over the edge

reading the Isaac Golub interview on XSTUCKINTHEPASTX, and the comments about it. all 27 of them.

i just gotta say a couple things.

1. XCHORUSX was a good band.
2. Straight Edge is like marriage. for some, it can last a lifetime. for some, you try it, it doesnt work, and you move on.

im just gonna leave it as that. short and sweet.

Black Flag

Everyone likes Black Flag. If you don't, you're wrong.

I really dislike reunions, but find myself attending anyway. I'm almost always right as I walk away totally disappointed. Over the years I've seen some version of Black Flag a few times. I saw 'em at Amoeba (Hollywood) in December '02 when Rollins Band covered Black Flag songs as a benefit for the West Memphis Three. Keith Morris, Dukowski, and Rollins took turns on the songs. I don't remember much else except there were some forgettable famous people there (I really forget who).

Attended the "Benefit for Cats" thing that Gregg Ginn put together in '03. It was Ginn, Robo, Dez, and a pre-recorded bass track. I was thoroughly disappointed in the entire event. Mike V and the Rats opened up playing "My War" start to finish -- it was forgettable.

The most enjoyable for me was the Class of '77 reunion show at the El Rey in December '01. A bunch of bands got together to promote the release of "We Got The Neutron Bomb", the oral history of L.A. punk. The Screamers (just K.K. and Paul Roessler), Circle Jerks, Weirdos, Red Cross, Adolescents, The Crowd, The Controllers, The Skulls, Bad Religion, The Dogs, The Runaways, Geza X, Lee Ving, TSOL, and Agent Orange all performed with some bastardized lineup or another.

The two highlights of the night were:

Watt and Hurley playing Minutemen songs. At the end of their set Watt yelled at the audience: "Start your own band" and "FUCK NEW WAVE". Incredible.

Keith Morris doing "Nervous Breakdown" songs backed by a lineup of Weirdos / Circle Jerks / Redd Cross members.

Sweet pic (probably '83 lineup?):

Still wondering how long the world will have to wait for an official release of Decline. Would love to see the extra Black Flag, Bags, and Germs footage. Here's Flag with their best singer, Ron "Chavo" Reyes:

The Mummies

Anyone who knows me is undoubtedly aware of my love for all things garage. Billy Childish, Teengenerate, The Registrators, the entire Rip Off Records catalog... On that note, my man 'Ben Alvie' over on the Livewire Board recently hooked up this insane collection of The Mummies. Enjoy:

The Mummies 7" Bundle:

Larry Winther and his Mummies – Live @ Pony Express Pizza Parlour 4/13/89
Mummies and Greg Lowery – Food, Sickles, and Girls
Mummies / Wolfmen
Mummies – You Must Fight To Live On The Planet of the Apes
Mummies – Get Late
Mummies – Peel Sessions
Mummies – Sessions
Mummies – Shitsville
Mummies – Stronger than Dirt
Mummies – Tales from the Crypt
Mummies – That Girl
Mummies – Uncontrollable Urge

best of 2008 mixtape

its no secret, but maybe not widely televised that Cheesegrater and myself are into hiphop. Cheesegrater has some of the best Kool Keith records ive ever seen (that Santessa record is infectious!), and i used to DJ a hip hop night with Efrem (www.myspace.com/browntowndjs)

i came across this mixtape a few days ago from Hype Machine, and its pretty fucking awesome. my only real complaint is the same for pretty much any mixtape, and thats when they continuously announce who the DJ is for that particular mixtape.

"american boy" is one of my favorite jams right now, and this version is pretty cool, with Jay-Z dropping a live verse. Jay-Z's collab/ mash-up with Oasis is pretty cool too. im kinda sick of hearing that MIA song, especially after Slumdog Millionaire, but the version on here is cool. once you get past the first couple of songs, it starts to rock pretty hard. give it a shot, broaden your fuckin horizons, son.

Cornerstone mixtape 2008

track list:
1. Intro (6th Sense)
2. So Fly (Slim f Biggie - Mick Boogie Mix)
3. Announcement (Common f Biggie - Mick Boogie Mix)
4. I Luv Your Girl (Dream f Jay-Z MB/TU Mix)
5. Paper Planes (MIA - Terry Urban Mix)
6. Swagger Like Us (Jay-Z - Mick Boogie Transition)
7. Jockin My Wonderwalls (Jay-Z & Oasis)
8. Diamond Girl (Ryan Leslie f Kanye West - Mick Boogie Mix)
9. Paris Tokyo (Lupe Fiasco f CL Smooth - Mick Boogie Mix)
10. Girls Around (Lloyd f Rakim - MB/TU Mix)
11. Drivin Down The Block (Kidz In The Hall f/ El-P)
12. Gettin Up (Q-Tip)
13. Milli (Lil Wayne - Wonder/Excel Mix)
14. Love Lockdown (Kanye West f LMFAO)
15. Falsetto (Dream - Terry Urban Mix)
16. Day N Night (Kid Cudi f Jay-Z - Terry Urban Mix)
17. Lollirock (Lil Wayne & Kanye West - Kickdrums Remix)
18. Dangerous (Kardinal f Akon)
19. The Boss (Rick Ross f Lil Wayne - Mick Boogie Mix)
20. Out Here Grindin (Khaled)
21. My President (Young Jeezy f Nas)
22. Black President (Nas f Young Jeezy)
23. American Boy (Estelle f Jay-Z and NERD - Terry Urban Mix)
24. Everyone Knows (NERD - Sammy Bananas Remix)
25. Dont Touch Me Remix (Busta Rhymes f Nas)
26. Magic (Robin Thicke f Jay-Z - Mick Boogie Mix)
27. The Light 08 (Common)
28. How We Rock (Termanology f Bun B)
29. Rising Down (The Roots f Mos Def & Styles)
30. Viagra (88 Keys and Kanye West)
31. Midnight 08 (Q-Tip)
32. Go All Out (9th Wonder and Buckshot)

