden Cassette *new NODZZZ | True to Life | True to Life 7" | What's Your Rupture? *new ADAM PAYNE | ...if you... | Maybelline Weeks 7" | Malt Duck *new THE INTELLIGENCE | Becky is a Bummer | split 7" w/ Unnatural Helpers | Dirty Knobby *new
I found this 7" record lying around on a table sleeveless which is by a band called Astro Boy, or is it Hamtramck? Songs were copyrighted in 1994 by Astro Boy and credited in parentheses to Astro Boy. The label is either Hamtramck or the Honeyking Record Co. at 11343 Klinger in Hamtramck, MI 48212. All I know for sure is that it has three songs: "Holidays at the Beach" and "Gong Li" on side A; "Rebel Now" on side B. And it's damn near un-googlable no matter what search I try. This record is plenty good, though? Each settles into its own grudgeful groove. Please enjoy the bristly cave-stomp of the B-side, batting lead-off tonight. It positively reminds me of early Cheater Slicks oompah-damage or Feedtime. If you know the story of this record, please gimme the facts!
A crucial piece of Davis and Sacto Valley music history has passed away. Dickie Peterson of was the bassist and singer of Blue Cheer, the band recognized by many historians for releasing the first album in the history of heavy metal, Vincebus Eruptum, in 1968. Most writers cite Blue Cheer as a San Francisco band, but their history includes a few Davis chapters at the beginning. Here's the story of his passing at age 61 due to liver cancer.
California Innovations is a new band from Sacramento, but hold it...Scott Miller (of Bananas, Nar, Ski Instructors, and English Singles among other rad bands) said this snappy lit'l two-song tape was just the result of one Saturday of screwing around in the basement with buddy Jason (also formerly of Nar, Ski Instructors, and more (see the Sacto Inbred bands database to see how incestuous it is/was)). He said Jason has a ton of songs...some of which are slated for an upcoming tape release under a different band name. Here's to hoping that it's more than the one-off Saturday sesh. Breezy, plucky pop with a brainworming effect...so beware! You might not be able to forget these melodies for a while. Scott sings in his best register (high) on the chipper, yet wise "Father Time" which is incredibly memorable for such a short song of two very short verses and 2.5 chorus refrains including a brilliant giddy finale. Jason's plaintive vocals work a more subtle angle. Both of these pop crooners deploy boyish charm and oodles of wisdom. I reckon that if they mess around in the basement for four or five Saturdays in a row, we might have a perfect pop album for living life to the fullest and cutting all the bullshit. Mini-anthems for aging gracefully? Different ways of saying carpe diem without invoking an over-quoted movie? Practical relationship advice? Seems like that basement might be a budding hit factory.
* new sarcastic no-brow smart-isms from the Ride the Snake stables! * hear why you will be talking about Life Partners! * a double-shot of depression for you donut dippin' swines! * welcome The Intelligence back to the West Coast! * extreme submerged-fidelity warning: Processors and Dead Wife redefine lo-fi!
Download this program within two months at this link... CLICK HERE for 192kbps rate. or CLICK HERE for 320kbps rate. or, if you have a slower/20th century connection STREAM IT HERE by next Monday night!
(Email me if there are any downloading problems, please!)
The Intelligence were in Europe long enough to establish dual citizenship status in a few different countries earlier this year, but they are back on the West Coast at the end of the week, so get ready to welcome them back. I saw them at Gonerfest with their new guitarist, who really did appear to be stolen from Leon Redbone's band, but he certainly snapped to the songs plenty well. Their latest album--Fake Surfers--is still standing up as one of this year's most brilliant, and the band is surely sharpened by so much constant touring. Be a friend and make them feel welcome on their home stretch, won't you?
