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Art, Ben Tan, concert review, Free Pizza, Gangbang Gordon, Kids Like You and Me, Local Music, Miami Doritos, Music, pictures, Punk, reviews, Video

Review: Miami Doritos, Free Pizza, Gangbang Gordon, Ben Tan @ Radio Down (10/11/13)

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KLYAM Presents
Bands: Miami Doritos, Free Pizza, Gangbang Gordon, Ben Tan
Date: Friday, October 11, 2013
Venue: Radio Down (Somerville, MA)

Ben Tan – This ain’t BBT’s (that’s Big Ben Tan for your information) first rodeo, aww hell no.  Ben Tan’s been rocking and shocking dance halls, basements, back alleys, and Vince McMahon’s private parties for over a decade now and he’s not stopping any time soon; he can’t he has that contract with the “dubbya dubbya E” aka WWE as he puts it in the folk anthem “Upper Lower Middle Class Blues.” It’s a Bob Dylan ode if I’ve ever seen one, what with the raspy voice, acoustic gee tar and harmonicai in tow.  You know, if you have a younging in the house and are looking for an alternative to the typical clown/magician spectacle than look no further than Ben Tan. Kids love Bob Dylan.

Ben continues with other signature originals including “Inside Out” and a song about a very special gal entitled “Marielle.”  These cuts showcase Ben’s natural talent as a singer – songwriter (God, I hate that term, but trust me it works here) and his incredible ability to imitate the pop music of the 60s with The Beach Boys and The Beatles being his top two objects of duplication. If you’re looking for the most original music in the world, then I’d say look elsewhere. At the same time, Ben is his own person and stands out in just about any setting.

After having enough fun with the guitar, he makes his way to the piana, where he busts out a few more OGs. He closes his set, asking for any crowd requests.  This leads to mershy pop numbers, R. Kelly’s “Ignition Remix” and Cee Lo Green’s “Fuck You,” much to the crowd’s delight.  BBT’s back in the saddle again. http://bentan.bandcamp.com/album/inside-out

Gangbang Gordon – Following Big Ben Tan’s set is rock ‘n’ roll’s last tru gangsta, Gangbang Gordon himself and he is accompanied by my brother Justin on drums. This is GBG’s fifth show and his second with Justin, and with all biases aside I think this is his/their best set so far.

Alas as the two are about to run through the beginnings of an epic GBG set, the amp dies on them. Eh, well whatever doesn’t kill you only makes you stranger, right? Luckily, Ben lends GBG his amp and all is well. The gangbang begins with an all instrumental jam that mixes surf and noise and sounds like The Ramones, Nobunny, and Fat Creeps. Then they slide into “Lost Touch With The Youths,” a song about being young and lost and feeling out of touch with those who are young and lost.

The show goes on for more and more  grotesque Gangbang Gordon tunes that make most cheer, some cringe, and then you have Ben Tan, who wants to start a riot. At one point he yanks my naragansett out of my hand, chugs it, and flips me the bird. I immediately rip the beer out of his hands, but he’s out of control as he swings some sort of cables around frantically dancing to the Gangbang.

The Gangbang slops over into its filthy climax with the Spanglish rapcore number “Orgullo de Rappers” in which GBG paces around the packed crowd, rapping in everyone’s face and hucking beer cans in the air. As GBG lays his axe to rest in a whirlwind of feedback, Justin piles through with a vicious drum solo that leaves the crowd thirsting for more. More Gangbang to come in the future…
http://gbgordon.bandcamp.com/

Free Pizza – Free Pizza is among one of the many fantastic artists I have come across in the Boston underground music scene this past year. They’ve been kicking around for a couple years now, but I only recently got turned on to them this past Summer. This is my second time seeing them and I am really digging their sweet, summery, surf sounds. How’s that for alliteration?

Recently, tragedy struck the band in the form of a skateboarding accident resulting in vocalist/guitarist Jesus Vio breaking his clavicle, leaving him unable to play guitar. But, the mighty Free Pizza soldiered on! Jesus keeps rocking on vocals and they have enlisted friend, Ben Katzman on guitar. Ben rocks. EVERYBODY ROCKS!

