Chewbacck Obama and some Munnys

Here's a bunch of stuff I've done over the past few weeks:This was a dumb idea I had, more so just the name Chewbacck Obama, popped in my head for some reason. In order to get it out of my brain I drew this up and stenciled it on a 8"x10" canvas board.

Here's a Munny I made as a gift to my tattoo artist who's been hooking me up w/ some sweet free tattoos over the past few months. I wanted it to look like an old timey strong man w/a sweet mustache (made of craft foam). I gave him traditional styled tattoos which I drew on with Sharpies. Here's what he looks like from all angles.

This is a Mini Munny body which I attached a TV accessory from a regular sized Munny. The basic concept is "TV rots your brain." The Munny body was pink, and I masked out a brain pattern and then sprayed the whole thing red. The TV screen I painted w/ a textured gray to look like static.

This is a flyer for a show my new band BLOODTYPE is playing. If anybody's gonna be in the area and wants to see me sing in a band, this would be your chance.

Classic Comps vol. 3- New York City Hardcore: The Way It Is

When I was first getting into hardcore, I was big into the early Revelation Records bands. This was of course a time before high speed modems, and the Rev back catalog was still mostly in print and easy to get. Also around that time (1997) was the resurgence in youth crew styled hardcore. There's actually a lot of diversity among these bands despite all being from NYC, there's a lot of different sounds represented. This record is still in print through RevHQ, and I highly recommend it.
A while REV back did "final" pressings of a lot of their classic old records in a move to phase out vinyl. Bad move guys, especially since you haven't released a good record since the first Nerve Agents LP.

1. Bold - Wise Up
I always thought Bold was a lame Youth of Today rip off, though the Crippled Youth 7" has its youthful sprit. This song is ok, probably one of their better songs, but the playing isn't very tight and the drumming is real boring. Bold recently got back together, but why?

2. Nausea - Fallout Of Our Being
This is definitely the most out of place song on this comp, but Nausea fits in the same time frame of all these bands, but I would assume didn't share many shows. I was never a huge Nausea fan either, as they seemed to take more from Crass than Discharge in their crusty hardcore sound. This song is pretty good though, and like I said it's real different from the other bands.

3. Warzone - As One
4. Warzone - Escape From Your Society
Oh man, classic Warzone stuff here. I always loved "Don't Forget the Struggle...," and these tracks were recorded right before that LP I assume. The version of "As One" on here is actually better than the LP version in my opinion. "Escape from Your Society" has a classic goofy intro that I wish bands still did. Nothing can top the goofy into to "intro/Bust" though. Both songs are top shelf Warzone at their peak.

5. Gorilla Biscuits - Better Than You
6. Gorilla Biscuits - Forgotten
I would be lying if I said Gorilla Biscuits didn't have a huge impact on me, I'd also be lying if I said I still thought they were a great band. They were by far the most melodic band in that scene, but still retained a bit of the NYHC sound. "Better than You" is a pretty terrible song. I remember older versions of this on GB demo bootlegs, and it sucked then too. "Forgotten" was I guess a new song at this time, and would later be better recorded for the "Start Today" LP. I'd still prefer anything off the first 7"

7. Trip 6 - Back With A Vengeance
Shit, I literally know nothing about Trip 6, but this song fucking rips. The guitar tone is raw as shit, and the chorus is simple and catchy. In re-listening to this comp to write this, I was re-blown away. Fuck, great song.

8. Breakdown - Sick People
I'll be honest and say I really don't like Breakdown that much, but this song is fucking great. I remember seeing a band cover this last year on tour, and it was definitely the highlight of that show. This is just a fucking angry punch holes in the walls kinda song.

9. Youth Of Today - Together
10. Youth Of Today - Understand
Youth of Today's another band that was real important to me, however these songs are real awful. The bass is real prominent in the mix, and the tone is annoying. "Understand" would later be re-recorded way better on the classic "We're Not In This Alone" LP. These songs just aren't nearly as tight as they need to be, good band regardless.

11. Sick Of It All - Politics
12. Sick Of It All - Pete's Sake
I love Sick of It All's first 7", but not really anything after that. Luckily these 2 songs are from around that same time. "Pete's Sake" was re-recorded for that 7" but "Politics" is exclusive to this. Like Warzone, SOIA peaked early but the songs on here are a great representation of the band at their peak.

13. Krakdown - Ignorance
Krakdown's not a band I'm that familiar with either, and this song's ok. The vocal pacing is a little awkward and choppy, but it's got a decent mosh part. I don't know if this was an earlier song, but if the playing was tighter, I'd probably like it more.

