The Riot Before - Rebellion

Depending on which dictionary you use, growth is, among many other things "development from a simpler to a more complex stage", or "something that has grown or developed by or as if by a natural process".

Yes, people still use books to look up things. You know, those funny things with words on paper. Some people even still read books, even punks. And now get this: some punks even read books and put quotes from books in the liner notes of their albums. Ain't that weird? Duh!

Every once in a while, you come across a record that knocks off your feet, for whatever reason. Rebellion is one of these records for me, and yes, I will say it gladly: it's in my top ten of 2010. The title of this record is a fuck you in itself: you look at the cover artwork, you either catch yourself thinking "Ow, so these dudes have grown up, and they are angry about whatever", or, more likely: "Shit, they want to cash in on ths success of Anti-Flag". But my friend, you couldn't be further from the truth... let me explain:

Yes, in some ways this is about rebellion itself, because the music here is much harsher and angrier than on their previous record, but that's where the story ends. You are only scratching the surface here, which is cool, but you are missing out. Big time. So take the record title, and juxtapoze it against the Dostoyevsky quote in the insert:

"One can hardly live in rebellion, and I want to live."

The fists were buried in pockets, now they are clenched. Not swinging blindly, though - this is not a record about scene politics or punk rock gossip, this is a record about personal growth, and trying to find your place in a world you don't necessarily like - because "you need to leave from the edge of uncharted lands. / The dark spots on maps where no person has ever been before." This is a record about hope. Not sitting over beers, sighing, but getting the fuck up, doing what has to be done, getting out of whatever shithole you are in, literally or figuratively: a town, a relationship, a bad situation.

And the music? Oh wow. The first song on the record alone is a far cry from previous The Riot Before songs, more Jawbox than Ann Beretta, and probably not due to the fact that Mr J Robbins has been producing this. From a personal experience, I think it's safe to say that these gentlemen are men of taste (not always when it comes to footwear and belt buckles, though). And these gentlemen know how to write a good song. It is essentially pop punk, yes, but this is a not a four letter word. And fuck it, I just decided I'll not drop any reference points here.

Rebellion is a record that grows on you. It's a record that will love in six months, and a record that you will fully come to appreciate and understand in a year. (If you are me, at least.) Until then, it will be a good travel companion through the trials and tribulations of life. Oh, and the good times as well.

Up the book punx!

www.gunnerrecords.com
www.paperandplastick.com

Dirty Tactics - It Is What It Is

Don't you love it when you discover new bands and immediately come up with associations, whether you want it or not? Well, I know I do.

The title of this album reminds me of one of my all time favorite skateboard videos, and the band is from Philadelphia, so how could I not think of the Boss? (And no, I have never seen that movie, and I don't intend to. The idea of Tom Hanks as a gay lawyer sounds as appealing to me as a porn version of Forrest Gump. Thanks, but no thanks. No homophobia intended, but Tom Hanks?! I mean... come on!)

I don't know anything about Dirty Tactics' sexual orientations, but I can feel that they are no lawyers. They're punks. And they seem to be very fucking proud of it. Their music is fast, catchy, and melodic. Nothing that you haven't heard before, but that's the nature of punk rock. (And I am glad it is!) I am not particularly stoked about this record, it's not something I would recommend to everyone, but it makes me happy to know that it simply exists. It's a good record. It's fun to listen to. (LOUD!!!) I hear some One Man Army in a few of the songs, especially when it comes to the vocals, some Pinhead Gunpowder, some Crimpshrine. And even though it will never be an all time fave, it takes me back to a time and a place when things were simpler. It makes me dig out long forgotten seven inches. It makes me happy for the better part of an hour. So, once again in the words of the Boss: "Tell me, friend, can you ask for anything more?"

www.say-10.com

The best record of the year, hands down!

The story behind this album can be found everywhere, so I won't even bother. It's THE BOSS, so you know it's perfect from the get go. But check out this packaging. It gets 7 out of 5 stars according to my own private graphic nerd rating system.

(Oh, and here is a very interesting story about the cover photo. Nerd alert, again.)

"If younger heads quote this, then it ain't all hopeless..."

I know it has been said before, but I will gladly repeat myself... Dälek are the future of HipHop, if there is one. I am not saying this because they are my friends (they are), and not saying this because this video brings up the fondest of memories about Thee Oktopus discussing the glory of Badolato's pizza crust (as compared to New Jersey pizza crust) for about 15 minutes (and more), but because... well, it's the truth.

Let's talk in 10 years, when you're gonna finally catch up and when you start to look beyond the fence that goes around your HipHop mindset. (But then again, who am I to talk shit? When I first listened to London Calling 20 or so years ago, I thought it wasn't punk at all...)

Happy birthday, Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen!

Jeff Rowe - Barstool Conversations

Dear Jeff -

I'll have to admit that it took me some while to get into your record. I will be honest with you: I think the design is god awful, but maybe that's the design nerd in me talking. The cover art is really good, the drawing of the empty bottle is something I would frame and put on my wall, but the typesetting of the lyrics... ouch. So well, that was something that put me off initially - that, and my own thoughts about another punk with another acoustic guitar. You know what I'm talking about.

Personally, I would have picked another opener instead of "Passenger". Don't get me wrong, it's a good song, a great song even, but it just doesn't set the mood. "Chasing Ghosts" or "An Island's Point Of View", however, are songs that do. So yes, you had me after the fifth song, and I went from "Shit, I'm sure this dude has some ugly tattoos and a beard" to "Oh, this is a man I would love to drink with". I kept this CD in my player. I listened to it when I got up in the morning and had my first coffee. I listened to it when I was working. I listened to it to fall asleep to - which might sound lame, I know, but it isn't. Now let me explain...

