Local Demo Reviews

ANIMAL MAGAZINE s/t demo CD (self-released):

Seven songs of totally fuzzed out, fucked up psych rock. Not punk per se, but sort of accidentally punk, which is much more genuine than a bunch of scene kids trying to play outsider music anyway. This is somewhere between HAWKWIND and HELLA, with some southern rock, acid and even a little bit of the psych-heavy side of early weirdo punk bands like UNITED MUTATION, though more artsy and fun than scary and pissed. The production on this demo is so unconventionally perfect. Everything is fuzzy and the vocals are reverberated, distorted and drugged out. The guitar tones are crazy and layered and the riffs are always on the verge of falling apart but they stay perfectly executed. The songs all hover around the 2 minute mark and none of the riffs drag out, which is so refreshing for a psych band. I honestly listened to this demo about 5 times in a row after I first got it. Recommended for anyone who likes energetic psych rock and/or drugs. Listen here.

INTER ARMA s/t demo CD (self-released):

Solid dudes, backed hard, etc etc. This band has come such a long way in the last couple of years and has emerged as one of the best metal bands in Virginia. This demo CD consists of three songs recorded a year ago with my good friend Tim Kirk but never saw the light of day, combined with an additional live track. Each member of this band plays his instrument with skill and they cover just about every type of metal in epic but cohesive songs. Best song title award goes to track two: Total Negativity. The third track, The Reclamation, is my favorite – a 9 plus minute metal odyssey that is heavily black metal influenced and sports an impressive acoustic-guitar-layered breakdown. I think one of these songs might still get released as a split seven inch, but either way they’ll be recording an LP to be released on Forcefield Records later in the year. The real money’s in the live show, they are absolutely nuts. Check them out.

NO FUTURE s/t demo CD (self-released):

This is a short and sweet demo CD from a brand new Richmond band that combines Memphis/Portland style d-beat, 80s hardcore and modern hardcore. I think they recorded originally as a three piece but added a second guitarist by the time I saw them at LORD BY FIRE’s record release show at the Czar. They sounded pretty full there and that set was a blast. These songs feature some pretty sweet guitar work, especially on the opening track, “Gravedance.” This is a really good demo from a band that has a lot of potential. Try to check them out live in the Richmond area. Best song title award: “Faith Down in Shit.” Sounds like a Crimethinc kid with a lisp. Check it.

Review: SLICES s/t 7" (16oh)

Holy shit! This record is amazing! The A-side starts out with a modest “1-2-3-4” verbal count off before kicking into some blazing hardcore punk that reminds me of Pick Your King era POISON IDEA, which is pretty much the best music ever made. Two mid-paced songs follow on the A-side that don’t drag and are just as intense, but in a more fucked-up, noisy, My War era BLACK FLAG style. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, the B-side brings two songs of slower, pounding, drum and bass driven punk with lots of guitar noise and nasty feedback rolling on top. Weirdo vocals and a paranoid vibe carry these ugly songs, which remind me of CONDOMINIUM and PISSED JEANS but noisier and angrier. If you want to get into it, SLICES has members of BRAIN HANDLE and WARZONE WOMYN, but it doesn’t matter. This record is fantastic on its own merit. If this had come out two months ago I would have considered it the best EP of 2008, and if anyone tops this in 2009 it’s going to be a hell of a year.* Nice looking blue vinyl with great overall aesthetics. Available through the promising 16oh label.

*SLICES has another 7" coming out in the next couple of weeks on Home Invasion Records, so that might happen

Review: DIVISIONS s/t 7" (Human Crush)

DIVISIONS just came through Richmond on what is to be their first and only tour and I picked up a copy of what is to be their first and only 7”, so if you weren’t one of the 10 people at Nara that night, well, your loss. The self-titled 7” is an all out rager, with four songs of fast, thrashy, dark punk with seriously blown-out production. The first side consists of two noisy hardcore songs that combine elements of d-beat, raw punk and thrash with higher pitched, evil vocals. The B-side is more of the same but ventures into grind/powerviolence territory and even offers a 5 second black metal tease before kicking back into the thrash. Containing one ex-member of Holy Mountain, this 3-piece from the Tampa area embodies the Floridian style of dark, heavy and fast hardcore. I am pretty sure I hear some bass tones on the 7” but DIVISIONS plays as a drums/guitar/vocals three piece. While the live show was intense, I feel they could have benefited from having a bassist. All in all, though, great set, great band and really nice guys. This record is available from John Fahy’s new Human Crush Recordings label.

Lots of new shit!

