MUGWORT - Demo - Tape - 2011

    Mugwort, the plant, is said to further one's psychic abilities, enhance your dreams and repel negative energies. If used in excess, it can prove to be toxic...so toxic that it has been used in herbal abortions. MUGWORT, the band, could probably also enhance your dreams and repel a lot of negative energy in your mind. I can't comment on their psychic energies or fetus-destroying abilities.
   I was at a basement show in Oakland last week where 2/3rd's of MUGWORT were playing in a new band (their name escaped me) that built off of the player's long histories in other bands like SHITSTORM and THE GOOD GOOD...bands that never seemed to fully get the recognition they deserved (whatever the fuck "recognition" means in your mind...they didn't get it), but succeeded in throwing out loads of incredible music and playing shows that will always stick with me.
   MUGWORT enjoyed a brief stint in the Bay Area queer punk scene, playing tons of shows in their SF house near 21st and Capp. I'm sure they played other places too, but I only ever saw them there. Wu banged out insistent lines on their bass while Sara worked around the melodies and just invented her own cool style. Peter drums in a way that is so inspiring to me...somehow effortlessly playing this wild style that is "missed" notes, propulsive cymbals and almost intentionally playing off the rhythms but still holding it all together. They all sing. It's an incredible tape. It's been by my stereo for years now.

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They also have a Bandcamp, but it's missing two songs from the tape. I don't know why.

You can also enjoy some of their songs set to video too. 

Maybe I'll remember the name of that new band so I can go see them more. 

YOUNG RUINS - Demo - Tape - 2014

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    A few years ago, my old band played a show in Brooklyn at Death By Audio that was well attended and featured good bands, but was (by my account) kind of boring. One of my favorite memories though was looking up from the drums during our last song and seeing my friend Mike Taylor pogo-ing like a madman. He was one of four people who seemed to not have their feet nailed to the floor. Mike has put so much of his energy and time into visual art in the last 20(+) years that I often forget that he, like most people in this world, is a multi-faceted individual with a plethora of interests...including energetic punk. I don't know why it surprised me to see him up front mouthing the words to our cover of "Kids Of The Black Hole", but it did...and it made me so happy.
    Fast forward another year and I got this tape in the mail. On it, Mike plays guitar and sings. A dude named Roy plays bass. Gina Marie, who I just met last week in Berkeley, plays drums. In a review in print, I said something like "I don't know what post-hardcore is, but this is probably post-hardcore." I also said that it sounds suspiciously like present day New York. Coming from someone who has never lived there and actually kinda doesn't like the place, you can take that however you want. It just sounds dark and desperate in all the ways that I love. It sounds like walking down the street and being plagued by all of the thoughts that make you want to kill. The kind of music that makes you say "Fuck you" every time you pass a cop or some shit in a suit...not because you're some young reactionary punk, but because you're pushing 40 and have been dealing with it for your whole goddamn life..being too aware of the power imbalances, the gender inequalities, all of the people who have been killed by pigs, the racism of capitalism, etc, etc and feeling like there's nothing you could ever possibly do to change anything....or am I projecting again?

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You can order this tape from them if you follow the link.

They recorded an LP and might've broken up. I bet it's great. You should put it out.

