WED NOV 1 2017
MPLS Hardcore- EX NUNS, MUCH WORSE, NO SKIN, BLACKTHORNE
TRIPLE ROCK SOCIAL CLUB, MINNEAPOLIS, MN
Wednesday Nov 1st: This is a night of no-bullshit hardcore. Only $5. The three piece detonation of utterly furious and gravity-stomping hardcore aesthetic, EX NUNS will be performing for their US TOUR KICKOFF show. Also performing will be a rare and devastating force of unhinged speed, driven by the sleight of hardcore punk insanity, MUCH WORSE, performing exclusive and unheard tracks from their upcoming 2018 LP which will become their 5th vinyl release. BLACKTHORNE harnesses an uncontainable energy with cutting edge vocal hooks layered on quick bursts of minute-long cunning slammers. Highlighting the evening will be the masterful hardcore punk craft of NO SKIN, sending off their long-time drummer Pat McCabe, who is soon moving to Seattle, WA. Much of Pat’s life work has had him diligently involved in dozens of extreme genre projects in the Twin Cities over the years, and has crafted together a furious discography. With tactful precision and a brilliant and cerebral taste in the history of hardcore punk, they are certain to make sure you aren’t wasting your precious $5 on bullshit. Doors 8pm, show 9pm.
The full feature is here on this blog via YouTube, on my new channel PENGUIN CAT MEDIA! In this post, I am simultaneously releasing two entire sets for MUCH WORSE and FUCKING COWARDS, as well as a 3 song Video Demo for Much Worse’s upcoming LP, all filmed inside a finely archaeologically tuned sonic vortex that is the hallway shaped venue that is GRUMPY’S DOWNTOWN, a spectacular and historically significant venue here in Minneapolis, MN. See bottom of blog for “How It Was Made”, and lyrical content.
HOW IT WAS MADE: Currently, I’m fairly new to film-making and actively spend my free time reading and studying about it, I sought to animate the lighting set-up of these shows we film with absolutely still lighting, contrary to high dollar style venues, or low lighting set-ups. The house lights are simply never enough for us.
The night before the show, I had stayed up till like 5am watching cool VHS tapes with two of the people who helped film, Vicki Carpenter and Daniel Gerritsen, both who have extended film backgrounds far beyond my own. Without their intuition, experience and advice, the quality of this shoot would have not been possible.
Early, around noon that day of the show, Ben Herreid (1/3 of Penguin Cat) and I arrived to the venue for what was to become a 10pm show that night, running on maybe 2-3 hours of sleep. With permission from the venue, we were allowed to crawl up and down the walls, scaling the heights of the room’s brick walls to attach our entire set-up of lighting, extension cords, and audio recorders. Using gaff tape and real redneck southern tricks up my sleeve, I came up with contraptions such as these (image below left).
DRUMSTICK TRIANGLE
GAFF TAPED TO
A TRIPOD WAND THING
WITH POWER SUPPLY
FOR AUDIO CAPTURE
DEVICE
I wanted the lights to emanate a "Metal Gear Solid 2" vibe. This was one of the most exciting parts, however, to direct this film from behind a drum set, with only one take to use in itself lied a purely theatrical challenge. The camera crew I was working with could not have done a finer job, many of which, like Jim Orput of the killer hardcore punk band NO SKIN, intuitively understand how to be in tune with extreme music aesthetics.
So, let’s rewind six weeks prior to the show: Jeffrey Truckenmiller tells me he has a brand spankin’ new band called FUCKING COWARDS featuring this guy I’ve heard so much about named Travis Bos. Jeff invites Much Worse to do a two band show at Grumpy's. In my mind, this was a perfect opportunity to shoot a full feature film of our two bands. I mean, why the hell not? For my band, we write the setlist six weeks in advance, and in our space, we record the audio for the entire set start to finish, once a week. Multiple practices a week, so that when we played this set, it was at it’s prime control. Missing even a single note or breaking up the tempo during this shoot constantly haunted my mind for 6 straight weeks, knowing the structures and tempos are grueling and extremely fast, and knowing that I wanted it done in one single shot.
