SHEENA DAVID - Top Ten of 2012

    I first met Sheena as a teenage (?) punk kid named David who looked and played drums kinda like Dave Grohl from NIRVANA (although Sheena's mathy/post-punk beats were way more intricate). Her band played at the Farmhouse in Cleveland, MS, a tiny dot of a town on the Mississippi Delta where I spent a small fraction of my life. Since then, Sheena has weaved in and out of my life through music and a shared town. I've always kinda been in awe of her ability to be open and excited about new music and new ideas, taking on the world as if it was created yesterday (but that's mostly because I'm so jaded). Here's Sheena to tell you about her top ten.

SHEENA DAVID'S Top Ten of 2012

•  SLUGGING PERCENTAGE set in the middle of a kickball game. "No thanks," is my typical response when someone asks me if I wanna join in on a game, athletic or otherwise. Kicking the competitive habit is a process that has been years long for me, but when I heard Columbus, Ohio's own SLUGGING PERCENTAGE was playing on a baseball diamond as a kickball game swirled around them, I said, "Hell yeah I'll play!" SLUGGING PERCENTAGE is a two-piece sludgy hardcore band whose lyrical lessons teach you all about some weird shit that's gone down throughout American baseball's history. They play in full baseball jerseys and usually structure their sets to mimic a baseball game (9 songs, 7th inning stretch, first pitch, etc.). On this summer day on the diamond, however, they stretched their set to an hour, playing every song they knew to maximize play time, and provided the best soundtrack to a kickball game ever while some strange punks looked on from the bench, sipping their 40s.

• VACATION "Kirby Sessions" tape. This is a really dirty, blown out sounding tape recorded by VACATION at their home in Cincinnati. I've seen VACATION a dozen times or so by now over the last few years, and they are one of those bands that only gets better and better with time. I feel like they refined their use of feedback and noise on this tape, not so much that it isn't a key part of their music, but it seems like they're doing more of what they want with it or something, and that they've been focusing more on tight songwriting.. Anyway, VACATION plays super catchy, amazing songs and kind of has most of what I want in one band. I think they're releasing an album very soon with cleaner production.

• Young Biographies short story zine by Bella Bravo.  Bella Bravo is a very talented writer living in Bloomington, IN. They've written two zines full of their short stories, and Young Biographies: Short Stories for "An Aching Kind of Growing" is their second. There are five stories enclosed inside the durable, aesthetically-pleasing cardstock cover. I guess you could call it realistic fiction, but I'm not that good at identifying literary genres. Either way, their pensive writing has a firm yet smooth flow and, I think, would appeal to anyone who struggles to land in a world so harsh and strange. I think you'll have to run into them in the office they work in, at a punk show, or a courtroom to snag a copy, at least for now.

•  Stunned Lungs poetry zine by Tara J. Tara J is pretty much the one responsible for getting me to actually understand and appreciate poetry. They live in Columbus, OH, and they write about sensitive subjects like anxiety, depression, queerness and sex. Their performance reading these poems is never short of completely engaging and striking. I'm wishing now that I was better at describing what I love most about pieces of writing because these poems are fuckin good. Beautiful block print cover (of a linocut they cut themself) with stitched binding.    (Can be ordered from Doris distro as well).

•  HICKEY - "Various States of Disrepair" 2xLP reissue I guess one could argue that this really shouldn't go on a 2012 top ten list, but fuck it. I discovered Hickey just a couple years ago and it was impossible to find releases of theirs in Indiana (and most places I figure). So when I found out Various States was getting reissued, I was ecstatic as Hickey quickly became one of my favorite bands of all time. And I don't know about you, but I love "Lady Naugahyde". WIRED AND WEIRD / TIRED AND QUEER / LOOKING FOR SOMETHING TO DO. Matty Ramone.

•  Understanding my gender.  I hated 2012. I am so happy it is finally over. Everything seemed to flip upside down and turn inside out, but I know most of the shaky shifting came from a dormant sense of self that couldn't sleep any longer. I came out to my friends as a trans woman last year, and I am still in this process of "transition" (but aren't we all in transition toward adjustment in a nonsense world -- transitioning to a fulfillment that is dictated from our own selves and not from a hateful, unforgiving culture?). I'm telling my family very soon, but I know that whatever happens, honoring my gender has been absolutely necessary to keep living.

• Make Waves Fest. Over the last couple years I've found myself enjoying punk fests less and less, but a group of sweethearts in Columbus put on Make Waves Fest last fall and I was in love. With an explicit intention to include more women, queers and folks of color, I witnessed lots of performers that I had never seen elsewhere on the Midwest DIY punk fest circuit, if you will. The curators of this festival did one hell of a job too because I was blown away by everyone who performed their music and writings. Make Waves really had an atmosphere of caring and togetherness that enveloped the weekend. Being a smaller audience with a high freak count, I felt at home and comfortable in a crowd.

