METAL!!!

Here's some classic old school stuff from bands like Dark Angel, Kreator, Sabbat and more.

Check out my new blog at metal-legions.blogspot.com for much more of the same. Cheers.

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Takin' It To The Streets

Hey everybody, it's that time again, where i pack my backpack hop a plane to new york and start another tour with my friends Asobi Seksu. Their new album Hush came out about three weeks ago on Polyvinyl, and after a glorious jaunt through Europe to promote it, now comes the stateside tour de force. As per usual, if you happen to be around one of these shows come say hello, i'll probably be hanging around the merch table somewhere.

3/2 - La Sala Rosa - Montreal, QC
3/3 - El Mocambo - Toronto, ON
3/4 - The Pike Room - Pontiac, MI
3/5 - The Empty Bottle - Chicago, IL
3/6 - Illinois Wesslyan University - Bloomington, IL
3/7 - 7th Street Entry - Minneapolis, MN
3/10 - Chop Suey - Seattle, WA
3/11 - Doug Fir Lounge - Portland, OR
3/13 - The Independent - San Francisco, CA
3/14 - The Troubador - Los Angeles, CA
3/15 - The Casbah - San Diego, CA
3/16 - Detroit Bar - Costa Mesa, CA
3/18-3/21 - SXSW - Austin, TX
3/22 - Rubber Gloves - Denton, TX
3/23 - Spanish Moon - Baton Rouge, LA
3/24 - Young Avenue Deli - Memphis, TN
3/25 - Eyedrum - Atlanta, GA
3/26 - Local 506 - Chapel Hill, NC
3/27 - The Ottobar - Baltimore, MD
3/28 - Rock & Roll Hotel, Washington D.C.
3/29 - Johnny Brenda's - Philadelphia, PA
3/30 - Middle East (Downstairs) - Cambridge, MA
3/31 - Daniel Street - Milford, CT
4/2 - Bowery Ballroom - New York City, NY

hope to see you out there!
-xoxo-
jay

Thorns of Life - Live at 924 Gliman Street 1.31.09

In case you've missed the word on the street, Blake Schwarzenbach (of Jawbreaker/Jets To Brazil fame) has teamed up with Aaron Cometbus (of Crimpshrine/Pinhead Gunpowder/Cometbus fanzine fame) to start playing music again under the name Thorns of Life. While there is nothing going around in the form of a demo, i did manage to come across this live recording from Gilman Street recorded at the end of last month. Instead of just sitting on it and taking it all in, i figure i could share it with all of you and maybe make your day better. I've listened to this recording quite a few times now, and I'm going to go ahead and say that i give this two thumbs up. It's definitely not Jawbreaker, so for those like myself longing for another blast of semi-heart-broken nostalgia, you're just going to have to go back to those old classics, but for those interested in hearing what two of the most notable heavyweights from the golden era of Bay Area punk have going on, then you are in luck. Enjoy.

Thorns of Life

Algernon Cadwallader - Live on WDKU

Over the last year, Algernon Cadwallader has become a staple of my day to day listening regiment. starting with their magnificent demo, their sound closely akin to that of the legendary Cap'n Jazz, drew me in, their full length, Some Kind Of Cadwallader, drove the point home that these boys weren't here just for comparisons, but ready to stand on their own feet as powerful players hell bent on bringing fun back to punk. Their songs, reliant on driving bass lines and catchy hooks, has won them fans spanning the globe, and it shouldn't be much of a surprise. The fact is, the music is good, it's inventive, and most importantly it never takes itself too seriously, all things that seem too often forgotten about. It's okay to be happy, it's okay to have fun, we can't be pissed all the time, right?
What we have here today, isn't a legitimate release, but instead a live on air radio show from Drexel University, from what i'm guessing is November of '07. It captures the band at an earlier time when they were a four-piece, having fun, making bad jokes, and most importantly, rocking the fuck out. I've listened to this quite a few times in the past few days and can't seem to get enough of it, hopefully it will treat you the same way it has me and fill your day with something a little different. I still have yet to see them despite setting up a show for them here exactly a year from when this was recorded (Tank, their drummer broke his ankle three or four days prior to the show), so if you're like me, this should fill the void until it actually happens. For those of you who have, well, I'm sure you'll enjoy this even more with your tacked on memories of the high energy party vibe these boys create. Either way, it's time to put on your dancing shoes.

