Svenonius: ‘I think rock’n'roll is another form of comedy’

Interview with Ian Svenonius from the summer of 2009.

Who’s in the band (Chain and the Gang) now?
Well, it’s assorted confederates. People who played on the record,
mostly. Brett Wineman, who is a onetime D.C. resident, who is in
another group called Bad Thoughts, who runs a record label called
Malady Records. There is a resurgence of the 7 inch and he’s
capitalizing on this resurgence. He’s putting out 7 inches or various
45s.
Brian Webber, who’s kind of a jack-of-all-trades. He’s a trouble-shooter, sort of. He was in the Dub Narcotic Sound System and he programmed all the music for this rap group called Saturday Nights. He was also in another rap band. He’s been in several groups.
And then a woman named Faustein Hussen.

How was the music on the record composed?
It was composed pretty much on the spot. I came in with something that I tried to make as derivative as possible, as simplistic as possible, as childlike as possible, and kind of primal. It was a refutation of rock production. Those songs are all pretty much first and second takes, played by people who are just making up the song according to the melody or the guide that I was giving them.
The idea was: Most forms of expression in the culture industry – the form is really mediated by this awareness of an audience. I feel like good things are made without a real awareness of an audience, except for an immediate audience. Like if you tell a joke, the joke is gonna be the funniest if it’s a joke between you and your friends, where there’s no condescension involved. Things are typically better if they’re made without feeling like you have to explain to some imagined populace that you have in mind.
So, the songs were made with that in mind: Let’s make it fun; let’s
make it funny. I like music that has an element of absurdity to it, or
humor.

I think rock ’n’ roll is another form of comedy, in a way. There’s a term – novelty music – but really, all pop music is novelty. It’s saying something that’s slightly weird or outrageous, but in a very familiar way. It’s a form of joke-telling.
So, basically, that’s the way that the record was composed. It was
composed with these things in mind and with a general eschewing of the rock ’n’ roll obsession with authenticity and with originality.

We didn’t care or want to be original in any way.
I think that good music – music we find resonant after 40 or 50 years – it was concerned with novelty and fun and with invoking the familiar. [People] love repetition. They love hearing the same thing over and over again.
Most people don’t even really like music. They just like familiarity.
A song is just a way of being immersed in the familiar.
It’s something that makes you feel comfortable.
I disc jockey a lot and I play records that a lot of people haven’t
heard. A lot of people don’t like it. It’s really interesting.
I don’t know why anybody hires me, because people want to hear Michael Jackson. They want to hear 50 Cent. They want to hear whatever surrounds them on a daily basis.

I remember reading when I was real young an interview with Kurt Cobain where he said that most people don’t really like music and that most people who do actually like music become musicians.
It’s an interesting thing, whether people like music or not. It sounds elitist, to say that most people don’t like music.

I think it if you actually do like music it’s self-evidently true.
Yeah. People turn on the radio. People might even have a hi-fi system or a personal music player.

Probably state-of-the-art.
Absolutely. But it doesn’t really mean – that’s like saying you love
theater because you watched a sit-com.

(laughs hard)
You know what I mean? That’s just what’s around.
I feel like music is becoming less and less important to people even
as it becomes more and more ubiquitous. It becomes more ubiquitous because it’s so much easier to acquire. Anybody can have a huge record library now on their computer, for free. And it’s almost effortless.
You can just plug your machine into somebody else’s machine.
But, simultaneously, all the accoutrements that made music so central to identity in the post-war period.

The record cover.
Yeah. And it makes you wonder – maybe people were really responding to the record covers.
This is what I mean: Think of the new generation of groups.

Like who are you talking about?
I don’t know – whoever’s big now. I don’t know all the bands in the
underground.

Edie Sedgwick.
Well, no. They’re a bad example. I mean the groups that are trendy.

Fleet Foxes.
Yeah.

MGMT
Yeah. Do you know who any of them are?

One of them [from MGMT] grew up near me.
OK, well (laughs hard) unless you know them personally, do you know anything about them?

He also played basketball.
Oh, really? Is he a nice guy?

He’s extremely bright. He went to another school and we competed against them in this thing called “College Bowl,” where all the dorks from all the schools competed against each other, and he was totally dominant – answer after answer. And he grew up to be in MGMT.
And they’re huge, so that is smart. He was smart. But do you know what he thinks?

I just remember him from College Bowl.
What I mean is, this new generation of groups – Fleet Foxes, MGMT, whatever – do you have any idea what any of them think about anything?
Have any of them made any kind of statement of the sort that Crass
made or the Dead Kennedys made or Rollins – or that Chuck D made?

The singer of Magrudergrind is saying something. He talks about a lot of stuff.
Hardcore’s a different thing. I don’t mean hardcore music. I mean
trendy music – Pitchfork. Which to me, that’s what we call the
“underground rock ’n ’roll scene.” Nobody has anything to say.
I guess maybe you’ve just refuted my statement, because now that I think about it – the people I’m citing are all hardcore, the people
with all these ideas.
But the difference is, now hardcore’s 30 years old and it’s basically
saying the same things it was saying 30 years ago, whereas when
straight-edge came out, it was a fairly radical idea. Or Crass, saying
“anarchy,” but not in a camp sense, like the Sex Pistols were.
I guess what I’m saying is – now you don’t know what anybody thinks.
And maybe it’s just ignorance on my part. But as far as I can tell,
rock ’n’ roll is no longer ideological. And I think that’s because
that’s because the accoutrementshave been stripped from it and the accoutrements were what was actually giving music all this context. It was giving it a visual context, but mostly a sense of importance or profundity. I feel like with digital downloading, music is just music.
It’s probably a lot like music was in the ’40, before all this
ballyhoo – when it was something you heard on the radio, but you
didn’t really invest a lot in. You didn’t define yourself through
music.

