Reckless Aggression Demo Review

So the Bridge 9 board has been abuzz with posts about this band from Australia featuring a skinhead singer named "Meatdog" which he has tattooed on his head, along with a big spider. I hear the guy's zine is pretty popular too, featuring artwork like chicks blowing vikings by the light of the full moon and shit like that haha. Among some of newer bands that have been coming out lately featuring Oi/Streetpunk with hardcore influences, they do it well. All of these bands seem to be heavily influenced by 86 Mentality, which is a good thing as they are responsible for some of the best records of the decade. Too bad they never did an LP. Anyway, the vocals on this are rough and angry, not sure what the lyrics are about, I'd be interested to see if they are the standard boots and blood fare, or if there's something more to them. The drums really stand out on this recording, they just have this big crispy sounds that just kind of smacks you in the face over and over again, and they got some tough guitar riffs going on. This band would be great to see in a basement (like albion house) while swilling cheap beer and jumping around. I'd say the band is more on the Oi end of the spectrum of all these new Oi-Core bands sprouting up. They also throw in a 4-Skins cover, which was alright but nothing great, I like the originals better. In conclusion, good demo from this up and coming band. Hopefully they'll tour the states soon, I know there's a demand for them as more and more people are getting stoked on this band. I say keep all the new bands of this style coming. I haven't been too impressed with anything else that's come out in recent memory, and these bands are getting me excited about shit again.

There was a period where I went through a complete draught, not liking ANY bands that were coming out, even as everyone else was crawling up these band's assholes. One thing you can count on with this blog/my zines is my unadulterated opinion. It may not always be what you want to hear, but at least I'm honest and upfront instead of patting you on the back and telling you insincerely that I like your band. I've told friends I don't like their band plenty of times before. You gotta keep it real. If you're not keeping it real, you're keeping it WRONG.



Download the Demo from the link below. (Thanks to poster "lawlznorder" on the B9 board for providing the link):

Reckless Aggression Demo

Oh yea, here's an image of the back cover of Meatdog's zine and a Reckless Aggression live set for your enjoyment:

Tonight

Going to stop by a Halloween party in a bit. Hopefully it's not too much of a sausage fest.

Mmmmm

Hot Pockets for breakfast, the ham and cheese croissant variety. So good. I wasn't that hungover from last night which is fortunate cuz I drank the better half of a fifth of Sailor Jerry's rum.

Legalize It '79

Here's an ad culled from a vintage High Times magazine which advertises a "smoke-in" at the White House on July 3rd and 4th, the 4th obviously being our nation's independence day. I wonder how many people showed up? While obviously a step in the right direction, I guess it didn't do enough because we've still been dealing with the same oppressive laws for over 30 years since then. I have the feeling it was a bunch of unwashed hippies hanging out across the street playing the bongos a smoking joints.....which doesn't exactly bring the best image to the legalization movement. What we need is more "respectable" people.....suit and tie dudes....business men to come out and say,"When I get finished with a long day of work I'd rather smoke a joint of some good weed instead of having a double scotch on the rocks, and you know what? It's not a big deal". Once more "normal" people come out as pot-smokers I feel that we will gain a lot more ground for the cause, and eventually it will become even more socially acceptable, something that is happening as we speak. Look at the mainstream show "Weeds". I've been seeing advertisements EVERYWHERE promoting the new season of Weeds, a show about a pot dealing suburban mom that portrays pot in positive light. This is just the tip of the ice-burg as we as a society finally start to come to our senses.

Prison Sucks (Reprinted from Hot Food Zine #1)

Here's a short story (non-fiction) that I contributed to my friend Mike's zine "Hot Food" which came out awhile back. It's about a time when I went to visit my friend in prison. The story from page 1 is continued in the lower corner of page 2. Hope you find it entertaining.

Chicago Fest '05 Ticket Stub

Here's a ticket stub for Chicago Fest '05 at The Pulaski Park Fieldhouse. It was held in the main gymnasium part of the building and the turnout was huge, There was a ton of crusties everywhere, but the lineup was pretty cool, had a decent time.

