Chang Ffos - Trust This Arcane Device

Label: Moonlee
Year: 2006

Fucking busy ass last couple of days has kept the blogging on the backburner (but not you, the readers...the readers are always first and foremost in my mind).
So today we have a quick one, and one that's slightly off the beaten path (of this place anyway), as it's more "metal" than our usual faire, but c'mon...grow a pair. You can do this.
Take mid-period Neurosis, and add in some destructo-rock akin to Black Elk, and a little sludgy stoner-ness like Black Cobra and, viola, Chang Ffos. Except, they are from Croatia. Which you would never know. All you will be concerned with is the mountainous pulverization that they wield across this 9 song brow beating. Low end hellhammer.
Mastered by Steve Austin of Today Is The Day.
Good Friday listening after sitting in a three hour meeting. Or whatever it is you do on a Friday.

DL

Bedhead - Transaction de Novo

Label: Trance Syndicate
Year: 1998

Hazy and deliberate. Restrained and direct. Gorgeous and effortless.
Matt Kadane from Silkworm plays guitar and sings on this one (to continue our post-Silkworm converstation [one sided as it was] from the Bottomless Pit post below). Tench Coxe from the old Texas band End Over End (not the hardcore band from who started out as just The End, also plays guitar. And the other Kadane family member in Bedhead, Bubba (assuming that's not his Christian name, although, maybe it is...we can hope) put out a few records on Touch and Go with Matt Kadane as The New Year. Keeping it in the family. Like incest.
Recorded by Steve Albini, and given slightly more "umph" than previous Bedhead records (therefore making it feel more balanced and consequently my favorite of their discography). It was also their last album release.

DL

Cop Shoot Cop - Headkick Facsimile

Label: Supernatural Organization

Year: 1989

I think this particular record bounces around the music blogs from time to time, but I don't think we've ever posted it here, and that's a crime for which I truly apologize. This is an absolute "must have" for folks who enjoy the type of music spotlighted on Shiny Grey Monotone. No question, you have to have this playing in your ear holes at some point at least once a month. Minimum.

Cop Shoot Cop were the quintessential New York City noise rock band, and in my opinion, this (their first release) is their crowning glory. The bass tones are punishing, the drumming and percussive treatments are tribal, and the vocals are all seething bile and condescending vitriol. Note, there is no guitar, no screeching treble or slashing chords, only two mind-numbingly relentless bassists. In addition, Cop Shoot Cop have augmented their sound with keyboard and saxophone samples to enrich the low end assault. Please be aware that I do not condone, under normal circumstances, the use of saxophone in my life, hence my distrust for jazz, my suspicion of salsa, and my loathing of ska. I just don't want no goddamn woodwinds fucking up my good time. Period. But, and this is a big "but" ("let's talk about your big 'butt'" - Pee Wee Herman), Cop Shoot Cop have employed these sounds to great effect and so I must allow them to enter my brain just this once.

So, saxophone aside, if you do not own this record, please stop, drop  and roll...then grab it and listen at top volume.

*Originally posted 01-30-09, reposted 10-14-15

DL

Antioch Arrow - In Love With Jetts

Label: Gravity
Year: 1993

Back from vacation in the mountains. No bear sightings, though my parents had three in their driveway Saturday morning. I saw a single turkey, that was about it. A single turkey and a metric ton of beers.
Glad to be back, thanks.
Do you remember when this record was exciting? It came out on the heels of Antioch Arrow's really super great debut 12", and there was a lot of new energy coming out of San Diego. A lot of crazy chaotic energy that was giving hardcore a shot in the arm. So, I was ready to go all in on Antioch Arrow when this second 12" came out. All in. Full on Kenny Rogers in the 'Gambler' type shit.
Do you also remember hearing this record the first time and thinking, "hmmmm....do I like this? Wait a minute, was that a keyboard?!"? That ring a bell? It was confusing. A confusing time to be sure, but this particular record started a shift in the cosmos that I'm not sure I fully followed. It was the stepping stone away from the frantic slash and burn hardcore and a step towards the black and gloomy post punk posturing. Which, to be fair, was at least a new tact, and in some cases came off well. But in a lot of cases....not so much.
Do you remember me asking you if this record has stood the test of time? Cause I did. Just now in fact.
Did it? Honestly asking.

DL

Bottomless Pit - Hammer Of The Gods

Label: Comedy Minus One
Year: 2007

Band name is Bottomless Pit, and album name is 'Hammer Of The Gods', so you would be excused if your first thought is "sludgy downtuned metal". I would have thought the same thing.
But in fact, this is no burly group of bearded knuckle draggers with Eyehategod patches on their vests. Nope. This is actually a beautiful and poignant return for Andy Cohen and Tim Midgett after the untimely and shocking death of their Silkworm bandmate and friend Michael Dahlquist. It's a record that takes what has to have been a brutal time in their lives, and channels it through the distillation of rocknroll , indie rock and post hardcore heft to a crystal clear statement of intent for a new band pulling themselves out from under the shadow of tragedy and legacy.
Silkworm fans will immediately grab ahold of the familiar sonic cues and fractured earnestness that Midgett and Cohen had previously brought to that band. You will forgive them though that the mood here is more maudlin, the tone is one of yearning and introspection, but no less powerful (or possibly more so) than what they had done before.
I'm listening to this in the morning before starting a work day with deadlines looming. It's perfect for that. The song "Human Out f Me" might just be one of the prettiest and heart wrenching numbers you'll hear this week.
The rhythm section of Bottomless Pit is fleshed out by former Seam drummer Chris Manfrin and former .22 bassist Brian Orchard.