The limitation to this BLITZ-FILM-STYLE puts the actual performance under tedious pressure to get it right in one take, in front of a live audience, as a means to maintain the honesty of what the performers are capable of, under realistic pressure. It’s much like an actor who consistently rehearses their lines and, oh wait, shit… you’re also the director of the same movie. Then afterwards, you’re the editor. Also you have about an hour’s worth of tape to use, so you better not screw up at all. Creative control is the epitome of DIY culture, right? I call it the epitome of fun. For this film, I feel like it’s an expressive success for the all around talent the Twin Cities have to offer.
The second after editing the ending of the final song “Sick Feeling” of the Much Worse set, I set the shot to my own face, to illustrate what it actually looks like to see the intense metaphysical stress that was making this live film come to a performing close. In my mind I was only thinking, “Did I do it? Did they do it too?” Weeks of anticipation and an entire day of building the set by ourselves, steamed off of me, and all I could feel was relief. I felt like I went skydiving. Now I want to go again. Next up on deck are sets we recorded for EX NUNS, and many more.
Shout out to FUCKING COWARDS for being one of the freshest and best all-star hardcore bands around town right now. All these guys in that band are extremely cool, and I hope one day I can bring a stack of records over to Travis’ house and go down the rabbit hole of history with such an extremely prolific performer.
Special thanks to Jeffrey Truckenmiller for being a constant source of inspiration and actual fire up my ass to believe in this stuff.
------------------------------------------------------------------------- MUCH WORSE- 3 SONGS 2017 VIDEO DEMO LYRICS --------------------------------------------------- IMPERMANENCE refined reactions, surrendered fists and blatant distractions numb thoughts, indifference no happenstance there’s no chance deep state of sleeping late less awake than you even know, we are not shown you are bestowed, mind all your own
can you accept your impermanence will you remain in indolence
wrenching phantasmic dream, forensic team malicious involvement luring the crescent moon, a resting mood tension revolver surprise in present time blurred party lines praise on parade, hate and malaise evolve the amazed, crazed and afraid
can you accept your impermanence will you remain in indolence
faithful the tasteless leap the crowding collections piled upon the faltering heap --------------------------------------------------- MONARCH EFFECT stranded, unshielded from sunlight invasion abating sandtracks, treading abrasion i just wanna crawl down in it vermiculation infinite
knife to sarcophagus, a message to the future
like i could sneak beneath this layer nursing dust in my lungs seeking for moisture deep underneath 90 seconds of solar relief
drown to death in thirst drown to death in thirst
shrunken and drenched in sepulchre organic to wake up inside these moisturous genetics brain stem switch / a new set of parents 500 years since i drowned in the desert
message from a coffin "you are your own creator"
uncovered promethean device triggered memory written by myself from an ancient generation polysaccheride reanimation
drown to life in birth drown to life in birth --------------------------------------------------- SUBSERVIENCE connections lost heads split transceiver fragile nostalgia burnt smell deceiver a phony aroma wired to your frame only thinking as the others say
all pointless chatter as we rot in a privilige all roads are blocked
killing our true convictions of their due executions your eyes are not so closed can't sleep from what your stomach knows
so you're laying low, full of bad vibrations the sinking stones of inebriation we're all glassed away in multitudes we all pray one day that we might burn right through
their plans in motion ceaseless restriction estimated cost: guaranteed extinction
a phony aroma, wired to your frame only thinking as the others say ------------------------ --IRA
Even waking up with blue paint and Matt Watson's pubic hair on my face after a mind bending 21st birthday about 7 years ago only increased my love for this killer band. I remember working the old pizza spot with Cam, and him telling me "yea we sat around and listened to TSOL and Germs and were like, fuck man lets just write a shit ton of songs this week." Cam's clever crusher drumming lays behind the coolest riffs you wish you made while Will Evans gives you lyrical content about drinking bleach, wishing your parents were dead, and existential meaninglessness. 10/10 for sure.
While I was 19, I was in a kind of shitty band myself, and upon seeing the first SHARDS show, in a brief song break, I remember loudly promising to Cam that I would quit my band and start playing hardcore. I feel like I was actually born the day that Shards played their first show, it blew me against the wall. They wrote these songs so quickly just a couple weeks before their first show, and it was so dialed in and decisive. That amount of assertion came to make me believe I could make hardcore punk like this too. Being buddies with these guys at Pizza University was my first stepping stone into playing hardcore. It's more than the record itself, but it was the characters involved in it as well.