My Favorite Blog....

The Bad Sandwich Chronicles is the only blog I check out and enjoy on a regular bassist. It's done by a member of the local Pop-Punk band "The Lawrence Arms" named Brandon Kelly. He writes about life in Chicago and in general, traveling with his band, and a multitude of funny observations/situations. This is the type of blog that you end up going back and obsessively reading all the archived material....which in this case goes back quite a ways. The writing itself is the opposite of dry, I've laughed out a loud numerous times while reading his blog. To me, anything that can make you laugh out loud while by yourself is good writing. Anyways, there's a link to it on my blog sidebar. I highly recommend checking this particular one out. I can only aspire to have as many followers/viewers as this dude, I'm sure some of it has to do with his "status" as a band member, but his writing stands on it's own, and obviously has tons of people coming back for more. The average post on there has like 30 comments, I've been doing this blog for around 6 months now and I've gotten less than 10 comments throughout all the posts. Yes, I am a bit jealous. Guess I just gotta step my game up a bit more.

Wildies

Digging through my closet recently, I uncovered some issues of cool old music magazines...mostly imported from the UK. They mainly cover Vocal/Doo Wop groups and old Rock and Roll/Rockabilly stuff. Here's a cool little article that was scanned from the pages of "Now Dig This" a UK rockabilly zine. It's about songs they refer to as "Wildies", stuff like along the lines of "Tutti Frutti" by Little Richard.... raucous, out of control, rock and roll tunes that get the blood pumping through your veins and bring out the crazy person inside of you. It's a short read but pretty cool:




Look for more article scans and other cool, assorted odds and ends coming soon.

Shows of the Past: Madison Fest '08 (The Repos Last Show)

Here's a piece I wrote about The Repos last show weekend. It got kind of lost in the shuffle so I don't think I ever got a chance to publish it anywhere, I just kind of stumbled upon it buried deep within my email box. One funny aspect is that It covered the extraneous events surrounding the shows moreso than the shows themselves.




Recap of Madison Fest Weekend

Although the last Chicago Repos show was a lot of fun, it was slightly anti-climactic in the face of the free festival the next day in Madison, WI. The Chicago gig was at People’s Projects. I like the venue but I hate a good 90% of the people who go there. I’m talking about the worst of the self-righteous, bike-crust supremacists you could possibly hope to dredge up. I love basement venues, so I choose to forego some minor annoyances in trade for not paying $5 for a can of PBR, and being able to smoke as much weed as I want to, where I want to. The venue is a CVS Drug/Liquor store which makes beer runs no sweat. They also have cheap oil cans of Fosters and this is what I usually like to drink over there. So I got there late as to miss a couple of bands I didn’t particularly care about. Upon arrival, I immediately went to the CVS and purchased a couple beers. Went back to the show and smoked a little bit with Mike from the Catburglars. We smoked it downstairs as to avoid the crowd of weed vultures who always slowly gravitate into the circle when I’m sitting upstairs rolling up a blunt. There’s some serious no weed having motherfuckers at those shows and they always want something from you. I ain’t your daddy, put 5 on it and then we’ll talk. I swear, even if you do let someone slide and grab a couple tokes, they always make the blunt run or blaze the entire bowl like an amateur. Fuck that shit. And then there are the girls who will do the same thing they do in bars (i.e. get dudes to buy them drinks) but with weed. They’ll be hitting on you and as soon as they get their little buzz they skate out faster than Danzig at a North Side Kings show.

