The Raveonettes - Beauty Dies EP

I can't say that I was ever the hugest fan of the Raveonettes. I saw them around and was passingly aware of them recording their first record at Looking Glass, but they seemed a little flavor of the month for me. I figured we'd see them going the way of the The Hives and/or The Strokes, but lo and behold they have dropped a gang of EPs, encompassing remixes, Christmas fare, as well as Beauty Dies. It's some real ear candy, with lush synths and hazy drums that support singer Sharin Foo's gauzy vocals nicely. Grammy winning producer Mario McNulty does a nice job of reconciling the band's Velvet Underground leanings with their love for electronica. It's probably the best Raveonettes recording I've heard so far, and if they keep going on like these four tunes, they may have a new fan here at JS-NYC.


Keep tabs on with going's on in the world of the Raveonettes here. If you're feeling friendly, befriend them here.

Have a Happy New Year! Check back tomorrow for a JS-NYC Year-End Giveaway.

Jesu - Why Are We Not Perfect?

Jesu have always confounded me a bit. I ended up seeing Jesu with Heath a couple years ago now when they were opening for Isis at Irving and had a hard time reconciling the music I was hearing against the Godflesh and Napalm Death shows I had seen in years past. Don't get me wrong, I have very little interest in fraternizing with whatever passes for a Godflesh fan in 2008, but I didn't really think I was going to hear a Twilight Singers record remixed by Al Jourgensen either. The live show was good, although obviously heavily sequenced. In checking out the recorded Jesu material, it's obvious that Broadrick hasn't let his studio chops get dull. Why Are We Not Perfect? has the gloss and sheen of a masterful engineer. There might be some argument that a producer might make the songs a little shorter, as four of the five songs are but a shade under seven minutes. In his defense (as if he needs it) it's not like these are going to be radio songs, and he develops his themes organically enough that the songs rarely feel bloated, but those with shorter attention spans might grow weary of the ear candy before Why Are We Not Perfect? draws to a close. Personally, the keyboards get a little Alphaville for me, to the point where I wonder why the average metal guy would even be into this. I don't mean to pigeonhole Jesu into the metal community, but Isis and the like are indicative of the type of bands they tour with and I can't see Jesu going down a storm in front of a Midwest metal crowd, but maybe the scene is more open-minded in this day and age.

If you follow Justin Broadrick like a lout of shut-ins follow Mike Patton and think everything he does is genius, you're probably already sold on Why Are We Not Perfect?. The average Godflesh fan might balk a bit, but I expect that the older fans that have stuck it out with Nine Inch Nails might find this appealing. I'd say it's ok. Sonically, it' definite ear candy, but it's a little too slick for me. You can get Why Are We Not Perfect? here from the good folk of Hydra Head here. Keep tabs on the coming and going of Jesu here.

R

Yo Man Go - Discography at If You Make It

Here's a good fucking time hiding behind a not-so-especially good band name. Yo Man, Go are yet another of the stellar bands I've been exposed to through the good folk of If You Make It. That site is a godsend. Yo Man, Go are salve for sore ears their own selves. Despite their PA pedigree, they combine the best of the Long Island and Gainesville punk sounds, perhaps with a bit of Lifetime. There are evidently ex-Off Minor and RAMBO dudes in the franchise, but you'd be hard pressed to connect the two from the songs here.

Don't get it twisted though, all of the nine songs in the discography are damn solid, hooky pop-punk from stem to stern, but not in a cheesy New Found Glory sort of way. They seem equally well suited to bars or basements, so long as you can get your fists in the air and sing along. I've been doing it around the house and it works just as well here. I'd lose the earnest spoken parts, but I guess it's too late now, as Yo Man, Go! have seemingly gone the way of the Buffalo. In the meantime, snag the nine songs from If You Make It here and leave a donation on your way out.

R

Live: OnPoint and Metal John at The Delancey 12.27.8

It's been a whirlwind couple of days. JS-NYC is skipping town to Istanbul for a week or so and I've been running around trying to get my shit together. I'm glad the last show I saw before I skipped town was OnPoint. It's been months since they played, juggling a new singer and new tunes with all the other ridiculousness that life throws at you, but it was good to see them treading the boards again. This show was part of the regular Dirty Bomb NYC nights that go on at the Delancey, so we also got dancing go-go girls to sweeten the pot. I'm not sure they were there for the early part of Metal John's set, but I caught the end and as mighty be expected, it was kind of a sausage party. I would think the avenues would be somewhat limited for a guy who plays solo shred guitar, but in these days of Ron Thal and Buckethead getting shine from the big guys, you never know what might happen. MJ can play and he attracts a pretty big crowd, but it's not exactly what I'm looking for these days. My issues aside, he's a solid guy and great player.

OnPoint has been breaking in a new singer for the last six months or so. They had a bear of a Latina fronting the franchise in their early days and I feared for the worst when the she left the fold, but the new woman, who may be named Olga, kicks a whole lot of ass. At the early shows at Otto's, she seemed a little tentative, but the last couple of months in the practice space really seem to have worked wonders for OnPoint as a band. Two Flying V's and a drum machine provide the backing. Hold on to your ass, as the beats are relentless and the guitar is in your face. I'm not crazy about the NiN cover, but OnPoint is a solid band that I see making big moves in 2009.

Keep tabs on the OnPoint team here. I'm off to Turkey.

R

Withered - Folie Circulaire

Withered came on my radar recently when Greg from Batillus mentioned they were going to be playing a show together. I missed the show due to the shitty-ass weather, but heard both bands went over well. Having now spun this a half-dozen times, I hate the winter weather even more.

Folie Circulaire is the second record from this Atlanta foursome. You may be familiar with their debut Momeno Mori, or perhaps heard the two Withered guitarists in their old grind outfit Social Infestation with Mastodon's Troy Sanders.

Withered are new to me, but the interwebs tell me there is a new rhythm section in the fold for their sophomore release. It certainly doesn't sound like there have been problems integrating the new members, as these Atlanta beard aficianados throw down hard on Folie Circulaire. Chris Freeman holds down vocals as well as half the duties. I can only take the cookie monster vocals in small doses, but the music is more than interesting enough to get you through. Sue me, but I'm more of an Opeth guy in that regard. In the guest star department, Barney Greenway from Napalm Death pops up a couple tracks in. I guess it's to my metal detriment that I didn't recognize him until I read about it and didn't find it all that different from the rest of the vocals, but regardless of who is scarring their vocal cords, the excoriating rasp of the vocals dovetails nicely with the sonic onslaught that is Folie Circulaire. The vocal tunes are broken up with a couple instrumental tunes (a good idea) and a pretty ripping Necrophobia cover to close the proceedings a little past the 45 minute mark. It will leave you wanting more, but in this instance I think it's for the best. If this stretched towards the hour mark I probably wouldn't have made it the duration, but at this point I hope we see them in town soon. Pick up Folie Circulaire from the good folk of Prosthetic here. Should you find the urge to waste away with the boys, the Withered web presences are here and here.

