Friday, November 11, 2005

More Autobiographical Nonsense

Screeching Weasel - The Science Of Myth
The Queers - We'd Have A Riot Doing Heroin (early, early queers)
The Queers - Born To Do The Dishes (from Don't Back Down)


as a follow up to the first installment of autobiographical nonsense, i wanted to break out a couple more from the early days of exploring and defining my own taste. i didn't care that it was considered the dumbing down of punk ethics, i liked that ben weasel thumbed his nose at the idea that punk had to be politicized, that it had to stand against something to be "punk". for the most part, anything punk rock had to say has and had become so cliche by that time that saying it was kind moot. what defined a punk act by that time was more the expression of angst than any real idea. but ben weasel did in fact have the ability to pen some fairly intelligent and "punk" lyrics (his pre-band career being as a journalist for maximumrockandroll), and some of his songs demonstrate a clever reiteration of some of punks more overblown axioms. at times he even managed to say things that i don't think most punk bands could articulate, such as this track Science Of Myth. ultimately, ben weasel just wanted to be the ramones. his hit and miss career as a punk rock act in chicago leading him to lookout records where he would eventually record an album as The Riverdales, and earn a slot touring in support of green day.

ben weasel wasn't stupid though. he knew his shit. for whatever reason, he convinced lookout records to sign new hampshire punk act The Queers, who shared weasle's love for simpler rock and roll - the queers tended to included an old surf rock cover or two on their records. weasel was the de-facto band dad, and his name would come up repeatedly in the juvenile antagonism of the queers' lyrics. to borrow from the AMG band bio ... "in 1993 Lookout released the Ben Weasel-produced Love Songs for the Retarded. Love Songs... was followed by a yearly salvo of bubblegum-punk, from 1994's Beat Off to 1996's magnum opus, Don't Back Down, the best late-'70s-era Ramones album the Ramones never recorded."

Thursday, November 10, 2005

Do It, Justice

Mystery Jets - You Can't Fool Me, Dennis
now...
As conceived by Justice

my favorite DJ and yours to. justice is the reigning king of all remix. i don't really care what your choice phrasing is - up in his grill, on his jock, boycrush, whatever. i'm all serious about anything remixed by justice. he takes terrible songs and makes them amazing. he takes amazing songs and makes them amazinger. he just knows how to refocus a song into something sharper, harder. he reinvents as necessary and turns songs into these completely fearless pieces. he takes your song and makes it perfect. i want to enslave justice and make him remix my entire record collection.

this is the second track by Mystery Jets to surface since i got all uppity over Alas Agnes (I Still And Will Always Love You) in the way back. this track is, hmmm ... no it's nice. i mean, it's kind of lacking any real punch. but when justice gets his hand on it, it sounds like wes anderson directing a junior high musical theater production with one syth covering queen hovering on the verge of breaking into a dream sequence.

wow... looking back at that sentence i think i just broke grammar. maybe justice can remix it?

it's not off topic...

...mustaches are TOTALLY rock and roll.

thank you greg for this. you are brilliant and filled with handsomness.



MOVEMBER

That's right. It's that time of year once again where all men must forsake the shaving of the upper lip area. Moustache month. Movember.

I fully expect every male I know to have a moustache grown in by December first. There is ABSOLUTELY NO SHAVING OF THE UPPER LIP TILL DECEMBER! You will do this, or you are a woman.

Women: whatever you do to rid your upper lips of any facial hair, by all means, do not stop (unless you are that guy in le tigre). However, it is strongly encouraged that you wear a false moustache as much as humanly possible.

Moustaches are fucking cool. If you don't have one, how are you supposed to give someone a moustache ride?

And yes, if you are that hardcore, Dirty Sanchez' do count as a 'stache; however, they are not recomended for sanitary reasons, as you must sport your smelly lip all month.

That is all.

Here is your inspiration:

































































and who could forget how cool i looked last movember...




that should be enough to get you pointed in the right direction. there will be a kick ass moustache-bash at the end of the month(more on that in the future).

