AFS v. 233 ~ feat. the Charles Albright XXXperience!

I just got in an hour before this week's terrestrial radio broadcast of AFS after driving non-stop from Portland, Oregon, where I spent the past weekend at the SMMR BMMR fest. Friday was a fantastic time (Mayyors and Sic Alps were my favorite highlights), but I skipped Saturday's show in favor of catching the Mayyors with The Cysts, Work, and Piles at a crazy house-show, and Sunday was completely lost on two epic meals which left no energy for The Intelligence, Graffiti Island, Christmas Island, Head, or Pierced Arrows. But maybe I was all showed out, because besides the Mayyors, none of it could've held a candle to the amazing debut (and perhaps one-and-only live public on-stage performance) of the Charles Albright XXXperience. I'm very proud to present you now a podcast featuring a full-fledged live performance of Charles & co. This set features the three songs you probably already know and love from his awesome I'm on Drugs 7" record which he self-released in an edition of 100 earlier this year (and mainly gave away to friends) before Scott Soriano repressed it on SS Records, which spread the legend of this longtime Sacto scene fixture beyond the area. To friends and fans of Charles locally, this record came as something of a shock due to its full-tilt brashness and noisiness. But even that was not sufficient warning for this amazing "encore" which surely had to be the result of some intense brainstorming of unprecedented performance schemes which transcend mere gimmickry. Check the double-speed rewind at the end! The Charles Albright XXXperience live in Studio A begins at approximately the 25-minute mark of this 2-hour podcast, and in the last few half hour, we visit eight of the many bands that Charles has played in (denoted with the # symbol), and we have a conversation about them.

Download this program within two months at this link...
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or
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(email me if there are any downloading problems, please!)

