Baroness - demo

I mentioned it a ways back about that time Baroness jumped on a show I booked at the second Talking Head, how they only got a few songs played in the course of an hour on account of failing gear. But they ripped those few songs, and I got their demo for my trouble, and then about three years ago I sold said demo for something like $50, and, phew, is this sentence going on long.

This two song demo was recorded a few months before Baroness recorded "First". They cut early versions of "Tower Falls" and "Coeur" with Pavement drummer Steve West (?!?) in his Marble Valley Studios (I'm guessing in Charlottsville?), and dropped them onto a CD-R with the delightful artwork you see below. Only John Dyer Baizley remains from that initial Baroness lineup, and the band records now under their own Abraxan Hymns imprint, distributed by Warner Music Group.

I remember being really stressed out by them playing, but digging it because it was heavy, and then not really being curious about seeking out their music again. Very off brand for me. But I guess Mastodon and High on Fire filled that niche in my earbrain at the time, and now I'm thinking maybe it's time to give it another go.

Discogs

Click here to download.

Post #300: Kind Of Like Spitting - 2004 4-track demos

I try to bring some real quality for every post, but when I hit a landmark like a post that ends in "00", I feel like it's time to really dig deep for something most folks haven't heard. So let me give you something from my old friend Ben.

I met Ben Barnett for the first time when he was opening for Braid and Cross My Heart at the old Ottobar in 1999. Braid was on what was then billed as their final tour, soon to partition into Hey Mercedes and the Firebird Band. I know XMH was playing songs from "The Reason I Failed History", arguably their finest record. But it was Kind Of Like Spitting that blew me away, with a folky emo sound that I hadn't really experienced before. Plaintive songs, cracking vocals, violin accompaniment? Yes, yes, and hell yes! I bought the "Birds Of A Feather" 7" that night, and damn near wore through the vinyl over the next year between listening at home and playing it on my radio show.

When Ben came back to Baltimore the following year, he was playing solo, backed with an Insound tour EP and more plainly showing his influences (Joni Mitchell! Jimmie Rodgers! Leonard Cohen!). I ended up chatting with him for almost an hour after his set in the parking lot next to the Sidebar, just rapping about music and touring and how to deal with depression with art. We exchanged numbers, and I told him to give me a shout if he was coming back through town and needed a place to crash. Within a few years, I'd end up booking him a number of shows, both as Kind Of Like Spitting and with the first Thermals tour. The stays would range from a few hours to a few days, and it was great to chop it up with hot goss about what was happening in Seattle and Portland, giggling about his buddies who were ending up in Spin Magazine.

Sometime in the summer of 2004, Ben came to stay with the girlfriend and I in our garden apartment on Calvert St. for a night or two, and ended up crashing for a couple weeks. It'd been a couple of years since he'd put out "Bridges Worth Burning" with Barsuk, and was pivoting towards a more folky sound. After all, mainstream emo only had room for one sensitive singer-songwriter in Chris Carraba, so why not lean into a love of Phil Ochs and Pete Seeger? Before he split for Philadelphia, Ben laid a CD-R on me of songs he was demoing for a new record. And that's what we have here.

The material from these 17 songs would make up parts of the next two Kind Of Like Spitting full-lengths: 2005s "In The Red" and 2006s "The Thrill Of The Hunt". The arrangements are simple and spare. "Worker Bee" here is just acoustic guitar, double tracked vocals and metronome, which gives this early version a real ghostly feel. "Grapes" from "In The Red" is titled "Line And Sinker" in these demos, and has this wonderful hissy quality that reminds me of Ben's earliest tapes. It's the songs that don't appear in studio versions elsewhere that are worth diving into. There are covers of Neil Young's "Losing End", Bad Religion's "You", and Mojave 3's "In Love With A View", the first of which only appears here. "Cheap Drinks" is a great song that really deserved a fleshed-out version. But the capper here is the beautiful rendition of "This Little Light Of Mine", the lullaby turned protest song. It's really outstanding.

I'll argue that Ben Barnett is one of the most underappreciated singer/songwriters of the past 25 years. There's an integrity and honesty present that few artists possess, and fewer still manage to not to lord over people. He's just a fella, as willing to talk and sing about the folk scene in the late 60s as he is about smoking dank buds. There's more than a bit of Ben Barnett in the character Llewyn Davis, although I doubt the Coens ever listened to "$100 Room". That authenticity, even when there's appeal to turning it all down, can't be manufactured; it just is. And it's present in these songs, whether an original composition or in a cover choice.