 It was good to see a lot of people I know there. I had some drinks and talked with some of them for a bit. The sound for the next two bands didn’t seem that good. I went downstairs for PITF and I could barely hear the music, just the dude barking into the microphone, which is cool but I wasn’t in the mood for it at that moment. Weekend Nachos pressed nacho shaped vinyl for their record release, and people started dashing for the merch table. A mad cascade of hands clutching bills shot up and they did their best to deal with the demand. Personally, I was waiting for the “secret” Repos LP where they cover Youth of Today’s “We’re Not in This Alone” front to back. Finally I copped one and was happy. Also got a Repos last show print which was pretty cool, kind of out of character for them. The Repos set was a good one. I had a good buzz going and was thoroughly enjoying it. Someone broke a water pipe or something in the melee that ensued during the first couple songs. I don’t really have anything else to say about it except that I had fun.

Drove up to Madison with Rob, Nora and Anton. I didn’t think it was that bad of a drive at all. I like looking out at the countryside as I drive. It’s cool to have a change of scenery from suburban sprawl, or urban claustrophobia. Looking out at some of the old dilapidated farmhouses, I think of the history behind them…and wonder if anyone still lives in them. I only had the radio to listen to in my car cuz the tape deck made a meal out of one of my tapes and I haven’t been able to get it back since. We arrived early and walked into the student center where it was being held at. The place was really nice with free internet available and a ridiculous student lounge in the basement, with a snack bar that served alcohol as well as pool tables, foosball, and other stuff. It was way early so we decided to walk to this place called Monty’s Blue Plate Diner that Anton heard was good. It specializes in vegan/vegetarian food and while I’m neither, I still like the food. We ended up walking like 4 miles because we underestimated the time it would take when we looked at a map. I really like the architecture in Madison, really interesting looking houses painted in cool colors. When we finally reached the diner I ordered a “Sloppy Faeux” which is an imitation sloppy joe sandwich made with seitan. It was good; they put some kind of hot sauce in the recipe so it had a nice little kick to it. I also had about 3 cups of coffee.

We took a cab back and got there in time for In Defense who were good. Watched a bit of Wasted Time too, I wish Government Warning had played instead of them but whatever. If by now you’re pissed about me not extensively chronicling each band and what they sound like, honestly I didn’t care too much about any band but The Repos and Weekend Nachos. We walked over to Earwax Records and entered as they were closing up, but the guy said we could do a little bit of shopping cuz some metalhead kid was coming to buy a bunch of records. They had a good selection, mostly DIY hardcore stuff and Metal. I bought a Nightstick Justice record which was probably the best purchase I’d made in awhile, the record fucking kills (I’m assuming it’s the demo, it just has their logo on the cover). We then hit up the liquor store where I bought a couple brews from the “Spotted Cow” brewery. One of the beers that really stuck out to me was called “Road Sludge”, I think it was supposed to be a porter, it was very drinkable and tasted delicious, and I liked the roasted coffee overtones. I only got 3 beers cuz I had to drive back later on and didn’t want to take any chances. Back at the Student Center, everyone was getting drunk. WI liquor laws are the shit you can buy and drink beer anywhere in the student center and I was told that it’s accepted to walk the town with a beer as long as it’s brown-bagged. (Sounds like Chicago 5 years ago). Some annoying townie types were hanging around trying to bum cigarettes off of people. This dude actually asked if he could have a sip of my beer. That didn’t go over very well. Weekend Nachos played and I gained a new appreciation for the band due to John Caution’s stage presence on this occasion, he seemed to be really pumped about playing the show and from where I was standing it looked like he put in more effort than usual. I’ve seen them a couple of times already but this time really stood out to me and made me want to go back and check out more of their music.

I went to smoke some bud, when I came back to the show, The Repos were about to go on and my brain was wide open. When they started, the stage dives did too. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that many dives before….just one after another, it was awesome. People were going off the wall, and you could tell the band was feeding on the energy. The one moment that really stood out to me was when they busted into a cover of “Keep It Up” by Youth of Today. The opening bassline sounded so fucking monstrous, it ruled. They ripped through their set and came back for an encore which was uncharacteristic of them but was met by the crowd with much approval. You can watch the set here in 3 parts:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Lots of new content coming soon!

I'm in the process of scanning all my Chicago Hardcore and Metal fliers and I'm going to write up some short reviews for the ones I attended/can remember, so look out for lots of cool new material coming up.

