The Middle Class, TV Ghost, and Dead Meat at Bottom of the Hill! 10/14/11

The Middle Class played San Francisco for the first time in decades Friday night. I was lucky enough to DJ the gig, so I snapped some photos. Check 'em out.
Dead Meat






TV Ghost








The Middle Class

EP Reviews! Broadway Calls! Pepper! Wavves!

Sometimes full lengths are a drag. Not to mention, how many bands have put a song on a full length only to never play it beyond recording it? That shit is a waste. Here are some new EPs worth checking out.

Broadway Calls Toxic Kids



I interviewed Broadway Calls for SFist last year and in that interview, singer/guitarist Ty Vaughan mentioned that he had been listening to "lots of Green Day" as he was prepping songs for an upcoming release which at that time, appeared to be a full length. Apparently Broadway Calls didn't feel like waiting to put out a full length and decided to hit us with six of those "heavy on the Green Day" tracks via an ep entitled Toxic Kids. Vaughan wasn't lying when he alluded to Green Day being an influence on these newer songs, but what stands out the most about this EP is the raw, grimey production which is a far cry from the band's last full-length, Good Views, Bad News. Toxic Kids, with its gritty production, falls much more in line with the bands live sound and aesthetic than the super-slick Good Views, Bad News (but that's not saying we aren't fans of that record or anything). Stand out tracks include the opener, "I'm So Ready To Be Done With My Twenties" (a sentiment I found myself thinking when I left that decade of my life behind) as well as the peppy, upbeat title track, "Toxic Kids". The band just left on a month long tour which will take them out to The Fest in Florida, so check their website (broadwaycalls.tumblr.com) for tour dates and go get your pogo on.

Pepper Stitches



One of my best friends turned me onto Pepper about seven years ago. He and I are both Sublime fans (make all the fun you want, we give no fucks) and I want to say some girl he was hanging out floated him their first full length, which we found appealing as Sublime fans. Pepper were a solid reggae/ska band, nothing more, nothing less. I ended up getting wasted with the band in Atlanta when their tour played the downstairs room of the Masquerade (I was upstairs drum teching for Unearth). Their latest release, Stitches, is five songs of catchy ska/reggae that will be huge with college kids nationwide. The highlight of the ep would definitely be "Drunk Girl", which is an homage to that all too common party occurrence known as inebriated women. "Wake Up" lends itself well to some epic pogo-ing and sees vocalist Kaleo Wassmen doing his best Brad Nowell (and doing him justice, might I add). Stitches sort of trails off as it ends (the slowish "Lonely" and acoustic version of "Mirror" don't hold up as well against the ep's earlier tracks), but overall, fans of fun, reggae, summertime, partying, and bonfires are going to be REALLY into this ep.

Wavves Life Sux



At first, I wasn't really a fan of Wavves. That first lp was brutal on my ears and I was somewhat jealous that their singer/guitarist Nathan Williams was dating Bethanny from Best Coast. I saw Wavves open for Best Coast and even that particular live show left a little to be desired. On a whim, I decided to check out the King Of The Beach record and was totally blown away. I don't know what I hadn't been hearing before, but Wavves were fucking awesome. Life Sux dropped last month and has picked up where King Of The Beach left off and then some. Wavves mastermind Nathan Williams has perfected blending beachy surf rock with noisy pop punk so much that MTV can't stop using his songs in the background of Jersey shore almost weekly. "I Wanna Be Dave Grohl", the ep's first single, is one of those anthemic songs that lends itself well to epic car singalongs and serious public transportation air drumming. Life Sux features collaborations with Best Coast and Fucked Up, the former being laden with cute, female background vocals and the latter sounding basically like a Wavves song sans collaborators, but we all know Fucked Up blows so no one should be surprised. Life Sux will be all over several "best of 2011" lists, so cop this shit now because its that good.