I think a common misconception about records you can fall asleep to is that they are boring. That's bullshit. I can fall asleep to Cannibal Corpse or Pig Destroyer, because blast beat after blast beat is like a mantra, a brainless one, but a mantra that helps me switch off my thoughts. But this only one side of the coin. The other side are records like yours, and I will gladly put Vic Bondi's Ghost Dances on the list as well, or Bob Mould's Workbook, you name it. They're all intense records, they're all punk records essentially, but they speak a different language: they don't scream at you. They comfort you. They are, for lack of a better analogy, the arms that hug you when you're alone in your bed. Barstool Conversations is one of these records.

It's the kind of record you have to have to learn to appreciate, you have to literally get to know it, like you get to know a stranger in a bar sitting next to you, in these small hours when you're drunk and when the borders between good luck and bad luck, between happiness and sadness start to blur, when you fucking feel like telling your most intimate secrets to complete strangers. And in turn, these strangers sometimes speak words of wisdom, of pure poetry, and you want to write them down on a beer soaked napkin, but you don't. In the morning, it's all forgotten, and all that's left is a feeling. Your songs, however, are still there in the morning.

So well, Jeff, I would like to thank you for this record. I would like to thank you that it made me take a trip to the middle of fucking nowhere, just to see you play. Thanks for that. Thank you for drinking with me, thank you for talking about books and music and life and love and struggles and hardship, thank you for that Descendents cover, thank you for singing that Propagandhi song with me, thank you for the t-shirt, but above all... thank you for that record. And now I know that is supposed to be a review, something that should tell people about how it sounds like, how good or how bad it is, why they should or should not buy it, but I say fuck it. I just can't do that.

And you know what? You were right. It's fucking lame to compare it to let's say Tim Barry or Chuck Ragan. Just because they're punks, and just because they play a similar kind of music doesn't mean shit. They might be your peers, true, your music is at home at The Fest and the Revival Tour, but it also makes sense in the backroom of a bar in the middle of nowhere, it makes sense that you are playing and touring with the fucking Landmines, because at the end of the day, it's about two things that you have put to words a lot better than I ever could:

"I've got a love that makes me weak. I've got friends that are more than are more than blood."

Jeff, thank you for making a difference in at least one person's life. And that's the glory of punk, regardless of style or genre or scene, even in 2010...

Your friend,
Thomas

www.jeffrowemusic.com
www.gunnerrecords.com

"Where I was born and where I grew up, being an artist was like being totally insane." - An interview with Irmie Vesselsky

I usually don't like Austrian music. Because, let's face it: 99% SUCKS. OK, 99% of all music sucks, that's true, but there's something about Austria that makes the suckyness even suckier. I am not going to drop names - just turn on that Austrian "alternative" radio station and be prepared to empty your stomach. There are a few exceptions to the rule, of course. One of these exceptions is Irmie Vesselsky. A lady, her voice, her piano, and that's that. She is a master of a long forgotten craft called SONGWRITING. Her album Parentheses of Antitheses is a hidden treasure, and here's a few things she has to say...

What made you start playing music in the first place?

Music itself - and everybody who told me to never ever do it. Music was always there. But in fact, I really tried to ignore it... my parents and my surroundings, "friends" told me to do so. They all gave me the feeling that there was something wrong with me, spending all my pocket money on CDs or instruments and rather "talking to my piano" than to men. Where I was born and where I grew up, being an artist was like being totally insane. So I was a good daughter and functioned, and tried to be what they wanted me to be, and music was my way to escape. Finally a breakdown/burnout back in 2008 made me follow my inner voice, and made me go back to where I was and what I had. I remembered myself as a kid sitting at the piano for hours on end, trying to escape this world, and create my own. It was wonderful. When you're a total mess and have nothig left, anyone or anything to trust or to rely on, and nothing is left but a piano in the corner of your room - what else could you do but talk to her? She was always so almighty, so tempting.... so I couldn't do anything but follow her and let it all out.

What made you realize "I can be an artist, and I can perform live and it's good"?

Have I really realized that? Am I...? This reminds me of what Katherine Hepburn once said: "I think most of the people involved in any art always secretly wonder whether they are really there because they're good or there because they're lucky." I mean, when I started writing songs, I never intended to play them live, to perform them or have them recorded. No one but my cat was allowed to listen. (And she always preferred Bach to my own songs.) When I first played "Unheard" - my first song ever - to her, she ran out of the room, shrieking...

It's quite a long way from writing your own songs to performing them in front of an audience... how did this happen? Who encouraged you? What was your first time like?

It was a long process, and it all happened by sheer chance. Who encouraged me? Well, there was a small bar in the countryside where I used to live. The bartender once came up to me saying "You are going to be a star. I can see it in your eyes.... play for me!" I thought this man was totally crazy and avoided his bar for some time. He then showed up at my place wanting me to sing for him and persuaded me to do a showcase in his bar. It took me quite some time until I agreed. Then, my first time... I really can't remember. I mean, I remember being sick, being nervous days before the performance already. I was very insecure and shy, couldn't stand those people staring at me, and couldn't understand why they were here to hear me play at all. But when I started to play, I forgot everything around me. I was in my own universe, there was just the piano and me dancing together. The applause was like an alarm clock waking you from a sweet dream. That's all I remember. I didn't really know what I was doing back then. I think, I was a mess, but quite a good one, ha!

So, after that “good mess”, it seems like you are playing constantly now, at every chance that pops up. Does it ever get boring? Are you still nervous before a show?

