SOCIALS - MARDOU - SUBSETS @ Rakes End 12.22.12

SOCIALS - MARDOU - SUBSETS @ Rakes End, a photo by The Big Drop on Flickr.

DEATH NAILS DANZE

Fred Tarr and Shawn Abnoxious are Collaborators

Jon Ashline of Screamin' Mee Mee's R-n-RIP

"Hot Sody", a song I heard on KILLED BY DEATH #3 (one of the first LP's I ever bought) remains one of the best punk-rock (with the dash) songs written in history. I have tried to 'figure it out' musically for years to cover it in a band of my own... but in the true spirit of punk-rock I lack this ability. I have the best luck at playing my own songs.-Shawn

JON M ASHLINE R.I.P.
May 8, 1951--November 11,  2012 
It's with a heavy heart that we report the passing of a St.  Louis music icon and one of the true, original punks, Jon Ashline. Jon was half  of the legendary Screamin' Mee-Mees, one of the earliest proto-punk   basement rock outfits. Along with partner-in-crime Bruce Cole, the Mee-Mees  recorded their brand of racket since the late 60s in the St. Louis suburb of  Ferguson, MO. What started out as drunken/stoned goof-off recordings quickly  morphed into paint-peeling Kraut Rock/noise-inspired jams which they dubbed Warp  Music. The Warp name was soon supplanted by the Screamin' Mee-Mees moniker, and  they went on to record countless hours of original material, much of it written  spontaneously as they were taping it. Jon played drums, handled most lead  vocals, and contributed the occasional guitar, organ, slide whistle or other  backing part, as Bruce led the songs with his drunken guitar wailing. The Mee-Mees saved up and unleashed their first piece of vinyl  on the world in late 1976, though it sported a 1977 date, as not to seem too  "last year's model." The Live From The Basement EP stands as one of the  crudest, most mind-boggling Midwestern D.I.Y. rock slabs of the original punk  era. Plans for more records followed, but a lack of funds, marriages, jobs and  other real-life stuff got in the way. The Mee-Mees stayed silent for most of the  80s, but enjoyed a resurgence starting in the early 90s, releasing two LPs and a  string of 7-inchers on several different labels. Wowing even the most  hipper-than-thou fanzine and indie-band folks, the Mee-Mees had more fans than  ever. Jon had moved from Ferguson to Topeka, KS shortly after the  release of their first album in 1992, but they continued to record new material  on his holiday visits back to St. Louis. Starting in the early 2000s, Slippy  Town and then Gulcher Records helped bring even more attention to their music  with several reissues and collections of unreleased material. In 2007, Gulcher  released what would be the last "new" Mee-Mees album, Plastic Hong Kong  Doorbell Finger. Affirming there is still an audience for the Mee-Mees,  Rerun Records released two cassette/CDR releases just this year, with many more  to follow from Bruce's vast basement archives. Gulcher Records is also reissuing  the two Mee-Mees 90s LPs on compact disc, remastered from the original  tapes.

Diagnosed with bone marrow cancer in 2002, Jon wasn't about  to leave this world without a fight. After ten years, it finally got the best of  him. Never giving up on playing the music he loved, Jon had a new, Topeka-based  musical duo during the last few years called the Don't Wait Arounds. A CDR-EP  and other new recordings proved he hadn't lost his sense of humor or mellowed  with age. Jon Ashline was a one-of-a-kind and will be greatly missed. If there's  an afterlife, we're sure he's keeping time for Captain Beefheart or jamming with  other fallen heroes.

--Jason Ross, Rerun Records 

SCREAMIN' MEE-MEES DISCOGRAPHY: 
Live From The Basement 7" EP (Dog Face, 1977; Bag Of Hammers,  1995)
Clutching Hand Monster Mitt LP (Dog Face, 1992; Slippy Town CDR, 2002;  
Gulcher CD, 2012)
"Pull My Finger!" b/w "Family Tree" 7" (Electric Records,  1993)
"Life Never Stops" b/w "Oscillations" 7" (Dog Meat, 1994)
Home  Movies 7" EP (Bag of Hammers, 1995)
"Cartoon Land" on Twinkeyz Tribute Split  7" (New World Of Sound, 1996)
"Answer Me" b/w "Arthritis Today" 7" (Brinkman  Records, 1996)
"Squawk, Squawk, Squawk" on Whump! Fanzine Double EP Comp  (Whump, 1996)
Nude Invisible Foot Phenomenon LP (Bag of Hammers, 1996; Slippy  Town 
CDR,2002; Gulcher CD, 2012)
The Screamin' Mee-Mees & Hot Scott  Fischer / Warp Sessions 1973 CDR 
(Slippy Town, 2000)
The Screamin' Mee-Mees  & Hot Scott Fischer / You're Now In Our World: Warp 
Sessions 1972 CDR  (Slippy Town, 2001)
Prenatal 1972-1976 CDR (Slippy Town, 2003)
Live From  The Basement 1975-1997: Complete Singles & EPs Collection CD 
(Gulcher,  2003)
Garbage Collage CD (Gulcher, 2004)
Live From The Basement 1975-1996  LP (Hate/Vulcher, Italy, 2005)
The Screamin' Mee-Mees & Hot Scott Fischer  / Warp Sessions 1972-1973 
Double-CD (Gulcher, 2007)
Plastic Hong Kong  Doorbell Finger CD (Gulcher, 2007)
Comedy Hour CDR/Casette (Rerun,  2012) 