•  WHITE WALLS "Kevin: The Magnum Opus" EP.  WHITE WALLS from Cincinnati is a group of sweet dudes that play hardcore that's heavily influenced by the MELVINS and NIRVANA. I've been fortunate enough play shows with and see them a few times over the past year or so, and last time they were in Bloomington, they played my house and I got a copy of their newest 12" EP. It is one of my favorite records produced by a currently active band. One side holds the seven-minute title song solitary, and it is just perfect. Most of the song is carried with a repetitive and pounding two-beat pulse at a turtle's pace before an early 80's style hardcore punk break, free from any hints of contrivance. The other side of the record is gold, too, and it includes a sick cover of the PIXIES' "Bone Machine". And as for the fucked up sounding vocals: I love it.

•  YOUR HEART BREAKS  "Harsh Tokes and Bong Jokes". Clyde from YOUR HEART BREAKS gave me this tape when I saw him in Seattle at the beginning of 2012, and it loops consistently in my car. One thing that baffles me about this record, and in a totally magical way, is how much it seems to have followed my life: from the Farmhouse in Cleveland, MS -- which was a longstanding sign of hope for my Mississippian teenage punk kid self -- to Bloomington, my currently reluctant residence. And then from there, he sings songs of finding family in communities of outcasts and of the terrifying struggle of existing in a trans body. I usually cry at least once when I listen to this tape, and I feel really lucky to have it.

•  -TWEENS "Live at Mohawk" tape.  I saw TWEENS for the first time at Make Waves Fest after already being given a copy of this tape from Jerry and Peyton of Vacation. Bridget rounds out the group with her fuzzy, glimmering guitar and the angelic pipes in her chest. They play blown-out, fuzzy and distorted covers of 60's girl group pop songs with pitch-perfect melodies. I think they're writing their own songs now? Anyway, they gave me pure rock n' roll fun last year. 

MIKE TAYLOR - Top Ten of 2012

   I was trying to think back to when I met Mike and I'm pretty sure that we were in jail with our hands cuffed behind our backs. I remember not being able to shake his hand. Since then, we've ran into each other many times over the years and have been bad pen pals (usually my fault). There's never enough time for the two of us to really catch up and, more often than not, we are in a loud place where it's hard to have a conversation. I have given him shit in the past for taking the punk scene for granted and selling his artwork to sub-par publications that are not worthy of his massive talents, but it's only because I have truckloads of respect for him. He knows what he's doing. His art and music have been consistently thorough and thought out for the past-however-many-years (let's say 20). You may have seen him touring Europe playing 8 minute sets with PALATKA, You may have not seen him playing in FLAWS. He's also been working on his zines Scenery and Late Era Clash for years now. He's also an amazing artist and you can find his work at....well,,,,,his website doesn't work anymore. Open your eyes and look for it.

MIKE TAYLOR'S TOP TEN GREAT THINGS OF 2012

Not in order...

 Loom of Ruin, Sam McPheeters
       Sam finally finished a novel. No one at this point should be surprised by his solid prose, his penchant for surrealist slapstick, or his knack for sliding deftly between expectations. I was, however, slightly surprised he wrote an action novel.

  LUNGFISH, ACR 1999
      LUNGFISH, maybe more than any band in underground rock, is a real love/hate proposition. So for those in the former camp, a “new” LP comprised of demos from the Necrophones LP. I could write a page on this record, and I did in 2000, when it was released, for a magazine no longer with us. Suffice to say that ACR functions well as its own entry in the canon.This kind of music is not currently being made, nor will it ever be again, because that's why bands are important. They do what only they can do. For better or worse.

Both Flesh and Not, David Foster Wallace
    A posthumous release of essays, weighing in heavily on tennis and philosophy, with equal interest and emphasis. 323 pages. If you're not a reader of DFW, I'd recommend starting with Oblivion, the collection of 3 short stories, then A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, a collection of essays. If you don't like either of those, quit. If you do, you'll find the rest no problem.

NEON PISS/NUCLEAR SPRING live at Death By Audio, Brooklyn
     We all probably go to punk shows, and if you're over a certain age, there's little to say about it. Either you find the experience necessary as an element of our community, you go to drink and/or feel/be young, or you're lonely, or a friend is in one of the bands. These are all valid reasons. But at this show (which I attended for a combination of all reasons above), I got in the pit. Thank you to both bands.

 HYSTERICS/ INSCHOOL live in Brooklyn
       HYSTERICS, of Olympia, Washington, appear to be 4 very young women seeming very agitated. They sound like, oh, Negative FX. They played with Grad School weirdos INSCHOOL (whose lyrics seem to reflect more on hate than study), who don't rage, per se, but definitely fester. Once again, as an older punk, shows get more special for me. I don't go to waste time, but to spend it. This evening was time well spent in a loft roughly the size of a truck stop bathroom.

Dal Tokyo collection, Gary Panter 
    This, Panter's long running strip, takes place on a different planet, but it's half-Dallas, half-Tokyo. Starts off pretty straight sci-fi ripper, then mutates into stream of consciousness free jazz. The work spans almost 30 years, so all the best Panter b/w technique is in here, from the famous broken line to the Durer landscape chaos . This is Gary's world, we just live here.