A Rare Interview with The Clash

Here's an interview with one of....if not the best punk bands of all time. This interview is pretty political, but also has some weed content and other band anecdotes peppered throughout the piece. It's been scanned directly from the August 1979 issue of High Times.

These dudes are crazy....

Guys in prison tattooing their eyeballs using not a tattoo gun, but a HYPODERMIC NEEDLE. Fuuuuuuuuuck! There's another part of this segment that isn't displayed which shows another guy in the same prison with eyes that are completely black. Needless to say it looks pretty fucking scary and intimidating, like the guy has no soul. People do some crazy shit when they have nothing to lose.

Chicago Hardcore Shows of the Past: Gorilla Biscuits Reunion w/ Murphy's Law at The Clearwater Theater, West Dundee, IL

This show was a lot of fun. The night was buzzing with all sorts of rumors concerning the Gorilla Biscuits reunion. The Clearwater Theater venue itself is a large old theater that can fit a lot of people, and by the looks of it, this thing was almost sold out. They packed em in like sardines, it literally took about 5 minutes to walk from the front of the stage to the bar area, which was also ridiculously crowded. Keep in mind that this was a fairly long time and I was stoned and a little drunk, so I'm recreating this experience from a somewhat impaired memory. To tell you the truth in this case I remember more about the vibe and the atmosphere in these incidences rather than the particulars of how each band played musically. I remember Few and The Proud opening up the show, getting a decent response from all the local Chicago Hardcore kids. Stabbed by Words was up next and I don't remember a thing about their set, it must not've been very good. Everyone's favorite party band "Murphy's Law" was up next. They were all drunk as shit and acting goofy. Apparently it was Jimmy Gestapo's birthday and someone brought him a cake which he promptly threw into the audience haha. Then he proceeded to walk along the bar to the Comeback Kid merch table and started throwing their merch out into the crowd for free! Haha. I didn't care because I don't like watered down crap like CK anyway. This stunt was really funny though.

The Gorilla Biscuits were up next. Surprisingly the crowd thinned out a bit cuz a lot of the new jack kids left after Comeback Kid. The 'Biscuits had their OG lineup for this tour which was cool. They were FOR SURE just doing the reunion for the money, all their merch was marked up pretty crazy like 20 bucks per shirt which wasn't cool. The designs were fairly ugly too. No way I'm paying that much for that. The Gorilla Biscuits did play a pretty fun show. They played all the favorites, had decent enough energy for "old dudes". There was a huge barricade up and despite this, people were attempting to dive which was very dangerous, as the stage was really high and the barricade pretty long. My friend Diego's sister broke her wrist doing her first stage dive (Definately not the smartest setup to start your stage diving career with.). She ended up ok in the end, which was good cuz I guess a lot of people wee worried because it looked like she took a bad fall. Anyways, this show was good fun. The venue was kind of weird but you can't be too picky for places to put on huge shows like this. As always, props to Shane Merrill for making this happen. Dude is a hardcore all-star and books the majority of the good shows in the Chicago Hardcore/Metal scene.

Old High Times Scan: "How to Say No to a Dealer"

Leafing through one of my vintage issues of High TImes magazine, I came across this article about the world of marijuana consumerism, and the interaction between dealer and customer. After reading the article I thought to myself," Yea, if only things really happened like they do in the pages of this magazine". I've had to deal with many shady fly-by-night dealers in my unwavering quest for herb. A lot of times, you're lucky if the bag even weighs correctly let alone have "polite banter" about the current weed in stock. If you asked for a sample a lot of people would look at you like you're crazy. Though few and far between, I HAVE had experience with dealers who take pride in a good product, but even then the guy was still a cocky asshole.....go figure. One a side note, check out the buds on the first page, I think it's hilarious that the weed featured in the High Times of yesterdays is the schwag of today. Seriously, that stuff looks pretty nasty haha. This article may be slightly anachronistic, but in a perfect world, this is how our weed buying interactions would take place:

