Requiem For A Trend

former music bloggers

Well, looks like blogger might be the new internet-ghetto. Many of the people that inspired me to join in on this whole music sharing/festival of verbal onanism have gone on to newer, greener pastures like podcasts, tumblr porn, twit(ter), and other short attention span pandering suck&fuckeries. Posts have been sporadic or non-existent in many of my favorite internet haunts. I get it. I'm part of the problem. Hell, I'm almost too lazy to even embed links in this post. At one point the constant flood of music I was DLing became overwhelming. I just couldn't find the time to listen to all the sick shit people were posting. I still have albums on my HD that I've never listened to. As a silly man once didn't say, "There's more to life than blogs you know, but not much more." Well, I, for one, always enjoyed the flogging of a dead horse (or a dead hooker), so here I am posting without shame. To all those guys who created and contributed to the blogs over there on the right, thanks for all the good times and awesome tunes. I will continue to haunt these pages, and I will never leave you, until I do. For all the people that have sacrificed their time to read my bullshit, and to those who choose to communicate via comments and e-mails, here's a truly heartfelt "Thank you." Also, I'm really stoked to see Jason and Shelby out here on the Big Island real soon. You guys are champions.


And, speaking of champions, here is a truly majestic piece of work by the much-celebrated paragons of getting fucked-up and fucking things up: HICKEY's "US vs. THEM" e.p.  Matty Luv is dead, yeah, but HICKEY is immortal. Ain't nothing in this world makes me happy like a HICKEY record. Matty's mad poetry and  gonzo guitar attack and Aesop's nitro-fueled jalopy pump n' munch drums have inspired many a drunken night's regret-worthy hi-jinx. Great alone or with friends. When is somebody gonna write the book on HICKEY, already? Few bands have ever earned such a wild and debauched (not to mention dumb and crazy) reputation. Aesop said it best, "Hickey is a cult band. When they were around, nobody went to  their shows. Now, everybody says they were there." LONG LIVE THE NAKED CULT OF HICKEY! People are always re-releasing their shit so go and buy some of it. I got the new 2x12" edition of "Various States of Disrepair" with all the extras, and I have already dry humped it twice, built a shrine to it, and stole it a baby; and that doesn't even scratch the surface of its potential.

"Life is cheap, but living is expensive." (DL)

"Bloated on Mammalian Flesh"

IllCon Illuminati. This 6 song Apocryphon disc was discovered in a cave located outside modern day Afghanistan by Ancient Astronaut Theorist, Giorgio A. Tsoukalos. Nearby were a pile of post-Cretaceous period fossils and humanoid remains. Tsoukalos has speculated that "The demented tones contained within this recording were probably made by aliens, maybe. It definitely is advanced technology, and the square shape of the wooden container leads me to believe that it was manufactured by extra-terrestrials, because aliens like four sided things. Like the pyramids. Totally aliens. Probably." Other "experts"

Expert.

have agreed that the guitar-shreddery is definitely super-human, and the vocals far too disgusting to be created by human vocal organs. The thunderous cacophony of the drums call to mind the hideous rites performed by the Tcho-tcho peoples, as captured in field recordings by noted Occult Scientist, Obed Marsh (RIP). [Also, there is some killer bass playing. However, this is a metal record, so we're just gonna ignore it. - Ed.] According to legend, the Tcho-tchos descended from a race of dwarfs known as the Miri Nigri, who in turn were created from the flesh of prehistoric reptiles. The Tcho-tchos indulged in an unknown hallucinogenic compound during their worship of the Great Old One, Hastur. Ceremonies involved orgiastic frenzy and human and animal sacrifices. Expert Theorists have speculated that Apocryphon was one such cult of The Unspeakable One. To listen to this recording may cause one to become possessed by Hastur. In that event, one's bones become gelatinous, the skin turns to scales, and they will become the embodiment of entropy. I highly recommend it.

Mortals bow before your masters (DL)

Give them some money for stuff here.

