King Midas
King Midas
Everything i love turns to gold
everything i touch turns to coal
so i carry everything in a bowl
that i paid for with some gold
under the scaffolding, i looked up
tried to leave, but no such luck
i was in love with all the rivets
took in the scene cuz i couldn’t give it
Everything i love turns to gold
everything i touch turns to coal
so i carry everything in a bowl
that i paid for with some gold
raced the king down thru the mine
we collapsed beside the finish line
we were coughing so goddamn loud
but not enough to draw a crowd
i cut the line with my scissors
and made a confetti blizzard
from my eyes i wiped the sand
and trickled it into the king’s hand
i said to him “nothing is over”
he set his hand on my shoulder
“Lad, that’s a mighty sore song to sing”
said the man; said the burger king
Everything i love turns to gold
everything i touch turns to coal
so i carry everything in a bowl
that i paid for with some gold
AUDACITY, The Band I’ve Seen Most
It’s been at least 22 times that I’ve seen Audacity. That’s since last March! To be fair though, they hardly go a week without playing a gig. This is Brooklyn typing, btw (internet slang: by the wack)
Now Audacity have become blog darlings, and rightly fucking so. Allow me to explain.
- First of all they play often, and they have done so for years
- All of their releases are great
- With that in mind, the new live material they’ve turned out after every new release has one-up’d said releases
- They have already completed three or four big tours that i know of
i think these were flats from a tour with mika miko
- They intermingle on just about any bill (I’ve seen em with Jail Weddings, Thee Makeout Party!, Okie Dokie, AM, Friendly Neighbors, Gestapo Khazi, Le Face, Mika Miko, and they always brought the funk)
- They have given away so much free shit, and played so many free shows
These fools know how to mix it the fuck up.The ‘Dacity mixes, CREATIVELY; punk, garagerock, hardcore punk, pop, and some of that glam-azon in their with an eggbeater of love. The product is the fattest, orangest hallucinogenic brownies this side of the equator!
The boys are all around 20, and they’ve got three pieces of vinyl:
- Split w/ Thee Makeout Party!: The track on this is their big hit, Twilight Zone. It was Burger Records’ first disc i think. Thee’s track is Slack, equally great if not greater. Fun fact (fun for me, not you) I got this at the release show, which was on a boat in the Long Beach Harbor. My copy came with two handwritten sleeves: one drawn by Thee, the other Audacity’s setlist, on colored vinyl, numbered to 500. TALK ABOUT SCUM STATZ!
- Power Drowning Lp: this is where our tracks come from. The lp sounds great, don’t get the cd, get the lp, it might come witha free cd in fact. Doesn’t really have that album feel though, more like a compilation. Very good though. 15 trax. BURGER RECORDS.
- Split w/ Pteradacdudes: A hyped up and fucked out version of their early song, Desert Man, and a swell cover of Annette’s Got the Hits
- The Anne Frank Tape: a lo-fi tape made cuz their lp still hadn’t come out yet. diff. versions and elsewise unreleased tracks. 7 songs in all.
Their myspace oughtta have a link to some more free trax, listen, love, and buy their shit!
Coming soon: Burger Records: Necrophysicians get the the meat of the matter
do you have a fag dad?
Izzy Pod here, yet again to share with you some truly spine twisting music. since i am currently living here in san francisco, i figure i should give one of the locals a shout out. the locals in question are an intimidating band known as Dadfag. the band is a no wave (ugh. hate the term, but i guess it helps u understand the sound?) hardcore trio, originally from georgia. their lineup consists of two girls on guitars both sharing vocal duties and a dude named allan on drums who works in a dildo factory (he wasnt always in that proffession. he started out as an groundskeeper in an orphanage, then worked for the US mint making money, and now he works at said factory. he kinda just failed upwards). anyway, back to the music, i dont really know how to do their sound justice. the vocals are usually shouted and sound like they are coming from a torture victim or someone on the verge of a nervous breakdown or about to crack up laughing. all of those at once. one guitar is pretty downtuned, i guess to substitute for a bass. the other guitar pierces you like the end of a drafting compass punctures paper (brooklyn sez: I CAN TOTALLY RELATE). they just released their first album called “scenic abuse” on Broken Rekids, and while it does not do justice to their live show, it still is an impressive effort. the opening track sounds almost like an alt rock radio ballad until the second guitar comes in and the vocals start to tremble. then you realize something is terribly amiss as the two harpies on vocals shout, what sounds like, “I JUST WANNA SAY FUCK YOUR EYES!!!!!” for those of you waiting for me to referenc other bands for a sound i guess the best way to put it is that they sound like mid career rudimentary peni trying to cover early sonic youth.