 Chris Johanson, “Windows” at Mitchell, Innes-Nash/Gelitin's “The Fall Show” at Greene-Naftali 
     I was fortunate enough to meet up with my good friend Erick at the opening of Chris Johanson's recent major New York show, “Windows”. It was great. The crowd was equal parts art choodlers and ex-punks, academics and closet freaks. The show itself is a further step down CJ's road to the deskilled gesture. What makes him different from the biters and dilettantes, though, is the solid concept and the empathy of perceiving slivers of peoples' lives through windows of the vertical card catalogs of the urban landscape. From that show, we went just next door after hearing that the Austrian collective Gelitin was inaugurating the gallery season at Greene-Naftali. These four have been showing internationally since the mid 90s, but they've still not lost their sense of humor and recklessness. Indeed, “The Fall Show” was a drunken melee of sculptures rigged with foot switches that would violently tilt the surface of the pedestal, throwing the sculptures to the floor. Everyone loved it.

Last issue of Slice Harvester
    ...and with this, issue #7, Colin concludes his quest to sample a slice at every slice-serving pizzeria on Manhattan. It's a great idea for so many reasons, surely, not the least of which being, who else do you know is a pizza expert in that way? Nobody, that's who. But the reason this zine gets top-ten status, is that more so than the prior 6 issues, it's a real, honest-to-goodness punk zine. Colin uses his digressions from the topic at hand to address in a real-talk way all the important parts of counterculture that can't be overshadowed by incessant critique of conflicting music business models: life in the patriarchy, the government's abuses of authority in the name of profit, and the ever expanding role of capitalist oligarchy in our personal lives. But it's never heavy handed,, unlike my description of it! SH is always funny and always compelling.


 The Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival, 2012
     The ever-expanding nerd circuit delivers the goods, every single year. When you're in Brooklyn, go to Desert Island on Metropolitan for comics. I'd like to think we're all trying to destroy the singular profitability of collector and curator dictated fine art.

 Chris Corsano/Bill Orcutt live at Roulette, Brooklyn
    They played solo sets, and then got gnarly together. Orcutt started acoustic, and just ruled. He sat down, crossed his legs, and was fairly polite, but when he began, I thought of HARRY PUSSY. And he manages to summon that kind of energy all by himself. Corsano is, at this point, kind of unimpeachable and beyond description. He's the golden boy of free noise, and he did his thing well. But, as with all free music: to true believers, gold; to the uninitiated or skeptical, garbage.

GREG HARVESTER - Top Ten of 2012

   Yeah, it's me. I'm gonna have a fairly comprehensive year end list of records and tapes in an upcoming issue of Maximum Rock N Roll, so here's a list of 10 other things that I found notable in the last 365 days that made up your constructed time frame of 2012.

• XARA THUSTRA - "Friendship Between Artists Is An Equation Of Love and Survival" - It's a book, yet there is no text to speak of. It's mostly photographs taken from Xara's last 15 or so years of doing art on the streets, in galleries and elsewhere. I'm not sure where I first encountered Xara's art, but I've always been in awe of everything they have ever produced. I got arrested in 2002 for spraypainting yuppie condos in SF and sat in jail for a few days at 850 Bryant. For my community service, I had to paint over graffiti in the Tenderloin (that's an SF neighborhood) with a fucking cop. We came across a beautiful piece by Xara and the pig told me I had to paint over it. I looked at him and said "This is by a world famous artist. I'm not doing this. You can put me in jail or whatever you have to do, but I respect this person and I'm not painting over it." He looked at it for a long minute and agreed that it was beautiful, so we moved on. I think it's still there.                                                                           Xara has achieved a lot of "success" in the major art world over the years but has managed to keep it really real in a lot of ways that  I truly respect. Xara has always served free meals at all events...even when they got invited to do a huge art show for the MOMA. Xara still served free, mostly dumpstered and donated food, because people need to eat. It's just this simple, basic thing that the larger art world has big problems with. I love it.                                                                                                                           Xara also did an interview recently in the SF Bay Guardian where they made a fairly controversial statement that I agree with. Xara said that the murals in Clarion Alley  should be erased. Get rid of them. It's not what it used to be and it's not what we want it to be. It's over. We had a funeral for it already. Buff it out. It's done.                    Anyhow, my point is, I like Xara's book a lot. I love Xara's art. It tells a story of San Francisco that everyone is attempting to block out. It's out history and it will still be here long after the tech people have moved on to their next big thing. Thank you, Xara. 

• NO STATIK - Live at Prank Fest. This was the single best set of any band I saw this year. It started out innocently enough: fast hardcore band, lots of people going nuts, stage diving...but somewhere in the middle of their set, the entire band seemed to get some kind of energy from another world and just moved the whole fucking thing into another realm. Their singer, Ruby was in the middle of the audience, with a circle of wild moshers around her, but with no one coming close to her. The rest of the band seemed to gain energy from out of nowhere and completely surpassed the constraints of a simple hardcore band. It was transcendent. I can't explain it. It was everything I wanted hardcore punk to be but so rarely is. It was perfect.

• ICELAND. I went to Iceland and it blew my fucking mind. I met some incredibly nice, hospitable Icelandic punks and walked around a lot. The volcanic and stark landscape was like nowhere I've ever been in my life. I took the advice of my US friends and went to the fancy spa / geothermal pool and I haven't regretted it for one second. We were taken out to the place where the continents of North American and Europe meet.  I can't put it onto words. It was amazing and I usually check the plane ticket prices to go back at least once a month. 