It was after Shards broke up, that their other band (whatever brains) would have a 1am band practice while I ate 6 servings of shroom brownies and a lot of sake on my 25th birthday. That night, while they practiced without stopping, I thought that god was reaching through the ceiling from outer space to kill me while we were on fire in this small corridor. They shot a laser show in their room and set off fog machines while I was lost in my own mind and humping the bass cab. I broke a bunch of their stuff, and tore up someone elses drumset and threw the drums at them while they were practicing. Evan just kept going, I think. Let it be known, that they were COOL WITH IT AND DIDNT GET MAD. Matt Watson saw my mess during the practice and left after their set was run, so he could get married the next day (definitely a fact). Rich Ivey and the others found me with blood on my face face down on the pavement outside and dragged me indoors, and layed me on my side with my backpack as a pillow, so I wouldn't choke on my own vomit. I had no real clue of the destruction until they showed me photos about 2 days later. I broke some dudes shit and paid him for it.
This LP ruined my life and you should let it ruin yours too. 10/10 hardcore punk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Let Will's lyrical content tell you the rest about how to make punk cool again.
Cameron is one of the greatest drummers in Raleigh, currently active in SKEMATA (drums) and DAVIDIANS (vocals). The other dudes were all playing different instruments in WHATEVER BRAINS and I think Evan plays in CRETE.
This LP kills, just like they did live, at every show. Relentless!!!
This post is years overdue, and the excitement I have for having listened to and to have witnessed several live shows by Brooklyn NY's short-lived hardcore band POLLUTION.
In summer of 2009, I had first heard of this band while hanging out after work with 3/5's of DEVOUR at some small house party in Raleigh, NC. They had played some select shows over that weekend with WORMEATERS from NJ. I sat there, sober at a party, gaining stimulus from hearing Matt LaVallee tell me about what in the hell they saw. The way he was talking was as if he actually saw a UFO. They literally could not describe Pollution to me at all. If we were speaking on the lines of influence and genre, then nothing they were saying made sense to me at all, and I immediately noted that as a great thing. Maybe something along the lines of "nothing can do justice to what they are live". "absolutely crushing", "seeing this band live will scare the ever living shit out of you", were select quotes I believe I remembered hearing that night.
This was reason enough for me to pick up the cassette copy of Pollution's NASTY DNA (limited to 100) at Richmond's No Way Fest 3. This was one of around 7 tapes I picked up that weekend. Skeptical of the hype, on my drive home, I rummaged my way through all the quick demos first which included a Total Wreck demo tape that was really cool, and much more. After hearing everything, I saved the Pollution tape for last, only because it was the longest one, and also due to the fact that I had developed expectations for it just a couple of weeks prior.
The first song "tiny.black.burns" hit and I immediately was putting my hand up to my forehead and my mouth was open. The second song, "Failure" starts with a guitar riff entirely dissonant, unsettling and tonally gritty; the drums begin and then I realize that I probably shouldn't be driving the car any longer. The crawling pace of "Upsidedown Trough" feeds back through the speakers what what can only seem as visually motioned tempos and vocal lines clearly illustrating a bleak and disgusting picture: 'capsized in the ocean // holy water wars // you can't just turn the thing around // how many times do I have to tell you // not to waste your time'. This can be related to on modern occasions and is immediately stark and realistic. The beastly mid-tempo slammer "drop.die" comes on next which makes me ask myself, "What in the hell am I listening to?" The songs were soul damaging, but carried these unforgettable hooks to them that seemed carefully, yet naturally written. I was nervous while hearing this and it actually made me feel like the world was ending. I was in disbelief of the riff in "shock.no exist". It carried itself with an ever-haunting tone and paced down to a crawl but everything cut just right in order to keep your attention.
This first listen unfathomably exceeded my expectations, and thus prompted me to drive the rest of the trip saying absolutely nothing and letting the tape automatically flip at least a dozen times for the remainder of the overnight drive back to Raleigh. The vocals were such a perfect balance of fury, poetry and clarity. No two songs were written alike each other, and also, no band ever sounded like this entire tape. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. When arriving back to Raleigh at around 5:30am, I pull out the lyric sheet and read through the entire tape. I don't think I was ever meant to sleep that night.