ADAM PAYNE | Onallisalland | Maybelline Weeks 7" | Malt Duck *new
EAT SKULL | Heaven's Stranger | split 7" w/ Male Bonding | Tough Love *new
GANGLIANS | Lost Words | Monster Head Room | Woodsist *new
ENGLISH SINGLES | Daydream | English Cassingles... CS | Palace of the Golden Cassingle *new
BOYS CLUB | Push It Through | Boys Club | Three Dimensional *new
HEAD | I'm Not Like Everybody Else [The Kinks] | Street Level Assault | Evil Clown 1994
~~~~~~~ LIVE IN STUDIO A ~~~~~~~
CHARLES ALBRIGHT XXXPERIENCE | I'm Happy, I'm a Genius
CHARLES ALBRIGHT XXXPERIENCE | Epic II
CHARLES ALBRIGHT XXXPERIENCE | I'm on Drugs
CHARLES ALBRIGHT XXXPERIENCE | Young Woman
CHARLES ALBRIGHT XXXPERIENCE | Headphones
CHARLES ALBRIGHT XXXPERIENCE | I'm Just a Fine Young Man & I'm Doing So Well
CHARLES ALBRIGHT XXXPERIENCE | I Wanna Hold You
CHARLES ALBRIGHT XXXPERIENCE | "encore" ;)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CONDOMINIUM | Barricade | Barricade 7" | Fashionable Idiots *new
DRUNKDRIVER | Fire Sale | Fire Sale 7" | Fashionable Idiots *new
GRAVITAR | Evil Monkey Boy | Evil Monkey Boy 7" | Charnel Music 1994
MOM | Pineapple Princes | Smells Like Dirty Dog Dicks 7" | Grotesque Modern *new
RENALDO & THE LOAF | Lime Jelly Grass | Songs for Swinging Larvae | Ralph 1981
THE PABLUMS | Under My Gums | v/a: Blub Krad | LAFMS 1978
HEATHEN DAN | I Like | v/a: The World's Worst Songs | Rhino 1983
WOUNDED LION | Wyld Parrots | Creatures in the Cave 7" | Gilgongo/DITG *new
FLIGHT | Johnny's Mixed Up | Flowers 7" | Sweet Rot *new
CHARLES ALBRIGHT | I'm Waiting | Albright Comes Alive CDR | no label *new #
SUNSHINE SMILE | Thirsty & Miserable [Black Flag] | v/a: Sacramento Bands Against Bush CDR | Sacfreepress.com 2003 #
THE COLONELS | Dig Her Up | Guitarmageddon 7" | Sacramento 2001 #
MILHOUSE USA | Never Girl Boy | Milhouse USA | Sacramento 2005 #
THE PIZZAS | Hideous Fashion | Bad-Ass Youth 7" | Daggerman 2008 #
ROCK THE LIGHT | Crank Appeal | Let's Do Something We'll Both Regret | Sacramento 2003 #
THE KNIGHTMARES | Inward Laughing | Love Is | 25% More Sacramento 2003 #
THE FRENCHMEN | Nar vs. The Ramones | Powdered Blue 7" | Shelflife 2003 #
CHRISTMAS ISLAND | Doin' Swell | v/a: The World's Lousy With Ideas vol 5 7" | Almost Ready 2008

Also, please note that my girlfriend has released a new 7"--the Maybelline Weeks EP--by former member of Residual Echoes, Adam Payne. This is hardly anything like his daringly cleanly produced solo album last year on Holy Mountain.....this is straight-up The Clean worship of thee highest order, comprising tonight's lead-off hit which he recorded in 2006 and released on an ultra-limited CDR under the name The Weeks. The b-side is more of a buoyant and direct heartstring-tugger that smacks of Powerpearls. Of course, this gets my highest recommendation, and you can order it right here...
http://www.maltduckrecords.com/

AFS v. 232 ~ feat. Rank/Xerox & Weyes Bluhd live at KDVS

This week, I'm excited to present two live in-studio performances. The best new band I discovered during the XYX tour was San Francisco's Rank/Xerox, who play postpunk with uncommon urgency not unlike The Proletariat, Tripod Jimmie, or Crisis, but with more energy, exuberance, and a saxophone. Their live set begins at approximately 20 minutes into this 2-hour podcast. They also picked some of tonight's records (denoted with a # symbol) and joined me for some conversation in Studio B. I hope that you'll all see and hear a lot more from them soon. The second live performance begins at approximately minute 100 and features Weyes Bluhd, one young woman from Philadelphia who sings and plays keys over tape accompaniment. She's mining waters somewhere between Little Claw and U.S. Girls, but her alluring singing meter is rather more like that of Grace Slick or even Rachel Verney in "Willow's Song" as heard in the film "The Wicker Man". Watch for an excellent and gnarlier-sounding debut 7" forthcoming, which we will preview in the coming weeks. Enjoy listening!

Download this program within two months at this link...
CLICK HERE for 192kbps rate.
or
CLICK HERE for 320kbps rate.

(email me if there are any downloading problems, please!)

EBONICS | Hitler's Wife | Rock n' Roll/Partytime 7" | Daggerman 2008
CHEATER SLICKS | Can't You Hear (My Heartbeat) [The Outcry] | Erotic Woman 7" | Columbus Discount *new
DEFEKTORS | Burning Light | v/a: Emergency Room vol 1 | Grotesque Modern/Nominal 2008
NÜ SENSAE | Worm(s) | Three Dreams 7" | Critiscum Internationale *new
THE MAYYORS | Ghost Punch | Deads 12" EP | Hurling Man *new
THE CYSTS | Human Garbage/Forced Entry | Public Release 7" | Eolian *new
THE CYSTS | Tear It Off | Destroy Masters CS | no label *new
RED C | 6 o' Clock News | v/a: Flex Your Head | Dischord 1982 #
~~~~~~ Live in Studio A ~~~~~~
RANK/XEROX | Stripped
RANK/XEROX | Muscle Dogs
RANK/XEROX | In a Hole
RANK/XEROX | Turn to Stone
RANK/XEROX | Stairs
RANK/XEROX | Act of Love
RANK/XEROX | Basement Furniture
RANK/XEROX | Discipline
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CHARLES ALBRIGHT | I'm on Drugs | I'm on Drugs 7" | SS Records *new
WORK | Total War [Boyd Rice] | split LP w/ Piles | Rad Key *new
HIGH CASTLE | Filth | You're on Your Own Way | Zum *new
THE PREFECTS | Agony Column | Amateur Wankers | Acute 2004 (orig 1978)
MISSION OF BURMA | Forget | Mission of Burma 12" EP | Taang! 1980 #
CHROME | Anti-Fade | v/a: Subterranean Modern | Ralph 1979 #
MALARIA! | Duschen | New York Passage 12" EP | Cachalot 1982 #
NITZER EBB | Into the Large Air | That Total Age | Geffen 1987 #
THE ANALS | Wake Up You're Dead | Total Anal | Permanent *new
KOMMUNITY FK | Incompatible Disposition | The Vision and the Voice | Independent Project 1983
KILLING JOKE | Let's All Go | Fire Dances | E'G 1983 #
THE FALL | Bingo Masters Breakout | Early Fall '77-'79 | Faulty 1981 #
THE CROWD | Modern Machine | v/a: Beach Blvd | Posh Boy 1979 #
DAN MELCHIOR UND DAS MENACE | Obscured by Fuzz | Obscured by Fuzz | Topplers *new
~~~~~~ Recorded live in Studio A on Sunday, August 16 ~~~~~~
WEYES BLUHD | Trim the Eyes
WEYES BLUHD | His Song
WEYES BLUHD | Dotted Circle in the Sand

Jon and Kevin of Rank/Xerox also make a video magazine featuring a lotta the kinda music that we like called "Mondovision". You can learn all about it at...
http://mondovision.tv/
I even make a brief cameo in the new Episode 5 which features XYX...

Mondo Vision Episode Five from Mondo Vision on Vimeo.

Here's some video footage from Weyes Bluhd's performance on Zradio....

AFS v. 231 ~ Catching Up w/ My Record Collection

With no live guest on the air tonight, I can dive into the new arrivals that have been mounting. But first, I gotta tell you about the best band in burly, balls-to-the-wall hardcore punk rock today...HPP. After seeing them twice in the last week-and-a-half, I am convinced that these guys are gonna make the short-list of all the best live bands I've seen this year, including The Mayyors, Thee Oh Sees, Hunches, Cave, Wounded Lion, and Box Elders. The guitar tone is peerless in the hardcore game today, and the volatility and the perma-blitzed, drug-devouring dereliction of that singer--whose vocals recall Stephen Lucas of the Aussie band X almost as much as vintage Sammy Town of Fang--has surely got this band teetering on the verge of implosion. I definitely believe that HPP feels as authentic as any band to rage since the heyday of hardcore waned in the mid-80s. No website appears to exist, so your only way to hear 'em unless you get their tremendous tour cassette (which is very competently recorded and begging to be issued on vinyl!) is right here towards the end of this podcast. Check below the playlist for a glimpse of an HPP live show in their hometown of Olympia, Washington, on YouTube in six parts.....plus, a teaser for a promising tour kicking off next week featuring two rad Canadian bands, the Defektors and Sex Church.

Download this program within two months at this link...
CLICK HERE for 192kbps rate.
or
CLICK HERE for 320kbps rate.

(email me if there are any downloading problems, please!)

ADAM PAYNE | Onallisalland | Maybelline Weeks 7" | Malt Duck *new
LITTLE CLAW | Human Taste | Human Taste | Ecstatic Peace/Not Not Fun *new
BLUE JUNGLE | You Always Have Something to Say | Baby Don't Cry | Antifiesta *new
FINALLY PUNK | Pregnant | Casual Goths | Army of Bad Luck *new
GRASS WIDOW | Rattled Call | Grass Widow | Make a Mess *new
RANK/XEROX | Muscle Dogs | split CS w/ Grass Widow | Wizard Mountain *new
HONEY BANE | Girl on the Run | You Can Be You 7" | Crass 1979 *request
POISON GIRLS | Jump Mama Jump/Under the Doctor | Hex | Crass 1979
WORK | Public Infection | split LP w/ Piles | Rad Key *new
RUSTED SHUT | Shot in the Head | Dead | Load *new
THE ANALS | The Animals | Total Anal | Permanent *new
THE REBEL | War, Politics | Mouthwatering Claustrophobic Changes | Junior Aspirin *new
BILLY BAO | A2 | May 08 | Parts Unknown *new
DUDU GEVA | Pupu Blues | Dudu Geva | Le Vilain Chien/Galerie Pache *new
COUSINS OF REGGAE | Gongg | split LP w/ Lubriphikatttor | Galerie Pache 2008
ZOLA JESUS | Sink the Dynasty | The Spoils | Sacred Bones *new
SEX CHURCH | Mistaken | advance tracks & demos CDR | no label *new
DEFEKTORS | No to the Night | Torn to Pieces | Hockey Dad *new
HEX DISPENSERS | I've Got My Doppelganger On | Winchester Mystery House | Douche Master *new
RED MASS | Refrigerator [Electric Eels] | Red Mass 10" | Red Lounge *new
CHARLES ALBRIGHT | I Wanna Hold You | I'm on Drugs 7" | SS Records 2009
TEENAGE PANZERKORPS | Corpse on an Empty Stage | Arc de Triomphe 7" | Captured Tracks *new
VICHY WATER | trk 1 | 6 Songs CDR demo | no label *new
BLACK TIME | Contract | split LP w/ Ty Segall | Telephone Explosion *new
TY SEGALL | The Frog | Horn the Unicorn | HBSP-2X *new
TY SEGALL | Dropout Boogie [Capt. Beefheart] | Lemons | Goner *new
BOX ELDERS | Alice & Friends | Alice & Friends | Goner *new
THE SPITS | Alienize | The Spits | Recess *new
THE JARS | Electric Third Rail | Start Rite Now 7" | Subterranean 1980
TV GHOST | The Network | TV Ghost | In The Red *new
X | Suck Suck | Aspirations | X Music 1979
HPP | Teenage Life Crisis | tour CS | no label *new
HPP | side B, songs 1-2
FANG | You're Cracked | Where the Wild Things Are | Boner 1984 *request
TALES OF TERROR | Romance | Tales of Terror | C.D. Presents 1984 *request
PISSED JEANS | Dominate Yourself | King of Jeans | Sub Pop *new

So, I first saw this HPP band two Sundays ago in Sacramento at The Hub with Mutating Meltdown and Vichy Water. Unfortunately for them (and everyone who missed it), about 30 of the 35 people in attendance (including Dyl-Dawg (great job!)) left right after Mutating Meltdown, so the singer--shirtless and wasted since before the show even began--veered toward the edge of patheticness as he exhorted the tiny crowd to "GIVE US MONEY! WE'RE BROKE! WE NEED MONEY! CAN YOU TURN DOWN THE SUCK IN THIS MICROPHONE?"

Seriously, I was preparing for the worst. But then the band ripped into their rollicky hardcore, and I was amazed by that guitar tone which seemed expertly honed to resemble those first two Fang 12"es, but with transfixing Ginn-like leads. Surely, there's been plenty of bands recalling that style in the latter half of this decade, but this is the first time I've felt like it was therapeutic dermabrasion. The rhythm section was solid but loose at all the right moments, and everyone's frustration with fuckheads and boredom resonated together perfectly in that room as Dylan's vocals were cruising just below their redline limit while his verge-of-a-blackout lack of awareness conveyed a delicious lack of giving a fuck.