http://gulcher.bigcartel.com

[Official obituary courtesy of  Rurun Records, e-mailed/posted by Gulcher Records, 11500 Westwood, Orlando FL  32821.]

HOMEMADE DRUGS 11/24/12 at SGHR

Photo by Shawn Abnoxious

HOMEMADE DRUGS 

CD Release Show!

Saturday November 24th

at The Southgate House Revival 

18-20 yr olds- $8  21+-$5

with: 

Captain Missouri

The Harlequins

Mardou

Also:

Dont forget to pick up a copy of this weeks City Beat Magazine that includes an article about HOMEMADE DRUGS validating illicit behavior! Grab these times; the ones now.

...

Somewhere A Pabst Blue Ribbon is Crying… (Treatise)

I originally came to think of it as my 'crash' but reclassified it, per suggestion by The Juice by Jerry, as my 'Reset' of June 30th, 2012. Either way though I still feel like a traitor.

Somewhere a PABST BLUE RIBBON is crying.

Long story short, the summer of 2012 was the absolute suckiest summer ever but it was also the best mainly, for both reasons. I didn’t die.

If not for this reset, I have theorized that I would have died on July 2nd, the second of two scheduled 12 hour 100°+ workdays. But alas, I didn’t die (I think)... Three different doctors told me "Your lucky to be alive." (And finally, it sunk in). I was so hyper-tensive and diabetic that I should have had a heart attack, stroke or slipped into a diabetic coma. I was riddled with a staph infection and in fear of losing a good portion or entire left foot. Things were looking bleak there for a while. Nothing puts anything in perspective like being told you have sepsis...

I have had to do a complete 180 with my eating and living habits since then. I entered the fall of 2012 on this side of the ground and doing better in the grips of a full-blown renaissance. Trust me on this....

I was officially a diagnosed Type 1 diabetic meaning constant blood monitoring before meals, in the mornings and bedtime translating into 4-6 maintenance insulin shots a day, vertigo, Autonomic Dysfunction (sounds MUCH cooler than it is), oodles of oral medication for blood pressure maintenance, migraines (had apparently battled these most of my life), peripheral neuropathy and calcified bones in my feet. "You have the feet of a 70 year old". All of this was bad news true, but things could have been worse...

I changed my lifestyle. Began watching carbs and in fact, seen improvement enough in reduction of some medicines... but there’s still a long way to go. I will be on some medicines in some form or other for the rest of my life. Over consumption of deliciously sweet sugary sodas a day didn’t help me in anyway, but I got really bad genetics... Fucked from day zero...

Still though, something 'clicked' during this reset. No more pop... A diet soda maybe once a week... Different cravings began to arise. Fish (I never was a fish eater)... I started wanting to eat vegetables, at least trying them... Not liking all of them, but at least liking some of them. Vegetable Soup has been a glorious discovery. One of the things I knew I had to change which was maybe the trickiest, was my drinking habits...

No more 12 packs or six packs of High Life or PABST BLUE RIBBON ... No more Friday night 'Pint-8's' of Port Republic... or more like no more three or four pint-8's to get to the 'sweet spot' of drunkenness. It had to be light beer from here on out for me but not just any light beer. I had to do my research because some light beers were still loaded with carbs, carbs my eternal enemy from here on out. Beer drinking for the diabetic is twisted and tricky. I had to do my research...

Inadvertently I tried Guinness and LOVED it. Which was an excellent by-product of my reset. I finally came around to the better things of beer drinking even though it was also a time I had to monitor my consumption of it, oh the irony...

Still, I needed a good 'swill' beer. Guinness was a good 'Heavy-hitter' but one or two Guinness' with their 9.9 carbs had to be the limit... I not only had to watch my carbs, but the alcohol content too. Alcohol affects blood sugar readings to a varying degree... My days of extreme falling down drunkenness had to be gone (but I will always have those memories). A healthy buzz had to be the closest Id ever get to where I use to shoot for...