Tue, Oct 6 in Denver, CO @ Meadowlark Wed, Oct 7 in Santa Fe, NM @ Meow Wolf Thu, Oct 8 in Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress Fri, Oct 9 in Phoenix, AZ @ Modified Arts Sat, Oct 10 in El Centro, CA @ Bujwah (Hi, Felipe!) Sun, Oct 11 in Los Angeles @ The Echo (Part Time Punks Festival) Mon, Oct 12 in San Diego @ The Casbah Tue, Oct 13 in Sacramento @ The Hub (w/ Sonic Chicken 4 & Repressive Proteins) Thu, Oct 15 in Oakland @ House of Nostromos Fri, Oct 16 in San Francisco @ Elbo Room (w/ Hank IV & Mayyors!) Sat, Oct 17 in Portland, OR @ that silly Vice/Scion Garage Festival thing
From the most submerged depths of tin-cans-'n-twine fidelity come two of the more exciting cassettes of scrawly/scrabbly ladypower punk bands with no-wavey angles, scathing bile, pointed aggro noise, and hardcore ferocity. Actually, the Processors (from Bakersfield!) might be closer to vinyl-ready fidelity, but their self-released cassette--A Lean Night--might suffer from a little extra murky sound because of the daring artistry of the homespun artwork which involved unscrewing and carefully cracking apart the cassette tape to festoon the inside of the clear cassette plastic with constrasting colors of paint and photos on each side. This pretty much obliterates the dozens of post-Blackbean & Placenta/post-Hanson/American Tapes cassette labels who have wrecked the heads of your home and automotive cassette decks with oodles of oversprayed paint. I imagine that whoever decorated these must have as steady a pair of hands as the most accomplished neurosurgeon! I'm not even 1% kidding...I've spot-checked throughout the entire length of this cassette, and the tape is totally clean, and there's nary one bit o' spackle on the smooth and clear outside of the cassette. It must've been a challenge to keep the tape from unspooling, but the result is a tape that's actually fairly listenable and hints at a band that I'd like to hear without the scads of murk (even though this is apparently on the fancy and ever-rarer Type II cassette!). Side A begins with an instro that's just alright, but the vocal songs are pretty riveting for their furiously corkscrewing guitars, walloping drums, and female vocals which are very effective. With a too-cool-for-school affectation, singer Jeannie expresses such grisly lyrical subject matter as teen abortion, inept parentage, and wretched wasterdom with an odd and eerie level comfort, and an unusually poetic flair for words and metaphors. Musically, it's just a guitar/drum duo, but much like the precocious early recordings of Shearing Pinx (particulary Poison Hands), these Processors seem to have a really well-conceived handle on dynamics, achieving a balance between focused riff-based grooves and sprawl-out scribble-tech interludes. Side B is a sidelong noise-jam which sounds as well-conceived and executed as the work of many of the leaders of the noise genre ghetto. It's certainly listenable all the way through. I think I will love seeing this band live, and I'd surely like to hear what kinda recording they're capable of if even half the effort it took to deconstruct and reconstruct these awesome-looking tapes is directed into making the most effective songs and sounds possible.
Dead Wife are three ladies and a boy drummer from Montréal, Quebec, whose cassette tape suffers from extreme Type I tape noise and low dubbing sound level which make it kinda frustrating to listen to whether the Dolby noise reduction is off or on. But the band still brings enough spirit to translate through the murk enough to land on my list on bands I'd like to hear all-cleaned-up. And I found out what they really sound like on their MySpace page. Forget Loni Love and Gilbert Gottfried, Micheal Ian Black, the Sklar brothers, The Donnas, and all the other snippet-sniping heads in the little pop-up bubbles on shows such as "Best Week Ever" and "World's Dumbest Criminals". The ladies are Dead Wife have something more interesting to say about pop culture clichés. At least, I think they do. "Choke" has got that contemporary reverb drench on the vocals which rate sky-high on the brat meter. Musically, they remind me of Kill the Hippies' early tapes and 7"es, but with little more touch of 80s hardcore, which is a huge compliment. Do you know how much I love Kill the Hippies?
