Gorgeous pounding EDM in the most primal sense. This is Midwest after hours dance clubs circa 1988, but seemingly with more drugs...and it's great.
Showing posts with label virginia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label virginia. Show all posts
11 October 2016
25 May 2016
METH LAB
As anyone who has enjoyed the substance referenced in the last few band monikers is well aware, too much of a good thing is never a bad thing. So on with the meth...this time in the crystalline form of disgusting grind/PV of the highest order from Virginia, circa 2012. This shit is light years beyond ugly, and appears to be all that METH LAB has left us with.
22 March 2016
ALABAMA THUNDER PUSSY
In 1996, on what I remember to be the day after the (in)famous Baywatch show in North Carolina, FUCKFACE and HICKEY played a basement in Richmond, VA. Karoline was HICKEY's roadie and my (then extremely new) lady friend, but she was also very well known and well loved in RVA as both a frequent visitor and merchandise boss for AVAIL, so she sorted out the show. We were booked in a tiny basement with ALABAMA THUNDER PUSSY, the new project featuring AVAIL drummer Erik on guitar (and, for one show only, Adrienne from SPITBOY on vocals), but more than excited for the show, I was nervous about meeting my new lady's extended touring family. A steady but discreet stream of people checking me out, wondering if I was suitable...the way that scene looked over her and out for her is something that will always stick with me. One gentleman walked up to the entrance where I was standing next to Karoline and asked if I was Robert. "Yeah," I replied. "You'd better be good to her," he said, then he lifted his shirt to show the pistol in his waistband, dropped $20 in the donation jar, and left. You know, just regular punk stuff.
ALABAMA THUNDER PUSSY (they lost the space between "thunder" and "pussy" at some point) would release several records on Man's Ruin and Relapse and tour relentlessly through the mid '00s. The KYUSS tinged swamp sludge from this demo gradually and organically gave way to hard rock influences (see 2007's "Words Of The Dying Man" video here, and check the LIFES HALT shirt and GWAR cameo).
26 November 2015
11 February 2015
DECADES/FAILURES
This one knocked my fukkn socks off the minute I pressed play. Captivating retro synth/cold wave, these kids totally nail it on the tape, and their new LP on Dead Tank promises to be even better. Shades of '80s Belgium in the presentation (and the vocals) even though DECADES/FAILURES concentrate on the vibe more than the beat, this is solitary listening more than a dance floor banger. 002 hits every nerve with me, as close to perfection as I could ask for. Obviously, these tracks are highly recommended listening.
21 November 2014
EARTH MESMERISM
Electronics and general audio manipulations backed by drugged out repetitive drumbeats, Virginia's EARTH MESMERISM took a minute for me to really sink into but the moment I crossed the threshold I just wanted to submerge myself completely. Intense and captivating raw drones, this hits the same nerve as BOHREN & DER CLUB OF GORE...and that's a powerful nerve.
15 March 2014
DIME STORE HOOD
Breakdown heavy thrash tinged hardcore with killer gruff NYHC vocals and hook after hook crammed into a scant quarter hour. Maybe the world would have been different for Richmond, Virginia's DIME STORE HOOD had this slab dropped in the mid '00s, or maybe they flirt with enough subgenres that most folks wouldn't have had the patience? Who knows, but this eleven song demo holds up shockingly well. After nineteen ninety sk8, the band became WHHELBITE and released one screaming EP.
***A dude from DIME STORE HOOD/WHEELBITE named Adam (or Alan....? shit) mailed me this tape after we hung out once sometime around the turn of the century. Super nice fellow who I enjoyed meeting, and the tape was packaged much more elaborately than this simple cover scan implies. In 2009 I went to see LOGIC PROBLEM at a bar in SF called Pissed Off Pete's and I got shit ass wasted. Was debating puking in cab, puking on the bus or walking and hoping I could stay awake and on my feet long enough to make it home. The bright lights of the 14 Mission made my decision for me and I stumbled aboard. Adam (or Alan...? shit) was sitting right next to me and I really wish that I had been able to carry on a conversation. Even remembering someone from that long ago is not exactly my strong suit (massive understatement), but it would have been cool to actually have a conversation. If you read this, drop me a line.***
***The vocalist Freeman is (I believe) the frontman for the band FREEMAN, who are basically the original AVAIL lineup with that dude singing. 2010's It Doesn't Matter is an undiscovered gem for fans of the first few AVAIL records.***
23 January 2014
PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE
Sometimes you meet people and you have conversations...and sometimes afterwards you really think about things. About your life. About the choices you've made and the path you've chosen. Tonight was one of those nights - a few relatively brief interactions that knocked me in my gut and woke me up. I hope that you have one of those night (and/or days) soon...and I hope that you actually and honestly evaluate where you are, even if what you see makes you uncomfortable. And I hope that you don't just look to the ones that came before you and forged your path, I hope that you look to the ones that followed and lived by ideals instead of examples...the ones who have made their own path. Punk has digressed far beyond a mere commodity, but the root is still valuable and more than worthy of nurturing - both for our own benefit and that of those who do not yet know that punk even exists. Look at yourself in the mirror. Live punk.