14. Side By Side - Dead Serious
15. Side By Side - Time Is Now
Wasn't a big Side By Side fan, but I loved their later band Alone in a Crowd. "Dead Serious" is the better of the 2 songs here. Decent balance of catchy sing along parts, mosh and fast parts. "Time is Now" starts out kinda cool, then ends on a slower pace and uses way too much whammy bar dive bombs.

16. Youth Defense League - Blue Pride
Not a big fan of YDL since I'm not a working class skinhead, but as far as those types of bands go. Mid paced British inspired punk with a definite sing along for the chorus. I'm not gonna get into my opinions on the whole "working class skin" thing, but this song's pretty mediocre.

17. Supertouch - Searchin' For The Light
I always thought this song was cool, despite being named after a Bad Brains song, and not sounding much like them. The song's kinda slow, but it's interesting enough to pull it off well. There's more parts to the structure of this song than most hardcore songs, and even has a sing-a-long chorus. It's a real good way to end the comp since it's the longest and slowest song on here. I remember ordering stuff from REV a long time ago and getting a tape of Supertouch's LP for free in my box, and thinking it sucked big time though.

Ernest Ripper for ASOP 80's show

Here's my piece for the Autumn Society of Philadelphia's 80's pop culture themed show. It was a tough choice on what to do since so many awesome things came from the 80's. I ultimately decided to do an homage to Ernest P. Worrell in the style of the classic 80's Powell Peralta "Bones Ripper." All the color layers were cut out as stencils and spray painted on canvas. I did the background separately, then did the rest over it. The actual piece is a lot bigger and the colors are a lot brighter, I did the best I could w/ a photo of it.
The show will open on June 5th at Brave New World Comics in philadelphia, PA; and run until the end of the month. RIP Jim Varney
Here are all the stencil layers (if you click on it, you can see it better). The background was just sprayed blue, then the Ernest pattern repeated over it many times. Thanks!

Record Reviews (spring edition)

What better to do when you're infected with swine flu and quarantined from society than listen to some records. I'm really excited about the amount of cassette demos this round. I'm hoping more bands follow the current insurgence of bands uploading mp3s online and selling tapes not CDrs. I suppose I should note that I play bass on the Poison Planet EP, but I had no part in writing/arranging those songs. I feel I have give an impartial review of the record despite that, if you disagree too bad. I don't get paid for this anyway...

7"s:

Poison Planet- Oblivious
After a pretty great demo, this 7" certainly doesn't let down. They continue in their politically charged hardcore punk style, but the recording quality really brings out the music much better. The music is somewhere between the Repos and Negative Approached, with some Dead Kennedys style guitar leads. The band approaches Straight Edge and veganism from a more political approach, and doesn't shove it down your throat. There's even explanations along with the lyrics in the cut and paste layout. Obviously if you're a fan of the ThirdXParty bands (Blank Stare, Coke Bust, Sick Fix, Black SS), this needs to be in your collection.


Satanic Threat- In To Hell
The idea behind this of a side project satanic Minor Threat rip off may not sound too appealing. Boy would you be wrong, it's not like they just changed some lyrics. The music is definitely Minor Threat influenced, but the vocals are total Pat Dubar (Uniform Choice/Unity) sounding. I mean it's obviously a little tongue in cheek, but sounds a lot better than 90% of the bands making half-assed attempts at sounding like early 80's style hardcore. The lyric aren't even really satanic, just more atheist in nature. The layout is pretty fancy with a tri fold die cut pocket, which unfortunately jacks up the price. This isn't some lame joke band like the Gayrilla Biscuits or Youth of Togay, this is actually real good.


One Foot In The Grave- s/t
Some pretty intelligent youth crew styled straight edge from these ex-Expired Youth Chicago boys. This is OFIG's demo pressed on a 7", so if you missed out on that (like me), here's your chance. It has a real Chain of Strength quality, but also calls back to bands like Ten Yard Fight. The bass tone on this is real burly sounding, and doesn't sound watered down. Definitely check this out if you've got a soft spot for youth crew style straight edge hardcore (like me).



The Ergs/ Teenage Bottlerocket
It's kinda tricky to review an album that only has 2 songs, both being covers. The Ergs cover a Devo track, and Teenage Bottlerocket cover a classic Green Day gem. I'll be honest and say I'm not familiar with that particular Devo song the Ergs are covering, but after listening to it I want to be. Teenage Bottle Rocket cover "Having a Blast" off Green Day's Dookie album. I'd be a liar if I didn't say that album didn't have an impact on my and my music taste. The cover is good, nothing too different. Overall unless you're a super fan of any of these bands or the songs being covered, it's not an essential record.


Slices- s/t (16OH)
I got to see Slices a few months back, and thought they were awesome. The music on side 1 is pretty mid paced punk, but distorted and heavy sounding. The music on side 2 is more akin to side 2 of My War. I suppose the guitar band bass tone is more similar sounding to "power violence" bands like Neanderthal, but the music is definitely more punk. Real different, and real good.


