Playlist 10/27/2006

Articles of Faith- Tijuana Toad- Romanov's Bones 7"- Dashiki Clout
Heavy Manners- Flaming First- s/t 7"- Disturbing Records
English Beat- Tears of a Clown- Twist/Crawl 7"- Sire
Joe Strummer- Filibustero- Walker 7"- Astralwerks
Common Rider- True Rulers- Last Wave Rockers- Panic Button
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Soulside- Bass - Bass 7"- Dischord
Fugazi- Syrofoam- Repeater= Dischord
American Steel= Sloppy Fuckin' Drunk- s/t - Newdisorder
Rudiments- Sunday Morning Suspect- Bitch Bitch Bitch- Dill
Holy Mountain- Wrath- Wrath- No Idea
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Frank Zappa- Bobby Brown Goes Down- Cheap Thrills- Ryko
Citizen Fish- Hanbit- Active Ingedients- Lookout
Minutemen- Paranoid Chant- Paranoid Chant 7"- SST
Observers- Leadpill- Lead Pill 7"- Deranged
Crimpshrine= In The City- Duct Tape Soup- Lookout
Jawbreaker- Split- Samiam Split- No Idea!
Discount- On The Tracks- Wonder Pulled me Under- Liquid Meat
Observers- Where I Stay- Where I Stay 7"- Deranged
Assfactor 4- Why I Walk/Dail Dinwiddle- split w/ Rights Reserved- Punk Lunch
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DKs- moon over marin- Plastic Surgery- Alternative Tentacles
DKs- Holiday in Cambodia- Fresh Fruit- Alt Tentacles
Black Flag- Six Pack - 1st 4 years- SST
Raygun- Treason- Last of the Demohicans- Dsylexic
American Steel- Hope Springs From Somewhere- Rogue's March- Lookout
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Oblivion- And The Put on Plays of Passion- Sweatpants USA- johann's face
Apocalypse Hoboken- Legs of an Asian- Microstars- kung fu
Ambition Mission- Run Motherfucker, run- You Name it...-Gov. Music
This is my Fist- Story of Reconversion- I don't mean to alarmyou...- Left
off the Dial
Rhythm Collision- Tommy Gun- Irrepressible- Stiff Pole
Trepan Nation- Half a Fag- SXE- Thug Life
Deadfall- Counting, evac plan- Keep Telling Yourself it's okay- Tankcrimes
Direct Control- Cleptomaniac, Nuclear Tomorrow-Nuclear Tomorrow- Sorry State
Fucked Up- Triumph of Life- Triumph of Life- Vice
Gorilla Biscuits- High Hopes, Big Mouth, No Reason- High Hopes- Rev
Storm the Tower- Panic Flares, Fight or Fight- 4 Songs- Little Deputy
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ISIS- Syndic Calls- Panopticon- Ipecac
Jets to Brazil- Morning New Disease- Orange Rhyming Dictionary- Jade Tree
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Helloween set
Misfits- Some Kind of Hate- Legacy of Brutality- Plan 9
Misfits- Death Comes Ripping- Collection 1- Plan 9
DKs- Halloween- Plastic Surgery Disasters- Alternative Tentacles
Danzig- Am I Demon- Danzig 1- Def American
Misfits- Astro Zombies- Collection 1
Misfits- Where Eagles Dare- Legacy of Brutality- Plan 9
Misfits- Green Hell- Collection 1- Plan 9
88 Fingers Louie- My Fathers Dreams- Viva Chicago- Rocco
Assfactor 4- smoked out 7"- Old Glory

Been a Long Time Since I Blogged and Rolled

I'm an advocate of knowing about gear if you're in a band. Even if you're not a Musician(tm), but a punk who knows how to play power chords, it's a good idea to know how your implement of destruction works. I've been playing in bands since high school and I've owned a lot of guitars in my time. I've always been a fan of weird guitars, or guitars that weren't considered "great instruments" for their given application, but would define a certain sound. For example, the Fender Jazzmaster; not really a jazz guitar. I honestly don't think any Jazz guy ever used one of these. Instead, the garage rockers and certain members of the surf community jumped all over these guitars, as well as it's sibling guitars, the Jaguar and the Mustang. Later in 80's, these would be looked at as throw away guitars with the advent of the "hot rod strat" that companies like Ibanez, Jackson and EMG were making. You could commonly find these in pawn shops for fifty bucks, sitting there collecting dust. It wasn't until the alternative explosion of the early 90's that these guitars would get a new breath of life.
Much like the Jazzmaster, Jaguar, and Mustang, the Mosrite was a guitar that very few people jumped on, because of it's odd shape, until the Ventures started using these bad boys. In the 70's, there was a really small resurgence of the Mosrite when Johnny Ramone started playing a white Ventures II Mosrite through his Marshall Plexi (this was his set up all through his career as guitarist of the Ramones.) Over the years, the value of the Mosrite has sky rocketed, because of collectors and fans of surf rock and pop punk search for these. For a while, a company called GPC was making a "Weaselrite" guitar, which was the Ben Weasel signature guitar, which is commonly considered a better guitar than the original Ventures II Mosrite. People found it much more playable and comfortable to play as well as it's standard DiMarzio pick ups gave it a bit more "cut" than the original Mosrite pickups.
I recently stumbled across a company out of Cary NC called Dillion guitars who made a Mosrite copy that is being boasted as an incredible guitar. People are saying that it doesn't sound like a Mosrite, but really, the reason I'm attracted to the guitars is because they look really cool. I'm in the process of ordering one and I'm looking forward to getting it. Apparently, these are no longer in production and there's limited quantities floating around the country, so I'm considering myself lucky. They come in sunburst, Ventures red and Ramones white. Believe me, I'm excited.
I'm not sure if this guitar will forever replace my 1978 Gibson Les Paul Pro, but it might make a decent alternate. Mostly I want this guitar for the playability of the body style and the look. Even if it doesn't sound true to an original Ventures II, it doesn't matter, because it will probably still make for an excellent garage rock guitar of the Teen Generate variety. I'm really excited about plugging it into my Marshall Plexi and turning it up and peeling the paint off the walls as well as playing through my little Traynor Vox copy, drowning it in reverb.