If you like what you've heard here, and you've not familiar with the Kind Of Like Spitting catalog, swing by the Bandcamp page, where's there's just a monster amount of music to dive into. As I noted a few months ago, the newest Kind Of Like Spitting release is a tribute to the late Karl Hendricks, benefitting his family. Anything you purchase on the page goes to the Hendricks clan, a worthy spend if ever there was one.

Thanks for your continued visits, friends. Enjoy.

Click here to download.

Joie De Vivre - You ruined everything that was ever good (2010 Tour EP)

Twas the summer of 2010 and I, newly separated and returned to the Charm City, decided to book a show at my old stomping ground of CCAS. I was flush with cash for the first time in my life, the legacy of my grandfather who'd left me some money. And I decided that I wanted to throw a show the way I thought a show should be thrown, cost be damned. I'd heard a couple of tracks from this band from Michigan called Empire! Empire (I Was A Lonely Estate) who, despite the twee name, made the kind of music that made my heart swell. They were on tour with a quartet called Joie De Vivre from Illinois. If E!E! reminded me of Mineral, then JdV was more along the lines of Elliott, all slow dances and Midwestern charm.

I bought around $200 of barbeque from my favorite brisket joint, filled a cooler full of drinks, and pulled out another couple hundred dollars, because, for once in my life, I had the chance to offer bands I liked the hospitality I felt they deserved. They weren't going to have to schlep it down to Richmond worrying if the gas would hold out, or what they'd eat that night. My new girlfriend put together a dozen to-go boxes that both bands could easily pack up and carry with them. I asked some friends from Westminster to open; these kids from Annapolis, who'd show up late and play too long, begged to get on the bill as support, so I said, fuck it, and put them on. Truth be told, it was a really fun night. Had I not spent a fuckton of money on BBQ (an appreciated gesture, to be sure), I would have paid all four bands and the space AND made a few bucks for myself. As it stands, it was a good way to step back into the world I'd reluctantly left a few years back.

The three songs on this limited edition CD-R were originally released here, and would pop up on a pair of releases over the coming months. "Vicodin Lite" is on the B-side of the Count Your Lucky Stars "Four Way Split" 7", alongside E!E!, Annabel, and the Reptilian. The title track and "Another Month, Another Season", along with a Pedro the Lion cover, showed up on a split with Sleep Bellum Sonno, released by Keep It Together Records out of Wisconsin. Joie De Vivre would release a pair of full-lengths, a grip of splits, and show up on a variety of comps over the years. Their latest release looks to be a lathe cut 12", put out by the folks at Little Elephant in Toledo in 2016.

Here's to doing it right, if only once.

Discogs

Click here to download.

Re-up: Charm City Suicides - s/t

There are strange doings afoot here in Bodymore. To be fair, the birthday post was already written, and scheduled to post, and, fuck it, why wreck the schedule just to put in new news? My boss approached me with a proposition Friday. Suffice it to say, it scared the shit out me. I have no idea how to react except to jump in a give this new thing a shot...soldier up, as one might say. But it's weird, someone you respect looking you in the eye and telling you they believe in you. I've always had a hard time hearing it, even if I was always able to say the same thing in total sincerity. "I'm proud of you." "I believe in you." "I trust you." We live in cynical times, where every commenter would rather drop a glib line than honestly state how they feel. I watched Can't Hardly Wait tonight with the wife. We're both still full of the birthday buffet she put together for the family and I this morning. I feel like a big ol' fat ass, packed to the sinuses with creamed chipped beef and fresh cantaloupe. It gets harder to have true enthusiasm for these kinds of events every year; not due to the excitement of the event, mind you. Again, it's just hard to be truly joyful when life surrounds you with post-irony...insincerity...the wink and the nod. But fear not, here's where the music comes in, kids. There was a band around these parts a few years ago by the name of Charm City Suicides. They were the band that made you fall back in love with a live show. Their screamy, trashy garage sound was equal parts Oblivians, Black Flag & Sam and Dave. They were the perfect teenage band. They were honest and wore their attitudes, along with their hearts, on their sleeves. They fucking rocked. Like a lot of music, I talked mad shit on C.C.S. for the first couple of years I was aware of them. Then I saw them play a show in Fallston shortly before I was released, sometime in the fall of 2001. Like just about every other band I ever talked a bunch of crap about, Charm City Suicides knocked my dick in the dirt that night. Playing to a crowd of about 50 kids in a Republican-town V.F.W., they said a lot about the power of D.I.Y., of how proud and strong youth can be, and how it doesn't matter being cool, looking hot. It was angry and smart and I'm still stoked I got to see them three more times before breaking up in October 2002. During their last set ever, I pulled off the most perfect stage dive I've ever done. I haven't dove off a stage since. The record known as Charm City Suicides, "I", was originally released as an LP by Vermin Scum Records in 2001. This quickly went out of print, and bookended Vermin Scum's long record as the best label for Baltimore & Annapolis-local punk. Mark McCoy heard the LP and released a version on CD on Youth Attack! in time for C.C.S. to break up. That's the rip to be found here. Every town has a punk rock band full of piss, vinegar, three chords and the truth. For five years, Baltimore had Charm City Suicides. 