The singer and bassist got into a pretty serious row which seemed to nearly break out in fisticuffs as each would-be combatant blamed the other for screwing up the previous song. The next song proceeded perfectly despite them both being intertwined in a grapple-hold from the shoulders up. (Somehow, the bassist still played all of his parts perfectly!) Now the five or six of us in the audience were checking each others' astonished looks and we all kept breaking into laughter. We knew we'd be guilt-tripping those kids who made an early exit. And it worked to fill up my car just this last Saturday for a trip to "Wizard Fest" in San Francisco to see HPP be the burly goats on a world-class partyband bill with Traditional Fools, Nodzzz, Grass Widow, and next week's special in-studio guests, Rank/Xerox. Indeed, all of the bands were splendid, and the setting in the basement and backyard of Wizard Mountain was fantastic. I think it was probably--start to finish--the best time I've had a show in 2009 so far (might also be 'cos I wasn't the least bit reponsible for anything!). But HPP were surely the clincher, even though they refused to play my request spot! Next time, fellas! And I really hope that there is a next time. This tour looked like a non-stop bender for singer Dylan and a miserable moneypit for everyone. That's the kinda breaks that can devastate a band. But I really hope they live to tour again 'cos YOU really MUST see this band, and the recordings on that tour tape truly belong on vinyl.

Check out this YouTube footage here...









Part 5..."embedding disabled by request"

Part 6..."embedding disabled by request"

Based on our observances over 2½ days in Sacto plus in S.F., though, I can tell you that the apparent mayhem in parts 5-6 of this series is not par for the course. So, don't be afraid to meet this band next time they tour. The only thing they devastated were minds, ear drums, and a few braincells.

The next incoming tour I'm really excited about features two of my favorite Canadian bands...Defektors and Sex Church. Defektors have issued a couple of superb singles and dished three choice cuts on last year's Emergency Room vol. 1 LP of today's exciting Vancouver scene, and their first album is right on the cusp (hopefully they get it in time!). They've got a sorta seductive dark edge to them, yet there's also a hint of glitter in those songs. Sex Church feature a couple fellows from Ladies Night, which Sacto/Davis showgoers might remember as one of the most exciting bands to have played at Delta of Venus during its five-shows-per-week heyday a few years back. Their debut vinyl is on Sweet Rot and should be available in time for this tour. These guys also bring some psych-punk darkness that sorta conjures up thoughts of Easter Monkeys.

Friday, August 15 in Vancouver, BC, Canada
@ the Astoria

Wednesday, August 19 in Eugene, OR
@ Tiny Tavern w/ Hanging Coffins

Thursday, August 20 in West Sacramento, CA
@ 300 Room w/ Charles Albright XXXperience (debut & perhaps one-time ever!)

Friday, August 21 in Oakland
@ TBA w/ Shannon & The Clams

Saturday, August 22 in Los Angeles
@ Mr. T’s Bowl

Sunday, August 23 in San Diego
@ Soda Bar w/ Blessure Grave and Beaters

Monday, August 24 in Bakersfield
@ Basement Gallery

Tuesday, August 25 in Fresno
@ Chinatown Youth Center

Wednesday, August 26 in Santa Cruz
@ TBA

Thursday, August 27 in San Francisco
@ the Knockout w/ Box Elders and Fresh & Onlys

Friday, August 28 in Portland, OR
@ Slabtown

Saturday, August 29 in Seattle
@ Funhouse w/Coconut Coolouts

C'mon, TBAs...don't leave such rad bands hanging!

AFS v. 230 ~ Ratas del Vaticano live on KDVS (+ introducing Vichy Water!)

KDVS Coyote Services is proud to present a special live-in-Studio-A performance from Ratas del Vaticano, the most psychotic sounding punk rock menace from Monterrey, Mexico. The raw, rugged, slashy, and savage set reveals them to be a tremendous live band. It begins at approximately minute 20 of this two-hour podcast. See below the playlist for an outline of the final dates of their first U.S. tour. And if you haven't picked up their Mocosos Pateticos LP on Siltbreeze, hurry and get it already...it's one of the best albums of 2009 so far!

At approximately minute 80 begins the live performance of Vichy Water, the newest band in Sacramento, who just played their first public performance on Sunday night at The Hub in Sacto with Mutating Meltdown and H.P.P. They were a smashing success despite being a last-minute fill-in band for another new band that went quickly kaput, and just two practices later, they impressed me so much that I asked them to play tonight, too! The band features Julian of The Mayyors, Liz (proprietor of Buffcastle and chief funmaker of Funcastle (the busiest house-show epicenter in Northern California)), and Dylan (of high school and "four bands in seven weeks"). Too bad KDVS is not a TV channel tonight....the visual element of Dylan paying tribute to local music heroes was side-splittingly funny.

Download this program within two months at this link...
CLICK HERE for 192kbps rate.
or
CLICK HERE for 320kbps rate.

(email me if there are any downloading problems, please!)

SHELL SHOCK | Execution Time | Your Way 7" | Vinyl Solution 1981
GUILTY RAZORS | Provocate/Hurts and Noises | I Don't Wanna Be a Rich 7" | Seventeen 2006 (orig 1978)
WRONG KIND OF STONE AGE | Run Amok | Flying Low to Batavia 7" | no label 1984
DESECHABLES | La Oracion | La Oracion 7" | Tres Cipreses 1983
H.P.P. | Force to Be Reckoned With(???) | s/t cassette | no label *new
CLOCKWORK CRIMINALS | No Future UK | Young & Bold 7" | Ace 1982
TV GHOST | Bastille | Cold Fish | In The Red *new
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
RATAS DEL VATICANO live in Studio A
Cerebro Sintetico
Mirada Fija
Comienzate a Masturbar
Esquema Social
Moral de Payaso
No Sabes Que Decir
Obsesionado
Primitivo
Asi Funciona el Rocanrol
Paranoia
Disimula tu Pendejez
Puñeta con Frenesi
Disparame, Ya no Quiero Toser
Cantina
Pilar/Encanada
Olvido
El Cholo del Salon
Te Apuñalare en el Recto
Tema de las Ratass
Que Vivan Los Buenos Amigos y el Rocanrol
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
RANK/XEROX | Turn to Stone | split cassette w/ Grass Widow | Wizard Mountain *new
THE PROLETARIAT | Events Repeat | Soma Holiday | Radiobeat/Non-U 1983
THE EX | Red Muzak | Tumult | FAI 1983
COUNTERFEIT MONSTERS | Acupressure | s/t CD | no label 2002
TALBOT TAGORA | Black Ice | Lessons in the Woods or a City | Hardly Art *new
THE GORDONS | Adults & Children | Future Shock 12" EP | Flying Nun 1980
MUTATING MELTDOWN | Raised by a Pack of T.V. Sets | LP cassette | Skrot Up *new
RANDOM CUTS | Pigeon Park | Make Damage 7" | Nominal *new
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
VICHY WATER live in Studio A
song 1
song 2
song 3
song 4
song 5
song 6
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
RATAS DEL VATICANO interview
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
DEFEKTORS | Torn to Pieces | Torn to Pieces 7" | Nominal 2008
MANIKIN | Fumes | Stop the Sirens | Super Secret *new
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
VICHY WATER interview
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
CRASH NORMAL | Hairy Wine [Country Teasers] | Flying to NY 7" | Plastic Idol *new

Don't miss Ratas del Vaticano if they're coming to your area...

Tuesday, August 4 in San Francisco
@ The Hemlock Tavern
w/ Hank IV & Quintron

Wednesday, August 5 in Portland, OR
@ Party at Zach's House, 2626 SE 50th
w/ Eat Skull

Thursday, August 6 in Seattle
@ The Funhouse
w/ Mammal, M.A. Turner, & The Grey

Friday, August 7 in Seattle
@ Jules Mae's Saloon
w/ Pig Heart Transplant

Saturday, August 8 in Tacoma, WA
@ Voodoo Tattoo
w/ Highlight Bomb

Tuesday, August 11 in Tijuana, Mexico
@ more Info TBA) Tijuana, Baja California

Thursday, August 13 back home in Monterrey, Mexico
@ El Garage
w/ Mutating Meltdown

Further evidence that you need to see Ratas...





Thanks to Fenris Wulf for engineering/mixing the sound, Tim Hance for loaning drums, to David Nguyen (DJ End Stop) and Sean Johannessen (Mucky the Ducky) for loaning guitars, Vichy Water for loaning amps and bass, and Karla Hernandez for the band photography.

AFS v. 229½ ~ XYX live on KDVS!

XYX is closing out their first California tour with a live performance on Freeform KDVS in Davis tonight. I'll tell you all about the tour when I can get a handle on post-tour life, but we had a great time. Look back here in a day or two for the tour diary. For now, download this episode of Mick Mucus' "Hardcore Party: The Chicken Years", and catch XYX's live in-studio performance at approximately minute 36....

Download this program within two months at this link...
CLICK HERE for 192kbps rate.
or
CLICK HERE for 320kbps rate.

playlist...
No Va Conmigo / Teatro Negro
Sobrenada
Momento Acido Contemporaneo
Tal
77 Dias
Nunca Nunca / S.P.Y.
Neptunia
Microvibraciones

Also, if you have any pics or videos of the shows on this tour, please send 'em to me so that I can post them here!!!

rickele (at) gmail (dot) com

AFS v. 229 ~ Coyote Hungry!

I skipped dinner to blog (verb, transitive) you these important announcements....

(1) Freeform KDVS and Art for Spastics "Coyote" Services presents...

XYX, from Monterrey, Mexico, throughout the state of Califas, Áztlan--California, dig?--from Monday, July 20 through Tuesday, July 28. XYX are a tremendous two-piece noisepunk unit of awesome fury and femininity who combine aggressive, relentless pummelling action with partyhardy pulse and creative effects sorcery that adds a psychedelic edge. Sorta kindred to The Mayyors in that sense! Check below this playlist for the full tour schedule (don't trust the playlist on the flier; there's been a lotta last-minute shuffling, sorry...)

(2) Speaking of relentless pummelling action....My special in-studio guests this week are Pigeon Religion, from Phoenix, Arizona. These guys writhe and seethe to weave a maelstrom of muscular rhythm and creepy crawly sinews of scrawly guitars. Rather agonizing! They're touring now, heading north to Oregon and Washington before returning via the inter-mountain West. They pack incredible power, perspire by the bucketload, and put on a riveting show to watch.....surely, you'd never expect a band this heavy to have a stand-up drummer. Their full live set can be heard beginning around minute 20 in this podcast. It's highly recommended for fans of AFS faves such as The New Flesh, Hammerhead, Gob (Reno), Mercury 4°F, etc.

Download this program within two months at this link...
CLICK HERE for 192kbps rate.
or
CLICK HERE for 320kbps rate.

(email me if there are any downloading problems, please!)

RED MASS | Refrigerator | 10" | Red Lounge *new
BLACK TIME | Radio in the Dark | split LP w/ Ty Segall | Telephone Explosion *new
BLACK TIME | You Don't Love Me
FAG COP | Attack of the Killer Bong Rips | random CDR promo | no label *new
FRANCIS HAROLD & THE HOLOGRAMS | Why Are You So Afraid? | Who Said These Were Happy Times? | Going Underground/Square Wave *new
~~~~live in Studio A~~~~~
PIGEON RELIGION | Crystallized Meth
PIGEON RELIGION | Shootist
PIGEON RELIGION | Scorpion Milk
PIGEON RELIGION | White Fluff
PIGEON RELIGION | Dead Boss
PIGEON RELIGION | Dust Rust
PIGEON RELIGION | Huge Bummer
PIGEON RELIGION | Henderson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FRANCIS HAROLD & THE HOLOGRAMS | Retreat | Mirror of Fear 7" | HoZac *new
BILLY BAO | A1 | May 08 | Parts Unknown *new
THE MAYYORS | The Crawl | Deads 12" EP | Hurling Man *request *new
XYX | Anel and Her Problem | Sistema de Terminacion Sexual 7" | SS Records 2008
XYX | Momento Ácido Contemporáneo | Momento Ácido Contemporáneo 7" | Skulltones *new
DMPH | Sacramento | Parties Hard 7" | Weird Forest *new
BLACK PUS | Bark of the Tree | Down Down the Drain 7" | Skulltones *new
KK RAMPAGE | No Sign of the Sun Returning | v/a: Tarantismo Summit Vol. 1 | Rampage *new
TV GHOST | Prodrome | The Fiend 7" | Columbus Discount *new
KOUNT FISTULA | Jaws V | Magick Sex World 2xCD | Scatalogical Liberation Front *new
KOUNT FISTULA | Rawdy Randy Plant
L.D.S. | Graveyard | Nightmare | Underworld 1986
SAND IN THE FACE | I Wanna Be Dead | v/a: Master Tape vol 2 | Affirmation 1983
ANTI-BODIES | After Life | v/a: Master Tape vol. 2 | Affirmation 1983
THE LEWD | Beyond Moderation | American Wino | I.C.I. 1982
THE BREAKOUTS | No More | No More 12" EP | Accelerator 1983
BAD POSTURE | Time for Smack | Bad Posture 12" EP | Irresponsible 1983
CHRONIC SICK | Public Suicide | The Cutest Band in Hardcore 7" | Mutha 1982
RATAS DEL VATICANO | Obsesionado | Mocosos Pateticos | Siltbreeze 2009
HIGH CASTLE | Are Fixed Gear Tricksters the New Rollerbladers? | You're on Your Own Way | Zum *new