As far as equipment goes, my personal opinion is that there are two amps that truly define the sound of punk rock. First is the Marshall Plexi line. This is the amp that Johnny Ramone used on all of the Ramones recordings and one of the most copied guitar sounds from one of the most desired guitar amps. Take a patch cable and bridge Channel 1's input two with Channel 2's input 1 to get the sound of raw punk rock. I have one of these amps and I will probably never buy another amp again, unless I find a...
Marshall JCM 800 is the guitar amp that was made famous by the 90's pop punk explosion. In fact, these are commonly looked at as the last great Marshall amp (some would argue the JCM 900, which I also really like) ever made. Commonly people feel that Marshall stopped trying to define rock amplification and were allowing rock bands define Marshall. The JCM 2000 is a good example of this. It was all bells and whistles and was an attempt to capture some of the market that Mesa Boogie was controlling. If you turned the knobs enough (and believe me, there's plenty of knobs to turn), you can dial in something close to it's older brothers, but really what you're going to get is the sound of a dated amp. Where Marshall prided itself on tone and classic British distortion, Mesa prides itself on it's lack of tone and abundant SoCal distortion. Recently, Marshall has reissued the JCM 800, so grab them while you can. Better still, pick up an original one. They go for as cheap as four hundred bucks. It'll have more character and sound sweet. Besides, there's always the chance that someone modded it and made it unique (much like my Plexi, which someone installed a master volume to the front panel where the little red light used to be.) If you want really great "rock" sounds out of a Marshall, hunt down the custom "hot rodded" JCM 800's and 900's that were floating around in the early 90's. These were after market mods that metal heads would have done to their Marshalls to make them sound "hotter."
If old school hardcore is your thing, check out the MXR Distortion + pedal. I have one of these and it's yet to fail me. These things were all over southern California in the early 80's and pretty much defined that sound. I'm a huge fan of the Disto+ and pretty much swear by it. Combine that with a Plexi and a Les Paul and you pretty much have all out destruction.
Keep in mind though, none of this is hard fast rules, these are just suggestions and an explanation of how classic sounds came about. This is punk rock; break the rules and think outside the box, just know what you're talking about and research what you're spending your money on.

Underground Communique Playlist 10/20/06

1. Lifetime - Turnpike Gates - Jersey's Best Dancers - Jade Tree
2. Heads Vs Breakers - Beneficial Wigs - Apathy is the New Black - S/R
3. Latterman - There's No Way Punk Was Meant to be Done (You Clown Doctor) - Turn Up the Punk, We'll be Singing - Traffic Violation Records
4. Strike Anywhere - Infrared - Exit English - Jade Tree
5. Blonde Alibi - Where is My Holy Ghost - Just Tell Me Who it Was - S/R
*Break
6. Complete Control - We Were Dead - Death Can Wait - TKO Records
7. Opressed Logic - Abort the Kids - It's Harassment - Industrial Strength
8. Filth - Today's Lesson - Shit Split - Life is Abuse
9. Cardiac Arrest - Going Nowhere - Life's Dead End 7" - Grave Mistake Records
10. Asshole Parade - Short, Fast Recovery Plan - S/T - No Idea
11. I Object! - The Offering - Demo - S/R
12. Black Sheep Squadron - Berserk - Foreign Object - Reaper Records
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13. 86 Mentality - Get Away - Goin' Nowhere Fast - Grave Mistake Records
14. Wrecking Crew - Out of Touch - Balance of Terror - I Scream Records
15. Get Rad - Broken Like a Record - Say Fuck No to Rules, Man - Hyperrealist
16. Pinhead Gunpowder - 2nd Street - Compulsive Disclosure - Lookout!
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17. Pegboy - My Youth/Field of Darkness - Strong Reaction - 1/4 Stick (request)
18. 7 Seconds - Young Til I Die/Red and Black - the Crew - BYO
19. Dag Nasty - Values Here/One to Two - Can I Say - Dischord
20. Resistant Culture - Ecocide - Welcome to Reality - Spiral
*Break
21. Naked Raygun - Treason - Understand? - Caroline (request)
22. Houseboy - Puke is on the Way - Achtung Chicago Drei - Underdog
23. Screeching Weasel - What We Hate - My Brain Hurts - Lookout! (request)
24. Bollweevils - John Doe - Stick Your Neck Out! - Dr Strange
25. Eskimo Nation - Sister Clear - Immunization2Everything - Underdog
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26. Mission of Burma - Academy Fight Song - Signals Calls and Marches - Ryko
27. Cramps - New Kind of Kick - Bad Music for Bad People - IRS (request)
28. the Runaways - Cherrybomb - Best of the Runaways - Mercury
29. Winepress - Disappointed - Complete Discography - Harmless
30. Chinese Telephones - Better Than the Next - Split 7" w/Anti Justice - Snuffy Smiles
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31. Furious George- Burger King is Dead- Burger king 7"- MRR
32. Bad Religion- Anesthesia- Against The Grain- Epitaph
33. Apocalypse Hoboken- Legs of an Asian- Microstars- Kung Fu
34. D4- Let Them Eat Thomas Paine!- Vs. God- Hopeless
35. AoF- in This Life- vol. 2- Alternative Tentacles
36. Egg Hunt- We All Fall Down- Egg Hunt 7"- Dischord
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37. Pennywise- Badge of Pride- Punk-o-rama 5- epitaph
38. Faction- The Whistler- split w/ JFA- Spontaneous Combustion
39. Strung Up- DMS- No Bullshit- No Way
40. Chronic Seizure- Brainsick- s/t- Fashionable Idiots
41. hisheroisgone- Epidemic- Dead of Night...- Prank
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42. Assfactor 4- goodies powers- smoked out- old glory
43. Spanakorzo- Role of the Proletariat- s/t7"- Wrenched
44. Swing Kids- Blue Note- Discography- 31g
45. Fucked Up- Reset The Ride/Colour Removal- Litany- Havoc
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46. DKs- Forward to death- Fresh Fruit...- Alt Tent
47. Black Flag- Six Pack- 1st Four Years- SST
48. Pedestrians- Wire to Wire- Future Shock- Criminal IQ
49. American Steel- Sloppy Fuckin' Drunk- New Disorder
50. Kill Your Idols- I Still Feel the Same- For Our Friends- Lifeline
51. Broadways- Nautical mile- Broken Star- Asian Man
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52. Danzig- Mother- Def American-

Record Reviews

Lillingtons - The Too Late Show - Red Scare
The first time I saw the Lillingtons was at the Fireside Bowl in Chicago and Jughead from Screeching Weasel was playing second guitar. Ben Weasel got up on stage and they did a bunch of Screeching Weasel songs as well as a bunch of Lillingtons songs and it was a hoot. I bought Death By Television and was really impressed by the song writting and the hooks that were on that record. The follow up was less than stellar and I never bothered giving it more than a couple listens, but their most recent effort The Too Late Show is somewhat of a return to form. It's definitely a step in the right direction for a band I was convinced broke up.
The time that Kody has spent playing with Teenage Bottlerocket has done him a lot of good, because he took that experience and brought it into the Lillingtons, which seems to have given that band somewhat of a jump start. If you were already a fan of the Lillingtons, you probably already own this album and you're probably not disappointed. If you've never heard the Lillingtons, I'd suggest getting Death By Television first. If you like the Ramones and Screeching Weasel, this stuff is right up your alley.
Red Scare Industries

Fake Problems - S/T EP - Sabot
Dancey, country punk from Florida. These kids are putting a somewhat unique spin on a style of music that's been made popular by their fellow Floridians, Against Me! and This Bike is a Pipebomb. There's a great deal of youthful energy in this band and ridiculous enthusiasm (and I mean that in a good way.)
The music is a lot more indie pop than punk, but it's heavily influenced by alt. country made popular by Illinois band, Uncle Tupelo back in the early 90's.
They also have an excellent 7" out as well, with a follow up record waiting to be released. They're good guys who play awesomely aweseome indie rock.
Fake Problems

