Totally Have A Boner

Purple - Wallflower

I began listening to this band because I thought their videos were hilarious, but this song is pretty awesome.  Full length coming out in 2015.

Faith No More - Live @ Amoeba, San Francisco 11/28/14

CAN NOT WAIT FOR 2015 & NEW FNM ALBUM!!!

1. Motherfucker @ 0:22 (NEW SONG)

2. As The Worm Turns @ 4:16
3.  Spirit @ 7:52

4. Ashes to Ashes @ 0:41

5. Superhero 5:09 @ (NEW SONG)

Skull Fist - You're Gonna Pay

Another best of the year.  Thanks to Neal for discovering this gem.

Gameface - Always On

Another video of one of my favorite songs from one of my favorite releases in 2014.  I love the line.."and all the people on the street, they need a punch in the face..."  My sentiments exactly.

7 Seconds - I Have Faith In You

Great song from one of my favorite albums of the year Leave A Light On

BONER ALERT!!!

NEW FNM IN 2015!!!

Death Notice on Dixie Hwy - Miami

Neal's Favorite Kind Of Soup

Paul Finger Interview 1994 - Check This Out! Zine

Wild is the Kingdom...

Go-Kart JGoon Cartoon

Artwork by Neal circa 2000

Spread Eagle - 1990

 

 

Breaking News In Miami...

I know the photo is funny, but I'm talking about the Breaking News in the upper right...

Here's a visual of that Breaking News*...

*Unconfirmed if hamburger are two separate patties or one hoagie shaped meat patty. 

Not to be confused with last week's breaking news...

The Waffle Taco!

Memorial Day Weekend in Miami Beach

May The FNM Be With You

Fantastic artwork from the official-all-things-Faith No More blog - www.faithnomoreblog.com

Modern Problems

Classic.

R.I.P. - ODERUS URUNGUS

I was sad to hear Gwar's lead singer Oderus Urungus passed away.  The 1990 album Scumdogs Of The Universe will always hold a special place in my heart.  I have some great memories of my friends and I playing that all the time (I think we somehow even convinced some DJ to play "Sick Of You" at a high school dance...HA!).  I had the cassette and I remember it had this really tiny writing in it and as you were holding the liner notes straining your eyes to make it out, it said that the paper was soaked with some kind of poison or chemical that made you a slave to them or something like that...which I thought was pretty cool.  I think I even kept this one from my mom because the artwork was pretty disgusting...which I thought was pretty cool.  To this day, I still catch myself singing random lyrics from the likes of my favorite tracks "The Salaminizer", "Horror Of Yig", "Maggots", "Vlad The Impaler" and even "Black & Huge".

My friends and I went to see them at the Central Park Ballroom in Milwaukee on the Scumdogs Tour in 1990.   I think we all heard stories of seeing them live, so we all wore white t-shirts to capture the coming glory.  We were probably 15-16 years old and that show was a mindfuck.   I remember quite a bit.  Oderus telling us his original cock was cut off for fucking a priest in the ass, but he "grew another", the Slaughterama Game Show hosted by their manager Sleazy P. Martini with guests getting mutilated for answering incorrectly, a motorized maggot moving across the floor of the stage and Oderus grabbing it and eating it - puss and innards flying into the crowd, Slymenstra Hymen lifting her leg up and having her period shoot out 20 ft, Oderus blowing a load (which if I recall hit my friend Neal)  which glowed in the dark and had the consistency of cottage cheese, the human meat-grinder (where a lucky winner from the AM "Crusher" Radio Channel won the chance to be thrown in and turned into hot dogs that the band roasted on a campfire and devoured on stage)and blood, and blood, and blood!  Gallons and gallons of it.   We went home agreeing that we would all go to school the next day wearing exactly what we left the show in.  I came home, my shirt splattered with fake blood and crusty, red dye all over my face and in my hair.  When my mom saw me she looked like she was going to have a heart attack.

Here's my most recent memory of Oderus.  I saw they stopped by Onion/AV Club studios to do a rendition of Billy Ocean's "Get Out Of My Dreams (And Into My Car)" - Brilliant!!!

R.I.P.

Happy St. Patrick's Day 2014

Aye!  Me Lucky Charms!!!

(Who IS that Handsome Devil?!?)