Quick Fix- 6 Track EP
Man, this European band sure does rip, unlike the band from America with the same name. It's like someone recorded the Abused using the same studio production of the Shitlickers. The music is definitely influenced by early 80's US HC, and I get a strong NYHC vibe. I just wish there was more, I hate 1 sided 7"s. Adult Crash is slowly living up to the same flawless reputation that Kick N Punch had.


No System- Dead Bands Tell No Tales
If you don't know the story, this is Al Quint's (ex-Suburban Voice, current MRR columnist) band from the late 80's. They're definitely influenced by the early 80's Boston sound, and a lot of the vocal patterns remind me of Choke (Negative FX, Last Rights, Slap Shot). The playing isn't very tight, but this was kind of a scab lineup and I don't think they ever intended more than a few people to hear this. It's ok, but not like some mind blowing hidden treasure. I like that there's a bio with lyrics in the liner notes, especially this is a more or less unheard of band. A lot of reissues just re-use old cover art and call it a day, but it's nice to see the effort here.

12"s:


Ripcord- Discography Part III
This collects their first demo, a radio studio set and Defiance of Power LP demos. Obviously I would only recommend this release for the more die hard Ripcord fan, but the quality of these songs are real good for demo/live recordings. Ripcord were a hardcore band from the UK in the late 80's. They played a style more influenced by the early 80's Boston sound, but faster. Despite the lame cover artwork, this record rips and I highly recommend the other discography LPs. Ripcord is better than Heresy, there I said it.


Limp Wrist- s/t
Despite being a sort of gimmick band, Limp Wrist had some pretty blazing riffs on their earlier releases. They seem to be back w/ a slightly changed lineup, and I gotta say this one sided LP isn't nearly as good as anything on that first 7" or LP. It's ok, but I'd still take Needles over this. Sorry.


Sacred Shock- You're Not With Us
I couldn't wait for this record to come out after loving their last 7" and demo. The recording on this is real raw in a good way, but could have maybe benefited on some more attention to mixing. There are powerful driving parts as well as almost melodic parts. I really regret not driving an hour to go see them on their recent tour now. This is really great, and I'd highly recommend checking it out.


Human Mess- Follow You Home
Human Mess' 7" I thought was cool, but nothing too great. This LP however is way better. The first thing that struck me about this was the guitar tone; it's an almost dead ringer for Bad Religion's "How Can Hell Be Any Worse?" LP. The band doesn't sound anything like BR, but that guitar tone rules. The vocals are more screamed and the music is real frantic


The Ergs!- That's It...Bye
In case you couldn't tell, this was the last songs the Ergs recorded. A 4 song 12" seems like a waste of vinyl, but I guess it was too long for a 7". The Ergs were one of the few local bands I really liked, but I kinda feel like they slowed down bit towards the end, and these are probably some of the slowest songs of theirs. Definitely in more Replacements/ Husker Du territory on these. Pretty good, but I'll still take Dork Rock Cord Rod any day.


Hul- Den Danske Ungdom
This is a repress of a record which featured members of some heavy hitters of the recent Danish scene (APA/ Young Wasterners/ No Hope For The Kids). The songs are catchy as hell despite not being in English. The singer's voice even cracks a few times, giving it that little extra youth rage. This is definitely a case of a lost classic being repressed not just to capitalize on some of the members' later bands.


Peligro Social- s/t
I was a little late on getting this I know, and now it seems the band is breaking up. Regardless, this record's pretty damn good. The lyrics are all in Spanish, and the music is mid paced punk. They remind me of the Subhumans from Canada (not the UK ones). The vocals are pretty raspy, but there's some melody there in the backup vocals. There's some real good guitar leads here too, which are more rock and roll influenced. Good stuff.

demos:
Duress (tape)
Fuck Yea! This is the kind of demo I like getting. It's raw and fast and pissed off sounding. It reminds me a lot of Threatener, but with maybe a little less blast beats. This is probably one of the best demos I've gotten in a while. It's fast, loud, raw and pissed off- the way hardcore should be played. They have a 7" recorded that should be coming out eventually.

Omegas (tape)
This new band from Canada has some heavy early 80's NJ shore influences. There's elements of The Worst, Chronic Sick and Fatal Rage which is a-ok by me. The guitar tone has a cool flanger sound to it, and the music is mid paced but by no means boring. The songs definitely have hooks to them, which I think a lot of bands neglect. "Gimme Oblivion" is probably my favorite on this tape. Really looking forward to more from this band.