First of all, I do not play everything - it has to feel right for me and for the promoter as well. Playing concerts never gets boring: there's always a different venue, a different audience. Also, the way I play shows might differ. So it's still exciting for me. Things that in fact do get boring are the time between soundcheck and stage time, and moving all the equipment, especially if there's no piano. That's a thing I wish I wouldn't have to do anymore. And yes, I still get nervous! But you know what? Sometimes if I don't, I really get squirrelly, because I think there's something wrong with me. And honestly, I never ever want to "get used" to stage fright or gigging at all.

For some reason I just can't get past the idea of taking your lyrics as something deeply personal. It might be fiction, it might be just words to a song, but... you know. Dare to elaborate?

I wish I could write about something I haven't felt, I haven't experienced in my life, but I really can’t. Sometimes I do start with a fictional thought, but end up somewhere I've been before, sometimes I start with an experience and end up somewhere else my mind is dragging me to. So maybe it's a bit of both, fiction and reality. I could tell you a thousand of stories to each song, and they would all be true somehow - but isn't it ultimately more interesting which stories the listeners themselves create in their heads? It would be less fun if I told them what they should see or hear in this or that song, wouldn't it? Feel it!

www.irmievesselsky.com

Austin Lucas

"BORN TO RUN" IS THE BEST SONG EVER IN THE HISTORY OF RECORDED MUSIC. PERIOD.

Take this job and shove it!

Auxes - Ichkannnichtmehr

I tend to put people on a pedestal sometimes. Musicians, artists, writers, people in my life, people I love. I just can't help it. This is part of who I am. When I interviewed Chuck D, I felt like a little kid. (OK, actually I was looking down on Flavor when I bumped into him, but this was more a height thing...) But then again, punk rock has taught me that hero worship is a bunch of shit. If you look up to someone, you make yourself smaller. That's idiotic. One of the best thing about punk rock is that there are people you admire, people that inspire your thoughts and actions, and ultimately your life, but you can see eye to eye. You are peers.

Dave Laney is one of the people that have inspired me, even though we have never talked. He played in Milemarker, he played in Challenger, he published Media Reader, and probably did half a dozen more things that I don't know shit about. I loved the pink Milemarker record to death, and Media Reader made me look at music reviews from a whole new angle:

"We believe that the complete package is essential for a proper review of an "artist", and, even more importantly, of the specific "work of the artist" that you are sending us. We see no separation between art and music (in fact, music is art) and thus review not only the music but also the design and contents of the record."

So, well... Mr Laney is an American gentleman. This album has a German title. He lives in Hamburg now. Does that say anything about the music? Nope. I just thought I'd drop some random info here. And now, in the spirit of Media Reader, let's have at the artwork... awesome! It's extremely simple: just white and pink handwriting on black backgrounds, but it works. In fact, it works much better than an all computerized and clean design work would in this case. The music is dirty, the lyrics are personal, and the artwork reflects just that. Extra bonus points for the tasteful of magenta without letting it even remotely look like some teenie metal "emo" band!

The music... well... it KICKS FUCKING ASS! Maybe I have been listening to too much Black Flag in my life (if that's even possible at all!), but some of the song structures remind me of Black Flag. In fact, the chorus of the first song sounds exactly like "Rise Above" (if you make your own phonetic version of the lyrics, like I do all the time...). The second song, "Bad Luck, Motherfucker", is my favorite song on the whole album, it rocks so hard it's almost ridiculous. And more than that, it makes me feel alive.

So, from one old punk to another: thank you, Dave Laney! Your music is on fire with passion. I can hear it. I can fucking feel it. I can relate to a lot of the lyrics. That was a pretty bad review of a pretty good record, I know. I just feel that I really can't do it any justice by just describing it. Just listen to it, and you'll know what I mean. This is punk rock 2010. There is hope.

www.auxes.com
www.gunnerrecords.com

All my friends are into liquid trends

We're not that hopeless, we're not as fucked as you think...

"In short lived moments, we can do anything..."

Dear Landlord, München 2010

Water Pistol Man, full of ammunition...

I never sleep, 'cause sleep is the cousin of death.

I am patient boy. I wait, I wait, I wait.

Nothing feels good

"Everybody's got a hungry heart..."

"But maybe everything that dies some day comes back."

"Everything dies, baby, that's a fact..."

Young Livers

"Words were unforgettable. Actions are unforgivable."

"I had covered most of the house with paint and ink" - An interview with Adrian Landon Brooks

I discovered Adrian Landon Brooks' art by sheer accident. Must have been on Myspace or something, which is ("this is sooo 2007!") pretty an old school thing by now. Myspace has become a zombie of bits and bytes in the meantime, Adrian's profile does not exist anymore, but somehow I have always been following his art... because this is the nature of art: it touches you, whether you see it in a gallery, on the streets, in a book, or even on the fucking internet.

What made you realize "wow, I can be an artist and be taken seriously"?
I started off painting graffiti all through out my teenage years, and got a job installing work at a gallery in Houston,TX. The owner of the gallery encouraged me to broaden my horizons, and that led to me exploring ink drawings. As the drawings progressed, I had a few key people in my life at the time that kept encouraging me to push my limits. When I had a body of rough work, I was offered a spot in a group show at a local warehouse gallery named "one ten". The experience of watching people interact with my work really opened my eyes and gave me some confidence that I had otherwise been lacking.

