That’s right! The holiest of the holies, King Khan & His Sensational Shrines are spreading the gospel of love, peace, and rock ‘n’ roll tonight @ Brighton Music Hall!
The Gabba Ghouls NEW LP / Shows This Week
The world’s premier all-Italian Halloween punk & roll group The Gabba Ghouls (Connecticut) have just released their self-titled debut tape in time for the big day. Organic candy corn for soulless trick or treaters. Featuring some cool dudes in JACQUES LE COQUE.
These dudes are a serious meatball of fun, forgo the monster mash on your soundtrack – All You Need Is Blood.
AND they are playing a couple of shows:
OCTOBER 30 @ Cafe Nine in New Haven, CT with Lust Cats of the Gutters, and Mannequin Pussy
OCTOBER 31 @ Lit Lounge in NYC with Happy Jawbone Family Band, Lust Cats of the Gutters, and Mannequin Pussy
While these tunes are endearing no matter the time of year, let’s be serious if you are in those locations, go see Gabba Ghouls.
Band of the Week: The Back Pages
Bedroom garage punk performed by young DIY multi-instrumentalists seems to be a growing thing in modern punk slime. And rightfully so. The Back Pages – KC Allen, 16 yrs old, Orlando, Florida – has made his own fascinating contributions to the cause. With quickly spouted lines of angst, machine gun esque rhythm guitar, he’s well-versed in Jay Reatardelia circa 2006-2008. It’s not just his playing which is impressive, but like Jay, he’s got the production side of things down to a pseudoscience.
There are currently three releases (one a month starting in August) up on the The Back Pages Bandcamp – “JuSst Tthat Stuipod”, “Break It All Off,” and the most recent “Darkness Creeps Over.” If we’re into picking favorites, I’ll hold off, but I’ll say I’m real real real into “Destined To Be Miserable,” as it grows grows grows and pounds pounds pounds like a righteous Ty Melted ditty, showing off songcraft that moves beyond the great terrain of Aussie accents and punk pop melody into instant four chord fuzzzzzzzz.
Down in Orlando while some teenager is waiting in a 90 minute line to go on the Tower of Terror, another teenanger is masterminding his own 2-3 minute self-made rides of terror. You don’t need to worry about puking to Back Pages!
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebackpages666
Bandcamp: http://thebackpages1.bandcamp.com/
Review: Hanni El Khatib, Bass Drum of Death, The New Highway Hymnal, Future Spa @ Middle East Downstairs (10/9/13)
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!
Review: Guerilla Toss, SARALEE, Giving Up, Bad History Month @ JP Drive-In
Date: October 26, 2013
Bad History Month: Bad History Month is solo Sean History Month, singer and guitarist of Fat History Month, who you all know as Boston’s dearest underground band. The crowds descend downstairs, greeted by the warm presence of Sean, his guitar, amp, and bass drum. The bass drum seems to be something of a new addition for Sean as he has anointed us the crowd a focus group for his percussion aided performance. Sean’s gentle playing is a beautiful thing, full of depth and intensity. The liberating, calming sound that is a History Month set is so distinguishing, so relaxing. I kept thinking to myself, what a pleasure to be in a basement right now listening to this set. The only tune that I recognize is “Fucking Despair” from the same-name-can’t-recommend-enough album so don’t count me in as an expert of the nitty gritty for tonight’s set. Which might not be a bad thing – the mood generated was most notable and left us feeling better than we did thirty minutes prior.
SARALEE: I won’t speak for Chris, but I think he’ll agree with me here – Saralee is a band we hold near and dear. We first saw Sara [vocal/guitar] and Lee [drums] perform as Saralee back on May 26, 2011, opening for Peach Kelli Pop at the Problem House in Allston. That was our first Boston basement show. From that point forward – roughly – our eyes were opened to the magic of the local scene. Seeing Saralee in a grimy basement is all I know of seeing Saralee first hand. So when they took to the non-stage last night, I was brought to a rather familiar place. A cozy place. The tunes of Saralee are like small pieces of nostalgia, a soundtrack to things that might have occurred in childhood or yesterday or in the future. They are uplifting songs, at least to my hears. The only comparison I can really come up with is early OCs – if in light tone and playful minimalism. They played a dozen or so jams, most topping out at around a couple of minutes. There was a time during the winter months of both 2012 and 2013 that I spent hours for several consecutive days listening to Saralee’s DEMO at work. You’d think I would get sick of it, but it just put me in high spirits…continuously. That was the case with SARALEE tonight. I loved every minute of it, Lee’s artistic drumming synced with Sara’s ultra reverby delivery. This is a band that has won hearts across the nation in a tour culminating in this very basement. I’m sure of it. Their self-titled LP just released on 12″ hand-screened vinyl is stunning. Listen there and pick up a copy or pick up the copy and smile wide! It’ll be a favorite.
