UPDATE: OCTOBER CONCERTS

I see a decent number of shows, and I prefer to just go and enjoy the experience, as opposed to taking notes, unless it’s for an assignment. I usually drink a few beers and take shitty pictures on my camera phone. Here’s my round-up of October concert experiences.

Sky Picnic, playing the transcendental "Fjord."

October 5th - Rocktober at The Paper Box

Blue & Gold at the Paper Box.

This was part of the Rocktober one-day festival, featuring music ranging from psych rock and hip hop to metalcore. It was a strange but fascinating event, with unfortunately low attendance for the first several hours, which I guess should be expected for a show that lasts 12 hours or so. 

It's a shame though, because to me the highlights of the event came within the first hour I was there, when Sky Picnic transported the room into an alternate dimension filled with purple fog, majestic waterfalls, and shimmering psychedelic rock.

Blue & Gold also delivered an awesome set of soulful, loud electric blues rock, including a groovy cover of The Clash’s “Do I Stay Or Do I Go.” I took a brief detour to Pumps for some happy hour beers (and  to watch pretty gals pole dancing) and returned to finish the event by watching the heavier bands play outside in the patio area. It was a cool venue, with colorful graffiti covering the walls, and the crowd was certainly passionate. I was severely bruised and sore after the moshing outbreaks at this show.

Watain: Appropriately blood red.

 October 8th - Watain/In Solitude/Tribulation at Irving Plaza

The albums by all 3 of these bands are on my top 50 of the year, so I was definitely looking forward to this, and each band delivered. Tribulation’s set was disappointingly short, but hopefully their awesome performance will inspire more people to give The Formulas of Death a listen. Watain played with intensity in front of an impressive set, and spat animal blood on my metal vest within 20 seconds of starting. Thanks to Century Media for giving me a VIP pass for this so I could lounge by myself in the fancy balcony.

Jayke Orvis & the Broken Band

October 17th - Nashville Pussy/Jayke Orvis & the Broken Band at The Bell House

My first time at this venue, and it was unfortunately a small crowd for a middle of the week show. That didn’t stop Jayke Orvis & the Broken Band from charming the crowd with dark bluegrass and country-fried murder ballads . I purchased a CD for my folks, and burned a copy for myself, with Orvis’ blessing, of course. Also, check out James Hunnicut's Angel Witch shirt in that photo. Unfortunately I didn't get to shake his hand after the show, but awesome taste, sir.

They got the Pussy, we got the time, baby.

As for Nashville Pussy: They are flat-out the best live band I’ve ever seen. Seen them four times now, including shows with reverend Horton Heat and Motorhead, and it's plain unfair to expect other bands to match their ferocity, balls-and-racks-out punk attitude, and effortless sense of junkyard cool. I will pay to see them play any time they come to New York. 

Mount Salem bewitching Brooklyn.

Ruyter Suys just celebrated her 45th birthday, and there’s no better place in the world than standing in front of her as she swigs whiskey and shreds. She's up there in my upper-echelon of rock superheroes, and any stiff-backed guitarist going through the motions should turn to her for inspiration.

October 21st - Mount Salem at Saint Vitus

Noisem, teaching an AP class in headbanging.

Thanks to my friends at Metal Blade, I was able to go congratulate Mount Salem in person on their recent signing to the label. Endless is supremely heavy and catchy, and despite getting over a cold, Emily’s vocals were even better in person.I bought a shirt (of their album's beautiful cover, on an awesomely comfortable gray jersey T-shirt) If you haven’t checked out their debut album, do so right now, this band has a really bright future.

October 24th - Skeletonwitch/Noisem/Black Dahlia Murder at the Knitting Factory

Chance Garnette, unleashing vocal serpents.

My first time seeing Noisem, one of metal’s rising stars from A389 Recordings, and you can see what the fuss is all about. While they can still work on stage presence and showmanship, the music was tight and nasty. I was able to watch them with a couple of the dudes from Howl (love that band, too), and we all discussed the gaping chasm between where the members of Noisem are musically at their age, and the garbage we were all recording at 15-18.  

