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Send submissions (music, visuals, text, whatever) to anuncontrollableurge [at] gmail [dot] com. Some day, I will look at it. Address things to "David" because that's what my name is.
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Neeeerrrrrds!!!
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Expressway to Yr Skull
End of Radio
Friendship Bracelet
Get Off the Coast
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Music is a Sin
The Mythical Good Part
Peace & Rhythm
Sex Sux (Amen)
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Alright, I guess I’ve found the only Christmas song I’ll ever listen to. Maybe also “The Night Santa Went Crazy.”
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The Gories/Jimmy Ohio at Maxwell’s in Hoboken
I caught up on my live gunk-punk fix last night at Maxwell’s. The Gories knocked out a vicious set of kickin’ rock’n’roll, opened up by bluesy southern-styled (but Detroit-based) sounds of Jimmy Ohio. Both acts were good, but, as expected, the Gories really knocked it out. I missed last summer’s reunion tour, so this was my first opportunity to see them live, and they were just as shitty as I hoped they’d be. Which is to say that they were amazing.
Not only was this my first time in witness of these two acts, but it was also my first time at Maxwell’s. It’s a small club, and that’s good, especially for this kind of show. It makes me a bit bummed that I missed out on seeing the Mummies there last summer instead of Southpaw, especially since Southpaw is about five times the size of Maxwell’s. Not as intimate. Whoever was running sound last night was, perhaps, a genius. The mixing for both groups was perfect, but I’ll get into that in a bit.
First, Jimmy Ohio played a forty-minute set of alternately piano- and guitar-based rock tunes, backed by a tight-as-hell rhythm section. As I was just getting to before, you could hear each instrument perfectly, even the often hard-to-nail drum set. I was pretty excited about the sound they were getting out of the stripped-down cymbal-less kit, but, then again, there was barely anything to mic, so I guess they had to do a good job.
The songs ranged from more laid-back, ballad-y numbers to aggressive punk sound, and, if you’re a follower of this blog, you probably have a good idea which style I preferred. Ohio’s a good song-writer, but I think he’s an even better front-man; the one song where he left the piano and guitar alone to growl out the lyrics and herky-jerk himself around the stage was my favorite part of the set, made only more entertaining by his guitarist’s noise-lead work.
When Mick Collins mentioned he’d be setting the volume of his guitar softer than he usually has it with his other group, The Dirtbombs, I was a bit bummed, but then as the Gories began their set with the perfect opening, “Hey Hey, We’re the Gories,” right from the start, it was the loudest thing I’d heard in my entire life. And there’s no other way this kind of scuzzy garage-punk should be. In a similar vein, the group made several comments about not remembering their songs or how to play them, and yet still played them all with energy and groove. These guys-and-gal are a fine example of what punk rock is all about; they don’t know what they’re doing, but they do it anyway, and way better than anyone else could.
While I was hoping they’d pull out a cover of “Land of 1000 Dances,” I was not at all disappointed that they did not; they hit all my favorite songs of theirs, including the perfect sing-a-long “Thunderbird ESQ,” and the covers they did do were great — no-brainers, but you’d never come up with them. During the encore, which finished up with a nasty rendition of “Nitroglycerin,” as per audience request/chant, the group pulled out a dirty scream-through of Muddy Waters’ “I Just Want to Make Love To You” that truly stands on its own against the original.
If you’ve got the chance, and you won’t be at the free Sonic Youth/Grass Widow/Talk Normal show in Brooklyn tomorrow night, you should check out the Gories at Lincoln Center Out of Doors, also for free (with ? and the Mysterians also performing). Too much awesome.
P.S. Happy belated birthday to drummer Peg O’Neill, who celebrated it last night by laying down the punchiest beats I’ve heard in a long while.
P.P.S. For all you Gories/Dirtbombs fans out there, don’t forget about Blacktop. They were also fucking great.
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Psychedelic Music: I guess this is a “round-up…”
You might be wondering what I’ve been doing instead of writing up music, like I should. I mean, I should be doing this more now, right? I’ve graduated, and I’m now unemployed.