(Postscript: this blog was originally posted on my 31st birthday in 2008. A lot of water has passed under that bridge since then. I still love the Charm City Suicides.)

Discogs

Click here to download.

Another Bandcamp Friday, another $100 in music

Tim, Mike, and Lee from Concrete City (from Facebook)

I swear to the maker I didn't plan on dropping much money on Bandcamp Friday this month. Sure, I had things on my wishlist I planned on picking up. But I figured my big purchase would actually be the three tapes I ordered last night from Sorry State Records (more on that later). Instead, I get announcements of two records I've been waiting for from Bitter Lake Recordings. Thanks, Adam. You've totally fucked me with your exquisite reissues.

I learned about Bitter Lake due to their reissue of the Grave New World LP, "The Last Sanctuary" earlier this year. I've spent a fair amount of the pandemic diving into the underworld of Japanese hardcore/crust/industrial/punk, and when I learned that Grave New World was what Crow did after he split up his eponymous project. I was really stoked on the MP3s I heard, and happily plunked down the bread on a record/t-shirt combo. Sadly, that order is hiding out in a USPS COVID hole, a casualty of Herr Trump's attack on mail-in voting. But it didn't keep me from ordering the following tonight.

I've read Kyoufu Shinbun (恐怖新聞) described as Japanese crust channeled through early 80s J.G. Thirwell. That sounded pretty alright by me. The vocals are super dubby and distorted, like U-Roy fronting Nine Inch Nails. If I'd been introduced to this when it initially came out in 1993 and 1994, I probably would have shit my pants; it makes Ministry sound like Boston. Bitter Lake has collected the entire output of keyboardist/sampler/vocalist Proletariat Honma on this 3 x LP box set, entitled "Death Training". It's a total of ten tapes and a flexi 7", all intially released on Honma's Integral Label label. If you're into synth-punk, industrial, or noise, this is probably right in your wheelhouse.

I wasn't expecting a second announcement from Bitter Lake, but I couldn't pass up a chance to pre-order the Pipyu LP + 7". Pipyu (ピッピュ) was an ultra-obscure band from Tokyo, circa 1985-87. They made a demo, a split 7", and appeared on a few Japanese comps before more or less disappearing. I'm struggling what to liken this to. Can you make D-beat with a drum machine? Can you make deathrock without direct exposure to the American West? What I do know is I like this...a lot. It's a remarkable mix of new wave and hardcore and noise; there's no way I could sleep on this.

Concrete City gets it: 1) release a new single every other month on Bandcamp Friday, and 2) profit. Their fourth single of 2020 has another great pair of sing-alongs in "Don't Do It, Man" and "Same Things". I've been meaning to put together a playlist of all the songs they've recorded and released this year to see how they fit together as a larger body. Individually, though, they've been spectacular. Some wise soul is going to collect everything of Concrete City's, release a physical copy and make a million thousand spacebux.

I like to take a wag on something new every Bandcamp Friday, and this month it's the new single from Richmond's Haircut. Their new 7", "Cake", came out in August on hometown label 11 PM Records, and is a full-blown ripper. Featuring ex-members of Charlottesville's Animal Planet (a band I dug during their short existence), this is the kind of short/fast/loud burner that's revved my engine since the 90s. The difference maker is Juliana Viana on vocals. Her delivery reminds me a lot of Henry Rollins in State of Alert. It's hearing something like this that makes me wish I still lived on the East Coast...and, you know, there wasn't a pandemic on.