"I don't want to live like this."

I am not a music journalist, and I have no aspirations to become one. It's quite strange then that I should feel pressured into creating thorough and entertaining write-ups about the bands and albums that I post here. Part of it stems from the amount of respect I have for the music and the people who create it. Everything I post here on NKINW is intrinsically linked to my perception of self. I have defined myself, for the most part,  by the music that I listen to and the politics, jokes, and values contained within these recordings. That isn't to say that I agree with everything a given band has to say. I can get past ignorant lyrical content if the music is good enough. I don't worry about whether my wardrobe is punk or metal. But, my point is, all of these records mean more to me than they probably should. I think in fragments of song lyrics. I drum my fingers on every available surface, keeping time with the playlist in my head. I rally behind bands that value integrity over mainstream appeal. And, sometimes, I can't think of a damn thing to say about a band that I feel does justice to their art. I get bored of trying to find new ways to say an album is heavy, or fast, or what-have-you. Of course, no one has asked me to do any of this. I'm only up against myself, and today, I am kicking my ass. I don't have anything clever or funny to say about Apeface. I don't know how to tell you that their take on crust is both unique and necessary. I can't tell you that it sounds like mid-90's Black Metal without feeling like I'm only trying to sell it to you by alluding to a passing revivalist fad. Look, Apeface is from San Jose, Ca., just like me. They were nice dudes whenever I met them. They sometimes played shows with the lights out, the stage illuminated by desecrated nativity scene lawn figures. Some of the other bands in the Bay Area made fun of them for writing songs that were too long. Or for not being punk enough, and too metal. Apeface rules, and that's all I can really tell you. Is that enough? Will you click the DL link? Am I only talking to myself? Do I care? Stay tuned for the answers to these questions and more, here on The 'Wave.

"No monkey story will do." (DL)

Your Mother ate my dog!

First, I'd like to thank the anonymous reader who sent me a link to this one. I hope you don't mind that I'm sharing it here (w/ my own zip and link). Your Mother were from Pleasanton, Ca. and played a hybrid of punk, hardcore, and complete dorkery. Your Mother isn't "cool." Hell, Your Mother isn't even good looking. But, Your Mother was always hilarious, and most importantly, fun! Yup, I know, fun isn't tough, or metal, or punk. Neither am I. Or you, you friggin' posers. I swear I must have seen these guys play a hundred times growing up. Probably more times than I've seen any other band. Gwar and the Swingin' Utters follow close behind. The zip contains their CD, "One Big Inside Joke" and [ I accidentally included] a bunch of tracks that they have posted for free on their website, including a wicked sweet cover of Weird Al's "Dare to be Stupid" (which, by the way, is the best DEVO song that DEVO never wrote). This is one of the CD's that really got a lot of rotation when I was a teenager. I'd have to say it influenced a lot of who I am, even. Because I am a fucking dork sometimes.

One Big Inside Joke (DL)
(Certain songs run across multiple tracks, and some tracks are just a couple seconds long. This is intentional. They're fucking with you, dude. Uh, doi.)

Stress Builds Character

Seriously.

My life is fucked,
as is yours.

Go to work.
Pay your bills.
Do not question.

Stay asleep.
Marry and reproduce.
Stay in debt.

Put it on credit.
Wait until tomorrow.

This is what we get.
The end is now.

[This album is perfect. I can't believe you don't own a copy.]
(DL)

"Burn to the Fucking Ground L.A. / Whitey's Gonna Pay"