Nomos (tape)
This new band w/ members of Dustheads sent me this awesome new demo. It sounds more like Sex/Vid, Cult Ritual or the Total Abuse LP, but way better. The cover art looks like some imagery that Fucked Up might have used, and I don't even think it says Nomos anywhere on the tape. There's some "art damaged" parts, but the faster hardcore parts fucking rip. This is real good, and well recorded too. I don't think they've played a show yet, but I know they're doing a few days with Cult Ritual soon.

No Minion (tape)
Featuring half of Coke Bust on different instruments, and playing an almost similar style. The music is definitely 80's influenced, but No Minion is devoid of blast beats. It's certainly not devoid of fast parts, mosh parts and anger. This demo rules, but with a little better recording quality and getting a little tighter, I'm sure their next release will be even better.

Cold Shoulder- Same Fucking Excuses (tape)
I really liked Cold Shoulder's 7", so I was excited to get their demo discography tape. This has 2 of their demos and some unused versions of other songs on one tape. Some of them were later re-recorded on the 7" as well. They definitely progressed far from the early demos, but it's cool to see how bands started out. Unfortunately I heard they just broke up...

No Excuse (pro-tape)
From the ashes of Socialcide come No Excuse! I think this is in a much better direction, and I'm getting more of a early DC scene. I'm fairly certain that they're named after an Artificial Peace song too. I'm getting a slight Tear It Up vibe from the intro, but the rest is much more early 80's inspired. Check it out if you're into all the great bands coming from the VA area.

The Guilt (pro-tape)
Another great new band from DC. They kinda remind me of Kid Dynamite, but without the emo parts. There's no woah-oh's, just some fast hardcore with a slight melodic edge. On a second listen I'm getting a slight Grimple vibe too. This is real good!

*Also, if you still have a chance to see Hjertestop on their US tour, please do yourself a favor and do it! They were awesome at the NJ show I saw them at.

Darth Vader and Bax Bear

This will be the first of an ongoing thing where I mirror post my art from the Autumn Society blog.
This is my Darth Vader piece for the 100 Ways to the Dark Side book project, it's based on a Virgin Mary of Guadalupe tattoo design. I tried some different techniques to get it a softer tattoo look to it.Here is my piece for the Bax Bear custom show @ the Artist's Eye in Smithville, NJ. It's supposed to be a Mexican luchador character of a bear that was shaved to wrestle against humans with some sweet tattoos. The snake on his back is the same snake I have tattooed on my arm, and referenced my old band, Snakebite. The gallery is also letting each artist display a work of art pertaining to your bear, so I drew up this using their template character.As a bonus to my blog readers, you get to see my rejected piece for the Vader project. It was based on the idea that Darth Vader looks like a giant black penis anyway...
EDIT- my Bax Bear just got 3rd place in the Delicious Drips custom contest

A New Direction

So I haven't made any posts in almost a month. I'd like to say I've been too busy, but more just unmotivated. My portfolio website is still a large undertaking, and isn't really as far along as I'd like. I've been trying to not spend as much time in front of a computer all day. Either way, I was thinking of expanding the coverage of my blog to other things I'm interested in such as art and toys ("urban" designer vinyl more specifically). So to kick things off here's art / toys / hardcore stuff that relates to me.

I currently have a painting hanging at Brave New World Comics in Philadelphia as part of the "Joker's Wild" show that the Autumn Society put together. The Autumn Society of Philadelphia is a collective and blog site (click to view my posts), and this was our first show. I'm working on a piece for our next show entitled "Heart/Earth," which will open next month at Mugshots Coffee. I've been doing a lot of custom toys lately as well. There is a show of Bax Bear customs coming up at The Artist's Eye in Smithville, NJ next month which I will be submitting my piece. I'm also working on a custom Gwin for the October Toys forum's Gwin trade. Here's a quick custom I did recently. It started out as a Koolby & Friends panda character, which I made much cooler by turning him into Jason Voorhees:


As for my bands, Wormeaters have a 7" that came out a few months ago. We have the next one written, and will be recording soon. It will be on Inkblot Records and will have PJ singing, who if you've seen us live over the past year has been singing for us. We'll be doing a weekend tour w/ Devour in May. SPG have a 7" that should be out literally any day now. I did the design and layout of that record, which will be available from American Waste Records. I also recently did the design/layout on the I Hate This 7" re-press entitled "Trimming the Fat," though I am no longer playing bass for them. I also started a new band recently w/ some friends in which I sing. Tentatively called Bloodtype, but all the members are straight edge and it kinda sounds like early New York Hardcore: Abused, Antidote, Urban Waste mixed w/ the early Rev type stuff. The Poison Planet 7" and comp tracks that I played on are out as well. I went out to Chicago last month for the record release show, which was honestly one of the most fun shows I've been at in a while.

For those that just check here to see record reviews, don't worry that will still be done, but as I'm on somewhat of a budget, they won't be as frequent. I've got a sizable stack building, and I'll be doing one soon.