But just when you've had enough girltalk (and if you'll indulge just one more pop-culture reference here today), The Life Partners must be heard. The title song of their new Men Are Talking album is surely deserving of Al Bundy's "bronze dumpster" award. You might remember that I raved about their 2008 7"--AIDS of Spades b/w Teenager in Trouble--which couched the questionable lyrical matter on a pop organ riff that humorously betrayed the bristling hardcore fury of the band and the over-the-top-and-back-again buffoonish vocal delivery which made it all sit right with my emocore-lyric-sheet-reading/riot-grrl-crushin'-on came-of-age-in-the-90's self. Apparently, it bummed a few of you out. But it got us talking, and the conversation continued about such sensitive issues that too many so-called libs feel strongly about, but never really confront or dwell upon (such as race, and what about boys now that girls are kicking their academic butts in primary and secondary schools all across this nation?). Bands like the Life Partners or Country Teasers are kinda like the "All in the Family" of underground music. If you take the lyrics at face value and cry foul and shut yourself away from this band, you can forget about 'em and go back to your safe cocoon, much like the too-easily offended viewers who wrankled at Archie Bunker's paint-peelingest words who failed to appreciate where those words fit in the context of a program that was building a very constructive dialogue. It takes no courage to ignore something that confounds, but the effort to peel away the layers of complication and convolution can be worthwhile, and rather fun in the case of Men Are Talking. What does it say about a band's message when members of an outfit as esteemed and accomplished as Major Stars are waving their pricks and beating their chests over a bed of music steeped in the easy-paced AOR rock balladry of the 70s? This record is so devoid of three-stupid-chords punk convention that it makes Cheer Accident sound like Blitz. It's like E.L.O. played the Elton John songbook with words re-written by Rancid Vat when they were one of the most deceptively clever lyricists in punk rock, and then brought in Bob James to arrange the horn parts 'cos the producer loved the theme of "Taxi" so much. The occasional crunchy riff creeps in, as if by the command of John Nitzinger's svengali strings. If Metal Mike's brain wasn't complete mush by now, he'd love this record for all the wrong reasons. But fortunately, this album's so wrong, it's right! So, you can love it without guilt. You can just tell your immediately disapproving friends that you're conducting research on yourself...exposure therapy to test your true punkness and your sense of righteousness! Maybe it's not really that wrong...The production and vocal delivery screams Homestead Records circa 1989. There's as much musical talent here as any Boston or Journey record, but there's no sheeny gloss of overproduction or overly histrionic singing. There's just that much of a shred of honesty that makes you really wonder about these guys. Basically, if you don't get too indignant about off-color jokes, and you can't peel yourself away when you see those late-night infomercials about hits-of-the-70s compilations, then you owe it to yourself to track this record down!
After Gonerfest 6, I'm terribly jetlagged from the flight back home from Memphis, a city where people take time to say hello and chat up total strangers. It's not so much that people there are lazy, but in the muggy metropolis by the Mississippi, moving fast or vigorously will only get you soaked in sweat, and when you've got a nice buzz on and a belly fulla BBQ brisket, it's better to just be cool and make friends with strangers. The festival was sonically superb, the partying was epic, and the food lived up to legend. Midway through day two, we were already making plans to return for Gonerfest 7. Who's playing? Doesn't matter...we wanna go (and bring a big Sacto/Davis contingent maybe) 'cos surely it'll rule! I'll tell you all about it below this week's playlist, but right about now, I want you to know one thing...if you're within half a day's drive to Sacramento or Davis, you should come out to KDVS presents...Operation: Restore Maximum Freedom VIII fest on Saturday, October 3, from 2-10pm at Plainfield Station in the boonies between Davis and Woodland. I guarantee it'll be at least a 200% return on the cheap admission dollar rate!