The person who makes my life complete in Iceland

• THE NEW ENGLAND PUNK SCENE!! I went to visit my friends in Worcester, MA for a week and fell in love. Everything is so close together and the scenes in each town are so different, but still sorta cohesive in their own ways. I love all the bands so much.....like CLEANSING WAVE, FUNERAL CONE, WHO KILLED SPIKEY JACKET?, etc, etc......Maine is so beautiful. Vermont too!! There's a bunch of clean spikey kids in Boston and a bunch of freaks in Providence. The real freaks are in Worcester. AHHHHH!!!

• RIDING TRAINS IN EUROPE - I rode on some long train trips from Germany to the Czech Republic and from Prague to Budapest. Even though it was kinda long and uneventful, it was also perfect and awesome. Sometimes, I would hang out in the bathroom, looking out the window in the middle of the night at the eastern European countrysides. If I smoked, I would have done so. I felt like I was in the midst of some sort of noir novel. Somehow, these "nothing" moments really grabbed hold of me and made me appreciate my time in Europe so much more. I will always remember it fondly.

Somewhere in Hungary.

• NEON PISS - Okay, yes, it's my band, but check this out....I didn't start/join bands with all men for at least 10 years because I don't like the way men operate together. There is a lot of testosterone. I don't like the way I (or many of my friends) act when they are in a group that consists of only men. To put it simply, shit has a lot of room to get ugly. I started this band with new friends without really thinking about the dynamics and I'm (we are) lucky it worked out for better or worse. I feel comfortable discussing how I feel. I feel comfortable telling my bandmates that something they said is fucked up...and I feel comfortable when they tell me the same thing. It works most of the time. I like that we have traveled together in 34 states and 15 countries in the past year and I still want to hang out with them and get a burrito at any time of the day. It's cool. Deal with it. Oh, also, I'm very proud of every song we've ever written together. 

• BAY AREA PUNK SCENE: When I was growing up in Alabama, my friends and I would talk about all the bands from California that we loved. Bands like CRIMPSHRINE, CRINGER, SEWER TROUT, RAOOUL  and HICKEY all informed the ways that we approached music. When I moved out to SF in 2002, it was exciting but I also had a sinking feeling that I had missed  the boat in many ways. (I was wrong. There were many great bands then) The active bands in the Bay Area right now are all just phenomenal. I don't know where all this energy came from, but I welcome it and hope it lasts for years to come. I get the same feeling now that I did when I was younger while watching many of my peers play music here in town. If you haven't checked out REPLICA, TRUE MUTANTS, OVENS, NO STATIK, PERMANENT RUIN, HUFF STUFF MAGAZINE, THE NEW FLESH, HUNTING PARTY, SYNTHETIC ID, THE LIGHT, VIOLENT CHANGE, NASTY CHRISTMAS, WET SPOTS, NEEDLES, APOGEE SOUND CLUB, MOIRA SCAR or ALABASTER CHOAD, then maybe it's about time that you did. If none of these work for you, I've got about 20 more on deck. 

• RUNNING INTO PETER PLATE ON THE STREETS OF SF: Sure Peter Plate is an accomplished author of San Francisco noir and all that. Sure, I've been to his "readings" where he will walk around the audience and recite entire chapters of his book completely from memory (if you ever get a chance to see one of his rare appearances, do it). But, what I really like is just seeing him out and about in random corners of the city. Even though our encounters are brief, he always remembers my name, always follows up on something from our last conversation...He is a living, breathing encyclopedia of San Francisco street corners and forgotten histories. Sometimes speaking with him is like stepping into one of his books and you can almost feel yourself slipping into the abandoned buildings, social services offices,  seedy donut shops and neighborhoods that the city is trying to push out. 

• FUNERAL CONE Live in Worcester, MA - This was the third show in a row that my band played with FUNERAL CONE on the East Coast and I feel like this is the one where they really hit their stride. The members all come from various backgrounds of the punk world and their influences seem to gently fight each other in ways that are advantageous for the outcome of the band. They end up sounding like a fucked up B-52's fighting DEVO (on drugs) while getting attacked by the band from Get Crazy, but with a much better understanding of hardcore. It's great. At this show, the band was on fire and their singer, Dan Wars could be found walking across tabletops, kicking beers to the floor. They could've played all of their songs twice and I would have been happy. EP out soon on 100% Breakfast and West Coast tour in April. Oh, I forgot to mention that the show was in a cold ass bar that looked like the inside of a ship. 