So, I did my research using the Internet and discovered BUD LIGHT PLATINUM a beer featuring lower carbs (4.4 per 12oz) and 6.0% ABV) the best buzz-bang for the carb-buck.

The beer itself wasn’t bad... Consuming Three Bud Light Platinum’s end up equaling less than one carb choice (15 carbs). Theoretically, if I properly planned my evening (something I wasn’t so accustomed to before pre reset) I could have a meal so as I wasn’t drinking on an empty stomach and have three beers to get a decent buzz and not really expunge my self-allowance of carb choice allowances. With a bit of better preparation I could even allow a pint of Guinness as a lead-in or topper.

Still, it took a couple "runs" to determine how I metabolized the alcohol and how it affected my blood sugars... Each individual has to 'figure it out' through planning and constant monitoring... Luckily planning and organization comes well to me...

But still, its BUD LIGHT... Yeah, 'race car' beer. The enemy... Wow, how all my ramblings and rants have returned in earnest concerning fancy-dancy import beers and even light beer... I didn’t feel as cool sporting a BUD LIGHT PLATINUM around like I did my blessed PABST BLUE RIBBON s or Port Republics nor did I feel it was nearly as cool... Apparently, the 'concept' of what beer I was holding in my hand and drinking and what it ethically stood for was really important to me.

Yeah, was important.

I couldn’t continue to drink post-reset the way I did pre-reset. I had to change if I wanted to continue to drink in any form as I did... So I did the research. I learned the ins and outs of diabetic drinking. I changed.

I’m still having a hard time finding anything cool with the personality or concept of what it means to tote around a blue bottle of light beer. The taste of the beer is noticeably different than PABST BLUE RIBBON or Port Republic... I try to find a common ground and claim BUD LIGHT PLATINUM taste like STROHS, a good cheap swill beer of the past that got it done in dank hole alleys and trailer parks across the entire hemisphere and yeah, that’s what it reminds me of. But essentially, I’m attempting to find a shtick compromise to justify a purchase I’m ashamed to make. I can drink three 'Platties' (my attempt to moniker the beer and accept it) and still mind-sail a smooth buzz... Take care of the rough edges around every corner. After all at least I’m still sailing right?


I know it sounds funny, but I feel as though I’m a traitor to my beliefs and myself. Essentially, I am... I admit it. PABST BLUE RIBBON will never forgive me. Those tears turn to anger and I’m watching my back for a vengeful ambush.

So I once Back In The Day™ said I would never trust anyone drinking light beer, or 'race car' beer and that’s still the case. I wish I could say I was joking then, but I really wasn’t. Beer drinking was something that I took as a socially serious stance with. I felt like I was special, different and rebellious drinking beer that mainstreamers everywhere refused in some form or other... Its amazing considering the person I have become vs. the person I was. I can even say that you shouldn’t trust me or anything I say. I’m an instrument of the enemy. I wouldn’t trust me if I was a two-fisting PABST BLUE RIBBON 19 year old SOB. I’m just wondering what other compromises and feet I will place into my mouth as the years pass... Trust me. This is just the beginning.

Somewhere a PABST BLUE RIBBON is plotting its revenge upon me...

Jamaican Queens Hits The Comet 11/15/12

This is one of the best photographs I have ever seen.

If I could give awards, this photo would get one...

It was taken by the band JAMAICAN QUEENS and posted via Instagram and Twitter.

JAMAICAN QUEENS will be playing THE COMET 

on Nov 15th with MARDOU.

[Past-Blast] [Blank Generation--Nov. 2000]

Writings from Blank Generation from November 2000

Dogs "Fed Up" CD/LP

I have been waiting for this LP since picking up the "John Rock" 7" (featuring "John Rock and Roll St. Clair", "Tuff Enuff" and "Slash Your Face") a while back. I didn’t know who would do it, had no idea that Dionysus would step up to bat for The Dogs much as they previously did for The Rotters, Gears, Controllers, Dils and others; but I knew someone had to do this record. Its only befitting that Dionysus did. Dionysus is another of those labels making the current STATE of punk-rock bearable. With the bad and horrendous is the vicious, destructive and more importantly, WORTHY. Dionysus is the yin to the yang or some strange counter-balancing sounding shit like that. Many bands are known as The Dogs. It’s one of those names that just seem to fit many who claim it. Yet only one really deserves it though, This Dogs, The (Detroit) Dogs! Disciples of The Stooges. MC5 inspired. That’s not a bad thing. You heard 'em on Killed By Death and that 7" I mentioned earlier if you were lucky (but really, your probably just pain ol' pathetic; and that’s good too)... If you like that shit the rest of this LP will not disappoint. Hard-hitting rock and roll with punk attitudes. Gray-scale industrial cityscape music to live by. My switch-blade stopped working the day after I bought this LP but I still carry it and even started to get it out when I mistook a "mosh-pit" for young teen violence at a punk rock show in a Ohio barn last night. Ready for Action (?)(!). (SAB)
(Dionysus Records PO Box 1975 Burbank, CA 91507)