Gravetones - Dig It! - Criminal IQ
Criminal IQ continues to put out one great record after another. Their catalog is one hit after another and the Gravetones are no exception.
The Gravetones could very well be the most quintesential Psychobilly band ever. Why? Because they've got everything you could ever want from a band of this variety. You have a singer who looks a zombie-Elvis, an incredible rhythm section, a firm root in Misfits style imagery. The music doesn't really break any new ground, but that doesn't really mean shit, because it doesn't have to. These guys play music because they like the music they're playing, not for fashion and not cred of any kind.
The only thing I wish was that the production was a bit more stylized. I think, although Dan Precision is a good engineer, I don't really feel like he did the music justice. I think it sounds a little too sterile. With some hefty reverb on the drums and vocals, I think this record would be a lot more unique and not sound so much like a standard rock album. This band should be scary and quite frankly, I'm not convinced by the recording. The point of reference should have been Legacy of Brutality by the Misfits and the first Samhain record.
The song writting on the other hand is stellar. It's clear that these guys put time into the song writting process and it really shines through with a flawless performance on this album as well as when you see them live. I saw them a year ago at the Logan Square Auditorium and they tore it up something fierce. Keep an eye out on this band.
Gravetones
Criminal IQ

Pegboy

I'm not going to post anything else for at least 24 hours, because anything I could want to say about punk and hardcore right now can be summed up in this one post.
The first time I went to the Metro here in Chicago was to see Primus or Scatterbrain or some other bullshit funk-metal/skate rock band. That show meant nothing to me and you can clearly see that because I don't really remember it. The second show I saw at the Metro was Sunday May 26th, 1991. The show was Pegboy, Wreck and Sludgeworth. I can't tell you what Wreck sounded like, because the other two bands completely destroyed them. I specifically remember walking into the Metro wearing an "I Hate Ben Weasel" t-shirt, a pair of green army cargo pants and ten hole steel toe Dr. Martens. My hair was shaved on the sides and had a slant that started at about an inch on top and came down to just below my chin in front. I walked through the doors and was patted down by security, handed another person my ticket and walked up those stairs. This memory was much clearer than the first time I'd been there, because I felt like I was really part of something much more amazing than just another concert. I felt like this was a much bigger deal. It felt much more urgent than the stale metal scene I abandoned a year earlier and it felt like everyone knew each other. What struck me was something I hadn't noticed before, but there was no barricade in front of the stage and the few kids who were milling about were leaning right up against the stage. I had been listening to Pegboy for a few months at that point and knew the entire Strong Reaction LP backwards and forwards and was really anxious to see what they were like live.
I won't get into Sludgworth and how amazing they were, because that's a whole other post (in fact, I've made mention of them in a previous entry), but Pegboy completely blew my mind. They were so fucking intense and the aggression and anger was such a positive energy, but what truly struck me about Pegboy (that didn't really strike me until I saw them live and sang along to the songs) was how smart the lyrics were. Every single word that was sung hit home somehow and completely made sense to me. Everything from Field of Darkness to Superstar, Hardlight to Strong Reaction. Every word tugged at a heart string.
I'm writing this after coming home from seeing Pegboy play the Liars Club, which amounts to what is about the size of someone's basement and to this day, every word feels like it's sung with the same conviction as it was the day it was written. It was a real reminder why I play in punk bands, why I go to punk shows, why I write this stupid blog, why I do a radio show, why I still at 31 years old call myself a punk. It's because of the emotion. The way the music tugs my heart strings. The way these songs, these words, the way the guitars sound, the honesty that brings me back and keeps me around. If you ever question why you do what you do, whether it's listen to punk, paint graffiti, ride a skateboard or fixate over rare King Crimson records, go back and think about what brought you there the first time and more importantly, what kept you coming back for more. I don't think about my first punk rock show, because it didn't really impact me that much. I don't even think about my second one really. I think about the ones that moved me. More often than not, they were Pegboy shows. I can probably list them off right now, but I'll spare you.
So this is for Pegboy. Larry, Steve, Steve, Pierre, John, Joe. Thank you. Thank you for being one of the truly honest punk rock bands out there. Thank you for being smart and emotional. Thank you for keeping me punk and most of all thank you for still being around to keep me coming back. I love you guys.

If I could be a superstar
I´d get away would go far
and I would get away, get away from here
Sometimes when I´m all alone
a part of me starts to roam
and I could get away, get away from here

With all the things that I do
I´m tired of playing for you
I´m done wasting my time
got to live my own life
There´s nothing better to do
than sit here and playing for you
I´m not wasting my time
got to live my own life

All at once I realize
my thoughts and dreams all were lies
and I can´t get away, get away from here
If I could be a superstar
custom plane, fancy car
I could drive away, drive away from here

Music Reviews - 10/16/06

MXPX - Let's Rock - Side One Dummy
It's incredibly hard for me to hate this band. Seriously. Despite whatever their person religious beliefs are, I've met these guys on a couple occasions and they're incredible human beings. Extremely nice, grateful that you're seeing their band (even if you're there for the opener or headliner), just all around stand up individuals. Plus I've seen some fucked up stuff happen to them while on stage. Like when kids would throw torn up bibles at them. Seriously, not cool. I'm personally don't feel Christianity and punk should go hand in hand, but if a band isn't pushing it in their music and they aren't preaching between songs, then what difference should it make? I could be wrong on this, but as far as I know, their personal politics are left leaning and as individuals, they fall under the "progressive Christian" banner. Whatever. At the end of the day, these guys have never wronged me, nor have I ever felt like they were preaching to me while I was singing along to "Chick Magnet." Sure, their early stuff was a bit more "Christian themed," but again, whatever. They were still in high school when they wrote those songs and believe me, I wrote some songs in high school that make me cringe.
Their latest album, Let's Rock is yet another big step into mainstream pop rock and despite this fact and despite the fact that this record is extremely polished, I can't hate it. It's not my bag, but I can't speak ill of it. If you like stuff that sounds kind of mainstream and polished, you'll probably really like this. Personally, since I got this in the mail, I've listened to it about four times and found it somewhat unobtrussive and made for a pretty good back drop while cleaning my apartment (apparently my upstairs neighbor likes it, because he didn't stomp on his floor to get me to shut up). Whether or not I'll ever actually put this on again is another story, but really, it isn't a bad record. I think if Side One Dummy's founder Joe Sib's band Wax was still together, they'd probably sound like this right now.
Side One Dummy
MxPx