The VSS - Nervous Circuits deluxe reissue

Here's some bang for your buck in the holiday season. Hydra Head is dropping a bomb with this reissue. Originally on the late Lance Hahn's label Honey Bear, Nervous Circuits was a kick to the head when it dropped in '97. We'd seen the Black Flag energy before, but the addition of keys and a light show upped the ante like few had at that point. Six Finger Satellite had done stuff in that vein (and a lot of others, apparently) but The VSS and Lifter Puller blew minds and speakers alike with their angular attack and jagged rhythms.

I'm not sure how many copies Lance moved of Nervous Circuits the first time around, but Hydra Head is making it worth checking out with this reissue. The record is remastered and repackaged in a sweet gatefold digipak with a DVD of three entire live shows plus a handful of miscellaneous live videos. The first thousand come with an additional cd with five unreleased tracks and another live show. All for $13. You could do a whole lot worse, my friends, and I can tell you that I bought a copy for the holidays and got one with the bonus disc, so you'd do well go act quick-like. Here's a link. Break out the black hair dye and the high-water pants and get your spazz on all over the home or office.

R

Jr. Juggernaut - Ghost Poison

Jr. Juggernaut are one of the more recent signings by Virgil Dickerson and the Good Folk Of Suburban Home Records. I fell pretty hard for the tune Suburban Home put on their recent comp. Another Two Weeks was said tune and it got under my skin and on to my playlists until I managed to score a copy of Ghost Poison.I have to say that when I threw this on the first time I was a bit disappointed, but that must have been the holidaze weighing too heavily on the proceedings. I've played it two or three times in the last day or so and I'm prepared to commit to it being pretty awesome. There are couple 'jammy' moments that I could do without, but I bet I'd think differently a couple beers in at the live show.

Jr. Juggernaut are pretty representative of the stuff Suburban Home has been releasing of late. The LA based three-piece seems well informed of Mssrs. Young (Neil and Angus) and Westerberg; with Mike Williamson breaking strings and singing for the crew. He's a got a whiskey-rough voice that suits the band's Tom Petty through a tube screamer grit. Drummer Waleed Rashidi kicks it up a notch, chipping in on backing vocals sometimes, too. Their voices work well together and it fattens up the sound nicely. It's a good sound that probably gets them a good bit of notice in the fake wasteland of their LA home base. Think an L.A. Drag The River without so much of a punk pedigree. Trust me, it's a good thing. There has been a holiday sale over at Suburban Home that may well have passed. Check out here and see, and know that it's worth paying the dirt cheap $9 they are/were asking normally.

R

The Twilight Sad - Killed My Parents And Hit The Road

The Twilight Sad hail from the sunny, rainless land of Scotland. Glasgow, I believe. I saw them play on the final Aerogramme tour and made a mental note to check their records out, then Andrew at Skyscraper sent me a copy of Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters a week or so later. I was pretty taken with it. Of course, I got into them mere days after they finished a residency three blocks from my house, but my god is a cruel god. Imagine Teenage Fanclub crossed with Aerogramme and you've got a nice start. The hooks are there, just mildly obfuscated with some errant noisy parts.

Killed My Parents And Hit The Road is a limited release The Twilight Sad put together to defray the costs of their (assumably) current European tour with Mogwai. That's a pretty decent double bill that needs to go Stateside pronto. The CD is only available on tour or from selected indie shops, but it's well worth checking out. There are a handful of live tracks from Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters, plus live covers of Joy Division and The Smiths (and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs for those that prefer their bands shitty and/or fleeting). It's well worth the import from Fat Cat, even if the dollar is weak. Pick up Killed My Parents And Hit The Road here from Fat Cat and keep tabs on our Glaswegian friends here. Slainte!

R

Skyscraper #29 Out Now

Hey Kids: New Skyscraper is now available. Pick it up at the places you normally get such things, or buy/peruse online here. Check it out for my interview with Evan Patterson from Young Widows, plus reviews of the new Airborne Toxic Event,Malcolm Bauld,The Lord Dog Bird, Ninja Gun, The Riot Before, Rise Against, and Adrenalin OD releases.

If you are so progressive as to read and/or watch things, check for my reviews of the Engine Down and Get Thrashed docs and the Clapton, Gibson Les Paul and Dr. Dre's Mom books.

Thanks to Andrew, Peter and Diana at Skyscraper.

Large Professor - Main Source

Well lookie here: Xtra P is back up in this piece. It's about damn time. He's been producing at his usual rate, but still it's nice to see him back in front of the mike. Main Source (still bitter, Paul?) is a pretty strong showing, especially for a guy that dropped his first LP in 1991. Rap is a young man's game, but Large Professor flows over new school beats better than a lot of older MCs. And a lot of the new cats, too. He's never going to cross over like Wayne or Jeezy, but he has the longevity and he's been in hip-hop before it was big business, so you know he appreciates still being around and relevant. There's also the small matter of his having birthed a style that has influenced every rapper or producer in the game, whether they know it or not. He gave fucking Primo lessons when he was coming up, for chrissakes.

While he's still clocking production dollars on the regular, Xtra P and full-length releases have had a rockier relationship. He recorded a record for Geffen that was shelved, then bizarrely resurfaced on Matador for the good but instantly disappearing First Class. This time around, Large Pro is dropping Main Source on Gold Dust Media, who released a couple vinyl volumes of instrumentals on LP with pretty good success. Large Professor comes with the same hard flow that he displayed back in the days when he fronted the trio the record is named for. A couple tracks degenerate into what the amazing Robbie at Unkut so eloquently refers to as 'Grown Man Rap gone wrong' but when Xtra-P gets busy with it, like on Hardcore Hip Hop, all the new school suckers disappear like roaches when the lights come on.

There are seventeen tracks on Main Source, and I will say that's probably too many. No skits though. A couple tracks are short shout-out type deals with Jeru and Malachai though, so there's not too much fat. You want this, and chances are someone is going to throw you some useless gift card for the holiday, so why not snap Main Source up here.

R

Supersuckers - Get It Together

So the calendar tells us it's been 20 years for The Supersuckers. If you took a poll over at SubPop back then to see what band they thought would be most likely to make it two decades, I would suspect you wouldn't have gotten many takers for The Supersuckers, but they have persevered to prove us wrong. They've proved to be pretty solid masters of self-affirmation as well, having proclaimed themselves The World's Greatest Rock N' Roll band well before it seemed wise to do so, then made a pretty solid run for the title. I'd say there are still stronger contenders, but The Supersuckers are a pretty solid bunch of dudes. The band has never hidden it's country side, but the band and Lead Sucker Eddie Spaghetti have embraced a divide and conquer tact of late, releasing country and rock records with and without the band. Lesser artists would soon buckle under the pressure of maintaining two sets of balls in the air, but Spaghetti has stepped up and pretty much pulls it off on the regular. I believe he's married with children, so it could be those new-found obligations (I'd never seen a 'kids welcome' tag on a Supersuckers show before, although they are approaching endearingly lecherous in their old age) that keeps the band out there and rocking.