• GETTING A NEW BIKE FOR MY BIRTHDAY: This one requires a backstory. My bike got stolen. Out of my garage. While it was locked. There was no forced entry. It was an inside job but none of my neighbors would claim that they knew anything about it, which is part of the reason that I can't stand them. I was too broke to buy another nice bike for at least 4-6 months, due to touring and other monetary commitments. I ride a bike every day to work and to run errands. It's my main form of transportation. My other option is usually the bus and it takes forever to get anywhere on that thing....if it even shows up. My girlfriend, Anandi secretly took up donations from a ton of my friends so that everyone could give just a little bit and I could still get something practical and awesome. It really made my day to be able to buy a new bike so quickly and every time I ride it, I think of all the wonderful people who chipped in to make my life a lot easier. I have the best friends. Thanks a ton to Anandi, Jesska, Alex Turner, Caitlin, Sarah Sky, Jesse Jane, Gaybob, Kari, Janelle, Ivy, Morgan, Molly, Heather Blotto, Tessa, Trash, Michelle, Lee, Danielle, Megan, Anders, Sarolta, Arwen, Carolyn, Chiara, Jeanette and Jessica. 

I have one new year's resolution, which is to stop putting energy into friendships where that energy is not reciprocated. 

ERIN YANKE - Top 10 of 2012

   Erin Yanke! Erin Yanke is a badass drummer, a great friend to have on your side and does not mind walking aimlessly all over the city with me as long as there is coffee and good conversation involved. You may have seen her behind the drums with CHASED AND SMASHED, SOCIAL GRACES (6-7 years and not so much as a demo tape!!) or LIGHT BRIGADE. Erin is what some people might call an "older punk", but she has ten times the enthusiasm of most of the younger punks that I know. She has always been supportive of new, exciting bands in her hometown of Portland and even helps run the youth radio program at KBOO. She makes movies too! Erin Yanke rules, okay?

ERIN YANKE'S TOP TEN OF 2012

• ATENTADO - Dias de Rabia – Mini LP – (La Vida En Es Mus). Raw, straightforward, and ragin full on! Spanish punkers stuck in a cave (Right? all that echo?) and clamoring in the best possible way

• BIMARKS – The Golden Years LP - (Mata La Musica Disco) Maybe I was full of rage this year, or just had a fierce need for catharsis, what with all this hardcore on the list. Bimarks do it top notch, ferocious not fake. 

•  CYCLOPS-Eye Can’t Take It 7” - (Johnny Cat Records) They're from Cyclops Island, and sing songs like “I Have One Eye”. Johnny Cakes and Tina are AMAZING!

•  FROZEN TEENS - Self Titled LP – (Do Ya Hear We?) This album was not a surprise after the demo latched onto me and didn't let go... but this time, there was no weird metal song in the middle! So stoked on this full length, continuing to rock and rule, capturing the timeless catchiness and despair of Minneapolis. 

•  NEEDLES - Desesperación 7" – (Iron Lung Records) This just came out on December 15th, and is incredible! Harsh and deep and will make you totally freak out. Thrilled! I have waited all year for a song like “Truth”.

•  NEON PISS – Self Titled LP – (Deranged Records) I lost my adjectives for this kind of record about 10 years ago, which is to say I love it and it's catchy and sticks with you, and it's totally just punk, without subgenres, or cliques. But, I'll try: political, kind of accessible, deep, interesting, and sticks in your head like nothing else.

•  REPLICA – Demo – (Self Released) The 5 song demo blew my mind, as did their live performances, one which was lucky enough to be broadcast on KBOO! Thoughtful and cool people destroying generic hardcore, with joy!

•  SHEARING PINX-Night Danger LP - (Divorce) Awesome weirdo punk. Lots going on, deep, dark, and good bad, not evil. 

•  SCAM #9: The Story of Black Flag's Damaged Yes, this is the story of Damaged, to commemorate the album's 30th anniversary, and you'll hear from Greg, Dukowski, Hank, Pettibon, Dez, Kira, Watt, and more. Why you NEED to read this, even if you don't give a fuck about BLACK FLAG, is because for Part 5: The Postscript. Yep, a critique! Nostalgia, historical documentation, tension between innovation and repetition, and so much more. It's an incredible zine that will push you to actually rise above, instead of playing the song again.

•  TY SEGALL BAND – Slaughterhouse LP – (In The Red) Ty spent this year releasing more records than I could keep up with, so maybe there's a better album, but this is good enough for me. Fuzz and Howl under the influence of heat. The song “Slaughterhouse” rules. “Muscle Man” and “Mary Anne” tie for my next favorite.

•  TOTAL CONTROL – Henge Beat LP – (Iron Lung Records) "Taking pills to remember to take pills to forget." Creepy songs, trippy songs, post punk dance numbers, the whole shebang is amazing. I love this record so much!

THIS IS ONLY A TEST

A few things:

• My partner in crime, Anandi wanted the blog to have email alerts. I thought it would be annoying, but she found it to be really helpful. It's a voluntary thing and I'm sure you're good at making your own decisions. If you want to get updates to your email whenever I post some inane ramblings on here (like this), please sign up over there on the right. 
• I am trying out a new file sharing service. I am doing a test run with FUCK YEA AVOCADO and the FUCK THE CURSE compilation. Tell me how it works out. If it works well, I will re-upload dead links. You have to tell me which ones because I have no clue (leave comments on this post). I will re-up them after January 20th, because....
• I'm gonna be away from the desk for a little bit, so no new music until after January 20th. I will still be posting random year end top ten lists almost daily. I have many more to come. If you are in Chattanooga, TN (Sat, Jan 12th), Greenville, SC (Tues, Jan 15th) or Asheville, NC (Fri, Jan 18th), please come see the rare sightings of my band, BLACK RAINBOW. It will be fun.