You can also follow me on Twitter, though for the life of me I wouldn't know why.

How the mighty have fallen...

Growing up, Guns N Roses and Metallica were huge around the time I was first really getting into music. Here it is about 20 years later, and both bands recently released new albums. I rented both from the library after avoiding hearing any new songs until now. Rather than just download them, I wanted to get the full experience. I wrote about each song while listening to them, so you're getting my first impressions track by track.


Guns N Roses- Chinese Democracy
We all know this album took around 10 years to finish, so here it is... The opening track "Chinese Democracy" sounds like AXL's doing a duet w/ himself. There's both screachy AXL and singing AXL, and there's a bunch of guitar solos, none of which very interesting. The next track, "Shackler's Revenge" has a pretty terrible Nine Inch Nails vibe. The chorus at least seems to have a hook to it, so I could imagine this being on the radio. Luckily I don't listen to the radio. "Better" is almost similar to later era GNR, but ultimately falls flat. "Streets on Dreams" is a piano heavy mid paced song, but it sure as hell is no "November Rain," which I think is what they were going for. The next track "If the World" has a funk meets industrial meets Spanish guitar thing going on... Pretty bad, yea! "There was a Time" is the longest track on the CD, and one of the most boring. "Catcher in the Rye" is another mid paced piano/synthesizer rocker. A little more interesting, but still not holding my interest. "Riad N' The Bedouins" is an attempt/failure at a straight forward rock song. "Sorry" is AXL once again attacking his critics, but I mean honestly, can you blame them. "IRS" is only a little bit more interesting, but maybe just because it was shorter than the previous songs. It seems like they were trying to make "Madagascar" the epic of the album. It's mid paced, and has samples of speeches and movie quotes. They even have the same sample they used before "Civil War" on "Use Your Illusion II." The fake violin sounds aren't helping either. "This I Love" is definitely the slow ballad of the album, but falls massively short of a "power ballad" or even a "monster ballad. "Prostitute" ends the album pretty much the same as the rest of the songs, nothing too interesting here. Overall, the only really listenable tracks are "Chinese Democracy, Skackler's Revenge and Madagascar;" but I probably wouldn't listen to even those again.
The cover art is pretty boring, but the inside layout is way more interesting. Basically live shots w/ halftoned images in the background behind the lyrics. They should have gotten the designer who did the inside to do the outside. The credits and thank yous in the back take up 5 pages, but I guess that makes sense when you start recording an album 10 years ago. If this album came out when it logically should have, I may have not been as critical. Overall however, it lacks the punch and attitude that made me like GNR in the first place though. This is pretty disgraceful, and I'd listen to Velvet Revolver any day over this... Make another "Appetite for Destruction," not "Use Your Illusion" III!


Metallica- Death Magnetic
When I popped this into my computer, the song lengths in iTunes got me hopeful. Seems Metallica has abandoned making radio-length crappy songs. "That Was Just Your Life" kicks off pretty good, but loses some momentum when the vocals come in. The drumming is pretty boring, but at least has better tone than on the last album. "The End Of The Line" has some shadows of more "Black Album"-era Metallica. So far, this is better than I was expecting. "Broken, Beat & Scarred" is kinda heavy, but again falls flat in the vocal department. "The Day That Never Comes" reminds me of some of the slower ballads on the Black Album, but the lead guitar tone just seems off for some reason. It does speed up towards the end, but the lyrics are pretty crappy. "All Nightmare Long" starts off real good with a 2 minute instrumental part, but again gets boring when the vocals kick in. "Cyanide" is a little more aggressive than the previous tracks. The next song is called "The Unforgiven III" as if "The Unforgiven" and "The Unforgiven II" weren't enough. Obviously my expectations were pretty low for this one, and they were met. "The Judas Kiss" actually isn't too bad, and kinda has an "Enter Sandman" vibe. The intro to "Suicide & Redemption" is pretty cool w/ the bass playing, but is ultimately ruined by some pretty bad guitar. I do like the idea of an instrumental track, but this needs to be a lot faster to hold my interest. It seems weird that "My Apocalypse" ends the album, since it's the shortest track, but one of the better songs. It's cool that they tried to tap in their old style of song writing for this, but I think it's still too tame sounding. The song lengths pretty much guarantee that nothing will be played on the radio, but the songs lack the fury of their older days.
The layout of the cover is pretty interesting. the whole book has a die-cut in the middle of a coffin, so visually it looks like you're going deeper into the ground with each page. Occasionally the die-cut hole is used in each page's layout, but most times not. The holes do however cut into the lyrics, which I would think would be more important than the imagery. Overall I'd say this is probably the best record they've done since the Black Album, but I still would rather hear them recapture the magic of "Master of Puppets" and "Ride the Lightning."

