Ten years ago, I (somewhat) intentionally started a love affair between London’s Part Chimp and Miami’s Torche. The Chunklet SXSW shindig that was held at Sound on Sound in north Austin was the place and the two bands were amidst 20 other bands, but clicked almost immediately. Back then, I suggested the two groups do a tour and a split release together and in 2011 it became a reality. The 12″ you see here arrived at the first show with not a day to spare. Fortunately, it sold out in a flash, but to this day I still have people ask where they can buy one even though I have a grand total of two copies to my name. Well, here you go. In honor of this stellar release and the (now scrapped) dates the two bands will be performing together in May, here’s a repress. 100 mail order copies come on clear vinyl.
Part Chimp turn in two scorchers, `Dr. Horse’ and `The Watcher’ while Torche send a love letter to the boys from Dayton and cover three Guided By Voices songs (`Exit Flagger,’ `Unleashed! The Large Hearted Boy’ and `Postal Blowfish’).
This was available only during the band’s tour up the East Coast in November and the Chunklet website for a limited time.
Prank calls are nothing new. The Jerky Boys took them to dizzying heights. Earles & Jensen took them to perverse lows. But the Corporate Office’s calls stand in a league all their own. Whereas most calls revolve around the caller’s shtick and the time before the other person hangs up, The Corporate Office relies more on action/reaction, less on routine. More than ten years ago this call was up on the Chunklet site and became an enormous hit. And now? It’s available again, and now for the first time on vinyl! Available as a one-sided 12″ in a deluxe Stoughton tip-on jacket in an edition of 100, this 6 minute Wendy’s call immediately ends up in the prank call hall of fame. And yes, this call is 100% real. Edition of 100.
Before he was known as the drummer/octopus of Don Caballero, Damon Che had a one-man project called Thee Speaking Canaries. At the beginning of the 90s, before he recorded his debut record “The Joy of Wine,” Damon Che composed and performed an entire record’s worth of material. Now, twenty four years later, we get to enjoy the fruits of his labor.
Playing all instruments and with a creative zeal that’s part Sonic Youth and part Van Halen, “Platter Base” serves as an essential release for fans of the Canaries, Don Caballero or just plain guitar histrionics. Get in on it now, because it won’t ever be reissued.
Limited to 350 copies.
PROGRAM A
Grandfathered-In, In North Career
Winning Son (unvoxed)
She’s Been Ethereal
You Should Have Sang On This One (Snowman)
MCMXLVII Mitchum Dope
Toblewee Uslywus (unvoxed)
Unless We’re Not Martians
PROGRAM B
Intent To Honor With Substance and Very First Fruits of Produce (This is Fine)
Hall of Force
Aqua Snoot (No Lie Version)
Hope Ye All Learn From This
Features:
Cut direct to lacquer at Chicago Mastering Service
Olympia’s Survival Knife started out with a whalloping one-two punch of singles on Kill Rock Stars and Sub Pop last year which any/all discerning record buyer purchased. Hot off the heels of their blistering full length (Loose Power on Issac Brock’s Glacial Pace label) earlier this year, Survival Knife are back with a new release (Survivalized) just in time for their first east coast tour. Survival Knife’s sound embodies the fierce guitar work of Justin Trosper and Brandt Sandeno (both from the legendary Unwound) along with the husband/wife team of Kris and Meg Cunningham. Think Greg Ginn. Think John Reis. Think guitar rock. Plain and simple. “Thud of the Jackboot” bursts open five songs of unparalleled whoopass. Guitar rock in 2014. Admit it. You want it back. Now it’s time for Chunklet to have a piece of Survival Knife’s raw sturm und drang. Gorgeous front cover artwork by renowned sci-fi illustrator Trevor Claxton. Vinyl only.