It seems like some of the songs on the record are parodies. It seems like “Room 19” is a parody of a Stones-style party anthem or “Deathbed Confession” is a parody of a song like “It’s the End of the World as We Know It.” Do you think that’s true?
Well, that’s interesting. They’re not parodies, but that’s
interesting. I probably listen to so much old music that there is an
unintentional parodic aspect, because if you’re mimicking something that’s so old and timeworn, then there’s a good chance it’s going to come out almost as parody.

“Down with Liberty” is so funny. It seems like there’s always been some debate about how serious you were being with your bands – whether it was all a joke. The new record – it seems so clear that it’s a joke and you’ve said as much – I wonder if there was any concern that it would make people look back on your previous work and be like, “OK, well, he was joking all along.”
Oh, well I’ve never been joking. And I’m still not joking. And the new record is not a joke. Bob Dylan’s funny.
(editor’s note: more to come)

bringin the haha

Yall might be pleased to know that that kid Buckets or whatever from Velvet Lounge got his ass stomped last nite by this band Rattler outside Asylum last night.
They were getting rowdy and drunk on stage or whatever, they BROKE A MIC STAND (apparently Buckets books bands at Asylum too?) and he was getting pissed and trying to not pay them or something.  He gave them a stupid speech about “trying so hard to be rock stars” and “you kids think you’re so cool,” etc.  Well, the following went down shortly afterward while I was outside trying to bum a jack, shortly before last call:
Talk came to shout and shout came to push and push came to shove and shove came to straight beating this dude’s ass.  I was about 13 sheets to the wind myself, but it seemed like there were 8 dudes in the band.  They had this guy down in the basement doorway of Asylum, which is a small, sharp angular concrete area concealed by a low concrete overhang with about 6 shallow steps going down to the doorway with iron banisters on each wall.  But early this morning, the stairwell doubled as a beat box, if you will.  The greasy Rattler punks, clad in DIY muscle tees and red ‘doo-rags, threw Buckets down those concrete steps and proceeded to beat his ass.
We’re talking haymakers to both eyes, nose, mouth, and kicks in his stomach.  At one point one of the Rattlers turned him around and slammed his forehead into the cold ass concrete wall.  It was pornographic.   All the bouncers in the world could not have helped Buckets. Once Rattler was satisfied, one of them pulled out a beer bong from his waist and poured a PBR tall boy into the funnel and his bandmate crushed it.  Then they went back inside to dance with some chicks.  Then Buckets emerged, his stupid Mexican wedding shirt ripped and torn, his face battered.  He was screaming and shouting obscenities, so the doorman refused to grant him reentry.  Buckets proceeded to furiously bang on the glass windows, calling for Rattler to come back out, but of course the music was too loud inside and their work was through anyhow.
My friend saw him this morning at work.  She said he has a cartoonish-sized lump in the center of his huge forehead, two black eyes, a busted lip, and is covered in bruises.
Karma.

The Gossip

local social/scene gossip:

-KC is moving back to DC. She might get a house with Mikey T and possibly Rashaun.

-Joe Mitra has a new band with Chris Moore, Pat Vogel and that dude Jeremy from Coke Bust and Sick Fix. Joe plays drums in this one, if I’m not mistaken. It’s possible then that Nicktape plays instead of Chris. I don’t know what they sound like. It’s anyone’s guess. Pretty dry sarcasm, I know.

-Brendan, Orion and Natalie are moving into a new house together soon.

-I’ve failed to meet up with Al on a few occasions.

-Prescoit has failed to meet up with me on a few occasions.

-I’ve hung out with Pat on a few occasions.

-Tim has been talking about getting the Coits together in January up in the Adirondacks.

10-19-09, Lotus Fucker, Sista Sekunden, more @ The Lighthouse

10-19-09, Lotus Fucker, Sista Sekunden, more @ The Lighthouse

It was a cold Monday night. I say that because only last week the temperature was in the 70s. The show was at the Lighthouse, and it was one of their last. Apparently everyone is moving out November 1st, and I was told they only have one more show after tonight.
I arrived late as usual. The show was advertised as 7 pm SHARP, but of course, punks are never punk-tual (I’m funny). There were maybe 20-35 people there, including bands.

Side rant:
I think we need to do away with advertising shows at a certain time “sharp.” I don’t think I have ever been to a show that started when it said it would start. Pretty much no matter what, most people won’t show up before 8 on a weeknight. It is outlined in Section 22, Paragraph 7, of the Rules of Punk that “punk time” is to be used when referring to the starting time of shows. That is why people show up an hour after the time advertised. And advertising a show as “sharp” is an attempt to say, “Hey we are breaking the rules here! Punk time be damned!”
But it never seems to work. And I don’t think it ever will.
End rant.

I missed No Minion but I have seen them before. Super fast, 3 or 4 chord, no-nonsense hardcore. I doubt that any of their songs are longer than a minute. No mosh parts, just an angry guy with a beard.

