The Thing That Ate Larry Livermore

So you may remember JS-NYC and special guest star Eric posting up at the (one of the) release show(s) for this 2012 compliant version of The Thing That Ate Floyd comp that Larry released 11 records into the Lookout Records run. While that comp repped mostly for the Bay Area Gilman set, the new version reflects LL's post-Lookout Brooklyn existence and the bands therearound.

The Thing That Ate Larry Livermore culls 16 new tracks from the arguable best of the pop-punk crew of today and comes courtesy of Green Day adjunct label Adeline. Some known JS-NYC favorites like The Dopamines and Dear Landlord make appearances,  as do some new favorites like City Mouse and Mean Jeans. On the hater tip, I'm pleased to find that Emily's Army are decent enough, albeit pretty unremarkable, despite their comparatively young ages. Certainly better than any of the recent Green Day output. If you like any of the bands here, you are not going to find a bad track, so step lively to the Adeline web presence here and get yourself a virtual or actual copy.

R

PInhead Gunpowder - Kick Over The Traces

I wasn't really into Green Day pre-Dookie, and as a contrarian I never really bought into the whole thing once MTV jumped on the punk thing. That Longview song was ok and I liked the bookmobile and weed tendencies, but beyond that Billy Joe and the idiot savant drummer seemed kinda douche-y and I never liked Billy Joe's voice. Dirnt always seemed like he was nice enough, but after that prom song made them totally ubiquitous for a second time a couple years ago, it was time to take advantage and liquidate the Green Day from the world of the tangible cd.

Now that Green Day are the new political Monkees for the mall-punk set, Billie Joe has been recapturing his youth (and Gilman cred) by reanimating GD auxiliary reserves project Pinhead Gunpowder. All of the members have old school Green Day roots, with drummer Aaron Cometbus having roadied for the band, Jason White tenuring as fourth live member and Bill Schneider tour managing and guitar teching. White replaced original guitarist Mike Kirsch, who played a less lucrative rout in much better bands like Fuel and Bread & Circuits. Pinhead Gunpowder played some low-key shows last year in California and now we have a little greatest hit compendium (chosen by the band) called Kick Over The Traces in our hot little hands. It's on Recess and evidently a precursor to the house that Congliere built re-releasing their entire catalog in the coming months. Good times. There are 23 songs for your pleasure here, all of them as catchy as crabs at a punk house. Billie Joe sounds like he always does, making his selections less than desirable for me, but there are more than enough contributions from the other guys to make it worthwhile for this asshole. If you're a huge Pinhead Gunpowder fan that has deep pockets and/or have good internet prospecting skills, get the Japanese version that has a bonus live disc. From Gilman even. Complete your PG collection and refill the Armstrong coffers of punk rock cred here. Pick up all the other Recess releases while you're at it.

R