Get It Together is a real solid record. It's a little smooth, but a kick in the ass from an expensive boot is still a boot in the ass and there is much ass being kicked on this record. But are you really surprised? The Supersuckers have done a pretty good job of capturing the cocksure swagger of their live shows in their recent recordings and this one is no exception. It's nice to see Rontrose back in the fold, he continues to be a dark horse in the guitar hero standings, wielding some mighty Goldtop magic all over Get It Together. It's funny that the boys are calling this record Get It Together, as they are far removed from the debauched band of malooks they were even ten years ago when Eddie would regularly be pre-emptively jailed on his birthdays by Austin police and have 'gotten it together' some time previously. Hell, Get It Together is even on their own Mid-Fi Recordings. It's a wise move for a band on their level that keeps the dollars much closer to home. The Suckers realized the value of merch early and now that they have their own label, they are making it worthwhile for their customers by packaging the cd with a DVD of a live show from 2007. You could do a lot worse for $10, so buy it here from the gents. While you're there, take a sec and sift through the Kiss-like cornucopia of recorded and printed wearable/drinkable delights they have to offer. The Supersuckers make the perfect holiday gift.

R

CyTunes benefit cd - Superchunk: Live At Cat's Cradle 8.29.8

Were it not to be a year where The Hold Steady were touring, Mac and the Team Chunk might very well be on my shit list. Their only shows this year were for the Obama campaign and announced on short notice. It was obviously more of an issue for our Southern friends, but while I would have gone were I not to need a new couch, I was kind if bummed at the cross-pollenation of the two. When rock bands transcend humanist politics for Party ones, it's kind of a kill-joy, but then again the Chunk members are better people than me.

This cause is more up my alley, but I still wish they didn't have to throw their support behind it. Cy Rawls was a friend of the Merge and Superchunk camps, as well as a DJ on local terrestrial broadcasting force WXYC. He was unexpectedly diagnosed with a brain tumor over the summer and has since succumbed to cancer this past October 3rd, but his friends that rallied to raise funds for his treatment (he had no health insurance) have established CyTunes to memorialize their friend. All profits are donated to North Carolina's Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke.

Since the inception of CyTunes, a number of bands have donated music for the cause, including Shinola, Double Negative and the mighty Superchunk. The Superchunk contribution is a live recording from the venerable Cat's Cradle in Chapel Hill, NC. It commorates a benefit show they played for Cy where you could make a donation and request whatever Chunk song you'd like to hear. As a result, there are some dips into the back catalog that are more than a little unexpected. No new material, although I'd have ponied up hard for even a bad recording of "Learn To Surf". The show is as warts and all as you might suspect, with ample time for tuning breaks and generous time for Jim to be a smart-ass. It's also pretty damn good, especially in this time where Superchunk seems to be garaged for the time-being. Here's hoping Mac and Laura take some time off from politicking and procreating to get some new Sweet Chunky Goodness for our respective earholes.

I'd say the high point of Superchunk: Live From The Cat's Cradle is the live version of Home At Dawn, but there are 17 other tracks to tickle your fancy. There's even a version of Day The Sharks Flew featuring Kevin and Jennifer from Erectus Monotone for all you old-school Triangle kids and Merge estoterica aficianados. Misfits and Mistakes from The Aqua Teen Hunger Soundtrack appears, as well, (sans Meatwad lead vocals). You can buy tracks individually, or pick up the whole kit and caboodle for $13 cheap. Do that here. It's not a tax deduction, but if you want, you can donate in that regard, too. You could do a lot worse for less than $20. Check out CyTunes here and do some shopping.

There is more info on the fundraising effort here. Were you of a mind to keep up on Merge goings-on, you can check in here. The Chunk web presence is here, with info on the new Clambakes disc coming in January, too. Bookmark that shit, yo.

R

One Bent Christmas

Alright, I can admit now that I've made it through the duration of One Bent Christmas that I was having some serious issues with doing this cd. One of the players is a friend, and one who I would have no problem savaging, as I am a dick and he's a pretty serious music academian. Plus I worked a ten hour day and turned off YouTube Footage of Robert Cray and John Hiatt doing Sam and Dave covers to listen, so suffice to say that an album of Christmas music done by anyone other than Randy Newman (yes, I know) or, to be fair, Twisted Sister, is going to pale in comparison. Oh, and I fucking hate Christmas music. I will stand firm in my personal code of journalistic credibility: call a spade a spade, unless of course you are a girl I want to kiss, in which case I will pretty much lie my stupid face off. These guys aren't that pretty.

One Bent Christmas is a collaboration between four old friends that also happen to be audio professionals and musicians. In the interest of more internet hits, let's call the guilty parties thusly (and alphabetically): Matt Cullen, Justin Matley, Bill Mueller, and Michael Reidy. It features seven tunes, four of them with vocals and three instrumental standards.

So let's break One Bent Christmas down:

It opens with Back Door Santa, which I would prefer never to hear again. It's not nearly as lewd as you would think and that may be to it's disadvantage. Well played, but I've got Ergs records to listen to.

Next is Jingle Bells. It's instrumental. They can play. Nuttin For Christmas comes next, with Justin Matley dropping a little Hoagie Carmichael (up an octave) holiday science. Not, I'm obligated to point out, a cover of the x-rated classic from Blowfly.

Hey! More instrumentals: Silent Night and Sleight Ride. Both instrumental, one traditionalish the other not. Download it and see which one is which. They, uh, can play.

Now next is Lost In My Day. That is a seriously good song and kind of a curve ball for me, frankly. I don't hear any direct connection between the song and Christmas, but it's a nice reward for making it this far. That said, it really is a great tune. Matley sings that one, with some help from a lady. That song really deserves some notice outside of the arena of a Christmas record.

The closer is what may be a solo guitar version of Auld Lang Syne, but I almost broke my keyboard I hit the space bar so hard. I'd avoid that track and play #6 again.

One Bent Christmas is available for free via download here. Check out the various parties via their links above.

aldenbarton - Exodus of the Eldest available on I-tunes Now!

It's mildly ironic that I've been in NYC almost two decades and been a pretty obsessed music fan for the duration, yet the bands around town have been pretty uniformly terrible for at least the last five or six years, if not more. The Hold Steady started to turn the tide in the proper direction, and bands like Steve Shiffman and the Land Of No and The Silos are helping to bring things back to a proper equilibrium, but things are still pretty bleak around these parts. And before you start crowing about The Strokes or The Walkmen, take a second and ask where they are now. Then realize that Vampire Weekend will be checking into The Rapture Suite at the No-One-Gives-A-Shit Arms before Winter's over and listen up while the adults are talking.

aldenbarton is another of the good ones. No white belts or Arabic scarves, just three dudes that have played together for years, keeping the dream alive. The band sprang from the ashes of indie darlings Princeton Reverb Colonial and settled in Queens a couple years ago, then got a house and set to giving the local scene a much-needed kick in the ass of their stupid Mom Jeans. They ply their trade in the three-piece format, with a Fender Rhodes handing the chordal end of things. Andrew St. Aubin helms the good ship aldenbarton, tossing hook after hook at you, song after song, until you're forced to either sing along with wild abandon or strangle him for being so damn good. Don't think the rhythm section is going to go easy on you, either. Paul Bates and Jim Wood are lock-step tight all over Exodus Of The Eldest, with bassist Bates providing stellar harmonies to make you feel even worse about your shitty band. That dull clunk you just heard was the bar being raised for bands here in the NYC.