O Pioneers!!! - Black Mambas - Team Science
Straight out of San Antonio Texas comes the O Pioneers!!! Named after a book by Willa Cather, about the transformation of the American frontier. The band is comprised of guitarist/vocalist Eric Solomon and drummer Jeff Groban, playing a brand of roots rock/punked up country rock n roll that is equally optimistic and passionate. Hearing bands like this and talking to them on a personal level makes you think that the scene they come from must be amazing and that the scene you come from sucks. It's not everyday that you meet bands, or hear bands or even go see bands that are excellent musicians, amazing story tellers and on top of all that energized, positive and humble human beings off stage. These kinds of kids don't exist anymore (if they ever really did). The O Pioneers!!! are those kids. The ones you read about in books and zines about the "good ol' days" of punk and indie rock. In my mind, when listening to the O Pioneers!!!, I assume that San Antonio Texas is an amazing town full of awesome kids teaching other kids how to be awesome as well. Whether this is true or not is completely irrelevant, because this is my fantasy damn it!
The guitars on this record are twangy in that Fender Twin Reverb sort of way and the drumming is absolutely rock solid. The vocals are urgent and a constant call to action. When listening to Eric's vocals, your throat hurts and you want to offer him a lozenge, because you know that he needs it.
If I were to put together a show (which I do from time to time), that I think would be absolutely perfect (and not geographically specific), I would pair up the O Pioneers!!!, Latterman and Bomb the Music Industry together. This would be probably the best show ever. Do what you want with that information.
Team Science Records

Chicago? Have You Been to Chicago? Is it Lovely?

Over the past weekend, I spent a great deal of time in my car, listening to music. It all started early Saturday morning with a drive up to Racine Wisconsin with a soundtrack that consisted of Just the Best Party by World/Inferno Friendship Society and This is Satire by None More Black. I did some comparing and contrasting mentally between new and old with both of these albums. The World/Inferno effort compared to their latest album, Red Eyed Soul is an interesting progression. The earlier album was very raw and the ideas were very extreme. The songs were either up beat punk songs or weird gypsy and sideshow songs, where as on the new album, they managed to blend the two into an extremely unique sound. World/Inferno has been an extremely interesting band to watch evolve, because they really came from the under belly of crust and bike punk communities and have picked up a lot of odd balls along the way. Their crowd has changed quite a bit over the years and now a lot of clean suburban kids are listening to them. It will be interesting how they'll keep their ties to the anarcho community with the rise in their popularity at the shopping mall. Honestly, their records are excellent, including the newest one and they really do deserve all the attention they're getting. My question is, will they go the route that AgainstMe! took or are they going to stick it out on the indies? I don't know. Maybe I'm just a cynical bastard, but I'm already assuming they're going to take the jump to the big leagues.
None More Black on the other hand is a totally different story. They seem to write songs for the sake of writting songs. I get the impression that they're very mild mannered about their success and that they're happy where they are. When your pedigree includes Kid Dynamite, Kill Your Idols and Death Cycle, you can pretty much do whatever you want.
When I first heard This is Satire, I was disappointed. I wanted all the blatant hooks of the first album and I wanted the record grab me right away and become one of my instant favorites. What it did instead was creep up on me, like Against Me's Eternal Cowboy album did. I had to put "Satire" down for a little while and on Saturday I pulled it off the shelf and popped it in my player. I don't know if it was my experimental blend of 7-11's regular coffee mixed with their dark blend that washed down the donut gems I had for breakfast (this is an old "waking up way too early on a Saturday" tradition of mine that stems back to high school when I worked for my dad, installing furnances and air conditioners), or if the record genuinely grew hooks over the two months between listens, because the hooks sort of came out of nowhere. Aside from the obvious (but possibly unintentional) tip of the hat to Billy Joel in the vocal melody on the lead off track We Dance on the Ruins of the Stupid Stage, this record just explodes into pop genius and flirts with punk country awesomeness. Where the hooks on File Under Black are very obvious and the songs really get stuck in your head, the songs on "Satire" need to really be nurtured. This record is excellent and if you've already put it down, you should pick it up again and give it a spin. By the way, keep an eye out for the LP version, because the packaging is going to be amazing.

I spent quite a bit of time listening to pop punk this weekend. Teenage Bottlerocket, Copyrights, Screeching Weasel, Queers, etc. I covered a lot of ground. Mostly because I'm horribly excited about and looking forward to the Red Scare fest. Falcon, Methadones, Copyrights, Teenage Bottlerocket and rumor has it the Lillingtons in some towns. All of these bands are great live (I can't really comment on the Falcon, because I've never seen them live) and I'm glad that this style of punk is slowly starting to make it's way up again. I really miss the hooks of Ramones style punk and after the overly fashionable lameness of emo, I think a lot of kids are starting to appreciate honest song writting as opposed to whiney lamenting over anonymous females.

---Rediscovering My Record Collection---

The Bollweevils - Stick Your Neck Out! - Dr Strange
Chicagoans will recognize the album cover of this absolutely essential classic record as the Forest City Auto Parts logo. It doesn't get much more Chicago than that and The Bollweevils embody all that is Chicago. This record is an amazing melodic hardcore album that should be mentioned in the same breath as Hello Bastards by Lifetime as well as the Unraveling by Rise Against when talking about this particular sub genre.
Music aside, the Bollweevils were a band that not only played hardcore, but also really walked the walk. They truly practiced the preachings of five dollar shows, knowing everybody's name and making sure everyone was welcomed. They were the band that would be playing every weekend, whether in someone's basement, a VFW hall or the Metro. It didn't matter, because it was a show and there were kids there. These were the guys who remembered your name after meeting you once. These were the guys who would call out security when they were being rough with the kids. Hands down one of the nicest bands to come out of this town.
I was expecting this to sound somewhat dated, like the History of the Bollweevils record does (a collection of early 7"s and comp. tracks), but this album still holds up and still gets me fired up. I still get that little burst of adrenaline and the urge to run around in circles and jump off my bed like a 15 year old with ADD. This record truly held up over the years, so if you're looking for a classic "Chicago" record, pick up Jettison by Naked Raygun, Easy Instructions for Complex Machinery by Apocalypse Hoboken and Stick Your Neck Out by the Bollweevils. Chicago rules.

On a side note, Naked Raygun, the Blue Meanies and the Bollweevils will be playing Riot Fest this year on November 5th. Along with the Effigies, 7 Seconds, Youth Brigade, Secret Agent Bill, and a crap load of other bands (some less awesome than others).
The Bollweevils will also be playing the night before at the Double Door with Shot Baker, the Tossers and a surprise guest. Some people are saying it's Raygun, others are saying it's Apocalypse Hoboken. I guess you'll just have to go and find out.