I didn’t get the name of the next band that played but I heard they were from Baltimore. Pretty standard punk, seems like the type you could find in any basement show around the country. Mid-tempo parts, some moderately fast parts. Nothing about them really stood out for me. I was wearing earplugs and sometimes (I guess it depends on where I’m standing) bands just sound like a loud heavy noise and I can’t really make out any individual notes or chord changes, and unfortunately that’s how this band sounded to me. The guitarist had trouble tuning his guitar which gives them additional punk points.

The cops came a few songs into their set and they had to stop for a few minutes. They played two more songs because Blam wanted to make sure Sista Sekunden got a chance to play in case the show was shut down later on.

Sista Sekunden was next. There is a reason why Swedish bands are so hyped in the U.S.
They played extremely tight, fast, energetic hardcore. They had some cool call-and-response vocal parts, and were a little melodic, but not too melodic, the type that I think sounds just right. (Although you can’t really tell because at most shows the vocals are never loud enough.) There were tempo changes, stops and starts, all that good stuff that makes bands sound tight live. They played a cover of “Hope” by the Descendents and a few people sang along, but overall Sista Sekunden didn’t get a big reaction from the audience. But then again, in DC it’s rare if you do get a reaction.

Lotus Fucker played next. I was alerted to the start of their set by their singer Dan screaming. They played for about ten minutes or so. Lotus Fucker is heavily influenced by Japanese hardcore. The last time I saw them that I remember was almost a year ago, and since then they have had a few lineup changes and gotten a little slower and heavier. I think they sounded better than the last time I saw them. Dan has a great style of moving around and getting in people’s faces when he sings/screams. You won’t find any hooks or melodies in Lotus Fucker’s music, just abrasive, fast, and sometimes slow and punishing noise and screaming. It’s ferocious hardcore punk for the hardcore punks. Anyone else couldn’t take it.
Good show for a Monday night, pretty much what I expected. I bought the new Sista Sekunden LP and went back into the cold.
Was Pat Vogel there? Yes.

Tenement, Disciples of Christ @ the 3rd St. Co-Op

This show was packed and the crowd was full of celebrities and groupies. The A list included Nicktape (Coke Bust), Jean (Chugga Chugga, Turboslut), Maurice Alvarado (A Warm Gun, Lost // Again, etc.) and  James Doubek (the Guilt).

I hadn’t been to “the Coop” before.  It’s in a different part of town than I traditionally frequent, which is tight.  The house seemed reasonably well-appointed and a largely typical D.C. show house.  “The Coop” branded itself a “safe space” with a huge banner, which I found unspeakably offensive.

The basement show space was reasonably large and insufferably hot.  It was a cool evening and I headed back outside to hunt for celebrity gossip.

Other stars spotted on the scene included Max (the Twats, Friendly Fire), Alex Attas (The Black Powder Fuzzbox), Brendan (Ilsa),  Jubert (Coke Bust), Thomas Rossi ( Nose Leech), Psi-Dogg (The Coits of the Future), Fil (Give Me Back), Brad (Lost // Again), Garrett (Ilsa), KC (Starve), Zizzack (Grey World) and members of the Feed and the Fordists.

A special mention must be made of Debron.  This dude is high spirited.  A+

This show marked the end of Jen Hauser’s stint in D.C. It lasted roughly an earth year, I think.  She promoted and worked this show, which was an enormous success.

The after-party was held at the Worm Hole and it went late.  People were drinking.

Was Pat Vogel there? Yes. He left early, accompanied by an attractive blonde.

Pat Vogel interview

These are highlights from an interview I did with Pat back in late 2005, I believe, to promote a Tradition Dies Here show.   Pat’s a good interview and a self-effacing man and I’d like to interrogate him on the record again one day.

Pat is universally admired, even beloved, in D.C.  He is a rare dude of whom no one speaks ill.  I honestly can’t think of anyone else with that status in the “scene.” 
But Pat ain’t yr typical  backslapping “nice guy”  If anything, he’s kinda gruff (rarely, for example, laughing at my hilarity).  Pat does not suffer fools and if what you’re saying strikes him as stupid, boring, or BS, you will know it ( not that I’d know), which is awesome.  This world is drowning in bullshit and bullshitters and there are far too few people like PV around to let you know when you’re being boring/stupid. He is absolutely crucial in more ways than one.

Pat drives a funny-looking van which runs on veggie oil.   He lent me $40 once. Another time, he drove me to pick up a book from the Chevy Chase home of acclaimed New Yorker journalist Jane Mayer.  And he doesn’t even like me.  Typical Vogel.  Did you know that the mixing board at the Corpse Fortress is actually Vogel’s?  Typical Vogel – buyin’ something and letting everyone use it.  It is difficult to believe that a man of this caliber has survived for over 30 years in this pathetic world.

Vogel has been in many bands and everyone knows that he personifies everything worthwhile about punk.  Sick Fix is his current incarnation. 