"Art for Spastics" will not continue as normal for the next couple of Monday nights because I will be personally roadie-ing XYX all over the state for their first West Coast tour in support of their second 7" vinyl release...Momento Ácido Contemporáneo on Skulltones. Limited to 400 copies, this tour will be your best chance to pick up this fantastic follow-up to last year's debut on SS Records, which topped several year-end favorites lists.

Mon July 20 in Sacramento @ The Hub
1819 23rd Street
w/ Vol. 4, Nice Dresses*

Tue July 21 in Oakland @ Mama Buzz
2318 Telegraph Ave. (7-10pm only)
w/ Rank/Xerox, Hot Summer

Wed July 22 in San Francisco @ Balazo/Sub-Mission
2183 Mission Street
w/ Brain Killer, Acephlalix, Steeples

Thu July 23 in Los Angeles @ Mr. T's Bowl
5621½ N Figueroa St
w/ Wounded Lion, Woah Hunx, co-DJ'd by DJ Eric on Anomalous L.A. and me(!)

Fri July 24 in San Diego @ Soda Bar
3615 El Cajon Blvd
w/ Spirit Photography, Blue Jungle, BRAAIINS!

Sat July 25 in Calexico @ La Hamaca
221 Campillo
w/ Ronni No Good, Juan Zirerol, DJ Slumpy Lover

Sun July 26 in Los Angeles @ L'Keg Gallery
311 Glendale Blvd. (early 2pm show/"post-hangover party")
w/ Blue Jungle, Gestapo Khazi, DeHombres, Gossip Tree, Mikki and The Mauses, Cobalt Cranes, Peg Leg Love
(open bar w/ Mimosa and Sangria- all you can drink deal for $8)

Mon July 27 San Francisco @ El Rincon
2700 16th St
w/ Hank IV, the Drums, High Castle

Tue July 28 live on KDVS 90.3 FM
http://www.kdvs.org/listen/
during "The Chicken Years" w/ Mick Mucus, 9-11 pm

* yeah, that's my new band with Julian from Mayyors, Kyle from Ganglians, Andrew GGreen, and Dylan from high school. We surprised ourselves at our last show...We are surely ready to be seen now!

Check out a taste of XYX live...


Also, when I resume "Art for Spastics" on Monday, August 3, KDVS "Coyote" Services will be bringing another incredible band from Monterrey, Mexico...Siltbreeze recording artists and punk psychopaths Ratas del Vaticano!

AFS v. 228 ~ Sac-Wide Four Loko Shortage!

Four of the world's partyhardiest bands converge on the DAM House in Davis (503 E Street) on Saturday night, July 11, at 7:00 ('til the strike of 10pm), including the preeminent partyband of planet Earth, the Coconut Coolouts! Personal & the Pizzas and The Pizzas are a match made in partyheaven, and The Four Eyes are masters of the world's most charming brainworm of a song..."Hat Nerd"! A whole new generation of Aggies've gotta pass the rite of memorizing the lyrics and singing along. This is only day five of a seven-day-in-a-row feat of strength wherein at least one rad show is happening in the Sacto/Davis area. See below playlist for more info, plus features on some records to trip out to after you're partysore...

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COCONUT COOLOUTS | Coconut Weekend | Party Time Machine | Xeroid/Haunted Horse 2007
LE FACE | Salvador Dali | Isolation | Dead Beat *new
FAG COP | Dope Womb | random CD-R promo | no label *new
MILK MUSIC | Nervous Wreck | Milk Music CS | no label *new
HANK IV | Dirty Poncho | Dirty Poncho 7" | Plastic Idol 2007
SEX CHURCH | Ghost | advance tracks & demos CDR | no label *new
LEGENDARY WINGS | 20,000,000 Miles to Earth | v/a: I'd Buy That for a Dollar vol. 1 7" | UFO Dictator *new
ELECTRIC BUNNIES | Rest Your Head... | split 7" w/ Pink Reason | Die Stasi *new
DEAD AT 24 | When Delirium Comes (It's Probably Just as Well) | Blast Off Motherfucker! | Ride the Snake *new
HIGH CASTLE | Solomon | You're on Your Own Way | Zum *new
MANIKIN | Mirrors | Stop the Sirens | Super Secret *new
TRIPOD JIMMIE | Nu Spartans | Long Walk Off a Short Pier | Do Speak 1982
ANIMALS & MEN | Dreaming of Babylon | Animals & Men 12" EP | Convulsive *new
THE REBEL | Riding in the Sun | Aiming Low 7" | Lexidisques *new
39 CLOCKS | Dom (Electricity Elects the Rain) | Zoned | De Stijl *new (orig 1982)
MOON DUO | Love on the Sea | Moon Duo 12" EP | Sick Thirst *new
EDDY CURRENT SUPPRESSION RING | Demon's Demands | Demon's Demands 7" | Iron Lung *new
SUPER WILD HORSES | What Started the Noise | 6-song 7" | Aarght! *new
SILVER SHAMPOO | Dogs | Jethro Skull 7" | What's Your Rupture? *new
THE FOUR EYES | Hat Nerd | Hat Nerd 7" | Sacramento 2000
CHEAP TIME | Woodland Drive | Penny and Jenny 7" | In the Red *new
FLIGHT | Flowers | Flowers 7" | Sweet Rot *new
WOVEN BONES | Your Sorcery | Your Sorcery 7" | Sweet Rot *new
TY SEGALL & MIKAL CRONIN | Pop Song | Pop Song 7" | Goodbye Boozy 2009
TY SEGALL | No No | Cents 7" | Goner *new
TY SEGALL | 86'd | Universal Momma 7" | True Panther Sounds *new
CAPPUTINI I'LIGNU | Digging U a Hole | 4-song 7" | Shit Music for Shit People *new
CHEATER SLICKS | II | Bats in the Dead Trees | Lost Treasures of the Underworld 2008
HAMMER OF HATHOR | Lady Hermit | Tooth Eeth or Teeth Ooth | Shimmering on a Dim Tide *new
MUDBOY | Thaw | Music for Any Speed 7" | Lexidisques *new
AFCGT | Mensbatsu Tu/Penniless | AFCGT 10" | Dirty Knobby 2009

If you're in the Sacto/Yolo vicinity, this week and next are gonna be another ridiculous Feats of Strength made possibly largely because Freeform KDVS 90.3 FM in Davis plays all these bands and makes things happen (in fact, most of these were booked by KDVS personnel)....