Well, I’ve been doing some research. When not reading We Never Learn, Eric Davidson’s excellent oral history of garage punk, and catching up on all the garage punk I missed out on while watching Power Rangers and being five, I’ve been getting my fix of psychedelics. And since I’ve come across such an amazing bunch of finds lately, I figured I’d fill you in on them. Not like I’ve got anything better to do, really.
Girls in the Garage, Volumes 1 - 5
Though there are ten of these Girls in the Garage compilations, I’ve only found the first five (which you can grab by following the above link). Most of the stuff on these discs is a little more doo-wop than garage scuzz, but that’s cool too. Plenty of gems on this one, but my favorite track is definitely “Those Ever-Lovin’ Baby Blues” by the Id, found on Volume 1. It’s one of those “what the hell, babe?” songs for which garage music is oh-so well-fitted, and the vocals are killer. Don’t miss it, it’s the song of every lazy, bummer summer.
Terauchi Takeshi’s Let’s Go Classics
Thanks to WFMU for this one. Terauchi Takeshi is the king of Japanese surf rock, and this record is a collection of his fuzzed-out, psychedelic surf-takes on classical music. Each is nasty, but my favorite might be “In a Persian Market,” because it’s just a bit more out-there than the rest. If you go to the above link, you can get the whole record, and then follow the trail to get another record of straight surf by Terauchi.
Kayama Yuzo’s Black Sand Beach
Speaking of Japanese surf rock royalty, Kayama Yuzo’s ”Black Sand Beach,” which appears twice on the same-titled record found above, is another surf-rock masterpiece that I can’t stand not hearing at least once a day, since stumbling across it earlier this week. You may remember Kayama from this insanely incredible video, which I posted about a year ago (if you’re some weirdo who’s been following this than for a year… do those exist?). Too bad the song from that film never made it to vinyl, or so I hear.
Love, Peace, and Poetry, Volumes 1 - 9
I fully expected a compilation called Love, Peace, and Poetry to be absolute garbage, but I was happy to find that it totally annihilates. Each volume tackles some deep psychedelic cuts from a different area of the map, including the obvious American and British psychedelic scenes, and the more interesting scenes with which you might not be familiar. My favorite comps from this set of nine were the Brazilian and Turkish ones, but they’re all definitely worth checking out. Go for it.
That’s it for now. You’ve got some work to do.
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[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]Datus - Tanyas
Vitiate (Limbic Systems)
Vitiate, the newest EP from Datus, is a collage of heavy textures. Electronic squeals, polyrythmic drums in which a serious Tony Allen influence can be discerned, and thick loads of fuzz all knotted together during six songs of complex noise and power. Datus previously put out three cool EP’s, each of its own sort of theme, and this time, it’s as if they’ve dropped each element that previously would have been it’s own EP into a pressure cooker, focusing and fusing these parts together to create some sort of powerful monster of sound.
High points for me included the strange beehive of tremendous noise that is “Tanyas” as well as the masterful drumming on “Cuckold.” But really, it’s one of those “you have to listen to it all the way through to get the full effect” things, so just set aside 25 minutes of yer time and kick back. Get melted. Y’know.
Pick up Vitiate when it drops July 23rd. You’ll be happy you did. And remind me to remind you about Datus’ August 2nd show in Brooklyn.
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Full-screen that.
I never know what I’m supposed to be looking at, and I love it.
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The Melvins Make Pop Music →
CHECK THIS SHIT OUT. The Melvins are on the Billboard Top 200. No matter how you look at this, it’s awesome news. Die, corporate music industry! Die!
Lookin’ forward to Friday’s show with Isis at Webster Hall.
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[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]Overnight Lows - Static Scars
City of Rotten Eyes (Goner)
I feel like it’s been a while since I’ve gotten some sick garage punk on here. It’s about goddamned time. This newest release from Boner Goner Records is exactly what you’re looking for; screaming, slightly off-key vocals; frenetic drums; out-of-tune guitars; and riffs like crazy. That, and it all wraps up in under 22 minutes. Who’s got time waste on bullshit like a three-minute song? Assholes, that’s who.
I’m letting you check out “Static Scars” because it’s got the female bassist taking front and center with some nasty vox. But you know the whole record is nasty. This thang is almost Supercharger-good.