I've been neglecting this blog for a while and I've got some free time, so here's a bunch of stuff:

INSOMNIO - Happy Loneliness (No Way)





INSOMNIO's follow-up to their debut LP No Escape does not disappoint. Happy Loneliness boasts 8 songs of blistering and melodic punk rock n' roll out of Zaragoza, Spain, that hearkens back to mid-tempo ADOLESCENTS and fits right in with contemporary bands like NO HOPE FOR THE KIDS and CRIMINAL DAMAGE. Reverberated vocals and frantic, WIPERS-esque guitar work carry the sound of anxious and fucked up youth. These songs are catchy as hell and still intense. The album has been out for a few months but this is the anticipated American release on No Way records, who get it right again.



Where are they now? UPRIGHT CITIZENS

I was able to snag an original pressing of UPRIGHT CITIZENS' classic Open Eyes, Open Ears, Brains to Think and a Mouth to Speak LP from a distro in Germany (total score) recently and haven't been able to stop listening to it. This was a massive distro that carried THE BACKSTREET BOYS and MILLI VANILLI alongside DRI and SLIME, so even though I had to pay costly shipping and meet the inflated Euro, it was still worth it because the record was undervalued. There are several represses floating around though, so it shouldn't be too hard to find a copy of this record in some form.

UPRIGHT CITIZENS was a German punk band that formed in the early 80s and was equally influenced by Black Flag and the guitar tones and emotional songwriting of Husker Du. They debuted with their Bombs of Peace 7" in 1982, consisting of 9 punishing hardcore songs with radical left-wing slants that were commonplace among Deutschpunk bands. The band attacked right-wing politics, racism and fascism as well as apathy. 1983 Saw the release of their first LP, Make the Future Mine and Yours. This album hinted at the more melodic and emotive sound that would characterize the band through the mid and late 80s.

In 1984 they released Open Eyes, Open Ears, Brains to Think and a Mouth to Speak, which is their masterpiece if you ask me. The LP featured 15 tracks - some re-recordings of older songs and some new. The cover of CRISIS' Holocaust makes the album an instant classic. It is fucking genius. Sped up and revamped from a German perspective, CRISIS' warning against neo-fascism and Holocaust denial seems even more poignant. Slower and more melodic songs like Future Dreams and The Dark Side of My Mind somehow don't seem out of place next to fast ragers like Stand Up, Swastika Ratss and Bombs of Peace. This is one of my favorite punk/hardcore albums.

This distro also accidentally mailed me UPRIGHT CITIZENS' 1988 Farewell 7", which is mediocre in comparison but still pretty cool. They released a few records after Open Eyes... that were all solid but lacked the intensity of their earlier stuff. Looking back, though, Bombs of Peace and Open Eyes... are two of the best Deutschpunk records that don't get a lot of recognition in the States.

EDIT: Since I titled this little section "Where are they now?" I feel obliged to mention that I have no idea where the hell they are now and I'd like to keep it that way.

Show Reviews:



2/13/09: INTERARMA, LORD BY FIRE, TRIAC, SURROUNDINGS, NO FUTURE @ the Bagel Czar:

This line-up was incredibly solid, so I had been looking forward to this show for weeks. It was supposed to be LORD BY FIRE's 7" release show, but the records didn't show up in time. Apparently Forcefield has been having some trouble with Pirates Press. NO FUTURE was up first. I had missed their first two shows (even though I played at one of them!) so I was pumped to see them this time. Pretty sweet, ripping hardcore. From the way I had heard them described I thought they'd be crustier and grindier but I was definitely still into what ranged from fast to mid-tempo hardcore. They expanded to a four piece and there was some pretty sweet and unique guitar work there. Leland ripped on the drums. All in all it was a solid set and they have the potential to grow into an awesome band.

Next up was SURROUNDINGS from Baltimore. They played some really fucking good Swedish style hardcore. Their singer was pretty nuts and the intensity level was high. I'm looking forward to hearing more from them, specifically their split with Triac...

Which leads me to our next band. TRIAC brought the noisey, grindy hardcore they are known for. Their new guitar player seemed more acclimated and comfortable than the last time they played Richmond at the Riot House. Lots of fun.

Next was LORD BY FIRE. They did a good job of not seeming too pissed off that the record wasn't ready. They were by far the slowest band of the night. SLEEP cover. You know the drill.

INTERARMA was on last for an all-cover set that everyone was really excited for. CRO-MAGS, MINOR THREAT, and DEAD KENNEDYS. Everyone went nuts from the beginning and never let up. Hearing a band that knows how to play their instruments cover MINOR THREAT songs is so awesome. As soon as they went into California Uber Alles I decided to get in the circle pit and act like I was 15 again, except as I ran down the stairs I slipped on the beer that some metal chick had spilled and wiped out on to my ass before I even got started. Actually I seem to remember this happening a lot when I was 15. Either way I went nuts and had a great time, and I still have a giant bruise on my backside to prove it. This was one of the best shows I've been to in a while, and I'm so glad the Bagel Czar is in full force now.