Bloody Hammer "Pogo Rock" Demo Review

This is another band in a series of new Oi/Oi-Core/Street Punk bands that have come on the scene recently. Much like Criminal Damage, this is very heavily Blitz influenced Street Punk with catchy hooks and melodic guitars. The tracks are all on one big demo file with no track names, so I can't break down the songs individually, but this stuff is pretty rockin', and sounds very true to the old school sound. The only thing that takes some getting used to is the fact that the singer sounds like a dude who ate 3 xanax bars and is trying to do a dead on impersonation of the vocalist from Blitz. It kinda grows on you I guess. The standout here is "Street Kids" with a huge guitar hook and the aforementioned melodic guitars chiming in the background. If I were you I'd get this demo. It's good stuff. Unfortunately the D/L link for the demo seems to be broken for the moment, I'll try to remember to check back and see if it's fixed and if so I'll post it.

Skrapyard Demo Review

When I first saw the demo of this cover (A Skinhead bashing rats with a baseball bat in a vacant lot/scrapyard) I was a little salty because when I finally got a band together, I wanted the cover of the first 7" EP to be a bunch of skinheads giving a group of baby seals a boot party. They beat me to the punch, oh well. I'll just have to come up with something either equally or more offensive. On to the music.......just for the record, there were no song titles that came with the demo download, so I commented on the tracks in order. First off, this is extremely influenced by 86 Mentality, in fact some of the songs are directly inspired (or bit depending on your point of view) riffs from 86 Mentality songs. Parts of the first song for instance are very very similar to "Get Away" by 86........they have the same kind of fast (for Oi inspired stuff) and loose sound with gravelly, kind of sloppy vocals....in this case the vocals sound like a cross between Aaron from The Repos and Steve from 86 Mentality. The second song is my favorite, it starts out with this HUGE stomp part that sounds like the notes of "Bust It" by Righteous Jams re-worked a bit. Whatever they did with it, the sound works.....and the breakdown....holy shit the breakdown! It starts with a maniacal laugh and busts back in the stomp part that opens the song but they take it to the next level and make it sound considerably harder. next song is a faster punky romp, good stuff to sing along to....then they burst into the next song which features a countdown ("1,2,3,4!") again, very reminiscent of 86 Mentality which segues into another MASSIVE hard as nails stomp/mosh part. This is the kind of stuff I can't wait to mosh to when I see them live. The song lyrics are pretty typical fare, about being an outcast from society and shit like that, being "born and bred to fight" etc......whatever creativity the lyrics lack the music makes up for. The Last song is another angry blast from these dudes. Stuff like this gets me excited again for the scene. Most Chicago bands/shows just haven't been doing it for me for the last year or so. i'm glad this Oi/Hardcore crossover sound is coming back (There are multiple bands and other continually sprouting up that are using a Warzone/86 Mentality/YDL type template for there tunes) which excites me. I hope these guys end up playing their first show in Chicago, but word is it might be in Indiana. Either way I intend to do my best to attend and mosh for my favorite demo of recent memory.

Download Here:
http://www.mediafire.com/?w1v8tria9mxx4oe

Look for more reviews of a few new band's demos coming in installments over the next week or so.

XXL Chalupa Part 2: Electric Boogalo

Had another one of these babies for lunch today. Soooooooo so so good!

"Get in that ass, Larry!"

XXL Chalupa

Sometimes I make it a point to go out and try new things from fast food restaurants. I've been seeing a ton of advertising for this XXL Chalupa and I decided to give it a try for dinner tonight. It was fucking amazing! Pretty good sized with lots of cheese, sour cream, and beef. I had this and a couple 99 cent Chicken Flatbread Sandwiches (also delicious). Even though it's fast food, this is one of the most tasty and satisfying meals I've had in recent memory. I don't even usually buy regular chalupas, but everything about this one was absolutely delicious, and at $2.99 it's reasonably priced as well.

Pete

10,000 Views!