Underground Communique Set List 10/14/06

1. Articles of Faith - Buy This War - Complete Discography - Alternative Tentacles
2. Neurosis - The Choice - The Word as Law - Lookout Records
3. Ambition Mission - When Babies Attack - S/T - Government Music
4. The Crumbs - You Make Me Rock N Roll - Alien Girl 7" - Recess Records
Break
5. Partisans - All Turned Out - Idiot Nation - Dr Strange Records
6. Kraut - All Twisted - An Adjustment to Society - New Red Archives
7. Gorilla Biscuits - Things We Say - Start Today - Revelation
8. Germs - Lexicon Devil - MIA - Slash
Break
9. Disaster Strikes - High Cost of Happy Faces - Liberty Toast - Alt. Tent
10. Choking Victim - 500 Channels - No Gods/No Managers - Hell Cat Records
11. Kill Your Idols - Hardcore Cica 2002 - S/T - Reflections
12. New Model Army - 51st State - The Ghost of Cain - EMI
Break
13. Banner Pilot - Uptown Solution - Pass the Poison - Arsenic
14. Against Me - Tonight We're Gonna Give it 35% - Disco Before the Breakdown 7" - No Idea
15. Queers - Surf Goddess - Surf Goddess 7"- Lookout! (request)
16. None More Black - We Dance on the Ruins of the Stupid Stage - This is Satire - Fat
Break
17. Pkdores - Criticado - iKriticado! - Intoxicado
18. Wax - Snappin' Away - What Else Can We Do? - Caroline
19. Fake Problems - Sorry Ok Sorry Ok Sorry - Spurs and Spokes 7" - Sabot
Break
20. Dead Kennedys - Saturday Night Haulocaust - Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death - Alt. Tent (request)
21. Symptoms - Naked Chemestry (request)
22. Citizen Fish - Phone in Sick - What Time We Go On? - Bluurg
23. Ian Dury and the Blockheads - Sex and Drugs and Rock N Roll - S/T
Break
24. Exploding Hearts - Boulivard Trash - Guitar Romantic - Dirtnap
25. 999 - So Greedy - Concrete - Polydore
26. The Girls - Decoy - S/T - Dirtnap
27. the Jam - Art School - In the City - Polydore
28. Elvis Costello - Welcome to the Working Week - My Aim is True - Rykodisc
Break
29. Alkaline Trio - Clavical - Goddamnit - Asian Man
30. Latterman - the Biggest Sausage Party Ever - Turn Up the Punk, We'll be Singing - Traffic Violation Records
31. Lawrence Arms - The Devil's Taking Names - Oh, Calcutta! - Fat
32. Bouncing Souls - True Believers - What I Did on My Summer Vacation - Epitaph
Break
33. Hasil Adktins - The Wild Man - The Wild Man - Norton Records
34. The Briefs - Destroy the USA - Orange Alert - BYO
35. World/Inferno Friendship Society - Zen and the Art of Breaking Everything in the Room - Just the Best Party - Gern Blandsten
Break
36. Nipple Erectors - Stavordale RD N-5 - The Lost 7" - Bootleg
37. the Bags - Disco's Dead - Disco's Dead 7" - Artifix
38. the Shaggs - Philosophy of the World - Philosophy of the World - RCA
39. The Slits - I Heard it Through the Grapevine - Cut - Island
Break
40. Pedestrians - Why Kill What's Already Dead - S/T 7" - S/R
41. Modern Life is War - Nervous Breakdown - Live on WLUW 7" Split w/Kill Your Idols - Lifeline
42. Fucked Up - David Comes to Life - Hidden World - Jade Tree
43. Effigies - Haunted Town - Remains Non Viewable - Touch and Go
44. Explosion - God Bless the SOS - Flash Flash Flash - Jade Tree
Break
45. Tragedy - The Point of No Return/ Not Fucking Fodder - S/T - Skuld
46. Victims - Circles - In Blood - Havoc
47. Misfits - Hybrid Moments - Legacy of Brutality - Plan 9
48. Dropdead - Hopeless - S/T - Armagedon Label
49. Warcry - Reality or Dream - Harvest of Death - PIC
Break
50. Reagan Youth - Regenerated - Youth Anthems for the New Order - New Red Archives
51. Seein' Red - Settled - Split w/Opstand 7" - Stonehenge Records
52. Zum Zum - Put-Ta-Getha - Crusp Srexstling - S/R
53. Stickmen With Rayguns - Christian Rat Attack - Some People Deserve to Suffer - Emperor Jones
Break
54. Lynyrd's Innard's - Yar's Revenge - Amscray - Harmless
55. Bananas - Heard You Was a Heartbreaker - A Slippery Subject - Plan It X

This can be heard every Friday night from 11PM - 2AM CST on 88.7 FM on Chicago's Northside or www.wluw.org on the internet. Thank you and good night!