Tim: What’s wrong with traditional American values?
Pat: …It seems to me a traditional American value is to not really care what we waste, just to make money, spend money, buy, have the most toys, have a fulfilling life by having everything you can ever want.
I see a huge problem with that.  I don’t feel fulfilled by having nice electronics or clothes.
I feel more fulfilled by friendships and relationships and people, getting things done and helping people and being part of a community where we’re working together to get things done.
In a traditional society it seems harder and harder to stay afloat sometimes, when these forces are pushing us to buy things that we don’t need, to eat things that we don’t need and to eat more.  I remember what a large soda used to look like…
One of the things that I think about a lot is my personal consumption.  I think I eat too much.  I’m not happy with the way my body looks and I want to eat less so that I lose weight – I guess to fit a more traditional standard.  And that’s a problem in itself.
It’s a traditional thing to want to be skinny and attractive.  I wish I could say that I didn’t care about that.
…. I want to do it so that I’m healthier – that’s why I eat a vegan diet.  I haven’t gotten sick in a long time.
As far as traditional American values, we’re made to feel like we need a lot of things that we don’t – most people in the world don’t have these things and they’re fine.  They’re happy.  Or just the opposite: They’re starving and they’re dying and they’d kill for a scrap of what we have.  And it’s sad to think that people could live off of my trash.
I try not to throw anything away that’s usable.  That’s a conscious effort.
That’s another aspect: not caring about what we throw away and who else can use it.
… I keep buying things.  I guess I’m kind of a pack rat.  I have way too many clothes and six guitars and amps.  I need to start letting go of some things.  I feel like I should be happier with less.

Are you anti-capitalist?
To a certain extent, yes, but we sell t-shirts and CDs.  People will tell you they’re anti-capitalist and sell you t-shirts.  To exist in this society you have to play that game. I would prefer not to. I prefer to give people things for free if I can. I like to share and I like community. People have faulted me because I’m too community-minded. I don’t remember what was wrong with that (laughs).

What was the best part of being in Crispus Attucks?
Playing shows, traveling, meeting new people. There were really no problems with it. Everything we did was fun to me. I was very satisfied with everything I did with that band.
… It’s a lot harder for me to sing and play guitar at the same time. I’m kind of learning as I go.
I like challenging myself.   Look at all the stupid pedals I have.
I just want to make music that I like and that doesn’t sound like anything else. I don’t want to sound like any other band.
We get kind of locked into punk rock, so we definitely do sound like other bands, but I want to keep it as different as I can.
…I feel like I can always do better.  That’s why I keep playing in bands, because it’s a challenge and I will never be fully satisfied with it.

What kinds of things does TDH argue about?
We don’t really argue too much.  The problems we have are my fault, lately, with scheduling, because I work an odd shift.
We don’t really argue.  I feel like I let them down a lot because I can’t give them the time that I need to.
They probably don’t know this, but I spend a lot of time writing songs and recording.  I’m sure he’s not too happy that he recorded the drums in August for a new recording and it’s still not done.

What was the impetus behind deaDCity?
I forget who came up with the name.  This guy designed a shirt that said “deaDCity crust.”
I just took it as a name for our scene and ran with it.  I had already built a server that I wanted to share music on and that became the deaDCity server, so now we host a bunch of sites.
Any band that we know that wants one can have a website.  I think I gave your band one.  We want to help people.  For the past year there’s been a deaDCity Arts Collective — I don’t have much to do with it. There’s going to be a deaDCity music fest in December.

Please explain the dichotomy between your kind, laid-back personality and your intense, screaming music.
Just because I’m easygoing doesn’t mean I don’t get upset and have other feelings.  I don’t want people to worry about me, but it’s an outlet for me to deal with my frustrations and problems.  Even without the vocals and me screaming my head off it’s very abrasive music.  But I like the melodies behind it.
I have problems that I want to address and things to say.  It feels good to play.  It’s therapy for me.  Same thing with the lyrics and screaming. …

What is crust and are you a crust band?
Crust is a sub-genre of punk.  It’s just dirtier-type music and dirtier-type people and places.  It’s a certain aesthetic that’s pretty popular now.
I don’t really know what crust is – I don’t really care what crust is: I don’t consider us anything besides a punk band.

What about hardcore?
Hardcore and punk, to me, are pretty much the same.  Some people like to make a distinction.  I don’t.

What does punk mean to you?
Thinking for yourself, being who you want to be, looking out for yourself and your friends and your family.  Caring about the world I live in and trying to make it a better place.  There’s a lot of things we can change. That’s what I would like to do.

It seems like there’s at least two punk scenes in D.C. There’s a total disconnect between deaDCity bands and bands that play the U-Turn.
That’s not necessarily true – we’ve played the U-Turn.  Nobody really came, but I don’t have a problem playing those kind of shows.  I feel like I’m not very welcome.  I like some bands that play there, but I feel like that’s not really our scene … [some of those people seem really] disrespectful, just because they seem very apathetic to things that I care about, or they seem very disrespectful of people, just in the language that they use.  And that stems from other things.

What was opening for the U.K. Subs at the Black Cat like?
I hate playing on big stages.  Every time I get up there I can look down on people: I don’t like that.  I don’t want to feel like a rock star.  I don’t like rock stars or want to be one.  I guess if I got to the level of Fugazi or something we’d have to play a venue like that just so that people can see you, and that’s good, I guess.

Do you want people outside of your community to hear you?
Yeah, sometimes I feel like we should make our music more accessible so that people who aren’t into punk might appreciate us, ‘cause I feel like we might be limiting ourselves by screaming and playing very loud, but at the same time, normal people wouldn’t understand it or wouldn’t like it.  But as far as most people go it’s not very nice or pretty.  It’s in your face and frustrated for a reason.