Jolt "S/T " LP
Seen this band on Punk in London or something like that. I could get up and look but its as cold as fuck in the Midwest today and I am enjoying a Generic Label Mountain Dew (called Citrus Drop, Distributed by Inter-American Foods out of Cincinnati Ohio) and sitting by the computer writing this. Now I will admit, I like The Jam. That isn’t a bad thing to do either. Its not like it's a groundbreaking statement. The Jam kicked out some pretty damn memorable tunes. They weren’t spectacular or anything but their first LP was almost legendary, just too rushed. The label should have waited for some better songs than rushing to release something "punk". This LP by the Jolt just hits me like a second Jam LP whereas they got back to their roots of playing fast and loud, or maybe Jam demo recordings where they were destined to mellow out later or something. In other words, The Jolt also represents the more mod-punk/power-pop madness like that of The Jam. The Jolt rip-off The Jam, and its pretty apparent. Someone’s gotta do it though, and hell, someone should have done it maybe even sooner and faster than The Jolt. On the back of the cover it sez "Long Play 33 1/3 RPM Microgroove Flexible Record". I’m not too sure what all of that means, like that part about the microgroove flexible shit, but what I do know is that this record was just a lil' bit too big which cause the record to rub against the arm assembly on my turn-table and make a vicious scraping noise approximately every three seconds. I had to get a knife and scour the edges of the LP in order to make the record playable. This is the first record I ever had to take a knife to. Cool. (SAB)

(No Address)

Le Shok "We Are Electrocution" LP

The best thing to come out this year by far would have to be "We are Electrocution", it's my pick for the record of the year 2000! It’s fast, abrasive, neoteric punk with definite self-destructive leanings. Just the thing to motivate you to do better. "Killed By Fuck," "Where's the Line Begin for Vicodin," "White Tie, You Die"... all anthems for the current STATE (state of what you ask? The STATE of everything STATE!). It pains me that such a band lives in such proximity to an ocean. This means that good punk rock can come from someplace else other than this shit called The Midwest. A band built around a great guitar sound with the keyboards add a distinctive, well used (as opposed to over used) quality, and along with the Stitches type snotty vocals make this LP stand out so much to me that this is the second time I am writing a review for it. When you hear good records, you want others to know about it. Pink vinyl. Electric pussies, Electric dicks. I am the body Electric. (SAB)
(Gold Standard Laboratories Records/Le Shok PO Box 15645 Long Beach, CA. 90815)

Naked Raygun "Basement Screams" CD

Naked Raygun came across to me more as an art-punk band than a straight-forward punk/hardcore band even before I heard this disc and their choice to cover Wires’ "12XU." I remember when I first heard "Throb Throb"... I thought it was some of the best shit i ever heard, and still do. I had high expectations for this disc but its pretty damn comparable to "Throb Throb". I can’t help it. I always tend to expect bands earlier works to far outweigh their latter ones. This time I was wrong but just a tad... Put "Potential Rapist" and "Tojo" on "Throb..." and that would have been a $100 E-Bay LP. I think it was the group backing vocals throughout the disc on the studio stuff that bothered me... Whereas this disc won’t garner new fans, it will make others that much more satisfied. (SAB)
(Quarterstick Records POB 25342 Chicago, IL 60625)

Registrators "Imagination World" 7"

This is a biased review. Even more so since I bought this piece of plastic and attempting to further it in any possible way. To understand this review, you must understand two very important creations of mine. One is my Neoteric Punk/Wave rock movement.

As stated in the pages of Maximum Rock and Roll, AND furthered digitally by Now Wave web site, I basically created a new rock movement which I call Neoteric Punk/Wave SPECIFICALLY for bands like Kill The Hippies, Crimson Sweet, Cock Spaniels, Dynamite On! Nowhere Squares, The Reds and others including, you guessed it: The Registrators! Taken from the third Draft of my Neoteric Punk/Wave,

"MY Neoteric Punk/Wave movement is the BEST of all the current flavors. It's modern new wave without the downers. It's indie-pop with a punch to the face. It's 'punk rock' meaning "PUNK-ROCK" and not "punk rock" meaning all that Korn bullshit wasting space in CD players ROUND THE WORLD (that Korn-punk is fucking global ya know). My Neoteric Wave rock movement is the bitter anecdote to all that's wrong with those people slinging around punk like it's a fucking adjective.