S.B.S.M. - "Bitter Ends" - Tape - 2014

   There's this thing that happens when you live in town long enough where everyone just assumes that you know everyone. This isn't true. I started hearing about S.B.S.M. around town. When I asked some friends about the band, they would just say "Oh, you know them...it's (these people) and they played that show at (venue I've never heard of) with (that one band everyone cares about but somehow I've never heard of them)" Well, it turns out that I work with a member of S.B.S.M. Oops.
   When I finally tracked down S.B.S.M., they were playing in a tiny basement in West Oakland. Their loud, cacophonous mess of sound was almost overwhelming in a way I haven't felt locally in a long time. The thing that really drew me to them, besides the fact that I was into their music, is that even though it's completely obvious that the three people in this band are very serious about what they do, they don't let that stop them from laughing it off when their broken equipment shorts out mid-song. One of them will use that as an opportunity to explain the song or tell you about an upcoming protest or talk about why they're playing that particular benefit show while the other members change out cables, tear apart wires and try to figure out what the fuck went wrong. And this is all so refreshing for me because I feel like we have entered a stage of punk (and this is just my perspective) where so many bands are trying to be perfect recreations of bygone eras or they're afraid to go out on limbs or they're trying to pose just right for that Instagram photo or whatever the fuck it is that people do. Many bands don't discuss their politics anymore or don't have any politics to speak of whatsoever, but when the whole fucking world is falling apart and there are rape apologists (and rapists) in your audience and cops are killing all the brown people they can possibly get away with and you feel like you're just gonna explode because you can't fucking take it anymore...just fucking talk about it!! Or just take your place in line (or the barstool) next to all the other soulless hardcore bands.

   The other reason I like them is that when they play the last part of ":Godzilla" live, it sounds like 30 bombs going off in a haunted castle nestled in a nightmare world.

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They're recording a new tape soon. 

INTERIOR 27 - Demo - Tape - 2014

   It's rumored that INTERIOR 27 practiced for a full year before they ever played their first show. They went through a bunch of changes before they ever hit the stage. Diane played drums. KTW played bass. Zoe played guitar. Diane moved to guitar. I played drums (for a day). KTB played drums. Diane sang. Laura played drums (?). Diane moved back to drums. Laura moved to vocals. Zoe and KTW did what they did and held it down through the chaos.
   When they finally played their first show, they already sounded confident and comfortable throughout their 12 minute set. That was at the beginning of this past summer. A couple of weeks ago, I watched them open up a show for RAKTA and MANE and it was the best I had ever seen them...which kind of sucked since the following day, they played their last show ever. (Sidenote: The RAKTA/MANE/INTERIOR 27 show consisted of all-female bands. The soundperson and door person were also women. I just wanted to point out how fucking nice it was to go to a show and not have some fucking dudes yelling at me for 3 hours). The best bands are usually the ones who don't stick around long enough, who only give you a few good songs to remember them by. Be sure to appreciate those bands while they are active and let them know that they made a difference in your life.

DOWNLOAD IT FROM THE BAND

I read some other stuff about the band online and they were compared to bands that were so off the mark that 'I wondered if I even shared the same planet with the author. So, I decided to refrain from telling you anything about what the band sounds like. They are good. I love them. 

Tapes are still available. Email address ^^
Members of FLESH WORLD, RED THREAD, MIDNITE BRAIN, APRIORI, DISPLEASURE, BRILLIANT COLORS and many more. 

COUNTY Z - "Live At The Seward Cafe" - Tape - 2002

    Yesterday, I was hanging out with my friend Ryan in his studio while he showed me all of the new, huge paintings and installations he was working on. He was talking a million miles an hour, so excited to be working on art and learning everything he can about art history and theory. He's getting ready to ship everything out to Minneapolis, where he has a show coming up in November. An old friend, Forrest is helping to build some structures in the gallery, since he has a background in carpentry. Their friend, Naomi bought a house that has a storefront built into the first floor and she's going to host part of his art show there. It was inspiring to see him so wide-eyed and full of life, still figuring out his dreams while flying way under the radar.
   Another thing I found inspiring is that all three of those people have stuck together since they started playing in COUNTY Z almost 15 years ago. COUNTY Z is one of my favorite bands of all time, but that's beside the point, Naomi took me on my first freight train ride. Forrest told me he didn't like the sustain of cymbals so he used brake parts instead. Sometimes I couldn't tell if Ryan was playing with or against the band, but it usually worked.
   Most of this tape was recorded live at the Seward Cafe, which has been collectively ran since 1974 and is one of the best places on this entire earth. If you aren't familiar with COUNTY Z, I would suggest starting with their tape or LP first, Both are brilliant.
   If you're in Minneapolis in November, be sure to check out Ryan's art show. He'll be there daily with tea for you to drink. I might be there too. If you show up, don't talk about this band. Let's talk about his art, the new dreams and all the crackpot visions we hope to see to fruition before this world implodes in the next few years.