Ever feel like yr preaching to the converted?
Definitely.  That’s one of the things that I don’t like about punk.  Everybody’s heard most of it before.  I try to think up new ideas or just offer solutions: Everybody will tell you what’s wrong, but who will tell you how to fix it?  So I guess if you’re offering something new you’re not preaching to the converted.

Do you like any popular bands?
Sure. I don’t listen to the radio or anything, but I can appreciate things. Do you want me to list bands?

Yeah.
I like some old U2.  Queens of the Stone Age.  I don’t go out of my way to listen to popular bands.  I liked Rage Against the Machine.  I like Jimi Hendrix and some classic rock, but not so much what’s popular right now, like nu-metal or Green Day.  Just, like, Rage Against the Machine.
They’re a really popular band, but does anyone understand what they were saying?  Maybe they weren’t preaching to the converted, but it seemed like their lyrics were vague.  It seemed like it could be taken that way, but it was also rhetoric.
My brother liked it because it was loud and aggressive. They put out these songs that were abrasive and confrontational, but did they back them up?  I saw them once and it was just a bunch of jocks trying to kill each other.  Just like some punk shows.  Some people are there to hurt people.  It’s pretty unfortunate, but that’s the way it is.

What’s the worst thing about being a D.C. band?
I can’t really think of anything aside from there being so many small facets of the punk scene.  It’s very hard to get everyone together.  It’s very hard to get a band like Fugazi that will draw thousands of people.
Then you go to a regular punk show – you’re lucky if there’s a hundred people there.

Certain people don’t go to certain shows, certain people’s bands won’t play with other bands?
I don’t mind playing with bands I don’t like -  I’d like reaching out to more people.  The hard thing about being in a D.C. band, just like a lot of places now, is that there are so many different kinds of punk.  Now it’s like, “are you playing a crust show or are you playing a hardcore show?”
…I don’t want to be a one-hit wonder.  I don’t play music that would make us any money and I don’t want to.  I guess I could start a metal band and try and get big.

Do you like metal?
Yeah.  I take a lot of it with a grain of salt because I don’t agree with the lyrics or they’re ridiculous, but I appreciate it, hearing different styles of music or the way people play differently or different styles of songs.  It’s a lot more technically proficient than a lot of punk bands.  I’m interested in learning different things.

How important is activism to you?
Very important.  I’m not as much of an activist as I should be.  It’s very important to stand for things and help people.
I definitely consider myself an activist even though I’m not out on the streets every day trying to do things.

What’s the most fun time in your life?
Just being on tour.  We went on four full U.S. tours in Crispus Attucks and that was great.  We toured Europe for a month and that was even better. Spending time with my friends and my girlfriend is equally as good.

Is your band part of a tradition?
D.C. has traditionally had a lot of politcally-minded punk bands …

ANS, Coke Bust, Give, Fischer, Juice Tyme!

This show allowed the Corpse Fortress to show off its highly attractive newly painted walls.

Fischer, from California, kicked it off just after the sunset around 7:45.  This two-piece purveys a nice blend of scrappy pop-punk/rock with hard vox and some indie/alt vibes. (I realize I simply listed a bunch of genres; Fischer hooked me with a fresh mix that was as American as salad). I liked this band. They played a very short set and their riffs ranged from solid to good. Add in a refreshing absence of repetition & it’s like a B.

The second band – whose name I fortunately did not catch – was crummy.  Their second song sounded like bad Radiohead before the volume kicked in and it sounded like heavy Coldplay.

I next turn keen critical sights upon Give, a quartet also reviewed in a previous post.
Give sounds like Henry Rollins fronting a post-millenial Dischord band, but more discordant than that stuff and better, with regular stylistic shifts executed with a reasonably high degree of difficulty.
So,  Give provides a nice amount of variation, except the vox, which are always gruff and rely on the same tones. Other members of the audience said Give has a “’90s vibe.”
This band was enthusiastic.  The singer wore a Wu-Tang shirt.  They just did a tour out west.  A-

Juice Tyme! crushed. Do they deserved the exclamatory signifier? Yes. Psi-Dogg reviewed another set of theirs very capably in another dayafterdaydc post and I have nothing of substance to add to his comments. A

I don’t know much about ANS. Fliers for this show described them as “bowl riding, hill bombing stoked out Texas nuggets,” & “TX hardcore skateboard worship.”
They’re longhairs & play fretboard pyrotechnical thrash. Sometimes they sound too much like the late great Metallica (leading to inevitable conversations such as the following: “Yo, is he just playing “Seek and Destroy in another key?”
“No, he’s not, but I see what you mean,” etc.).
ANS covers a range of stylistic ground: They offer trip-inducing instrumental interludes before returning back to thrashcore before playing that sweet resiny sludge beckoning you to abandon the wise, kind values with which you were raised and join ANS on a thrill ride to Hell. Just kidding. At times ANS were almost math-ridden, at times they crossed southern rock and metal, and almost always they reefed out some extremely dexterous, catchy riffs.
Overheard audience comment: “That’s a sweet band – oh my God.” A

Coke Bust is a band comprised of vets of Turning Seasons, Bail Out! and Magurdergrind and lives up to its pedigree. They’ve been on the DC scene for a little while now and have established themselves as leaders of the pack. At this show, I was impressed by the number of people I saw singing along (CB alone got the crowd moving). Bassist Young Jubert was bleeding profusely and looked to be in pain. He finished the set.  There were around 50 people in the CF, maybe more  (I counted about 40 earlier in the night).