And all over the place. aldenbarton are doing an end-run on crappy labels and lazy distros by getting Exodus of the Eldest out into the digital realm. It's out today on I-tunes. Get it here, and realize it's not the only Apple connection you're going to get for your digital dollar. If you liked the Elephant Six stuff or maybe Head Of Femur, this is right up your alley. If it's not, it should be. Check out the aldenbarton web presence here and get your social networking on with them here, here and/or here.

If you don't believe me, aldenbarton are also band of the moment at The Tripwire. Now go and cop that shit. And, yeah, you're welcome.

R

Scarface - Emeritus

So Scarface says he's retiring. Of course he is. I'm not sure who started the trend, on first thought I'd say Too Short, but the fake retirement ploy is getting more than a little bit ridiculous, especially when backpacker dreck like Lupe Fiasco is playing the card after what? Two records?

Frankly, I'd expect more from our man Brad. He's been in the game as a rapper and a Def Jam executive for years now. Jay-Z may be the paradigm, but Scarface was driving Ferraris and signing Ludacris in 2000. He was one of the first to settle in Atlanta and make it the music town that it is today. Trust me, if you're dumb enough not to know the man's significance, you really need to take a trip on the Interwebs and check the history. Face is a great rapper, but he's market savvy enough to know that collabos are what sell units in this day and age, especially if you're considered old-school. He's got a good number of them on Emeritus. The track with the two MVPs when it comes to collabos in 2K8 (Bun B and L'il Wayne, who claims pretty hysterically on the track that his new name is 'featuring L'il Wayne') is as good as you might suspect, but the tracks with Wacko from UTP are the real eye-openers for me. I liked Wacko quite a bit when he was down with Juvenile and partnered with Skip. It's nice to see that he's still on his grind and getting notice from the big names.

There are a couple of weird eventualities here, like the J. Prince intro that is pretty much three minutes of Prince castigating Rats, The Feds and The Houston Police. He generally comes off like a sociopath and makes me think he's probably OJ guilty of all the charges, but word to his representation, he seems to have triumphed. I know J. Prince is known for intros on Rap-A-Lot releases, but this one has a exponentially higher level of self-centeredness. More importantly, it makes no mention of Scarface, his impending retirement, or the record that follows. There is a sound bite that claims that Scarface approves this message, but this intro is even more extraneous than the average self-aggrandizing hip-hop record intro. I'd call that a must-skip, but save for that, the rest of Emeritusis pretty strong. It's not going to get a lot of love from the average Young Jeezy fan, but if you liked Face over the years, you'll definitely like Emeritus.

Check here for Vegas odds on him staying retired. The Scarface web presence is here. When they aren't hugging puppies or otherwise succoring the afflicted, you can find Rap-A-Lot here.

R

Go Sell Drugs - American Handjob

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Useless I.D. - The Lost Broken Bones

Unless you're a native or Tim Krysko from Punk International, chances are that Useless I.D. are your favorite Israeli punk band. And probably your only. They've been around since the early 90s, releasing their records on their own Falafel Records before a fortuitous tour with the Ataris begat a split cd and dalliances with Kung-Fu Records and Fat Wreck.

2008 finds Useless on Suburban Home. Virgil puts in work, but lately he's really been knocking it out of the park internationally, too. Hopefully by this time tomorrow we'll hear that he's signed Yesterday's Ring and will be releasing the 20 or so songs I hear Hugo and the boys have recorded of late. If that happens, I may move to Denver. All digression aside, Useless ID play their trade in the SoCal Lagwagon/NUFAN end of the melodic punk spectrum. It's pretty smooth, with sung vocals, but fast enough to get you in trouble. They are another happy client of The Blasting Room, having recorded their last couple records there with Bill Stevenson. He's done his usual great job. Everything sounds bright and shiny. If there were still MTV and radio, I'd expect to hear stuff like The Lost Broken Bones on it.

Save for the song that sounds a little uncomfortably like the new-school neutered Alkaline Trio, The Lost Broken Bones is a great record, and I only point out the A3 thing because it seems a little bit of a stretch toward a sound that isn't exactly theirs (and very probably because I'm sort of a dick). Useless ID sound enough like their own band on the rest of The Lost Broken Bones that they really don't need to make concessions to win more Warped fans.

Virgil and Suburban Home have been displaying a Midas Touch for a while now. It's been twangier fare of late, but leave it to those kids to pull a punk band out of their hats just to remind you where they came from. What's next? A Gamits reunion record? I wouldn't put it past those kids. Keep up on the daily goings-on at Suburban Home here and Useless ID here. That said, someone really needs to get cracking on an all-female punk band called Useless I.U.D. Just a thought. Thank me later.

R

Aneurysm Rats - Dying To Live

Aneurysm Rats is a new hardcore band from Philly that features guitarist Colin McGuinness (who used to play in Paint It Black) with Larry from Crumbler shredding his vocal cords for your pleasure. They played their first show November 11th and dropped this little chestnut for your pleasure a mere three days afterward on FlightPlan Records. It was, and maybe still is, available for free via a link on poppunkbored. That's where I got it, at least.

While I got it for free, I'd pay for this. Dying To Live has the fearsome fivesome displaying Bad Brains/Minor Threat brevity and speed, combined with some prudent whoa-oh action (like on Left To Right) to keep things fun and exciting. It's definitely more Cons than combat boot, so you can probably mix it up in the pit without fear of an unsolicited (or, at best unwarranted) beat down, if that's your thing. That's kinda refreshing in this day and age. The longest song is just over two minutes, so you'll have ample time to catch your breath in-between songs. It's also the first song, so if you're the type who loses interest quickly, it's a quick dash to the finish, so stick it out.

I suspect we'll see these kids in town soon, hopefully with Psyched To Die and even more hopefully not in the basement of The Charleston. Time will tell. In the meantime, keep tabs on the gents here and check out the rest of the FlightPlan stuff here.

R

Ghostface Killah - GhostDeini The Great

This is the third release in a couple years from your boy Ghost. And it's not a mixtape (sorta). That's alarmingly prolific for a living hip-hop artist on a major in this day and age. This one happens to be one of the ever-popular releases with 'remixes' and new verses. It's pretty remarkable that Ghost has been able to drop that many in the Jay-Z-helmed Def Jam era. I guess if you're willing to release stuff and not have it be promoted at all, you can do ok over there.

Dropping comps like this makes sense in a lot of ways. No one this side of U2 sees album royalties, so if you can get a gang of cds to sell on the road and put all the money in your pocket, that's a pretty decent deal. In these times when quick, in-hand cash is the way of the walk, it's not bad to never get a royalty check when you're clocking 25K a night for a club date.

That said, GhostDeini? What the fuck is that about? I know it's from Supreme Clientele, but it was pretty silly back then, too. I guess I should take consolation in the fact that it's not being put forth as an acronym (Niggas On the Run Eating, really?), but it's really kinda stupid almost a decade on. Not that I'm dying to get chin-checked by Ghost like my name was Mason Betha, but the songs on here are good enough that they could have come up with something better than that. Didn't the Iron Man movie come out this year, for chrissakes?