KDVS Presents
Tuesday, July 7 @ Haussler House
7pm, 1818 Haussler Drive in Davis
Le Face (L.A.)
B-Lines (Vancouver, BC)
Gestapo Khazi (LBC)

Tuesday, July 7 @ Blue Lamp
9pm, Alhambra at N Street in Sacto
Reverend Beat Man (Switzerland)

Sacto Funmaker Bosses present
Wednesday, July 8 @ Funcastle
8pm, 2309 L Street in Sacto
High Castle (ex-Child Pornography/Duchesses/Hips/etc.)
Hookerfight
Nice Dresses (a Mayyor, GGreen, Dylan from high school, & me drumming)

Record Club presents
Thursday, July 9 @ Blue Lamp, 9pm
Th'Losin' Streaks (unrivalled explosive power in the trad garagepunk game!)
Jeepster
In the Dust
Van Pham

KDVS & Cool As Folk presents
Thursday, July 9 @ Luigi's Fungarden
8pm, 1050 20th Street in Sacto
Nick Jaina (PDX)
Garrett Pierce (He's back!!!)
Sea of Bees (Joolzzz!!!)

KDVS Presents
Friday, July 10 @ The Hub
8pm, 1819 23rd Street in Sacto (btw R & S)
AFCGT (A Frames + Climax Golden Twins)
The Hank IV (definition of "nailing it")
DMPH (7" release!/Stockdale/Corcoran + Derek of Oaxacan)
Art Lessing & Flower Vato Quartet (world-class psych)

KDVS Presents
Saturday, July 11 @ DAM House
7-10pm, 503 E Street in Davis
Coconut Coolouts (Seattle)
Personal & the Pizzas (NJ)
The Pizzas (Sacto)
The Four Eyes (hat nerds!)

KDVS Presents
Sunday, July 12 @ Cypress House
5pm, BBQ!, 1114 Cypress Lane in Davis
Pumice (New Zealand)
San Francisco Water Cooler
Joe Finkel
(last show at this house)

KDVS Presents
Monday, July 13 @ _____?
I think it's at a house in Davis...
Meth Teeth (PDX)
+ ???

BOLD denotes extremely highly recommended by my damn self!!!

When you're completely partyspent after this cavalcade is through, recharge with a couple of cool, trippy new records that are recommended for deep listening...

I've heard several murmurs among fans of Wooden Shjips that folks are digging the last few EPs much more than the LPs. I've gotta agree...especially in the case of Dos. But I'm really enjoying this new Moon Duo 12" EP which combines two sidelong songs at 45 rpm for maximum crispness, clarity, and volume. Scantly packaged in a blank white sleeve stickered with a moon photo and the number "2", this EP conjures up the shady mystique which the band had built on the strength of their first two releases...the ultra-minimalist debut 10" and the cover-less Dance, California 7". Hearing the world after the brisk and bright "Love on the Sea", it's like looking at life after staring at the sun through the blades of a fan...except it's more like an enhancement rather than a debilitating impairment. Guitars and keys enmesh so perfectly and relentlessly that the steady locomotive riff is emblazoned in your mind, heightening the perception of moments when either instrument goes even slightly out of phase with the other. One little teeny thing can be made to seem so large....kinda like what I've read about how L.S.D. works. For a "straight-edge ""youth"" such as myself, this is a pretty cool trip (maaannnn!!!). As for how you get your grubby little mitts on this, your guess is as good as mine. The band website makes no mention of this record in the discography, and the label website is no longer informational in the least. GOOD LUCK!!! UPDATE: Thanks to anonymous commenter for setting this straight....This is not a Wooden Shjips records....This is a band featuring guitarist Ripley of the Shjips called Moon Duo. I was completely thrown off because the package arrived at KDVS addressed from "W. Shjips". Still, this is most highly recommendable to fans of the Shjips' EPs!

From Portland comes the first vinyl full-length by a duo of experimental musicians called Hammer of Hathor. I have seen Heather Vergotis skronk supremely on a baritone sax that's over half as long as she is tall in bands like Evolutionary Jass Band and Fly!Fly!Fly!Fly!Fly! (she's also done stints in Jackie O. Motherfucker). Mark Kaylor has performed in AU, Ghost to Falco, Portland Bike Ensemble, the Oregon Artificial Limb Co., and the rather creative sorta-HC band Cells. I first took a keener interest in Mark when I saw him perform in a duo called Haiku Ambulance which conjured ghosts in feedback so awesomely when they performed in the echoey Fools Foundation (r.i.p.) in Sacramento a few years ago. I first saw Mark and Heather perform together in Cex Fucx, rather the psych jamrock dance-party vibe-charmer band which also featured Gabriel Mindel of Yellow Swans. I feared that it would be way too cheesy, but there was a cumulative effect of awesomeness that broke like a wave over a crowd of sweaty kids at Funcastle last year. So, I've seen these two do it all in so many different bands, I never know what to expect next when they appear in new formations. To be sure, I did actually buy the first Hammer of Hathor tape at that Cex Fucx show, and due to the lossy type-I cassette format, it was probably the one thing that I've heard from either of them which failed to leave much of an impression on me. But the sound of Tooth Eeth or Teeth Ooth--produced by Mike Lastra at Smegma Studios--is very detailed, separated yet synergistic, timbrally rich (and thereby vibrant), and increasingly rewarding upon repeat listens. As an improvisational record, the album's neatly composed and interestingly paced, too...two songs per side; one more demanding and confrontational workout (A-side begins with hints of lurching doom; militaristic rigor on B) followed by a soothing meditative piece of audio-Calgon to sweep you into a dreamstate. Look for it wherever you buy Mississippi Records releases....this is distro'd through them.

Now, finally......back to that Sacto-est of Sacto party anthems..."Hat Nerd" by The Four Eyes...It really is a must that every partygoer prepare for its power. This song is never gonna leave your mind once you let it in. Let Mrs. Hart's fifth-graders show you how uncool it is to have the heart of a Grinch!

AFS v. 227 ~ feat. Orange Coax!

This week's special in-studio guest came all the way from Denton, Texas...Orange Coax! On the strength of a cassette tape, they embarked on their first interstate tour. With so little fanfare surrounding them, I wasn't able to get them in front of a real audience here in Sacto or Davis, but they graciously visited us here at Freeform KDVS to play a sweltering live set in Studio A, and then picking all the records in the last hour. This band joins Druid Perfume and The Careerers among the handful of today's punk bands to prominently feature a saxophone on every song, and they might be the only such band which is actually only a saxophonist plus drums and vocals...no guitars of any kind. Their chattery clattery rhythms relentlessly ride the 16ths, chopped up only by spazzy variances. Sasha's bold agitpunk voice often brings to mind Katrin of The Ex at her most urgent (think "Tightly Stretched" from Joggers & Smoggers), but it's a little bit betrayed here as her vocal chords were a little bit road-weary....still a solid performance! Don't miss this band the next time around...they're really fun! And keep your eyes peeled for vinyl records on the horizon. Watch for more info on this band here...
http://www.myspace.com/orangecokes

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THE SEEDS | No Escape | The Seeds | GNP Crescendo 1967
THE SEEDS | Tripmaker | A Web of Sound | GNP Crescendo 1968
THE HUNCHES | Lost Time Frequency | Home Alone 5 | In The Red *new
THEE OH SEES | 7484 | split 7" w/ Jay Reatard | Shattered *new
THE MAYYORS | Clicks | Deads 12" EP | Hurling Man *new
HIGH CASTLE | Scary Things Are Everywhere | You're on Your Own Way | Zum *new
BLOODY MANNEQUIN ORCHESTRA | Ritual | Roadmap to Evolution | WGNS/EPU 1984
MUTATING MELTDOWN | Fantasy | Fantasy 7" | M'Lady's *new
* * * * Live in Studio A * * * *
ORANGE COAX | Prague Dad
ORANGE COAX | Pimps n Bows
ORANGE COAX | No Know No Know
ORANGE COAX | Lolli Mops
ORANGE COAX | Slow Dance
ORANGE COAX | St. Petersburg
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
THE DEADBEATS | Kill the Hippies | Kill the Hippies 7" | Dangerhouse 1978
THE CONTORTIONS | Flip Your Face | v/a: No New York | Antilles 1978
KING SNAKE ROOST | D.T.'s | Things That Play Themselves | Aberrant 1989
FEEDTIME | Curtains | Shovel | Aberrant 1986
KILLDOZER | Lupus | Twelve Point Buck | Touch and Go 1989
BPEOPLE | Can Can't | BPeople | Faulty 1981
DOGFACED HERMANS | Frock | Every Day Timebomb | Konkurrel 1989
JUNGLE NAUSEA | Sleeping Sickness | v/a: Flies Like Holidays | Pigface 1982
ABE VIGODA | A Bell Though, That's Fucked Up | Abe Vigoda Comes Alive Reduxzz 3" CDR | LA is Waxpaper 2004
STANDARD TRIBESMEN | Waiting | v/a: Cityy Managgers | no label 2009
THE UNITS | Cannibals | High Pressure Days 7" | no label 1979
NERVOUS GENDER | Cardinal Newman | Music From Hell split 12" w/ Beelzebub Youth | Subterranean 1982
NERVOUS GENDER | Confession | v/a: Live at Target | Subterranean 1980
NO TREND | Cancer | Teen Love 7" | no label 1983
VENOM P. STINGER | Dear God | What's Yours Is Mine | Aberrant 1990
THE NEED | Crown | The Need | Chainsaw 1997
SPARKS | Achoo | Propaganda | Island 1974
KLAUS NOMI | Rubberband Lazer | Simple Man | RCA 1982
KAYAK | Chance for Lifetime | Royal Bed Bouncer | Janus 1975
GENE DEFCON | Liz | Liz 7" | Lookout 2007
CEBE BARNS BAND | You Use Me For Fashion | Height of Fashion 7" | Horsekitty 1996

AFS v. 226 ~ Mayyors present Dawn of the "Deads"!