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This tape is from the collection of Caroline Paquita

WET DRAG - "Silhouette Yeah" - Tape - 2014

   WET DRAG is a band I've never seen and I'm not sure if they're even still around. Are either of these things important to you? I doubt it. In the past, I said that this band seems to combine the different aspects of the members' other bands (STILLSUIT, UZI RASH and GRASS WIDOW [a.k.a. Glass Window] is the short list), but now I don't think that's wholly accurate. Is this important either? No. Is this tape good? Fuck yeah. I have nothing else to say.

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NEW HAPPINESS - "Silence" - Tape - 2013

   I got this tape sometime last year without truly realizing the band was from the neighboring city of Oakland. Their location may be the least important thing about this band. Anyway, I listened to their tape, liked it and wanted to see them, but with a little bit of digging, I found that they had already broken up. My fucking loss.
   NEW HAPPINESS plays a dark style of post-punk that is so post that it's maybe not even actually punk. Like, maybe they just decided to start a band after listening to a bunch of SKINNY PUPPY one day. What the fuck do I know? It's a little goth sounding with some crazy metal percussion that sounds like synthesizers sometimes..but is actually just a bunch of metal junk. Sometimes, the vocals are a little too over the top for me, but that's just me. Maybe you like over the top.

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TRAUMA HARNESS - "Leechman / New Dark World" - Tape - 2012

    Whenever I see the unmistakable art of Lumpy, I pick up the release and take it without any thought because I know that the sounds contained within will be interesting, thought-provoking and/or fucking punk in the exact way that I like. I ran into this tape on an icy cold January day at a record store in Asheville, NC. It was only $1.95. The clerk looked at it and sniffed "You actually want this?" Yeah.

   TRAUMA HARNESS plays dark, noisy, fucked post-punk and the two songs on this cassingle are a stellar intro into what the band has to offer. "Leechman" is upbeat, yet dark and creepy, but "New Dark World" is what really made my $1.95 feel well spent. The song is held together by a dark, repetitive bass line while the guitar riffs away into single-note abandon. It sounds claustrophobic and tense. It also reminds me of how I wanted JOY DIVISION to sound when I was a teenage punk, rather than what they actually sound like, if that makes any sense. Download it and listen to it while walking down a cold, lonely street at 2 a.m. on a Tuesday and see if you get chills.

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To hear more by TRAUMA HARNESS, check out their Bandcamp page. You could also just download this tape from them, rather than getting my rip from the cassette. To order physical tapes and more, I urge you to click over to Spotted Race and spend your stupid cash on weird ephemera to clutter your room.

I meant to upload this yesterday, but I got terribly distracted by a text flurry...I mean, it's 2013. Deal with it. 

 