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CHEATER SLICKS | I've Been Had | On Your Knees | Gawdawful 1989 CIRCLE PIT | Everybody Left | Everybody Left 7" | R.I.P. Society *new KITCHEN'S FLOOR | Twenty-Two | Loneliness is a Dirty Mattress | R.I.P. Society *new GIBSON BROS | Sugartail Rock | Big Pine Boogie | Okra 1987 BASSHOLES | Fear and a Hand Full of Sand | Haunted Hill | In the Red 1995 BASSHOLES | Hey O.J. | Hey O.J. 7" | In the Red 1995 MOM | Monkey's Smuckle | Smells Like Dirty Dog Dicks 7" | Grotesque Modern *new GARY PANTER + JAY COTTON | God Save the Queen | One Hell Soundwich | Savage Pencil 1989 STREETS OF RAGE | I'm Gone | Beat Your Kids CDR | no label *new THE PENS | Networking | Hey Friend! What You Doing | De Stijl *new NITWITS | Captain America | split 7" w/ Mohinder | Unleaded/Stinky Feet 1994 VILE NATION | A3 | No Exit 7" | Even Worse 2008 IDOL PUNCH | Dried Nasal Mucus/Milk & Sugar | Culture Market 7" | MCR 2000 GENBAKU ONANIES | Nanni Mo Nai | Forward Command Post 7" | Public Bath 1991 RED MASS | Ghosts | Scars CS | Campaign for Infinity *new BLACK FEELINGS | Eternal Bad Trip | self-titled | Alien8 *new SUN MANTRA | Garden Sounds | self-titled CDR | no label *new DAN MELCHIOR UND DAS MENACE | Visiting/Strange Exchanges | Obscured by Fuzz | Topplers *new MIRRORS | Hands in My Pockets | Something That Would Never Do | Violet Times/Hovercraft 2009 (orig 1975) MICHAEL PSYCHO | Decent Setups | Think | Black Hole 1990 MATT K. SHRUGG | Climbing the Air | Instant Images CDR | Guiness Book of World Records *new THE MANTLES | Burden | Burden 7" | Dulc-i-Tone 2007 NOTHING PEOPLE | Late Night [Syd Barrett] | Late Night | SS Records 2009 PROBLEMIST | Overcame/Slapping | 9 Times Sanity | Sordide Sentimental 1984 COREPHALLISM | Speaking in Tongues | self-titled 3" CD | Apop/Lascivious Aesthetics *new GHOST MOTH | Hamas Movements 1 & 2 | v/a: Tarantismo Summit Vol. #1 | Rampage *new CACAW | Cacti in the Dark | Get a Brain | Permanent 2009 *request EINSTÜRZENDE NEUBAUTEN | Haus der Lüge | Strategies Against Architecture II | Mute/Elektra 1991 (orig 1984) BILLY BAO | Auxilio | I Am Going to Kill All the Rich Man CS | Badmaster *new ULTRATHIN | Break-In | split CS w/ Twin Crystals | Campaign for Infinity *new CHEVEU | Rupture Movement 1 & 2 | Cheveau | Permanent *new
Before I dish the highlights of my Gonerfest vacation, lemme shine a light on a fantastic new CDR of garagepunk with a really rad penchant for dynamism, striking that rare balance between punchy bombastic riffage, hookiness, and cool textural atmospherics. Self-Titled by Sun Mantra is no awkward demo-stage ugly duckling; it may just be a couple of mastering tweaks away from joining my short list of 2009's most adoptable vinyl orphans. Ostensibly a one-man-project by Matt Ojala from Seattle, Sun Mantra's twin guitar attack is beachy bliss backed up with appreciable power. Ojala likes to weave shimmery ribbons of surfadelic tube-bounce reverb-drenched melody which seem to surf atop the rolling, crashing waves of full-bodied rhythm guitar. The pacing is nicely varied: "Cousin", "Pockets Pull (in so Many Ways)", and "Stomp Feet" go cowabunga-crazy with the rapid charge and frenetic jangle; "Question the Tropics" starts with an Abe Vigoda-like calypso-punk flirtation; the "Garden Sounds" you hear tonight swings a heavy lumber and is a very patient heavy-hitter; some purposeful naturalistic and instro interludes round out a very listenable, largely filler-free journey. If this really is all Matt (with only drum help courtesy of Travis Coster of The Last Slice of Butter), then he's also doing an unusually fine job of harmonizing multiple tracks of his own vocals, and he's not afraid to deploy his rather appealing falsetto. If he can build a magical band like Ryan of Ganglians did, look out...this band is a contender for Boss of the Beach. The sound here is on the lithe and lanky side...not so fuzzy and chunky...and that's not necessarily a bad thing given the glut of bands mining that sound today.
Here's my Gonerfest vacation recap...