In 2009, picking up this tape was directly related to me wanting to start a new band. One month after waking up every morning and studying the careful writing, lyrical clarity, shocking guitar parts, and absolutely soul stealing drum parts, I remained on the edge of my seat for more of their releases.
About a month later at a Shards show in my basement in mid-July of 2009:
"Hey Ira, I like your drumming, do you want to try to play some music tomorrow? I play guitar and might have some riffs.", said to me, a 17 year old named Jeff Young. I had only seen him around at shows and had never hung out with him that much before.
"Come back over to my house tomorrow afternoon, you absolutely have to hear this Pollution record", I said back to him. I'm pretty sure this was how Jeff and I would end up starting a band called Stripmines.
When I heard the 2014 demo tape that was released by this band, I was immediately repeating the tape over and over. I haven't worn out a tape in under a week since Matt LaVallee (Stripmines, Devour) let me sort of borrow an early Kieltolaki discography cassette tape. This is the band I had hoped these guys would start when guitarist Ace Mendoza and drummer Connor Donegan both made an exodus from Raleigh into Washington DC, to seek their own animated and well-structured DIY ventures. At the time the demo tape came out, I literally had no free time to review how I felt about it on this blog, seeing as I was sort of living between two cities both 1200 miles away from each other on and off for a little while. Simply enough, this LP makes a great cornerstone for a Vile Discourse review.
After seeing Red Death live at Nice Price Books in Raleigh, the anticipation for their newest vinyl release was similar to that of a new Star Wars movie. I had followed many of their projects while living in Raleigh, and was fortunate to see nearly every set ever played by Abuse., Last Words, and fortunately played some cool shows short-lived Macht Nichts, all which are precursors to Red Death.
My favorite song on the album has to be UNHOLY AGONY II. When they played it live, I could feel the beginning out, and heard the snare crack into a vicious down-tempo, I was in the middle of the floor spinning my hair around like Andrew WK. It's great on record, but still doesn't do justice to how I saw it live when they played Minneapolis two weeks ago. The breakdown tempo change in UNHOLY AGONY II is, to me, immediately noted as a clever tip of the hat from Ace to Raleigh's Jeff Young for his brutal and clever down-stroke riffing in Last Words. To me, that's probably the coolest thing you can do in respect to your previous bands, is add simple notes and clever homage to what you've done before. Instead of naming an ex-members list for themselves, the actions of Red Death speak much louder than words. You can feel and undeniably understand where they came from and what bands they were probably in or liked without creating a "for fans of" section at all. This LP does so perfectly!
The song Strategic Mass Delirium starts an intro of subtle limitations that immediately changes gears, and hits the nitro boost in what feels like a Celtic Frost style tempo change. Straight forward hardcore slamming riffing and writing on the bass on the song ALLEVIATE by Coke Bust's Nick Candela bring you an evolution of what sounds like a structure that couldn't fit on their Degredation EP, but twisted to fit the style of Red Death's more rock n' roll feel. The untamed guitars and feedback between and during tracks have clear nods to classic Raleigh hardcore titans such as Double Negative and CoC, but there are probably enough blogs and reviews saying the same thing already.
Chad's vocals are menacing and professional in a very tasteful way. Ranging dynamics from proto-thrashers and the diaphragm charges you may have heard on Infest's "No Man's Slave" LP (see the fast kick-drum tag in Unholy Agony II). Menacing and highly energetic, riotous snarl.
Connor slams one out of the ballpark with both the drum sound on the record and his keen ability to write great parts. The second song RUINOUS WRATH shows a nod to Raleigh's Brian Walsby and Reed Mullin which seem meaningfully intentional and logical for the song to have it's "Raleigh feel", while incorporating an evolution of it all by rewarding us with certain methods gained from Sepultura's Igor Cavalera. I remember seeing Connor play drums in a living room when he was like 16 or something and the only thing I could say to Jeff was, "Holy shit we have a new Brandon Ferrell now." It was like finding a long-lost Skywalker in a world that really needs great hardcore punk.