I am still learning Free Pizza songs, but right now my favorite is their signature bandcamp available tune “Net – Babes.” It’s a catchy little number and every time Jesus sings “we have no beaches” I hear “we have no bitches.” Haha, that’s just what I hear. It’s BEACHES folks, and Free Pizza will be surfing through your skull on a daily basis. Get with the times. http://freepizzarocks.bandcamp.com/

Miami Doritos – By the time Miami Doritos hit the mini stage I am feeling no pain. Who needs pain when you have Miami Doritos? Kurt (vocals/guitar) and Alex (vocals/drums) find the one kid in the audience that is feeling pain and they serenade him/her back to safety with their psychedelic thrash testosterone fueled noise.

Indeed, two pieces are fun. Just to throw that out there. I typically prefer a full band, but Miami Doritos stretch beyond the common limitations that two pieces meet every day. I mean there’s just two of them, but it takes two to tango, so why do you need more than two people in a band anyway?

If you’re looking for a swift kick in the balls and you’re sick and tired of being let down by indie rock losers, then go out and see Miami Doritos and you won’t be disappointed. http://miamidoritos.bandcamp.com/

This was a Kids Like You & Me/KLYAM show and Glen and I are thankful for all of the bands that played, everyone that came out, and the Radio for having us. We also want to thank Storm or Howl, who was originally scheduled to play, but could not make it. They are amazing and you should all check out their beautiful music here: https://www.facebook.com/stormorhowl

Art, concert review, Local Music, Music, New Highway Hymnal, pictures, Punk, reviews, Video

Review: Hanni El Khatib, Bass Drum of Death, The New Highway Hymnal, Future Spa @ Middle East Downstairs (10/9/13)

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Bass Drum
Flyer from Middle East Restaurant and Night Club

Bands: Hanni El Khatib, Bass Drum of Death, The New Highway Hymnal, Future Spa
Date: Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Venue: Middle East Downstairs (Cambridge, MA)

Future Spa – I can’t say this enough, but my ears are slowly plunging into their watery graves. I’m seriously relying on the capabilities of future technology to preserve what remains of my hearing so I can slop, rock, and roll till the day I die. Somerville’s Future Spa aren’t helping my case right now because they are dishing out a hefty amount of damage on my ears with their rough noise fused garage onslaught.

We first caught these dudes at a toasty Mark Sultan show last December at the Starlab – going to miss that place! As with that show, Future Spa produce a quick slam in the bread basket with piles of noise rock, early 80’s hardcore, and plenty of shrieks and screams alike.

Future Spa show off their No Age and Sonic Youth influences in songs such as “No Age” and “Sonic Youth,” respectively. You can hear all of their garage punk anthems on their bancamp here: http://futurespa.bandcamp.com/album/my-aunt-brian

Set – List:
“Intro”
“My Aunt Brian”
“No Age”
“Turn On The Action”
“Lipshits”
“Surf Song”
“Sonic Youth”
“Blackinkcocaine”
“Gangof4”
“Fucking Mick Jagger”

The New Highway Hymnal – Shit, it’s been two months since I’ve seen these dudes. Last time was here at the Middle East Downstairs for the Boston Fuzzstival. That was a grand show, but this performance is superior and one of the best I’ve seen from the trio.

The set begins with an ear splitting batch of guitar feedback coming from Hadden Stemp’s amplifier and shortly thereafter the band kicks into Whispers staple “Hey Kid (Gotta Run),” a song typically whipped out towards the end of the set. The fiery tune gets me really amped up (amped up? whatever…) for the rest of the set and while the crowd is still building up, a few attendees are more than enthusiastic in their appreciation of NHH.

To the left of of me stands The Lysergic Factory Light Show’s Peter Colpack, a rampant supporter of the band, and while Mr. Colpack provides no acid trippy visuals tonight, he frenetically dances his ass off instead. His primitive, out of control style of dancing is akin to a one man mosh pit; it’s as if he’s possessed and fighting off a vicious army of fire ants crawling down his shaky spine.