NEGATION - "Weak Artifact" - Tape - 2013

    When my band went on tour in 2012, we didn't put much thought into the fact that people might actually find reasons to pay attention to the completely worthless holiday of Thanksgiving. Luckily, our show on that day took us to New Orleans, which isn't really like any other place in the US, much less the world. I couldn't imagine any punks in that town giving a shit about the holiday.
   Our show landed us at the long-running, dilapidated warehouse at the end of Jane Place: Nowe Miasto. I have a long history with this place and it was the first time I'd been inside of it since it was filled to the rafters with flood waters from Hurricane Katrina. It looked a lot more barren and desperate, but still full of life and young punks and weirdos. It made me instantly comfortable in an area of New Orleans that makes me feel overcome with anxiety (I'm not going into why, but you could probably figure it out with either five seconds of thought or a search on the internet). Just like one of the first times I visited the warehouse, I went into the kitchen (which is now upstairs, rather than on the first floor) to get a cup of coffee. I introduced myself to the people sitting around on the table, talking. They regarded me coldly and made half-grunts that could pass for a greeting. It felt just like old times, but I had doubts that I would be close friends with these people in ten years, like I am with some of the former residents of Nowe Miasto. There was a well dressed, middle-aged man walking around the common space with a laptop, Skyping with someone on the east coast. Times were definitely different up in here.
   Luckily, the show soon rumbled to a start with NEGATION, the only other band besides us. I was already excited to see them, not only because my friend Osa played bass and sang, but also because the guitarist/singer, Benji and I talked about our mutual love of bands like MOTHER OF FIRE and IMPRACTICAL COCKPIT. Their sound is desperate, jarring, angular (yeah, I don't really like that term either...give me something better) and unnerving. That warehouse, in a room that was once completely submerged in water and still smelling of mold, seemed like the perfect place to see Negation. It made me wish that you could take your entire environment on tour and just present your experience to unsuspecting audiences....I mean, without being a millionaire or an asshole.
   The band promised to send me a tape when it was done and they followed through. I like it a lot, even though I like their live show a lot better. It reminds me of those early, sweaty days at Nowe Miasto, but also not stuck in the past. It sounds like doing the best you can with what you have and not paying attention to the rules. I don't know. Why don't you just download it and think about it yourself...

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Or download it from the band here

NEGATION

THE GOOD GOOD - "Giver" - CD-R - 2004

   Like many bands on this blog, I don't know where to start with THE GOOD GOOD. I think I first heard them when I was sitting around all day in my lonely bedroom in Mississippi, trying to find new music through my roommate's record collections. I knew that my band would be playing with them soon, so I figured I would check them out. I liked it but I wasn't sold. We played with them a few days later. The second that their singer Natalja put down her guitar and played an entire song with just a megaphone, I was in. These were my people. (That song was "Hello Friends", included in this download).
   I was also drawn to the rock solid bass playing and the wild, completely unpredictable-yet-still-somehow-solid drumming that sometimes drove the songs into dancey rhythms and sometimes drove it into dark dirges. I don't know how to explain this band and that doesn't even matter....I just know that I loved them when they were around and I miss them so fucking much now that they're gone.
   This four song CD_R gives small hints of what was to follow on their later full length LP. If you don't own their full-length LP, which contains insanely awesome art and even better music, then I feel bad for you....but you can order one here, maybe. If you just want to download it, I guess you can go here.

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Members of BLOODHUFF, CHA CHA CHA, MUGWORT, BOOMFANCY, COBRA KAI and QUERENT. 

THE NEW FLESH - Demo - Tape - 2012

   The problem I usually have with punk bands who are inspired by goth, coldwave, dark shit or whatever you want to call it is that most of the time, they lose their urgency and spark. To me, it just ends up sounding like bad new wave from 1986, which (trust me) was terrible the first time around. Luckily, I don't have this problem with THE NEW FLESH. While their jams may make you want to sulk around your room and dance alone while feeling like shit, they also sound right at home blasting out of a boombox while you sit by some water drinking with your friends. It still sounds urgent, punk, sinister and desperate. This is exactly what I want in music. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to cut this short so I can bike across town to catch them playing a house show in SF.

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Be sure to catch them on their east and west coast tours that are coming up in the next couple of months. You should probably also buy their new self-released LP, "Reality" while you're at it. You can find more info on their blog and their bandcamp page. 

Features ex-members of VAASKA, DESKONOCIDOS and NEON PISS. I guess now is a good of a time as any to tell you NEON PISS broke up. More info here.

