Now where's the tight fitted, son?

I'm not much of a sneaker pimp, but this is a bangin' idea...

Revelation Records/adidas Anniversary sneakers

Yeah, I wish I was 23, and had disposable income to buy a pair. Any ideas on how much these suckers will cost?

Screamers - Live at the Whiskey, 1/6/78

OK, gang, here's the deal. Tomorrow morning I bail out for NYC for a week for work. That means the moderately-consistent posts cease for at least that long. So I'm going to try to put a few things up today for your listening pleasure.

First up: a partial set from the Screamers, circa 1978. This comes courtesy of the crucial In A Better World 2 CD set released by Xeroid Records & Extravertigo Recordings in 2000. I can't stress enough how freaking awesome the Screamers were. If you're into early L.A. punk, synthpunk or noise, you'll probably dig on the one. This recording is missing "Vertigo" & "I'm Going Steady With Twiggy"; if you want those, you'll have to track down the CDs for alternate versions. The great tragedy is, short of a few demos and live recordings, the Screamers never released a legit 7", much less a LP, during their run as arguably the biggest band of L.A.'s first wave of punk.

BTW, I have no idea if you can still track down the CD. If I get some positive feedback, I'll post the whole damn thing up sometime in the near future.










Screamers - live at the Whiskey, 1/6/78
(click the record to DL)

RIYL: organs, hair, freaking out

Fucked Up - Looking For Gold

Found this on Jen Choi & The Life

I won't wax poetic on this one, but it is one of my favorite records from the past 10 years. You either love Fucked Up, or you hate them. I haven't heard anyone fall into the "meh" stage with these cats. I fall into the former category, although the first time I heard them, I thought they sounded like a bad Jesuseater rip-off. What can I say...I'm kind of an idiot. Looking For Gold is one of Fucked Up's more obscure releases. Here's what teh interwebs has to say about it:

Much mystery has surrounded the release of the first self-released FUCKED UP 12", "Looking for Gold". Released in two separate runs of 300 copies to co-incide with short tours that took place from 23-25th September 2004 (Chicago/Columbus/Pittsburgh), and 15-17th November 2004 (Albany/Sherbrooke/Montreal), the record was never repressed and quickly became sought after by collectors and fuck-heads.

Yep, Rebel scum and tossers alike feen after this one. I saw someone asking about Looking For Gold on one of the many Vinyl Collective message boards. Well, let me do my public service and post this one up. It's not earth-shattering, but it sure as hell doesn't suck either.

Let me also remind you that the Fucked Up website is, if you're willing to spend a few seconds looking, a very nice place to find lots of bootlegs, mix tape drafts and rarities from the F.U. ouevre. That, and I'm now happy I used "ouevre" in a sentence, albeit probably improperly.










Fucked Up - Looking For Gold 12"
(click the record to DL)

RIYL: turkey bags, head banging, social diseases

The Hives - Oh Lord! When? How?

Photo by Matt Carmichael

Just a quick one today, since I bought a few movies at lunch today, and would really like to watch them.

Yes, yes, America loves the Hives. Or, they used to, about 8 years ago. Man o' Maneschivitz, did we go full on ree-ree for the Hives when Veni Vidi Vicious came out! Those guys were fantastic. I must have sold 150 copies of the VVV & Barely Legal LPs on Gearhead that summer. Plus they played a $2 show in Towson that the entire Reptilian crew bumrushed. There's lots of shots of Danny, Nick & myself taking over the dancefloor & trying to ride the camera crane.

For collectors only, here's the Hives debut, Oh Lord! When? How? It's a fun little EP that came out on Burning Heart off-shoot Sidekicks Records all the back in '96. There's a fun pic on the insert of the Hives wearing sneakers and sweaters. No wonder this one didn't get reissued. It would totally clash with their image! How dare we remind them that they once didn't dress like Colonel Sanders!










The Hives - Oh Lord! When? How?
(click the record to DL)

RIYL: Umea, skateboards, demos your friends made when they were 15

The Thermals - live

Ben Barnett played a series of shows in 2002 in Philly, Baltimore & DC. It was during these that he told me he'd started a new band with Hutch & Kathy. All I knew of those two were that they were a pair of Portland hipsters who'd released a pretty decent record that year on Jealous Butcher. Before Ben left the Galaxy Hut, he tossed me a CD-R of his new band. "I think Sub Pop wants to put out the record," he mentioned. And that's how I was introduced to the Thermals.

I don't have a lot of details about this recording, except that it was cut in the summer of 2002, and you can find the studio recordings on the Thermals' first 2 records for Sub Pop. The Thermals have a new record coming out on Kill Rock Stars in March; I haven't heard anything yet, but I'm sure it'll be loud and garagey as fuck.

P.S. Demo cuts from the new record are up at The Thermals' Myspace page...how considerate. And they're pretty damned good, too!










The Thermals - live 2002
(click the record to DL)

RIYL: lo-fi, guitars & garages, LIVE!