Reggae Hit LA Then SF: The Aggrolites, Peelander Z, and Brothers of Brazil At Slim's on 9/15/11

When I walked into Slim's the night of September 16th, there couldn't have been more than 75 people in the club waiting for the show to start. I couldn't believe it. The Aggrolites are one of the greatest live bands currently touring, and usually tend to pack whatever venue they come through in the Bay Area. However, it was still early and I didn't completely write off the taste and nightlife preferences of San Francisco and meandered around Slim's waiting for the show to begin. I strive to keep myself from being jaded and cynical and besides, I got to see The Aggrolites that night. Why be in a bad mood over the poor taste of others?

The opening act for Thursday's show was a band called Brothers of Brazil. There really wasn't anything that could have prepared me for them...



The two man group were a combination of Bossa Nova, Billy Bragg-esque folk, the furious punk attitude of the Sex Pistols, something French that I couldn't quite put my finger on, and a healthy dose of witty, pop culture inspired humor. As they kicked off their set, drawing heavily from their PunkaNova, I wasn't quite sure what to think. I almost felt like I was staring at a strobe light, unable to really process exactly what these two crazy looking dudes were doing onstage. As the set went on, it became apparent that the Brothers of Brazil were brilliant. They managed to blend several very unique musical styles and couple that with a very natural, humorous onstage banter, making for one of the greatest half hours of live music I have seen all year. As the set went on, I learned that they are actually brothers and from Brazil, so Brothers of Brazil isn't just a clever name. These guys were hilarious, captivating, and played incredibly refreshing material. I highly recommended catching these guys as well as picking up PunkaNova.










Then Peelander Z happened...



As Slim's began to fill up with people, I should have known something was up when I saw these random punker looking guys and girl walking around in neon-colored, leopard-print clothing lurking around the merch tables. What actually went down was mind-blowing. Peelander-Z play "Japanese Action Comic Punk", which I can assure after Thursday's set is far much more than just a unique subgenre of punk rock. Musically, Peelander-Z play fast, aggressive punk that at times is reminiscent of Bad Brains, but on copious amounts of nitrous oxide. The music isn't really the star of the Peelander Z's show though. The band has one of the most hilarious inactive live shows I have ever seen. The band would introduce each song by holding up handwritten signs (as seen in the photo above", hand out drumsticks and metal dog bowls to be struck, animal costumes, a crowd-wide limbo game, and bowling the guitar player bowled with the bassist. Words don't even begin to do this justice. While Brothers of Brazil played an amazing set to a crowd who still stayed back near the bar, Peelander Z made participating in their show mandatory. Even people who weren't loving their music, Peenlander Z had everyone in the room at the very least laughing and smiling with them. I can't say for certain that the magic translates onto their recorded albums, but you absolutely have to see Peelander Z live. It was unlike anything I had ever seen. I took a lot of pictures, so bare with me.




















The Aggrolites



By the time Peelander Z had finished their set, I seriously wondered what The Aggrolites were going to do to top that set. Granted, both bands are very different at what they bring to the table live, but even with that taken into consideration, following up Peelander Z would be a daunting undertaking for any band, even another prop heavy live band, such as Gwar. Doubt never should have entered my mind. The Aggrolites not only eclipsed Peelander Z, but delivered one of the greatest live sets San Francisco has seen all year. The band blazed through an hour and a half of stop on a dime first wave ska meets rocksteady with a tinge of soul reggae, drawing from all four of their studio records. In addition to their own material, The Aggrolites brought the house down with two covers, The Temptations "Ain't To Proud To Beg" and the Beatles "Don't Let Me Down". The Aggrolites put their own spin on these classics and managed to make them their own while doing both songs justice. The band is touring in support of Unleashed Vol. I, a live album that dropped earlier this month and based on how good the live show was, this may be the first live record worth picking up in a long time. The Aggrolites are one of the greatest live bands out right now, and got an entire room of random college kids, skinheads, and punkers dancing and singing along. If you are a fan of outstanding music, The Aggrolites need to be on your list of bands to see. They're on tour through the end of October. Go out and dance.