That's all for now...more to come soon. Keep checking the blog for updates. Also, I'm now contributing reviews to Wilbo's Richmond based zine SLATESHELL so look out for that too.

Review: SEX/VID "Communal Living"

After four EPs and a couple of live tapes that are all pretty damned hard to find, Olympia, Washington's most hyped and mysterious band makes their 12" LP debut on Dom America. This shit is fucking fantastic. Maniacal vocals rage over noisy, blown out, intense hardcore. This album nails the twisted, strange, dangerous mood of bands like VOID, DIE KREUZEN and UNITED MUTATION, yet feels updated and hits heavier. Eight songs rip at 45 RPM on very thick vinyl (always a plus in my book). The packaging and artwork are top notch. Dom America did a great job with this. As I mentioned before, SEX/VID releases are pretty hard to find and they don't have a website or myspace page as far as I know. It's tough to do an internet search for a band called SEX/VID and come up with anything worthwhile. With an accessible debut full length that rips as hard as this, though, they could be positioned to break out in a big way, so be sure to pick this up immediately. This is one of the top 10 LPs of the year.

Review: WARKRIME "Get Loose" (No Way Records)

The first time I heard WARKRIME I thought, “What the fuck is this bullshit?” Then I read their lyrics and thought, “ These guys are fucking morons .” At the insistence of a friend I gave them another shot and actually heard myself thinking “I get it!” On the third listen, I thought “never mind, there’s nothing to get. These guys really are fucking morons.”

I went back and forth between hating and loving WARKRIME for a while until I realized that’s why I liked them so much. These guys are young, loud, and snotty. They offend almost everyone in and outside of the punk community. They combine an almost surreal sense of close-mindedness with an incidental grasp of the big picture. It’s hard to tell when WARKRIME wants you to take them seriously, and because of that they’ve become one of the most polarizing punk bands around. I’m sure they would make much more sense to me if I knew them and lived in the Bay Area, but I don’t and I like it that way.

For example: do they recognize the irony in playing re-hashed 80s hardcore while singing “You’re too old / stop going to shows / you’re too old / you’re boring…don’t wanna listen to you all day old man / you’re fucking lame / you’re too old / go home?” I don’t know if I’d like them more if they did or did not. The reality is probably that they are not as witty as they think they are and they are not as retarded as their detractors think they are. I’d like to think that they are just young and pissed off and Brace Belden is yelling the first shit that comes to his head, without the filter that older punks would put their thoughts through. You never really know what the hell he is going to say next and it’s honestly refreshing.

Oh yeah…they have this new album out…

Get Loose combines 15 brand new songs, their first EP Give War a Chance and their song “Everybody Hates Me” from the No Bullshit comp. (all fine No Way releases). The production on the new material is a bit weird. The vocals are mixed low and distorted and, like all things WARKRIME, it’s hard to tell if this is intentional or not. I think it works. The songs are almost all raging, more pissed off than ever and now tighter and more unique. The guitar work is fucking awesome! This feels like an album that a good hardcore band could have made in 1985 but didn’t. There are some times when things get a little generic with pretty heavy Damaged era BLACK FLAG, ARTICLES OF FAITH and BAD BRAINS influences, but it usually works well. Whether or not WARKRIME intended it this way, they have a strange air about them that will likely make them one of the few bands in this 80s hardcore resurgence scene whose impact is lasting. Get Loose puts that nicely into perspective.

Show Review: HEAVY ON HIGH FEST 11/14-15

Hell yeah! Three house shows all on one street combined into a weekend mini-fest. We drove up Friday night after Danny got off work and by the time we got there we missed the first metal show. Apologies to TOURNAMENT, the WAYWARD, and THUS CAME.

The drive up was bleak. Rain, darkness, blinding fog and winding mountains for two hours. RWAKE, WORLD BURNS TO DEATH, and DEVOUR were the perfect soundtrack. When we finally arrived, in tact, to Harrisonburg we met up with some friends on Old South High st. Mike Marketti was gracious enough to let us crash at the NERVOUS HABITS house. We spun some records and drank a couple beers before heading about two or three blocks down the street to the second show of the night. When we got there a band called TOWERING was playing, who I assume took NERVOUS HABITS' place (they couldn't play because their guitarist was out of town). We arrived halfway into their set. They played some sludgy hardcore with vocals yelled into a mic suspended from the ceiling. Nothing groundbreaking here but not bad either. The basement was sweet and wide open. The turnout was also good.