Nikki Sudden gets the Necrophilia Treatment
Often, when someone tackles a subject of this caliber, they commence with “What can I say about Nikki Sudden?” Well, shit man, that’s saying it. Nikki Sudden is, for my money, one of the greatest songwriters ever. I have few true favorites, and Nikki climbed onto that shelf with astounding speed compared to the others (though that may have to do with the fact that i wasn’t downloading with winrar when i was discovering those bands). For the uninitiated, he belongs to that illustrious group known as ‘punk approved’ musicians, among the likes of Desmond Dekker, David Bowie, Captain Beefheart, The Smiths, T-Rex, Nick Cave, The Sonics, etc. Save for maybe Bowie and Beefheart, Nikki’s at the top o the slop. He was a very prolific, released about 11 0r 12 lps between 1980 and 1990, and outta those I’d say about 8 to 10 are fucking gold.
A snap from the Maps days
How’d it start? Well, for Nikki it started with the experimental and later to be punk (and later to be experimental) band, Swell Maps, which he started with his brother and school chums back in ‘72. For me it started with a song called Jigsaw Blues in the back of my friend’s car. I was wowed by the lyrics to the song, it was like a 19th century gazeteer for drunks. But at that age, I couldn’t get into his voice. It was too fuckin wacky for my 1oth grade brain. This from a kid obsessed with Chris D. and Mark E. Smith. However, since then his voice and a few of the lyrics burned into my head, and by twelfth grade I was jonesing, so I picked up a double disc reissue from Secretly Canadian, and one album led to another. When Swell Maps dissolved Nikki put out two solo lp’s, Waiting on Egypt and The Bible Belt. After this he formed the Jacobites, co-starring Dave Kusworth, who were a notably more pop bunch. Other collaborations include the infamous Kiss You Kidnapped Charabanc (with Rowland Howard), a very dark departure from his signature Rolling Stones-Johnny Thunders-Bob Dylan sound, and I Knew Buffalo Bill, again with Rowland as well as Jeffrey Lee Pierce, and Jeremy Gluck on Vocals. He recorded many other lps in the eighties and into the nineties, but i can’t go on about them, or this post would be a chore.
Nikki passed away in March 26, 2006 in the middle of a tour
Jigsaw Blues-(I Belong to You 7″/Liqour, Guns, and Ammo)
Still Full of Shocks-(Waiting on Egypt)
Kissed You Twice-(Live W/ Rowland Howard(turn up the volume)
Ambulance Station-(Robespierre’s Velvet Basement)
Murder Valley-(Groove)
The Rolling of the Hearse-(Crown of Thorns)
Feather Beds-(Kiss You Kidnapped Charabanc)
When I Left You-(Texas)
The mighty Souls of Mischief and the best music video ever made.
Brooklyn back here, hot on the heels of Izzy’s first post.
There’s a time for love, and a time for hip hop. Now is not the time for not hip hop.
The famed highschool classmates of Del The Funkyhomosapien, the famed cousin of Ice Cube. Out of Oakland, CA, the souls had noticeably more battle-style lyrics than Del, yet at the same time were a lot more chill. Together, with the additions of Domino, Snupe, Casual, and Pep Love, Del and The Souls formed the “illustrious” Hieroglyphics collective. However great the first Hiero lp may be, I feel that the individual releases tend to be more relevant (lyric-wise) than 3rd Eye Vision.
The tracks on this album are about all the usual things: bragging, chilling, fucking, getting shot at, government schemes, independence, and wack mc’s; but the rhymes delivered by Tajai, A-Plus, Phesto, and Opio are just about the end all be all of said topics. And this was released when they were high school seniors! The sex could be measured in acres!
anywhere, these would be from the souls’ first lp, the CLASSIC ‘93 ’til Infinity.
( i’ve discovered the pop-out player! we’re in business!)
Let ‘em Know by The Souls of Mischief
Name I Call Myself by The Souls of Mischief
‘93 ’til Infinity (extended version) by The Souls of Mischief
HATE!