"Silver Jew" - water color on wood panel, 11" x 6 1/2 "

Who were these "key people"and what did they do?
When I was 19 or so, I was living in a dilapidated rental house with two of my close friends in Houston. We had a dining room and a huge garage that nobody was using, so I kinda took over both with all my scrawling ink drawings, and the beginning of some actual paintings. My roommates would give me constant feedback and comment on the mess I was creating daily. By the end of the lease, I had covered most of the house with paint and ink. That year shaped my work a lot. I also began a romantic relationship that same year and subsequently made portraits of her for the next few years. I owe those times and people a lot.

"The experience of watching people interact with my work really opened my eyes" - give an example!
I specifically remember selling a small drawing for 20 bucks at the first group show I was a part of, and being blown away with how happy this guy was to take it home. It really meant a lot to know my work could have such a positive effect on someone, even though it was pretty dark material at the time.

Speaking of happiness, what keeps you sane?
I would say my mother and art binges. I usually make a group of work all at once over the course of a few weeks. I seem to enjoy the purging process a lot more than making little things every day. When you work on a piece for 12 hours straight, you definitely experience a type of euphoria I haven't been able to find from any drug.


What inspires you to create art on a daily basis?
Pretty much anything you can think of really. I get inspired by music pretty often, or just a specific line from a song that hits me hard one day. Some of the one liners in my work are borrowed from some of my favorite songs. I think if a piece of music is capable of moving me, I should pay homage to it with my own creation.

Music... you have a Jawbreaker tattoo. What else rocks your world?
Haha, I got that tattoo when I was 17. I can safely say that Jawbreaker shaped a good part of my youth. 24 Hour Revenge Therapy will never get old. I have been listening to Timber Timbre and Phosphorescent a lot lately. I usually gravitate towards sad bastard music.

How, well... "fitting" - your art is not particularly lighthearted or happy per se... where does that come from?
I think I find the most inspiration or motivation from the darker side of things. It's not that I am an unhappy person, but I think sorrowful content is a little more interesting. I try to break up the melodrama with words - it's a way of bringing my issues to light, and realizing that I don't have it so bad. I think it's good to be able to poke fun at yourself.


More art can be found here: www.adrianlandonbrooks.com ... support!

I want your skull, I need your skull

"As I have practiced it, photography produces pleasure by simplicity. I see something special and show it to the camera. A picture is produced. The moment is held until someone sees it. Then it is theirs." - Sam Abell

If you have nothing to say, post photos...

Steve Ebner, 360 flip to fakie

"There is only you and your camera. The limitations in your photography are in yourself, for what we see is what we are." - Ernst Haas

"It's not just us three, anyone that has this kind of feeling or yearning of an unfulfilled life, can be basically be Client."

This is an old interview. I did this in 2007, and it was originally intended to be in GLW/DRK #5. Client play - for lack of a better term - "electro pop". Electro pop that could be the soundtrack to one thousand sexual fantasies.


When the band was starting, they were a two piece. And I guess they found it easy: you could get one hotel room, two flights. A band like that is very cheap to do. But then again, you're doing small stages, and you're having a limited sound. By the third album, the sounds matured, and the stage shows developed, the influences had gotten bigger. Two people can't run it anymore, because there isn't a manger, there isn't anyone telling us what to do. And it was good for me to come in at the time, because I have a similar love for the music and the art and the lifestyle that goes with what the band is about. I guess I just brought in some ideas and helped develop the stage sound with more bass, rhythm section, haircuts, lights. You know, all the things that really matter [laughter]. It's just an added kind of dimension. If I got a new boyfriend, I'd always watch all their films, and listen to their music. It's the same kind of thing. Just bringing in some kind of new thing, it just keeps it fresh.

I completely agree, because from what I saw tonight, your kind of bass playing is not just like a rhythm instrument. You're playing your bass pretty much like one would play guitar.
Yeah, I was a guitar player, but I was really lazy. I didn't like to play lead. I just liked rhythms and stuff, so what I would is do harmonies and rhythm. Because all the bass lines are already there on the keyboard, and you can't really add anything to this, so I'd just pick out bits of the lower bass or add a different dimension. Give it more drive. Just take that song, "Where's the rock and roll gone", there is no bass. It's just the keyboard line, so I would go all out and do metal riffs, which is really fun.But other songs like "Pornography", they've got bass. It's still kind of keyboard riff, but I play it exactly the same, because it works. If you go through all the songs, you can pull out different elements before its being programmed up by Kate. She wrote most of the melodies before I joined. And they had done two albums already. I had to work with what was there. Its kind of like sitting in and then making the live sound.

So you are Client C then?
No, Client C is in Hamburg. Her name is Corinna. She isn't with us today, but she was for a few days. She helps with t-shirt designs, the album artwork, graphics, layouts, web design. Or, if you have an idea and you're sitting let's say somewhere in the middle of the world, and you don't have your computer and no internet access, you'll still just know there is another person who can do it. She is the glue that keeps everything together. She is the backbone. She updates Myspace, I run the Client Club Nights, and do the emailing for that. Kate does all the booking and coordination, and talking to distributors and record people. So during the day, she always gets phone calls Germany, Italy, Greece, Scandinavia. And then when she is in bed, she gets phone calls from people from USA, Mexico, South America, China. So she doesn't sleep. I'm Client E. My name is Emily. It just seemed natural. Client F for Andy Fletcher. Client X for Scott, who was the guitarist before we had Günther. Günther is from Vienna actually.