Live on WDKU

Rash of Beatings - Rash of Beatings 7"

Sweet sweet grindcore from the fertile crescent of hatred that is Ft. Smith, Arkansas. Rash of Beatings were mercilessly short-lived, but exceedingly brutal in their reign. At the time Tulsa, Ft. Smith, and Fayetteville kids spent way too much time in each others cities, thus creating this inexplicably amazing scene that state lines could not contain. I have so many good memories from this time period, Jason, whose guttural vocals just tore straight to your blackened soul was in reality one of the sweetest people i have ever known, and much like my other friend jason often found himself crashing out on my couch. The last time i remember seeing them was opening for Spazz back in '98, i want to say i saw them more after that, but everything gets kind of foggy after you've seen a band a couple dozen times.
This record captures a turning point in what was happening regionally, documenting it while it was still fresh faced and bleary-eyed. enjoy.

rash of beatings 7"

Soul Control - Tour Singles 7" Project

It's been a while since the last time i posted any music, and i guess to some degree i owe some form of explanation. when i moved back to Oklahoma a little under a year ago, i was dead set on making a difference. Seattle had made me somewhat lazy when it came to the old d.i.y. ethic, granted i still managed to tour the country numerous times and experience first hand the very essence of the American dream, but when i found myself home i never made much of it. catching shows here and there sporadically, typically working too much to do anything of value on my own time, so i poured myself into this blog. it gave me the retreat i needed from the madness that was constantly surrounding me. in turn, it reignited a passion inside me, nostalgia was running rampant, constantly referring to the good old days, and ignoring the here and now. needless to say, i found myself out of the sinkhole i had seemingly manifested, all it took was a plan and determination.
in the time since returning to Oklahoma, i continued touring, but found myself back on familiar ground, giving me a chance to actually make a difference. i started booking a few shows here and there, spending as much time as i could at the local d.i.y. spot, The Monolith, and reconnecting with my home and friends. As the year has progressed i started working at a record store a friend of mine had started in my years of absence, and now i am slowly working my way to a partnership. things couldn't be better, and then it happened, it seemed The Monolith was going to shut down at the end of October, mere days after i left on my next tour. word spread fast, myself and a few others decided we could not let that happen and figured out what it would take to keep it alive. needless to say, a mere 12 hours before my departure for tour, i signed on the lease to ensure Tulsa maintained it's d.i.y. space. the monolith is still going strong, but it has taken a great deal of my time. i appreciate those of you who still check in and drop me messages from time to time. I haven't forgotten about the blog, but i often find myself without the needed time to devote it. As Tim from Zen told me a while back, "Real life is better." and i wholeheartedly agree.

That said, let's take a moment to discuss Providence, RI's Soul Control. I had no clue what to expect from them when they showed up at the monolith last week, but as with most shows i just see where it takes me. I was pleasantly surprised. They only played for maybe twenty five minutes, but in that short span of time, the grooves were laid down, the fingers found themselves pointed skyward, and the small crowd erupted into a movement of bodies bouncing off walls. I had peeped out their merch table to see a set of three seven inches, and noticed the title "Like Spiders". for some reason as i gazed at it, perused the lyrics and found them to be coming from the same place i often find myself. I walked back to the side of the stage only to realize the band had just broken into said song. having just read the lyrics i was free to actually get lost in the groove and that is exactly what i did and continued to do until their climactic cover of Inside Out's "no spiritual surrender". Immediately following the show i grabbed the three seven inches they had with them, and took them straight home to throw them on the turn table. I didn't spend too much time looking at the records at the show, but when i got home i realized that not only did the covers come together to make a larger picture, but each 7" was only one-sided. Now I'm all for gimmicks with record packaging, but i just spent $9 on three songs by a band i hardly knew anything about. Luckily, the seven inches were good. Damn good actually. the Like Spiders 7" easily my favorite of the batch, the last 45 second of the track is nothing but finger pointing good times and one hell of a bad ass breakdown. A few days after the show i came across mp3s of the 7"s (including the fourth 7" Fundamental Forces that they did not have with them for some reason) and felt that i needed to share them. i hope you enjoy them as much as i have been, and maybe if we're all lucky, i might even post again within the month.

Soul Control - Single Series

from what i can tell the four 7"s are still available through each respective label:
Part 1: "Playing Coward" on Triple B Records
Part 2: "Flux" on Copper Lung Records
Part 3: "Like Spiders" on TDB Records
Part 4: "Fundamental Forces" on DBD Records

Lyrics:

Flux

Always pointing at, never looking in

Reasons why we never move forward with our lives

Holding onto these selfish ways

Becoming victims of our own pride

Victims of our own pride

Blinded by our own unwillingness

To admit that we can be wrong

Like Spiders

Caught in webs

Named in ways

We never thought we're possible

Without intention

We play the fools

Appearing in stories

Not the way

We want to be remembered

But we'll push on and on and on

Fundamental Forces

Fractured thoughts in a chaotic mind

Anger turns into exhaustion

What am I chasing

What am I running from

Blinding myself with self importance

Even when I lose my way

Controlling this power inside of me

Will only help me focus

Playing Coward

In the company of wolves

Strip away my morality by the second

The mindless walk this earth

They wait for numbers to be called

Everyone's a victim

From this moment forward

Build these mental walls

We strive and sacrifice

For our purpose

As we are using we are being used

On our own accord