Day Zero/Wed 9/23....I hadn't driven in a city with an interstate beltway in forever, so after I merged onto I-240 north of the airport, I got disoriented and exited onto Lamar Avenue going the wrong direction, away from the Artisan Hotel. Gee...there sure are a lotta Family Dollar and beauty supply stores in Memphis! Luckily, I did pass a little fish hut called Semmes which was packed to the gills with neighborhood folks on a rather janky edge of town. I knew it had to be good, so I filed it quickly as a future dining destination. But for tonight, I figured we'd dine for our health just one last time before partaking in the sinful local delights such as BBQ, fried chicken, and platter-sized omelets. I'd referred to Yelp earlier for tips on a locavore- and vegetarian-friendly spot and found Cafe Eclectic which seemed to be popular with the Rhodes College crowd. It was decent enough, I guess, but too much like the "new American bistro"-type spots which have proliferated throughout California so much. Next, we checked into the Artisan, where we gawked at the splendorous lobby which lived up to the hotel's name. Once we entered our room on the sixth floor, however, any semblance of a fancy hotel was completely dashed. We walked to the pre-Gonerfest show at Nocturnal where The Reatards would be performing take one of their reunion revue. The one-woman-band from Arizona, Becky Lee Drunkfoot, got the festivities rolling after the worst jukebox in America had its plug pulled. She sang beautifully and nailed some cool riffs, but a lotta her songs prattled on too long. A young local hardcore/thrash band revved it to the limit next. Vile Nation had an authentic real-deal sound and were a lot more fun-sounding than their record which is dominated by a humorless meanstreak. Their posse of about eight underagers plus one ill-fitting hippie moshed alone in the pit area at the foot of the stage. Behind this 12-feet-deep pit area was a six-inch drop-off to an area where people sat at tables. At first, the kids moshed dangerously close to the edge, where a concussion or spinal injury might've awaited them. But once they wised up, it was hilarious to watch them take turns stepping up to the stage with so much vim and vigor before launching off with the pussiest lit'l stagedives right into the laps of their friends. Cheap Time was up next and were the highlight of the night for me. The new hesher drummer fit right in. Ladies in the crowd were dancing and singing the refrains of the hits from last year's self-titled album on In the Red, but then the moshers came rallying back and made the ladies scatter. Eventually, these boys'll get tired of being alone, right? I saw Jay Reatard tell the pony-tailed soundman to crank certain levels all the way to the right before The Reatards took the stage. All three warm-up bands enjoyed excellent sound, but this fuckophonic advice was indeed way too over-the-top to make the reunion listenable on any level. To his credit, Jay was in fine bile-spewing form. I think that he mighta been trying to completely undo the "he's-gone-soft" consensus, and he probably succeeded halfway through the first verse he shouted. But it was so unlistenable that we left after they ripped through maybe 9-10 songs, including a poorly rendered "I Love Livin' in the City". It was raining cats n' dogs as we left, so we ducked into the Piggly Wiggly next door for a while hoping the rain would subside. A man without an eye tried to set us up to give him change on the way out. He was friendly enough, but what really tugged at our heart-strings was a friendly-lookin' old fella with cloudy cataract-addled eyes who asked for our help in reading the expiration dates on the milk so that he could find the freshest jug possible. This was also our crash course in making sense of heavily-drawled speech, but we made it work. I got a little depressed just thinking about the nutrition of people in Memphis after trying to no avail to find any fresh-squeezed juice in a container under 96 fluid ounces. I circled the whole store and found absolutely zero. But I did find ready-to-eat meals of delectable-lookin' fried foods served with cole slaw and peach cobbler for $2! I was hungry enough, but rooms at the Artisan were without microwaves, so no dice. The rain was still coming down as we left, but it felt kinda like Hawaii, so the rain just felt sublime, as if it was evaporating on our skin the moment it touched us. "Oh, this isn't bad at all!" we remarked, but five blocks later, my beloved Mayyors t-shirt was completely soaked and sticking to me, and my shoes and socks were also wet all the way through. Fortunately, the one luxury of our room was a blow dryer. We sunk into our king-size bed which seemed to have been flattened in the middle by an extreme obese bed-ridden person who didn't get out for weeks or months. This was the worst gripe about our stay. Our sleep was certainly not refreshing enough. But we were excited for the next day.