Friday Evening Mass Playlist/Hollie Stevens Roller Skating Lingerie Benefit Party Playlist 7/29/11

Friday Evening Mass Playlist - The Ruby Room, Oakland 7/29/11

Earthless - Sonic Prayer
Judas Priest - One for the Road
Witchcraft - I See A Man
Bison BC - Slow Hand of Death
High On Fire - Snakes for the Divine
Kyuss - Supa Scoopa and Mighty Scoop
Fu Manchu - Eatin' Dust
Pentagram - 20 Buck Spin
Red Fang - Wires
Floor - Return To Zero
Blood Ceremony - I'm Coming With You
Sleep - Dragonaut
Christian Mistress - Desert Rose
Iron Age - Dispossessed
Saviours - Dixie Dieway
Metallica - Ride The Lightning
3 Inches of Blood - Deadly Sinners
Iron Maiden - Aces High
Megadeth - Peace Sells
Ozzy Osbourne - Mr. Crawley
Def Leppard - Photograph
Nazareth - Hair of the Dog
Leaf Hound - Hip Shaker
The Dead Weather - I Cut Like A Buffalo
Black Sabbath - The Wizard
Soundgarden - Outshined
Living Colour - Cult of Personality
Guns N Roses - Mr. Brownstone
Alice In Chains - Man in a Box
Quicksand - Fazer
Jane's Addiction - Stop
Minutemen - Corona
Queens of the Stone Age - No One Knows
Led Zeppelin - Over the Hills and Far Away

Hollie Stevens Roller Skating Lingerie Benefit Party - Mission and 5th, San Francisco, 7/29/11

Death From Above 1979 - Blood on our Hands
The Blood Brothers - Laser Life
The Faint - Agenda Suicide
Moving Units - Between Us and Them
Christian Death - Romeo's Distress
Heavens - Patent Pending
Phoenix - Lisztomania
Dramarama - (I'll Give You) Anything, Anything
Misfits - Teenagers From Mars
45 Grave - Evil
The Runways - I Love Playing With Fire
Murder City Devils - Idle Hands
Cold Cave - Pacing Around the Church
Wallpaper - Gettin Drip
Das Racist - Who's That? Brown
Frank Ocean - Nature Feels
Jay-Z/Kanye West - Otis
Fannypack - Things
Dr. Octagon - Girl Let Me Touch You
Kool Keith - Make Up Your Mind
Kool Keith - Sex Style
Lil B The Based God - Wonton Soup

Friday Evening Mass Punk Communion Playlist 7/22/11 Ruby Room, Oakland

Black Sabbath - Sabra Caddabra
Graveyard - Evil Ways
Motorhead - Killed By Death
Red Fang - Wires
Big Business - Off Off Broadway
High On Fire - Fury Whip
Kylesa - Scapegoat
Every Time I Die - Wanderlust
Goblin Cock - We Got A Bleeder
Mastodon - Iron Tusk
The Sword - Freya
Kvelertak - Blodtorst
Turbonegro - Sell Your Body to the Night
The Germs - Lexicon Devil
Zero Boys - Civilization's Dying
TSOL - Wash Away
X - Nausea
The Alley Cats - Escape From Planet Earth
The Nerves - Hanging by the Telephone
Crime - San Francisco's Doomed
Eddie and the Subtitles - American Society
The Screamers - The Beat Goes On
Cortex - Mayhem Troopers
Bauhaus - She's In Parties
The Damned - Wait For The Blackout
Misfits - Horror Business
Circle Jerks - Live Fast, Die Young
Bad Religion - Fuck Armageddon...This Is Hell
Descendents - Bikeage
Adolescents - Amoeba
Dead Kennedys - I Kill Children
Black Flag - Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie
Agent Orange - Bloodstains
The Church - Reptile
The Violent Femmes - Gone Daddy Gone
Mission of Burma - Academy Fight Song
Sonic Youth - White Cross
Ned's Atomic Dustbin - Grey Cell Green
Social Distortion - Ball and Chain
Pixies - Velouria
Jane's Addiction - Mountain Song
Ozzy Osbourne - Flying High Again
Megadeth - Holy Wars...The Punishment Due
Guns N Roses - My Michelle
Queens of the Stone Age - Go With the Flow
Alice In Chains - Them Bones
Kansas - Carry On My Wayward Son
Judas Priest - Breaking The Law
Heart - Crazy On You