"Look Mom, punk rock!". "Oh Mikey, yer sooo funny! Grandma will think that's soo CUTE!". FUCKERS! YOU RUINED PUNK ROCK!"

Take it for what you will. I don't really care. I am just waiting for everyone else's personalized rock movements to see if any, at all, creativity was used. When Kill The Hippies released 'Shit Covered Hits" it was a statement which went beyond just "punk rock" or even "Punk-rock." The Registrators also did this with the release of "16 Wires from the New Provacate," both were a statement from a new age of rock and roll and I did something about it.

The other thing you must understand in my biased review of this Registrators artifact is the "V-Army." You see, the 7" cover (ah, if only Mr. Domino could scan in the cover) has the band name overtop of a flying V guitar. I never seen any live pictures of The Registrators and never considered them to be big fans of Flying V's or anything (yeah, foolish thinking, I mean, I AM talking about The Registrators, one of the top 5 bands who ever breathed air) but I suppose now, they might be 'fanatics', like me. I formed and founded a loose organization called The V-Army with the releasing of my last issue of Neus Subjex, so I’m talking recently folks. The organization is so loose (AKA "mysterical") no list of operatives exist outside those retained in the brains of its followers. No leaders, only units. Only action where there is no action. Simply owning and playing a Flying V is a start, but its not enough. The V-Army is like The Mansons or something minus the firearms and the coleslaw but with heaping amounts of flying V guitars and rumblings of a Neoteric Apocalypse. I'm automatically biased when I see a flying V. No guarantees promised but if you put a flying V on your record cover, you have to be pretty damn musically compatible with ol' Shawn Abnoxious.

The way I see it, you have two main versions of The Registrators. The 'Terminal Boredom' version and the 'Provocate' version (even though I hadn't heard shit about a lineup change I think most would agree on my breakdown). This 7" would fall under the 'Provacate' sounding Registrators. Now I know a lot of people that don't like the (new) Registrators and their development as a band. Tread careful if you are a big "Terminal Boredom' fan. But for those who were weeded out from the finest to the ELITE with "16 Wires," this is a perpetuance of that sound. The Registrators are leaders of the new-new wave and Neoteric masters of all they see. Hey, this was almost a Compulsive! (SAB)

Splash 4 "Shame, Shame, Shame" 10"

Along with The TV Killers and The No-Talents (who The 4 also share personnel with), The Splash play like a middle-of-the-road mix of the two and along with, are thee sound of modern french Repunk-rock. This time around the seven songs on this disc are not as powerful as their "Filth City" 10" (Estrus Records) but keepers none-the-less. Two tracks are covers. One is of the German punk pioneers known as Big Balls and The Great White Idiot ("Kick her in the Dirt"), which doesent really do the original justice (nice try though, it just sounds too choppy), and a French version of a song by The Bug’s who I have yet to hear. Besides "Miss Behavior" the remaining tracks sound like "Filth City" leftovers and since the songs were recorded way back in October of 1998 might very well be from the same session (give me a break, I don’t feel like getting up and checking). (SAB)
(Dionysus Records POB 1975 Burbank, CA. 91507)

(Broken Rekids PO Box 460892 San Francisco, CA. 94146-0892)

Tazers "Dont Classify Me!" LP

They had the name but admit on the liner notes, the Tazers did what they did for GIRLS and FUN and didn't site being pissed-off OR bored as reasons for forming the band. Being in a band myself, I see the opposite of having fun and girls and being pissed off and bored as more of an influence. Being bored means hating. Being pissed off means being disgusted. When you hate something and are disgusted by it you have something to say. I was bored, pissed off and even smelled like dog-food when I haphazardly decided I was going to be the bassist in a band. Before the decision I didn't play the bass, never even picked one up. I got a paycheck and got a bass and amp. Chicks and having fun was the farthest thing from my mind. I would hate to see the punk-rocker who is in it for the girls because any girl he's able to pick up would have to be as fucked up (Hey, can I say 'Fuck' around here) as he was in the first place. Secondly, since when did punk rockers begin picking up chicks? Did I miss something? A guy I know, Jimmy Pervert is the epitome of what punk rock is as far as picking up girls are concerned. At a show a while back someone asked Jim the last time he had sex. "Vaginal Sex?" he asked in clarification, "Cause I have sex with myself all the time." Jim said no girls want to talk to him. They hate him. He is - He is pretty maximum. Maybe the girls he talks to should start bands. Now, who has more spunk? Who is probably writing better songs about REAL life? The Tazers who are playin' in a band and having fun and getting laid, OR Jim who is in The (late) Geriatrix swilling any beer he can find, jerking his meat to get self-gratification and being shot down more than Iraqi Migs in the Gulf War?

