I'm Messing With Texas

Hola, dudes. That's Spanish for, "I'm on a mini-vacation in Austin, bitches!" I write this post from a little area outside of my room at the San Jose Hotel in this beautiful, sunny (not really) post-college town. A friend of mine recently tracked down and bought a ridiculously cute French Bulldog puppy and he's located in San Antonio. So we flew down yesterday morning, chilled out in Austin, are going to get the little man today and then we'll drive back for one more night in this magical little town.

This is my first time here and, so far, this is what I've learned:

1. Fish tacos with cabbage at Guero's are enough to make a grown man cry.

2. 6th street is where I'll probably find my wife.

3. It doesn't matter who they are - if a band covers Dire Straits, Superchunk and the Boss all in one set, life is good.

4. Smoking may not always look cool (it usually does) but it does make you look happy and I wish I never quit. JK...not really.

So that's exactly where I'm at right now. Have a good Sunday.



Oh, and p.s. GO HEELS!!!

Happy 120

It's been a while since the last 120 Minutes post and I'm glad to say we're back. This week I want to talk about a very special group of young men. These guys were not afraid to mix ska, funk, punk and metal on every record. That is maybe the lamest thing anyone has ever said but you know what? I don't give a shit. In this situation I get a pass because I'm talking about the mighty, mighty Fishbone. These dudes were fucking nuts and I loved it. I couldn't believe my ears the first time I heard them and they quickly became one of my favorite bands. I remember the first time I saw them live. It was at the late, great Academy in NYC and they just killed it. It was the first time I ever crowd surfed and I remember some 280 pound man in the pit throwing fierce punches in the air, which was weird and terrifying. After the show, we waited out back to get autographs and when singer Angelo Moore stepped outside I expected him to really appreciate my praises. Shockingly, he couldn't give any less of a shit if his asshole was sewn shut and he tried to sell me a book.

There's not much more to say about these dudes. I don't really know why I liked them so much and am sort of humiliated that I'm doing a post about them. But I gots a sweet-spot for 'em so there. I think that when I was younger I was psyched about anything that was kinda weird and that's probably why I had more band t-shirts in high school than girlfriends (I had one band t-shirt). Whatever it was, they got me fired up and that's that. Talihan was never a big fan but I think we can both agree that this jam is pretty business. Let's get caught in the mosh.

You Ever Seen Two Aging Alternative Rock Stars?

So me and Felton (aka the handsome punkrockers ) and Julia and Kristi went see ourselves some gutter twins live and in person ... so we meet up before hand and drink some beers and burn one down ... when we got to the club I realized I was REAL fucking stoned ... the kind of stoned where you kind of wish you weren't stoned (i'm pretty sure i looked like this walking around webster hall). Then, there was a shitload of smoke-machine smoke being pumped in the building and it was super dark and I was kinda loosing it.

So I took a minute to get my act together and sent a text or two to my buddy nick
"I’m real stoned in a weird environment ... shit's kinda the worst" ... to which he replied "oh boy you are in that zone now? That's the worst shit ever ... p.s. just in case you were wondering ...yes, everyone is staring at you"... then a minute later ""I’m not even texting you ... you are hallucinating" ...

10 minutes later Dulli and Langegan put on one heck of a performance. (check later for full review) all I’ll say is this: you never saw either their faces cause it was back lit in purple, the intro was a long violin thing, and at one point dulli said "c'mon new york ...lemme hear ya ... yeah!" it was so over-the-top preposterous ... it was amazing .. check here for a clip ... and check this one ... you can hear some broham yellout "greg dulli you're a fucking god" before the song ... i can't say i disagree with the young man

You Ever Seen Two Aging Alternative Rock Stars? ... You Ever Seen Two Aging Alternative Rock Stars ON WEED?

anyway they came out with a video ... dulli looks like a bloated mess ... I love it

All Misery / Flowers


ps ben's obsessed with atom and his package it's weird

Krishna-Core

A little while back, Talihan and I went to see the Melvins/Big Business play at the Luna Lounge in Brooklyn. Obviously we wrecked it that night in ways that most people don't wreck anything in a lifetime, but the real treasure came after the show. While standing outside some lame-o vegetarian joint so Talihan could get a damn not-dog or something, we spotted a young lady with a fucking Shelter tattoo. If you've read this blog before, then you know what we like. Hardcore got us through some tough times and Shelter were no exception.

I sure would love to talk about the Krishna ways for a bit, but I couldn't know any less about it if I tried. However, I do remember this. When I first visited Chapel Hill, I had a free lunch on the campus of UNC. The local Krishna dudes used to serve a vegetarian feast for the right price of nuttin' and it was delicious. Beans were an item on the menu and on this particular day, somebody made too much. I heard the Krishna boss say to the guy who was serving us, "Hey, we got extra beans. Make sure you give everyone lots of beans." So up our turn came and our server, who was inked the fuck up, looks at us with a smile and says in his charming southern drawl, "Ya'll like beans? You know what they say about beans? They're the magical fruit. The more you eat, the better you feel." I've never been more stunned. A Krishna dude making a fart joke? Yes Please.