Hi,I’m the other contributor to this blog, Izzy Pod. My first review will be on the 90’s comic we all know and love known as HATE! (conveniently collected in two volumes: Buddy Does Seattle and Buddy Does Jersey). The author, Peter Bagge, has been referred to as a sort of Robert Crumb of the 90’s. I’m actually going to make an even bolder claim and say he is even more talented than Crumb (and here comes the hate mail). Nothing against Crumb, I just think he relies too much on vulgarity to be creative and engaging. While I see nothing wrong with vulgarity or filth, it does get old after a while. Peter Bagge is perfectly capable of being lewd (sailor-foul language and an abundance of fuck scenes), yet he knows how to fit it into a story and put it in context that makes it feel natural and not just done for shock factor. The series follows the adult life of Buddy Bradley (first introduced as a high schooler in The Bradleys commix) and his friends/family. The series chronicles a revolving lineup of usually insane love interests, the trials and tribulations of managing a terrible grunge band, owning a business and the always-familiar topics that we all love to read about like sex, death, suicide, maturity, elitism, and the all around irrationality of life. As funny and witty as the series is, it is actually pretty serious for the most part. However, right before the comic starts becoming a whine fest, Bagge slips in a little potty humor and breaks up the tension. That’s part of the charm of the series. Never before has such a serious and bleak comic caused me to laugh so much. The concept of this is even further enhanced by the fact that the drawings are so cartoony and almost Saturday morning cartoon-like. There are tons of different HATE! Collections floating around, but you can just pick up the two aforementioned books and get a good grip on the series.
Comix Recommendations
Free comic scanlations for you to open in winrar??!!
Fuck no, sorry, but fuck no.
Go to your local library NOW (now: -adverb, after reading a blog post) and seek out these titles:
1. Sloth by Gilbert Hernandez: The legendary non-punk half of the Los Bros. comic duo’s new science fiction/occult/rock and roll/teenage graphic novel. A haunted lemon orchard in suburbia. Place to screw. Make your own Blair Witch. Somewhere to be alone. Home of the mythical ‘Goatman’ who switches place with those who would cross his path. Three high school seniors will seek their dreams and alter reality in his domain. The results are comatose, hence the title. For anyone hanging onto what could have been. Vertigo Books.
2. Ronin by Frank Miller: For a long time, I’ve hesitated to give Frank Miller a shot. His film adaptation of The Spirit, and those bogus Sin City covers/titles, well, they made me retch. It now occurs to me now, though, that there was probably massive producer pressure on Miller to make The Spirit into something to compete with Watchmen (the film adaptation of which, is as they say, another blog). But I digress; A ronin is a masterless samurai. The nameless ronin of Ronin, seeks to avenge his master whom was tricked and killed by the demon Agat, a shape-shifter who disguised himself as a geisha (dancer/elegant whore) to get the master alone. In an attempt to slay Agat, the demon and the ronin become trapped in limbo for 800 years until freed in the mid 21st century. The two again pursue each other through new assumed identities. The Ronin posseses the body of Billy Challas, a limbless man, with psychic prosthetic abilities. Agat kills and assumes the form of Taggart: CEO of the Aquarius Corporation, patent-holders of a bio-technology with the potential to save or destroy civilization. DC Comics.
3. Seven Miles a Second: by David Wojnarovicz (writer) and James Romberger (artist). Autobiographical comics are usually about getting dumped, going to concerts, or crashing your car. SMaS is about a 9 year old male prostitute who became homeless on the streets of New York and contracted HIV in his teens, leading to an AIDS death in adulthood. The everyday of David is gruesome, violent, depraved, and decrepit. He sleeps in garbage, corroded school buses, gutters. He must let grown men suck his penis in rat-infested motels so he can eat. His body is filled with phlegm and bacteria. He is homosexual, and he is portrayed on television as a sinner with no self control, who has dug his own grave. His most pleasant memory “I remember, when I was six years old, my father took me into the den to beat me, as he regularly did. He said to me, ‘”So, what do you want me to do today?” I replied, “Don’t beat me.” He looked at me with a sad smile, and said, “Ok”‘ David’s story is of ugly, ugly, fucking ugly beauty. David died before the book’s completion. The comic was finished post mortem, by gathering David’s final journals. The result of the artist’s interpretation is hellish and surreal. The title is a reference to physics. Seven miles per second is the minimum speed necessary to escape Earth’s gravitational pull. “I am disappearing, but not fast enough”. Vertigo Books. Way out of print. Amazon.com
Thomas Function B-Sides: Vol. 1
Thomas Function, if you haven’t heard of them, are swell country-basted punk band from Alabama. They recently tore it up across America on a full tour, the Los Angeles leg of which I missed. Fortunately, we can put on our headphones and commiserate together, dreaming of what might have been.