Artwork by Trevor Claxton
Available on tour (with Pink Avalanche & Hungry Ghost): Nov 14: Chicago @ Subterranean Nov 15: Grand Rapids @ Founders Brewery Nov 16: Columbus @ Double Happiness Nov 17: Cleveland @ Grog Shop Nov 18: Philadelphia @ Boot & Saddle Nov 19: Washington @ DC9 Nov 20: Allston @ Great Scott Nov 21: Pawtucket @ The Met Nov 22: Brooklyn @ Brooklyn Night Bazaar
TRACK LISTING: Side A Thud Of The Jackboot Tropic Of Chaos Gold Widow (Alt Mix)
Side B Lasso Or Noose Roman Fever (Live)
Features: Cut direct to lacquer at Chicago Mastering Service Available on clear vinyl thru the Chunklet site and on red vinyl (exclusively) via the band on tour
"Chris Lopez wrote some of the most eloquent, sardonic, romantic, and, well, basically the best rock and roll songs of the 1990s. His band wrapped them in a florid southern reimagining of 1950s garage rock that always sounded sloppily, scarily out of control and yet dead serious. The wild success the Rock*A*Teens deserved was instead deferred onto a generation of indie bands who weakly shuffled down the path the R*A*T’s blazed. This double LP offers a rare glimpse of them onstage in their hometown of Atlanta during an extended residency at the Star Bar. It’s wild, sloppy, hilarious, and dangerous, like the R*A*T’s themselves. I would tell you it has all of Lopez’s best songs on it but you’d need four more records for that." —Will Sheff, Okkervil River
"The Georgia-based Chunklet imprint has compiled A Major Motion Picture, a superior double live LP that draws on earlier, rowdier material, including tracks from their best, 1999’s near-perfect Golden Time." —Jordan Mamone, Time Out New York
"As we’ve mentioned in a bunch of other reviews, lots of our favorite bands are woefully under-represented on the aQ list, generally, it’s because those records predated the list, so when a record gets reissued, it’s often a chance to finally lavish praise on a record that’s been a favorite for years (or decades). In this case, it’s not a reissue, but instead a live record from Georgia garage punks the Rock*A*Teens, who are currently are covered on the aQ site by just a couple sentences about one of their records, which is really a shame, cuz we LOVE these guys. So until someone mounts the lavish, deluxe reissue campaign these guys and their incredible records deserve, we can revel in this sweat soaked high energy live set cobbled together from an extended residency at the Star Community Bar in Atlanta, between 1998 and 1999, courtesy of aQ pal and Chunklet mastermind Henry Owings, who continues to dig up incredible rarities (we’re still loving the recent Don Caballero record, and are hoping he’ll do a Bar-B-Q- Killers reissue, another legendary and underappreciated Georgia outfit), and incredible this is. If you’ve yet to discover the Rock*A*Teens, imagine a swampy, reverb drenched, fifties style, garage rock rockabilly, filtered through something more modern, swaggery and dramatic, the same sort of gospel tinged swampiness of Woven Hand, but more rocking, feverish, loose limbed and wild. Brooding, sweat soaked, bloody knuckled, broken bottled, booze soaked, psychedelic blooze stomps and echo drenched slow burn ballads in equal measure, all whirring organs, reverb galore, buzzing distortion, wild tribal drumming, and stunning, timeless songwriting, all wound up into something gloriously gritty, grimy, ecstatic, cathartic, murky and emotionally charged. Just check out the samples and you’ll be sold. "Black Ice" might be one of our favorite songs EVER, in a body of work that has an impossible number of potential all time faves. Every record a stone cold gem, and this live set manages to transcend the limitations of the ‘live record’ and transports the listener to a dive bar in Georgia, lit with Christmas lights, packed with punks, this band crammed onto a little stage in the corner, conjuring up musical demons, and angels, and creating a gorgeous, noisy, heart breaking din. AWESOME. Includes a download too." —Aquarius Records
There’s no denying that Melbourne’s C(_)ntz crafted the feel-good-hit of last summer with “Never Felt Better.” A frantic atonal mess from a country that has no shortage of gems in their jewel encrusted crown. Their full length Solid Mates made many critics’ year end lists if you don’t believe us!
