You're Fucking Nailed......

I don't recall the last time I have ever been so shock and awed when it comes to great hardcore bands, especially now in these times where being hardcore has become a trend that popping up rather so quickly that I have almost came to a decision to actually stop giving newer bands a listen, thinking it was another commodity, an easier way to make a buck, cashing in, milking the sacred cow.


This was until I heard Holiday from Cult Ritual. I then started asking myself, where the fuck have I been this last year? The track was incredible, noisy, nerve hitting, raw, dangerous, everything I basically ever asked for. It was like Sonic Youth was getting raped by Drunkdriver, with Henry Rollins doing a vocal commentary on the whole action. I found my scenario was quite false, finding out they were instead musically compared to Vladimir Mikhaylovich Komarov, the first man to die in space, go figure. It was ridiculous. Considering that the year is coming to a close in about two weeks, it would be fitting to say that this is probably one the best LP's coming straight out of Hardcore, just one of the handful.


Their self titled masterpiece has two sides, the first side being the straight-ahead-hardcore-in-your-face and the second being a whole lot slower, yet deadlier, powerful, and striking.


The standout tracks vary from opinion, but in mine, the entirety of the second side stays comes up to mind. "Last Time" in particular, sounding experimental in the beginning, before delivering it's punishing blow to the listener. "Cancer Money" finishes the LP off, at 12 minutes, building up from beginning to end.


About a few weeks back was when I read that Cult Ritual was laid to rest, with little thoughts doing one final LP. It would be safer to just let it be.


http://cultmaternal.blogspot.com/


http://www.ihateyouthattack.com/store/

Wesley Willis' Joy Rides

I can recall the first time I had ever encountered the music of Wesley Willis, and that was the first time I heard "Rock N' Roll McDonald's" when I first viewed the appetizingly titled documentary Super Size Me. After random searches that came in my path, I found other tracks from Willis' vast catalog, and I do mean vast. During his life, he released more than 50 albums. Amazing. The one thing that I found truly unique about his work was this; it was simple, repetitive, and humorous at best.

So, it did give me a whole lot of chills when stumbling upon this link on Pitchfork's site that showed a documentary on Wesley's chaotic life, called Wesley Wills' Joy Rides. For one week, Pitchfork is giving the world the chance at viewing Willis up close. From his early days as child drawing portraits of skyscrapers that graced all around Chicago and selling them to various strangers on the streets, to his first days fronting his first band The Wesley Willis Fiasco, and his final years, with various interviewees that knew the man personally, one of them being Jello Biafra who signed Willis on his label Alternative Tentacles. The film is indeed a must see for fans of Willis and gives a better perspective on his amazing life.

It is without a doubt that Wesley Willis was one of the most ingenious artists that came straight out of Chicago and it is truly sad that he is not around with us anymore. The world will never have another Wesley Willis and his humorous antics that made him one of a kind.

Wesley indeed whipped Spiderman's ass.

http://pitchfork.com/tv/

http://wesleywillissjoyrides.com/site/

http://www.alternativetentacles.com/

Das House Boat!

Boy, have I been waiting for this one.



For those new to House Boat, here's a quick bio on them. The band features Grath and Azeem from the Steinways, Mikey Erg from The Ergs! and Zach from Dear Landlord and Off With Their Heads. The Gist of this band, no one sings. Ha, how's that for cleverness. Their Debut CD, The Delaware Octopus, will probably go down as one of the best pop punk albums of this year, of course I'm probably exaggerating.



The album sounded a lot more like the Steinways than what I thought it would be (I wonder why?) but none the less the tunes are catchy, poppy, and straight down to the point (In other words at times short). Regardless though, the album is a straight up must in your collection.



If interested in buying, head on over to itsaliverecords.com, especially considering that the site is selling about 50 test pressings of the vinyl that are up for grabs. I would have gotten that but I'm on a budget, sadly.



I should be saving up a bit so I can cop a copy of "You Weren't There" that I have been meaning to snag. Till then, catch ya soon!

"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