We've reached another milestone in the history of The Night Owl Blog/Zine. The Blog just cracked 10,000 views, which IMO is a lot for the type of blog this is. I want to thank everyone who's complimented me in person or on the internet who say that they enjoy the blog. I hope to be doing it for a long time.....at least til I hit 100,000 views. Here's a little something for all the loyal readers out there:

Stormwatch - Right To Remain Violent
http://www.mediafire.com/?123dvzj2k44

Murderer's Row - Menace To Sobriety
http://www.mediafire.com/?2i14xaiy1bb

Combat Ready - Hates You...
http://www.mediafire.com/?7higf9v1lxm

Discipline - Love Thy Neighbor
http://www.mediafire.com/?5du9ulgyb2r

Squiggy - A Case of Pride
http://www.mediafire.com/?9fkycgvijin

Squiggy - Songs About Hate, Anger, And The American Way...
http://www.mediafire.com/?8tzkb9yqidp

Forced Reality - Self Titled (Patriot Records version)
http://www.mediafire.com/?2vsvvv2xlm5

The Bruisers - The Authorized Bruisers
http://www.mediafire.com/?2eostnmdy0v

Wretched Ones - We Don't Belong To Nobody
http://www.mediafire.com/?4w9vjvfg5zg

Main Street Saints - Everyone Wants To Go To Heaven, No One Wants To Die
http://www.mediafire.com/?b2lbd23v0ej

Patriot - Another Dead Generation
http://www.mediafire.com/?3jqe2h1zgyz

Patriot - Live And Kicking
http://www.mediafire.com/?5jnt2nvb44n

Patriot - We The People
http://www.mediafire.com/?2zau2wn9djp

Pressure Point - To Be Continued
http://www.mediafire.com/?fbjsiqnjkth

Niblick Henbane - Happy Happy Oi Oi and ...And We Fall
http://www.mediafire.com/?fvzstefemgs

Beer Mongers - Hung Over EP
http://www.mediafire.com/?bec1l0zj1mk

Youth Defense League - Discography
http://www.mediafire.com/?5xnugnsqfnn

Oi! This is England Vol 1
http://www.mediafire.com/?3vvzzqbitxz

Oxblood-S/T
http://www.sendspace.com/file/9g7w1u

Arresting Officers - Patriotic Voices
http://www.mediafire.com/?2xowyudpnl5

Wretched Ones - Go To Work
http://www.mediafire.com/?5zslwn1gjxh

Anti-Heroes - American Pie
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=CQ8Y698I

Combat 84-Better To Be Dead Than Red
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=1OQNIYGP

The Templars-Horns of Hattin
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=F4PTCNEG

U.S. Of Oi! Volume 1
http://www.mediafire.com/?8yjkxhtiq5z

Anti-Heros "That's Right/Don't Tread On Me"
http://www.mediafire.com/?4ynjzwkr9jj

Hard Skin "Hard Nuts Hard Cunts"
http://www.mediafire.com/?beai09hxzrj

The Best Of" The Last Resort
http://www.mediafire.com/?9ec0cdx9enq

The Oppressed-Best Of
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=S9TGQKCR

Cockney Rejects-Oi Oi Oi!
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=KJCWPREI

Red Alert "Oi! Singles Collection"
http://www.mediafire.com/?awwd1gjmiyf

The Templars "Reconquista 1994-1995"
http://www.mediafire.com/?7li42id9ymw

The Templars "Phase II"
http://www.mediafire.com/?4up00ma1a2w

The Templars "Horns Of Hattin"
http://www.mediafire.com/?8ddy9xopz1z

Battalion 86 "And The Spirit Survives"
http://www.mediafire.com/?0mdztcmhuqm

Argy Bargy "Songs From The Streets"
http://www.mediafire.com/?bmuxyqjwinm

Youth Defense League "American History (Live)"
http://www.mediafire.com/?4cys4x4gmcd