Friday Evening Mass Playlist 7/8/11 Ruby Room, Oakland, CA

Led Zeppelin - Dazed and Confused
Red Fang - Wires
High On Fire - Hung, Drawn, and Quartered
Serpent Throne - Wheels of Satan
Wolfmother - Joker and the Thief
In Solitude - The World, The Flesh, The Devil
Big Business - Focus Pocus
Doomriders - Come Alive
Graveyard - Evil Ways
Parchman Farm - Too Many People
Scorpions - In Trance
Judas Priest - One for the Road
Goblin Cock - We Got A Bleeder
Eyehategod - Sisterfucker Pt 1
Black Flag - Slip It In
The Sword - Winter's Wolves
Clutch - 50,000 Unstoppable Watts
Fu Manchu - Godzilla
Kylesa - Spiral Shadow
Saviours - Dixie Dieway
Motorhead - Snaggletooth
Quest For Fire - Bison Eyes
Thin Lizzy - Jailbreak
The Dead Weather - I Cut Like A Buffalo
Mountain - Mississippi Queen
Black Sabbath - St Vitus Dance
Pentagram - Forever My Queen
Leaf Hound - Hip Shaker
Neil Young - Cinnamon Girl
ZZ Top - Tush
Queens of the Stone Age - Regular John
The Damned Things - We've Got A Situation Here
The White Stripes - Icky Thump
The Stooges - TV Eye
The Bronx - White Tar
Ghost - Con Clavi Con Dio
Ozzy Osbourne - Over the Mountain
Soundgarden - Rusty Cage
Torche - Healer
Helmet - Give It
Quicksand - How Soon Is Now?
Karma To Burn - Nineteen
Sleep - Dragonaut
Witchcraft - Chylde of Fire
Mastodon - Colony of Birchmen
Heart - Barracuda
Danzig - Mother
Suicidal Tendencies - Institutionalized
Minor Threat - Think Again

The Love Below: Southern California's Dirty Secret

Depending on who you ask (and their answer is usually biased by whichever coast they reside closest to), hardcore as we know it began in 1976 when both Bad Brains from Washington D.C. and The Middle Class from Orange County, CA released their debut 7 inches (Pay To Cum and Out of Vogue respectively). If my math is correct, and may be wrong because math was never my strongsuit, hardcore as an offshoot of punk has been pummeling the world for thirty-five years. That's a long fucking time. Over the last three and a half decades, the world as we know it has changed several times over due to wars, politicians, social acceptances, and technology. As the world has turned, hardcore has done its best to provide an unabridged, unbridled narrative on the bare bones of the world seen through the eyes of the young and outcast. The result has been a legacy of records that capture positive, negative, violent, and insightful feelings unlike any other genre of music has been capable of doing.

While we as world are all still incredibly fucked in 2011, it is rather easy to participate in hardcore these days. The internet has made this vast country a much smaller place, allowing bands to book tours easier and kids to make friends or talk shit via websites. Communities and parents have started to see that punk and hardcore can be a positive thing in the lives of their children, and all ages venues in unconventional places have started to spring up and thrive in ways they never have before. Real venues and clubs see a young subculture with money and have been much more open to booking hardcore shows and bands. These are all good things. But there's a problem...

For the most part, bands have gotten stagnant. Kids have seen bands rise out of the hardcore scene and to mainstream success and have now started bands with the hopes of becoming full time rockers. This notion was ridiculous to think about in the 80s, and really even in the 90s. Conversely, there's a side of the scene so concerned with keeping hardcore hardcore that they can't move beyond the basic musical formulas laid out before them; making entire careers out of raping nostalgia and manufacturing emotions and situations that are completely impossible to recreate in 2011 due to times changing. It's kind of disheartening to see what was once a genre so on the cutting edge, driven on "not giving a fuck" and "fucking shit up" become a just another "look" for teenagers to pick up on.