Record Trading

The late 90's were a great time for internet record trading. Popsike didn't exist and things things weren't exhaustively cataloged, so a good score wasn't unheard of. I got my copy of "Kids Will Have Their Say" for a few YOT records and a Tenfold 7". Of course, there's those near-misses that still haunt me as well. I was this close to getting a Chung King for a stack of about 40 hardcore records, mostly late 90's youth-crew revival stuff, Rev colored vinyl, etc. Dude pulled out at the last minute and I've been angry about that ever since.

I was recently reminded of one of the all time great trades (from my perspective). Via the RevBoard I received an e-mail from a guy willing to trade me a mint copy of DYS "Brotherhood" for the Evergreen LP. At the time I think every single person who hung out at Softcore owned one and since I didn't want to trade my own copy I just asked someone at Softcore to trade me theirs. I think I gave up an Into Another "Creepy Eepy" on red vinyl for it. Then I traded that extra Evergreen LP for the "Brotherhood" LP. Still own it, too.


Evergreen live at Costa Mesa Community Center (sorry for weird credit strip on picture - only version I have access to):

founddeadhanging

i fucking loved Found Dead Hanging. Keith sent me the demo, and i was fucking hooked from the beginning.

i described it to people as a mix between His Hero Is Gone and Creation Is Crucifixion. whatever it is, its brutal, hectic, heavy, and sometimes silly (in a good way).

the mistake had the pleasure of doing our one and only tour with them. i think our introduction to them was Itow throwing a pack of fireworks at them, before he had met any of them.

yeah, they had an AMAZING ep on Black Market Activites, and were on the Hellfest DVD one of the years. but ive decided to upload my introduction to them, their demo. its three songs, and the first and second song are two of my favorites. i once BEGGED keith to play the second song on the demo, in San Diego... we had to sit in their van and listen to MY cd of it so he could remember the lyrics.

one time i had some b33f with Maynard. he dated my friend Beth from AZ, and it ended badly so i took her side. a few months later, i saw him at Ryan Like A Hex's house in Syracuse, where he busted in and asked if anyone wanted to play Star Wars Trivial Pursuit. nobody was amused. around an hour later, my knife went missing, and i last saw it in the proximity of Maynard. of course, i blamed him. about 6 months later i got an email from Ryan saying he found my knife behind a bookshelf. what an asshole i am sometimes.

you can find a few videos of them on youtube and stuff, but lets just focus on the demo for now, ok?

also, be sure to check out Keith's band Architect. they recently played with Disembodied in Minneapolis, and everyone was impressed.

FOUND DEAD HANGING DEMO
http://rapidshare.com/files/233853106/Found_Dead_Hanging.zip

NEON CLAWS

Neon Claws was a band from Southern California whose existence was unfortunately short lived. Born from the twisted brains and boredom of Jerry Wayne Wolbright and myself, we were a band for less than a year and played 3 shows. It was hard to break from the "ex-members" of curse, but members from Carry The Casket, The Mistake, Graf Orlock, and Hurry Up and Kill Yourself were in the band.

Ill let the music speak for itself.

Here is a video of our first show, at Scruffy's house in Riverside:


and the demo, free of charge.
NEON CLAWS DEMO
http://rapidshare.com/files/233847979/Neon_Claws.zip

Neon Claws were:
Evan
Greg
Jav
Jerry
Kevin

www.myspace.com/neonclaws666

I would tell some stories about Neon Claws, but honestly it was mostly us getting drunk and/or high, making grand plans and never really following through. Dan recorded our demo. we played the last local hardcore show at Showcase Theatre, and Dipiazza's Pizza. Im not sure what the other dudes are doing now. We only really broke up because we couldn't pull it together. It was fun while it lasted.

couple song explanations:
"all messed up with no place to go" and "days that end in "why?" were about the fact that Jerry was in a court-mandated 12-step program and lost his license. i drove him around a lot, and we lived in the same apartment complex, which (un)fortunately for us both had a liquor store IN THE FUCKING PARKING LOT. the line "i'm crawling home" was fucking true. many nights/ early mornings i found myself crawling from his apartment to mine.

"youre treading on me" was about me watching my kid do the pledge of allegiance, and seeing how truly fucking brainwashed we are from a young age. the sample is fucking classic. we watched a lot of "its always sunny"

"gone for good" was about jerry's dad

"divorce" was about not repeating patterns in our families.

i wish we had recorded the songs we wrote after the demo, but i think we left a good mark. could have been more, but fuck it. "that's a hell of a damn grave"