The New Highway Hymnal’s sound runs through the rock ‘n’ roll gamut, splattering together the likes of The Doors, The 13th Floor Elevators, The Grateful Dead, The Velvet Underground, The Stooges, and The Brian Jonestown Massacre among other forms of music. It’s freak out music for the freaks and therefore you never know what kind of behavior may spew out during a NHH set. To the right of me are two more characters. One kind hearted old timer cheers the band on in his thick Boston accent as he brandishes his Boston Red Sox hat. Another woman shakes her booty rapidly to the band’s swift psych delivery. When they ask the sound guy how much time they have left? This woman hollers “How long is it going to take for you to fuck me?” Much to the band’s surprise/amusement.

The set crashes to its close in classic New Highway Hymnal fashion with Amelia and Hadden producing vast layers of screeching feedback from their guitars and Travis making a mess of his drum kit by smashing his cymbals into the snare drum and making use of anything and everything in front of him as a means of percussion. This conclusion is a microcosmic trance within the larger trance that is The New Highway Hymnal. Sit on that mind blowing piece of information while you pass time in work/school/church/ waiting in line for the post office.
http://thenewhighwayhymnal.bandcamp.com/

Bass Drum Of Death – Here’s a band whose material I am not overly familiar with, yet I have kept them on the back burner for a couple of years now. Bass Drum Of Death are a heavy, pummeling garage rock band that most garage, punk, or simply garage punk fans would dig, but I’d go even further and state that fans of more general rock or other genres may also enjoy their music as well. And that’s certainly not a trait that can be applied to any old garage band. With Bass Drum, the music is more fine tuned, crisper. At the same time, there is still plenty of that slimy, sleazy element that we gunk punkers all know and love.

As I said before, I am not a huge fan of this band, simply because I have only heard a few of their songs, so seeing Bass Drum Of Death is comparable to seeing a sweet band, but not like waiting all year to see BASS DRUM OF DEATH!!! Though, this is not the case for much of the dudes in attendance. And yes I stress the word dudes, as I feel this set is filled with plenty of sausage and that’s okay, but I tend to prefer seeing an equal balance of the genders, damn I don’t how you metal folk do it! Anyway, much of these dudes are heavy duty Bass Drum Of Death folk and a small, but steady mosh pit explodes in front of the stage. Kids smashing into one another and screaming along to their favorite Bass Drum Of Death tunes and unleashing all of that teenage, hormonal frustration. It’s a lot of fun.

Hanni El Khatib – Now, with Hanni El Khatib I am totally unaware of their discography, having vaguely heard of the band a few times in the past. For this show, I came mostly for the local bands, and yes Bass Drum Of Death is a treat. Hanni El Khatib, I am not as impressed with – don’t get me wrong, they are fine, but I just don’t feel it as much as the three previous bands. Hanni appears to be more in line with blues and classic rock or I am just a crazy bastard and I’m hearing weird noises.  In either situation, they don’t floor me enough to stay for the second half of their set. Not a bad band, but just not the band I would go out of my way to see live. Lastly, I am not sure why they were paired with Bass Drum Of Death for this tour, given that their sounds are very different. Then again, that can be an immensely positive thing, hopefully bringing together fans of both styles of music and introducing new bands to both parties.

Here’s a sick video of Bass Drum Of Death from Joanna Trachtenberg!

Art, Colleen Green, concert review, Honorary KLAYMERS, Local Music, Music, pictures, Punk, reviews

Review: Colleen Green, White Fang, The Memories, Ronnie Nordac’s Crying Lessons @ Bathaus (10/8/13)

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Colleen JP
Flyer by Freak Flag
Bands: Smarty, White Fang, Colleen Green, The Memories, Ronnie Nordac’s Crying Lessons
Date: Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Venue: Bathaus (Jamaica Plain, MA)

Ronnie Nordac’s Crying Lessons – Damn son, has it been six months already? April 25th was the first time I saw Ronnie Nordac and the original Crying Lessons and the last time I saw Colleen Green. Six months go by fast, but not as fast as the ultra speedy songs that comprise a Crying Lessons’ set. I guess that’s how they make you cry… they want to keep you crying for more. I’ve been seeing them a lot lately, so it’s working. Doo Wop, bubblegum pop, rock, they got you covered. It’s all heavenly. “Like” them on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CryingLessons

The Memories – Going into this show I had never listened to The Memories and only knew of them through their association with White Fang. I’m kicking myself now for not checking them out before, since they are one of the best live bands I have ever seen. The whole band is awesome, but much of this admiration is directed towards frontman Erik Gage.  Erik’s got that natural pizzaz to him, he’s all over the place and in your face, and best of all he and his bandmates got the music to back it up.

