All posts by G. Gordon Gritty

CD Review, Music

CD Review: First Four EPs [2010]

2 Comments


Band: OFF!
Release: 11/2011
Label: Vice Records

1. “Black Thoughts” – A-
2. “Darkness” – B+
3. “I Don’t Belong” – A-
4. “Upside Down” – B+
5. “Poison City” –  B+
6. “Now I’m Pissed” – B
7. “Killing Away” – B+
8. “Jeffrey Lee Pierce” – A-
9. “Panic Attack” – B
10. “Crawl” – B-
11. “Blast” – B+
12. “Rat Trap” – B-
13. “Fuck People” –  B
14. “Full of Shit” – B
15. “Broken” – B
16. “Peace In Hermosa” – B

Comments: This is the kind of record that you simply can’t review while doing something else. If you decide to go the multi-tasking route, which I did, you might just find yourself listening to the sixth track of the record while you’re under the impression that you’re still on the second. For long-time followers of punk rock, such a perception is child’s play. At any rate, I haven’t heard many hardcore punk songs…sad, I know. OFF! is the latest band of Keith Morris, a rather prolific person in hardcore punk (front-man of Black Flag, Circle Jerks). That’s that. The songs on this record are very good. You can tell these guys have been around for a while. Loads of recycled chord progressions and stuff like that. That’s kind of expected in any genre of music, but these kind of things seem to particularly stick out on here.

Grade: B (86)

humor, interviews, Music, Nobunny

Fun New Nobunny Interview [Fr. Crawdaddy]

Leave a comment

Crawdaddy: http://www.crawdaddy.com/index.php/2010/11/30/music-box-sounds-nobunny/

Quote of the Interview:
“Nobunny doesn’t fuck with nobody… Unless they draw first blood! Recently in New York we had a couple of extra rowdy guys in the front who were smashing away knocking people around and were oblivious to everyone around them, including the band. We were having a particularly bad show and I asked them politely to chill or take it to the back or the side or somewhere. This pissed off one of the fans enough that he went to the back of the club, knocked over our merch table, went to the men’s room, defecated in a paper towel, and then threw it at me! The awful smell of man-baby shit filled the venue immediately. Once I realized what was going on I picked up the paper towel full of crap, chased the guy to a cafe upstairs, confronted the offender, and fed him a pile of his own hot shit via my fist smashing it into his face. For once, you really could say that the shit hit the fan.”

Black Lips, Music, No Age

KLYAM Shuffle: Glen

Leave a comment

Going along with the trend.

1. “Union Song” – The Nightwatchman – I haven’t listened to this guy in a year, at least. This is a refreshing song, not one of his best, but politically meaningful at least.

2. “Pick Yourself Down” – Gangbang Gordon – (Warning: this is my own song). I wrote this song on a night that I just wanted to write a song. I made a decent chord progression and then just ad-libbed for five minutes. So lyrically it’s a piece of shit…example: “Might as well call your lawyer. Take a seat in the foyer. If you think you’re gonna wait long, better write a fuckin’ song to help you through the times, to help you un-wind, amount of stress you’re in it’s not even worth telling your kin.” Yeah, for real. One more example, if I may: “She doesn’t get English. She was born in Spain. Bilingual education won’t even give her a reign. All she is is hot, I ain’t talkin’ looks. Just look at her face, you will give her a book. She ain’t nothin’ but a reader. She ain’t nothin’ but Aretha. When she stretches her chords.” Okay, I’ll stop. If anyone wants to listen to this song, let me know.

3. “Hippys” – Black Lips – One of their best non-album tunes. I like its southern country punk slime like a Sherman in a Suuuuuueeeeeeeeebaaaaaahhhhhhruuuuuuueee.

4. “Red Red Wine” – UB40 – Also another song that I don’t play too much. It gives me too much ’90s nostalgia. Good and bad. Usually bad things were associated with song like the show COPS. I definitely appreciate it, though.

5. “Hang On, Siobhan” – The Walkmen – A downer of a song. Beautifully written and meaningful. Nice if I want to get all introspective and shit, but I rarely do.