San Jose was a fun city to grow up in. I know some people from larger Bay Area cities like to shit all over it, but fuck those dudes. The skate scene was, and is, one of the most creative and fertile ones in the country. Just watch the Enjoi "Bag of Suck" video if you don't believe me. They've also had a great music scene (though lacking in equally great venues) over the years. "Bike for Beers" is an annual underground party where they get about five houses, each with a keg and a band or two, around the downtown area. You start mid-afternoon, and rage/bike till the wee morning hours. The cops are actually pretty chill about it, and usually just stand guard at the front in case of fights or other destructive jackassery. After one of the Bike for Beers, I got to hang out with Dean from Stinky Feet Records at his apt. on Pearl Ave (He's since moved, and I didn't know him well enough to know what he's up to these days. If you know, I'd love to hear.)That's his bathroom the dude is sitting in on the cover. The walls were covered in losing scratch-off lottery tickets. He had an amazing record collection (from which he gave me several items that he had duplicates of), every MST3K episode on tape, and was always down to hang out and drink and talk about punk rock. Dean was a good guy. He was also in at least two kick-ass bands: Idiot Bitch and Preachers That Lied. Today, I'm posting the Idiot Bitch "Loser" 7" for your consideration. Male and female vocals, a little melodic, and fairly intelligent in the lyrics dept.
[I apologize for the quality of the rip, I really tried to clean it up without affecting the sound quality of the music. A couple pops in some tracks,still.]

"The Ayatollah of Rock n' Roll-a"

With tartar sauce, just the way you like them...

Alright, here's my first attempt at ripping from vinyl, and it's a good 'en. 320KPS of sloppy sonic love, directed at the hearts and groins of those sultans of sweat and semen, The Fuckboyz. "A Tribute To The Fuckboyz" - 2X7" was released by Farmhouse, Monkey Bite, and Six Weeks back in the mid '90s (95?). There was some discussion of Farmhouse Records and Red #9 in the comments over at Marc's blog, so I figured this was appropriate. Other bands on the comp. are: All You Can Eat, 40% Saline Solution, Wooly Mammoth, Idiot Bitch, Krupted Peasant Farmers, Your Mother, and The Dread (Sorry, it took some effort to scan all of the booklet and get the tracks legit, so I'm not including hot links. Just Google that shit, that's what I do, anyway). Pretty excellent example of what most of the punk coming out of the San Francisco Bay Area sounded like at that time; bouncy bass, raspy vocals, quick drums, good stuff. The booklet has some really good stories from the contributing artists about their love for the FBoyz. Listen to this, then go buy a beer for Aesop, he deserves it.

"And she makes me feel/ like Jesus Christ.
And she makes me feel/like Frankenstein."
- The Fuckboyz (DL)

(Oh, and let me know if you have any suggestions on improving the technique for ripping vinyl. I think this turned out really nice, but you may know something I don't.)

[Post Edit: If you already grabbed this, "Track 04" was corrupted by Mediafire. You can grab just that track, here. I also re-uploaded the complete rip, and replaced the link. Let me know if there are any further issues with it, please."

Fuck MP3's !!!

I've had the engorged middle finger of The Mummies pleasantly shoved in my face for well over a decade. No other band was ever so rude, and so shitty, and so fucking great as the dirty gauze and toilet paper wrapped jerks, right here. It's hard to even imagine that a band like this once existed. These guys were rebelling against C.D.'s and digital recording years before the cyber-geek twiddlery of Pro tools ruined any chance of rock n'roll making it out of the twenty-first century alive. They refused to record with any decent equipment and managed to trash just about every venue they played in record time, before taking off in a vintage ambulance filled with someone else's gear. I still haven't bought myself a turntable, and I hope to post a lot more from these guys when I do. Until then, here's a post-humous collection of rarities and live trash. It's definitely not my favorite, but it's one of the only ones I have a digital copy of. From this site: "Runnin' on Empty: Vol. 1" [Runnin' On Empty Vol. 1 LP (Estrus, 1996, ES 94016)
side one are all previously unreleased recordings:
side two is live at the Chameleon 9/5/91:]
In the spirit of fuck you-edness, I'm not posting a picture of the band above, but rather a picture of myself dressed as one of the Mummies from a Halloween, years ago.




Budget Rock Showcase!
[Oh, shit. If you're on the East Coast, they're playing a reunion in Hoboken, New Jersey!]