Here Come The Real Boys!
When they made their way to America last year, we were compelled to witness the Aussie damage for ourselves. The folks at Chunklet Industries were completely floored by their live show here in Atlanta at the EARL and were ready to work with them in any capacity. Upon their return back home, they made a modest request for live recordings of their US tour which, fortunately, was recorded at WFMU, Death By Audio, Gonerfest and the Earl. Here Come The Real Boys stands as a sweaty, cherry-picked collection of live performances featuring material from the band’s two full lengths on Homeless Records. Cut direct to lacquer at Chicago Mastering Service Mastered by Mikey Young (Total Control/Eddy Current) Live document of the band’s debut US tour from last year Dedicated to Steven Rupert Fisher Download code included Limited to 450 copies
Releasing two albums and several singles per year might seem like a lot for some musicians, but its just business as usually for Melvins frontman King Buzzo who has spent much of the year touring to promote his solo record This Machine Kills Artists. He’s playing his new stuff mixed in with with some very unexpected Melvins choices which sounded fucking amazing on acoustic. Next month, the Melvins will release Hold It In with a lineup of Buzz and Dale along with Butthole Surfers Jeff Pinkus and Paul Leary. I caught up with Buzz when he stopped by Brooklynwhere we talked mostly about baseball, but also about music (which he is also known for).
A King Buzzo acoustic record, is one of those things that when I mention it to people, they might say something like, “Who would want to hear that?” But once you hear it, it makes total sense.
It doesn’t sound like it would work on paper.
A few months back there was a video of you playing Revolve acoustic. Did that inspire the album or were you planning the album before this?
That was for Ernie Ball. [Revolve] was their favorite one. That was a test to see if it would be worth doing. I never do anything by chance. My stuff is meticulously planned out.
Did you write these songs specifically to be acoustic, or is it unrecorded songs that never made it to Melvins albums?
They could have been Melvins songs, but I would have done them differently. Some of the riffs may have been old riffs, but I just write songs. Some of them are finished and some of them aren’t. I just take it from there. I have to think of how it will fit with the drum parts and the bass parts. That’s not happening with this, so I have to think of how to make it work by itself.
You just turned 50. Les Claypool also turned 50 and released an acoustic album. Is that the thing to do?
I don’t know anything about his record. It’s Primus songs, isn’t it?
It’s Country versions of Primus songs and other covers.
I refuse to do a country album. I’m not sure I love Country as much as everybody does. I like Les. He’s always been nice to me. More power to him. My album’s 17 originals songs. This is the first one where it’s just me. Technically this is my second, but the first was just an EP. That was just me and Dave [Grohl]. This is the first one that’s just me by myself. Just me and an acoustic guitar.
Is it tougher to deal with loud people or hecklers with just the acoustic guitar?
No. I can deal with hecklers. I’ve dealt with that for a long time. [I’m also going to note that there was indeed a very loud and drunk person in the audience that night. He wasn’t heckling but having a good time which was louder than the guitar. Security removed him during the second song which got a bigger ovation than the song itself (and the song was Dwight Fry, so it did get a fair bit of applause)]
You’ve been telling a lot of stories about other artists between songs on this tour?
I might tell one of those tonight [The Mike Patton story from this very show is embedded at the bottom of the page]. I told the Iggy Pop one last night. They’re either self-deprecating or me talking about how much I like them.
Photos by Matt Adams.
Since you have a lot less gear to unload and set up, do you have more time in the cities to catch a ballgame or anything?
I’m here to do one thing. Vacation for me is being at home.
What’s your favorite ballpark? Dodgers Stadium. I’ve been to a lot [of stadiums], but I certainly haven’t been to all of them.
And the Dodgers are your number one team?
I’m a baseball fan in general. I live in LA, and I like the Dodgers. I’ve seen them more than any other team, so I guess so. They’re like the Yankees of the National League, or arguably St Louis is. I like the Dodgers. I don’t really hate any team. If I lived here, I’d go to Yankees games and I’d go to Mets games.