Great Lakes, I Don't Need No Great Escape -or- Radio Radio

Growing up on the north side of Chicago meant that my radio stations of choice for anything remotely interesting or challenging were either WNUR (Northwestern University), WZRD ("the Wizard," NEIU) or the commercial radio choice, WXRT. I didn't really start listening to these stations until I was in seventh grade and even then I was pretty selective of what and when I'd listen to. My main station of choice was WVVX, which in the mid 80's called RPM 103.1, Real Precious Metal. It was contracted air time, so they'd play metal from around 7PM until 5AM. Rest of the time it was foreign language programming. This was my introduction to Bay Area Thrash, which would be my favorite kind of metal for at least a couple years (until I would discover Faith No More and Janes Addiction, who would doorway me into much different bands). Metallica and Exodus were regulars in my headphones and through Metallica, I got into Anthrax who would get me into skate thrash like DRI, Suicidal Tendencies and JFA. It was a natural progression that would eventually lead me to punk rock. I would stay up all night over the summer listening to metal legends and local heroes playing anthem after anthem. There was a specific show on this radio station in the early 90's called "One From the B Side," which focused on hard to find imported singles and bands from over seas that you couldn't find here. One of those bands was the Manic Street Preachers. This was my first taste of the Manics and I would spend countless hours searching for their records in the used bins.
Flash forward to the mid 90's, specifically the summer of 1995. I had just finished my second year of college and I was staying up late ever Thursday night to listen to this incredible radio show on WNUR called "Bar Codes." The two girls who hosted it were incredible DJ's who would play everything from locals like Oblivion and the Bollweevils to favorites like Sonic Youth. This right here was my inspiration to do college radio. Unfortunately, I was going to a college that didn't have a radio station and once I transferred to Columbia College Chicago, I learned that I'd have to do be a radio major to get a show and even then I'd have to follow the strict dance music format of their station. Sometime around 1998, I was flipping around the college band of radio stations and decided to see what WLUW was playing those days. Back when I was in high school, WLUW was a house music station and later would be an "alternative" station. When I flipped over to 88.7, I heard the Wedding Present. I was curious as to why, what I thought was a horrible station was playing "Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah" by the Wedding Present. Then "Merchandise" by Fugazi. Then Little Red Car Wreck, then something else and then another amazing song. I was surprised that I'd discovered another cool station that wasn't quite as obtuse as WNUR. The DJ came on and said "This is Independent Community Radio, 88.7 FM, WLUW." I would later follow up on this and a year or so later walk into Shawn Campbell's office and say "I want to be a DJ." A couple weeks later, I was doing Tuesday mornings from 6am - 10am, getting my bearings, spinning "format" indie rock. Over the years I bounced around shift to shift until I landed on Friday mornings, taking over the last bastion of house music, "Wake Up Dancing." I asked Shawn if I could do a more "specialty" style show called "Wake Up Screaming." She thought it was a good idea and let me roll with it. My first broadcast starting with "Raining Blood" by Slayer. From that point on, I was hosting a highly listened to show that played the louder end of indie rock and exploring every corner of punk and hardcore. Nowhere else on the Chicago radio dial were you able to hear the Fucking Champs, Iron Maiden, Apocalypse Hoboken and Stickmen With Rayguns in the same set (at 7 AM to boot!) I started doing sound for Justin Schweir's show, Underground Communique around that same time, and a few years later, I'd take over that show, saying goodbye to Wake Up Screaming.
Doing radio is a lot of fun and especially when you're doing a show with one of your friends. I could try and say something pretentious about how we do radio for a greater good or some other bullshit, but I'd be lying. The reason I do radio is because I heard other people doing cool stuff and playing cool songs and I wanted to do that. I think the main focus of the radio show, or at least while I've been doing it, is to play songs and bands that I really like and I think other people should hear, which I think should be the goal of any DJ anywhere, no matter what side of the dial they're on. Unfortunately, in this day and age, the DJ on the right end of the dial is nothing more than a talking head who reads off what was just played. In many instances, it's not even that. Some radio stations only have DJ's to talk between songs to segway between music and commercials. A lot of people say that if you want to hear real radio you need to get hooked up to satellite radio, but I disagree. I don't think you should have to pay for the airwaves and I don't think what comes across on satellite radio is at all as vital or important as what goes on on community radio stations and college radio. When XM came out, a friend of mine got hooked up with it right away and the whole listening experience left a bad taste in my mouth. I could see why a trucker or anyone driving cross country would want XM or Sirius, but why anyone would want it on their stereo when they could access the same kind of programming on the left end of their dial, confounds me. I guess what I'm trying to say is, XM, Sirius or whatever is slowly destroying community radio in this country and in the long run, such large corporate entities are going to destroy the entire sense of community as a whole.
Currently in Chicago, the city is trying to copy cat San Francisco by preventing large chain stores from opening up in the Andersonville neighborhood. There's a great deal of small independently owned shops that bring a lot of young hip people to the neighborhood and the notion of stores like the Gap and Old Navy opening up shop next to smaller clothing stores would be tragic. I live near Andersonville and I truly enjoy walking through the neighborhood, because of all the weird little stores and coffee shops and bars everywhere. It brings out a diverse crowd to the streets and it feels much more real than what is going on in Wicker Park, which is supposed to be the haven of all that is hip. I think the city of Chicago is making a good move by trying to give that neighborhood "Historic" status instead of just letting it become yet another location for people to visit an Urban Outfitters, the Gap and a Nike store. Is this all due to satellite radio? No, but it is part of the deconstruction of our country's sense of community. I know that in Rogers Park, one of the anchors of the community is WLUW and if that were to disappear, a lot of people would lose their voice to their people. Whether it's dorky indie rock kids talking to other dorky indie rock kids or one of the many Latino or other foreign language shows on the station.
Let's look at it this way. WLUW has a listenership of about 30,000 people. It's the most listened to volunteer driven radio station in the city. Imagine if those 30,000 people lost their connect to whatever community they're involved in. That would be tragic. What would be the alternative? WZRD would be a decent choice, seeing as it's also on the northside, but it's weak signal makes it difficult to get outside of a small radius. WNUR really doesn't focus on community, but instead focuses on... I'm not sure what their focus is. Whenever I turn on WNUR these days, they're either playing something abstract or an awkward DJ is shuffling papers around trying to read their own writing. That's not a slam. That's honestly my experience with that station. That's the reason I stopped listening to WNUR back in the late 90's. Some people like this kind of radio and that's fine. They're welcome to listen to it. For me, it doesn't work, but that's just my opinion.
I guess in closing, before you go out and hook up to satellite radio, you might want to give the left end of the dial a try first, because at least you have a direct connect to those people.

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I recently pulled DRI's Dirty Rotten Album off the shelf and gave it a spin. I haven't listened to it since about 2003 when Beer City Records re-released it. Jesus Christ, this record is insane. There's TWENTY TWO tracks on the actual album (keep in mind this was originally released on LP), plus TWENTY TWO bonus tracks! You get your money's worth with this album. There's some classic DRI on this album, such as I Don't Need Society, Balance of Terror, My Fate to Hate, Closet Punk and one of my personal fav's, Capitalists Suck. Seriously amazing. My hats off to Beer City for re-releasing these gems.
While on the subject of Beer City, I was listening to that Urbn DK record they put out back in the 90's and was blown away by how amazing that band was. Probably one of the only "Keno-core" bands you really need to know from that era ("Keno-core" being bands from the greater Kenosha Wisconsin area). I totally forgot that there was a Beer City Skateboards sticker inside that LP, until it fell out of the sleeve and onto my lap. Good job guys, I approve.
Apparently, Touch and Go has issued a Fix discography, which is pretty sweet. The Fix, not to be confused with the Fixx, were an excellent Midwestern hardcore band that was in the same vein as the Necros and the Meatmen. I'm going to have to track that record down, or keep my fingers crossed that it turns up in my mailbox. It's really refreshing to see that there's some interest in Midwest hardcore again.

Record Reviews

Fucked Up - Hidden World - Jade Tree
When your band is already being described by some publications as "mysterious" and "filled with controversy," what better way to feed that than to compare yourself to Pink Floyd and have psychedelic art work on your debut full length? I'm not quite sure where the Pink Floyd comparison comes from, but according to the band, some of their "drawn out shit," sounds like Pink Floyd. What I hear is an aggressive, angry hardcore effort that's trying really hard (but not too much) to make hardcore credible again. This record is extremely smart and well thought out; definitely a "thinking man's" hardcore album.
Previous to this release, Fucked up was exclusively putting out 7" singles in limited runs and the ones that I have are all incredible. Now that I've hyped this up, you're probably wondering what this sounds like. It's honest and angry, yet uplifting, kind of like an AVAIL record, without sounding like AVAIL. Every riff on this record sounds well thought out and is exactly where it belongs and every bass line and drum beat is thought out and crafted. The vocals on the other hand definitely sound like they were going for pure feeling and emotion (which is the way this kind of stuff needs to be delivered) and bring to mind Detroit's Negative Approach. I can honestly say that if I were 14 and hearing this for the first time, this would more than likely be the record that would get me into hardcore. If this record doesn't end up on some "best of" lists at the end of the year, there is something wrong with this world.
Fucked up is rumored to be hitting Chicago in December.
Jade tree

Get Rad - Say Fuck No to Rules, Man - Hyperrealist
Get Rad are pretty much all about 80's BMX culture and being awesome. They play a brand of hardcore that's fairly common and rarely done well, but these kids pull it off with flying colors. The music is thrashy in a very early 80's sort of way and screamy in a very "now" sort of way. Blend this with overt BMX geek references and a tounge in cheek Minor Threat cover (Peein' Red), you have the formula for and extremely fun hardcore record.
I listened to this record a couple times on Saturday (after seeing them on Friday) and I think the name is really fitting. If you happen to pick up the LP, it's half electric blue and half hot pink. Think mid-80's Haro and GT bikes and that's what you have.
Hyperrealist Records