Violent Storm "Celtic Warrior"
http://www.mediafire.com/?1fqn2nsgxoj

Subway Thugs "S/T Ep"
http://www.mediafire.com/?cj1mxssf4mj

Arresting Officers - Land & Heritage / Patriotic Voice
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=AAEGKYXB

The Oppressed "Dead & Buried/Fatal Blow"
http://www.mediafire.com/?btzf1ycgn31

Sons of Liberty (ex Arresting Officers) Justice Denied 7 Inch
http://www.mediafire.com/?8z1zlntufpz

Niblick Henbane "Go Away"
http://www.mediafire.com/?ih1pxbizwmy

Discipline "Bulldog Style"
http://www.mediafire.com/?ztg91myv2xa

Patriot "Cadence From The Street"
http://www.mediafire.com/?gy1zxez1dvz

Fatskins "Thinkin Like A Fatskin"
http://www.mediafire.com/?hl3jmjd2ngx

Boot Party "Bricks To Concrete"
http://www.mediafire.com/?5mywkxijzxz

Blitz "The Best Of"
http://www.mediafire.com/?l4yymy2lb1t

Stars & Stripes "Shaved For Battle"
http://www.mediafire.com/?ywjmj1jciyi

Joe Walsh-In The City

.....From everyone's favorite movie....."The Warriors". Turn your speakers up as loud as they can go.....this is meant to be blasted!

Feel Good Friday!

The Housemartins-Happy Hour

Fleece Johnson.....Booty Warrior

Epic.

Skrapyard Demo

Great demo from this new Chicago Oi-Core band. The break on the second song is fucking nuts! Can't wait to see this band live.


Download Here:
http://www.mediafire.com/?w1v8tria9mxx4oe

Haha

Prettty Good

This is why I love old issues of High Times.......

Third Eye Vision.

X/X/X

So I hit up the Straight Edge fest at a new venue called "Locked Out" yesterday....located near Fullerton and Cicero. The only bands I really wanted to see were Black SS (They canceled...bummer), Sorry Excuse, and RazorxFade....to be honest, I considered this more of a hangout for myself. The venue itself was cool.....minus all the dumb, ultra-leftist political propaganda. The "stage" was pretty low, but kids made up for it by using themselves as stage-dive launch pads. I was chugging a Four Loko outside, and during this I managed to miss RazorxFade....who must've had a 5 minute set or something. It was cool seeing all the usual faces, especially cuz I haven't been coming out as much as usual. It was also cool meeting a bunch of new people, mainly the Kansas and STL kids.....who are lots of fun to hang out with. Apparently more people then I thought follow and enjoy the blog, which makes me really happy. A bunch of us got food at Lazo's afterwards which was delicious, except for the fact that our waitress was a chip nazi. Talked to Sorry Excuse about doing an interview, Antonio and the others were down for it, so look for that coming up soon....I still gotta get some questions together. Anyways, last night was a lot of fun. Thanks to Nick Baran for putting everything on, the bands that played, cool peeps I met, etc.

A Brief Interview with a Juggalo.

This was done with a juggalo acquaintance of mine named Baker. I was interested in getting a Juggalo's point of view, since they seem to be a hot button issue at the moment with the controversy surrounding the annual The Gathering of Juggalos. I've made it clear to him that I'm not a fan of Juggalos/Juggalo culture. He respects my point of view as long as I respect his, and he does a a decent job defending his favorite artists, though it's pretty much quoted verbatim from what ICP says in Interviews. I basically played total devil's advocate the entire time (which was natural because I am indeed on the other side of the fence as far as liking Juggalo shit is concerned.) On another note, Baker is an EXTREMELY good rapper, especially at freestyling. I think he could make a good name for himself in the Chicago Hip Hop scene if he focused his energy into positive channels.


#'s: What does being a juggalo mean to you?