Anyway, here's the message of the Bhagavad

One More, in a Long List of Reasons to consider Buring Down the Offices of Entertainment Weekly

I looked on that site Stereogum and found this. God sometimes the interweb makes me blind with rage:


Why do we love indie rock? Because it shuns everything that is prefab, safe, typical. It's about freedom, expression, passion -- no rules, man!


1984: The Replacements - Let It Be ... one of my fav records ever and somehow way overrated ... quite a feat

1985: The Smiths - Meat Is Murder ... i can think of at least 2 smiths records better than this

1986: R.E.M. - Life's Rich Pageant ... remember when michael stipe starting wearing minor threat shirts in the late 90s and hanging with courtney love ... that was weird

1987: Dinosaur Jr. - You're Living All Over Me ... i once wrote a paper in college about j and lou through the lens of lacanian theory ... i did not do well on said paper

1988: Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation ... never really got this record ... i tired

1989: The Pixies - Doolittle ... i'll go with old b. francis on his own ...thanks

1990: Fugazi - Repeater my first 'cool' record ...

1991: My Bloody Valentine - Loveless ...i got nothing

1992: Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted ... i'll save you hearing summer babe for the 80 bazillionth time

1993: Built To Spill - Ultimate Alternative Wavers ... the later built to spill album was the one to have ... think I'd rather hear !!destroy-oh-boy!!

1994: Guided By Voices - Bee Thousand ... hey robert pollard if you read this ... let's get some buds and some packs of cigs and bro out

1995: Archers Of Loaf - Vee Vee ... they have better records ... and yet still none of them are all that good

1996: Belle And Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister ... i like this record but i hate this band's whole deal ... it just annoyed me

1997: Modest Mouse - Lonesome Crowded West .. the first three modest mouse records are kinda business ... the last couple ... not so much

1998: Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea ... this record's about anne frank or something and the dude is bat shit crazy

1999: Sleater-Kinney - The Hot Rock ... putting this on this list is basically like saying ... girls exist in the world ... that being said the records before and after are better

2000: Yo La Tengo - And then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out ... the record before this was better ... a thousand indie kids put this on a mix tape for a girl who wanted to grow up and become a librarian

2001: The Shins - Oh, Inverted World ... if you make songs bland enough for micky d's then you should just throw in the towel and go in house and make commercials for multi national corporation ... unless of course you are mr. c the slide man ... then your street cred will last you FOREVER ... ps you helped zach braff's career continue ... UNACCEPTABLE ... they did take H2O's advice

2002: Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights ... were they horribly derivative? yes. Was this song catchy as shit? yes

2003: The White Stripes - Elephant ... i fucks with 7 nation army

2004: Arcade Fire- Funeral ... anyone who is a huge fan of this band thinks they are more intelligent than they are ... and are probably 22

2005: Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning ... can this guy shoot himself already ... geez ... we get it, you don't like bush ...we don't care

2006: The Hold Steady - Boys and Girls in America ... the first bad record they made ... but im sure the rest they make will be equally as bad if not worse ... i'm kinda dying to punch the main dude in the nose (note: I haven't punched some in 15 years)

2007: Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga ... like every spoon record ever ... it's killer for 3 months then you realize how truly boring it is

2008: Radiohead - In Rainbows ... i didn't bother buying it

Fair or Unfair?

So life is unfair , this has been established. Not to be a bummer or anything. Cause, I mean there is also some real beatiful shit in life, but also some really unforgiveable shit.

The most unfair thing I can think of at the moment is the fact that I wasn't born the guitar player in this band (no, I do not know how to play guitar ... why? is that important?)

The Toughest of the Tough

Not too many bands can butcher one of their own best jams and still rule, but the Dirtbombs sure as shit can. It's a little shocking that it's taken us this long to post something about them, but better late than never. Talihan and I will be seeing them at the Bowery on April 11th and you can pretty much bet on the fact that it will be hard to tell who's better -- them or us. In case you don't know what I'm talking about, check Talihan's Mudhoney post. Anyway, these super-humans are one of my favorites and to truly appreciate them is to see them live for yourself. If you haven't, then you won't get this post so don't act like you do, poseur. JK -- sort of.

It's Not So Bad

Alright, alright, alright. Talihan is probably gonna get furious with me, but I like these dudes. It's obvious why I'd hate them. If it's not, then you need to grow up. But I got the record and it's kinda the heat. It makes me wonder if world music isgonna be the new stoner metal. Williamsburg will trade in their tight-ass Mastodon shirts for dashikis and start loving on some Paul Simon. I could think of worse things...