The Love Below are a rare band of dudes trying to make the most noise and lay waste to whatever is in their way. They have no aspirations of headlining the Warped Tour, nor are they so stuck in mentalities of decades gone by that they are unable to progess. The Love Below play doomy, filthy, sleazy hardcore that at times evoke aspects of bands like Neurosis, Charles Bronson, Black Flag, and His Hero Is Gone. Frontman Jerry Woolbright is an old friend and partying pal, and he and I recently caught up regarding all things TLB.

FF: How long has The Love Below been around, and what lead to you guys starting the band?

JW: We've been jamming since mid 2008, I believe. Greg and myself were in a band called Neon Claws that had fizzled out after 3 shows. I was tired of being in bands with people who weren't really dedicated to things like touring or recording. Anthony and I had been friends for a long while. I was a ginormous fan and friend of his band Motherspeed, and I've always really respected how fucking hard the guy works on his bands. It just made sense to pool our efforts to do something cool together as friends, and see if it goes anywhere. Low and behold, its 2011 and I couldn't be happier with where we are right now.

FF: Aside from the new split with Homewrecker, what else have you put out?

JW: In 2009 we released our demo. It got a pretty good response online around the time that Mike Hellfish (http://www.hellfishfamily.com) started packing them into t-shirt orders at his merch company...we owe that guy big time. Anyway, I guess word of mouth was good enough that it got to Dom from Pulling Teeth, probably because we cited Pulling Teeth as an influence. Who Knows? Anyway, he was stoked on our demo and offered us a home at his A389 Records label which lead to our Reproductive Rights EP in 2010.

FF: You guys have done some US tours. Were those easy to book?

JW: That's definitely an Anthony (guitarist) question. All I can say is that he has a tremendous talent for that sort of thing.

FF: What's the best show The Love Below has ever played?

JW: Without a doubt, it has to be the A389 Records showcase back in January with Haymaker, Dropdead, Rot In Hell, and Integrity, or This Is Hardcore 2010 when we got to share the stage with Ringworm and the Cro Mags. So far though, I really love playing New Jersey and Baltimore.

FF: What's the worst show The Love Below has ever played?

JW: Columbus Ohio at some crust punk house. The kids who ran the house were really fucking rude and acted like they didn't want us there from the get go. They also wouldn't let us drink beer anywhere near their house. Nobody watched us except this dude from Penis Geyser.

FF: Who are some of your favorite bands out right now?

JW: I've been really into this band called Fleeting Joys lately. But as far as current hardcore stuff goes: Product of Waste, those guys are the real deal. The Mistake, Pulling Teeth,Seven Sisters of Sleep, Caulfiend, Beartrap, Children Of God. Also, the new Haymaker band, just put out a 7" on A389called "Survival Prayer" and I've been rocking that when I'm in especially foul moods.

FF: Due to the rise in technology and what can be seen as a decline in the legitimacy of the music industry, being in a subculture related band much easier. How has this helped The Love Below, if it has?

JW: I accept that without the internet, we'd have a much smaller fanbase. And I don't care if people illegally download our music as long as they listen to it. Although it would be an appropriate gesture to support these labels and bands if you truly believe in what they are doing.

FF: Even in the wake of the music industry regressing, a lot of bands in hardcore start up with the intention of making it "big" versus just being a creative/artistic outlet. Has The Love Below encountered this much in your existence?

JW: I have friends in bands like that. They usually wind up doing lame pay to play gigs at shitty bars in LA. I honestly don't know why they make music if that's their only motivation. I really don't encounter a lot of that in hardcore though. You'd have to be really up your own ass to think you're going to make it in that kind of business playing aggressive music. The only people who buy records anymore are country fans. Probably because they are too fucking stupid to use the internet.