That duly purged, GhostDeini The Great is pretty decent, especially for a major label contract-fulfiller. You get the Kilo remix with Rae and Pusha T and the absolutely essential Tony Segal (a.k.a Barrel Bros) with Styles P and Beanie Sigel. It being the holidays, you also get Ghostface Christmas for Yuletide cockle-warming. There are sixteen tracks in all, most of them keepers. Personally, I'd shit-can the Amy Winehouse collabo, but I guess it's a unit-shifter. There's also Cherchez La Ghost and the collabos with Kanye and Mary, for optimum cross-over goodness.

I can see this popping up in a lot of backpacker stockings this holiday season. Word to MC Jansport. As hip-hop records go, it's pretty consistently good and most, if not all, of the material is stuff you've probably heard before. If your record bag or I-tunes isn't already packed with Ghost acapellas and you're looking for a good Starks overview, you could do a lot worse than GhostDeini The Great.

R

Free Whiskey Trench download at If You Make It

Whiskey Trench hail from Montreal, home of the loveliest women (and smelliest men) in the world. They play the punk rock in the time-honored Naked Raygun/Jawbreaker tradition and have Hugo Mudie from Sainte Catherines/Yesterday's Ring playing guitar and singing lead. For the average American (that isn't a Dumps fan) Mudie is probably your initial reason for checking these guys out, although I'm pretty sure they've played some Long Island shows. I wasn't familiar with The Sainte Catherines prior to Vanessa at Fat sending me Dancing For Decadence, but upon pulling the string a bit, I became a pretty big fan of TSC, their country side project Yesterday's Ring even more so. Frankly, I figured Mudie was stretching himself a little thin with three bands, but dammit if Whiskey Trench aren't pretty damn good their own bad selves. With The Good Sun E.P. Whiskey Trench come out the gate slinging hooks, romping through four tunes in short order. This was released as a 7" on Dead Broke Rekerds initially, it's way sold out by now, but the awesome folk of If You Make It have teamed up with DBR to make it available as a free download here. The last song cuts off, but if you're savvy enough to download from IYMI, I expect you can probably troll around and get the full version somewhere.

There are evidently new Whiskey Trench releases a'comin in the new year. I'm not sure who's releasing it, but keep tabs on the gents here. There are four more MP3s there, too.

Kudos to Whiskey Trench, Dead Broke Rekerds and If You Make It for making great stuff like this available. Download it and leave a donation afterward, willya. Punks got bills, too.

R

Thursday/Envy split

This split on Temporary Residence had been rumored to be in the works for a while. It seemed a pretty ballsy move on Thursday's part from where I'm sitting. I had a brief intense love affair with Thursday around the time of their second record, but I got over them pretty quick. Envy I was late in getting into, but the last three or four years have featured a lot of their records on the JS-NYC hi-fi. Thursday are a decent band, but they aren't in an Envy class by a long shot.

This split is a pretty nice feather in the TRL cap. I guess Thursday kind of hold their own musically. Geoff's voice was the thing that killed the band for me. It was just a little too whiny in the wrong kinds of way. To be fair, I often wonder if I understood the Envy lyrics whether it would be the same kind of deal-breaker. Tetsuya Fukagawa has more of a guttural tone than Rickley's screech that comes off better for me. Believe me, I know how many of you (ha!) feel differently. Envy just seem to be farther ahead. On some next level shit, if you will. They are a maelstrom of sound and beauty that knows few peers. You'll need to look no farther than the cover to see it in black and white. The dove that is the Thursday logo is in the foreground, but the tornado behind is a more than apt metaphor for what you're getting from the Envy franchise and why New Jersey's finest pale in comparison.

There are seven songs on the split, three from each artist; the odd track beng a remix of one the Thursday tracks by Anthony Molina of Mercury Rev that's decent enough, but seems more like a desperate attempt to level the playing field by Thursday. Yes, I am a dick. Either way, the Thursday stuff is tolerable and the Envy is exceptional. You should buy it here from Temporary Residence. If you happen to be a collector nerd, you can get some tasty screen and colored vinyl selections as well.

Thursday can be contacted here, Envy here.

R

Virgins - Miscarriage

This group of Virgins is from Florida and is punk. As their Myspace points out, they are still not the crappy disco band from NYC. That's very much a good thing, although I do miss the opportunity to really lambast a truly shitty band.

My personal issues aside, these particular Virgins rose from the ashes of New Mexican Disaster Squad, a band I very much wanted to like but was always pretty bored by. While I never met them firsthand, they were always held to be solid dudes. NMDS has splintered into a number of projects as of late, this band features Sam from NMDS singing and playing guitar in the time-honored power trio format. That's the ideal paradigm from where I'm sitting: Shellac, Husker, Jawbreaker. Virgins don't resemble the aforementioned trios, save for maybe a little bit of Jawbreaker, but they bring some pretty fierce punk rock and roll to the table with Miscarriage.

There are a couple tempo nods early in the record to the rampaging tempos of NMDS, but most of the Virgins songs are pretty reminiscent of early Replacements, at last musically. Don't run too far with that. Sam doesn't have the lyrical or vocal depth of even early Westerberg, but Virgins still manage to make a pretty decent racket over the ten tracks here. I'd put them up there with The Tim Version at their best parts. Props are deserved. Virgins keep it interesting for the duration of Miscarriage They are good with a tempo change, especially on songs like Atheist In America where they start off Red Light Run It, then break it down all Mr. Whirly. Good times!

Miscarriage was recorded with Chris Owens from Lords at his Louisville studio. It's a good match, Owens is no stranger to working with rampaging bands like Akimbo, but he's equally as adept capturing hookier fare while still lending a DIY grittiness to the proceedings. If songs like Guitarmageddon (I know) and Wwzd were cleaned up Blink 182 style, they would be much lesser for it. Virgins would be great to see at a house show or a small bar. After having played this a dozen or so times, I'm really regretting not seeing them play with Monikers at Silent Barn earlier this year. I shan't make that mistake again.

See that you don't either. Keep up with the gents at their FL digs here. I don't see any tour dates soon, but hopefully we'll see them come through in the coming months. You can buy Miscarriage for that special someone from the stand-up kids at Kiss Of Death for $8 US here. Tell 'em JS-NYC sent you.

R

Joey Cape - Bridge

Perhaps you are familiar with Mr. Joey Cape? The proud son of Goleta has helmed Fat Wreck punk stalwarts Lagwagon since '89, in addition to playing guitar with Me First and The Gimme Gimmes. Recently, he had doing his more low-key Bad Astronaut project with the late Derrick Plourde and some dudes from The Ataris.

Bad Astronaut was put on blocks after Plourde's passing, but the more melancholic side that was introduced via BA has continued in Cape's solo work. Bridge is the portrait of an aging punk rocker coming to grips with death, marriage and fatherhood. It's a full plate, but luckily said lifestyle changes haven't scuttled his musical ship like it has for Jeff Ott.