Silent Era's newest record, "Rotate the Mirror", was a last minute preorder during the last Bandcamp Friday, but I think it's appropriate to add it here. I was familiar with the bands the members had been in (Neon Piss, Deskonocidos, the Slits), but hadn't checked out Silent Era before snagging this. This is a pretty awesome mix of SF-style hardcore and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, with wonderfully sung vocals. I'm hearing more bands reference that metal scene in non-metal music, and I think it melds well.

I normally wouldn't tack this on, but I read it around 11:45pm on Thursday, so I'm adding it to Bandcamp Friday. If you're not signed up for it yet, head on over to Sorry State's website and sign up for their newsletter. It's like getting a zine's worth of reviews and recommendations on what's new and good in the punk/hardcore/indie/metal scenes. Sorry State carries damned near everything worth carrying, and their mailorder is top notch. For example, I learned Thursday that Usman at Sorry State had tracked down copies of the Anti Cimex "Live!" reissue. Originally released in the mid-80s as a limited Swedish cassette, this has been newly reissued by Charlie from Anti Cimex and Gianluca of the UK's Godzilla Records. It looks like Sorry State might be the only place in the States to get copies. I managed to nab one, along with the new demo from Artificial Joy and Krigshoder's "Krig I Hodet" cassette. These sort of releases are rarely in stock for long, but I keep going back because, even if what I initially was there for is out of stock, I still regularly find good records for a fair price. And isn't that what record stores should be about?

The Out_Circuit - Burn Your Scripts, Boys (unmastered)

Nathan Burke is the Out_Circuit

I honestly couldn't even tell you the "when I saw them" part of when I saw the Out_Circuit. I would guess it was the Ottobar, 2002, even though I haven't the faintest idea who else played with them. Such was the impression they left on me that night. It was what I heard when I listened to Smart Went Crazy, to Karate, to Juno; the influence of ambient music, jazz, post-hardcore, presented live in a way I hadn't heard often. I listened to "Burn Your Scripts, Boys" like it was going out of style. I assumed they'd end up doing the record with Magic Bullet or Lovitt or DeSoto. Yet it took over two years for a label to pick this up, finally releasing in 2004 as a split between D.C.'s Lujo Records and the UK's Autoclave Records on the CD, and Austin's Arclight Records on the vinyl. I was pretty boggled at the delay. Even going 15 years since my last listen, I'm still amazed that more people haven't discovered this.

This is ripped from the initial, limited to 250 units CD-R that I picked up from Nathan that night at the Ottobar. Recorded by Ken Olden and Brian McTernan in DC, it would later be mastered by Chad Clark for the actual release. I hear more distortion on the bass end of this unmastered release. It's never been an unappealing thing to me; I like hearing things in progress. I discovered that Nathan Burke now lives out here in Seattle, and put out a new Out_Circuit record in 2018. I'll be picking that one up this Friday for Bandcamp Friday.

Discogs

Click here to download.

None More Black - None More Black

None More Black, live at the Fest 7, 2008 (screencap by BlankTV)

I'll let you in on a little secret: I like the post-Kid Dynamite bands a lot more than I like Kid Dynamite.

Is it because I saw both None More Black and Paint It Black within weeks of each other on their first out of town shows? Is it because there wasn't overwhelming hype behind both bands when I saw them? They were just normal-ass bands, down from Philly, playing second support on hardcore matinees. They did, however, have superior pedigrees, and the new music ripped.

I want to say that None More Black wasn't even a full-time band when they came to Baltimore with this slab in hand. There was talk Jay was going to sing for Beau from Kill the Man Who Questions's new thrash band (which eventually became R.A.M.B.O.). So to see he and his brother Jeff show up, playing music more akin to something from No Idea than Havoc was a very pleasant surprise. There was more than a little Dag Nasty influence present, which I'm always going to get hyped for.

500 of these were pressed, all on black. None of the three songs here appeared on any future NMB releases; the band definitely slowed their tempo a bit once they signed with Fat a couple years down the road. I'd suggest going back and celebrating their entire catalog with a listen.

Discogs

Click here to download.

Ghostface Killah x Max Tannone - Ghostfunk

I've been fighting a sore shoulder and an ongoing headache for the past two days, which, oddly enough, makes it difficult to put ideas to pixels and talk about music. Forgiveness, please.

This is the chocolate and peanut butter of mash-ups for me. "Ghostfunk" is Ghostface Killah acapellas over afrobeat/highlife music. This shit works because of course it does. I'ma tell you right now that "Dear Psychedelic Woman" is a go-to mixtape track for me. It's a can't miss banger. I've only ever had this as MP3s, although it appears that there have been a few pressings on vinyl over the past nine years. If anyone wants to send me a copy for my upcoming birthday, I wouldn't say "no".