The first track had me worried. It was the title one. Uh-Oh, a lil bit 'soft.'... Soon after the next two I declare keepers: "Neo-Natal Hospital" and "Micro-Wave Mother" both of which bring to mind Zounds and The Mob, oddly enough two "Crass Records" bands. The comparison soon sours though. the LP looses strength. After these two songs the LP just sort of evens out with minor peaks on the second side with "Figure it Out" and "Plastic Girls." Lets face it though, better to have the good with the bad because if Rave-Up decided to just put the better songs on a Greatest Hits 7" or something than the question would still exist if there was something more hotter than just the few kick ass songs. Now I know, and like I learned from watching GI JOE every day at 4 PM after school in the 80's, knowing is half-the battle. All criticisms aside, I would still rather get are-punk (as in reissue/revivalist punk) releases like this Tazers than a Fat Wreck Chords piece of shit. After I spent $12.99 on this slab of vinyl, mainly because MY (meaning the record store I frequent rather than own) order from Underground Medicine (where I could directly order it and save cash but refrained because I want MY record store to last), I don’t feel cheated from buying this; not one bit. Saying something likeable about a record means something positive. If not for a few labels and a few select bands in my personal city, I would not feel as strongly about punk rock in general and probably never would have become a Blank Generation contributor. Rave-Up is a great label doing a great thing. Even though their series is Lost AMERICAN Nuggets, Cant wait to hear what they dig up for The Hitler SS. (SAB)
(RaveUp@tiscal.net)
(Rave Up Records Via Montecuccoli 13 00176, Roma. Italy)

Valentine Killers "St. Valentines Day Massacre" LP

This record looked promising enough. Menacing looking fella on the cover... Bar code over another's face on the back... Same guy I suppose. "Hey, you're on the record TWICE!!!" Sez the dude in the flannel (hey, they're from Seattle too, aren't they breaking some sort of rock-law by doing that). Good cover-up buttercup. I listened to Side One immediately upon returning home. I’m like "Yeah, its good but The Motards are better"; but it did stick with me a bit more than that Catheters LP a while back...

I was all into that Catheters record AT FIRST, now I can't remember the last time I listened to it. I even PURPOUSLY sat a home when they came through Cincinnati because 1.) They were on tour with the Murder City Devils who sell their both LPs AND CDs separately for $10 EACH (which IS bullshit and something I called them on THE FIRST TIME they suckered me into seeing them; and they blew me off. Well, this review will teach their Pixie wannabe's ASS!)... What was I talking about? Oh yeah, the 2^nd reason I blew The Catheters off is simple, Xena: Warrior Princess (I’m not too sure about that actually but sorta looks good there).

The Valentine Killers’ record I like better each time I hear it. They sound dangerous, like kids playing with matches. Fans of The Candy Snatchers should definitely take note, this LP is pretty reminiscent of HUMAN ZOO (the Candy Snatchers LP that is, NOT the Cincinnati Punk legends that the Snatchers' LP is named after. How’s that for some fucking fun fucking facts? Can I even say fuck around here?). My picks are "Full Throttle," the title track (you're NOT going to make me retype THAT are you), and "Motor City Shutdown" which is so AWFUL but yet appealing that I like it. Not entirely essential but then again what is? (SAB)
(Yeah, Its Rock Records POB 85775 Seattle, WA. 98122)

Vom "Live at Surf City" 7"EP

Don’t be fooled, this is the "training band" that went on to become The Angry Samoans. Sort of a Killed By Death version of The Samoans, if you will, that sort of reminds me of the infamous Electric Eels in their execution.... The five songs on this 7", some of which you will notice from their Samoan counterparts are raw, rough, and lewd. Like the Samoans "Live At Rhino" quality wise, the release is still very much listenable and worth the cash. "Electrocute Your Cock" is probably one of the best songs ever written and already made it onto one of my so-called "writing comps" which is a series of CDRs I have compiled with songs from LP's that I listen to while writing. Yes, I go through the extra trouble to record many LP's onto CDR so I can still hear the crackle of vinyl DIGITALLY! Fuck yeah! It means nothing to most of you (all mayhap?), but making it onto one of my CDR compilations is the closest thing to a Grammy, and greatest honor I can personally bestow, on a band’s song. (SAB)
(Kryptonite Records 827 Lincoln Blvd. Manitowoc, WI. 54220)