I won't begrudge his domesticity, but that's not to say that I'm dying to hear snippets of his kid in-between songs or want to see kid art in the packaging. I guess that's between Joey and Virgil over at Suburban Home. That said, Cape's a pretty talented guy. The melancholia that permeates Bridge isn't so jarring that it makes for rapid track-skipping. In fact, it's actually really good.

Virgil and Suburban Home have always been good for taking a chance on an established artist that's investigating a new direction. It's worked with Tim Barry and Chuck Ragan and with the BA provenance, Bridge may very well serve as a literal avenue to a new fanbase. There are nods to his punk rock past, but most of them are lyrical, as evinced by songs like The Ramones Are Dead. If you're expecting the Fat-compliant rock of Cape's other franchises, you would do well to look elsewhere, although things kick up into a full-band racket to close the proceedings. Bridge is more Sundowner or Elliott Smith and the songs are toned accordingly, so maybe stay away from this Bridge if you're feeling poorly.

I'm not sure that this is a release that Joey will support by touring, but if you've been bitten by the Cape bug, keep tabs on him here. Virgil's got a holiday sale going on over at the Suburban Home, so pick up a copy of Bridge cheap here and see what else they've got on markdown.

R

Live: Cloak/Dagger, Psyched To Die, Young Hearts @ Charleston 12.6.8

It's been a pretty good run for shows lately. I'm not complaining, especially when most of them are either in town or easily Dragon Bus-able. I got off the bus from Charm City and was on the bike a couple hours later to see Psyched To Die at the Charleston.

I haven't been to The Charleston in the better part of a decade. I'm no huge lover of that part of Brooklyn, but it was a crappy night and I was in the rhythm of going out, so one snowy ride over the bridge and I was in it to win it. It was nice to come in to the DJ playing The Arrivals. I was less pleased to find that The Charleston has a basement and that was where the show was going on. That is one dank-ass, smelly, ambiguously drippy basement. I came in and caught the better part of the Young Hearts set. They have some Get Up Kids records in their collections. The songs were decent, and the young cute girl factor was there, but they were a little Warped Tour for me. They'll probably do well with The Hot Topic set.

Psyched To Die is a NJ-based quartet of Black Flag-o-philes that have been stirring it up in basements and loft shows for a couple months now. If you're looking for a little kick in the ass, they've got a demo out that will cure what ails you. Good idea, cause you could sure catch something in that Brooklyn dungeon. They ripped it up for twenty minutes or so, with many a Queens and Jersey Scenester chugging a Miller along with the down-picking. I'm not sure I'd wanna hear it every night, but it worked this time. Keep tabs on the PTD posse here.

Cloak/Dagger are from Richmond and seem to have the millionth permutation of the {Cloak} + {Dagger} moniker. They sound like they are from RVA, with some more dissonant Flag and Hot Snakes moments for good measure. They sound like a fairly typical later period Jade Tree band on the shoutier end of things. One band in that vein is a good time, but two in a row after a long bus ride isn't enough to get me for the duration. Get positive with them here while you wait for them to come back to town.

R

Live: Off With Their Heads, Dear Landlord, Dead Mechanical, The AV Club at Talking Head, Baltimore 12.5.8

I was pretty bummed that Dear Landlord hooked up with Off With Their Heads for these dates the day after the Brooklyn show, but luckily the Baltimore date was on a Friday, so I hopped a freight down to Baltimore to see them at The Talking Head. The Talking Head is the small room at Sonar. It's a pretty decent little room with a $5 PBR & Jim Beam special that proved pretty lethal to the younger set.

My sister and I showed up a couple songs into The AV Club's set. I had thought they were from Baltimore, but apparently are from New Haven. That hair split, while I had hoped to miss them, they play the closest thing I've heard to power pop from a young band in a long time. They are pretty catchy and, judging by the throng up front for their set, evidently have a pretty big all ages following. They are on Insubordination Records, and now that I think about it, I may have seen them at this years IF. They made more of an impression this time, they were a little more pop than punk. If you like that kind of stuff, check them out here. They've got MP3s and such for sale, as well as new record called Believe coming down the pike. I'm going to look out for their first record.

Lucas from Dead Mechanical evidently plays with The AV Club, although he isn't listed on their web presence. I saw DM at Insubordination Fest and really enjoyed their set. I picked up the Live at IF 2K7 record a couple months ago and vowed to see them the next time they came through town, then promptly blew off the show. Their presence on this show only sweetened the pot. They threw down a brisk set of their Jawbreaker meets Husker Du punk rock to an enthusiastic crowd already way too many rounds into the $5 boilermakers. I'd really like to see them again soon. They do Charm City proper. Check out the DM web presence here. I'm kicking myself for not picking up Medium Noise while I was down there. You can (and should) get it here.

Next up was the reason for the trip. Dear Landlord play pretty infrequently, owing mostly to Adam and Brett playing in the mighty Copyrights. I had seen them this summer and they were fucking great, but what do you really expect from the bastard union of half of the late, great Rivethead with the aforementioned Copyrights. I wondered how long the set was really going to be, as the gents only really have a split with The Chinese Telephones and another with Off With Their Heads for released material. I would have been happy to hear only those four songs, but the gents stretched it out to eleven songs that were pretty much these:

There are obviously new songs, some real new evidently, as Brett was showing Zack songs seconds before they launched into their set, but the new tunes were all pretty bad-ass. I've heard tell of a full-length, but to the best of my knowledge it's still well in the wish phase of things. It's a shame, as we need more Dear Landlord in our collective lives. Their set went maybe twenty-five minutes, but I'm still smiling thinking about it. Here's hoping the gents make it through the NYC area sometime soon.

Off With Their Heads need to take some time off and find their motivation. Nuff said.

Baltimore keeps it real. The $15 bus ride is not going to do much to keep me from seeing a lot more shows down there, I'll tell ya.

R

Shorebirds - It's Gonna Get Ugly pt. II: the review

It's been deposed of late by The Hold Steady, but in past years the heights of my obsessions in the rock world have revolved around my dear departed Jawbreaker. I heard a lot of the first Jawbreaker record quasi-osmotically by living next door to (the only JS-NYC follower) David's then-girlfriend my freshman year of college and was re-introduced to Unfun (and the Whack and Blite EP) by whatever member of Stigmata sold the Shredder reissue to me by mistake instead of the first Jawbox record at Music Shack. How any ear-possessing humanoid could hear the opening Want and not fall in love with Jawbreaker or Chris Bauermeister's bass playing is beyond me.

My love for all the post-Jawbreaker projects has lead me down a lot of paths (Jets To Brazil, Horace Pinker, Whysall Lane) but the most satisfying of late has been Olympia, Washington's Shorebirds. They have split already, leaving a couple 7"s and this full-length It's Gonna Get Ugly. Christ, is this a good fucking record. This is Top 10 for 2008 for sure over at JS-NYC. The band featured Jawbreaker bassist Chris Bauermeister and was helmed by ex-Latterman guitarist Matt Canino, who also released it on his own Rumbletown label. He also appears to be a bike punk, which will never detract from a band in my eyes. I need to go back and check out the Latterman stuff, but between this record and the Iron Chic demo, I haven't had a chance to look back. If both Matt and Phil were bringing their A game like they seem to on these releases, I can see why kids were so bummed when Latterman split up.