MIKE LESLIE - Top Ten of 2012

   Mike came into my life as a legitimate fan letter writer (the only one!) to my old band 10 years ago, but we soon became legitimate friends at a time when I had a hard time letting new people into my life. Since then, he's had a junk shop named after him, designed oodles of skate decks (one of which I commissioned), continued playing in THE TERRIBLES (a band he has been in since 9th grade) and started a new awesome band called FUNERAL CONE (west coast tour in April!). He also draws a bunch of crazy shit that is all in 3-D! He is also a very sweet and dear friend. I'm glad this man is in my life and if you don't know him, you're seriously missing out.

Top Ten Two Thousand Twelve By Mike Leslie 

 1. FINAL FRONTIERS"Pony Up" Cassette. Best friends from Burlington VT, Serge Wiltshire and Pete Wackernagel, front a band not unlike ONION FLAVORED RINGS, jangly, about love, but more about small displacement engine motorcycles, and cross country skiing... Serge and Pete are not only best friends, but have the exact same voice, and sing the exact same thing, so it sounds like a chorus pedal or double tracked vocals, but I assure you, I saw them three times this year, it is real. I was a little disappointed by their newer songs, dipping their toes into vocal harmonies, but they are not on this release, and I'm a staunch conservative in this realm. Saw them for the first time over the summer, when their van broke down on the way to Worcester, they were so close to home, the drummer just walked back, but Pete and Serge hitched the four hour drive, and recruited a replacement drummer when they got here. PS: They cover the Jurassic Park theme.

 2. NEON PISS "Close the Door/Burn" This 7" was mailed in bulk to my house when NEON PISS was in the northeast, and they gave me a copy in exchange for not stealing all of them! This is my favorite release by them, it's darker and surfier, and maybe Kyle is using that new amp, but it has the best guitar sound, it also has my favorite guitar leads.

(ed note: The records mailed to Mr Leslie were 50 test pressings. The real record will be out on Vinyl Rites soon. Pictured above is the cover with color embellishments by Mike)

 3. Building 19 "Famous Monsters of Filmland 2012 Calender" This yearly release from my favorite New England closeout chain store, is just as good 2011's Olde Time Classic TV Calender, and on par with 2013's Museum of Fine Arts 2013 Calender, they all feature the art of Mat Brown (Building 19 in house artist), and owner Jerry Ellis as Darth Saver or Discount Dracula. The art is a weird combination of actual drawings and photoshop, but they make up for it in jokes, having something for each day (be it a holiday, or today for example, the day Nancy Kerrigan was attacked), but most importantly it features an extra January, just when you need it, thirteen months! Also it's only a dollar...

 4. Hurricanes Leslie and Michael This was pretty incredible personally, my Mom sent me an email with this image (below), and I had an awesome weekend of surfing on my storm! It even chipped my teeth!

5. WHO KILLED SPIKEY JACKET L.P. Historian and Cryptozoologist fronted street punk band finally put out their L.P. Limited to a pressing of 1,000 with 700 on pink, and a limited 300 on black vinyl (whoops). This record is perfect, though I agree with about half the message. It is a more coherent TOM AND BOOT BOYS. Bring a bomb shelter.

 6. Negi-NegiThis is a space above local teenagers Asa and Nori's Mom's weaving studio in Worcester. Over the summer they started booking shows there, usually 2 older established local bands, and 3-4 local bands of teenagers from their school. I am easily twice the age of everyone at these shows, they are always free, a pizza collection is taken up, snacks and soda are provided, and no alcohol or drugs. Everyone dances and performs with complete lack of inhibition, it's beautiful...

 7. Scaphoid Surgery March 16, 2012 Dr. David Kim reunited my poor pieces of scaphoid bone (a peanut shaped wrist bone) with a surgical screw, that I had broken maybe 10 years ago. They shut my arm off with drugs and put it behind a curtain, and at one point hit it with a hammer and chisel! (bone graft) I was freaked out about recovery, but played guitar a week later. See Proximal Row Carpectomy, getting this in 3 days on the other wrist...

 8. HOLOGRAMS L.P. Really psyched to fall into this record. Played a show with this Swedish band, sound unheard in Boston. I was pleasantly surprised. Sounds like Oi! with a synth, kinda like Warsaw. Oi! Division

 9. Brick Oven Pizza Factory "Kid's Pizza" Actually didn't try this until January 3rd, but heard about it through my bandmates, Jamie and Kelly, who are also gastronauts like myself. The pizza itself is a regular pizza with mozzarella sticks and chicken fingers on it. I split this with a visiting friend, Andrew, and we were both super hungry, which attributed to this seemingly poor food choice. It was actually really good!

 10. Nancy is Happy: The Complete Dailies 1946-1948 I had been waiting so long for this to come out, Nancy is THE BEST! Got it from the library on inter-library loan.