OK, after wasting a little over an hour of my precious time (that was sarcasm), I'd say that both albums suck. I would take the Metallica album over the Guns N Roses album by far, but Metallica has more good albums than GNR do anyway. Metallica have made an improvement on what they'd been doing recently by far, which maybe you can credit it to (professional turd polisher) Rick Rubin. Guns N Roses took over 10 years to write, record and release a terrible album. This is why most old bands that still tour just stick to a greatest hits set list.

Super 7 - Something for Nothing Zombie

I've mentioned the toy company Super 7 a while back w/ the Groilla Biscuits toy. A few weeks back, Super 7 posted this on their blog:
Being in the vinyl toy business we thought creating a little stimulus should come easy. On February 13 Super7 will release the "Something for Nothing" Hooded Zombie. We are offering 20 free toys to anyone who can prove to us they have been laid off since September 15th 2008. In the event we get more than 20 submissions we will hold a lottery. The best proof is a copy of an unemployment check or a continued claim forum. PLEASE BLACK OUT PERSONAL INFORMATION! Send your information to johngalt@super7store.com by February 13th at 9am along with your mailing address and t-shirt size.
For everyone else, the price is $50 through the web store.

Being unemployed, I figured what the hell, and submitted my proof. Last week when I got home from skateboarding I saw a package on my doorstep, and it was the toy! I mean I sorta expected it, but it seemed too good to be true. The detail is way better than the picture, and the hood and gloves are removable. It's really awesome that a small company would do something like this. You'd never see a big company like Wall Mart do this. Super 7, expect an order from me once I get my tax rebate. Thanks! This and a $25 a week raise according to the new stimulus package, it's a good time to be unemployed (that was half sarcastic by the way).

First record reviews post of '09

Hi, welcome to 2009. Here's some records I got between the last reviews post and now. Been strapped for cash lately, plus the record budget has been tightened due to my new toy customizing hobby.

7"s:

Obliteration- s/t
I had heard from some friends that this was good, so I tracked it down w/o really knowing anything about this MA band. It may be a side project of people in other bands, and as far as I know they never played a show. It's real good crust influenced hardcore w/ echoey vocal effects. There's an intro that sorta reminds me of early Metallica (that's a compliment). It's similar to a heavier Crucifix kinda. Real cool cut and paste style art w/ a foldout poster cover too.


Cold Shoulder- Patriot
I liked Cold Shoulder's songs on the Punx Don't Drink comp, so I picked up their debut 7". I like this a lot, it reminds me a lot of Blank Stare in that it's fast, but at the same time heavy I guess. Cold Shoulder is part of the current crop of sXe bands that are more influenced by the early 80's hardcore scene, than the typical varsity jacket and Nike wearing sXe scene. Great debut, I'm looking forward to seeing them live.


Groinoids- Radiobeat Sessions
You may know the Groinoids from the classic This Is Boston Not LA and Unsafe At Any Speed comps. This is a legit (as far as I know) reissue of the entire session. A lost treasure if you will... The Groinoids were very different and much more unusual compared to most of the Boston bands. Probably more similar to bands like United Mutation or Void, but not as fast.


NN- s/t
A pretty unassuming cover, but it houses a monster of a debut E.P. In case you didn't know, this is Martin's (Los Crudos/ Limp Wrist/ Needles) new band. In this I'd say there's a much more Crudos sound since the vocals are in Spanish. Not a rehash of worn territory by any means though. The music is more on the punk side, but still fast and definitely won't disappoint.


Guilty Faces- Nightmares
I was a big fan of Guilty Faces' demo, and from seeing them a lot, I knew what to expect from the new record. They seem to have slowed down a bit, but still retain the good elements from their demo. The music is sort of a cross between Dangerhouse Records style punk and some Revolution Summer style guitar leads. One of the songs even give me a Samiam feel to it. However the vocals are real raspy, which make it way more punk sounding. Modern bands I might compare them to would be Libyans and Pedestrians.


God Fodder- No Sleep
Godfodder was band I came across on Myspace, and did a show for them in NJ. They pull off the early 80's stripped down hardcore punk sound better than a lot of better known current bands. The guitar tone is very reminiscent of the early Dischord bands. This is real good, give it a shot.


Alarmed- s/t
Pretty cool record by this MD band, who seems to take the more modern HC sound of MLIW and Ruiner, but infuse more rock styled guitar solos and leads. One of the songs reminds me of a Suicide File song. The cover is full color and 3 panels, which gives it a real slick look, but doesn't look like a typical HC record (that could be good or bad I suppose). While it's not usually my style, it's a pretty solid record.