----Rediscovering My Record Collection----

The Monsignors - Are You There God? It's Us, the Monsignors - Harmless Records
Sometimes I find myself saying "when did ska become retarded?" There was a time when ska was considered "legitimate music" or whatever and somewhere around the mid to late 90's ska became another form of party music for frat boys to get drunk to and pretend they have some sort of identity. Wacky hit makers like Save Ferris, Reel Big Fish and Goldfinger brought what was going on underground in the suburbs of America to the forefront of popular culture. These were some pretty annoying times.
Meanwhile, in Chicago, bands like Slapstick, the Blue Meanies (who would later get signed to a major and put out a failed pop record) and the Monsignors were playing a much different brand of ska. These kids were blending speedy punk riffs, hardcore and some aspects of Mr Bungle to the mix. In the case of the Monsignors, you had the wacky lyrics of your typical goofy ska band, but the music was straight up punk and metal with horns, yet crazy and dancable.
I remember seeing this band once with Mustard Plug, Skavoovie and the Epitones and Tango Wedding Band and I left that show with the impression that this band was going to be pretty huge. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. After listening to this album, aside from all the nostalgia and good times that go along with it, a lot of the songs run into one another. That's not that big of a deal, because the record is pretty short and falls in the "stupid fun" category. I have specific memories of playing a show in Berkeley/Hillside and on our way to the show, we were listening to this record and having a great time. It also reminds me of hanging out at my friend Mookie's house and hearing a drunk frat boy who crashed the party point out to all of us that the Operation Ivy record we were listening to was "ska" and that it was "the wave of the future." I think Mookie proceeded to pick a fight with him.
This record is a great walk down memory lane, but I'm not sure if it's something I'm going to be listening to on a regular basis again.
Harmless Records

Underground Communique Set List 10/06/2006

1. Fucked Up - Triumph of Life - Hidden World - Jade Tree
2. Get Rad - My Friends Fucking Rule - Say Fuck No to Rules, Man - Hyperrealist
3. Black SS - Mallocaust - Split w/Raining Bricks - Organized Crime Records
4. Apocalypse Hoboken - Brett - Strike Back 7" - Dyslexic
Break
5. Copyrights - You and I - We Didn't Come Here to Die - Insubordination
6. Teenage Bottle Rocket - Blood Bath at Burger King - Total - Red Scare
8. No Empathy - Oi Across America - Freedom of Flesh - Roadkill Records
7. Sludgeworth - Someday - Losers of the Year - Lookout!
9. Adolescents - Rip it Up - S/T - Frontier
Break
10. World/Inferno Friendship Society - Fiend in Wien - Red Eyed Soul - Chunksaah
11. Specials - Do the Dog - S/T - Chrysalis
12. Selecter - Tell Me What's Wrong - Celebrate the Bullet - Chrysalis
Break
13. Strife - Force of Change - Victory Style II - Victory
14. Mr T Experience - What Difference Does it Make - Milk Milk Lemonade - Lookout
15. Functional Blackouts - I'm a Modern Man - The Severed Tounge Speaks for Everyone - Criminal IQ
Break
16. Misfits - Some Kind of Hate - Legacy of Brutality - Plan 9
17. INDK - In Decay - Go Kart Vs. the Corporate Giant - Go Kart
18. the Spits - Spit Me Out - S/T - Slovernly
19. ID Under - Bella Legosis' Not Dead (You Are) - S/t - Underdog
Break
20. Vindictives - Pinhead - Leave Home - Selfless
21. Replacements - We're Coming Out - Let it Be - Restless
22. Violent Femmes - Kiss Off - S/T - Slash
23. Modern Machines - You're Getting Married - Take It, Somebody - Dirt Nap
Break
24. REM - Pretty Persuasion - And I Feel Fine... The Best of the IRS Years - IRS
25. Bent Outta Shape- Better Off With Me- split w/ Drunken Boat- Salinas
26. Fake Hypii-Opinions of Feelings - 7 reprises de 7 seconds- weewee
27. Operation Ivy-Someday- Plea For Peace
28. Assfactor 4- Goodies Powers- Smoked Out- Old Glory
29. Signal Lost- Domestic Relief- You'll Never Get Us Down again- Prank
30. One Reason- Dirge for 95 and 10- split with D, OH- Anti-Creative
31. Storm the Tower- Another Bloody Dawn- s/t 7"- Little Deputy
32. Severed Head 0f State- Blood of Vengeance- Fucking Butchery- Hardcore Holocaust
33. Aus Rotten- Tues May 18th, 1993- Fuck Nazi Sympathy- Havoc
break
34. Weakerthans- Confession of a Futon revolutionist- Hopelessly Devoted To You- Hopeless
35. Apocalypse Hoboken- Legs of an Asian- Microstars- Kung Fu
36. DKs- Moon Over Marin- Plastic Surgery Disasters- Alternative Tentacles
37. Bouncing Souls- Better Days- Anchors Aweigh- Epitaph
38. Aof- In This Life- Aof- complete vol 2- Alternative Tentacles
39. Fugazi- Waiting Room- 13 Songs- Dischord40. Lawrence Arms- Recovering the Opposable Thumb- Fat
41. Avengers- American In Me- Died for your Sins- Lookout!
42. Scared of Chaka- The Millionth Mile- Tired of You- Hopeless
43. Samiam- Boy With Monkey/ Dull- Hopelessly Devoted to You- Hopeless
44. Dillinger 4- Max. Piss and Vinegar- Vs. God- Hopeless
45. Fifteen- Did You Know- Hopelessly Devoted to You- Hopeless
46. Fucked Up- Baiting the Public- Hidden World- Jade Tree
47. Slayer- Raining Blood- Reign in Blood- American

This show can be heard every Friday night on WLUW Chicago. 88.7 FM on the north side, www.wluw.org everywhere else.

I Seen Her At the Local Diner or Don't These Kids Know That Slam Dancing Kills?