Warsaw "S/T" CD

Twenty-three years after the fact, some music is still yet to be discovered by me but as usual, as fresh to the ears as if it was recorded yesterday. I grew to become a Joy Division fan and only knew about the LEGEND known as Joy Division BEFORE they were Joy Division. I got this CD, was blown away at the strength they had in their earliest formations and by writing this review urge you to re-discover the band that never was (more OR less!). You might know "Warsaw" as one of the better Joy Division tracks but it’s ALSO the beginning of Joy Division. This CD has 17 tracks in all. The first eleven, including many raw and rough versions of early Joy Division songs were recorded in 1978. The twelfth track is from 1980 (long after they changed their name from the Bowie influenced "Warsaw" to Joy Division.) The remaining tracks were recorded even sooner and even rawer, demos from 1977. If you consider Joy Division ‘punk-rock’ you will love this. If you think its cool that Ian Curtis hung himself because he was seeking a release from his lifelong bout of epilepsy-like to wear black and consider Joy Division a premier goth band, well you are now a rare bread since all this Marilyn Manson bullshit has surfaced AND might find a release like this hard to swallow. Me? I hear "No Love Lost" when I walk into the room at a crowded venue (I also hear "Teenage Radiation" by ss-20 when I take a piss so maybe that sentence just lost a lil something). (SAB)
(MPG)

Introducing: PAST-BLAST! (new segment)

Hold On...

In the year 2000, Back-In-The-Day™ Kenny Halbert (before I actually knew his REAL last name) aka 'Kenny Hussie' aka 'Kenny On Broadway' (as he was known then) urged me to take up as a reviewer for a web-zine he was contributing to as well as doing my thing for THE NEUS SUBJEX.

The web-zine, which was still a fairly new concept at the time, was headed up by Joe Domino who quickly accepted me into the ranks of BLANK GENERATION with open arms.

In November of 2000 my first reviews for BLANK GENERATION were published...

I contributed to BLANK GENERATION (eventually becoming a columnist) until it’s self-demise by Joe Domino in January if 2003. Many personal from BLANK GENERATION went on to found TERMINAL BOREDOM to pretty much carry on with what each of them were doing with BLANK GENERATION. TERMINAL BOREDOM still exists to this day.

I was not asked, nor did I really want to continue on with TERMINAL BOREDOM. I felt as if some if those guys apparently didn’t like my writings too much and let it be known on TERMINAL BOREDOM soon enough. TERMINAL BOREDOM kept the BLANK GENERATION site alive as an archive (of sorts) a snapshot of an era and documented source of a truly pioneering effort.

I moved on from 2003 until now. I continued my involvement with THE NEUS SUBJEX., dabbled in the freelance field, started and still do my poetry writings and even came to settle into this whole ...THWART! blogging effort rather well. I feel its time for my writings from BLANK GENERATION to live once again, to augment and support what I do, or will do, on ...THWART!

This new segment is going to be called PAST-BLAST. It will feature my old BLANK

GENERATION material that consist of over 120+ reviews, multiple incarnations of semi-regular columns; DIGITAL BLOCK and THE LANDING PARTY (plus the couple of interviews I did) with a total word count totaling over 47,000 words. PAST-BLAST will be seen in 37 separate installments as they happened month-to-month, back-in-the-day™ 12 years ago.

The first PAST-BLAST installment this November represents the 12th anniversary of my first submission to BLANK GENERATION. In December's PAST-BLAST you will read my submissions to BLANK GENERATION as it happened 12 years ago in December of 2000. This month to month 12 year lapse mimicry of my writings that appeared in BLANK GENERATION will then proceed one installment a month for the next 38 months on ...THWART!

I could have written all of the rescued content from BLANK GENERATION yesterday. It is truly timeless material. PAST-BLAST in delivery is similar in theory, to Josh Rutledge and Gunther’s 8544's efforts on DIRTY SHEETS. Music (punk or otherwise) is timeless stuff. I’m moving forward, but keeping the past well in check on ...THWART! PAST-BLAST once more places these writings under my control again. Available to get to inquiring ears who need to find it, get hold of it, or those who need to hear it all once more, to find it again.

So, with all of that being said, I would like to extend a special thanks and acknowledge Kenny, Joe Domino, all the people who contributed to BLANK GENERATION, Josh Rutledge, Gunther 8544, the past/current and future TERMINAL BOREDOM writers and anyone else still out there, doing what they do, keeping the punk-rock flame burning.

You can look on ...THWART! every month for another installment of PAST-BLAST. Fair warning, hold on. It’s a rough ride. I know that because I already been there once already. Lock and load, were going back in.

All of BLANK GENERATION as it existed, is still viewable HERE if you are interested... This includes all of Kenny's great columns, all the reviews and everything as it looked when BLANK GENERATION ended

Stay tuned to ...THWART! for the first installment of PAST-BLAST

Election Day 2012 went SHWOFPT

SHWOFPT!