Really? I didn't know that. How did you hook up with anyway?
We were on Mute, and so were Fad Gadget. They'd got together again to go on tour with Depeche Mode. Not a lot of people know this, but Depeche Mode were actually influenced by Fad Gadget back in the day, but Depeche Mode took the more commercial route, and Frank Tovey kept his avantgardde performace art route and never made it to stadiums - pretty much what happens to people that stick to their independent principles. So when he died, his family got a DVD together with a lot of music videos, interview footage, live sets. Günther was playing guitar with him on the last ever tour that he did, supporting Depeche Mode. We met him at the showing of the film, and we were kinda taken by him, and that he supported and continued the Mute tradition of the experimental electronic dark wave kinda thing. It was good to keep it in the family, and he appreciated the music that we do. We appreciate his style of playing, because he knows what we are about, so it's perfect.
Speaking about record labels, how come you have these t-shirts with "Go DIY, lose EMI"? What happened?
What happened is that the music industry, from what I gather, is in a huge state of...

Being a whore?
Well, no... no one seems to be buying records anymore. The tradition of buying records is endangered, because nobody knows how to sell music anymore. A couple of years ago, when a band had an album out and people liked the band, they would buy it. But with the new media formats of the internet, like filesharing and download platforms, people are not buying hard physical copies, which is a shame I think. The concept would be so simple... people understood going to a record store: CD? Vinyl? Catch! So when things completely change for the consumers, we as artists and producers have to change the way we think about distributing music, even making music. People haven't got a clue anymore what to do, because theyre not in control anymore. Bands can take control by letting people listen to their music, or in some cases download it for free. This is the way to get noticed: let people know what your music sounds like.

It's pretty much the same thing as going to a record store ten or fifteen years ago and listening to a stack of brandnew records.
Yes, only now you don't have to leave the house. But MP3s are so compressed that the quality isn't all that good, compared to say CDs or vinyl. So I guess it's kind of gone backwards in a way. The whole issue of artwork, packaging, the beauty of vinyl, it's being lost. With our "Zerox Machine" fortyfive... it's white vinyl, we made sure that all the packaging had the whole handmade look, we paid special attention to what we did, and kept it really simple. All the record companies are losing their income, because they are not moving with the times. They are marketing everything as something you have to have, so they are losing lots and lots and lots of money on all these different hyped people and bands - but the interest isn't there. People are not buying into their marketing anymore. They are not paying attention to record comapnies that spend millions of pounds on marketing telling people to listen to this, so [the record companies] are not getting it back in the sales, and the artists get completely dropped. Record companies invest too much money in the first album, so artists dont have development time, they can't build a fanbase, and they don't have any longevity. EMI bought Mute, and they kept Depeche Mode because they make them money. Being on Mute means that you are technically on EMI,. and all they are is a major. I have heard "fuck the majors" from so many people, and for good reason actually: because majors are not interested in their artists, they are interested in making money. They are not into music, they just look at figures. And sure, it's the music BUSINESS, but it's also creative enterprise, and you can't just look at the business side in a non creative way. You've got to think of profit to be able to support yourself. No matter how romantic it may sound, a lot people when they are younger are like, "I want to be an artists, I want to be a singer, a musician." You can suffer for your art, or you try to take control yourself. We are just three girls, and they don't get the music. We don't run around in tight short skirts.

But you do.
It's not in a way the majors can understand.

For whatever reason, I have the impression that you try to stay under the public radar.
Well, I would say it's longevity as well. Music comes with a very short shelf life. The turnover is just ridiculous, especially with the British press - it's all fashion to them. Everybody can be the next big. You can blow up, and then next week you wouldn't even be able to get a gig or play shows. People have their opinion on you: "Oh, Client? Aren't they such and such and such?" I think it's more clever to let people find out about you through word of mouth. DIY! We're not, "Like us, we play catchy pop songs and we dress sharp." The music that I was drawn to, it felt like you were part of something, or as you said under the radar. I loved the Manic Street Preachers, I loved Placebo. I think the word now is "emo", but back then it was mod gothic electronic stuff.

Is there any certain band that you can recall that made you pick up an instrument?
Don't laugh, but it might have been Green Day. There are worse artists, though. I loved Pearl Jam, that track "Sometimes" is so beautiful. It makes me cry still. Jeff Buckley... uhm, things escape me. Pink Floyd was a huge influence... I was big hippie, you know. [laughter] I just like really emotional soulful music, but from any genre. You can find it in jazz, you can find it rock'n'roll, blues, soul, even hip hop. I don't listen to a lot of hip hop, but it's playing in the studio I work in. Some of the lyrics are absolutely phenomenally genius, and so is the production! I literally dissect it in the studio, because some of the beats and the rhythms are ridiculously good. Electronic music was born out of r'n'b in way, like the beats and the grooves were taken by Afrika Bambataa who added more beats and grooves. I found electronic music in london to a lot more of a black influence, like M.I.A. or this small local band Shy Child - they have this rhythm and it's really filthy, and can they play an indie club, rock club, r'n'b club. I am always really excited about hearing new things that grow naturally. But electro, you can press a button a synthesizer and you are god.

Speaking of which, Client as a band or collective have evolved from an anonymous unit to like real people...
It started anonymous, so that people would just listen to the music. It was putting the music first; the style of anonymity. You have the style and the substance going hand in hand. Even though you weren't flaunting it, you still had an image.

When you joined Client, did you ever find it hard to live up to image?
Well, we are Client. See, I would like to put it like this: when you are working and when you are behind your computer, you can have all these sexual fantasies, or think of something else, or just think about what you'd rather be doing. So you have all these thoughts in your head, and when you're going home, you change into another outfit, and you become this whole different person. We, as Client, are faceless. We wear uniforms. We could be anyone. We wear office skirts, a shirt, and tie. This is an office outfit, because it's like going to an office, going to work. It's not just us three, anyone that has this kind of feeling or yearning of an unfulfilled life, can be basically be Client. Personally, I never wanted to be just another kid in school. All the other school had certain ideals and their whole lives plotted out in front of them, and I just felt I didn't belong there at all. To me, that's why the album is called Heartland, because it's all about this certain longing to be accepted in life. Everybody has that, whether or not they admit it.