FF: I notice that you guys often have trouble booking shows in Southern California. How is it that you've made it across the country and onto A389, but aren't getting recognition at home?

JW: There are local venues who are afraid that their shows won't oversell tickets if they let a "slightly lesser known" band open... Unless the people in said band work at the venue. Then it's a different story. Short form answer: Politics, bro.

FF: What does the rest of 2011 hold for The Love Below?

JW: Other than a handful of California shows in the summer... We're putting the finishing touches on a full length LP titles "Every Tongue Shall Caress", as well as an untitled EP. Can't confirm an actual release date on either at the moment, all I can say with any certainty is "SOON". There has also been talk about doing a short tour in October. We'll just have to see, I guess.

FF: Any last words/parting shots/shout outs???

JW: Just to Mike at Hellfish and Dom at A389. I'd like to encourage anyone with any interest in our band to support these guys and their labels/businesses because they believe in and support us. Without them, we're just four dickheads sweating in a garage with our drunk friends cheering us on.

The Love Below/Homewrecker split recently came out on A389 Records. We highly reccommend copping that not only because the jams are sweet, because it gives us hope that hardcore isn't become what it started out despising.

Tankcrimes Continues Legacy of Killer Releases With Tapes by Obsessor and Night Fever

Oakland is a legendary city for punk and hardcore. I could come up with a list of obvious and not so obvious bands, icons, and labels, but where would I even begin. Punk and hardcore in Oakland is much like living in Oakland: if you aren't sharp, hard, aware of your surroundings, and a step ahead of the rest of your neighborhood: you're going to end up a casualty. Voetsek drummer Scotty Heath has been an Oakland resident for a long time, and his record label, Tankcrimes, is a testimony to his keen ear and his ability to find bands and release records that hold their own in a region so rich in great punk and hardcore music.

My former bandmate used to live next door to Heath, and I have peeked into the garage that Tankcrimes is run out of numerous times as we went to and from our own rehearsals. I knew Scotty's label was more than a hobby, but over 2010, Tankcrimes has outgrown Oakland and has began to make quite an impact on punk and hardcore worldwide. Over the past few months, Tankcrimes has put out releases by Annihlation Time, Kicker, Victims, and Cannabis Corpse. Last October, Heath put on the Tankcrimes Brainsqueeze, a two day fest featuring Municipal Waste, Ghoul, Vitamin X, Toxic Holocaust, Ramming Speed, and few other heavy hitters associated with the Tankcrimes label (the DJ at the all day after party at Eli's was the SHIT if I do say so myself...). The garage with a work table and shelves full of records I peered into a handful of times, sometimes staggering between two different friends houses after libations, has definitely taken itself to the next level.

Tankcrimes recently offered up two very different releases on 2011's most popular dead format, cassettes. While both of these releases can easily be played in any car made before the mid 2000s, the bands themselves are definitely in catagories of their own. The first is Obsessor, a one man metal project from Richmond, VA and the second is Night Fever, a dirty hardcore band from Copenhagen, Denmark. Let's dig a little deeper, shall we?



Obsessor offer up two songs of d-beat influenced metal in the same ballpark as Venom or even early Celtic Frost. All of the instruments and vocals were done by Richmond, VA legend Brandon Ferrell, who has done time in Municipal Waste, Government Warning, and Vinyl Conflict Records. What I like most about this two song single is how Ferrell manages to write great metal songs that still have a dirty, raw punk rock feel to them. If the bio didn't mention that Obsessor were a one man band, I never would have known. The songs lack that overly rigid feel that often comes with one man bands (I imagine that rigidness is associated with keeping tempo while recording the different instruments). These two songs are outstanding and with the right hired guns, would make for some ruling circle pits when played live. I look forward to hearing more from this one man metal assault.