V/A- Punx Don't Drink
This is a compilation of straight edge bands who are more punk influenced than your average edge bands, and features 2 new tracks by Poison Planet, Boiling Over, Coke Bust and Cold Shoulder. Poison Planet kicks things off w/ 2 re-recorded demo tracks, which sound great. This was my first exposure to Boiling Over, and it's pretty good, worthy of taking their name from and SSD song. Coke Bust bring 2 tracks from their demo tape they had over the summer. These songs are a great improvement from their 7" last year, and I'm sure their new LP will turn some heads. Cold Shoulder was another band I wasn't familiar with, and was really impressed. So much so that I bought their 7" (one of their songs is also on that). Overall, compilations and good straight edge bands are a rare commodity these days, so if you like good hardcore (and don't drink) you need to check this out!


Out Cold/ For The Worse
These 2 long running "Massholes" team up for a vicious split EP. Both bands have many records out, so I feel like I'd be repeating myself by describing either band. All you gotta know is both bands bring their A game to this split. check it out.
*FUN FACT* I did the FTW insert layout


12"s:

Blank Stare- s/t
After some delays on the US pressing, the Blank Stare LP finally comes out. I'd be so bold as to say it was worth the wait! Being a big fan of the previous recorded output, this was certainly no let down. There sound is somewhere along the lines of SSD meets Uniform Choice, with some heavier post-Damaged era Black Flag parts. As good as this band is on record, they're even more over the top live. Probably one of the most under appreciated current bands.


Hjertestop- Vi Ses i Helvede
I loved their 7" on Kick and Punch from a few years back, so I was super pumped on this new record. I'll be honest, I couldn't wait for the US press, and downloaded it. I finally have the real deal now, and it sounds great! Musically it's similar to a lot of the recent crop of Danish early 80's inspired bands. "Steroid Rage" is catchy as hell, as well as a bunch of the others that aren't in English. I've heard a comparison to early Bad Religion for these guys before, which I'd somewhat agree with (minus the "oozin ahhs"). I'm real excited about their US tour coming up.


Total Abuse- s/t
I loved Total Abuse's demo and 7", so naturally I was pumped to get this new LP. They boost the weirdness factor a lot on this record, but in a good way. The songs are a bit more distorted and frantic, and stray a bit from the sound of the previous recordings. "Banned in Austin" is a cool slow dirge, but there's some other longer songs on this record that aren't as interesting. Definitely different from the previous records (most songs on the demo barely topped a minute). I'd say it's still good, just not what you'd expect.


Failures- s/t
Failures is a new band w/ members of Das Oath, Ampere, Cut The Shit, Charles Bronson, among others. Musically, I would say it's similar to Das Oath, but maybe a bit faster and not as weird. The guitar riffs aren't standard power chords, which is kinda weird. It's fast and weird, but overall not very interesting. Like other Youth Attack releases it's overpriced and annoying (the lyric sheet comes in a sealed envelope). It's not bad, I like it a lot more than Das Oath and Ampere, but still overall nothing special.


Socialcide- Unapproachable
I was a big fan of Socialcide's demo and I liked their 7" as well. After a few listens to the LP, I'm not as into it. Maybe there were some lineup changes, but it's not as interesting. The drumming is real simple, and the guitar tone isn't very good. It's still the same fast hardcore punk, but it's lacking in hooks. There's a lot more slower parts on here, which isn't a bad thing, but kinda slows the pace of the record I guess. It's not bad, but compared tot he few times I saw them live, I think I was expecting more.

demos:
Draize (tape)
I had the privilege to play with Draize a few times on tour, and they were always good. Their sound is like a combination of Left For Dead and early Integrity meets some crusty influences like Dropdead. The music goes from heavy and slow to fast as hell. I like the fast parts better, but there's a nice balance. They also get huge points for covering Slapshot live.

Draize- Long Knives (tape)
This is basically Draize's 2nd demo (unless it's going to be a 7" in the future), and it continues in the same vein as the first. I think this stuff is more fast, and has a somewhat power violence influence to it's heaviness. If you liked the demo, you're gonna like this more.

Plague Bearers (CDr)
Plague Bearers is a new band from NJ, which I'm real excited about. Musically it's similar to the Degenerics, but with a lot less guitar noodling. The vocals are real raspy, sorta like Filth. The last song has some alternating vocal parts which I'd like to see more of on the next record, since it provides a nice balance. Great demo, probably one of the more promising local bands.

Kill Andrade (CDr)
Got this in the mail, so I don't know much about these guys. There are parts that are fast, but the vocals are more of a melodic almost Husker Du style. It seems like there's some emo influenced parts to the songs as well, but the drumming is more interesting. I kinda get a Glassjaw vibe.