Skeletonwitch is one of the most humble, dedicated touring bands out there, in any genre. The last several bands I’ve seen from Prosthetic Records have all displayed positive energy, charisma, and a sincere appreciation for the audience. Awesome to see the ‘Witch having so much success with Serpents Unleashed.

Oh yeah, and Mister Growl is now on Facebook, so come check out the page over here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mister-Growl/455217237932170

UNSOBER REVIEW: JOY DIVISION - UNKNOWN PLEASURES

Kung Fu Breakfast, the phenomenal DIY art zine, is set to release their Joy Division-themed issue (titled “Your Confusion, My Illusion”) over the next week, and as a regular contributor who has never listened to a full Joy Division album I thought this would be a good opportunity to intoxicate myself and write notes on the experience as my submission. Here are the resulting unedited notes on each track of Unknown Pleasures:

It’s close to midnight and I’m on an unmade bed. Sobriety is not within spitting distance. I’ve asked a few people for Joy Division album recommendations, but I think it’s most fitting to follow the suggestion of Kung Fu Breakfast’s EIC Jay Kantor: Unknown Pleasures. Still, thanks to Val over at Duff’s Bar for suggesting Still.

Disorder – This bass guitar’s sound is the happiest I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. Guitarist sometimes sounds like he started playing because his step-father gave him a guitar last Christmas and he’s forced to take lessons. Background effects that sound like someone got mega points in a pinball machine. Singer sounds like the mumbling guy from your job when he goes out for karaoke. I like the part where he said “feeling” a bunch of times.

Day of the Lords – Sounds like he talked about shit on a wall, I’m like 41% sure. Need to look up lyrics later. Sort of a Birthday Party vibe, if they wanted people to mope-dance to their music, instead of shower yourself in garbage and spazz out and break the neighbor’s window with a ball-peen hammer. I wonder how many people have named their penis “The Ball Peen Hammer.” I like this song, definitely like Nick Cave singing, if he wasn’t allergic to the correct pitch.

Candidate – For two seconds I thought “Sweet Emotion” by Aerosmith came on. Then the drum sounded like it was in a cavern full of bats. And then a sad vampire started singing from the darkest corner of the cavern. And then the guitarist tried imitating the sounds of a cat crying with the strings. And then Les Claypool played after swallowing a bunch of Tylenol PM with an absinthe chaser. I could see people thinking this song is sexy. Some people, and some fruit bats.

Insight – Atmospherics. I wanna know how many takes it took to make the space-orangutan vocal sound in the background. LASER FIGHT. Just imagined a 3 hour space western in the span of thirty seconds. The bad guy wins. I do remember when I was young, Mr. Curtis. I was smaller, laughed at Mary Poppins for reasons I couldn’t explain, and I had a Puerto Rican friend named Sebastian. We wrote a play together about a troll who owned a trolley line. TROLLey.

New Dawn Fades – No lie, the bassist is propping up this album. That bass sound is fat and sassy and probably gives great hugs and has a day’s worth of jokes. You wanna buy this bass sound a beer and ask it about its kids, except this time you’re actually interested, unlike when you ask your old friends. I’m digging this song. I will definitely make out with my girlfriend to this with some black coconut incense burning in the background.

She’s Lost Control – Whenever the vocals fade I think I hear this robotic murmur beneath the echoing claves. Not sure if I was imagining that. Perhaps the victor of the laser fight? Robotic outlaw with an eyepatch and smokes heinous cigars. Nice, this song has a little attitude. The guitars are rocking, the bass is rolling, the drums are stuck on repeat, like Punxsutawney in Groundhog’s Day. But overall, made me happy.