Faith No More - Hangin' With MTV 7/20/92

Just finished The Faith No More & Mr. Bungle Companion by Greg Prato.  What a trip down memory lane of one of my all-time favorite bands!  One performance brought up was this obscure one for a short lived show called Hangin' With MTV in 1992 - hot off their sophomore effort Angel Dust.  The funniest things I remember about this guest spot was how much they came off as assholes to these VJs as witnessed in the interviews and especially right before their phenomenal performance of Caffeine (one of my favorites from the album) near the 13:25 mark.   Every time this poor VJ would try to speak, Patton would direct the band to bang at their instruments as loud as possible (drummer Puffy laughing most of the time) as he squealed like a stuck pig.  Also great, is hearing Patton screaming "I'M FUCKING YOU!" over and over at the 18:23 mark.  I've still got this somewhere on VHS.

Cloud Nothings - "I'm Not Part Of Me" (Live)

My favorite song of the moment.  I REALLY liked the last full-length from these fellows, and this single from the upcoming HERE AND NOWHERE ELSE released on April 1st makes me super excited for the follow-up!  The chorus reminds me in a weird way of a Funeral Oration song...?

Devil Baby

Warner Drive - Metal Bridge

I recently heard that El Hefe (NoFX) signed a band called Warner Drive to his Cyber-Tracks label and since I loved the Implants album that they released last year, I decided to give them a minute of my time.    Man!  I hope you brought the toast 'cause here's the jam!!!

My Favorite Albums of 2013

1. Black Sabbath - 13
8 + minute jams, sinister lyrics, bluesy doom grooves, Iommi-amputated-finger-solos, and Ozzy shouting the occasional "Alright Now!" ala Sweet Leaf. They knocked this one out of the park, Bill Ward or not.

Favorite 3 tracks - ***Damaged Soul **Zeitgeist *God is Dead?

 

2. The Virginmarys - King of Conflict 

 This Macclesfield, England trio capsules the grooves of the White Stripes, the outer-edge emotional hemorrhages of Nirvana, the contagiousness of Green Day, and an occasional hint of Zeppelin.  This was probably played the most and cranked the loudest of everything I listened to in 2013.

Favorite 3 Tracks - ***Portrait Of Red **Bang, Bang, Bang *Dressed To Kill

 

3. Chvrches - The Bones Of What You Believe

What?!?  A Scottish Electro-pop group in my top 3?!?  This is so catchy and  80's retro I can picture Rod & Rex doing a dance routine to this before the bicycle boogie.

Favorite 3 Tracks - ***We Sink **Recover *Under The Tide

4. Scorpion Child - S/T

"Ooooooh... Make your move...", was the best opening line of all my favorite releases this year.  Like fellow Austin classic rockers The Sword, except instead of Sabbath, SC leans more towards the Zep.  "In the Arms of Ecstasy" is in desperate need of cowbell!  I'm thinking of buying one myself so I can open a can of whoop-ass during that chorus!

Favorite 3 Tracks - ***Liquor **Polygon of Eyes * In the Arms of Ecstasy 

5. Implants - From Chaos To Order

This is the 90's Epitaph-Fat equivalent of the super-group 80's-hair-rockers Damn Yankees!  If songs comprised from the best of Strung Out, Pulley, and Brown Lobster Tank gives you a boner like me, then prepare for wood!

Favorite 3 Tracks - ***Once Was I **Through The Window *Parallel

 

6. Less Than Jake - See The Light

A return to Fat and form from these ska/punk veterans.  Exactly what you'd expect from a great LTJ album...super-catchy-toe-tapping-sing-a-long-fun.  Their best album in 10 years.

Favorite 3 Tracks - ***Bless The Cracks **American Idle *Good Enough

 

7. Coheed & Cambria - The Afterman: Descension

I already came out of the closet on my weird man-crush for these fellas.  I will not negotiate, so please do not try to blackmail me with video footage of myself singing along at the top of my lungs while stuck in Miami traffic.

Favorite 3 Tracks - ***Number City **The Dark Side Of Me *The Hard Sell 

 8. Tomahawk - Oddfellows

Man it's been a while since Mike Patton dipped his toes in a more traditional hard rock realm.  One of the most under-rated vocalists brings the thunder with Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle), John Stanier (Helmet) and Duane Denison (Jesus Lizard), but still takes the time to get weird and artsy.

Favorite 3 Tracks - ***Stone Letter **White Hats/Black Hats *South Paw

9. Walking Papers - S/T

 A Seattle super-group of sorts (featuring members of Screaming Trees & Guns N Roses) deliver a unique album of film-noir tunes that would not feel out of place next to the Afghan Whigs or Morphine.  This would have been huge and played on every station in Milwaukee from 93QFM to Lazer103 to New Rock 102.9 back in the day. 