I've lived in or around Chicago for my entire life. I grew up in the Portage Park/Belmont-Cragin neighborhood on the northwest side and then moved to Niles for a while during high school. My first true exposure to punk rock was a couple random punk rock shows that happened in this bar called the Krocodile, somewhere around the mid to late 80's. I was about junior high age and one random Friday night, my friends and I noticed a lot of mohawks and shaved heads hanging around the neighborhood 7-11 and we figured we should probably find out what was going on, so we got up the courage to ask this random skinhead. He said something about some band and offered to sneak us into the show. We declined out of pure fear of what went on at punk shows (we'd all heard stories and saw the punk rock episode of the TV show Quincy as well as various propaganda on day time talk shows). The image of a bunch of punk kids hanging out really stuck with me, because although I assumed that there'd be extreme sex and violence going on (I'd heard the Exploited song on WVVX, the local metal station at that point, which was my only real exposure to punk or hardcore) and that any sense of community would explode into a giant nihlistic cacophony of mass destruction. Of course, I would later figure out that any violence that occured at punk shows was usually cause by one or two idiots who would commonly be dealt with by the audience (this of course is almost non-existent these days, because kids are more willing to deal with a few bullies at a show by ignoring them instead of putting them on their ass and removing them from the show).
Once I got to high school, a friend of mine took me to see No Empathy and Sludgeworth at McGregors, a small club in suburban Elmhurst, which is where I realized Chicago had a really amazing local scene. I had already heard No Empathy and was already a fan, but aside from them, Naked Raygun, Screeching Weasel and the Effigies, I didn't really know anything about Chicago punk. In fact, I knew little about Chicago music at all. I knew that my guitar teacher's metal band played at the Thirsty Whale a lot as well as a bunch of other hair band types, but I had no idea that Chicago had a fairly well organize punk scene. Somewhere around 1992, my friend Dan handed me a flyer for a show at McGregors that featured the Smoking Popes, Los Crudos, the Vindictives, Los Crudos, Trenchmouth, Eskimo Nation, Prophets of Rage and a bunch of other bands. The show was a benefit for the "Underdog Collective," who were putting out a comp. called Achtung Chicago: Zwei. This was one of the best punk shows I've ever been to, hands down. Shortly after that, I discovered a band called Winepress, who not only destroyed me, but impressed the hell out of me, because they were younger than me and writting songs that were better than anything I'd written up to that point. I still hold Winepress in high regard, despite the fact that I've grown and my tastes have changed. The link that follows is a link to a Winepress MP3 that's currently housed over at the Harmless Records web site. The song, Disapointed is probably the definitive Winepress song and should be checked out. Thanks to Scott for making this stuff available. Winepress is playing on Oct. 15th at the Darkroom with the Mushuganas and should be pretty damn amazing.

Winepress - Disapointed

Speaking of reunions, I'm still kicking myself for missing the Los Crudos reunions at Southkore Fest over the summer. Crudos is one of my hands down favorite hardcore bands and seems to be constantly overlooked outside the hardcore community. It's unfortunate that in the grand scheme of things, they'll never be held in the same regard as bands like Minor Threat or Black Flag. They might be in Latino communities and in Spanish speaking countries, but scene wide, the average pimple faced Wonder Bread hardcore kid will never click with them. I guess you have to go with what you relate to, but the energy of Los Crudos surpasses that of Black Flag and Minor Threat combined. I remember taking the L and buses to the shadiest regions of early 90's Pilsen to see this band. Where it was weird for white kids to be walking around 18th and Halsted at night. Granted, I grew up in the city and I was comfortable in that environment, I was always able to tell that my friends weren't. Many of them dropped out of the trips to see Crudos and the only time they'd see them would be the random McGregors show. It wasn't until the Fireside Bowl started doing shows that some of these kids started coming out to Crudos shows on a regular basis (but at the that point, most of my friends had dropped out of punk rock for less adventurous scenes like college [apparently, you can't go to college and like punk rock anymore, which never made any sense to me at all]). I'll probably do a whole post on the current Chicago punk scene and more specifically, the Southkore scene, where I'll post some MP3's for the listening.

Coliseum, Fuck You Buddy and Judy Go Home

This Friday, over at the No Exit Cafe (6970 N Glenwood Ave on Chicago's north side), there's a pretty amazing hardcore show going on that I'm pretty excited about.

Coliseum (Louisville KY)
Get Rad (Milwaukee Wi)
Sweet Cobra (Chicago)
Thin the Heard (Chicago)

If you've never heard Coliseum, they're a pretty brutally amazing hardcore band out of Louisville Ky, who somehow manage to merge the punk-metal urgency of Motorhead with the musicality of Coliseum's sister band Black Cross. I'm quite the fan of this band and although their LP's are beautiful and the cover art is amazing (and very reminiscent of Slayer style art work), they manage to tug on the right heart strings with me. They give me that tingly feeling in my chest when I listen to them.
Get Rad on the other hand are really into BMX and playing fast and being awesome. Check out their LP. The vinyl itself is half powder blue and half hot pink, which makes me think of 1980's BMX culture (I'm pretty sure that's what they're going for). There's members of High on Crime in this band and that alone should tickle your curiosity enough to check them out.
Chicago's own Sweet Cobra and Thin the Heard are playing too, who are both great in their own respect. Sweet Cobra draws a lot of influence from His Hero is Gone and the Unsane (remember that bad ass video Unsane had in the mid 90s? The one with all the skateboarding accidents?).
Thin the Heard features ex members of Chicago's beloved Kung Fu Rick, but sound nothing like them. If you like politically charged hardcore somewhere between Tragedy and Fucked Up, this might be your new favorite band. Seriously.

All the info you need can be found at http://myspace.com/chicagopunkshows

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Completely unrelated to that, I've been going completely out of my mind crazy about the new World/Inferno Friendship Society record! I got it back in June/July and it didn't quite grab me the way their previous records did and I'm pretty sure it had to do with the glossy production. But it creeped up on my over the last month or so and I can't stop listening to it! I had to leave it in my car just so I wouldn't spend the whole day driving my co-workers crazy listening to this record on a loop! I can honestly say that Jack Terrycloth's voice hasn't sounded better than on this record and they lyrics are absolutely perfect. After hearing these songs for the last couple years live and seeing them on the Me Vs. Angry Mob EP as well as the Brother of the Mayor of Bridgewater single, I was curious about how they'd sound in the context of a full length. The versions on Red Eyed Soul are definitely glossier, but by no means does that make them lesser versions. They're still catchy as hell and they still get stuck in my head.

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I'm pretty excited about the Riverdales re-releases that Asian Man is putting out. I'm a huge fan of most things Ben Weasel/Screeching Weasel and it will be good to have CD versions of these records. When the originals came out, I was quite the vinyl purist and as a rule avoided buying CD's, unless the album didn't come out on vinyl first. Keep in mind though, back then I had a tape deck in my car and vinyl to cassette was a lot easier than vinyl to CD-R. Now that my car has a CD player, it's incredibly difficult to listen to about roughly half my record collection. Basically I rely on burned copies from friends or the kindness of Asian Man Records to re-release these gems. Now if only they'd reissue the Mr T Experience catalog....

Introductory Post

Welcome to the Punks Not Profits weblog! What will follow are record reviews, thoughts on punk, hardcore and various other forms of independent music, as well as play lists from our radio show.

We do a radio show called Underground Communique on WLUW, here in Chicago. If you live on the north side, you can hear the show on Friday nights at 11PM on 88.7 FM. Elsewhere, we're on at 11PM CST at www.wluw.org. Check out their new and improved web stream!

If you want to submit a CD/LP/7"/Cassette demo/DVD or any other form of tangible media, you can send it to:

WLUW FM 88.7
Attn: Chris/Underground Communique
6525 N. Sheridan Rd.
Chicago, 60626

If we like your record, we'll probably play it on the radio show! Check back daily.