27 October 2013
THE FLESH EATING CREEPS
Visited '00s Virginia last week with TARPIT, so here's a brief stop in the '90s. Can't remember which tour I was on when I got this tape, but I remember listening to it A LOT in the following months. Bare bones hardcore punk with attitude for days - the kind of attitude that was not necessarily en vogue in 1996 but seems to be welcomed today. Trends notwithstanding, I figure it's just "punk."
22 October 2013
TARPIT
Hardcore in the finest tradition - monster mosh breakdowns, furious vocals, a few "fuck you" choruses (even a "Don't Give A Fuck!" for good measure), rapid fire USHC built for showing off your pit style. It's stripped down to the bare essentials, and delivered with great success. "Get Extinct" is damn near perfect.
Last chance Bay Area: FLIPOUT A.A, CONQUEST FOR DEATH, PIG DNA, VENKMAN at The Knockout tonight. Southern California, we are coming for you next.
21 July 2013
15 July 2012
COMMUNION
I hope that wherever you are when you listen to this, you are alone. And I hope that you are ready. A relic from 1995, COMMUNION's Their Despair In Gentle Things is a bizarre proto-industrial/goth/new age/noise hybrid flooded with genuine weirdness that gives each aspect of their sound and indescribable authenticity - and still I remain aurally convinced that somehow these people are punks. There are elements straight out of my early '90s dance club excursions, but just as many moments of ambience and noise that showcase a musical outfit well ahead of the their time. This is transcendental, and requires full attention - even if only a fraction of you bother to download, I sincerely hope that those who do are willing to dedicate the time and emotional attention required to fully digest this. The keyboards on much of the second side are reminiscent of Wax Trax-era CONTROLLED BLEEDING (I'm reminded of CLOCK DVA as well), but instead of driving dance beats, COMMUNION concentrate on psychedelic overdubs and TG style mind warps. Two tracks totaling 90 minutes, every element is masterful...I swear this is worth it.
09 July 2012
STUPID NOIZE
Urgh. You fukks. You think you like it noisy? You have no fukkn idea what you are in for. This onslaught completely eliminates any comparison to anything that used to be called music. Eight minutes of all out noise punk set to rapid fire drums. No relief. STUPID NOIZE.
23 April 2011
CROOKED TEETH
Imagine Saira/DETESTATION singing for DIRECT CONTROL, and fill it with hopelessly catchy riffs and an awkward gangly guitar tone that wails on nonsensical leads that are over in an instant. Not one song approaches the two minute mark, this is fukkn perfect. Get at them here, get at the demo here:
25 December 2010
DIRECT CONTROL
One ripping live on the radio set from Richmond, Virginia's finest purveyors of '80s style USHC. This was recorded in 2005, when DIRECT CONTROL was on the tip of everyone's tongue...what they were doing was nothing new, nothing that we all hadn't heard before, but when punks get together and dish out hardcore this perfectly, people are going to take notice. And people noticed. Brandon gave me the DIRECT CONTROL demo when he was still "this 17 year old who moved up from North Carolina to play for MUNICIPAL WASTE," and he quickly became responsible for some of the most brilliantly executed hardcore to come out of the '00s. At a fest in Chicago (2006 I think?), I signed up to drive a band to the airport to help out the organizers, but then found out that by doing so I would miss DIRECT CONTROL's set on the last day of the fest. This was unacceptable to me, and since the organizers couldn't find another ride for their cantankerous Texans, they were forced to rearrange the set times so that I could see my favorite Virginians. Does this make me an asshole? Perhaps, and I felt a little bad when DIRECT CONTROL took the stage last, after days of bands had already played and what was left of the crowd was dead tired and unenthusiastic (sorry dudes)...but that was the band I wanted to see, and fukk knows RIISTETYT were not a suitable consolation that weekend. This live set might only be 13 minutes long, but it's 13 minutes packed with hits (like "Herd The Cattle," which was my most choicest jam for at least 18 months) and features the singer from TEAR IT UP limping through a C.O.C. cover...and jokes about Boston baked beans.
10 November 2010
27 January 2010
KILL YOUR BRAIN
Look at this shit! This is exactly how KILL YOUR BRAIN sounds; a complete surrounding of your underutilized cerebrum by a small army of comic book knives. If you've never heard that, then please allow me to assure you that it sounds really good. Ultra noisy punk rock with liberal doses of psychedelic rock n' roll for good measure, but mostly this shit just fucking jams, and people who don't like things that jam are people I don't really want to be friends with. Like tonight, when I played DEEP PURPLE's "Speed King" and this dude was like "eh, this is ok, but it's nothing special." That is exactly the kind of dude I don't need in my life. Can you imagine blasting SOCIAL ABUSE or VIRUS for someone and hearing them say "this is ok"? Yeah, I can't either, and while KILL YOUR BRAIN doesn't sound shit-all like DEEP PURPLE or SOCIAL ABUSE, VIRUS, and most other 80s UK punk (...actually, they kinda sound like the best parts of MUDHONEY, but on a shitload of acid), what I'm trying to imply is that they are really good. Also, they are from Virginia.
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