I have to be honest. In general, I am wary of European hardcore. I'm not trying to knock an entire continent's contribution to an entire subgenre, but for my taste, many of their so called all-stars fall flat in comparison to their American or Canadian counterparts. Night Fever, however, rule so much than I wish this tape made its way into the stereos of several popular American "hardcore" bands and perhaps breathe some life into a scene saturated in nothing more than bands doing their best rewrites of whatever was hot in the scene ten years ago. Night Fever are what would happen if Slapshot and Motorhead had a kid with an AMAZING sense of humor. The music is fast, angry, and aggressive, yet has a filthy rock n roll feel too it. You could just as easily run off of the stage and headwalk to these guys as you could headbanging furiously while pounding beers in the back of the club, leaving the moshing to the youngins without permanent injuries. Night Fever have all the fun that I feel hardcore (at least in the US) has lost over the last decade. Fun that was replaced with posturing, haircuts, sneaker obsessions, and years gone by that won't ever come back. Night Fever's greatest strength is in the vocal range of frontman Soloman, who can just as easily bark over lightning fast galloping drum beats as well as he can sing like a hybrid of Lemmy and King Diamond. This tape kills. Metalheads, punks, and core kids alike will LOVE Night Fever.

Both tapes are available for order off of the Tankcrimes Website. Close up Facebook and go buy some tapes. 2011 has been a big year for Tankcrimes and its barely half over. Let's see if we can't help Scotty wrap it up with a bang.

Set List From Surprise Happy Hour DJ Set at ACME Bar 6/20/11

Yesterday I decided to spend time working at ACME Bar in Berkeley to change up my scenery. They have wireless, Fernet on tap, and $2 High Lifes. After realizing I didn't want to bury my Sleep review with a far less important story, I got a burrito, and then asked bartender Nicole if I could jump on their decks and play some jams for the duration of her shift. She said "sure" and I got busy making people feel like drinking. I'm working on making this a regular gig, so stay tuned for info on that. Thanks to Nicole and ACME Bar for letting me get loose.

Leaf Hound - Freelance Fiend (see what I did there?)
Neil Young - Cinnamon Girl
Built To Spill - Carry The Zero
Lucero - That Much Further West
Bauhaus - She's In Parties
Vivian Girls - I Heard You Say
The Sword - Lawless Lands
Black Sabbath - Tomorrow's Dream
Fu Manchu - Godzilla
Heart - Crazy On You
Wavves - Take On The World
Sweet Apple - I've Got A Feeling (That Won't Change)
Jets To Brazil - Morning New Disease
Graveyard - Hisingen Blues
The Little Ones - Lovers Who Uncover
Best Coast - Boyfriend
The Exploding Hearts - Sleeping Aides and Razorblades
Go Sailor - Fine Day For Sailing
Morrissey - The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get
Judas Priest - One For The Road
Dead Meadow - Babbling Flower
Minus The Bear - Throwin' Shapes
Pavement - Gold Soundz
13th Floor Elevators - You're Gonna Miss Me
Queens Of The Stone Age - Regular John
The Dead Boys - All This And More
The Murder City Devils - Tokyo Gold
The Dead Weather - Blue Blood Blues
Ghost - Con Clavi Con Dio
Pentagram - When The Screams Come
Mountain - Mississippi Queen
Foghat - Fool For The City
Camera Obscura - French Navy
Pulp - This Is Hardcore
Sonic Youth - Dirty Boots
Gang Of Four - Damaged Goods
Moving Units - Between Us And Them
Oasis - Slide Away
The Stone Roses - I Wanna Be Adored
The Nerves - Hanging On The Telephone
Jawbreaker - Jinx Removing
The Gun Club - Sex Beat
Interpol - Say Hello To The Angels
The Pointed Sticks - What Do I Do Now?
Descendents - Cheer
Screeching Weasel - El Mozote
Black Flag - Nervous Breakdown
Danzig - She Rides
Black Breath - Unholyvirgin
Sleep - Dragonaut
Black Cat Music - Journal Square Train
The Damned Things - We Got A Situation Here
Saviours - We Roam
Metallica - Ride The Lightning
Ozzy Osbourne - Flying High Again
The Sex Pistols - Bodies
Hostage Calm - A Mistrust Earned
Joyce Manor - Constant Headache
Weezer - My Name Is Jonas
Pixies - Monkey Gone To Heaven
Crocodiles - I Wanna Kill
Cold Cave - Pacing Around The Church
Frank Ocean - Nature Feels
Depeche Mode - But Not Tonight
Pulp - Pencil Skirt
The Smiths - Stop Me If You Think That You've Heard This One Before