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Humanzi - Bloody Brit Rock

Humanzi - ???
So this band from ireland... i've been sitting on these tracks for a while now. they're pretty fuckin good though. don't, whatever you do, do NOT read the band bio on their webpage... it's just ... wrong. "asshole" wrong. just forget about it. there's no getting over the fact that it was written by some half assed press guy who thought "oh, i know... i'll cast them as outsiders ... and the saviours of rock and roll!" nice job, bro. fuckin broke the mold on that one.

okay, so .... tits, here we go: i don't know the name of this song, but it's probably on their two track single (out now). they played a couple gigs in new york last recently, and they are (or at least were) looking for some state-side representation. they've probably found it by now though. let's not mince words - this is right down the pipe excellent brit rock. like if the kaiser chiefs weren't from san diego. there's some good slink in the bass line, a sharp little shimmer on the guitar, and a good round tone on the vocal. the drum sound is a bit shallow, but that sounds either intentional or like the limitations of my 72 year old speakers to me.

anyway, if you have to follow NME and Kerrang like I do, you've seen the gums flap aplenty about arctic monkeys and hard fi, but i'm wondering where the press is on these guys? where's the "humanzi save earth with new video!" headlines on NME? seriously, the British mainstream music media is so fucking retarded ... i keep waiting for the headline "Jack White Impregnates God With New Guitar Riff! Jesus To Play Bass For 'Stripes In 9 Months!"

okay, so i've talked a lot and i haven't said shit (welcome to my world). if you're still reading (i know you're not), let's just call it a draw. i'll go my way and you go listen to the humanzi song... no you first! you go! go! okay... on three then.

one

two

...

Salim Nourallah

Salim Nourallah - Life In A Split Second
it's only a question of time
cashing out today on your own borrowed dime
it's only as good as we made
i promise at the end you can still be saved
rewound
replayed
don't be afraid
we'll soon be safe


this is the closing track of Beautiful Noise. i first heard salim nourallah on ... probably said the gramophone since i'm just a friggin lacky of theirs anyway. The World Is Full Of People Who Want To Hurt You is, again, top track on the record, but the record is full of excellent, stripped down pop. i apologize for the comma brigade that just stormed through my last sentence. now then... this is yet another very talented artist from canada. which just reasserts that canada (primarily montreal) is the new new york, and has been for about 2 years now.

in this track you can hear a little more of Nourallah's zombies and kinks influences. if you're into the minimal pop stuff - like early elliot smith solo projects or, to name his canadian counterparts, OCS, peter elkas and ron sexsmith - you should check the record out.

this song is a little too down, even for a rainy day, so i'll throw in a little something extra...

Zombies - This Will Be Our Year

amoeba

The Thermals - Remember Today

i've been on amoeba rehab for the last few months, and tonight i cracked. i went in and picked up some records by bands i've been meaning to support for a while. so you're gonna see some alternate tracks come up in the next few days by a handful of bands that have made it to mix tapes, but not quite into my CD rack.

so here's one of the lesser known bands on subpop records. what strikes me most about this band is how taught the vocals are. the delivery puts a sharp edge on the lyrics and holds them up high. A Stare Like Yours is the clear cut hero of the record, but this song, and a couple others, all make for solid supporting material on the record (titled: Fuckin' A).

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

they will not let us forget new wave

car crash set - Outsider

this track is from 1983. wow... think about it - the synthesisers this song was made with had about as much memory as a plate of eggs. okay, maybe with a side of toast, but no jam.

i could make a really bad segue here, but i'm just gonna cut and run. it's an early 80's track. new wave. the kind of new wave that still influences a lot of today's nintendo/8-bit music culture. as in: this song sounds like an indie band concept album based on legend of zelda!?

LSD taught me a lot about life

that's what they said... on the last !!! album. considering the band is coming back to town in a few weeks they may have more to say, and play, possibly in the form of pre-release promotion for a new record??? could be...

i would hit this up as fast as you can - bound to sell out quickly. i still prefer the rapture's more guitar + less hesher formula, but !!! are definitely on the very short to-be-seen list.

I've already got my tickets, bitches. now who's got my LSD?

Dec 10 @ The El Rey
buy tickets from the el rey

Monday, November 07, 2005

1984

The Replacements - Answering Machine
how do you say you're okay to an answering machine?

Tim was released in 1985 on sire records and featured more than a few of the bands lasting hits, but it was 84's Let It Be that got the attention of sire records in the first place. this is the last track off that record - the bands final release on twine/tone.

like the replacements, i'm not a big fan of the answering machine. i am a believer in the missed calls list. in the age of cell phones and punching in passwords to retrieve voice-mail, the message is almost a nuisance. for the most part, i just want to talk to you. that's why you won't get a lot of messages from me. i'll leave you the missed call. the tacit "hey - call me back, yo." besides, i've been guilty to many times of choosing inappropriate avenues of dialog, so now i find it much better to pursue direct conversations.

i'm feeling generous today, so here's a bonus download. from 87's Pleased To Meet Me and a strong candidate for my favorite replacements song of all time...
The Replacements - Never Mind
absolution is out of the question
it makes no sense to apologize
the words i thought i brough i left behind
so never mind