...I could also think of better things.

Happy St. Patty's

My grandparents were from ireland ...yawn ... my grandfather once told me "Ireland is a small country full of small minded people." He wasn't the "nicest" guy i ever met...at least not a tradtional sense. Maybe a tad rough around the edges, but he had the sick brogue so i only understood about 15% of what he said, the other 85% might've been really quite sweet. Plus everytime i saw him he'd give me some money, talk to me about baseball, and tell me to listen to my teacher ...so in the end he was pretty solid.

Anyway, i kinda fucks with my man shane mcgowan sometimes. The guy's teeth are a sight to behold. People made some weird videos in the late 80s/early 90s. It's kinda sad that this is the first video that comes up when you type his name in youtube. Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash is pretty awesome record

p.s. mcnulty's "wake" on the wire's series finle ... awesome

I'm Goin' On Break

So, it's Friday, and I haven't posted a "Happy 120" in a while and I'm not gonna today. I'm in Chapel Hill, NC right now chilling the fuck out and don't want to think about or do anything that can be associated in any way with responsibility. But, I will give you suckaz this in honor of my trip. Enjoy, and get ready for next week.

How do you spell irrelevant?

S-t-o-o-g-e-s in 2008 ... I dare anyone to sit through the whole song .. triple dog dare you

Night Marchers

May 7, 2008 at the Mercury Lounge it goes down.

Um ... Yes, Please

Dude a little Boris ... not bad at all ... they have a record called smile coming out ... they played new york last week?!?! Shit, I blew it!

Hart v. Mould

Apropos of absolutely nothing ... lately I've been think that maybe I actually like Grant Hart's Husker songs more than Bob Mould's. is that BOLD? Maybe but "standing by the sea (early version)" "the girl who lives on heaven hill," and "pink turns to blue" kinda blow minds ... just to name a few ... ps my moms bugging about how much room I still take up in her apartment ... any one wanna buy zen arcade, flip your wig and new day rising on vinyl ... and about a bazillion mediocre hardcore records from the mid/late 1990s?

DIE YUPPIE SCUM!

So starting at the end of 8th grade, I'm trying to 'get hip', i.e. trying to get into some records a bit more esoteric than soundgraden and nirvana. So the first step in this process was my brother buying a fugazi record ... repeater if I’m not mistaken. This inevitably leads to purchasing the minor threat record. Not a bad move (at all) in and of itself (in fact kinda one the better moves ever made when you think about it) However this purchase eventually lead to the long dark night of my "hardcore year" (which was lasted about 5 years)...there was virtually nothing excited about this time except I could only listen to hardcore all day every day. Every song I listened to needed a breakdown, a white dude yelling at me, and a drummer who played fast. Songs could only be about how girls didn’t like me, the problems of Latin America, what a dick Reagan was, how much support I got from other kids/the scene, and of course reminding me not to forget my roots. If any of these essential element were missing it was basically lame. When other records came on it was like “I guess this would be okay of some honky starting yelling at me about something and it was played at 45 rpms”. Eventually I made it out of this period, although with many psychological scars.


So this past weekender (heya matt hayes and dan silk, how's tricks?) I was down in Chinatown with some friends, drinking some drinks. So there are some douche bags in the house with their tucked in shirts and bland looking girlfriends. They were being loud, and we joked they were celebrating the closing on an apartment on 10th and B. So we lamented the death of cool shit in new york for a minute...whatever ... so I go to take a piss. I’m waiting on line ...and some ugly blonde girl comes over and starts asking me about a scarf ..."do you like this scarf?" ... and me being the polite young man that I try and be at all times replies "it's okay not really my style but whatever" ...so then some bagochilli comes over doesn't look at me and says to this very inebriated women .."this guy bothering you?" ... my reply was simply "what are you kidding me?!? I understand you had a couple but you need to calm yourself down buddy." ...its like people really say stuff like that to other people ... but then then he tries to buddy up to me. ... not a terribly good story but it did remind me of my very favorite band from those hardcore years ... YUPPICIDE ... so good ... I remember this show like it was yesterday ...or maybe the day before ...one of those skinny flailing arms belongs to robbie talihan ... "LOOK OUT YOU YUPPIE SUCKER" ... 90s hardcore: does it get better? The answer is no, it does not.



p.s. um ...yes please

I was never a fan of 'cop shoot cop' but i certainly remeber this song and this album cover. The song turned out to be weirdly prophetic. In college i copped a firewater album it was kinda eh(which was the singer dude's band after CSC ...i have no clue if cop shoot cop ever called themelves CSC ... let's hope they didn't)

Based on the above dude's face I kinda wanna buy a cop shoot cop album ... iran