Retox: Sometimes Going Back to Where You Started is the Best Way to Beat the Curve

San Diego, California is home to pristine beaches, outstanding Mexican food, subpar National League baseball, and to the occasional "killer whale kills or mauls human" story. It has also a city that carved out a very unique place in the history of American underground music, and one person in particular has been a major driving force behind the knife San Diego used to cut the face of punk and hardcore from ear to ear, leaving behind an ugly reminder that punk isn't and shouldn't be safe from itself. Justin Pearson began what would eventually become an admirable and prolific, yet often controversial presence in punk/hardcore scene as the bassist of Struggle in 1991, and went on to form and play in Swing Kids, The Crimson Curse, and The Locust throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. These three bands in their own ways shook up punk and hardcore by highlighting new/refocusing on and challenging old ideologies, adding elements of jazz and electronic music that hadn't really been explored in the context of punk at that time, and by employing and utilizing aesthetics, be it via printed album art/flyers or on-stage costumes, or (dare I say) fashion in general within the movement. While each of these bands are incredibly unique from each other, they shook up punk at a time when punk bands were beginning their rise to becoming multi-platinum household names or wallowing in tired and played out sounds and rhetoric carried over from the late 80s, and wondering if there was a place for them amongst Green Day, the Offspring, and the Van's Warped Tour.

Pearson also founded Three One G Records, a label that not only released a lot of his own projects, but also releases by other bands that broke ground in punk and hardcore including Unbroken, The Blood Brothers, Get Hustle, as well as many other bands that put their own unique and often chaotic spin on traditional hardcore. Aside from running Three One G, the last few years saw Pearson exploring electronic oriented music via projects such as All Leather, The Leg Lifters, and collaborating with The Bloody Beetroots. He has also dabbled in radio, television, and recently published an autobiography. As far as media is concerned, Justin Pearson hasn't really left a stoned unturned.

What do you do when you've accomplished so much and already left a sizable footprint on the ass of a subculture? Apparently you start from scratch by getting some friends together and start a ruling, back to basics hardcore punk band and start gigging around Southern California and the UK like a motherfucker. Ladies, gentlemen, all of you somewhere in between ladies and gentlemen, behold....Retox:



Also featuring The Locust/Le Butcherettes drummer Gabe Serbian, as well as other members of "some grand dicksucking accomplishments" (a direct quote from the bands bio on www.threeoneg.com), Retox adopt a brutal, jagged approach (at least compared to its members' previous bands and projects) to taking on the world at large, and the result is a San Diego (read: chaotic and polyrhythmic) take on early 80s hardcore punk a la Black Flag or The Germs. Retix have an obvious air of life experience and musical know-how about them, which will impress the older crowd who were fortunate to live through punk when it was something kids were banished to versus another look that can be bought and sold at a mall, yet are aggressive and heavy enough to get fifteen year olds with skateboards and bootleg Minor Threat t shirts to kick the living shit out of each other in fits of adolescent rage. Coming from a city/scene often charged with being too high brow or cerebral for a lot of hardcore and punk rock's masses, Retox are a defiant example that intelligence and aggression are not mutually exclusive.



The band's self-titled ep was available as a free download a few months back, but has since been pulled as a free download, and is available for purchase via iTunes and Three One Records. The band is preparing to release a full-length entitled Ugly Animals this summer, and sees them touring California with 90s "electronica" troublemakers Atari Teenage Riot through the 7th and 9th of September. It's rare to find an active band in punk or hardcore that has appeal to different generations of fans with far different opinions and experiences of living in these subcultures. Retox have managed to find that multi-generational sweet spot, and are not a band to be ignored.