Is that a Sisters of Mercy reference, by the way?
Yes! I think the whole album was very much influenced by the Sisters of Mercy. It's the kind of emotion that I felt myself as a teenage girl sitting in my bedroom. It sounds kind of stupid now, because I have met so many teenage girls who have said the very same thing about Client to me. Especially Sarah has gone through a lot between the second and third album, and she's used to pour out a lot of angst - so to all of us, it's quite a release to go on stage and just yell out, and this is what makes our music so emotional in my eyes.

o, sitting here with you as the "new member" of the band, there is no spokesperson for Client, right?
Sometimes Kate doesn't like talking, because if she talks to much, her throat hurts. After she has been singing, she can't talk anyway. [laughter]

Client still rock my pants wet. They run their own record label, Loser Friendly Records. www.client-online.eu is their internet home.

Spanish Gamble - It's All Coming Down

Maybe it's the summer heat, or maybe it's just my bad humor, but this record offers a lot of things to joke about. So let's crank the volume all the way up and let's get right into it...

One, this is a punk band that's orginally from New Mexico, and eventually they moved to Gainesville. That's not a joke, not even by my low standards, but it should not give you No Idea about the sound. And no, there is no pun that I don't like. Two, the name of one of their guitar players is Randy. That alone is as funny as it is awesome, because every Randy is a good Randy. Another bonus point for Spanish Gamble!

Speaking of which, what does that band name mean? It gives me weird thoughts.

But all GLW/DRKisms aside... shit! How good is this? There's everything a punk record needs in 2010, and then some. Seriously. The songs are catchy as hell, there's even handclaps and bro choruses en masse, booze fuelled vocals, and... guitars. Oh, those guitars. I wouldn't be too surprised if there was a secret lab somewhere in a back alley in Gainesvile, Florida, where beer drinking punks in stained white coats create genetically manipulated punk kids, who, some day, will grow up to play THAT sound. Or like Frankie Stubbs said, "It's all about the sound of a guitar going RRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAA."

To sum it all up and to make you rush out and buy this record (*), It's All Coming Down is one hell of a summer record with perfectly crafted songs, and lyrics that might be worth a new tattoo or two:

"I just can't hit erase every time I fuck up. / It's all coming down. / These walls, this room, this whole fucking house. / And I can't take one more step into I'll regret."

(*) Yes, right, I said it. If you consider yourself punk (and even if you DON'T!), buy a record. Don't download it. You can't download vinyl. You can't download a cover and hold it in your hands while you drink beer by the open window and sing along. And that's just a few reasons...

www.paperandplastick.com

The worst record covers of all times, part two

Well, I have to admit that it isn't the best idea I have ever had to make the 12 or so readers of this blog go blind. But then again, what should I do? I own this record. And I just can't bear this pain on my own. Please help me.

This record and this cover are so awesome on so many levels. One, it's not a "single", it's an EP. Four songs. That was unheard of back then! Two, it's not only four songs, it's four DRINKING SONGS. For better or worse. I am still a bit in doubt whether or not these are songs you should listen to while you are drinking (to enhance the liquid experience), or songs you just can't stand listening to while you're sober. I'll leave this up to you, dear reader. Judge for yourself.

But this is about the cover, not the music. This dude is the textbook definition of awesome: part Red Dawn, part King Diamond. Oh, hold on a second... must... gasp... for... breath...

Two things about this cover will poke your eye immediately: the teeth and the Spar logo. Now I don't really know what the fuck is up with that logo, but it definitely is an interesting thought that this piece of "music" was a giveaway by the world's largest food retailer. But where the fuck did they display this? In the wine section? Special offer: buy two bottles of vodka, get a vinyl seven inch for free? We'll never know.

Anyway, I would love to get a free seven inch when I go shopping for groceries. It would make a song I love come to life again.

The worst record covers of all times, part one

Now I know that are quite some websites dedicated to the art of the album cover, like this or that, but as far as I know, no one has ever posted this visual atrocity. Sit back, open the image in a new browser window, and gasp for breath. Yes, this is serious!

It's only half as "funny" if you don't understand German, because the song titles make it even better. And no, I'm sorry, I just CAN'T translate it. The second song, "Wüst oder wüst ned" is a overlooked and long forgotten gem of Austropop. Even if you don't get the lyrics, it's worth a mouseclick... because... because... it's a fucking Sirtaki song, and I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP!

It's a song about drinking with a girl, supposedly giving her the time to make up her mind (about whatever, the author is being unclear about this), and looking for the toilet in the meantime. And while the story itself is scary and weird enough, please take another look at the cover. The person who sings this song is the one on the left, some kind of Austrian semi-celebrity. So, uhm well. But who the fuck is the one on the right? Shit, that dude's scary! And by "scary", I mean BIG TIME SCARY.

So, dear blog reader, whoever you are - enjoy this post like you would enjoy driving past a car accident on the highway. You can thank me later. Me, I will go and see Kim Wilde and Billy Idol tonight. For free. It's gonna be fun, in an Accüsed kinda way...

"It's not just about chords and beats." - An interview with Obstacles

"Obstacles grew out of the D.I.Y. culture and finds its inspiration and energy in the principles of integrity and immediacy derived from this movement. The band is driven by an urge to create relevant music, to transcend the triviality of our times uniform culture and to protest its monolithic aesthetics. Obstacles is the creative partnership between friends."

