U THANT - Bugeilio.. LP

I share with you something really obscure today. I don't know much Welsh punk aside from ANHREFN and Y SEFYDLIAD, but I spotted this in a clearance bin a few years ago and it looked worth the risk. Luckily this 1988 LP contains the right balance of spunk and driving post punk-edge to get my toe tapping and wondering what their other records are like. The kick drum obnoxiously clicks away, but the melodies are good and there's enough texture and originality to the overall sound to save this one from falling victim to my routine record purges. 

U THANT

THE NEW FLESH to the Northwest!

Leaving for tour again tomorrow...
We'll be playing a few shows in the northwest and recording 6 new songs for upcoming releases! 
Come say hi.

the dates:
March 29th - Portland, OR @ Blackwater Records w/ Bellicose Minds
April 1st - Olympia, WA @ Le Voyeur w/ Hysterics
April 3rd - Victoria, BC @ The Grid  w/ Kaiten, Nearly Dead
April 4th - Vancouver, BC @ 333 w/ Lie, Koban, Infidel
April 5th - Seattle, WA @ Victory Lounge w/ Kohosh, Murder in the Wood


We'll be headed to Europe in the fall as well - more details on that later!

R.I.P. Dave Brockie --- Best of GWAR

This weekend the world lost one of the most creative, inspiring, unique, and hard-working artist/musicians to ever emerge from the underground music scene. Dave Brockie, aka Oderus Urungus, was found dead in his apartment in Richmond, VA. He was only 50 years old and there haven't been any reports of cause of death thus far. It may come as a shock to you based on the material I've shared here on the blog, but GWAR was one of the first bands I got really into as a kid, and I've continued to consider them as one of the coolest bands out there. I saw them every time they came to town for nearly a decade, and I still have a blood-soaked Amebix patch I wore to a GWAR show! I only interacted with Dave once...

Some time in high school I went to downtown Dallas (Deep Ellum) with my two best friends at the time to see The Dave Brockie Experience - a pretty terrible jokey side-project punk band he was doing with two other GWAR members. We had caught wind of a secret RAWG (GWAR un-costumed!) performance that night since the other two GWAR members lived in Dallas! We showed up super early, as we were very anxious and didn't know any better in those days. We decided to kill time by trudging around quiet daytime Deep Ellum when we stumbled across a lonely baby bird that had fallen out of a nest, right in front of the venue we would attend that night. Having heard that you're not supposed to touch a baby bird because it's mother will abandon it, we started brainstorming ways to get it back up there. Right then some fellow in shorts and a baseball cap came out of the club and joined us in our efforts. He popped into the bar to grab a newspaper or something, and we managed to scoop the little birdie up and into the nest, free of human-finger oil! The guy wished us well and disappeared down the block. You can probably guess that later that night when DBX took the stage, the frontman was in fact the guy that had helped us! So, to those who've written him off as some sicko metal singer - Dave Brockie helped 3 high-school punks save a baby bird.  

Though most of the music hasn't held up for me after all these years (and I haven't even bothered to check out any new albums since about the year 2000), I'm listening back to some of their older material and am feeling really heavy nostalgia. I always appreciated the social/political satire and mockery Brockie implemented into GWAR's themes, and though some of the really over the top jokes and offensive humor really never appealed to me, I can't help but acknowledge that he was quite the fearless agitator. I've also been watching every interview I can find on Youtube - this is where the true proof of Dave's brilliance shines! If you haven't already, definitely check out the older interviews by Joan Rivers and Jerry Springer, as well as Oderus' short-lived spot on late night FOX News show Red Eye (as an agitator, of course). All the old VHS movies they made are classic as well - surely you can find them on the internet somewhere. 

Aside from GWAR, Brockie also wrote the novel Whargoul, which I admit I have not read, but promptly ordered once I found out he had died. 

In remembrance, I've made a playlist of all the GWAR stuff that still somewhat holds up for me now. Most of it leans toward the punk/hardcore side, and I only bothered with the first few albums (Hell-O, Scumdogs Of The Universe, America Must Be Destroyed, This Toilet Earth, Ragnarok, Carnival Of Chaos, and We Must Kill Everything) since they were the ones I listened to growing up. 

RIP DAVE BROCKIE: The best of GWAR, according to me

BREAKOUTS - Waiting For The Change/All We Wanna Do

Boy have I felt uninterested in updating this thing....
I have not decided to let it completely die, but I've been putting energy toward other projects at the moment. In the meantime enjoy this classic California single. "All We Wanna Do" gets stuck in my head for days!

BREAKOUTS

KSU LP

Years ago a friend/co-worker of mine had this LP on a tape at the kitchen we worked at. I knew the cover of the record just from being such a rabid international punk information-seeker, and I recall asking him if it was any good, to which he replied, "yeah it's great!" I think we played it during a busy dinner rush or something and I don't remember being able to pay much attention at the time. Over the years it's been floating somewhere on my hypothetical want-list, but I just never really saw a copy for sale. Discogs sure has been quite a useful resource the last couple years, not only for information but for helping us track down those wild card records that probably mostly exist on another continent, all the while being able to avoid the deplorable Ebay. Discogs reminded me about this album, and, just like most modern online marketplaces, made it very easy for me to instantly purchase a copy without thinking about it for longer than 3 seconds. The result was definitely favorable. This is a solid LP of great Polish punk with a warm and full recording, passionate delivery, and variety of punk sounds. Not too hardcore, no metal, no reggae, no thrash - just catchy and driving punk (I know the cover makes it look like an Oi band or something, but it's not!)

KSU LP

BEYOND POSSESSION - Tell Tale Heart EP

Let's stay in Canada for another post for Calgary's BEYOND POSSESSION. This is their first EP before they went more metal. It's mostly catchy punk with snotty vocals, but some speed-picking, solos, and thrash elements are prominent on some songs. Somewhere between THE FARTZ and ACCUSED? They got tagged "skate punk" a lot due to their mentions in Thrasher, but this is more raging than most skate punk I've heard. Another often overlooked but awesome old EP. 

TELL TALE HEART EP

DOWN SYNDROME EP

"We are not called DOWN SYNDROME because of a man named Down who founded the genetic disorder, if that were the case, we would be called DOWN’S SYNDROME. Rather, the meaning of our name is derived from the direct definitions of the words in reference to humanity’s condition. DOWN – to lower or worsen condition. SYNDROME – a group of signs and symptoms that occur together and characterize a particular abnormality.”

This, along with lyrics, itemized pressing info and costs for the record, and a peaceful/insightful anecdote by each band member is printed on the inner sleeve of this Edmonton-based hardcore punk band’s only vinyl output. Although Canadian, DOWN SYNDROME fits right in with the sound of many Euro hardcore bands of the era, combining melody, punchy drums, and anarcho-inspired lyrics. The mid-tempo tracks on this EP are great, but the faster songs really showcase the band’s power. “Values” is an eternal mix tape-worthy scorcher! One of my faves – super underrated.

DOWN SYNDROME