RUDIMENTARY PENI - "Pope Adrian 37th Psychristiatric" - CD - 1995

   I know, I know...I usually talk about totally random tapes and CD-R's that have been stuffed in boxes for eons, but I couldn't resist posting this after borrowing it from my roommate Matt and listening to the whole thing in my room last night. To be fair, this was also stuffed in a box under some shit in Matt's room. I also know that I constantly refer to bands as "one of my favorite bands of all time". I'm telling the truth. I have about 100 favorite bands of all time, but then there's the top ten favorite bands of all time....and RUDIMENTARY PENI is most definitely in the top ten.
   I first heard of RUDIMENTARY PENI in 1995 (the year this album came out) in the van on one of the first real punk tours I ever went on. My bandmate Joey put on "Cacophony" on a long drive and it completely blew my little teenage punk mind forever. I never realized punk could be so weird, fucked up, inspired, damaged, dark, creepy and catchy all at the same time. When we got home from that tour, I started rounding up all of their vinyl that I could find and began to notice all of the fetus tattoos that adorned many of my friends. I would lay on my floor in my tiny apartment alone listening to their records for endless hours, obsessing over Nick Blinko's insanely detailed, hand-drawn record covers. I would notice something new every time I looked at it. I still do.

   One day, when I was over at my friend Harry's house, he asked if I had ever heard the album "Pope Adrian 37th Psychristiatric". I hadn't and he put it on. The first thing I noticed was the endless loop of a voice saying "Popus Adrianus" that runs throughout the entire album....even while the songs are playing. The songs are way more subdued than their earlier efforts, but perhaps more deranged in many ways. Some songs seem like they just started off with one line and never got any further, so Nick Blinko just repeats them over and over for waaayyy too long. Part of the reason for the album being so incredibly strange is that Blinko wrote the majority of it while being detained in a psychiatric hospital while having delusions that he was "Pope Adrian 37th".  Arguably, it is their weirdest album ever and, to many people, their worst. I actually like it a lot, although "Cacophony" and their first 7" are still my favorites. If you've never heard this band before, I would suggest to start off with almost anything else by them, but if you're feeling adventurous, go for it.

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Fun Facts:

   1. The band started out in the anarcho-punk scene of the early 80's and never really broke up. The last thing they put out was a one song CD single called "The Chances" in 2009, which is only available with Blinko's last book, The Haunted Head. 

  2. My old band with Harry became so enamored by this CD that I recorded a passage from Blinko's book The Primal Screamer while the other two in the band chanted "Popus Adrianus" in the background. We ran the whole thing backwards and put it on the end of our only 7", released in 1997.

SUCKERPUNCH - Unreleased LP - 2001

   Back when I posted SUCKERPUNCH's demo tape, I was under the impression that they never recorded anything else. I've always loved that tape and wished they had more music out in the world that I could listen to. Fast-forward life to spring of 2012: RAG RAGE from Chattanooga came out to the Bay Area and their bass player, Chad gave me this CD-R of a full, unreleased SUCKERPUNCH album. Apparently, SP's drummer, Ben had passed it along to Chad to give to someone else, but Chad thoughtfully made a copy for me as well.
   On this recording, the band continually sounds like they are in a tug of war between post-punk and hardcore as filtered through southern living. Hardcore usually seems to win the competition, which is fine by me. There are flashes of 7 SECONDS, REAGAN YOUTH and TEEN IDLES here and there, but for the most part, SUCKERPUNCH's sound is their own. I think this whole album is great, but around the 12th song, it becomes unstoppable. Sixteen songs in all. No song titles listed. Fuckin' do it!

