"The kids will eat this shit up"

I figured I could not miss this chance and not put something up about Dillinger Four because 1., their probably the best punk band out there busting their chops on tour, and 2. their latest CD is most in fact ruining my life, but in so many good ways.


I remember running into this band when my buddy, Chris, was taking the group up to Gene and Judes for the ritual hot dog run, despite the fact it's about an hour away but whatever, we're retarded like that. Any who, he turns over to look at backseat of his car, where his younger brother Tony and I were smashed together in his bright yellow cobalt, and says "You hear of a band named Dillinger Four buddy?" Till that point, I had only heard of them in numerous zines but never heard any of their catalog before. I say "No" and in the most nonchalant, cool sort of way that wouldn't make me look bad, kidding of course. "Well, bud you're in for ride," he replies and pushes the CD in his stereo, where the beginning dialogue starts then leads in to the title track "A Jingle for the product".


I was amazed at that track, mainly just how it was arranged so god damn perfectly, from beginning to end. The guitars, the bass, the drums, everything! Earlier fans would say that the album is much too catchy compared to their other albums but I don't see a difference, still don't. The most unique factor regarding CIVIL WAR is the vocals of guitarist Erik Funk and bassist Patrick Costello , that's what got me the most. It was clean and slicker than their previous releases, and it's not hard to miss this with standout tracks like "americaspremeirefaithbasedinitiative" and "The Art of Whore". My personal favorite track from this album is "Gainesville", most likely a tribute to the Fest in Florida, where coincidentally D4 is set to play today on Halloween. the easy to follow lyrics, the catchy chorus, and those chords, those chords... Yea, this album is like punk crack, don't even bring up Leftöver Crack or LOC side bands.


So if you haven't heard it yet, I doubt that is, go and give it a spin. If you are new to them, hit up these tracks of CIVIL WAR, brought to you of course by Fat Wreck Chords, and if you like it, buy it because frankly, you know you want too. Enjoy and Peace!


"americaspremeirefaithbasedinitiative"- Fat-wreck

"A Jingle or the Product"- Fat-wreck

http://www.fatwreck.com/store/

Riot Fest 2009

So it's been awhile since I last posted something, mainly due to the fact that I had little time to post new blogs but rest assured, it's all good. So this past weekend I happened to make a little trip downtown in the lovely city of Chicago for this year's Riot Fest. First day for me was the metro show on Friday, with Naked Raygun, Rights of The Accused, No Empathy, and Wax. I should bring up that fact that Naked Raygun had not played at the Metro in almost 12 years, Rights of The Accused's first show in 17 years, No Empathy's third show in 12 and Wax's in 14. Yea, a huge deal over at the Riot Fest camp.

For me, it all began with an hour drive down Irving Park, with my friend Matt the banker at the wheel and his woman, Helene, in the front. Throughout the entire ride, we began discussing some punk politics and started talking about what days we would attend for Riot Fest, mainly about personal occasions between the two. None the less, we made it about 30 minutes late, missing Wax's opening set that evening. Never bummed, we didn't stop to cry our eyes out, but ventured on waiting mainly for Raygun.

The second band that opened were Chicago natives No Empathy, a band that I have been wanting to see for awhile now. If the name never crossed your mind or any sites you've been one, it is a necessity to check out. I started checking them out after I had seen singer Marc Ruvalo's other band, Das Kapital, at a local venue in my town named the Oasis cafe. An exceptional band, I had manage to strike a little conversation with Marc, asking him how it was opening for The Hanson Brothers in December. Good people they are, which went along with their good music.

Side track sorry, No Empathy went hell bent during their number with a little bit of aggressiveness, yet looking nonchalant on stage. Probably the only thing wrong with setting was the lack of crowd energy there, except for a few kids that boldly started pit in front. A highlight of theirs included a cover of AC/DC's "TNT" with Rights of the Accused singer Mike O'Connell doing the chorus. Other classic numbers included "Try not to hurt anyone", "Vitamin P", and "Ben Weasel don't like this".

After about a brief period of anticipation and a catchy Jazzy ensemble entrance, a man dressed in a Banana suit comes in and introduces the band, pumped as hell ready to blow people's mind away. So much hilarity ensued in their performance, including a man in a gorilla suit jumping around on stage, and Mike O'Connell's down right dirty jokes. The only thing disappointing about their set was the fact that the band played only one song off their out of print 7" inch Innocence, but none the less they were great and loads of fun to see. One line from Mike's joke referred to a close friend's birthday that night with Mike quote and I quote, "Had I knew about your birthday I would have baked you a cock instead." Priceless, Mike.

But of course, what truly made everyone come down to the Metro was Naked Raygun, Chicago's classic punk band. From the last two shows I happened to catch from them this year, they do not disappoint and that night was an exception. Once "Home of the Brave" was started, the place went nuts. The crowd went into a frenzy beginning a pit, Drunk's were almost thrown out due to fights almost occurring, and security struggling to hassle the crowd down and who can blame them. The Raygun continued on with their hour set playing a majority of their back catalog, including "Treason", "Wonderbeer", "The Strip", "Walk in Cold", and many others. A special treat involved a number of their newer songs ready to be released on 7" inches in the future, one song being about a lady in Germany vocalist Jeff Pezatti wrote. After completing their free shit ritual (Naked Raygun brand condoms to be exact) and finishing their set, the crowd begged for an encore, with some cases of the "I Lie" chants been heard. Jeff responded "I wasn't even part of writing that song. Some guy on the train actually wrote that." Surprisingly, they left that song out but played "Rat Patrol" and "Knock Me Down" instead. I'd argue about that but who cares, they played so damn well, and that's all that matters.

As for pictures of this event, I didn't bother to take, however, if you have a flickr account, you can access some of these by searching Riot Fest. I leave you all with a link posted at the bottom, if interested in purchasing the first of many 7" inches from the Raygun, along with a link to check some free MP3's of No Empathy and Marc Ruvalo's label Johanns face Records.

Till then, I leave you with this. Regardless of the many seminal bands coming from Chicago, Naked Raygun will always rule the wasteland. Cheers!

http://www.johannsface.com/tp1.php?pagename=main

http://store02.prostores.com/servlet/nakedraygunstore/Categories?category=Store+Catalog