Day One/Thu 9/24....Due to reverse-jetlag, we woke up way too late to do anything, so we hit the showers quickly and got dressed to scope out the lay of the "Midtown" and "Cooper-Young" areas where all the Gonerfest action would be happening the next three days and nights. I'd also circled breakfast at Brother Juniper's in the East area by the University of Memphis as a must-eat thanks to seeing it on television and reviewed glowingly on Yelp. But, alas...it closed at 1:00 p.m. while we were flipping through bins and boxes of new and used records at the enviable Goner Records store. My best scores included a beautiful copy of Jedda by the Sea by 17 Pygmies for pretty cheap. It's a fairly essential record for any big fan of Savage Republic. Man, would I love to see a record store even half as good as this open in Sacto someday! With our first choice of breakfasts closed, we circled back toward the Goner store to check out some neighborhood eats. We brunched at Casablanca, where I enjoyed a lamb shawarma despite the sauce which was based on thousand island dressing (spiked with paprika, I presume). Sure, the sauce was laughably unauthentic and completely unlike what I'd expected, but it tasted plenty good, actually. We checked out the Sun Studio's gift-shop for the possibility of salt and pepper shakers (no dice!) but split before taking the tour due to too many people appearing ahead of us. Then we checked out the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel, but left due to lack of time before their closing hours, so we returned to the Goner store, but a bit too late to assume the front-and-center position for the kick-off set by King Louie. It sounded pretty sweet as we mingled among the throngs of folks from all over the world who had assembled there. We ran out to that janky fish place called Semmes Fish & Hot Wings where we were greeted so sweetly by the cook and his daughter. I love a place where the cook is so proud of his food that he's telling you "After you try my fish, I know you gonna be back everytime!" The next customer looked at us at first like he couldn't believe there were some white folks there, but he also joined the welcome party and promised us we'd come to the right place. He ordered 75 of something, but I don't they were wings....I think they were deep-friend fish throats! The place had no tables, so we took it back to the room and loved every bite of it. At the main event at the Hi-Tone that night, I finally got to see the Fresh & Onlys play, and they were indeed pretty good. I rather enjoyed the coolness of the singer's stage presence which was aloof in the most delightful way. Cococoma rocked a lot harder than I'd expected and ratcheted up the dance fever in the room. King Louie's Loose Diamonds were good, but a little too precious for me at that moment, so I tested the backyard, and the air was a bit cooler back there (finally!). I ran next door to Circle K for a NOS energy drink recharge, and I was all set for The Magnetix, who were delivered probably the most stunning set of the night. I knew from their split 10" with Digger & the Pussycats that they were a two-piece band, but hearing their new album this year, I figured that they'd expanded because that sound was too thick and burly. But, they were indeed still a two-piece with the guitar amped stereo through two amps. It was like if Dial M-era Pussy Galore appropriated that Mayyors-level thick guitar tone and also approached Brainbombs-like sinister psychopathy. Ty Segall was also really outstanding on-stage and was flanked by caveman Robbie from Photobooth on drums which seemed to enhance Ty's attack quite a bit. The Reatards reunited again at the end, and they played better than the previous night as a band, but Jay as a personality was far more obnoxious and dark, challenging Ty Segall to a fight due to something he read in Spin magazine about Ty being a threat to Jay. There was also a babbling tirade against Vice magazine "co-opting our scene" which included several nonsensical turns of phrase. I walked out early again to beat the rush to the swimming pool, where we got the party started with some young ladies from Ottawa, Ontario, who were the first to dip into the water. Before long, there were dozens of people thronging there, and several acting a total fool with biggest splash contests and a fellow who jumped off the second floor into the shallow end. Good times!
Day Two/Fri 9/25...We got up a bit earlier and made it out to Brother Juniper's, which actually seemed more like a place you might find out here in the West Coast with all the variations of benedicts and spinach florentine. The one thing was defintely down home about it was the cheese grits, which I quite enjoyed. Afterward, we made it out to the Civil Rights Museum where we were overcome by sadness, anger, and white guilt. It kinda made me shudder standing about three feet from the precise location where Dr. Martin Luther King's lifeless body bled out before the ambulance came. Later, we walked by the wall of hope at the end of the first building's self-guided tour which restored some good feelings with a chronological exhibit of achievements of the Civil Rights Movement and an outline of the legacy of the movement. We crossed Mulberry Street into the second building, which was the boarding house where James Earl Ray was presumed to have shot Dr. King from a bathroom window. The exhibit focused on the crime and its