Next up were SNACK TRUCK. I'd seen these guys at MacRock and they weren't really my thing, but they absolutely blew my mind this time. Two drummers (both of ULTRADOLPHINS fame) a guitarist and bassist pumped out instrumental jams that are a heavy and crisp mix of indie/prog rock, revolution summer style post-hardcore and weed jamz. Finally an instrumental band that could play a 40 minute set and not bore me once. The guitar tones were incredible and the whole feel of the set was much heavier than I remember. Also, whereas most of the time incorporating two drummers is redundant and a really cheesy gimmick at best/distracting and sloppy at worst, these two played really well together. The dual drummer attack added a lot of energy and they actually played complimentary parts rather than playing the same thing. You can tell SNACK TRUCK loves playing together and practices all the time, because these songs were as tight as can be. Not punk, but this shit was really, really good.

I was psyched to see SWEAT LODGE next, only to learn that the show was over (?!). I guess they played first for some reason? This is the second time I've missed them at a show I've attended. Bummer!

So we went back to the Hobbits' house and raged for a while. Someone made a waterfall out of a 40 oz. bottle. Insane. We played with a stray cat. Smashed some pumpkins. Made some watered down mac and cheese. Drank more beers. Watched Gary Busey in the Buddy Holly Story movie (which was incredible albeit unapologetically factually untrue). Passed out.

DAY TWO

Woke up around 10 to torrential downpour and crazy wind so I went back to sleep until noon thirty. We got up and dicked around until Mike got off of work at Jimmy John's. The weather cleared up and we decided to grill. After we went to a sketchy and nauseating butcher's shop I stopped by food lion to get some veggie burgers. Harrisonburg does not seem like a good place to be a vegetarian/vegan. We started drinking and grilling around 3 while Prescott watched college football and yelled and broke things. A couple veggie burgers, a bunch of mac and cheese and salad, and about 6 beers later I could barely keep my eyes open and I passed out for an hour on Mike's bed. I woke up around 8:30, drank a Tilt and then we headed to the show.

The turn out was great! The show hadn't even started yet and the basement was already packed with more people out in the back yard. In Richmond, everyone except Good Show Steve and whoever was bartending at Nara that night would be sitting around watching reality TV and drinking Joose waiting for someone to call them to say the show had started (including me). People in Richmond are spoiled because there is a decent show almost every night. In Harrisonburg people take what they get and are pumped about it. This can, however, create a strange environment (more on that a little later).

First up were KINGSHEAD. We've played with these guys three times now and this was their best set. They play heavy hardcore that recalls HIS HERO IS GONE. Multiple vocals and some sweet riffs. They have a really good demo available as well. It seems like a lot of people made it up from the Va Beach/Norfolk area to see these guys, which was really cool. I hope we get the chance to either tour or put out a split release with them. Unfortunately, they've changed their lineup a bunch of times and were only able to play a 15-20 minute set. Their last song, a new one, was raging! I love seeing fast, energetic, punk beats with heavy riffs to back it up. They should continue in that direction. Despite the fact that the basement was packed, no one moved at all minus the subtle head bob. Weird.

BALACLAVA was up next and I'm in that band so I'm not going to review it. Suffice it to say that, despite some technical difficulties, it was a really fun set. The crowed continued the practice of exerting as little energy as possible. It felt a little awkward. Pete and Danny and Joe lit a joint at the beginning of our set and passed it around. I think some straight edge kids were pissed about it. Good times.

Last was SAVAGE LAND. It was their record release show. They played dumbed down and pissed hardcore. They are definitely into the Grave Mistake thing. From what I understand only half of the band is claiming the edge, singer not included, but they might as well have been a straight edge band. The aesthetic is there and the music is pretty two-steppy. Apparently kids in Harrisonburg dig them because for the first time all weekend people moved. They sang along and danced around. I guess they have to pick and choose who they rage for. They finished the set with a cover of MINOR THREAT's "Minor Threat." Sweet end to a sweet show. The SAVAGE LAND dudes were cool to us and I picked up their 7".

After the show was over we hung at the house for a while meeting some people and then took off to some college type party. Lots of hipsters dancing ironically to music that sucked in the 90s and still does. It wasn't punk at all so we stood outside in the cold yelling "PALIN 2012" at people for a while. We were all pretty fucked up so we decided to walk back to the NH house and get more fucked up. 12 veggie chicken nuggets later and I was passing out on the couch watching Freaks and Geeks. We woke up the next morning, thought about going to the Little Grill collective but knew it'd be packed, and went to Dave's instead. I had another fucking veggie burger. The drive home was much easier and less scary than the drive up, and the new WARKRIME CD fit the bill.

All in all it was a great weekend.