Deads on 45 has dawned, and it is the brand-new record by The Mayyors of Sacramento. Their first 12" comprises three roiling scorchers similar to the summer hits "Airplanes" and "White Jeep" from last year's Megan's LOLZ 7", plus tonight's feature--the title song--which is steamrolls at an unprecedentedly slow and deliberative churning pace for the band. Plus, "Deads" ratchets up the noise to levels only heard during their legendary live shows. Fans who have only heard them on their 7"es before this should assume the duck-and-cover position now. Come to Thursday night's record release party featuring The Mayyors with The Hunches (more info below the playlist)...

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ENGLISH SINGLES | Daydream | English Cassingles... CS | Palace of the Golden Cassingle *new
DAVILA 666 | Sabes Que Quiero | Primero Muerta 7-inch | HoZac *new
DAVILA 666 | Pingorocha y la Diva Rockera | Pingorocha... 7" | Douche Master *new
GANGLIANS | Try to Understand | Monster Headroom LP+7-inch | Weird Forest *new
THE HUNCHES | Unraveling | Exit Dreams | In The Red 2009
THE ZEBRA ATTACK | Organize Powers | Lightwieght Into Earblocking Noises | Soundexploder 2004
MAYYORS | Deads | Deads 12-inch EP | Hurling Man *new
CHROME | Mondo Anthem | Half Machine Lip Moves | Siren 1979
ZENI GEVA | Nai-Ha/Terminal HZ | Nai-Ha/Super Unit LP+1-sided 12-inch | Skin Graft 1996
WHITE SUNS | Summer Tape Mix | v/a: Human Conduct Detox Program CDR | Human Conduct 2009
FRANCIS HAROLD & THE HOLOGRAMS | I See It All | Who Said These Were Happy Times | Going Underground/Square Wave *new
MANIKIN | Grinding Halt [The Cure] | Stop the Sirens | Super Secret *new
CRASH NORMAL | Finger Shower | Finger Shower 10" | Rijapov *new
CRASH NORMAL | Flying to NY | Flying to NY 7" | Plastic Idol *new
THE MANIKINS | Let Me Go | The Start For Me 7" | Plastic Idol *new
KING TUFF | Ruthie | Was Dead CS | Burger *new
MANO DE MONO | Man in the Corner | Humans 7-inch | Discos Humeantes *new
CONCENTRATION SUMMER CAMPS | Speakin' Romanian | You Hate C.S.C. 7-inch | Discos Humeantes *new
LAS NURSES | So Tired | Apples & Hatreds 7-inch | Discos Humeantes *new
BIPOLAR BEAR | The Desert Tree | new 7-inch | ??? *forthcoming
TALBOT TAGORA | Internet Fixture | split 10" w/ Bipolar Bear | olFactory *new
CHRIS WOODHOUSE | M1 | v/a: Cityy Managgers CDR | no label 2001?
SWERVEDRIVER | Flawed | Sandblasted EP | Creation 1991 *request
JESSAMINE | Inevitably | Jessamine | Kranky 1994
FIFTY FOOT HOSE | Cauldron | Cauldron | Weasel Disc 1994 (orig 1967)
CIRCUIT DES YEUX | Fruition...P o P Marvellous | Fruition 7" | Dull Knife *new
BLUES CONTROL | Tangier | Local Flavor | Siltbreeze *new

If you're in the Sacramento area, the most reliable way to get your mitts on The Mayyors' Deads 12" EP is to come to the official record release party at The Funcastle (2309 L Street), which starts at 8pm with The Blimp, and then features The Pizzas and The Hunches (during their brief Exit Dreams reunion tour to make their end official). You must donate ≥ $5 to avoid the guilty feeling of leaving two band vans in need of gasoline and eight Oregonian musicians in search of food and beer. Figure on bringing $10 more for Deads. I promise it'll be worth it. Maybe spend less on beer....don'tcha know the Mayyors will pass 'em around for free before their set cracks off? Each Deads cover is a "handmade" original artwork created by the muddy dancing feet of the Mayyors in singer John's backyard on a rare stormy June night here in Sacto. I chose an extra fancy copy festooned with some refuse from drummer Julian's pockets.

Don't even fret about spending $10 (plus postage for those unlucky enough not to be at the party) for four songs 'cos Deads sets a new bar for the Mayyors and for EP releases in 2009. These are the four best Mayyors songs so far, and they are rendered impeccably onto deluxe 180-gram vinyl mastered by John Golden, so you know that no corner was cut. The three uptempo ragers are even louder, more ruthless, and somehow also catchier than the Marines Dot Com or Megan's LOLZ 7"es, while the lugubrious title track--its bullish buzzy, yet rapturous riff clanging like a klaxon, beckoning the band's minions to the altar of patient zero of a zombie apocalypse--is by far the must punishing. "Deads" has become the perfect outro to the band's live sets. After the entire crowd is sweat-soaked following their program of turbulent boogaloo-scuzz catharsis-partyhits, this slow-burner comes like a much-needed cool-down after a strenuous workout, when the minions can only muster the bleary lurch of a zombie. Really, I'm not even kidding...people always dance like zombies when this song is performed.

"Clicks" is also really remarkable, as it's surely the most integral full-band achievement yet. The most tenacious mach-speed motorik drumbeat drives forward a supremely nifty interlocking bass/guitar riff while singer John Pritchard is in his very best and most aggressive form, and that's just describing the first verse! As the band varies from the riff, it becomes even more thrilling as the arcane synth device is deployed to warp waves of perfectly tuned guitar scree in time with the constantly stout cadence, and as a grand finalé, the rhythm section flourishes with thundering tumbles and divebombing bass slides. Each member is achieving optimal performance simultaneously within a stunningly arranged and peerlessly produced song.

Also this week--by popular demand--here's further proof that the wallop of a Woodhouse production is always so astounding. "M1" is from a deep well of tightly guarded solo recordings from early this decade between Karate Party and FM Knives. Chris generously offered it to me for inclusion in my KDVS Fundraiser 2009 thank-you gift compilation CDR, Cityy Managgers. This is some incredible soaring dreampop of scintillating beauty coupled with jolting impact. It's like firing a howitzer from the basket of a hot-air balloon floating through a splendorous alpine valley. My Bloody Valentine coulda reformed with Brian Chippendale in tow, and I don't know if it could come off this perfect.

Now have a look at some footage of the Mayyors live at KDVS presents Operation: Restore Maximum Freedom VII fest on May 16. Imagine how it would've sounded if this were recorded in front of the speakers!!!

AFS v. 225 ~ Is This Your Final Hunch???

Sorry, gang...I missed my Monday night show this week due to a deluge of busywork at the office. Thanks to DJ Trotsky for filling in! But hey, I put together a special hour of music for you to download tonight because DJ Fuzzbox Flynn was home sick. Have a listen! Read on for features of the new NoBunny and final Hunches tour...