Is this going to be their year?
They’re fully capable of blowing it, as is any team. I think it’s going to be the A’s and maybe the Pirates.
Pirates had a rough start. They’re not the team they were last year.
They’re doing OK. I don’t know. We’ll see.
I’m a Cubs fan, so I look at the standings from the bottom up.
Cubs always have a tough time, and I don’t know why. They have money. They’re not paying off the stadium. I don’t understand why it never works. It doesn’t really make sense to me. Tampa Bay can be a contender, and the Cubs have a lot more money than them. I don’t know what the fuck’s the problem.
I guess they’re building a farm team and want to wait until they have enough good players to bring up at once.
OK. So fuck the fans this year. Fuck that. “We’re building.” Oh great. So I’m supposed to sit here and buy tickets while you’re building. Fuck you. Get a team that fucking wins. You play baseball for money. That’s what you’re doing. You’re not going to play to win? You’re trying to win a World Series. Everything else should be second.
They really need a bullpen. Their closers have blown a lot of games.
I don’t know what their problem is. I can’t figure it out. They had Greg fucking Maddux and they couldn’t win. I don’t know what it is. I don’t believe in curses.
How do you feel about the designated hitter?
I hate it. I think they should get rid of it. I’m totally against it. It’s not baseball. It’s fucking bullshit. Make the goddamn pitchers get out there and hit. National League baseball’s always been better. There’s more strategy involved. The designated hitter is stupid. Greinke from the Dodgers is a good hitter. Greg Maddux was a great hitter. He never played for the American League. I think he said he wouldn’t. National League baseball is better. It’s a different game.
They only really train for the one specific thing now.
The pitchers? American League pitchers have a harder time. It’s not as good baseball. It’s boring.
National League has all the great pitchers now. Giants and Dodgers.
The Dodgers have amazing pitchers as long as they don’t get hurt. A lot of things can happen. It’s a long season. Kenley Jansen’s good. I like him. The bullpen’s OK. I think their starting pitchers are second to none. What they need is a little more hitting. Not much more. They got a good team.
The Phillies have some good pitching too.
I like that one kid from San Diego [Cole Hamels]. I always liked the way he pitched. He was pitching when they won the World Series. I like Lee, but I don’t know how well he’s playing this year. I like him though. I think Clint Lee’s a good fucking pitcher. But I’m not into the designated hitter. They’ve got to get rid of it. You can still hire a guy that’s a DH. Just let him pinch hit.
NL is more defensive.
It’s more strategy.
King Buzzo at the Wick in Brooklyn.
Back to music. What else can we expect in the future?
We have a new Melvins album coming out in October. It’s completely finished. We’re redoing the Night Goat 7” reissue. I can’t remember if it’s going to be a 10” or a 12”.
All the same songs from the original single?
Yeah. It’s hyper-limited. It’s going to be really cool.
I also saw that you also have the Station to Station single with Thirlwell here. Who picked that song? It’s a great choice.
We did. I don’t think anyone’s ever covered that. The B-side is Breaking Glass.
I‘m not as into those Brian Eno albums as everyone else is.
You gotta get over that.
I love Scary Monsters which is right after that.
That’s a great one. I like all those records.
I like most of his catalog.
…up to Scary Monsters. And I don’t really like the first album.
I think Outside is one of his good newer albums.
Heathen is a good one. I listen to about six albums of Bowie. Diamond Dogs might be my favorite.
This is a question I ask everyone, but I’m going to try to make it topical [which it would have almost been if I’d transcribed this interview quicker]. If you replaced Ace Frehley in KISS…
Me?
Well I usually ask “if you were in KISS”, but since you’ve been taking some flack…
That’ll be big news for about the next two minutes.
So what would your KISS makeup be?
I would just do blackface. I’d get in a lot of trouble.
