http://www.spin.com/gallery/10-best-sets-lollapalooza-2011?page=9#main
Yessir, Black Lips at #2, should have been #1! Other notables (at least from my perspective as a fan) include Ween (#5), The Pains of Being Pure At Heart (#7), and Bright Eyes (#8).
DISCLAIMER: This is the beginning of a piece I started (and stopped) writing two years ago because I got sick of explaining my political views. I never finished this amateur manifesto and in fact barely put a dent into. As of now, I really don’t have a desire to complete it, but someday I probably will. So, why am I posting it if it is not finished? you may ask. Well, in the traditions of Jay Reatard and Bradford Cox, both of whom we greatly admire at KLYAM, I’m presenting unfinished, skeletal material instead of searching for a perfect final product… sorta. Kind of like the way they have released demos, so you can see the process of their art. In any case, enjoy.
I was born on July 15, 1990 during the Bush I Administration. Naturally, I paid no attention to this goon and steered clear from the political scene for my first few years. As the 90s rolled along we moved to a new groove with the Clinton Administration. During Billy’s first term in office I remained silent, but of course silence makes me sick, so I roared when round two began. With no particular ideology in mind, at the age of five I voiced support for the “populist” goofy bastard over another goofy bastard, whom appeared to state his name after every sentence. To me (based on coloring books and TV appearances) the Clinton team seemed secure for a sophomore session, whereas the menacing, fumbling Dole fucks could not cut the deal. To me, Clinton was “presidential,” an extremely peculiar word that only means something to you if you favor the showbiz over the real action. The only quality I looked for in a future prez was being “presidential.” It’s sad that at five I mastered the average adult voter’s methods of choosing their leader.
With Meet the Presidents Coloring Book being my top read, this great, big concept of being “presidential” completely consumed my political intake for my childhood years. As the title misinforms the young readers, we meet 40 phonies (it was a little bit old) and of these phonies, President John Fitzgerald Kennedy became my favorite phony. JFK made me want to become President of the United States of America! I fervently advised my family and friends that I would become President one day. I responded to “What I wanted to be when I grew up?” with “President.” My parents endorsed me, my brothers…. did not, but what else can you expect from siblings?
But, back to my boy JFK. He became my hero and instead of ameliorating any possible athletic skills, I instead read several of his biographies and anything else I could find on the man. Strangely, I never delved into any assassination theories, since I’m usually fascinated by that stuff, but that’s a whole other story. In 3rd grade, I dressed up as Mr. Kennedy, my idol, and briefly told the class and parents about my life, accomplishments, and untimely death… without any notes, a feat no other student matched!
During these wild and crazy years in my youth (1996-2000)…
Get yourself or a loved one the new Cumstain record! Y’all should know by now how much we loved last year’s Cumstain cassette tape from Burger Records, well now Burger is releasing the LP on vinyl.
“Cumstain’s debut LP “Hurry Up And Kill Yourself You Scum Bag Trust Me Your Mother Won’t Miss You” cumming soon from Burger & Under The Gun Records!!!”- Burger Records
http://www.freewebs.com/burgerrecords/apps/webstore/products/show/2550271
“JUST PICKED UP THE TEST PRESSINGS FOR CUMSTAIN’S “HURRY UP AND KILL YOURSELF YOU SCUM BAG TRUST ME YOUR MOTHER WON’T MISS YOU” LP!!! pre-sale for the colored vinyl will be happening tomorrow and we’ll be having a Cumstain contest to win a test pressing of the record soon!!! STAY SICK AND STAY TUNED!!! xoxo, BRGR”- Burger Records Facebook Page
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/BURGER-RECORDS/54654484004
Fuck yeah!
Glen Maganzini (left) and Chris DeCarlo (right)
The kids that started the revolution.
Okay okay, this is more like it…
“You think you’re hot shit, but you’re really just cold diarrhea.”- Ralphie, Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995). One of my all time favorite movies.
*My apologies for the extremely late arrival of this review. Better late than never!*
Artists: Honeysuck, The Beets, Brilliant Colors, Libyans (missed- next time!)
Location: The Problem House (Allston, MA)
Date: Thursday, June 16, 2011
Comments:
Act I: Honeysuck– Honeysuck was a real treat. They played a brief, but energetic set filled with frenzied, classic hardcore punk styled songs- a nice way to kick off the evening. They were kinda mellow in terms of their performance, but musicially they were really loud and as I said earlier energetic. I tend to not like current bands that play in the style (at least to me) of the old school hardcore stuff, but Honeysuck is an exception. I’ll keep my eye on them in the future.
Act II: The Beets– Ahh The Beets, one of Queens’ finest, just the guys we were looking for. These cats can really tap into some truly demented psychedelia. Shit makes you wanna float around all day on acid and move to another groove. They’re so laid back in their approach, yet the music is enticing. One of my favorites of the evening was “Flower Girl”- one of the sweetest in The Beets’ catalog. When I heard that quintessential line “All is good when I’m with you, I cut my balls off, gave them to ya, I don’t need them as long as I got you!” my eyes lit up. I mean that line sold me from the beginning. Just that line makes them a more qualified group than just about any other schmuck with an acoustic guitar. There’s this great, “I don’t give a fuck, whatever” quality to The Beets, and yet at the same time they offer thee utmost sincerity in their delivery and as evidence here their lyrics. It’s hilarious, but at the same time, what a better way to say I love you then telling your significant other that you could exterminate your manhood and it would not matter because you have them by your side. Oustanding. Then the biggest highlight of the night came when the guys played (at my request!) my Beets fave- “Broken English.” That song simply evokes complete euphoria in me and it was just as good live. Beets need to come back soon. From Boston with love.