There. They said it themselves. I just can't think of any better introduction for this great band. They are "math rock" (for lack of a better term), they are "post rock", they are an instrumental band (one that does not bore me, yay!), and they kick ass. They have released an album called Decomposition of Movement, a 7", and a split with Auxes. I love them.

This is an interview that was never finished. But the points that were made were just too valid to disappear on a hard drive forever.

(This is my friend Emil. He is not in the band anymore.)

Obstacles? Why? And which ones? Which decomposition of what movement?

Thomas: The title Decompostion Of Movement has two sides to it; a concrete and an abstract one. First of all it's the name of a brain lesion, which means that your gestures are broken up into individual segments instead of being executed smoothly. Second, it refers to the idea that music is not about linear movement, but movement in a mass of directions. To say it briefly, it's songwriting - anti songwriting. Mathrock, as I see it, is a matter of decomposition in general, a break down of the framework of "classical songwriting". Leaving more room for playing around and turning things upside down, therefore making it more interesting, more creative and less predictable. We're not really interested in trying to write or reinvent the perfect rock song. To me, that seems so unambitious and boring. I'm not saying that what we do is super original and never-been-done-before like, but more that what we're doing is simply putting together small pieces of noise and music in formations that seem challenging, new and exciting to us. It's a collage: everything's already been done, now it just needs to be messed up!

Niels-Peder: Obstacles, as in the things we encounter in the process of writing songs, but also in a more general term. The things that are all around us, other people, trains, buses, our computers, all the obstacles that meet us everywhere we go. For me the thing is that we tend to see these obstacles as things to be passed, getting over things, getting well, the way we tend to ignore the obstacles at hand. I think we need to be more aware of all these obstacles, investigate them and then decide what is going on with them. There I think, we can truly find out what we hate and what we love. Obstacles are there to be studied, to be seen as the things that - in a strange way - make up our very life.

Obstacles does not have a vocalist. Was that a conscious decision? What are the pros/cons about this? Do you sometimes find yourself having a hard time getting your message across only with instruments?

Thomas: Can't really say it was a conscious decision. In the beginning we tried several vocalists out, but it never really worked out. It was fun and all, but we never got that 'yes' feeling. So after while we trashed the idea. I guess we wanted to do something new and different from what we had done before, and the vocalists we tried out didn't really contribute to that.

One of the things I love about being an instrumental band is the way it leaves space for the instruments (or maybe it's just an ego thing!). When we write music, we often go, "Oh, this part sort of needs a lead figure", because there are no vocals. And then it's always really interesting to try and figure out what exactly it is that's needed, what instrument, and how to play it. So in some ways I think the creative process is a bit more challenging when writing instrumental music. For us "the message thing" is just as much a matter of how we choose to be a band and be in a band as it is about writing, let's say, political songs. We play music that's relevant and means something to us. Music that moves us, be it protest songs or love songs.


To tie right into that, what sets obstacles apart from your run of the mill "postrock"-band in my book is that you are very DIY and very political - by choice, and not by necessity. Want to eloborate?

Thomas: The way I see it, there's a huge difference between being an indie band that is really independent right until a major label shows a bit of interest, and a band who wants to run it themselves, because they believe in doing it that way. Of course a band is a business in some ways, or at least it becomes one when you release a record or go on tour. But for us it's important to bear in mind that, when we got involved in music - touring and releasing records. We were only able to do so because people were ready to help us get started, you know, booking tours, doing shows, releasing our music and so on. And it's still like that. We did a tour in Russia some months ago, a really great tour. And again, we could only do that because people over there worked their asses off to bring us there, without getting anything but the experience in return. To me, that's really something. It's not just about chords and beats, but about deliberately choosing alternative ways of organization. A subversive approach to the whole promotion thing is, as I see it, the core element in being a "political" band.

Niels-Peder: Being political is in essence, as I see it, not about saying the right things or having a radical attitude. To me, the political side to the project is, as Thomas puts it, about deliberately choosing another way. The meeting between people and the exchange of ideas and experiences this brings.

Obstacles will play at the Rhiz in Vienna on August 16, together with Alarma Man.

www.obstacles.dk

Average & Huckey - Ganz schön hässlich

This record is a tricky beast to write about, for a number reasons... one, I really, really like it. A lot. And when I find myself liking a record, it gets hard to write about. Bad reviews easy, good reviews hard. Two, it's kinda old. Not "old" as in 1980s old school old, but it has been out for quite some time now. But then again, GLW/DRK has never been about being up to date, and that's that. And finally, three, it is an Austrian hip hop relase. In Austria, we speak German, or at least a version of German. And since this album (or is it an EP?) has German lyrics, I really wasn't sure whether or not I should write this review in English. It's a hard knock life, I'm tellin' ya. But here it is, in English, because I truly feel that this album can be enjoyed even if you don't understand the language. I know that at least I can like French hip hop, or Turkish hip hop, or Japanese "post-core" without being able to understand a single word.

I have mixed feelings about Austrian hip hop. There are many (new) acts, there are many good acts, but a lot of the output these days is just tee-rash. I don't know, maybe it has to do something with the nature of German language, but, in the words of Markante Handlungen, "muas I eana schau wieda mit da Peitschn deiten, wei's die Deitschen biten!". Average and Huckey don't do that. They do their very, very own thing, and it's easy to admit I am stoked.