6. “Losing Feeling” – No Age – I bumped this heavy last year around this time, I think. One of the most ambient-yet-catchy No Age songs pre-Everything In Between. The sped up punk towards the end is pure awesomeness.

7. “Imagine Pt. 3” – The Smith Westerns – I added this song on a limb a couple of weeks ago. They are similar to Magic Kids (at least on this song), but more British and Beatles sounding. Also, pretty MGMT like. I do like this. Not so sure their debut album stuck out, but this next one is shaping up to be a little better. We’ll see.

EP Review, Music

EP Review: Hot Tropics [2010]

1 Comment

Band: The Growlers
Release: 10/2010
Label: Everloving

1. “Graveyard’s Full” – A-
2. “Nosebleed Sun” – B
3. “What It Is” – A-
4. “The Moaning Man From Shanty Town” – B
5. “Sea Lions Goth Blues” – A+
6. “Badlands” – B
7. “Let It Be Known” – B
8. “Camino Muerto” – B+
9. “Underneath Our Palms” – A
10. “Hula Hula Hideout” – B

Comments: The Growlers are pretty distinctly So. Cal, which is a pretty daunting statement to make in an age where there is striking diversity among bands from that area. What I meant to say is they aren’t too far away from Mexico and listening to their music confirms this. Opener “Graveyard’s Full” features lead and bass guitar riffs that border on traditional Mexican/Caribbean. Singer Brook Nielson’s vocal style — part raspy/part laid-back eerie — fits genuinely on tunes like this. Short ditties like “Nosebleed Sun” add to the mystique of the band. What the hell are they singing about, anyway? I haven’t been able to discern such, but such does not matter much. Rhyming, for the win. Anyway, “Sea Lion Goth Blues” is this release’s best song and it’s not like its new or anything. Far from it. Other versions of “Sea Lion” have featured a more prominent lead guitar — one of the best of its kind that I’ve heard in the last year or so. The surf notes are compelling. Still, the added echo and reverb on Brooks’ vocals and the respective instruments are refreshing. My second favorite song on here is probably the second-to-last ditty entitled “Underneath Our Palms.” It’s plainly neat.

Grade: B+ (88)

Band Recommendation, Music

Band Recommendation: The Onions

1 Comment

The Onions are a product of The Last Daughters of Compton, a band that was featured over 9,000 years ago on the cover of Minimum Rock and Troll.

They are fronted by disgruntled Wisconsin master baiter, online radio superstar, organic farmer, lead guitarist and vocalist Brad X. Brad X looks something like this:

Brad X posts on the Terminal Boredom forums, a gathering place for ass-worshipers, A.D.D record collectors, and most of all punk purists who scoff at the notion that the Black Lips are still a great band. Jared Swilley, Black Lips bassist, was known for logging in TermBo late-night and freaking out on the haters. His most epic diss was: “I have an extremely powerful attorney. i do whatever i want. i travel the world. i get laid by chicks hotter than you douches can dream of (im in her room). and i get paid like a motherfucker. fuck you. your lives suck. i am so fucking happy right now.” The late great Jay Reatard spent a fair amount of time on the forum as well. Nobunny remains the best boarder in the game.

At any rate, behind the internet shit-talking and what have you, lies a fairly accomplished musician who knows the art of the catchy punk song.

Take a look at The Onions MySpace, listen to this reel-to-reel, or go to Texas in March to watch them play at SXSW.

7" Review, Jacuzzi Boys, Music, Nobunny

7″ Review: Nobunny/Jacuzzi Boys [2010]

Leave a comment

Bands: Nobunny/Jacuzzi Boys
Release: 11/2010
Label: Scion A/V

A. “Someone Else’s Brain” [LISTEN]
B. “Coral Girls” [LISTEN]

Comments: Nobunny’s “Someone Else’s Brain” is very First Blood and very good. It fits in line with some of his retro power-pop/country-rock tunes on that record. Interesting subject matter! “Coral Girls” is a keeper as well. It’s a mainly fast number with a few slow parts and a very very sludge-y/heavy guitar solo part. Take a listen to both tunes.