So about It's Gonna Get Ugly. It's 12 songs in 27 minutes and all of it, if I may use technical jargon, fucking rips. Bauermeister is mixed way up front, barrelling through the tracks like a freight train. Canino's got a good Wollard meets Smalley voice that suits the gritty music nicely. Frankly, I found most of the Oly kids back in the day to be pretty fucking irritating, but if this is the kind of punk rock that's coming out of the deciduous rain forests these days, you can sign me up. I'd put them up there with Banner Pilot and the late Cardinal Sin.

From where I'm sitting, the best track (and, believe me, that is saying something) on It's Gonna Get Ugly is The Ballad of Marvin Heemeyer, a man who was probably on Andrew's radar from the get-go, but is new to me. Either way, props to the late Mr. Heemeyer and his family. That's a hell of a way to go out. It's a bummer that Heemeyer and Shorebirds are gone, both parties were formidable juggernauts. You can see footage of Heemeyer here. Check it out, then pick up the musical equivalent from the good folk of Rumbletowne here. Vinyl only, which is a silly is it is admirable. I can see going the Shellac route of releasing the vinyl before the cd, but this is a record that really needs to be heard, even if it is posthumously.

Canino has hit the ground running and already formed a new band called Reviver that I'm pretty eager to check out. Sadly, they appear to be so DIY as to not have a web presence, but if anyone tracks it down, dash off a missive, will ya?

R

Shorebirds - It's Gonna Get Ugly

Hey Kids: I'm off to see Dear Landlord. The only thing that could even compare to the awesomeness that is that trip is this records. Sit tight and get ready for the hyperbole.

xo

R

Live: Off With Their Heads, Shellshag, Detournement, The Measure (SA), Go Sell Drugs at Death By Audio 12.3.8

I was hedging on going to this show. It's cold and Off With Their Heads have really been phoning it in as of late, plus the order of the lineup had changed like three times since the show had been posted, but I figured I'd see The Measure and check out why the kids were making so big of a deal about Detournement, then make an early evening of it.

So I arrived at Death By Audio to what I thought was Detournement, but was yet another x-factor: the unnannounced band that was Go Sell Drugs. Evidently one of the dudes from I-Farm is in the fold. Either way, they were pretty decent. Sort of a Dischord vibe (with at least two haircuts to match). Thrashy guitar, pummelling drums, picked Rickenbacker bass. I'd like to see them with Psyched To Die. They didn't play that long, but did give away free copies of their record American Handjob. Maybe next time they will actually get listed on the bill.

The Measure (SA) were up next. They are definitely a decent band. I still contend that the silly overly tattooed guy who can't stop jumping should be excised from the franchise with the quickness.I'd also like to know why he didn't make eye contact with anybody else in the band for the entire set, but save for that quibbling it was a pretty good set. They've got a new singles comp you probably have heard about. Pick it up here. Now, let's get cracking on that line-up change, willya.

Detournement batted third, playing their first show in Brooklyn and maybe their sixth or seventh overall. As the name may belie, there's a heavy ex-member contingent in the band, with dudes from Lifetime, Bigwig, The Ratchets and a million other bands. I guess the most shocking eventuality is that Mikey Erg isn't in the fold. Zak Kaplan fronts the band, sadly in a frontman only capacity. Not that they two guitarists they already have are bad, I am aggressively against the 'singer who just sings' phenomenon. Unless he is edge and drives the van, or David Lee Roth, there is no reason for that to happen. I didn't find anything especially remarkable about their set, but I'd like to hear the recorded stuff. And see Zak with a guitar on.

I didn't see any sign of the Shellshag kids and hoped that maybe OWTH would be going on next, but I was sadly denied. Shellshag are decent and definitely OG, but I wasn't in the mood. Off With Their Heads definitely seem to be in it for the cash recently. They've been on tour for the last five or six months pretty relentlessly and the enthusiasm level seems to drop with every show, at least on Ryan's part. I hear they played a short set, to boot, so I'm glad I bailed. Here's hoping that the shows with Dear Landlord (that start tonight in Philly) give them a kick in the ass. I'm not looking to travel down Charm City way to be bored.

R

Greg Dulli - Live At The Triple Door

Maybe it just the day I've been having, but its currently pretty hard to think that the Afghan Whigs dropped Gentlemen fifteen years ago. A lot has changed since then. For one, the Whigs are no more and Dulli has founded The Twilight Singers as his primary musical focus, with his Gutter Twins project batting clean-up. Much like The Hold Steady is an older, less sleazy Lifter Puller, The Twilight Singers reflect more of a post-snowstorm Dulli. There is still a fair amount of darkness, but there's a little bit less of the self-destructive nihilism.

Dulli released his first official solo record, Amber Headlights, in 2005. The record had been recorded in 2002 and shelved in the wake of the passing of his dear friend Ted Demme, but was released to a fair amount of success. Live At The Triple Door isn't so much a solo record as it is a solo recording, if I may split a hair or two. Various Twilight Singers and long-time cohorts like Shawn Smith and Petra Haden back Dulli up, but this acoustic set is pretty Greg-o-centric. If you are into such things, Shawn Smith sings a couple tunes with Greg. It's great to hear them singing together again. The Brad shows at Highline earlier in the year were a nice tease, but I'd sure like to see more of SS on this side of the country.

Live At The Triple Door was recorded over two days in Seattle as a benefit for local youth charity The Vera Project. The recording is available as a download only via Dulli's own Infernal Recordings. Check I-tunes and your favorite digital retailers. The set goes as far back as the AW chestnut, Tonight and along with a dozen or so other favorites spanning the last decade or so, including that Jose Gonzalez cover that all the young kids dig. If there is any shortcoming to this release, it's that there's not all that much Dulli stage banter, but I trust the average listener will live. I'd like to see a DVD of the set, but in the interim, download the set here. You can keep up on all the other goings on in the world of The Twilight Singers here.

Live: Batillus at Lit 12.1.8

Yes, I know that the pic is for the show this weekend, but take notice, as (both) you fools should be seeing as much of Batillus as possible. This is the second, if not third time they've laid waste to that charming basement, but the first with their imposing backline of doom (Doom?). Rest assured that there was wattage to spare but don't think the gents are trying to hide anything with all those decibels. Batillus has an obvious sense of craft that is sorely lacking with a lot of bands.

Currently a three piece, the gents are looking for a fourth member to play guitar and perhaps do some vocals. Check their MySpace for more info. I appreciate their pushing the envelope, but Batillus are a force to be reckoned with, especially their drummer. That guy does not fuck around, and manages to be heard without the benefit of amplification, which is a feat unto itself. There was a killer new unnamed tune, along with the songs that will comprise their first recording, whenever that may drop. Hopefully it's soon. The neighbors have been lulled into a false sense of complacency and it's best if they not get used to such quiescence.

In the meantime, get off your duff and check out the gents at Death By Audio on 12/6. B A T I L L U S will be rocking with the gents below.