The brutality and fine production of this record pick up right where the fantastic and absolutely punishing LP by 'Abuse.' left off at the end of their band, and this offers something different and just all around cool. Every note is clear and concise, and it was everything I was hoping for when these guys started packing their bags. This record takes everything we've learned from Raleigh hardcore history and crams in together on wax. They just "get it". I can't recommend this record enough.
The velocity of this 7" beast matches the intensity and cutthroat tempos done by predecessors such as The Neos or Koro. This San Diego hardcore punk group is 80's revival style hardcore punk band done kind of perfectly in this frame of time. Most of the lyrical content focus on political state and current events for around the time the record came out (2005?). Definitely a step ahead of its time. Very broad and nothing too specific, and definitely nothing personal in the lyrics at all, giving it another fine touch in its accessibility. The production of this EP is outstanding, actually. It's simply recorded, relying on the simple fact that the entire thing is audible and hits hard. Frantic guitars kept in frame just well enough to make the songs have hooks and feel "right".
The transition between the first song (Slave) and second song (For What?) is that which will have you rewinding and possibly punching a wall. Especially the best notes are in the tempo changes you'll find in the song Warstarters. Unbelievably on point and absolutely ripping. I think I've seen this in record stores go for like $2 or $3, yet when you actually put this thing on, it's a blazing eye opener. This is kick ass American hardcore.
Would love to see any of these members in some new bands, or perhaps get ahold of some unreleased material from this band. From what I can tell, this is their only release. But it's kind of how Koro's 700 Club EP might be in the sense, that everything you need to know about what they're putting together is all crammed into one slam dunk of an EP.
Blackball is a new Raleigh/VA hardcore band that is absolutely killing it from only the two shows I've seen them play thus far. Twice, I have taken a break at work just to roll down to Sorry State Records and bug Jeff to play this demo for me start to finish. I literally have freaked out the entire two times I've heard the rough mixes of this demo. A couple of the songs are already stuck in my head, in full anticipation of what's going to probably be my favorite demo in years.
The vocals by Richmond's Ericka Kingston belt out like a venomous war machine, placed atop the songs with concise strategy and fury. The drumming by Anthony Williams is exactly measured out, and delivered with brute force, tastefully. It's clear that 100% of this band is obsessed with Out Cold, Poison Idea, Government Warning etc., except the riffing is layered on with Jeff Young's chorus sounding sunnO))) amplification and David Gallagher's invincible downstrokes. That kind of guitar playing they do has a feel of Articles of Faith meets A Place in the Sun era YDI, and early Riistetyt. Christophe Bequet from the almighty and defunct Abuse. makes an appearance on bass, and couldn't be a better fit for the section. Both shows, I noticed he played a couple feet standing behind the drummer Anthony, as he would watch closely, holding the root notes down, tight and professional. He literally doesn't miss a single note. Blackball holds together as tight as their absolutely great previous acts they've played in such as Last Words, Future Binds, Crooked Teeth etc., but the best word for this band is "evolution". The cover they played in the set was originally done by Dutch hardcore band Nog Watt, who is also a very fitting influence from the sounds of their set. I have no idea what to expect from Blackball next, but I feel like this band will be a primetime Raleigh hardcore staple and I pray they go on full out world tour so that everyone in the world can freak out to them like I did the other night. I'm on the edge of my seat to get a copy of their demo.
Things not to expect: blast beats and dumb breakdowns.
Things to expect: a furiously blazing demo promised to get worn out in your tape player
No exaggeration, this record has spun on my turntable at least 350 times ever since I picked it up back in early 2008. I saw them live on their final tour when I was still a gullible youngin'; I had no idea who they were, I actually went to this show to see one of my area favorites, Government Warning, who were always great to see without question. The show was at this terrible bar full of dimwitted employees called the Double Down in Raleigh, NC. The staff was rather brood-ish and ego-scary.
