Mix Tape For Me When I Was 14

The last time I posted anything here, it was 2009, and I thought the fucking world had come to an end. 7 years is a long time ago, and I've moved many miles.

If you grab anything here, here's something "new". I made this for 14 year old me so he wouldn't feel so goddamned out of place. If you throw this on a C-90, side A ends with "Systematic Death". Rip it to a disc, throw it on your space phone, lathe cut it onto 6 different platters and play at 78 rpm. This land is your land.

Download here.

hose.got.cable - Majesty

I've been working through the first hour of Star Trek, having called off "Dinner and a Movie", and, instead, just fixed pancakes, eggs and milk.  I have all the epicurean taste of a 12-year-old.  As great as this looks in 1080p, I'm just having a hard time staying awake.  Maybe I shouldn't have seen this four times this summer.  I'm a geek.

hose.got.cable was a bargain-bin discovery for me.  If memory serves, I scored this for $2 from Reptilian on a Sunday when I should have been home, painting a wall or fixing a toilet or doing whatever a typical husband and homeowner does.  But, like I said, I'm a geek.  I like record stores, book giveaways and staying faithful to the people I love.

Back to h.g.c: they were from Richmond and recorded for Old Glory Records. Old Glory was one of those labels like Vermiform, Vermin Scum, and Gravity that was amazingly great in the early 90's and then fell off the map by 2000.  Members of hose.got.cable went on to Rah Bras and Alabama Thunderpussy, which seems like the damnedest thing I can think off.

The nearest sonic touchstone here is probably Frodus.  What you can expect is stellar post-hardcore/screamo that sets things up neatly for bands like Raein & Funeral Diner...hell, most of the European post-Pageninetynine crowd.  The must-listen here is "Chevy Chase, Motherfucker"; to steal a line, it makes me want to run through a brick wall everytime I hear it.  Last note: a label called Cadillac Flambe released a discography which includes this (their only full-length), two singles and two tracks from comps.  I have no clue if that's still in print.

hose.got.cable - Majesty

(click the record to DL)

RIYL: cheap finds, rainy Sundays, geek shit

Lifter Puller - Fiestas + Fiascos

I can't exactly pinpoint when I was hipped to Lifter Puller, which is weird, because there's generally that "Wow!" moment with those bands that I've carried with me since I heard them. Maybe it was the guys from Dillinger 4 talking about playing with Lifter Puller on a riverboat in Punk Planet, or a mixtape from Bachman featuring the Rhymesayers crew dropping LP lyrics into 16 bars. I can tell you it wasn't an immediate thing; I think I had this CD for a month, occasionally listening, before I got it. But I DID get it.

Even though I know Craig Finn was telling stories, there is something unsavory and sordid about Fiestas + Fiascos. Even today it feels hyper-real...a codeine-laced mix of Nighthawks, Jim Carroll and Joe Strummer. This record makes copping dope sound sexy, and deals gone bad sound fun. You want to dance all night at the Nice Nice, then go home to your mattress laid out on the floor and drink shitty booze until 2 in the afternoon. This is the sound of bad choices.

Supposedly there's a Lifter Puller documentary and discography en route. It's not impossible to find F+F or Soft Rock out in eBay land. But enjoy this one while you wait.









Lifter Puller - Fiestas + Fiascos
(click the record to DL)

RIYL: needle tracks, five-day benders, staying up too late

Minutemen - The Punch Line

Boon & Watt, L.A., 1984

I remember how excited I was when I found a slightly watered damaged copy of The Punch Line on CD in the now-defunct CMart in Forest Hill back in 1995. There's an excitement that I've been missing a lot over the past five years in discovering something brand new. My roommate and I were talking last night about going out on Tuesdays and getting knocked out by a band you've never heard before. I'd say it's a function of getting older, but it doesn't ring quite as true as I'd hope. I want desperately to have that nervous, right-before-the-first-kiss feeling again, the way I did the first time I heard Out of Step or A Love Supreme or The Punch Line.

I don't know what else to say about this, other than the Minutemen have always been one of those bands I'd want to emulate if I were in a band. There is no bullshit here; just the sound of D Boon, Mike Watt & George Hurley getting to the point. It fucks me up knowing that a lot of younger folks have missed out on this (and other SST back catalog) due to Ginn's mismanagement of the catalog. I have loved this band for a long time, but still choose this as my sentimental favorite.

"...I'm already on someone's list as a casualty..."

Minutemen - The Punch Line

(click the record to DL)

RIYL: one liners, fucking corndogs

Update - October 30

I'll keep this short. The past three months have been the most eventful in my life. This blog is not about the dirty details of that life; instead, it's about how music has inspired me and helped me become the man that I am today.

With that in mind, I will posting new material starting November 1st. If you've been dropping by, or reading this for the first time, I highly recommend sweeping through the old posts. If there's something I need to re-up, let me know. Otherwise, I think I have some good treats lined up for you.

Bad times do not stay. No matter how dark it may seem, there is always a light.

Ape Mummy

RIYL: new posts

Shook Ones - 2004 demo

(image from the Shook Ones MySpace page)

A real quick one, before it's my turn to hit the Wii Fit. The extended weekend was very boss...thanks for asking. The following things are currently on my mind:

• Who keeps stopping in here from Columbia, Maryland? Leave a note or something, wouldja? We should probably bro down.
• Do I really have to go to San Diego in two weeks? Can't I just hide under my bed and pretend I went?
• Should I even whine about going to San Diego, especially when everyone I bitch to sounds really impressed by it? Should I just remind folks that its name translates to "The Whale's Vagina"?
• Why do cats keep slagging off Shook Ones as a Lifetime rip-off? Don't you like Lifetime? Wouldn't you like kids to take Lifetime as a positive influence on their current band? Or do you just want your bands to suck, not rule? Is that what it is?
  

My favorite recent line from the doods from Shook Ones was that they originally wanted to call their band "Lifespan", but thought it sounded too tough guy HC. Their new record The Unquottable A.M.H. came out a couple of weeks ago. Buy it; it's the tits. Here's their demo from 2004. 4 cuts that'd later pop up on Sixteen. Rough yet crucial, especially coming from a bunch of Washington state fancy lads.










Shook Ones - 2004 demo
(click the record to DL)

RIYL: harmony, TDK C-90s, 3 chord justice

Uniform Choice - Screaming For Change

(photo by Ken Salerno. Lifted with all due respect to Double Cross.)

Happy July 2nd, readers. Welcome to post #66. I'm in a bitchin' mood. I have a 3 day weekend, my main man Batts is rolling in for steaks and booze tomorrow, and I found the first 4 Ramones records at the Borders near work for a mere $5.99 a piece. Life is swell.

I'm a big fan of finding decent records on the cheap. I had no clue who Uniform Choice was when I bought the cassette of Screaming For Change in 1993 for $1. All I knew was there were X'ed dudes on the cover screaming into a mic. Pretty hardcore, eh? It wasn't until I bought the vinyl years later that I noticed the cover was a painting, not a photograph. I guess I wasn't very observant when I was 16. Anyway, this always struck a chord for me, unlike peers like Youth of Today, Bold & Slapshot. I still love jamming "Don't Quit" after a bad day. 26 minutes and 32 seconds of solid, 2nd wave hardcore. Dig on it.

Semi-related note: so this is still available for sale. I didn't think Wishing Well had been a working label in the past 15 years. Who the hell is keeping this in print?










Uniform Choice - Screaming For Change
(click the record to DL)

RIYL: your X extra sharp, brotherhood, moshing