You’ve taken a lot of flack in general for talking about other musicians. Who has the whiniest fans: George Thorogood, Dave Grohl, or KISS?
George Thorogood fans didn’t say anything because they’re too old. I never saw any Dave Grohl fans saying anything. Most of the people that say stuff just say, “Who the hell’s this Guy?” I wouldn’t have noticed if someone didn’t point it out to me, because they thought it was funny.
Who would be the best singer for a Nirvana reunion out of Kim Gordon, Lorde, Joan Jett or St Vincent?
I don’t know who Lorde or St Vincent is.
They all sung with Nirvana at the Hall of Fame.
When Kurt was alive, all he ever talked about was Joan Jett.
Well that’s perfect then.
No. He never liked that crap. Joan Jett. Who cares? The last song of hers that I liked was “ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb.” She perpetuates the myth of the lame female musician.There’s not going to be a [Nirvana] reunion. They already did it with McCartney. Dave Grohl won’t even play those songs with the Foo Fighters.
Queen’s now playing with an American Idol winner.
Well, they got nothing else to do. I don’t blame them for doing whatever they want. Keep themselves busy. Besides, who cares? They wrote all the music. As far as a Nirvana reunion goes, we won’t hold our breath. I wouldn’t go. They should get Lemmy before he dies. Or Gene Simmons.
Gene always said that people come to see KISS and not the members.
I agree. It’s marketing. They don’t even take it seriously.
Do you think Melvins fans would care if Gene Simmons was your next bassist as long as he dressed like Jared?
They’d be into it.
Back to the Hall of Fame for a minute. KISS didn’t play their induction because Gene wanted everyone who has ever been in KISS to perform, but the Hall of Fame people wouldn’t allow it.
Fuck the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It’s a joke.
Yeah. Madonna and Michael Jackson are in it.
Yeah. But Deep Purple’s not. That kind of stuff is totally stupid. I agree with the Sex Pistols’ letter. When they got inducted, they didn’t go. That’s exactly what I think.
People say they’re the boy band of punk. That everything was manufactured by Malcolm McLaren.
I never heard a boy band that sounded like that. God Save the Queen is a fucking great song. It’s heavy metal to me. I think it’s an amazing record.
I’ll give it another chance. They’re one of those bands I never got into. Black Flag is another one is another band that a lot of people I like and respect love, but I never got it.
I don’t know what to say. [blank stare]
You can tell me. I can tell by the way you’re looking at me what you’re thinking.
They’re an important band.
I don’t disagree that they’re important. It just never clicked for me. I think I was born too late to really appreciate punk. By the time I was in high school Green Day was popular.
They’re not punk. It’s K-Mart style punk. I don’t like all of [Black Flag] either, but if you can’t listen to a song like Slip It In or Damaged II, or anything off of the Everything Went Black record. If you don’t like those songs, you’ll probably never like Black Flag.
People usually tell me to listen to My War.
That’s not their best record. Damaged is good. Jealous Again is a really good record. That’s probably their best one.
I’ll give them another listen. What’s next for you after this?
I’m finishing this US tour. Then I’m go to Australia and do the same thing. Then I go to Europe and do the same thing. I’m back on the 22nd of September. Then we’re going to do a few Melvins dates after that.
Cool. Thanks for talking to me.
My pleasure. Thank you.
In honor of Melvins, KISS, and baseball fans alike. Here is the Detroit Rock City/Star Spangled Banner 45 from a few years back.
Sometimes the greatest moves are made in the spur of the moment. One semi-quiet day at Chunklet HQ, we hit up OBNOX mastermind Bim Thomas (also of Puffy Aereolas, This Moment in Black History, Bassholes, et al.) and asked if he ever wanted to release something under our moniker to keep it in mind. Thinking nothing other than our love of his work on 12XU and countless other labels, we went about our day. Six weeks later, Bim turned in “The Juke That Sat By The Door” which is stuffed to the gills with Nox jams. Bim went back to the basement and knocked out pop gem after pop gem. F’rinstance, “Sit Yo Ass Down” is so damned hooky that the wife of Chunklet CEO Henry Owings hummed it thru the duration of their vacation this past spring. True story. This glorious 12” EP is yet another celebration of the ceaseless creative mind that Bim Thomas has been unleashing from Columbus, Ohio since the ‘90s. Limited to 450 copies. 50 on red vinyl (available only direct thru Obnox), 50 on clear vinyl (available exclusively thru Chunklet mail-order) and the rest on black.