A lot of celebs showed up to this, including Crisp Acts vets Pat and Matt. Accordingly, there were a lot of paparazzi in the crowd.  This was a fun show and I paid for my painting supplies with show cheddar.  Aw shit I got a head rush. A

Friday, 08/14/09 – Magrudergrind, Asshole Parade, etc. @ St. Stephens’ Church

Two Fridays ago, at St. Stephen’s church in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington, D.C., the venerable local grindcore/ powerviolence act Magrudergrind headlined a show with power-thrash underground legends Asshole Parade.
The date celebrated the end of a summer-long North American tour mutually undertaken by the DC straight-edge fastcore/power-violence acts Coke Bust and Sick Fix.

The touring bands Positive Noise and Crucial Cause opened the show. The Crucial Cause fellows were very amiable and come from the San Francisco area. One of their members, Marcus, was pretty enthusiastic upon hearing that Ludicra and Hammers of Misfortune were touring through the area at the same time (I saw Ludicra the night before).  I showed up a little late, and missed most of the Michigan band Positive Noise’s set, but every single band played to a good-sized (albeit constantly rotating/changing) crowd of all ages.

Crucial Cause plays very solid straightforward thrashy hardcore with some real cool meaty riffs. Their lyrics are some old-school metal crossover shouting, spewing straight-forward specific put-downs full of affecting spite.
I also caught an intentionally charming sense of humor in some of their songs, which I thought was pretty cool — a slightly sarcastic attitude that’s a little punk’d out. The songs themselves were brief (by metal, not hardcore/punk standards — never more than 3 minutes) but had some cool buildups to exciting, epic moments, and very nice, layered thrash riffs, occasional leads and solos to change things up. Plus, everything was clear in the mix: a good band.

This was one of the better Sick Fix sets I’ve seen. This is Pat Vogel’s (Crispus Attucks, Tradition Dies Here)’s current straight-edge power-violence project with Michelle, Jeremy (also of No Minion and Coke Bust) and Chris Moore (a million bands). Sick Fix has a crew of seasoned local musicians who have developed a sound they’ve been honing over the past few years. The set opened with a swaggering instrumental preview — nothing too crazy, just a catchy, burly preview of what was in store, building up to Michelle’s characteristically venomous vox.

I must say, that Sick Fixx is one of the more solid fast-core/violence acts around. Pat has a pretty crucial setup these days, which should surprise no one who has casually talked about equipment with him before. The breakdown sections of the songs now carry a psychedelic atmosphere, with tasteful delay and flanger behind the gritty, deep, muscular guitar tone (like Ilsa, Sick Fix tunes their strings pretty fucking low!). Add some raw, dirty bass, some of the finest blast-beats on the east coast, truly enraged vocals and melancholy feminist-edge stage banter,  and you have one contending crew.

Next up was Coke Bust, another fast-core/violence project — this one fronted by local show promoter Nicktape. Nicktape is a one-man propaganda machine — dude was sending out mass texts about DC shows even while out on tour on the west coast. Not unlike Sick Fixx, Coke Bust’s name is an explicit reference to their straight-edge, no-drug policy. Their message is a poignant one for many, for straight-edge punk and hardcore music is a tradition infamously started here in DC in the 1980s, by none other than pre-Fugazi Ian Mackaye and Minor Threat. Chris and Jeremy from Sick Fixx reprise their presences in Coke Bust — though here Jeremy swings the guitar axe and passes off the bass to young Jubert.

Coke Bust is a sister band to Sick Fixx for other reasons besides a shared roster. Instead of vocalizing personally therapeutic or feminist messages/catharses as Sick Fixx is wont to do, Coke Bust pitches adjacent impressions of the hardcore scene. Nick and the guys relay their message and intent of fraternity within the hardcore genre (particularly the straight-edge movement) and local DIY ethics.

Co-headlining with Magrudergrind was the notable Florida band Asshole Parade. These cats are reputable within the DIY HC scene for playing high-quality angst-ridden, punked-out, hardcore-influenced thrash. They kept on touring after this show back home down the east coast, and then headed to Europe. They ply their dirty thrash riffage over there now as we speak.
They played true to form and did not disappoint: spiteful, heavy, short songs that were straight to the point.

Once upon a time, Magrudergrind played something like hundreds of shows a year. Back then, Avi (vocals) and Chris (drums again!) were just fresh, young, acne-scarred whipper-snappers pitching brutality between high-school homework assignments. There have been a couple of changes in guitarists since then, but the current Magrudergrind lineup (featuring RJ on guitar for the past several years) has established itself on moderately lucrative tour and festival dates around the world (though the guys aren’t quite living it up like Ranier Wolfcastle just yet (although you never know)). At the beginning of this summer, the band released their newest LP on vinyl and CD, recorded with Kurt Ballou (of Converge fame), and toured the US west coast.