Tombs (Relapse Records; Brooklyn black/doom)
Moving Mountains (post-rock)
Junius (epic cinematic art rock)
Rosetta (dynamic, aggressive post-metal)

I understand that if you make the image that I have displayed to the left your profile picture on the Myspace and post a comment, you can get free admission to Death By Audio show and a copy of the image in poster form, but check their MySpace here and sort it out with them.

Rocket From The Crypt review up at The Tripwire

Hey Boys and Grrls:

New review of Rocket From The Crypt - All Systems Go: Volume 3 is up now at The Tripwire. Thanks to Derek Evers and Vagrant Records!

R

Live: Thorns Of Life at Disgraceland, Philly 11.29.8

I'm as excited, if not more, than the average guy when it comes to the return of a band fronted by Blake Schwarzenbach. I bailed on the Underground Railroad To Candyland show that ended up being first unannounced Thorns Of Life show and fell for the red herring that the show was cancelled about the second show, so when I saw a snippet on line about a TOL show in Philly and knew I'd be passing through town, I was determined to see the show if I could. Cue three days of phone calls and shenanigans that precipitated my getting the address 45 minutes before the show, through the luck of friendly punks on the street. I understand that they want to keep Disgraceland under the radar, but the level of subterfuge that is going on for these Thorns Of Life shows is bordering on the ridiculous. I'm sorry, but when you have Blake Schwarzenbach, Aaron Cometbus and an actress from The L Word in one band, its going to be hard to keep things a secret for long.

I ended up squeezing my way in to Disgraceland, but as the place was three or four times past capacity and I was wearing a bag, there was no way that I was going to be able to shed my outerwear, making for a sweaty, sweaty time for me. Most of the rest of the crowd were in the same boat, although there were the odd pre-emptive 40oz and Natty Bo's scattered through the space. The space seems to be well run and the sound was decent enough, so here's hoping that they are able to keep the place going for some time to come.

The first band was Philly's own Restorations. Despite playing to a full room of people that really wanted to see TOL, they played a really good set of stuff that sounded like The Weakerthans or early Hot Water Music without so much shouting. They are evidently also 3/4 of the band Jena Berlin, if you're familiar. I'm not sure whether this is a project thing or a full-time band, but they are well worth checking out. Do that here.

I passed Blake going the other way down the street from the venue and was pleased to see that he was actually coming back for the set. The room was so full that the drums had to be passed over the crowd but the band managed to take the stage in short order. Shows have to be over by 10pm at Disgraceland and I couldn't be more excited about that trend. May that trend move to NYC with the quickness. Thorns Of Life took the stage by 9 and played ten or so songs that were pretty decent. Two of them, especially the one about NYC were exceptional. It was good to see Blake and Aaron. Both look older, but Blake was quick to point out that he is 41, so I'd say they've held up ok. The stuff is raw, yet melodic, more Jawbreaker than Jets, save for the song about losing his virginity. I'm told they are recording in the early winter or late spring. I'm not sure when or if they are going to grace us with a web presence, but if you hear, holler at your boy.

Sadat X - Generation X

Aging gracefully has been tough for many of hip-hop's old school. A lot of the problem might be the lack of examples from forerunners. Afrika Bambatta and Kool Herc are hardly millionaires and save for Jay-Z, Bumpy Knuckles, and bizarrely enough Eric B, there aren't too many successful entrepreurs that have stayed solvent past their rap heydeys.

Rap's fan base is getting older as well. There are parents that came up listening to rap music, and maybe even grandparents. The question becomes, is today's rap music what the old school wants to hear about? Sadat X has a unique perspective, having come up with Brand Nubian almost 20 years ago. Nubian were more conscious than the average group of the time and Sadat hasn't lost that part of his personality, but he's still not adverse to smoking weed or getting some ass. Said ass-getting content is oddly juxtaposed against his openly extolling his love for his wife and (literally) telling his in-laws to go fuck themselves on this record, but such are the dichotomies in the hip-hop of today.

X has had varied success with his solo material, I thought Loud Hangover with Akineyle was (and is) among the best hip-hop of the time. By contrast, that Wild Cowboys shit was a nice nod to the Juice Crew, but all in all not the smartest idea. Nor was his getting arrested in Harlem for gun possession and resisting arrest a couple years ago. That's behind him and after the blink and it's gone Black October release comes Generation X, a record that does a pretty decent job of straddling the old school and the new. The beats are decent (all via producer Will Tell) and Sadat still has rhyme skills, but whether you want to listen to a whole album of is another question. I've given it a half a dozen spins thus far and like it, but it's not going to knock my Joell Ortiz or Big Daddy Kane playlists out of rotation. There a couple missteps, like the obvious attempt with Think Different to evoke Slow Down with a (I assume) Regina Spektor loop but Generation X is worth checking out. Reach out to X here to make that happen.

R

Ludacris - Theater Of The Mind

Theater Of The Mind is the sixth record from your boy Luda. Heath and I were discussing the other day how Luda is pretty much the cameo king. In retrospect, there's a strong argument for Jadakiss or Fabolous to fill that slot, but think about it: Ludacris makes DJ Khaled songs sound good. If you can do that, you're practically King Midas in the rap game. On the heels of his stellar cameos on that dung heap of a Khaled track and that Felli Fel joint, I **ahem** 'acquired' the Ludacris catalog recently, then picked up Theater Of The Mind on the heels of that reimmersion.

Luda is a smart guy who has always made the most of the options his fame has afforded him. Like his man David Banner says, "rap money is good--but you should see these movie checks". Luda has been stepping up his acting game, starring in Crash and Hustle And Flow and reaping the benefits therein and of. That's all well and good, but when your acting career seeps its way in as a weird concept for your next record, that's when it gets a little sketchy for me. As does the "many sides of Ludacris" cover. Is that ever a good idea? That shallowly said and hated on, the music on Theater Of The Mind pretty much makes us for any misgivings I have about the cross-career promotion.

Luda has his own label, Disturbing The Peace, which operates in conjunction with Def Jam. It's a good combination, perhaps increasingly for Def Jam, as they've been shitting the bed pretty consistently with Jay-Z at the helm. The argument has been made about Jay-Z keeping the rest of the roster down in favor of his releases and it's increasing looking more and more accurate. If you can't sell a million of the last Roots record, something is fucked up with your promotion.

Theater Of The Mind should sell big, especially with guest shots from Nas, The Game and Lil Wayne. Production is well-rounded, too, with tracks by Toomp, Clinton Sparks and even an up-and-comer you might have heard of called DJ Premier. It's notable that with all the guest appearances here, Luda rips the hell out of that Primo track all by himself. It's called MVP and might just be the best track on the record. I Do It For Hip-hop has Nas and Jay-Z in an actually-not-so-terrible guest appearance. Call Up The Homiez with The Game and Willy Northpole is another banger that should definitely be afforded single status. If It doesn't happen, I see it being all over the mix tape circuit. There are a couple tracks that I could do without, and the presence of Spike Lee on one of the tracks seems a wee bit desperate, but all in all, Theater Of The Mind is one of the few hip-hop records I've heard this year that I would actually pay for. Check out the web presence here.

R