OBNOX TOUR DATES: Aug. 6-Ace of Cups 2619 N. High St. Columbus, OH. Aug. 7-Backdoor 207 S. College St. Bloomington, IND. Aug. 8- House Show @945 Morris, Indianapolis, IND. Aug. 9-Mini-Bar 3810 Broadway St. Kansas City, MO. Aug. 10-Replay Lounge 946 Massachusetts St. Lawrence, KS. Aug. 11- 3 Kings Tavern- 60 S. Broadway Denver, CO Aug. 12-Diabolical Records- 238 S. Edison St. Salt Lake City, UT. Aug. 13- The Crux- 1022 W. Main Boise, ID. Aug. 14-TOTAL FEST @ Zacc 235 North 1st St. W, Missoula, MT. Aug. 16-The Aquarium 226 Broadway, 2nd Fl, Fargo, ND. Aug. 17-7th St. Entry 701 1st Ave. N., Minneapolis, MN Aug. 18- House Show St. Paul, MINN. Aug. 19-Mickey’s Tavern, Madison, WI Aug. 20- Trumpet Blossom 310 E. Prentiss St., Iowa City, IA. Aug. 21- Eronel Cafe 285 Main St., Dubuque, IA. Aug. 22- Circle-A-Cafe 932 E. Chambers St. Milwaukee, WI. Aug. 23-Wally World 5301 Belmont Ave. Chicago, IL Aug. 24-The Owl 2521 N. Milwaukee Ave. Chicago, IL Aug. 25-Spot Tavern 409 S. 4th St. Lafayette, IN Aug. 26-Ace of Cups 2619 N. High St. Columbus, OH Aug. 27-Stone Tavern 110 E. Main St. Kent, OH Aug. 29- Happy Dog 5801 Detroit Ave. Cleveland OH Aug. 30-Roche Bar 405 Quay St. Port Huron, MI Aug. 31- HAMTRAMCK STREET FAIR Sept. 2- Comet 4579 Hamilton Ave. Cincinnati, OH Sept. 3-Pussy Palace, 1007 McKennie Ave, Nashville Sept. 4-Pilot Light- 106 E. Jackson Ave. Knoxville, TN Sept. 5-HOPSCOTCH FEST @Slims 227 S. Wilmington St. Raleigh, NC Sept. 6-Worlds Famous 351 N. Hull St. Athens, GA. (Chunklet Record Release) Sept. 7- The Earl 488 Flat Shoals Ave. SE., Atlanta, GA (Chunklet Record Release) Sept. 8-Murphys Bar and Grill 1589 Madison Ave., Memphis, TN Sept. 10- Howards Club H, 210 N. Main St., Bowling Green, OH Sept. 13- Beachland Tavern 15711 Waterloo Rd. Cleveland, OH Sept. 25-Ace of Cups 2619 N. High St. Columbus, OH Sept. 26-CROPPED OUT FEST@ American Turners Club 3125 River Rd. Louisville, KY Sept. 27-GONER FEST @Hi-Tone 412 N. Cleveland Ave., Memphis, TN *Sept. 28-Nashville, TN *Sept. 29-Dayton, OH Sept. 30 Gooskis 3117 Brereton St. Pittsburgh, PA Oct. 1- Annabells 784 W. Market St. Akron, OH
Hear some jams here. UPDATE (13SEP14): Vinyl is sold out at Chunklet HQ. Try finding it at your local record shoppe!
“We’re all in this together. Except you. You’re a dick.”