Smokey Mtn. Toothpick

That was as close to a word as I could get to describe the sound my foot made as it entered my Doc Marten boot. Even though I highly doubt that Docs were actually ever worn in an official WAR (Do they still have 'official' wars anymore?) I still call them combat boots because I feel like I’m always at war. Everything is a struggle. One fight after another. Life is a hard fucker... The War of Angles is never ending.

I install my SMOKEY MOUNTAIN TOOTHPICK inside my right leg boot. A dagger I bought as a youth. "Looks uncomfortable" Randy America or others may say but its not when you have peripheral neuropathy. I don’t feel much from a bit above my knee on down through my feet. I use to hide that 'problem' but not anymore. Ironically enough, I feel better about it. No shame in bad health.

I grab Chinanski (my cane) and proceed to my local polling station to vote. I’m carrying multiple weapons and feel good about it. Chinanski, spring action Chinese stiletto in my jean jacket, two single row stud bracelets (if you cant wear them into a Sex Pistols concert or Bogarts, its a weapon) boot dagger and last but not least, the greatest and most dangerous weapon, my mind.

This year I feel better about the process and my choices than ever before. I used social media and the Internet for research on the issues and platforms of candidates and decisions. I realize that my choices proly wont 'win' by the sense of the word as many see it, but just because my choice doesn’t win don’t mean I’m wrong. I made a decision based on information that was closest to my personal beliefs. To some I 'threw away' my vote. To others I LOST but whereas I don’t agree with everything my candidates and their respected parties stand for, my decision was informed.

I’m proud to say that I did not vote for any fucking Republican or Democrat. This two party 'lesser of two evils' shit is still a vote for evil in my playbook. My candidate may loose but I refuse to vote for evil... I refused to vote for any Libertarian either. Too 'Ayn Rand-ish'. I voted what I call a straight Outlier Party or Discord ticket... Basically, it’s anyone except a Republican, Democrat or Libertarian.

Yeah, my candidate will 'lose' but that doesn’t mean its wrong. Just unpopular. My vote was an informed decision on what I think is right for my nation, family and myself. Even if you voted differently than I did, if you made a decision based on information and your feelings then good job, that’s what democracy and voting is all about...

So I voted, picked up my INDIVISIBLE bracelet from Starbucks and came home to write this piece...

I’m waiting for election results and more importantly the sound bites and controversy that’s bound to arise.

As far as I’m concerned Jill Stein of the Green Party, my candidate for President of The United States and I won. She was my widely unpopular choice but also my informed decision.

That’s how I feel anyway.

...

DEVOUT WAX Will Melt Your Pretty Little Ears!

Newport, KY  home of the infamous, soon to be more infamoser SOUTHGATE HOUSE REVIVAL (or SGHR to you newer kids). Good things never die, they just move somewhere else in the neighborhood... The SGHR is not only home to the return of a beloved Greater Cincinnati venue, but is also home to the DEVOUT WAX effort. Devout Wax is a free (21+), weekly vinyl record appreciation night Every Tuesday from 8 P.M.–1:30 A.M. (in the Lounge) you will find Host Margaret Darling (Seedy Seeds) and Jonathan Goolsby (WVQC's "Salina Underground" radio program) rotating records and spinning minds taking request the entire shows allotted time of 1½ hours even spinning record you, the humbled reader of …Thwart! brings yourself. A 30 minute time block of the show is specifically dedicated to Cincinnati and regional artist.

From the Press Release given to …Thwart!:

"We're encouraging a more interactive vinyl experience with our audience-centered format," said Goolsby. "Records are a hands-on medium—you have to turn the record over, you can't program in the next track, the clicks and pops are exquisite imperfections that ground the listener in the sound. We want to foster a relaxed environment that encourages people to bring their friends and their records from home, and explore the various soundscapes in a community setting. No genre will be excluded. If people bring Johnny Cash, they'll get Johnny Cash. If they bring Chopin, we'll spin Chopin. The point is to enjoy the music and promote lively discussion."

"The local-only block is going to be particularly interesting," Goolsby said. "Margaret and I look forward to encouraging listeners, who might not otherwise be local music scholars, to come out and hear homegrown talent. The Tristate's music scene is truly first-class. We hope local artists and bands will come out, bring their vinyl, and help us to support their endeavors."

*

Darling and Goolsby have even taken to live tweeting the Tuesday night show; songs played, songs requested, observations... Needless to say, every time leading to some verily interesting tweets bringing to mind DRUNK MUSIC REVIEWS except song by song. Their show tweeting is interactive. They WILL respond and  'shove back' when poked and prodded.

Devout Wax is  the sort of even that makes living in the Cincinnati area worth it.

THE SOUTHGATE HOUSE REVIVAL
111 E 6th St, Newport, KY 41071
859-431-2201

DEVOUT WAX
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