As the title suggests, this post is the first in a series I am planning. Having heard all of their singles/ep’s (there’s 6 so far) I have come to the conclusion that they always save the best for b-side.
This track I’m about to give you is off the Belly of the Beast single. In my opinion, it sorta marries Hallowed Ground-Violent Femmes to the Voidoids and Adventure-Television, in the holiest of polygamist unions. I know, everyone keeps comparing them to Television. Well, let’s take it up a notch and say that since they sound to me like the Voidoids and Television combined, they probably sound like the slick-as-snot-on-a-shithouse-door stepheaded-redchild of the Neon Boys.
You be the judge. (as per usual, i don’t yet have enough ram for BADASS rips, so make due. also 4shared sometimes shaves time off the end of the songs, ain’t my fault)
BONES DON’T BLEED by THOMAS FUNCTION
You can also steal the a-side by surfing the web a little, entering all your usual key words into google: blog, download, blogspot, mp3, streaming, thomas function, belly of the beast, rar, zip
NASA Space Universe: The Why of Necrophilia
666 Seconds of NASA
A NASA Space Universe Show: A pale circus strongman walks out from behind a stage, in front of which a three-piece band is jamming at a mid-pace. He takes the microphone and says in a rather timid voice “Everyone has someone in their life, everyone i mean. We all have someone in our life who we hate so much we wish they were dead. Someone who brings us nothing but turmoil. Everything would be a lot easier if they were to die. For them to be obliterated would be a huge load off your back. So now that you’re all thinking about this person, here’s what we’re gonna do. We’re all going to hold hands and focus really hard, and maybe if we do it hard enough, those people will be killed tonight.” Some hold hands with eager grins on their faces, others shift in their place uncertainly. “Well,” said the strongman, “I guess I’ll have to get this thing rolling” He lurched forward and cringed and proceeded to spit a hoarse hate tirade for 210 seconds or so, possibly directed at a family member. The most expletives you ever heard. At one point or another he fell on his face, but did not stop screaming. The band then jolted into a song that was like Surviving You Always-era Saccharine Trust played by Cows and Beer-era Die Kreuzen, or maybe it was the other way around. Five geeky kids picked up the circus strongman and hoisted him onto their shoulders where he sang from. They used him as a battering ram back and forth across the room, smashing into onlookers. Then the first song ended.
Alma Mater: America’s Answer to the Blues!!
AM, or Alma Mater, have been operating in one form or another for around five years I believe, out of their home base of Garbage Grove, California (that’s right, five commas in one sentence). They play around the SoCal area with all yer other good local bands: Audacity, Thee Makeout Party, Pteradacdudes, The Amazements, Gestapo Khazi, etc. Unfortunately, despite all their DIY efforts (they showed up with a generator to play for people waiting in line for Fuck Yeah Fest), are still going unnoticed.
- On a boat
AM have churned out three releases that i know of: two full length albums (1998, and Alma Mater), and a split 7inch with No Paws (No Lions). The tracks I’m uploading are from the 7inch and really show their popindypunk versatilitah! Now to entice you with generalizations about their sound!: Modern Lovers, Replacements, early Wipers, Husker Du, J Church, Ramones
Story is a short….romantic? stomp with clanging guitars, shouted germexican vocals, and it all kinda tornado’s out at the end.
Madison is about a minute longer, which is an eternity in punk years. Nicely spaced stopping-n-starting, whooping back-ups over spoken lyrics, roughly as(…) romantic as Story.
Heirarchy is the third track and it’s equally great, but I’m not uploading it because one of my rules on this blog is not to give away an entire record from a current band.
The players on this record are: Karen-Drums (she has her bass drum on it’s side and plays it like a tom), Fonzie-Lead Guitar and vocals on Story (he’s got a rickenbaker now, refuses to pay for it), Felipe-Bass and vocals on Madison, and Bradley-Guitar bringin the beef to the sound.
if you dig these tracks, definitely contact AM via their myspace. they sell their shit DIRT cheap.