As a friend and fan of Magrudergrind, I knew what to expect at a show and was not disappointed. Though I wouldn’t call this one of their most necessary sets to see, Avi made sure to include enough shout-outs and vague threats to keep the crowd in the mix. Chris must’ve been totally worn out by this set (his third in a row!) and I could see the 2+ months of touring he did this summer took their toll on the man’s biceps (they look gross). The crowd had actually mellowed a bit by this point, but some good mosh was saved for MG (not that I would know — I’m an old curmudgeon). Anyway, it’s cool to see that Magrudergrind are establishing themselves as a household name on the international DIY circuit.

Lots of people from the scene showed up at one point or another, I recorded the show with a little help from my friends, and all-in-all it was a massive success — no doubt due to Zizzack’s war-horse promotional tactics which began gearing up for the gig two months in advance. I was really impressed that they were able to cram six sets into a 4 hour slot. It was a pretty cool night until I found the ticket on my car. (CRM)

Band MySpace pages:

Magrudergrind
Asshole Parade
Coke Bust
Sick Fix
Crucial Cause
Positive Noise (couldn’t find a MySpace)

08.13.09 – Ludicra and Hammers of Misfortune @ DC9

I temporarily forfeited my DIY scene credibility Thursday night and went to a show at the DC venue, DC9. I went there to see the esteemed California US metal bands, Ludicra and Hammers of Misfortune. Long-time local NOVA grind heavy-weights, Drugs of Faith were supposed to open this one, but scheduling conflicts forced them to drop out at the last minute.

This marks the first time Ludicra has ever played the east U.S. coast (!). Ludicra has been around for a while, and plays a form of progressive, sludgy, blackened metal. I haven’t heard the band’s newest release, but the set was killer, caustic and brutal — with no real breaks between songs; each piece transitioned smoothly into the next, with a variety of elements in sludgy doom, fast melodic “buzz-saw” tremolo progressions, lead guitar shredding, and harsh dual vocal trade-offs. Their compositions are interesting in that they branch away from the contemporary emotional appeals of extreme metal, which are usually overtly violent, ominous, or melancholy. Ludicra does touch upon similar feelings, but strikes at them with hints of dark cleverness, fun and charm, rather than desperation (their logo is a good indication of this — a black metal logo shaped like a ‘roach).

Hammers of Misfortune plays catchy, well-crafted, epic songs reminiscent of ’70s proto-metal prog bands (Uriah Heep is the most consistent comparison people make). Their studio work is really excellent, though I found Ludicra’s live performance to be the more interesting of the two. Hammers of Misfortune is a very good band, but their set was more restrained and a bit formal in comparison to Ludicra’s. In other words, they sounded just like they do on their recordings (which does mean they were pretty awesome!). And I did really dig the extended harmonized jam sections, especially the ones using the Hammond organ to lead the melody, and the live set was very tight and smoothly meshed the vocal abilities of three different singers.

Both bands share their lead guitar player (John Cobbett), are fronted by female singers, and come from the San Francisco area. Together they headlined the first day of Filth City Fest at the Talking Head in Baltimore yesterday (Friday, August 14), which I meant to see, but ended up not making that drive at the last minute (I was totally worn out and brutalized by the Magrudergrind/Asshole Parade show and then fell backwards into a deep melancholy upon discovering a freshly pressed parking ticket on my automobile windshield). Both of these bands are pretty legit and I’m always glad when west coast metal bands take the plunge and tour the east coast. There’s been so much awesome metal coming from the US west coast in recent years; it’s really a shame we get to host so few of them for concerts.

The turnout was pretty light. DC9 (like sister clubs, Red and the Black, and the Rock ‘N Roll Hotel) cannot host a huge number of people, but the crowd was a little sparse for bands of this quality. Part of the issue is that the DIY metal and punk scenes generally do not support these three clubs, nor most clubs situated in the U and H street corridors, for the clientele they cater to, and the lack of all-ages shows. Indeed, this show was 18+ only (although for what reason I could not surmise), and as far as I could tell, the show wasn’t promoted very much.

The band members were all very amiable off-stage. Aesop (who plays drums in Ludicra) was super personable. Besides Ludicra, recently Aesop has been playing drums for the fantastic Portland-based metal band, Agalloch, and has also become well-known as of late for his amazing music blog, Cosmic Hearse. In fact, Cosmic Hearse is a little too good — it has gotten so well-known that little musical peckerwoods (such as myself) talk his ear off at every stop of the tour (and about his blog — not his band!). Oh well — such is the name of the game for a 21st century rock ‘a rolla man.

DC music scene-wise, I was happy to run into Beck (of Turboslut) and Dedman, as well as Rich from Drugs of Faith, plus once-local cool cat, Mikey T (of Tradition Dies Here). Mikey has been rarely espied for the past year, the duration of which he’s  spent questing and leveling up in the world outside DC’s city walls. All the folks I got to chat with that night were super rad; kudos to them for deftly dodging the awkward strands of conversational spaghetti I hurled in their direction!

And so goes the story of how yet another quality metal show snuck through DC virtually unnoticed. Thanks for playing, guys! A handful of us appreciated it a lot. –CRM

******

Band websites:

• Ludicra (MySpace)
• Hammers of Misfortune (MySpace)

back in the game

The fans have been clamoring for another post and evermore hungry for their approval and acclaim I oblige their wishes. Everywhere I venture, it’s, “Put this in your blog and smoke it” or, “Write an article about that.”
So, here’s what’s been going on:
A ton of shows at the Corpse Fortress, a few shows at other spots and a few venues (Al-Fish, Girl Cave, D.C. Mini Gallery) being put out of their sick, pathetic misery. I have been notably absent. A king cannot mingle too often among his subjects.