From memory, I could only remember seeing this band feeling like my jaw had dropped to the floor. I could have died happy at that moment, while I observed this five-piece monster of a rock n roll band completely destroying this shitty bar, and playing a seamless, uncompromising 30-35 minute set that left me wanting even more at the end. There were absolutely no breaks between songs, and the guitar player crawled on top of things, did a lot of scary things, went outside during a guitar lead, and scared the hell out of all of us attendees by coming inches short of slashing our necks with his guitar neck. The vocalist, Cam Popham had a firm stance in the middle of the floor, belting out terrifyingly genuine feelings through the microphone. Driven by lyrical content on par with modern poets, his voice was straight low-end diaphragm. I was immediately shifted.
I specifically remember the bartender telling the band after their set, "Hey, ya'll can't play here ever again!", and the response from one of the band members being something like, "Um okay, we were never going to anyways, we are from fucking Canada." One month later, this bar closed forever and became the Black Flower. Good job guys.
Under Pressure (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada) was definitive for what they were performing. The drummer Dan Ryckman (I probably spelled that wrong, whatever) wrote parts that were directly inspirational and influential to my drum parts for bands I would later be a part of, such as Stripmines (NC), and later, some of the more recent Much Worse (MN) stuff I'll be doing on the new LP. Back in 2008, seeing Under Pressure, and listening to their records didn't make me want to create more of what I was doing, but instead inspired me to completely destroy it and start all over again (i.e. quit the band I was in, which I did quit it, gladly and for the better). In that area in life, the timing could not have been more perfect as a means for self-improvement and musical discipline. From what I understand, that dude also plays in a bunch of sick grindcore bands such as Violent Gorge and Archagathus, thus making for Ryckman's such perfectly practiced pacing and drumming language.
Another great thing I remember about Under Pressure playing in Raleigh was smuggling pizza out of my job's kitchen (don't tell my boss) for this band the day after their show. This action would very well be my foot in the door for doing DIY hardcore show stuff later on down the road. These habits and understanding for the needs of touring bands would quickly create great contacts for me and, only a year later, would send me booking really neat DIY hardcore shows of my own all over Raleigh. I can tell any of you first hand, that sometimes bands come through and they can be a true catalyst for members of the audience, and for me it took a band setting an example of "how to do it". This would keep me excited enough to understand that I would diligently keep at this stuff for years, and that I would care about doing it for a very long time. It also made me practice drums nearly every day and still does, and it made raised the bar for me deciding on what kind of bands I would eventually be doing for my years after seeing them.
I genuinely felt like this band was pushing the boundaries of what's actually possible in songwriting while still making hardcore punk that sounded so completely perfect and musical. Riff heavy rhythm parts, minus too many leads, much like the Ramones were so popular for. This band was the equivalent, or more, of seeing something like a mix of Japanese hardcore or Bl'ast, but with a grimy melody carrying every part uniquely, just like in the song "Muddy Waters". The songs carry a fine distinction from one another and contrast tempos frequently throughout the record. Perfect guitar tone, and the vocals belt out in a realistic, non-contrived format, laid out in a well thought out process. I feel like this entire record builds itself up to the punishing track "Sick/Sinful" and closes perfectly with "Tired Eyes". To say that I recommend this record to you is a criminal understatement, for I actually feel like you have not been alive yet until you've heard this record start to finish. Their other LP that I have called "Black Bile", is just as good, I promise. As soon as I find a digital version of Black Bile or upload it myself, it'll definitely be up.
This is a video I put together from my first tour with Minneapolis hardcore quartet MUCH WORSE.
We did another tour in 2014, and you can expect to see a video from that around the time of the release of our new LP. We did a five song tape before we left for tour that I will find a way to include in the next post. We are counting down about 3 weeks remaining until we hit the studio to record an entire 12 new songs. The tour tape and this upcoming LP are my first releases with them, and maybe first of many. It's been a good run, and I plan to return to Minneapolis in the spring-time to finish up some more possible tours and definitely a lot of great shows with the new material, which we are all very excited about. Anyways, this video is pretty cool, and is worth checking out if you've got 27 minutes to watch a cool DIY HC video.
I picked this up when I booked a show for NSU about two years ago. Truly, this band was unbelievable and wrecked house at the weirdest bar/hair salon in Raleigh. There were smoke bombs and fireworks going on indoors and the bartender miraculously did not care about the entire event at all. We blamed the hair coloring products for all the paint spots on the floor.