investigation as well as its alternate theories which are all presented for maximum plausibility. It would surely be recommendable for any fan of the newfangled police dramas, but for me, this exhibit was kinda overkill, and it made me leave with a lot more questions than I thought I could ever have. Still, I recommend this museum especially for the first building. You can spend about three hours in there reading everything and gawking at photos, film clips, diaramas, and life-size walk-through exhibits. There was a woman outside by the parking lot protesting the museum with signs decrying it for being too costly and desecrating the memory of King. Another sign targeted gentrification in the immediate area, and the sharpest and perhaps most thought-provoking sign said "Stop worshipping the past...Live the dream today." I pondered that one quite a bit as we drove back down McLemore Avenue to the Stax Museum of American Soul Music. That southside area was the scene of some of the worst and most abject poverty that I've seen, and it was 180° different than the attractive Midtown and Cooper-Young neighborhoods. There were no supermarkets...just corner stores and liquor stores. Cars on blocks. Rampant vandalism. Roofs caving in. Almost nothing was tidy and neat. People walking the sidewalks all seemed to be malnourished or obese. People in Sacramento talk about South Sac like it's scary down there, and I know that there's some saddening statistics down there, but it's nothing as bad as what I saw there. It had me thinking about that lady's boycott of the museum like it was perfectly justified. Where had all the hope from that achievements and legacy wall gone? We continued back to the Gonerfest action which began on this day in the backyard of Buccaneer's. We made it in time to see Thomas Function and The Mantles. Both bands played well, but this was the only music staging area which had dodgy sound. I had bad sightlines for T-Funk, but I got up close to see Mantles. We broke for some BBQ afterward and crossed the river to West Memphis for Willie Mae's. West Memphis was also really depressing, but we perked up when we met Willie Mae's son-in-law who took a break from his truck-driving day-job to help out around the kitchen and cash register. We talked about music and the impact that country music had on black audiences and musicians, which prepared me for some of the revelations revealed at the Stax Museum the following day. The food was okay. The sauce was tasty, but I gotta feeling that I ate the kinda meat that's available only after the dinner rush has swept through. If I go back for another try, I'll be sure to go earlier next time. We crossed back over to see the main event at the Hi-Tone, which began with a flat set by Yussuf Jerusalem, which was the only real disappointment of any band I saw throughout the whole fest. Earthmen & Strangers were plucky and sharp. The Intelligence played great, as usual! New guitarist is a unique dresser who seems to have stepped outta Leon Redbone's band. Kind of a WTF kinda double-take thing with the eyes, but the ears will hear him play the songs spot-on. I've seen them end with the finalé of Wounded Lion's infectious "Pony People" song so many times now, but that time was like seeing it again for the first time. Boffo crazy fun, that was! Then Davila 666 sent the fun party vibe into the stratoshere. I mean...WOW! This band immediately stepped into my ultimate pantheon of funnest live bands on the planet today. Six singers singing...Anglos in the crowd trying to sing along, too! Really engaging. Puerto Rican flags waving everywhere. Thee Oh Sees sneak attacked from the floor, and I got assed out for a good place to stand while meeting some new friends in the backyard. They did play much more "to the crowd" than usual with the rip-roarin' party vibe, but of course, this band is surely in the pantheon of live greatness, and they're awesome at whatever they do. If you had a good place to stand, I'm sure you were outta your mind with bliss. I missed the Compulsive Gamblers while yapping outside with more new friends.
Day Three/Sat 9/26...Rose late again, but just in time to enjoy a bite of Gus's Fried Chicken downtown. Yeah, it was pretty great. Then we walked along the touristy section of Beale Street figuring on finding those elusive salt and pepper shakers. But again, no dice! Worst of all, the live music emanating from every bar and grill was just so incredibly half-baked and whitebread that it made all the great pioneers of Memphis music history simultaneously roll over in their graves. Even the ones who hadn't died yet! I heard the absolutely wackest cover of "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay" coming from the courtyard of Silky O'Sullivans. It made me wanna go strangle any khaki-clad 'nilla wafer in my sight. At this very moment, I was suffering more white guilt than in all the time I was at the Civil Rights Museum! Surely, a visit to the Stax Museum of American Soul Music was in order! So away we went, and damn if that's not the best music museum in the world! Just go there! I wouldn't be surprised if this experience completely changes the way I shop for used records and reissues now. When I lived in Arkansas and most of our friends were black, I enjoyed so much of this music, and that all came roaring back for me. If I hadn't already spent so much the last few days, I surely woulda just sprung for that entire Stax