Baker: It's being part of a family, not a gang or anything like that, a family of people who love the same music....anything considered Juggalo music....a lot of times any horror core.... though mostly Psychopathic Records artists like ICP, Twiztid, Blaze etc., also people on other labels who are respected in the underground like Tech 9ine and Kottonmouth Kings. When you go to the shows, it's not like any other kind of concerts, there's a magical feeling in the air. Being a juggalo to me is a tradition I've followed while growing up, and it's just being part of a family.

#'s: As I was saying earlier, there's a lot of people who don't really like ICP (to put it lightly), how would you respond to these critics?

Baker: I believe everybody has their own opinion. If you go around and say "Fuck ICP" and act immature like that, when I was younger I'd be like "Fuck you then". Growing up, most juggalos (true juggalos) would be like "Why"? If you have a good reason why you don't like ICP ,Psycopathic Artists, or juggalos in general, I'll respect your opinion....but if you go around and talk shit about it for no reason, then that's just very ignorant.

#'s: ICP has a lot of whacked out lyrics, how can you take a band seriously that talks about shoving soda bottles up their asses?

Baker: I've seen ICP many times, they're entertainers. They do it for shock value....they want to say things that will make your parents not like the record, they want to shock people. They don't want the mainstream or everyday people to like their shit, they just want their fans to love their shit, they don't care if anyone else does. They do it because they're entertainers and that's what they think is funny. It's not like juggalos actually go around shoving pop bottles up their ass at least I hope they don't, and if they do then that's their own thing. If you actually listen to the lyrics, they actually have a message, like if they say "I'm gonna chop his head off and put it on a shelf" or something, the person who's head is getting chopped off is usually someone they think has done wrong, like a child molester, rapists, wifebeaters etc.

#'s: So you say ICP is entertainment, do you find lyrics about necrophilia, hacking little kids to pieces etc. entertaining?

Baker: Yea well, there's just as many movies that have necrophilia in them, and ICP has never talked about killing kids in any of their lyrics. I think it's the same thing as a horror movie. it's just like going to a movie store and picking up a movie. If you don't want to watch a horror movie then don't rent it.

These are nice!

I want one.

http://www.modernaction.net/monkeyjackets.html

Awesome new HC band: Warbound

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/warboundhc

Demo: http://www.mediafire.com/?v9bw4vsfvg2esrg

I'm feelin' this!

Dubstep

Here's some dubstep tunes I've been grooving on lately. Download them and have yourself an eargasm!




The Prodigy-Breathe (Numbernine6 remix)
http://www.mediafire.com/?tnzvztm2ktw


Nero-Act Like You Know
http://www.mediafire.com/?jmit1nzwn1y




The Streets-In The Middle (Nero Dubstep Remix)
http://www.mediafire.com/?iza2mnydj5n

BBQ Sauce Review: Captain Curt's Famous "Boss Sauce"

Just to get it out there, I hate overly sweet, bland barbecue sauces with no spice kick to them....you know the type you get at a Bohemian restaurant or diner. I love anything that's spicy and my barbecue sauce has to at least pack a decent punch, preferably a wallop. I've been doing my grocery shopping at Jewel, and each time I go there I pick a new BBQ sauce and/or hot sauce to try out. I've had a few dissapointing bottles so far, I've also found out that you can't go wrong with the Sweet Baby Ray's brand. Anyways, back to this "Boss Sauce". At first I wasn't it feeling so much. Up front was a slight taste of the aforementioned overly sweet BBQ sauces, but as if by magic, mid-bite it turned into a solid hot peppery (as in salt and pepper) finish. It's not hot by any means, but at least it had a little something behind it. I've tried it on fries and with baked chicken. For fry-eating I'll usually go with a spicier brand, but this sauce complimented the flavor of the baked chicken with just the right amount of hotness. To tell you the truth, the sweet then spicy thing really grew on me, and I've come to really enjoy this sauce a lot. Like Sweet Baby Ray's, Captain Curt's "Boss Sauce" is a locally owned and operated company......so why not help out the local economy and pick up a bottle of this good, solid BBQ sauce. I gotta give Captain Curt his props, his sauce really is "Boss".

Homeboy Sandman-Extreme Measures