BLAIR MENACE - Top Ten of 2012

   I think I've known this man for almost 20 years now. I met him at a punk show in a bar in northern Alabama that let underage kids in. He said he liked my homemade RIP-OFFS patch on the back of my jacket. I knew I had a new friend, but at the time I didn't know it would be a friend for life. Blair and I have seen a lot of rough times, but also a lot of good ones....but mostly rough ones for some reason. We're southerners. It comes with the territory. I've learned by example from Blair about the many ways that you can let the negativity roll off of you and keep moving forward. He's an inspiring man and a howling werewolf. Be sure to check out Menace for tons of his amazing art, writing, videos, music, etc....and he even tells you (well, sorta) how to make a microphone out of a beer can.

BLAIR MENACE'S TOP TEN OF 2012

• CHRISTIAN MISTRESS - Possession: It’s pretty reductive to describe a band by saying they're "like x singing for y" so I won't tell you these guys sound like Mia Zapata singing for DIAMONDHEAD. Instead I'll just say that while they are firmly rooted in the NWOBHM so many bands are mining these days, they have a punk energy and honesty that separates them from the cheeseball hipster-bait bands like THE SWORD and WHITE WIZZARD. There's not a drop of irony or insincerity here – just guts and soul and beauty (and guitar solos).

•  THEE OH SEES - Putrifiers II: These guys still put out like two LPs a year, with astonishing consistency and variety. This one's a step away from the gonzo garage stuff of their last couple and toward a surfy krautrock vibe, with some weird bedroom mutant folk stirred in. Violins, flutes, and other non-rock stuff weave in and out with the guitars, and the multi-layered vocals sound both alien and inviting.

•  FURZE - Psych Minus Space Control: Furze is a black metal expatriate who has evolved over the years into a sort of cosmic space-rock one man band. Most of the musical trappings of black metal are absent at this point, but the seething evil atmosphere and impenetrable distance are still there. There's nods to BLACK SABBATH, DEEP PURPLE, and BLUE CHEER, but more than anything it sounds like what I imagine HAWKWIND would have played if they had hooked up with H.P. Lovecraft and moved into his mother's attic, instead of doing acid and shagging groupies with Michael Moorcock. It's almost entirely instrumental, making the occasional burst of gibberish or mad laughter all the more unsettling

•  WITCH MOUNTAIN - Cauldron of the Wild: Bluesy, female-fronted doom metal with a kind of Old West swagger and bravado. Often this style of music will either be mostly instrumental with the vocals as an afterthought, or a strong singer will be backed by forgettable, repetitive Sabbath ripoffs. Not so with these guys – not by a long shot. The singer has an astounding weight and presence in her voice (maybe the loudest singer I've ever seen live), and the band is unusually tight, adventurous, and subtle in a sub-genre where these adjectives rarely apply.

•  BURNING LOVE - Rotten Thing to Say: Gimmick-free hardcore that neither sounds like third wave TRAGEDY wannabes or BLACK BREATH d-beat clones. Similar to POISON IDEA or TURBONEGRO's adaptation of hardcore to the framework of so-called “classic rock,” these guys back off the speed a bit to settle into a kind of mid-tempo groove that's more crushing than fifty grind bands trying to out-spazz each other. The lyrics are thoughtful, dense, and abstract, too – this is one of those albums where you can sit and read the lyrics sheet along with it and get lost in the darkness, or put it on headphones and chop firewood in double time.

•  MUJERES - Soft Gems: I don't really know much about these guys, other than the fact that I listened to their album every day for months. It's a bit of the old CRAMPS rockabilly, some BLACK LIPS hippie shit, maybe some HUSKER DU or REPLACEMENTS, and a penchant for writing songs that get stuck in my head even though I have no idea what they're about.

•  CLAMS CASINO – Instrumental Mixtape 2: Hazy, cut-and-paste hip hop beats made from weird lashed-together elements that shouldn't work, but do. Humming ambiance, crackling static, and operatic vocal samples clash with cartoonishly outsized bass and janky, busted snares, all reverberating around like the inside of an oil silo. Weirdly meditative and tense at the same time, as if the listener is constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop. It reminds me of the ENNIO MORRICONE spaghetti western soundtracks without sounding like them at all.

•  Best Reissue:HICKEY - Various States of Disrepair– I picked this over the DICKS “Kill From the Heart” reissue, so you know I goddamn mean it.

•  Best Live Show DICK DALE in a tiny bar with like fifty people in attendance. I tried to stand close enough to absorb some of his mojo by osmosis. I don't know if it worked, but he gave me a pick! Narrowly beat out WANDA JACKSON and GRAVEYARD.

•  Best Book: Loom of Ruin – Sam McPheeters: When I sat down to make this list I realized that very few of the books I read were actually from 2012, and of those only this one seemed worth talking about. It got a pretty mixed reaction, including some skepticism from Mr. Harvester, but look: I fucking loved it. It's an intricate piece of clockwork , carefully engineered to bring about destruction on a massive scale. Say what you want about the barely-developed characters (true) or downer ending (I think there's a glimmer of hope mixed in there deep down) – it's ludicrously violent, impressive in scope, and funnier than anything else I've read in a long time. Fans of WRANGLER BRUTES will recognize characters and themes from their albums popping up, and anyone who's survived the horror of modern city dwelling will appreciate McPheeters' ambition and attention to detail.