Download this program within two months at this link...
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R. STEVIE MOORE | U.R. True | U.R. True + 3 7" | Felony Fidelity *new
JEFFREY NOVAK | One of a Kind | One of a Kind 7" | Sweet Rot *new
THE SHACKLES | Funeral Shroud | Broken Arm 7" | Sweet Rot *new
THE RANTOULS | Still 16 | The Songs of the Frontier Villagers 7" | Sunnytrees *new
HUNX & HIS PUNX | Teardrops on My Telephone | Teardrops on My Telephone 7" | Shattered *new
NOBUNNY | Vicious Circle | Raw Romance CS | Burger *new
GANGLIANS | Valient Brave | Monster Head Room LP+7" | Weird Forest *new
PINK REASON | Hey Girl | split 7" w/ Electric Bunnies | Die Stasi *new
LONG LEGGED WOMAN | Agatha the Hagfish | Agatha the Hagfish EP | to be determined *forthcoming?
REPORTS | Bill Wyman, Metal Detector | Bill Wyman, Metal Detector 7" | Ride the Snake *new
SWERVEDRIVER | Zedhead | Rave Down EP | Creation 1990
KILLING JOKE | Twilight of the Mortal | Brighter Than a Thousand Suns | E'G/Virgin 1986
JIM SHEPARD | The Voices of Men | The Voices of Men 7" | Columbus Discount *new
KILLING TIME | Hearing Without a Break Without Hearing a Break | Skip | Epic/Sony 1987
WIRE | Cheeking Tongues | The Ideal Copy | Mute/Enigma 1987
CHEVEU | C'est ça L'amour | Like a Deer in the Headlights 7" | Born Bad *new
GRAFFITI ISLAND | Secret Cave | Head Hunters 7" | House Anxiety *new
FRANCIS HAROLD & THE HOLOGRAMS | Mirror of Fear | Mirror of Fear 7" | HoZac *new
THE HUNCHES | Ate My Teeth | Exit Dreams | In The Red 2009

The comeback of cassettes is eating up so much shelf space at my house....really, guys....when a group of songs by a bonafide it band/artist like NoBunny hangs together like a really superb album, you need to put that on vinyl! This Raw Romance cassette has been auto-reversing in my car all week while I've been making up excuses to go driving. Don't tell me that vinyl pressing plants are gross polluters 'cos the carbon footprint of this tape is ever-expanding with every individual errand I run. This tape is even making me fat by keeping me off the bicycle. Somebody--Burger, Bubbledumb, anybody who wants a sureshot winner--reissue this sucker on a nice slab of wax, please!

Certainly, this is a lot different than Love Visions in that it's not as much a rock album. Raw Romance dares to twang a bit, especially on tonight's featured song and even more so on "The Gutter", which is a true-blue country 'n western should-be-classic that would surely please anyone who remembers Hee Haw fondly. Several other songs feature acoustic guitar strumming and an intimate back porch feel, but it's always as rousing as the NoBunny that you've come to know and love. Who knew that bubblegum folkpunk could rule?!? And so long as this is only on cassette, I've gotta give Burger Records props for doing it right...excellent pro-grade materials make for an enticing good-looking package and pretty much the best fidelity possible from Type-I tape. No obtrusive noise at all (which, alas, is so commonplace in this cassette zeitgeist)! How is this only $5?!?

Nearly halfway through 2009, certainly one of the very tip-top best albums of the year is Exit Dreams by The Hunches, the band who I believe--along with The Wipers and Dead Moon--complete a trilogy of all-time great philosophically untouchable, intensely powerful, yet subtly brilliant, beautiful, and poignant Portland bands. It sorta became a long-running joke that every Hunches live performance in the last 2½ years has been advertised as "last Hunches show ever"...and that was probably about 8-10 shows. And I saw the last one....it was the first night of The Mayyors "Trail of Beers" tour. After seeing The Hunches seven or eight times before, I knew that this was unlike any other Hunches show, and it truly had a feeling of absolute finality. I truly believed that when they said "last Hunches show ever", that show was it. As I told the story to Hunches fans back home in California, several of them felt gypped that they wouldn't get to see 'em again. But thanks to the urging of In the Red honcho Larry Hardy, The Hunches are getting back together to play four engagements, beginning next Wednesday, July 24 at the scene of that legendary night that I'll tell you about next...

Hunches Exit Dreams swansong tour

Wed, June 24 in Portland @ East End (203 SE Grand)
w/ Eat Skull, The Whines, & The Blimp
Thurs, June 25 in Sacramento @ Funcastle (2309 L Street)
w/ The Mayyors, The Pizzas, & The Blimp
Fri, June 26 in San Francisco @ The Hemlock Tavern (1131 Polk)
w/ Long Legged Woman & The Blimp
Sat, June 27 in East L.A. @ house-party (2685 E. Marengo St.)
w/ The Lamps, De Hombres, The Golddiggers, & The Blimp

So, The Hunches have never been less than amazing--or at least highly entertaining--when I've seen them. Basically, you can always count on the rhythm section to be totally and awesomely solid and guitar-god Chris Gunn to be spectacular. Seriously, the guy combines such a rare combination of power and grace...Gunner is a stunner each and every show. The X-factor at any Hunches show is singer Hart. Every show I've seen him perform at, he is in a total waster zone. Sometimes it's a really good zone; sometimes it's kind of a bad belligerent zone, but all the more awesome; and then sometimes it's a particularly bad zone where he looks really peaked, and maybe he'll flop on the floor like a fish and then not be able to get up. Before everyone gets too worried, maybe there's laughter. But regardless, the band is brilliant and unflappable and just dazzling.

At the supposed last Hunches show ever at the East End on June 7, 2008, it started out like any other excellent Hunches show. Midway in, Hart's eyes started looking crazy, and he gradually started antagonizing the fans in the front 'n center area before the stage. His animosity ratcheted up and he took a dive into the audience and started swimming on them. Really, it looked more like Rambo bush-whacking through a jungle. But just as the mayhem began to make some of the crowd uncomfortable, the sound of an unruly wave of guitar feedback caused Hart to turn his head quickly toward Chris Gunn, who was violently destroying his guitar. Within seconds, Chris had demolished the guitar he learned on as a teenager into four pieces. Then his second guitar paid the price of his pent frustration, too, and next, his amps were getting wrestled to the floor. It seemed Chris had ripped a page from Hart's book on how to be the X-factor. As astonished as I was, I looked at Hart and saw such a look of concern on his face, it was clear that he was instantly stone cold sober. When the feedback finally subsided, Chris seemed to have re-entered ordinary consciousness, but after the initial confusion and "I can't believe I just did that!", he actually had a look of relief on his face. That's what I mean by the absolute finality of the moment. I can recall moments of this night just like it was yesterday. It was the most transfixing moment of devastation I've ever seen at a rock show. It was more like seeing a Cock ESP show unfold, but over the course of 30 minutes, and with so much more drama (and, of course, music!).

Now, I don't wanna set myself or you or the band up for disappointment, because each and every show of The Hunches was thrilling and an enriching experience for me. But I think I might hafta cruise down to East L.A. for that last last show just to see how it plays out. I already felt like I saw the end, and I'll be pinching myself to believe it's real.

(photo credits: this fellow (...from a totally different show.))



Also, enjoy the incredibly well-produced video for another irresistible new Hunx nugget!

AFS v. 224 ~ It's Just a Brain!

This week's show is all about songs that are funny. Read below the playlist for features on the best of the Roseville/Loomis/Citrus Heights punk scene of the 90s and the most underrated Aussie slobberviolence of the 90s...