Here's where I point out that you can get "Ghostfunk" as a pay-what-you-want from Max Tannone's Bandcamp, and, reasonably, you should. I'm a big believer in actually paying for music, especially since there are platforms like Bandcamp which allow you to directly buy from the artist, thus ensuring they receive the greatest return on their work. Max's latest release came out in March, benefitting Food Bank for New York City. If you're into mash-ups, particularly remixes of 80s lover's rock, you'll totally be into "Trading WAV Sound System".

Discogs

Click here to download.

Charm City Suicides - II

What do I remember about Charm City Suicides?

I never walked away from a Charm City Suicides show disappointed.

I was in love with every Mike Apichella flier I ever experienced.

I remember being so in awe of these kids who were the same age as me, who lived less than 10 miles away from me, but were so hip and juiced in.

Flier by Nolen Strals

I'd never seen them until I went to College Park for a year, even though they all lived less than 10 miles away from me for five years. Then I probably saw every saw they played in the Baltimore/DC/NorVA triangle for the last two years of their existence.

I had two years of digital photos of Charm City Suicides on a external hard drive that disappeared in a move. I mourn their loss more so than I do my own baby pictures.

I remember Mike and Dubin giving me this CD the night they got them back from the printer and thinking, "How am I so cool that they thought to get one to me right away?"

I remember stage diving at their final show at the Ottobar with Nolen and Walker, thinking that things might never get any better than this.

They, along with Daybreak, were the musical bridge from me being a Harford County kid to becoming a Baltimore resident. They released 28 songs from 1999 to 2002, across two LPs, a single, and a pair of compilation appearances. When they were done, they were done; there'd be no encore, no reunion show, no retrospective. All that was left was a legacy of sheer abandon, ringing ears and hoarse throats.

Charm City Suicides never phoned it in. How many other musical groups can you say that about?

Discogs

Click here to download.

New music from Accidente

Imagine my surprise when, as I preordered the new Kobra 12" from Iron Lung, I discovered that Madrid's Accidente had uploaded a new record on the 7th, their first in four years. Oh, happy day! These Spaniards are SOOOO good!

I absolutely fell in love with Accidente in 2014 with the release of "Amistad Y Rebelión". Tony at Celebrated Summer played it regularly in the store that summer, so I heard it a lot before buying. It hasn't necessarily stayed on my turntable since, but it's a damned good summer record. " Caníbal" looks to be more of the same: think of Propaghandi with female vocals and more than a little Dag Nasty in the guitars. Even in translation, the lyrics are both passionate and relatable, with songs that are smart and still dancable. The grotesque, Ralph Steadman-esque artwork by Mario Riviere is a perfect capper on what should end up on a lot of folks' top ten lists this year. 

A few months ago, I thought we might be fucked for new music this year, so I'm happy to find yet another record that proves me wrong. Check out my favorite track on the new record, "Colze a colze" below, and download the record as a "pay-what-you-want" via Bandcamp.

Click here to download.

Crow - Who Killed Dove?

Note: A special shout out to April and Negative Insight for their awesome article on Grave New World. There's no way I would have gone down this road without their well-researched, well-written history of the band.

Last week's preorder announcement by Bitter Lake Recordings that they'd be reissuing the 1991 Grave New World album "The Last Sanctuary" wasn't just an exciting way to get a classic crust record. It also reminded me how much I love vocalist Crow's previous, eponymous project. So what better time than now to share the debut 7" by Osaka's Crow. It rips.

A lot of Crow's later releases were put out here in the States by Prank, starting with the 2003 reissue of the Artimus Pyle/Crow split 7". But the mid 80s material, prior to Crow joining Grave New World, remains unreleased in the States. There's a great, self-released CD from 1997 that compiles this, the "Last Chaos" LP, and their comp appearance on "Eyes of the Thrash Guerrilla". I wish you luck finding one for less than $50 here in the U.S.

So, enjoy "Who Killed Dove?" If you have no frame of reference, expect metallic hardcore; not so much Earth Crisis, or late 80s Discharge, but something on the continuum between Motörhead and Napalm Death, but with more NWOBHM influence. Does that make sense? I'd rage out to this if I saw it live. So circle pit it up in your living room, or in the park, or wherever the mood strikes you.

Discogs

Click here to download.

