CHASM

Saw this Kansas City trio last spring in the middle of the afternoon in a depressing bar on the south side of Oklahoma City while some gutter punks who I casually knew a lifetime ago played pool in the back. It was a churning and frenzied set that lacked all pretense, no small feat in the world of regurgitated SABBATH/PENTAGRAM riffs. Perhaps it's the vocals, or perhaps it's the lumbering pace, but CHASM also manage to exist in that decidedly retro world while exuding more than enough originality to separate them from the masses....and this is why I was excited to see them twice earlier this year. Still good. Still loud. Still chill as fukk to watch. I was pleased. 

CHASM

MR. AND THE MRS.

I ripped this little creamer just before I left for tour, and it got me pretty good. Many (many) listens during my month away, including one especially memorable one in the middle of a crystal clear and pitch black night in the southern Arizona desert. Something about this recording just draws you in...the tracks may be simple but the presentation is deep, and these two kids from Kansas utilize the tools at their disposal to make a compelling collection of sounds. You can call it garage if you like, and in the most literal sense you would be pretty spot on....I think of it as dark and sweaty full power rock 'n roll stripped down to the barest essentials. But I don't get paid to think, so there's that to consider also.

DEO VOLENTE

SUCKED DRY

I like hardcore, and within the realm of hardcore, SUCKED DRY are really fukkn good. Seriously, the slow part in "Human Smoke Stacks" is simple but astounding, and you are going to love it. Total rage in 423 seconds or less.

SUCKED DRY

STREET LEGAL

I know - the cover is probably the best thing you've ever seen, right? I was so totally prepared to ridicule the shit out of this release when I popped it in the player...I mean, BUTTHAND?! Turns out Butthand isn't just a snortle inducing name for a tape, it's a fukkn killer demo from Kansas City's STREET LEGAL. Female vocals, great bass work that drives infectious hooks deep into your subconscious so that tomorrow at work I'll be mentally humming "Fast & Free" but I won't know what the song is or where it came from - it will just be in there. Can we get back to the cover for just a moment? Yeah, that's an ass superimposed on the back of a hand flipping you off. Similar vibe to the equally killer NECRO HIPPIES demo, even though they don't really sound that similar...they feel similar, and that's what a vibe is all about, ain't it? Seven songs - great tape - get into it.

BUTTHAND