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HAMMER DAMAGE | Laugh | v/a: Killed by Death #9 | Redrum 1978
SEVERED HEADS | Spasm/Spastic Crunch | City Slab Horror | Ink 1985
CAVE CLOWN MICROWAVE | Soldiers in Pink | v/a: Eerie Bazaar | Eerie Materials 1997
FOSSIL FUEL | I Hate to Take a Bath | v/a: Menus With Manpower | Adeline Lehigh Crank Duplex/KDVS 2000
SWORDKILLER | Evil Has No Fear | v/a: Roots III (A Trilogy) | Root of All Evil 1999
UNHOLY SWILL | Studly Dudly Mexican Type Thang | v/a: Fuck That Weak Shit vol 3 7" | Pit's Bull 1995
UNHOLY SWILL | We're Truck Drivers | Legacy of Stupidity | Noiseville 2005
DRUNKS WITH GUNS | DWI | Second Verses | Intellectual Convulsion 1991
DRUNKS WITH GUNS | A Beer
STRANGULATED BEATOFFS | Beat It | Jacking Off with Jacko 7" | Apop 2005
STRANGULATED BEATOFFS | Savoy Truffle | The Beatoffs 7" | Chopper 1989
ANAL BABES | Punk Rock | Cocaine Swastika 10" | Incognito 1998
PREHENSILE MONKEYTAILED SKINK | Anarchy Is Stupid | I Am a Gorilla 7" | Blackjack 1994
PREHENSILE MONKEYTAILED SKINK | Kenneth | Years of Practice 7" | Bulb 1994
SOCKEYE | Boy With Breast Implants | Retards Hiss Past My Window | Jettison 1993
SOCKEYE | Pave the Earth | Barf on a Globe | Mortville 2000
A RANCID VAT | Ballad of Brigham Young | Stampeding Cattle | Pigface 1981
SEA PIGS | Christian TV | Freaktard 7" | Very Small 1993
SEWER TROUT | Holiday in Rumania | Flawless 10" | Very Small 1990
SEWER TROUT | President of the Anarchists Club | Songs About Drinking 7" | Lookout 1988
HEAD | Senor Itchy | Street Level Assault | Evil Clown 1994
HAPPY BURGER | Pizza All Around | Happy Burger 7" | Douche Master *new
HAPPY BURGER | Zagreb City
BAD SPORTS | Not a Creep | v/a: New Kids on the Block 7" | Randy *new
DAY CREEPER | Outerbelt | v/a: New Kids on the Block 7"
WAX MUSEUMS | I Don't Really Wanna Kill | The Wax Museums | Douche Master 2008
WAX MUSEUMS | I Eat Vomit | Introducing... 7" | Rehab 2006
THE A.G.'s | Reebok Shoes | This Earth Sucks | Ringing Ear 1996 (orig 1988)
THE BUCKYS | Psychopaths | In 31 Flavors | no label 1996
MY BROTH'R HANS | Mr. High Risk | My Broth'r Hans CS | Scud 1992
THE BUCKYS | Mustache Man/Nag/Dirty Old Man | Live at KDVS | no label 1995
MY BROTH'R HANS | Jeff's Discount Abortion | The Money Makers of Punk Rock CS | Scud 1992
ISM | Proud to Be Guilty | v/a: The Big Apple Rotten to the Core | S.I.N. 1982
CYANAMID | Support | v/a: New Jersey's Got It | Buy Our 1985
KILSLUG | Make It Rain | Answer the Call | Taang! 1985
FANG | Destroy the Handicapped | Landshark | Boner 1983
HEIST | The Hurt the Pain the Insane | 18 Gears of Hell | Big Fred 1998
HEIST | Oolongdongbourbonsingalong
HEIST | Dugite Blues
HEIST | It's Just a Brain
ART PHAG | Golf | Art Phag | Wanghead (With Lips) 1988 *request
ASBESTOS ROCKPYLE | Lydon | Industrial Religion 7" | Warpt 1984
PERSONAL & THE PIZZAS | I Don't Wanna Be No Personal Pizza | debut 3-song 7" | GOOC Entertainment *new
MR. SUAVE | You Can't Keep a Suave Man Down | Oregon's Gentleman of Rock & Roll 7" | Vendetta 1995
ARCH VILLAINS | We Hate Your Ugly Face | We Hate Your Ugly Face 7" | Sigma Phi 1998

Having memorized nearly every My Broth'r Hans and Buckys lyric, I almost feel like an honorary alumnus of Oakmont High School in Roseville, California. These bands painted a picture of a parallel world that I could never quite touch as a teenager growing up on an Air Force Base where the peer pressure worked in reverse. I swear, I saw beer at only two high school parties. There were about 30 kids, but one six-pack. Who would wanna compete for that? I think that the naughtiest thing I did was ask a G.I. to accompany us to the window of the Travis AFB "Cinemac" movie theater to get into the R-rated "Red Heat" starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, and that was only because my mom thought it was a PG or PG-13 rated movie when she dropped me off. It was such an ordeal to try to find a G.I. to "sponsor" us into the movie...I could only imagine how difficult it would be to finagle a proxy beer purchase. But surely My Broth'r Hans were liquor store parking lot shoulder-tap professionals. And the singer was reputed as the parental bathroom medicine cabinet-raider, so it was natural for him to imagine such a kooky mythology or a band. The liner of the self-titled cassette says: In 1946, Hans Marten developed affordable shoes that could feed the public. He then took his goat to the security council meeting, which upon completion of the destruction of his creation, decided a new world order was needed and should be created. Thus, we bring you the music of today--the music of turds. Idiots with no future follow Hans to that great all-you-can-eat pizza restaurant in the sky.

MBH released their first tape in 1991, which was then re-recorded with a new drummer for the 1992 version which we hear here. This drummer did indeed have a future in drumming for some of my very favorite local bands of the 2000s, but I don't know if he's proud enough of these beginnings for me to name him. Of course, I woulda likely never learned of either of these bands if it weren't for guitarist Todd becoming my best friend since 1995, when the Buckys were still regularly playing shows and working towards an eventual release of a record (which never came out, unfortunately). Todd also started in MBH. A second MBH tape--The Money Makers of Punk Rock--was released a while later, and it features at least three songs that sound like they coulda blended into an All American Punk/No Foreign Junk volume of the Killed by Death series.

At their best, they played a tuneful sorta sub-Samoans/Circle Jerks style of sloppy poppy hardcore, but there were some noteworthy excursions into postpunk, such as the poignant "Married to the Bottle" on the first tape, and the plaintive "Such Disregard" on the second. Set against so much brashly mischievous paeans to high school alcoholism and alarmingly tasteless knee-jerk inducers (esp. "Jeff's Discount Abortion", wherein the secret techniques for causing a miscarriage include vigorous sex and beating on the baby with drumsticks), these uncharacteristic moments of mature songwriting and consciousness-raising lyrics seem quite confounding. A particular fave MBH song--"Itsarhea"--details the true story of a Santa Cruz roadtrip which ended with the singer getting a bad case of the squirts presumably because he bought Itsa Cola (Itsa was the cut-rate proprietary brand of all manner of food and drink at the now-defunct Food & Liquor Cheaper stores) instead of Pepsi.

Three MBH members landed in the Buckys, who might've been active concurrently for a while at the tail-end of the members' high school careers. The Buckys wrote songs that named names from their shitlist ("Brubaker" and "Amy Cohen Is Such a Bitch"), told who had the most billowy pubic hair ("Pubic Hair"), and whose dad was the most chronically depressed ("Shad's Dad Is Sad"). Oakmont's token hippie was known as "Mudmouth", and he makes at least two appearances in the lyrics of the Money Demo, which was recorded professionally by a careerist engineer whose credentials included Screeching Weasel and many an Epi/Fat band. By this time, the bandmates were four years removed from high school, but still sharpening the sound of the same songs they'd written about hated principals and classmates. The drummer's technical ability had improved tremendously by then, and both he and the singer had an interest in the powerviolence zeitgeist of the mid-90s, so the Buckys' sub-Samoans/Circle Jerks-inspired oeurve was punctuated by a few tight, sharp rhythmic divergences which further added to the inanity of a band whose essence was a paradox of tough shit-talk over poppy punk riffs, often played with rather clean distortion. And the juxtaposition of the offensive and preachy was even more heightened than in MBH. During live sets, the band often lined up the righteously indignant "Ignorant Fucker" ("You'll pay for your ignorance when you dieee!!!!") with "I Want More" ("...than before/I want more/Fuck the poor!/...more bitches, more inches!"). Their only appearance on vinyl was on Too Many Records' Wood Paneled Pacer Wagon With Mags LP+7" compilation of 100 bands performing one song each in under half a minute. The Buckys authored the shortest song of the comp, "Short Songs", which lasted all of five seconds ("I like short songs/They're not long/They give me more time to play with my dong") and led off side A. During live shows, this song was extended to 15 seconds to include a whimsical prog-grind/powerviolence outro and a forceful growl of "YOU'RE DEAD!" Another classic juxtaposition of the weak and soft.

Perth ranks high in livability indexes and boasts a beautiful modern skyline, but it has the reputation in Australia of being kinda backwater, and surely it is one of the most isolated cities and regional musical scenes in the world. That the band Rupture are Perth's most significant and storied punk rock export in the 90s serves to strengthen that backwater stigma. When you add the braincell devastation of Heist's full-length album, 18 Gears of Hell, that might suggest that civilization is on the brink of collapse on the west coast of Australia. This album is so rarely heralded for its primo scuzz, stylistic breadth, and drunken mania, but I think that the world is ready for it finally. In 1998 when it came out (on CD only), it was not widely distributed, and it surely must have caught several of Heist's cheerleaders off-guard. Most American fans knew them from the rather serious Infest-influenced 7", Pain Is Causing Life, which was released on Havoc Records. I was a fan, too. But I liked 18 Gears... even more immediately for its swipes at low-brow/no-brow artcore which mined new territory somewhere between Fang and Rancid Hellspawn with a few surprising low-tech electro touches. When the guitars blaze and tempos roil, the vocal resemblance to Joe from Infest or John Brannon of Negative Approach is still evident, as is extreme rage and violence. But certainly it's the blind rage of a bellicose drunkard which brings to mind the most feverish moments of the Brainbombs. When things slow down, the voices of glue-addled numbskulls come out, and it's nutty, nihilistic, and just hilarious. I remember reading a review 10 years ago wherein the writer complained that making fun of retarded people is never funny. Surely, this guy'd never seen anyone this drunk or drug'd outta his skull. This is the sound of brains chemically breaking down into mush, and they are enjoying every minute of it. Maybe pain was causing life, but bourbon overload and gluey stupor make it bearable to live in the warped minds of Heist. Here's to hoping someone eventually reissues this on vinyl!