Act III: Brilliant Colors – I honestly can’t really remember too much about Brilliant Colors. I remember thinking they were decent, but I don’t remember them being spectacular either. This could also have to do with the fact that for their performance I was closer to the back of the room, so all I saw were bodies in front of me. Typically, I need to see the band perform for it to really kick in.
Here’s a great video of The Beets.
I just heard Those Darlins’ “Red Light Love,” in a commerical for the new 2012 KIA Sorento Joyride II.
Artists: Nobunny, The Tampoffs, TRiPLE THiCK and The Party Pigs.
Date: Thursday, June 30, 2011
Location: Church aka Church of Boston
Comments:
Act I: The Party Pigs– Alright, alright I like what I see here. Party Pigs are a two piece- drummer/singer, guitarist/singer, you know the deal. It’s like the gah ridge (Mark Ronson for “garage”) version of No Age you could say. Volume was key to this band, for they were quite loud, but not in an obnoxious way, the “noise” complemented their playing; I wouldn’t call them a noise band though. The vocals were screamed in a sort of a drill sargent esque manner, which was pretty cool. The songs didn’t totally come through to me, but their set was tight and highly entertaining, I felt Needy Visions vibes. Like NV, their joy for performing music was extremely apparent. Solid opener, the best for the evening as far as I’m concerned (in terms of opening acts).
Act II: TRiPLE THiCK– These guys shared the same energy as The Party Pigs, but didn’t nearly thrill me as the first act. I think this was more of a case of my personal tastes because I could tell several others around me were really into TT and thought they were awesome. I definitely enjoyed their performance, but I was just left with a feeling of wanting more.
Act III: The Tampoffs– Perhaps the opening band that garnered the most attention… thee audience interaction was taken up a few notches when The Tampoffs hit the stage. A nice mosh pit erupted when they started playing, which is always fun. Naturally, their music was a bit heavier and faster than the other bands and the moshing was a reaction to this… OR… there were a lot of Tampoffs fans in the audience, or maybe it was just time to mosh. In any case, as much I love slamdancing to use a term I don’t seem to hear as often anymore, one drawback is that I can’t really pay attention to the band on stage and what their set is like, instead their music is just a soundtrack to the moshing. That’s fine though beacuse I didn’t know The Tampoffs, so it wasn’t that big of a deal. Alas, I really don’t know how I feel about their music/set, but from what I can gather it was decent.
Act IV: NOBUNNY!!!– Aww man, Nobunny has some really excellent Boston fans, I should know! But seriously, I see a lot of bands in this circuit, if you will, of underground music and a healthy chunk of concert attendees at these shows tend to be of the hipster variety or just seeing a show for fuck’s sake ane not necessarily coming out to support their favorite band. Which is fine, I’m not going to comment on that here, that’s just an observation, or at the very least a perception. But with Nobunny it’s a totally different story… at least in Boston. The crowd at the Church knew their Nobunny and seemed to know it well. I mean even if you don’t know the words, you can easily tag along, that’s one of the great things about Nobunny. Though I never really recongnized how awesome these tunes are to sing a long to, very anthemic in a way. The show kicked off with the bunnyman himself in the crowd banging on the stage as his bandmates (guitar- Jason “Elvis Christ” Testasecca, bass- Touchy Tony, drums- Danaheim ) hopped aboard. Ready to Rock and Roll, the crew launched into the always euphoric “Nobunny Loves You.” Just like at home with my speakers or earphones, whenever I hear those first few chords I’m sent into an anticipating frenzy. Without any hesitation the crowd started movin’ and shakin’ and singing along to the immortal “Nobody But Me” esque chants: “NO NO NO, NO NO NO, NO NO NO!”-except Nobunny’s version is way cooler. For the first few songs Nobunny rocked on the guitar, then he placed his axe down to get a little bit more intimate with his audience, especially the ladies. For cuts like “It’s True,” our hero got down on his knees and lowered the mic with him to sing the special song for a cute honeybunny in the first row. I’d have to say this was some of his best showmanship, at least from what I’ve seen and he really interacted well with the fans. Of course, the fans’ participation was key. It really energized all involved. People were really into the songs and the whole time there was a great deal of stage diving including some from Mr. Nobunny himself, which is always a treat. In terms of the songs, well what can you say, it’s Nobunny, they speak for themselves! In particular, I enjoyed ” I Am a Girlfriend,”(“I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend” interlude and all), “Chuck Berry Holiday, “Live It Up,” and “Not That Good.” Best of all, however, was a rendition of Hunx and Punx’s “U Don’t like Rock and Roll.” A neat little surprise indeed, especially since I adore the music of Hunx. And of course anytime I get a chance to ask U2 fans “what the fuck is wrong with you?!” is a good time. My one gripe is that I wish the show was longer, but timing aside, it was one of the best shows I have experienced. Can’t wait to see Nobunny and the guys again! BOSTON LOVES YOU!
Grade: 9/10
Set List (in no particular order):
Non Album Cuts:
I Cant Wait (Sneaky Pinks)
U Dont Like Rock n Roll (Hunx and His Punx)
Love Visions:
Nobunny Loves You
I Am a Girlfriend
Not That Good
It’s True
Mess Me Up
Chuck Berry Holiday
First Blood:
Live It Up
Gone for Good
Blow Dumb
Motorhead With Me
Raw Romance:
Hippy Witch
Hurricanes of Love is a heavenly musical experience and its gentle spirit will appear at the Whitehaus (Jamaica Plain) tonight (July 8), July 14, and July 22.
http://www.myspace.com/hurricanesoflove
This is a couple of months old, but nonetheless worth checking out.
http://www.daytrotter.com/dt/hunx-and-his-punx-concert/20054685-3738336.html
Kids Like You & Me (KLYAM) 