8/4/2009:
Frantic Onslaught, Lion of Judah, Give and Juice Tyme! played the Corpse Fortress. This was a tight show run by Zack Grey World. Zack is a local dude in his early 20s who goes by Zizzack on the internet and has emerged as a reliable promoter in the hardcore/punk scene. It seems like a lot of the shows Zizzack does are co-productions, but as far as I could tell, he was holding down the tight fort by his lonesome this evening. This show got a really decent turnout, especially for a night where there were two very solid, very competing local shows (TMLE, Transgression, etc. @ the 3rd St. Co-op & FEAR, Agent Orange, etc. @ Jaxx). I’d guess there were around 70 people there, maybe 40 paid. (editor’s note: Zack told me later that my estimate was way low).
Juice Tyme are reviewed very capably below. Suffice it to say that I found them “challenging.”
Frantic Onslaught are a sick hardcore band with contemporary tendencies, meaning that the mosh parts are metallic and even anthemic, while the fast parts are particularly uptempo. FxOx has 2 screamers. I have seen the drummer at shows for years and years. Also, the notorious provocateur Garybird plays bass in this band. They have accomplished a lot in their year or so on the scene, but are apparently going on hiatus because acclaimed guitarist Tim Lorndale is moving to Vancouver for college, in true Minor Threat fashion. This band has t-shirts with the phrase “Day After Day” on them, which is a strange coincidence. Maybe we have some of the same influences. Ha!
ANYHOO – FxOx’s set was remarkably short. It seemed like they spent longer trying to find a working guitar head. 4 songs. 3 originals and a cover that sent James Willette diving into the mosh pit with alacrity.
After their set, Tim said that even had FxOx not spent ages trying to find a working head their set would have lasted around ten minutes. He seemed serious. I told him that it was nice to see a straight-edge band beset by such technical difficulties. “We’re not a straight-edge band,” he replied. “Majority straight-edge,” I retorted. “Have you heard?” he inquired with interest. “There’s been an edge-break.”
Give played second-to-last and offered an extremely polished and melodic set of groovy indie/alternative topped by hardcore barks. Mystery housemate #1 disagrees with this assessment, saying Give sounds like Rites of Spring.
I went home before L.O.J. played.

Scene on the Scene:
Moshpit king Roger, beatnik poet Miguel, Spiro Anew, James D (the Guilt), Oz (the Commie Pinkos), Orion (Ilsa) and a lot of unfamiliar faces.

As I was leaving, James Willette asked me to “write an article about this handshake.” Done. Oz asked me to “write an article about” his quest to make Tim Lorndale t-shirts. Done

Grade: A

*********************************
August 1
Psi-Dog’s Revenge

Psi-Dog put this show on. Psi-Dog is a writer, tech-wizard, six string shredder, etc. I think he’s like 23, is a college graduate, is very concerned about attracting STDa and plies his craft in the notorious Coits, a band termed “the bad boys of D.C. rock” by none other than Al Acosta!
Psi-Dog hasn’t put together many shows – or any at all, really – but he thinks he knows everything about “the game” and “the scene” and is trying to keep Maryland metal on the map at the Corpse Fortress after the untimely departure of housemate and metal-master Alex Martin. Naturally, I was looking forward to watching Psi-Dog fall on his face with this hubristic venture, but, unfortunately for me, the evening was a massive success.

The following is a list of bands that played with Psi-Dogg’s descriptions of them:

Inter Arma — (progressive, psychedelic blackened thrash/doom/shred RVA touring band, excellent live show)
http://www.myspace.com/interarmametal

Balaclava — (dynamic punk/metal RVA touring band)
http://www.myspace.com/balaclava

Ilsa — (DC’s heaviest band, period.)
http://www.myspace.com/ilsadc

Revolta — (Annapolis’ power trio: crusty thrash)
http://www.myspace.com/revolta

Corporeal — (Vicious raw black metal from Baltimore)
http://www.myspace.com/corporealbm

So, anyway, this show was fun and most people seemed to have a good time, except for mystery housemate #4 who was very aggrieved that the performance went on so late. So, ha, Psi-Dogg! Guess you don’t know everything! (just kidding).

**********************************************

Monday, July 27th @ Corpse Fortress

Just Die! (rad hc/punk from Asheville, NC)
I Decide (punx)
Transgression (more punx)
Commie Pinkos (punx)

James D put this show on. Excellent turnout. James is the man. Anyone who disagrees needs to die. Commie Pinkos brought the mosh. Jimmy Pinko lives at the Corpse Fortress now.

*************************************

Quick Review of 8/4 Fear show from poster “Dave” on dchardcore.proboards.com:
- missed the opening bands
- DI sounded awesome and played all the hits
- Agent Orange: Haven’t seen them in over 20 yrs. Man, how I wish that was the last time I saw them. Palm’s voice was SHOT, they played all the songs 10x faster, and the drummer was doing fills all over the place, making the songs even worse.
- FEAR – awesome. Typical Ving banter but the dude is almost 60 and has a creepy little chuckle now. His voice is still great.

The crowd: mostly ultra-punx whom I’ve never seen before. Some fossils.