The Memories play slow, jam/psych fused garage pop.  All of the songs are super short, straight to the point and utterly hilarious. The Memories’ personality genuinely shines through in all of these colorful tunes. There are songs about fornicating with significant others while the rents are away, handing femmes your own prized art work only to  have them hand it back to you (what a bitch!), getting high and not going to work tomorrow (wish I could say the same), and a little something something that all of us need from time to time: “You Need a Big Man.” All of these absurd tunes remind me of Frank Zappa (especially in Erik’s vocals) and Ween  – the songs are goofy and not to be taken too seriously, but at the  same time they are well crafted and truly admirable.

Now, The Memories aren’t just a bunch of jokers. They also write important songs with serious subject matters. Erik introduces one of the set’s final numbers as their “most serious song.” This of course is “Go Down On You.” Listen to it here and giggle like the little school girl you are: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTaR2Im0OHk
Listen to more here: http://thememories.bandcamp.com/

Colleen Green – Although I really dig White Fang and now The Memories, tonight I am mainly making the trek out to JP to see Colleen Green. I’ve seen Colleen a few times now and each time has been fairly different from the last. I’ve seen her play in bars, art galleries, and now basements. This seems to be a more natural setting for Colleen and her mellow music. It’s just Colleen, her guitar, and her drum machine. In my previous experiences, Colleen was accompanied with a full band (Plateaus) or her friend Marissa on guitar. So, just seeing her all by her lonesome is a departure, yet it feels closer to her recordings.

Colleen opens with “Only One” from her most recent release Sock It to Me (Hardly Art) and the packed basement’s attendees start to move and shake and twist and turn a little bit. She goes on to perform other CG classics such as “Dance the Night Away,” “I Wanna Be Degraded,” and “Worship You.”

As a whole, I wouldn’t say this is the most memorable Colleen Green show under my belt, but it’s still pretty sick and overall I can’t complain. If you haven’t heard Colleen Green yet, I urge you to check her stuff out RIGHT NOW. If you dig Ramones, Blink 182, Descendants, and all that spazz, then you oughta dig Colleen or I oughta knock yer lights out! http://colleengreen.bandcamp.com/

White Fang – I first heard White Fang earlier this June roughly around 11 AM at a bar known as Eugene O’Neil’s in Jamaica Plain. When you’re a KLYAMER no time is too early for a beer; we’re night owls and early risers at the same time. We’re everywhere and we’re growing each day. Beware. But, back to White Fang. A local peep by the name of Jeff Somers was working the bar at the time and he introduced Glen and I to the almighty White Fang. We were vibin’ to their infectious grooves alright, all night. You could say we were late to the White Fang hysteria, given the fact that these dudes have been around for years. Bradford Cox even wrote about them on the Deerhunter blog in 2008; he’s always ahead of the game, gotta love that dude.

So, yeah White Fang rules and most of the band comprises of members of The Memories including singer, Erik Gage. In similar fashion, White Fang is all fuzzed out with their gnar pop and chop. White Fang tends to be heavier though, and they get the crowd all riled up. There’s some quasi moshing during their set and everyone is having a gay olde time. Gay as a fox.

One of White Fang’s most memorable joints is a little ditty known as “Can’t Deal With Being Real” and it’s dedicated to all the (not so) kewl cats that aren’t in attendance tonight.  Here’s to White Fang for keeping it real, hope you last forever. http://whitefang420.bandcamp.com/

Unfortunately, we missed Smarty :(

The masterminds we call Freak Flag put on this holy show and they deserve a big shout and lots of love! Check out their blog here: http://www.freakflagboston.com/ They also host various DJ nights in the Boston area and publish a mind bending newsletter/quarterly that will make your head spin in all its awesomeness.