Shadowplay – It’s cymbal day, all day, here at the CymbalMan Bargain Store. I get the feeling again that this guitarist gets applause at his high school talent show with these quasi-solos, but it’s mostly polite and his parents still clap harder than his girlfriend, who wouldn’t know a smile if she tripped over it. I think I heard the sort of sound effect old radio teleplays used, where some bald spectacled man with a bow-tie would just wiggle some sheet metal as a thunder crash.

Wilderness – In the background there’s a song I could see a grunge band covering, in the foreground a butt wiggling extravaganza. Might have just heard “the blood of Christ on his skin,” which makes me wonder if the guy who stabbed Jesus during his crucifixion was paid well for that sort of work. There must have been a lot of people mad at him. Actions have consequences, I guess. You can learn that from The Bible, or Breaking Bad, if you’re not much of a reader, like me.

Interzone – I’m digging this dusty rock’n’roll vibe. Reminds me of a Nashville Pussy song actually, if they swapped their vocalist for a guy who was raised on David Bowie instead of Ted Nugent. I could also see Rob Zombie liking this song, and combing Sheri Moon’s hair to it while whispering the lyrics to “Dragula” in her ear like secret poetry.

I Remember Nothing – Seriously just dodged like a bullet was fired through my window at me. Terrifying sound effect. Good job, foley guy. “We were strangers,” he says. I’m gonna guess right now that it doesn’t end up with them moving on from strangers to rival book-store owners to reluctant lovers? There’s a chance this song is about a man with a romantic relationship with his family’s heirloom rocking chair, and when someone finds out the immense shame creates such intense inner-conflict that he tears the chair to shreds, then uses the chair parts to break every mirror so he doesn’t have to look at himself. Or maybe it’s not about that at all.

(Editor’s Note: Unsurprisingly, this piece was not accepted into the Joy Division theme issue of Kung Fu Breakfast. Instead, one of my poems will appear in its place.)

REVIEW: WASTER - PREY FOR US

Continuing my crusade for Canadian readership and also shouting out to my Twitter followers, I bring you Prey For Us, a two-song EP from Waster. Waster was one of the first bands to follow me on Twitter and I’ve been excited to cover this morsel o’ metal from the grand, icy North.

Based in Winnipeg, Waster play bearded, denim-clad metal for people who have never felt a hangover because they’ve never stopped drinking. While their previous release Thunder Pit had heavy doses of Nashville Pussy’s raw-dogging punk and southern-fried sludge, the two songs on Prey For Us focus slightly more on meaty, metallic riffing. Truth be told, Waster’s two newest tracks could fool lifelong fans of Pantera that these were lost cuts from The Great Southern Trendkill. Nick Wiebe is Phil Anselmo’s vocal doppleganger, attacking the mic with a brilliant performance. The Michael Fardoe/Harley Watt guitar tag-team keep the songs storming forward with serious momentum, apart from a slightly too-long harmonized bit of technical wizardry in the second minute of the title track. “At War” rages from the seething opening seconds to the final unaccompanied raspy scream, sneaking in bluesy flourishes and anthemic melody. It’s the perfect closing track for an EP: Concise, polished, and absolutely leaves the listener thirsty for more beer-drenched metal. I’m definitely looking forward to their next release, slated to kick our eager asses sometime in 2013.

I did notice that the Prey For Us album cover has American dollars flapping around the horned disciple, not Canadian. Not sure what they’re trying to say about the money in my pocket, but open your own wallets over at their Bandcamp, as they have both of their releases available as “Name Your Price” downloads:  http://waster.bandcamp.com/album/prey-for-us

And follow them on Facebook over at:  https://www.facebook.com/WASTERofficial

I also wanted to say this review was also inspired by a friend from Winnipeg who I met at the annual NYC Zombiecon. She’s currently hanging out with medicine men and becoming enlightened and all that hippie shit, but she laughs at my awful jokes sometimes so she’s not so bad I guess. Hope you’re doing well over there, zombie comrade.