Ganz schön hässlich is some kind of a concept album, very loosely based on the 19th century children's book "Der Struwwelpeter" by Heinrich Hoffmann. (There is an awesome adaption by Bob Staake available from Fantagraphics, and there was an anti-fascist version during WW2, called "Struwwelhitler".) There are six tracks about the stories in the book, and then there are 5 more remixes. Average is a young (dope!) MC, and Huckey is an old (dope!) MC, so it's pretty much like this, only with words and rhymes. It would be wrong that say that me and Huckey are friends, but we have known each for quite a while now, and that relationship goes back to the days of his old bands, Target of Demand and Seven Sioux, so I am more than stoked to see that he still kicks ass. (He actually never stopped kicking ass, and this is the evidence.)

So what has to be said about this record are three things:

1. The beats are amazing. The choice of samples is great. The cuts are right on. Seriously, this is up there with the best of the best.
2. The words and rhymes and the flow are top of the game, and they are one of a kind. There has been no Austrian release like this before, drawing influence from a classic piece of literature, turning into something unique and original, and above all, pushing limits and staying "true to the game".
3. Kamp makes an appearance, and so does Flip from Texta, and the features and the remixers don't ruin it, in fact they add a little extra something.

Ganz schön hässlich is a hip hop record for the heads and for people who don't even like the music. It's everything that made hip hop so amazing in the first place, it's deep and fresh, and it works in the club just as well as it does on your headphones. Big up!

www.tontraeger-records.com

Young Livers - Of Misery And Toil

Something about this record screams "No Idea", and I can't quite put my finger on it. Sure enough, they're from Florida (well, at least 3/4 of them), they rock hard, scream, and - dare I say it - well, yes, they are standing on the shoulders of giants, who, for what it's worth, never ever could pull off an album like Of Misery And Toil anymore. But still, there is something underneath all the noise and melody and gruffness that makes Young Livers stand out.

Maybe it's the fact that this record came into my life at the right time. Maybe it's got something to do with a desperate need for someone to tell me that everything will be OK, no matter how hard it seems sometimes. Lines like "We face up to look down. We breathe out just to hear something else." just ring a bell. There is hope. Repeat: there is hope.

Music is just sound, and books are nothing but words, but they serve a deeper purpose. They help us humans to understand the universe. They explain things. They make you feel less alone, and less miserable. And sometimes, music and words touch your soul.

The feeling I get from this record, way beyond the screaming and beyond the realization of "Hey, wait, they didn't have all these hard rock guitar melodies on the first album", is this: there are times when we, as humans, feel completely lost and lonely and desperate, and we think that no one can relate to the pain we feel. It becomes something universal, bigger than life itself, and we become so absorbed with it that we just can't see the light at the end of the tunnel. It is the task of the poet that make us feel less alone, to touch our hearts and minds, to explain things, to make us understand. And fuck yes, drunk punk rockers from Florida can be the true poet that touches your heart and soul every now and then. Young Livers did that to me.

Behind this wall of noise, there is a soothing beauty. Behind all the screaming, you can find stories of desperation and fucking up, of falling down - and, more important than anything else! - of getting the fuck back up again, brushing off the dirt and tears, and asking the universe: "Is that all you have to fucking offer?"

There is hope in failure. There is hope in pain. There is always a light at the end of the tunnel. Always. We only need a little reminder now and then. My own personal reminder sounds fucking amazing and is called Of Misery And Toil.

"It's veiled now in our patience. It's kindled in remorse. Failed, as we have become what we loathe."

www.noidearecords.com

The only thing an iCrap is good for...

Unveiling the wicked (like the title of that Exciter record)

A few days ago, the Side One Dummy website read that the artwork for the new Gaslight Anthem album had been "unveiled", and I was already skeptical. Unveiled?! What the fuck? A long lost Van Gogh painting? Or even a new Banksy piece? Either way, I figured, it must be special...

And yes, it is special indeed. "Special" in a Special Olympics way.


All right, I am the first to admit that the artwork for The '59 Sound was one giant step forward from the visual atrocity known as Sink Or Swim. And let's not forget that Señor and the Queen looks fucking awesome... (That said, please check out www.giantsquidletterpress.com for a lot of really amazing letterpress artwork!) So well, yes, this band had developed a really strong visual identity over the years, one that even I could enjoy.

But let's be honest, the new cover... ouch! I actually like the idea, but that's where it ends. Maybe the only good thing I can say about it is that it was quite smart to use the same typeface as on '59 again. What totally ruins it is that white border around everything... it looks like some World of Warcraft playing douchebag from the Gaslight Anthem's bible group came up with the concept of making the record look "used" and "old", but one Photoshop lesson after sunday school just wasn't enough to pull it off. Seriously, it's looking putting this picture on top of that cover. Why not poop on it?

(Please excuse me for a moment... must... empty... stomach...)

On with the sweetness, baby! The album title in that black box on the bottom corner... what's that? Did you forget to add it in your 72 DPI preview file? I am not even mentioning the arrangement of the photos here. It wouldn't take any amputee who has to click the mouse with his toes longer than let's say ten minutes to crop them properly!

But the cream of the crap (oops, crop, I mean...) is the knuckle duster right under the label logo. I am not even blaming the graphic "designer" here, maybe it was just a smart business move. "Dude, well, you know, dude, we need to expand our target audience... let's not forget our old fans. You know, dude, that chick in Poophole, Ohio, was all over me... I want her to buy the record at Hot Topic!" NO! NO! NO! What's next then? Girlie shirts in XS that are flexible enough to fit a whale if stretched properly?

Dear whoever-did-this-cover, I would love to meet you and shake your hand. You must be a fucking genius. Not when it comes to graphic design, sorry, but I'm sure you got a big bag full of money to commit offense to all my sensiblities, and that makes you one hell of a business man. Oh, and by the way, you owe me a meal. The one I had today wouldn't remain in my belly.