Quick blogosphere shout out...

I just gotta throw it out there that my worthless non-posting drug-snorting ass has been kept alive by the amazing [shiny grey monotone]. Founded by ipecac, then Gray, now helmed by noise rock king Slander Bob... these guys know post metal (Melvins, Unsane, Bungle, etc...) and do the work way better then I ever could. The best music blog out there right now bar none. For fuck's sake the shit is posted fasted than I can read it. If you missed the first link then click here retard. Enjoy.

Do Not Take My Underwear

Awesome, I don't have to kill myself just quite yet. Russian power trio Shit Happiness released Chicken, Wasp And Mole (best translation I could come up with) last month and it fucking kills. Playing a ridiculously addictive post-grunge/noise rock, if you dig Unsane then this is right up your alley. Unike most of their other stuff, the band recruited a quasi-prolific poet vocalist named Greedy Fedul for this release. He doesn't add a whole lot - I'd prefer it if his voice was a little more like Chris Spencer's - but it is nicer listening to songs that aren't just instrumentals. His rambling overdubs are pretty inoffensive - the music more than makes up for it. Solid, fist-pounding shit. Welcome back guys.

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Influenza A

Well it seems everyone else in the house had the flu so I guess it was only a matter of time until I caught it. Fucking sucks. While I'm busy lying around the house feeling sorry for myself, enjoy these two tracks from NYC's finest noise rockers. "Sick" is probably my favorite Unsane track bar none. That bass line fucking rules.

A Turd In Every Punchbowl

Minneapolis Mud Rock

Fourth LP from cult noise rock four-piece Cows. Obscure and unheralded outside of their urban bubble, they slugged it out in the Twin City trenches for over a decade before breaking up in 1998. A strange amalgam of jazzy freestyle, random feedback noise, rambling poetry and grunge rock, the Cows carved their own niche. Though he'd probably hate the comparison, lead singer Shannon Selberg had his GG vibe going on as well - live shows had the potential for violence - especially against those fans in the front row - spit, boots and the occasional mic stand were all potential weapons. As a disclaimer, if you're expecting something linear, the Cows can get tough to listen to at times (though not without a generous modicum of charm) - tracks for beginners include the approachable "Hitting The Wall" and "John Henry" (imagine very lo-fi grunge) and the Melvins-ish "3-Way Lisa". The Butthole Surfer-esque title track is my favorite - a strange trippy trumpet-filled instrumental soup of chaos. Perfect for your next Oxycontin overdose. Enjoy.

Mooooo

Spirit Of The Time

Solid 5-song demo from Torino, Italy. Eight brutal minutes of sludgy grind that is nothing you've heard before but they do it with style and some motherfucking aplomb. You'd be amazed how many bands on bandcamp have the name Zeit Geist. It's like 30. Fucking ridiculous. Check out the one good one here and enjoy.

Bless

 
Currently watching: Don't Torture A Duckling

Currently listening to: 311 Unity

2013 and beyond...

Well, finally got enough into the New Year to start seeing the "Best of 2012" lists wrap up. I dunno, I'm finding it hard to even find shit in the present day that I'm even remotely excited about. One of the things that this download media world robs you of is the physical feeling of popping a new CD you just dropped $15 on into your player and praying that you dig it. Keeping that shit from getting too scratched. Sifting through the liner notes and reading the bands' "thank you's" to see if they mention another band that may be worth listening to. Well, instead of rambling on like an old pathetic codger, I figured I'd list the seven bands that actually made it past the "listen to more than once" cut and earned some of my hard gotten cash on Bandcamp or whatever... Note that some of these albums/bands may not have actually done anything in 2012, but this is when I caught up with their groove...

Asilo. I've mentioned these guys enough on this blog, but they deserve it. Double bass-guitar sludge sickness that makes me want to snort blow and jerk off to The Taming Of Rebecca.

Unsane. Sure these guys have been around for a fucking century but 2012's Wreck kills. Riff-heavy noise rock from the guys who nailed the sound down in 1988 and haven't changed a fucking thing. Their cover of Flipper's "Ha Ha Ha" is the best thing I've heard all year.

Fuckheads. Another band I've already mentioned on the ol' blog. Who knows if they still exist but their trio of demos and tour tapes over the last couple years are nothing short of amazing. Wicked fast Siege-influenced Boston HxCx that couldn't be done better.

Throng Of Shoggoths. I really jumped off the sludge wagon once the almighty Sludge Swamp disappeared from the net but somehow I discovered the demo from these guys. A solid thirty minutes of doom-laden H.P. Lovecraft worship. Amazing.

Shit Happiness. I cannot say enough about this incredible band from Russia. 2011's Chords EP is probably the best thing I've heard in years. Grungy, dirty noise rock with enough time signature changes to make your stuck-up 311 fanboys proud. Sadly, drummer Igor Garshin passed and the band has been on stalemate since... hopefully they can continue on. I would love to hear some more shit from these guys.

Love Sex Machine. Thank god. Filling the void left by the demise of the Abominable Iron Sloth, Lille, France's LSM are easily the sickest sludge band to sleaze over the pond. Ever. Fucking amazing record. I cannot give them more praise. Buy this one NOW.

Orphan. Yet another huge loss in the music world, Brendan Majewski, the "guy" in this ridiculously huge guy-girl two-piece noise rock unit passed away in 2011. I picked up their sophomore effort Decapitated Lovers a few months ago and it absolutely slays. What a shame. Their debut is just as amazing, well worth some hard-earned duckets... 

Well, that's about it. Hopefully 2013 can compete. A few new bands that I'll actually want to listen to instead of constantly hitting the "forward" button on the ol' iPod is all I'm asking for. Fingers crossed...

Currently watching: In The Soup

Currently listening to: Boris Absolutego+

Shameless self-promotion...

Ugh, I can barely stomach myself for listing these poor excuses for music up here. But fuck it, thanks to the mighty Bandcamp even the worst of the worst have their own pathetic pocket on the internet. As you may have noticed from the somewhat-new "Plugs" blurb on the right, I thought I'd give a sorry shout out to a few of the bands I'm involved in these days since no one else will bother to review them. Starting off with Bong Ludes, a 3-piece that I've played with for almost ten years. The band has lived through several incarnations, band names and band members but has finally chiseled down to a solid lineup. Plays self-deprecating punkish hardcore with the occasional groove thrown in here and there. Tuesday Nights At The Whorehouse (reviewed by the 'Genocide back in May 2011) is a homage to the indomitable Abominable Iron Sloth - a screaming pounding sludgecore duo that makes absolutely no sense other than an excuse to be as offensive as possible. Finally there's the red-headed stepchild Zero Trench. A worthless solo project that I revisit occasionally whenever I can't get one of my other "real" bands to invest time in a song idea I like. Call it my selfish noisecore/hardcore outlet. Regardless, hopefully you will find something to enjoy in the above efforts, if not then you can just go ahead and suck my balls...

Currently watching: The Descent 2

Currently listening to: Human Cull Human Cull