Simply enough, they stayed at my house and after seeing them and putting this record on, NSU gave me a breath of fresh air in the hardcore punk genre. The hardcore shows in Raleigh in 2012 had some really average touring bands from the way I collect. Previously, I had heard the 12" record they had entitled "Across the Wounded Galaxies", but had no clue whatsoever to how completely loud and forceful this music would be live, though I still listen to ATWG rather frequently still. Cameron Craig and I stood there with our mouths open being like "what in the fuck is this band? THIS RULES"
Simply enough, after NSU stayed at my house and we discussed horrible movies such as Birdemic: Shock and Terror, The Room (Tommy Wiseau) and many other humorous things, I realized that these guys were not only a cool band, but simply great guys with fantastic senses of humor about them. They were walking cartoons. One year later they would play a show at King's with The Coltranes (who rule hard as well), and all of these guys then introduced me to Longmont Potion Castle (the greatest albums ever created completely encompassed with prank phone calls). Every time I meet these guys, it seems I learn something new.
About the music. Just click this and find out. It's blistering hardcore punk. Like a shamelessly evolved form of Die Kreuzen, yet very original stuff. Fucked up band with fucked up dudes. Key things to keep in mind, is if you pick up any NSU record, READ THE LYRICS. All of the lyrics have some sort of hyper intelligence to them, and the vocalist Kevin seems to read a lot of books. All of these songs are very well versed and creative, and the lyrics give it some of its own purpose. It's relieving to find hardcore punk bands that care about writing lyrics so much, while still having them remain decipherable (Double Negative, Devour, Wasted Time, Under Pressure, Concrete Cross are all examples of contemporary hardcore punk bands with great lyrics). The structures are all over the place and still remain influential to bands that will be coming out in the next hundred years, I hope. Cut the bullshit breakdown crap and dumb growler death core for a minute and get into a band that writes actual songs.
Greetings all! Ira here. First a couple of updates.
Two projects I have been up to in the past year is Minneapolis' MUCH WORSE and Raleigh's PROSTHESIS.
PROSTHESIS consists of Jeff Young (we played together in STRIPMINES and both run this blog), Daniel Lupton (DEVOUR, LOGIC PROBLEM, Sorry State Records), Dave Yarwood (DEVOUR), David Gallagher (VACANT PLANET). It is essentially a continuity of our deceased projects and ideas from the past year or so. The first show for Prosthesis is APRIL 14, and another show scheduled thus far is JUNE 5. Information on both of these shows are listed below.
MUCH WORSE is the 4 year long running hardcore speed freaks from Minneapolis that I've been playing with over the summer. Live, Much Worse attempts to blow the doors down with a full and intense wall of sound. With plenty of breakneck, furious and fast tempos, something that feels new about it. Inventive riffing, complex lyrical structure and overall style. I will be playing for them again this summer on another US tour, flying out there on June 15th. Much Worse tour video coming very soon.
For a while I will continue to hop on airplanes and play drums for bands. Meanwhile, I'll use this blog to let you know about cool hardcore shows happening in Raleigh.
Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/682526341793062/?ref=2&ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming
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SATURDAY MAY 10th @ IN THE GROOVE RECORDS
All ages matinee show! Show by JASON BROWN
MAN WILL DESTROY HIMSELF / INTHESHIT / SONS OF TONATIUH / RECREANT / PRIAPUS / RBT
3:00PM / $10
Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/663300273734760/?ref=2&ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming
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THURSDAY JUNE 5th @ NICE PRICE BOOKS (Raleigh)
Show by TREVOR FUHRMANN
BARGE / PROSTHESIS +more
8:30PM, ALL AGES, $6
I will be playing this show in PROSTHESIS
Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/137076919796306/?ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming
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THURSDAY JUNE 12th @ NICE PRICE BOOKS (Raleigh)
Show by WILL BUTLER
CHEST PAIN (TX) +more
9:00PM
More information TBA
Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/770235206327440/
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After this, I will be away for the summer, however, I will try to keep you all updated with Raleigh shows while I'm gone!
If you would like to add a show of yours to my blog or have any questions please feel free to contact me at vilediscourse@gmail.com
Thanks to all the hardcore punk metal freaks of NC