singles boxed-set. But I'll just put it on the list of must-haves for now. Really, it was just a tremendous time, and there was the one place where I saw the beacon of hope in that forlorn community along E. McLemore. Watching those kids emerge from classes at the Stax Academy, you could see 'em beaming. We hurried over to the afternoon Gonerfest activities at Murphy's in time to see River City Tanlines, but it was too smoky in the bar, so I stayed in the backyard to stake out a perfect position to view A Burning Bus, featuring Don Howland of so many rad bands of the last 22 years such as Gibson Bros, Bassholes, Ego Summit, etc. This might've been my favorite band of the whole sh'bang! Resplendent in sarcastic old-guy bile, Don was in fine form, as was his phalanx of killer guitarists who took turns peeling off the most brilliant yet economical guitar leads. I may wanna lose weight to get back to being something more like my old athletic self, but surely, after seeing this band, I'm not afraid to get older. Nor being pissed off at all the problems of the world. There's a lotta constructive ways to spew, y'know. And this was some of the best spew I'd seen. If only some of the people who were born after 1980 woulda paid more attention to these masters of grizzled magic. This was the number one band at Gonerfest for people to take for granted. Great going, kids! I didn't go inside for Hunx even though I'm dying to see him. He started playing before Howland and co. were done stewing, and I just had to lap up those last drops! Tirefire were the token metallers who played out the afternoon show. They ripped decently and were totally unfazed by all the firecrackers which people were hurling around willy-nilly. I needed to get the quickest Q possible and found it at Tops. I know that there's probably several places that are better for BBQ, but I wanted it fast and to-go, and Tops on Union Avenue was on the money for $4.99. I got served within seconds, it was a full meal, and it was better than merely passable in the taste department. I took Melissa to Petra for her dinner, and we were amazed by this Korean-meets-Greek cuisine place with the unusual reclaimed fuel-stop/mechanic-shop setting. She got a tofu bibimbap which was plenty tasty and could hold its own on the West Coast. I had several satisfying tastes of it. We got eaten alive by mosquitoes, though. We made it too late to the night show to see Magic Kids, but White Wires sounded pretty good even though we were outside most of the time. Sonic Chicken 4 and Box Elders were off-the-charts hilarious and fun. Steve MacDonald of Red Kross even joined the Box Elders on-stage to play along with their cover of "S&M Party". NoBunny was fraught with the only bad case of technical mishaps, and he apologized for it too effusively. It wasn't his fault after all. He still provided some great laffs and moments, such as when he showed us where bunny turds come from and then poked the mic in there. Later, that mic was passing around along the front of the crowd, and it was like none of them saw where it had gone. Was I wrong to laugh? Could I care, though? The only person at Gonerfest more annoying than Jay-Reatard-in-a-tirade was that kid who wore that Crass shirt all weekend-long and kept jumping on and off the stage. It was like he took "Mess Me Up" too much to heart and sought to literally mess up NoBunny's set. And sadly, NoBunny took it pretty hard, feeling as if he failed. I wanted to run after him and console him because all the problems were beyond his control, and people still had fun. Later, I saw him back at the Hi-Tone in good spirits, so it was all good. Finally, Cheater Slicks closed it out after half the crowd (again, mostly the people born in the 80s) ditched. It started kinda wonky, but then the old guys found their groove, and they were like a steamroller of hate and despair. Cheater Slicks were the number two band at Gonerfest for people to take for granted. The people who were front and center were having the time of their lives, though. We left during the second encore despite the fact they seemed to have just found another gear right then. We had to wake up at 6:00 a.m. to make it to our flight, so I justified leaving before the very end. I'll only be bummed if someone tells me that they nailed "Possession" after we left.
As long as DIY bands and artists keep me amazed, I will keep doing radio and extreme-blogging as a tribute to them. In case you are an old classmate looking for me, yes, this is "Rick Ele" here.
If you have material available in any format, please send it to...
KDVS Radio, ATTN: DJ Rick, 14 Lower Freeborn Hall, Davis, CA 95616, USA
...wanna get in touch about anything else? rickele(AT)gmail(DOT)com
Sorry, I had Alice Cooper on the brain on this birthday (36, if you don't catch my drift). But I dug all the way back to his most delicate pop nugget 'cos last weekend, the fantastic Aerosols from San Francisco dropped a stunning Alice Cooper cover on a living room fulla new fans at their show with Sleepy Beach and G.Green. In honor of our thermostat kicking the heater on for the first time in almost eight months, I've also dished such delights as this rare gem of Swedish rawk and New Order's dubbiest moment. Also, if you're on the west coast, get ready for another facial-melt from Eternal Tapestry. See below for details...
Tue 11/17 in Chico, CA @ The Down Lo
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