Art, concert review, Local Music, Music, pictures, Punk, reviews

Review: Free Pizza and Secret Lover @ JP Drive In (10/4/13)

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Lust Cats
Bands: Lust-Cats of the Gutters, Mannequin Pussy, Secret Lover, Free Pizza
Date: Friday, October 4, 2013
Venue: JP Drive In/Ill Spot

Free Pizza – Free Pizza, it’s so beautiful.  Two delicious words. Free and Pizza, together as one.  Free Pizza is a mouth watering slice fresh out of the heart of Jamaica Plain, but plain they are not. This Pizza is filled with a palette of scrumptious toppings. Jesus Vio slays on bass and vocals, Santiago Cardenas tears shit up on guitar, and my old No Age buddy, Nick Rasmussen smashes the skins.

This is my first Free Pizza show and it is a pleasant first experience at that. During this performance I honestly can’t picture them playing anywhere other than a tight basement reeking of mold and steel reserved beer.  I’ve heard the term basement rock thrown around before and I always thought it was a silly description, but I feel like Free Pizza fits that description.

The vibes are all positive and there’s a very warm, homey feel to their set. It’s almost jammy (I don’t know why I keep adding the – y to all my descriptions here), like a mellow garage group, yet still ready to rock.

In the Free Pizza spirit of playing for and more importantly with the people,  for one song they lend the mic over to anyone that wishes to sing in exchange for a forty.  One of the dudes in Secret Lover grabs the mic and sings along with the Pizzas – ahh new nickname. I eventually find a nickname for every band.

Free Pizza rocks! It’s true and by far their catchiest tune is “Net – Babes,” a tune about surfing the interwebs and finding that special someone. Internet babes. Dayemmm, I gotta get me one of those. You can hear this song over here at their bancamper. http://freepizzarocks.bandcamp.com/

Secret Lover – I’ve seen these Worcester based dudes and dudette a few times now and this show is not too different from those previous experiences; pleasant easy to listen (and perhaps dance) to pop music. Though I am not overly engaged in Secret Lover’s music, I can appreciate its smooth, mellow, psychedelic flavor. There’s also a lot of power pop and classic rock elements to be admired, at least to my ears.

It’s nearly impossible to write about Secret Lover and not mention the feisty, powerful performance coming from lead singer/songwriter, Sally Horowitz. She careens around the basement floor and taunts the audience with infinite enthusiasm. Her singing brings to mind that of Deborah Harry (Blondie) and Marissa Paternoster (Screaming Females).
Check them out here: http://secretlover.bandcamp.com/

It sucks big time that we had to depart early and missed most of Mannequin Pussy’s (NYC) set and all of Lust-Cats of the Gutters’s (Denver), but I highly recommend you check out their bandcamps and catch them on tour now! See tour dates here: https://klyam.com/2013/10/07/band-of-the-week-lust-cats-of-the-gutters-on-tour-now/

Lust-Cats of the Gutters:
http://lustcats.bandcamp.com/
Mannequin Pussy:
http://mannequinpussy.bandcamp.com/

Fortunately, I had the opportunity to meet Robin and Alex from Lust-Cats and they are the sweetest/coolest!! Hope you guys are having an excellent time with Mannequin Pussy!

Art, Honorary KLAYMERS, Music, pictures, Punk, Shannon and The Clams, Show Alert, Video

SHOW ALERT! Shannon And The Clams @ Great Scott (11/20/13)

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Hot Dog! We have a weiner! A serious KLYAM fave is in the haus. Shannon and thee Clams aka Shannon And The Clams is back in Boston on Wednesday, November 20 at Great Scott. Dayemmm, it feels like we just saw these guys the other day…. back in June we caught the Clams opening for Mikal Cronin, also at Great Scott. You can read about it here: https://klyam.com/2013/07/09/review-mikal-cronin-shannon-and-the-clams-roomrunner-the-migs-great-scott-61713/. We’re truly blessed to have such a fantastic band back in our city once again!

Art, Honorary KLAYMERS, Music, music video, Nobunny, pictures, Punk, Video

New Music Video: Nobunny – “I Was On (The Bozo Show)”


Check out the new music video from our favorite masked musician, Mr. Nobunny himself! The video is for one of my all time favorite Nobunny cutz, “I Was On (The Bozo Show),” the final track off of thee classic LP First Blood (2010, Goner). It’s a new video, but it was shot in 2011 and directed by Jason Willis. Whachu talkin’ bout Willis? This is what I’m talking about. Enjoy!