Neon Hearts - Venus Eccentric b/w Regulations

I feel like putting on my pogo shoes.

This is one of my all-time favorite KBD singles, released 2 months after I was born in December 1977. Neon Hearts hailed from Wolverhampton, which the map tells me is smack dab in the middle of England and right down the road from Birmingham. They featured future Killing Joke bassist Paul Raven, and the saxophone plays a big role in their sound, which I guess pushes them closer to new wave territory than punk territory. They played together for four years until breaking up in 1981, releasing an LP and three singles in that time, the first of which is presented here.

This is a double A-side, self-released slice of fried gold. "Venus Eccentric" melds jangly guitars with a sax lead that just works. My favorite part? Keith Allen's drums sound so cool, like he has two different sized boxes and a pie tin for a cymbal. "Regulations" is definitely the punker of the two cuts.  It has this fantastic tempo to it; the guitar is a buzzsaw, the sax, honking goose calls. It's super bratty, even with a four-measure guitar solo. This song is pure teenage ecstasy.

Overground Records in the UK reissued these two songs as part the "Ball & Chain" CD compilation back in 1997, and Germany's Last Year's Youth Records reissued them on vinyl back in 2001. So I'd say we're due for another release. In the meantime, check this slab out.

Discogs

Click here to download.

Shook Ones - 2004 demo

(image from the Shook Ones MySpace page)

A real quick one, before it's my turn to hit the Wii Fit. The extended weekend was very boss...thanks for asking. The following things are currently on my mind:

• Who keeps stopping in here from Columbia, Maryland? Leave a note or something, wouldja? We should probably bro down.
• Do I really have to go to San Diego in two weeks? Can't I just hide under my bed and pretend I went?
• Should I even whine about going to San Diego, especially when everyone I bitch to sounds really impressed by it? Should I just remind folks that its name translates to "The Whale's Vagina"?
• Why do cats keep slagging off Shook Ones as a Lifetime rip-off? Don't you like Lifetime? Wouldn't you like kids to take Lifetime as a positive influence on their current band? Or do you just want your bands to suck, not rule? Is that what it is?
  

My favorite recent line from the doods from Shook Ones was that they originally wanted to call their band "Lifespan", but thought it sounded too tough guy HC. Their new record The Unquottable A.M.H. came out a couple of weeks ago. Buy it; it's the tits. Here's their demo from 2004. 4 cuts that'd later pop up on Sixteen. Rough yet crucial, especially coming from a bunch of Washington state fancy lads.










Shook Ones - 2004 demo
(click the record to DL)

RIYL: harmony, TDK C-90s, 3 chord justice

Fighting Dogs - 2005 summer tour pre-release CD

(photo courtesy of the Fighting Dogs Myspace page, no credit available)

I'm rather disgusted with myself, having traded in a copy of "The Office" UK Complete Series (amongst other, lesser things) towards a copy of Transformers (amongst other, lesser things). So enjoy some late-night Philly crust, courtesy of Fighting Dogs. The crustier things in life are generally slept on here in the Mummy house. Could it be that I spent the first two years of my Baltimore punk rock being lorded over by worthless crust punx (coughCrassholecough)? No wonder I turned out a money grubbing sellout!

That said, I like this record. It's a little more Motorhead and a little less (insert generic D-beat band). I also like this because:

1. It came with a sticker.
2. It came in an envelope.
3. The songs here have mad swagger. Not like cock diesel false bravado...more like "Man With No Name"/light a match on your cheek confidence.
   
4. It was sealed with wax, a most excellent old-timey method of afixation.
5. It cost me $2 when I bought it in the fall of 2005. Hooray thriftiness! You've never let me down!
   

Fighting Dogs - 2005 summer tour pre-release CD
(click the record to DL)

RIYL: when I make Clint Eastwood references

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 Failure Design - demo

It's snowing outside! HOORAY!!! SNOW DAY, MOTHERFUCKAS!!! I'M GONNA GET ALL SKI PANTS UP IN THIS PIECE, YO!!! The Failure Design were a 3 piece (or maybe quartet) made up of Towson U. kids who existed in 2002 & 2003. I remember seeing them at CCAS a few times and thinking they were super energetic. My ol' pal Doug Williams played bass for them when they broke up. Think the typical "I'm singing/I'M SCREAMING" dynamic, backed by proggy jazz-core. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to build a snowman before I go to work... 

Discogs

Click here to download

RIYL: chest tapping, gas attendant jackets, 7/4 time