PARASITES GO! - "Lettuce" - Tape - 2007

    As I said before, my friend Mike left me a bag of tapes sitting on the floor at Thrillhouse the last time he rolled through town and I've been slowly sifting through them. When I plopped this tape into the dynamic digitizing machine, I remembered that this band had written me years ago to help them out with a show in Indiana. I was gonna be on tour, so I steered them towards some friends for a show. I don't know if it worked out or not. I never heard anything about it. I never even listened to the band until now. As this tape played, I thought, "eh, this is pretty good...nothing too special." Then, I went in the kitchen to make my usual eggs/kale/potatoes combo and I could not get the chorus of "Lately" out of my head! You win this round, PARASITES GO! 

    I wasn't around the Bay Area for this era of local punk, but I heard that these guys put on a good show and were responsible for many lingering choruses in many a noggin. You will be afflicted with this same fate when you download this for yourself and let the pop-punk wave wash over you. Go ahead. 

   I am more of a fan of SOPORS, who came after (?) this band and shared some members. They put out a sprawling mess of an LP last year that was one of my favorites of 2011. Some of these guys have now moved on to an outfit called VIOLENT CHANGE, who I have yet to see, even though I've had a few chances. Color me stupid. What? Fuck it.

Download PARASITES GO!

If you live in the Bay Area, VIOLENT CHANGE is playing tonight at The Knockout.

New Awesome Blog That You Should Check Out

MUSIC NOT NOIZE

This blog is run by my friend and roommate, Matt. It focuses more on the international side of punk and it's also really informative. It's off to a great start and you should check it out.

ALEX TURNER - Top Ten of 2012

   Alex Turner..the man, the myth. I once had dinner with his parents (it's rare for me to meet any parents of my friends) and I think I was way more comfortable than he was. I was one of many people to talk him into moving to the Bay Area (it didn't take much convincing) and now I'm lucky to see him once a week. Our lives are busy, but I'm glad he lives so close. Someone take him on tour already because he is a wonderful roadie....just ask RVIVR, SON SKULL, NEON PISS, SNUGGLE, GLUE, SHOREBIRDS, PIPSQUEAK, RECKLESS, etc, etc......

ALEX TURNER'S TOP TEN OF 2012

In non-hierarchical order.

• Do Ya Hear We?  I've only ever been to Chattanooga on tour once. I went to this fest and had the best time. The people there are the nicest, most welcoming people. The bands that played were inspiring and perfect. Nobody complained about the out-of-towners or how it used to be better (at least that I heard.)
• Tacoma County Fair! Kinda the same as Do Ya Hear We but it was only one day and I lived in the NW for 14 years. I didn't watch a single band. A perfect day of old friends. 

• NEON PISS LP / Shows. Obligatory because this is Greg's blog? No. This record / band is really that good. Maybe the band I saw the most in 2012? Oakland, San Francisco, Portland and Minneapolis. (ed note: Seattle too?)
• NO STATIK LP / 7" / Shows There is magic (pure rage) in this band. I'm not friends with any of them and I kind of don't want to be. I'm sure they are all wonderful people and they are friends with my friends. There is something that helps uphold the mystique / mystery by being a little further away. Know what I mean? I mean, they can play an afternoon show at the (unfun zone of) 1-2-3-4-Go Records and I will still lose my shit. 

• SON SKULL - Wiped Clean LP This is what I want to listen to when I ride my bike home from Bart after a shitty day at work and a hate filled Bart ride. Also some of the best people that I miss the most. (their last (to date) show was in 2011, but it was really transcendent and the best time i've ever had with hundreds of people in a downpour).
• FROZEN TEENS LP/Shows. If you were to ask me what was so great about this album I couldn't begin to explain it, I don't understand it. The songs are just simple and honest. I also managed to see them twice (Chattanooga & Minneapolis) both were great.

• GYBE!@ Great American Music Hall I'll be honest, I ate a bunch of mushrooms and it was great. also Pierced Arrows played which was cool/strange. 
• NEUROSIS @ Oakland Metro I guess technically they didn't play till after midnight on new years. I went to this nye show alone and only knew a small handful of people there, but I didn't feel alone. A great way to start the new year. 
• Not going on tour at all this year. Still traveling and getting to spend real time with my friends around the country (Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, Portland, Minneapolis, Asheville, NYC). Not to be forgotten my wonderful house and friends in oakland/san francisco and this year it feeling like home. 
• My friends kids. I can't really see myself having children anytime (soon?). But the time I get to spend with Lilly, Frida, Dakota, Calliope, Rainer, Amah, Teddy, and Asa is truly special to me.

 Honorable mention: WEIRD TV 12", LIVID tape, DOGJAW lp, WHITE LUNG lp, CRAZY SPIRIT lp, SICKOIDS lp, SPIRITUAL WARIORS live/tape, DISPLEASURE last show, NU SENSAE @ rca, 4 shows in one day (Gilman record swap, VACCUUM @ parkside, RED DONS/ ESTRANGED @ 1234, HOT TEARS @ 37th st, and SPIRITUAL WARRIORS @ rec center)