Giving Up: One of the most unfortunate things that can happen for a big fan of live music is showing up late and paying the consequences of being squished in the back. This is most trying in close quarters. So there we go, I don’t think I ever got a solid view of Giving Up, but thank God for my ears. I heard ’em! I dug what I heard, bizarre folk sorta like Page France but noisy, more demented. Catchy! A perfect complement to Saralee being all hazily distinct and stuff. Memory music. Also, I’ve been informed that Lee was on drums. Nice Lee. Check these Midwesterners out: http://givingup.bandcamp.com/ !
Guerilla Toss: G-Toss can just about do anything they damn want and like most things so very irresistible, crowds will follow! Every show I’ve seen Guerilla Toss play has been push and shove, so beware people who like to take things easy. There’s not another Guerilla Toss in the world – Cassie, Peter, Simon, Ian, and Arian – make/display some of the craziest stuff I’ve ever heard/seen. Punk rock stripped to its most feral motions, radically spun with noise, glitches, consistent freak outs. It’s a very held together thing though. I’m always amused just by being witness to what is going on and the domineering clutching fist enveloping the crowd, making them suspects of a short duration assault. YA i’m down for this! http://guerillatoss.bandcamp.com/
RIP Lou Reed
This needs no introduction. Enjoy the music.
KLYAM Recommended Shows (October 21 – 26)
Monday, October 21, 2013
Boston Hassle Presents: EX-Cult @ O’Brien’s Pub – 8 PM – $8 – Memphis’ current garage punk kings, EX-Cult are rocking through our fair city once again, after nearly breaking our bones at an epic punk slime show last July. Before EX-Cult hits the stage you may not even be standing straight, because Allston sociopaths Strict Agnostics are playing as well; definitely dudes you wanna know. Real, no bullshit punk featuring members of Nice Guys, Miami Doritos, Thigh Masters, and Big Buck Hunter. Additionally, fellow local garage rockers White Pages and Denton, TX doom metal sludgers Terminator 2 round out this fine ass bill.
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
The New Highway Hymnal @ Wilder Zangcraft – Over in Lowell, they are zanging out to one of the zickest bands I’ve ever zeen: The New Highway Hymnal, a psych drone machine that will blow your mind to smithereens. NHH will be joined by the jam/soul rock of Northampton’s Lord Jeff and the stoner fuzz rock of Austin, TX’s Mirror Travel. Kicking things off is a band we repped back in July: Allston’s Bellwire will sooth your sore ears with their soft rock ‘n’ roll gems.
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
FIDLAR @ The Sinclair – 8 PM – $13 Adv/ $15 day of – Well well well, looks like we have ourselves a stacked line up. We’re excited to finally see LA’s cheap beer extollers and rock ‘n’ rollers, FIDLAR, but we’re even more psyched to witness the greatness that is The Orwells once again for the third time this year! Last and most definitely not least, one of our favorite local bands, the always slimy Nice Guys are opening up this show, and if you haven’t heard or seen them yet you’re in for a treat. I can’t wait to see you sixteen year old kids go nuts!
Saturday, October 26, 2013
Saralee @ The Spot JP – One of Boston’s best bands, Saralee is in the middle of a big ass tour with fellow underground rock ‘n’ roll crusaders, Giving Up and on this special night they’ll be back and killing it in their hometown. Joining them is the freak out soundz of one of their noisiest contemporaries, Guerilla Toss.
Chastity Belt @ Chum’s Coffeehouse (Brandeis University) – Seattle’s “Vagina Rock” quartet Chastity Belt are coming to Boston to destroy everyone’s favorite random venue, Chum’s in Waltham. Opening is tour mates Pony Time – a guy and girl rock duo sorta thang.
Kal Marks @ The Laundry Room (formerly known as the Ant Cellar) – Over in my old stomping grounds of Lowell is one kick ass show from the likes of one of Boston’s finest and most successful artists, Kal Marks. The other players include psych rockers, Vundabar, who are simply vunderful, ambient post-rock North Shorers, Harborlights, and old school folk dudes, Root Juice.
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If you think we missed any shows that a tru KLYAM gangsta would vant to see. Hit us up at KLYAMEMAIL@GMAIL.COM
SOTD: Sick Thoughts “Need No One”
Big shout out to Ryan THE TERRIBLE for bringing to my attention Sick Thoughts – 16 year old multi-instrumentalist/ garage punkster Drew Owen from Baltimore.
Dude’s already released an array of 7″ on several labels and has been interviewed by Christine from White Pages on Boston Hassle. Check that out.
Sick Thoughts may need no one, but you need Sick Thoughts
NEW MUSIC VIDS From Future Days, Designer
Boston bands audio visuallying it up:
Future Days – “Blonde Wig”
Designer – “Magic C”
Review: Colleen Green, White Fang, The Memories, Ronnie Nordac’s Crying Lessons @ Bathaus (10/8/13)
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.
Kids Like You & Me (KLYAM) 