Favorite 3 Tracks - ***The Whole World's Watching **I'll Stick Around *Already Dead

10. AFI - Burials

After 2009's more unusually jubilant Crash Love album, AFI return with a menace and a reminder why their acronym stands for A Fire Inside.  Davey Havok alternates croons and curses like a romantic Glenn Danzig.

Favorite 3 Tracks - ***I Hope You Suffer **17 Crimes *Greater Than 84

11. HIM - Tears On Tape

The first time I heard HIM was from a male co-worker named DJ Dracula's Daughter at an independent record store in Miami Beach.  After repeated in-store listens, I fell in love with 1999's Razorblade Romance.  This latest release reminds me of that pinnacle album and my other favorite, 2005's Dark Light.

Favorite 3 Tracks - ***All Lips Go Blue **I Will Be The End Of You *Love Without Tears

12. Pixies - EP1

Ok, so this isn't a full-length AND no Kim Deal... but I really listened the shit out of this 4 song EP.  Deal or no Deal, it's beautiful, loud, weird, and unmistakeably Pixies.

Favorite 3 Tracks - ***Indie Cindy **Another Toe In The Ocean *Andro Queen

13. Dog Party - Lost Control
 Great minimalistic punk obviously influenced by the Ramones from these high school sisters.  My daughter made me play "Flamingo Go!" over and over and over for her in 2013.  I see great things to put in my earholes from these two in the future.  Another fantastic release from Asian Man Records.
Favorite 3 Tracks - ***Best Friend **Flamingo Go! *I Can't Wait

 
 14. Airbourne - Black Dog Barking
 The third (and best) album from this Aussie group plays like a pressure-cooker of AC/DC, Rose Tattoo, and Motorhead.  The video for "Live It Up" was one of my favorites of the year.
Favorite 3 Tracks - ***Live It Up **Black Dog Barking *Hungry

 
15. Luscious Jackson - Magic Hour
I can't remember one of our infamous basement parties in Milwaukee that didn't involve a smoke machine, strobe lights, massive amounts of alcohol, and Luscious Jackson's "Energy Sucker" or "Let Yourself Get Down" being played at some point in the night.  It's been almost 15 years and if you're feeling nostalgic for that classic NYC-Grand Royal-City Song Sound, you should check this out.  "So Rock On" co-written by Beastie Boys Ad Rock is worth the price of admission alone.

Favorite 3 Tracks - ***So Rock On **Frequency *Show Us What You Got

 
 16. Dan Vapid & The Cheats - Two
The second and best album from former Screeching Weasel Dan Vapid's current musical outfit.  I was lucky enough to see the first show ever from this group at the aftermath of 2011's cancelled Weaselfest in Chicago.  Vapid may be one of the only musicians to have so many seminal albums with so many different bands (Screeching Weasel, Riverdales, Sludgeworth, The Mopes, The Methadones, Noise By Numbers).

Favorite 3 Tracks - ***If You're Not Happy You Should Go **A Long Way *Face The Music

 
17. Crashdiet - The Savage Playground
 There must be aqua-net in the water with the influx of sleaze-metal bands Sweden keeps turning out!  I've mentioned my fondness for Reckless Love, but Crashdiet feel a little more risque.  More Skid Row than Warrant and more Motley Crue than Poison. 
Favorite 3 Tracks - ***Cocaine Cowboys **California *Lickin' Dog

 
 18. Deap Vally - Sistrionix
White Stripes comparisons are inevitable for this 2-piece.  Bare-bones, bluesy, beer soaked, balls-out rock-n-roll.  Also, another of my favorite videos in 2013 for "End Of The World".  I wanna hang out with these ladies! 


Favorite 3 Tracks - ***End Of The World **Walk Of Shame *Gonna Make My Own Money



19. Nikola Sarcevic - Freedom To Roam
 This is the third, and second best from Swedish Millencolin's front man Nikola Sarcevic.  It's more folk and country than his debut Lock, Sport, Krock, but thankfully still absolutely beautiful.

Favorite 3 Tracks - ***In Love With A Fool **Which Way To Go *Orphelia 



20. Michael Monroe - Horns And Halos
After receiving accolades in my much enjoyed UK published Classic Rock magazine I decided to check out 2012's Sensory Overdrive by Michael Monroe (Hanoi Rocks) with co-writing , lead guitar, and background vocals by Ginger Wildheart (The Wildhearts) and
man, it would have made it in my top 5 favorite albums of 2012 list!  This time Ginger isn't back, but Dregen (Backyard Babies & The Hellacopters) warms his seat most pleasantly and if I hadn't of received this so late, I can't help but think it would have made it higher.

 Favorite 3 Tracks - ***Ballad Of The Lower East Side **TNT Diet *Soul Surrender