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COUNTY Z - "Graveyards and Grocery Carts" LP - 2002

   I was already a big fan of COUNTY Z's first tape when this LP came out, but I was not prepared for how this record would impact my life. That tape is really good, but the band seemed like they were at their peak performance when they recorded this. The moody, dark arrangements like "Betsy II" and "End Of The World" became even darker and more ominous. The more upbeat songs like "Liquor Store" and "Hysterical" became incisive, vicious and bitter. I don't know what was going on in the vast, humid, art-strewn warehouse in New Orleans where they recorded this, but they definitely did something right. It still remains one of my top five favorite albums to this day.
  I was lucky enough to see COUNTY Z play in a basement in Bloomington, IN during this period and it was one of the best shows ever. Less than a mile away, helicopters were circling and sports fans were flipping over cars and uprooting trees because their team lost (or won, I don't know or give a fuck) while 50-60 punks were dancing in a basement on the west side of town. Bloomington is usually a pretty "arms crossed" kind of town when it comes to punk shows, but that night, it seemed like the whole room couldn't stop themselves from dancing like crazy. I'll never forget it.

COUNTY Z at the Hi-Ho in New Orleans. 2002

    Naomi plays violin, guitar and sings in the band. She is now playing in MOTHER OF FIRE, which is a little similar to COUNTY Z, but more sprawling and epic. Ryan plays bass. I see him from time to time walking around SF and I always mean to hang out with him more, but I am terrible at hanging out unless it is convenient to me (this is why I am a bad friend). Forrest played the drums and now he is a father. I will always love this band.

COUNTY Z at the Hi-Ho in New Orleans. 2002

Download COUNTY Z LP from Ass Records

AIRFIX KITS - Demo - CDR - 2008

   Years ago, I went on a totally failed trip to New Orleans that was supposed to be this fun, get-out-of-town-for-my-birthday-and-forget-everything kind of deal. Instead, I blacked out in a bar, hanging out with a lot of crusty kids that I barely knew while a couple of bands played. I passed out before anything truly fun happened. Things could have been worse. I could have gotten shot again. The highlights of that trip were seeing the MELVINS and getting to go to my all-time favorite record store, Domino Sound. While at the store, I bought a 7" by NO HOPE FOR THE KIDS and the "Blunt Instrument" LP by a band I had heard of called GIANT HAYSTACKS. I knew that I would like the NHFTK record, but the GIANT HAYSTACKS LP totally took me by surprise. I just kept flipping it over and over on my turntable for days, letting the bleak, sparse, MISSION OF BURMA and GANG OF FOUR-inspired songs seep into my subconscious. Their song "Catatonic State" is so good that I found myself wanting to listen to it again before it had even finished playing through the first time. That LP just has a perfect flow to it and sounds so wonderful to my jaded ears.

   A couple of years later, I was planning to move back to the Bay Area and I had a lot of things on my mind. One of those things that lurked around the forefront of my mind (and I'm not shitting you here) was that I would finally get to see GIANT HAYSTACKS play a show and I could sing along to the genius song "Young Shavers" live! Well, imagine my disappointment when I showed up in SF and was informed that GIANT HAYSTACKS had been broken up for almost a year already. Lucky for me, the guitarist and bass player (both named Allan, but one of them has one less "L" in his name) had wasted no time in starting a new band called AIRFIX KITS that, from all accounts, seemed to pick up where GIANT HAYSTACKS left off. I was wondering how I could find out about this band and then I found out that they were playing at the record store just down the street from my house. Boom! I was surprised that none of my friends showed up to see them. In fact, hardly anyone was there at all, but AIRFIX KITS tore through a flawless set that still had elements of their former, bleak, stark sound that I loved and mixed that with a little touch of the mod sound. I was sold. After their set, I told Allan about how much I liked GIANT HAYSTACKS and how stoked I was on their new band. From the look on his face, I could tell that he appreciated the compliments but I was slowly and steadily treading into fanboy territory, so I backed off, unlocked my bike and coasted towards home. Halfway there, I realized that I forgot to get their demo.  Oops! Just in case you also forgot to pick it up at the show, here it is for you.

Download AIRFIX KITS

   Once again, I am in the same boat. AIRFIX KITS has broken up and for some insanely stupid reason, I missed their last show. Let's hope that an Allan or two is working on something new. The Bay Area needs it.

This CD-R is from the collection of Erick Lyle.