Not that it's really a review, but I recently heard the Chain of Strength 7" versions with the original mix. I had only been familiar w/ the reissue that Revelation Records put out, and always thought it was just ok, but too polished sounding. This however was not always the case, as the original mixes were more raw sounding. You can download them HERE!

NYCC '09- freebies and sweet hauls!

So rather than just taking pictures of the new products or the crowds like everyone else, I decided to highlight the real reason people go to NY Comic Con- FREE STUFF! You can view the pictures on my Flickr site.
FRIDAY

Obviously there's going to be tons of free comics at Comic Con. DC had a reprint of issue 1 of the Watchmen, which is some essential reading. Another table was giving away X-Force #1 and had original art from the comic on display. I actually saw Rob Liefeld at another booth doing sketches, which was unannounced and kinda surprising to see. The Comic Con magazine is a pretty good guide to navigating the massive Javits Center. Most of the rest of the picture are promo post cards. I do want to point out that the Angry Penguin card was a 2 sided screen print, and looks great.

Here's a pile of business cards and stickers. More importantly check out that foam Wolverine hand! These were given out after viewing the video game trailer and some game play of the new Wolverine Origins game. I don't own a video game system, but the game looked ridiculously good. The other foam item is a Dead Like Me toilet seat. I'm a fan of the series, and in the first episode the main character gets killed by a toilet seat that fell from a space station. Kind of an inside reference, but I am interested to see the movie they have coming out.

There were a lot of posters to be had, especially Fox, who had some good promos. I also got an S. Darko shirt free from them, but I gave it away since it was too big for me. Nice shirt though...

While wandering around I swung by the NerdCore table and saw some sweet Jim Mahfood comics. Little did I know that the dude selling me the comics was the man himself. I've been a huge fan of his work for a while, and had I known he was going to be there, I would've brought more stuff for him to sign. He did sign his new Carl book, which is amazing. I also came across a pretty adorable vinyl figure by Jeff Pidgeon, the Happy Beaver. That is one happy little beaver! The McDonald figure is part of the new Ron English blind box series by Secret Base. I thought it was going to be much bigger based on the box size, but it's still pretty cool. The panda is the NYCC Chinese New Year version of the Yoka character, who looks equally good standing or sitting. I picked up a Labbit for a friend who smokes, but when I opened it, it turned out to have a mustache. I was excited for the Ugly Doll action figures, so I made sure to go there early in the day. David Horvath was there, and was nice enough to sign it then, instead of making me wait for signing hours! The red cat is by RealXHead, which i got from Giant Robot. I like the lucky cat, and seeing it w/ one eye makes it much cooler. I was glad to get the Frozen Empire MAD*L and print by Andrew Bell. He was also there to sign the back of him. The MAD*L is made of a translucent light blue vinyl, which makes it look icy. Definitely my favorite of the series!

I also was able to get Mark Texeira to sign the Wolverine comic that i have tattoo'd on my leg. I really wanted to go on Saturday for the Pushead signing, but I'm sure the line was crazy anyway, and I had to work. I decided late Saturday night that I would go on Sunday since I didn't have SPG practice this week.
SUNDAY

Of course there were pretty much the same freebies as Friday on Sunday, butt here were a few things I guess I missed. I got a bunch of comics from DC's Vertigo table, and some cool stickers from My Plastic Heart. The cooler freebie was the Fishing Master video game sweatband. I did miss out on the inflatable He-Man sword from the Mattel booth unfortunately. I forgot to bring my Goon comics, but Eric Powell was cool enough to sign the poster they were giving out for me.

I picked up another MAD*L today after having a day to enjoy the Frozen Empire version. I decided I wanted to customize one, but didn't want to pay the $50 for the blank. I got the abominal snowman since it's mostly white already. The white MiniMate was a freebie, but I took a pic of it with the toys because it was so cool. Lou Pimentel was cool enough to draw on a House of Liu- Di Di figure for me. It looks great! I got the GlyosXSucklord piece, which they apparently just painted that day and was limited to 20. When I went by the UglyDolls booth, David Horvath was doing a signing, so I took the opportunity to get another figure signed. Got a Babo this time, gotta keep trying for an Ox... I also picked up another RealXHead cat figure as a gift for someone, this time in gray.

I wandered past Jacob Chabot's table in Artist's Alley, and his Skullboy character caught my eye, so I picked up one of his mini comics. He was nice enough to sign it and do a little doodle. Bummer he was out of the Skullboy vinyl toys though. I also got The X-Men: Deadly Genesis and X-Men: Fall Of Mutants from a table that had all graphic novels for $5. I really didn't get very many comics at all surprisingly.

This is by far the coolest autograph I got. I got Peter Laird and Steve Lavigne to sign my old TMNT graphic novel, and do little sketches. I heard later that day that Kevin Eastman was at the con also... dang!