DL

El Buzzard - Gringa

Year: 2006

Label: The Electric Human Project

Self described as a "noise metal" band, these fuckers came out of San Jose and laid waste to shit. You'd have never guessed they spawned from mid nineties screamo spazzes, Mohinder, but lo and behold, that's just what they did. Gringa was their last will and testament before breaking up and reforming as Breasts. On this record they continue to play slash and burn, loud as shit skuzz rock with heavy Unsane and Karp leanings, but this time around there's a slight late-period Black Flag vibe creeping in. The warped stoner proto-metal riffing that Greg Ginn was experimenting with round about 1985 rears it's ugly head here, and seems to fit in just fine. This is a dirty, raw, punked out rawk trip.

*originally posted 09-05-08, reposted 10-07-15

DL

Pissed Jeans - Hope For Men

Label: Sub Pop
Year:  2007

to be honest with you...when i'd first heard this band...i really wasn't all the impressed...someone on a messageboard has posted a link to their first full length (2005's shallow)...saying it was the best album they'd heard in awhile...blah blah blah...and being the biased kinda guy that i am...i gave it a download...gave it a quick listen...and didn't look at it again...

flash forward to a few days ago: i was listening to some random online radio station...not really paying all that much attention to it...and i got up and left the room...i was thirsty...i needed a beverage...and half way back i heard this sound coming from out of the computer's speakers...and the player wasn't telling me the name of the band...and i thought "could it be? have they gotten back together?! OH MAN! BONERS!"...the song was called "i've still got you (ice cream)" (and i'm going to remain vague on the band that i was thinking got back together...i want to see if you're up to speed on your shiny grey monotone-ness)...anyway...back to my story...so i went to youtube to see if there was a video for said song...and there it was...pissed jeans had made their way back into my life once again...but this time around they've managed to keep their tight and shiny presence in my ears

i've heard this described as rollins era black flag...sabbath-esque...flipper-esque...the list could go on and on...and it would all be correct

but once you listen...you'll know where the band's allegiance lies

so if you like your reptile on amphetamines...this be for you

on their stained sleeves...


*originally posted 10-04-08 (by Ipecac...hence the punctuation), reposted 10-07-15

DL

Meatwound - Addio

Label: Magic Bullet
Year: 2015

Just what daddy needs. Overbearing, overdriven, overwhelming, and I must imagine, smelling of human feces. Total hammering . Cut the brake lines, rip off the steering wheel and let chaos drive, cause any way you slice it, this ride ends by slamming head on to a brick wall.
Members of Holy Mountain and Combatwoundveteran, two older Florida bands that played damaged hardcore back when, so you can rest assured this new version is in good (unwashed) hands.
They cite Fudge Tunnel as a reference point, but I would argue it's Fudge Tunnel as redirected by La Gritona. Which is a good thing.

I'm pretty convinced that this is a top ten record of the year. Please give it a listen and make your own rankings.

DL

The Convocation Of... - Pyramid Technology

Label: Tiger Style
Year: 2001

Coming out from under their mid-nineties' emo cable knit sweaters to don sleeveless Van Halen t-shirts (but leaving the glasses on...let's not get too crazy here) in order to get their proverbial ya-ya's out, The Convocation Of... gets big and rocking on this, their final(?) full length record.
Tonie Joy is playing guitar here, so if you're a fan of the snaking riffs of Universal Order Of Armageddon or The Great Unraveling, then you'll no doubt find much to chew on. But, were those bands were tightly wound balls of energy, The Convocation Of... swings a bit more from left to right, and don't shy away from a explosive power chord chorus. They get down to it, is what I mean. Yes, sure, nobody is going to mistake them for Nirvana or anything it's not THAT kind of "big rock chorus", but the point is, Tonie Joy lets loose and the band pounds out a wide open groove behind him. Smart person rock music.
Sidebar (and the opposite of smart): when was the last time you shot gunned a beer (with your car keys)? Cause I did it last night at the age of 41 and found it perfectly acceptable, even though it led to a buddy falling down the back stairs and stepping on a nail (cross your fingers for no tetanus!), and the guise of the Sunday evening get together was "wine and cheese Sunday evening before dinner" (things devolved....or evolved depending on how you look at it...quickly when the wine ran out). Point being, if you haven't taken down a cool one shotgun style in a minute, I recommend it. It's a good bonding experience, just make sure your friends stay off the steps, and your kids are in the house out of view. Party hard at all times.

DL

Distorted Pony - Work Makes Freedom

Label: Bomp!

Year: 1991

Originally released as a single sided 12" with the B-side being an etching of all the song lyrics. It would probably sound like shit to play side B. Kind of like when Bob and Doug Mcenzie tried to "play" the floppy disc they "horked" from the Elsinore Brewery on their turntable, only to remark that resulting high pitched squeals must be "one of those English New Wave bands". If you haven't seen Strange Brew in awhile, please do yourself the favor of arranging a screening post haste. Fucking brutal movie! I used to watch the shit out of it when I was in middle school. It was "one of our things" in my group of buddies, as queer as that might sound. We would watch ridiculous movies until they were committed to memory, then we would speak to each other in our secret language of Zucker Brothers comedy dialogue to the point that nobody could understand what in the fuck we were talking about.

Then we realized that girls had vaginae.

That was sort of the end of the movie parties.

So, Distorted Pony....uh, they are good. They sound kinda like Big Black meets Cop Shoot Cop/ Easy. Also, former Samhain-ian London May would play drums for this band later on in their career (this record has a drum machine).

*originally posted 09-30-09, reposted 10-02-15

DL