VOD#3, Da Music

Aw jeezus, enough with all the fucking whining, let’s talk about something that really matters: TUNES. There are hundreds – well, maybe tens – of good bands coming out right now, as well as the resident rockers that have been on the cutting edge of radness for some time now. Before I get to the reviews I would life to mention some pretty cool acts that I was too lazy to get material from but still deserve mentioning. Come on, you do not expect the Spiller to cut his boozing and socializing time in half just so he could hold your hand and give you an extensive tour of the cutting edge? I no think so. Just pretend that I am holding a magic mirror to my face and I am peering over the vast expanse of musical chunder and giving to you only the best. You’re welcome. You should be honored.

First off if you don’t already know, the drummer for Family Scott took a flying leap off of the face of the earth. Fucking drummers. I think he got pissed off that the rest of the band did not feel obligated to take care of him when he got piss drunk. The nerve of them. But now they are practicing with Steve of Tina Age 13 fame, and they sound pretty good. We’re going to be hearing from them very soon.

Another band that demands attention is Morning Champ. They are busting out shows as wells, so you’ll have amply time to check them out as well. Santa Cruz seems to belch out musical refugees every second, and both the Champs and the Swinging Utters are taking advantage of living in a city where there are things to do. I can’t wait to see Three Stoned Men next month. If they play tunes that are anything like that song that they put on the Pothole compilation, it will be a damn good show. If there’s a Nudelman in it, it’s gotta be good. The notorious Hickey got sick of insulting their fellow local bands, so they did us all a favor and went on tour. Don’t worry, they’ll be back. Hell, go ahead and worry… If you have not seen Cameltoe yet, you have to. They maintain a healthy balance between belting out rocking tines and being excruciatingly attractive. Yes, even the Spiller has a weakness for a good-looker that can play the fuck out of a guitar.

But enough of that, let’s talk about the Descendents. Yes, Milo came back from college and he obviously did not think very much of it because they just put something out called Everything Sucks. I knew that everything sucked already, but there is something so convincing about hearing it from Milo. It reminds me of that first special feeling of hating the world all over again, and doing and thinking whatever I could to make it better. This record brought it all back together for me: relationships suck, feeling alienated sucks, running out of coffee sucks, the list goes on. Tape it off a friend and listen to it when you’re fishtailing trash cans and flipping off yuppies in traffic. Or listen to it at home. What the hell do I care. Everything sucks.

If you are really into that pop punk crap, you should take a listen to the latest offering from local crunchers the Clarke Nova. They put out a seven-inch on Man’s Ruin called Highway Star. They really milk the pop-punk thing for all it is worth. They sound like pop punks’ older, heavy-handed big brother, the one that likes to daydream about smashing things and leaving the family once and for all. This disc is yet another candidate for your vindication aimed towards society. They do the playing; you do the smashing. Thanks guys.What? You say bullocks to that stripped down punk stuff? You want Vegas, you say? Well, I can’t quite take you there, but I can give you the Thunderchimp seven-inch. Not only does this slab give you sub-decibel metal madness, but their live shows are epic. They include smoke, space ships, and funny hats and boxing shorts. If you’re lucky you can even catch them playing in a 20-foot plastic bubble. The first side was nice and chunky. And then I turned it over. The other side has a song that is riddled with samples of a certain Silver Bullet dispatcher that will remain nameless in this article. Although I do not think that anyone that has worked for the Bullet before would want to listen to this asshole’s voice again, I know that there are some suckers for punishment out there who can’t resist putting themselves through this agony. Have fun. And for those of you that still work there and still have to listen to this voice on a daily basis, do yourselves a favor. Quit that job and get the album. Trust me, you do not need both.

What you do need is an attitude adjustment. And a nice stiff drink. If you can handle your liquor, see if you can take the drug-soaked headiness of Old Grandad. Not only is the CD I got from them a death-metal guide to the drugs that you may – or may not – take in the course of your life, it is a justification for doing them all. At once. Strewn through the album are implications that the world will collapse, our gods shall fall, and the only thing to take care of the whole mess is to devote our lives to Stan and habitual drug use. Hey, I’ve heard worse. Check this record and place your bets.

I also got some tapes for some good local bands that will be playing very soon. The most recent tape that I got from Lost Goat, as insane as it may be, is nothing compared to the stuff they have been playing live lately. They do not want to slather you with pop-punk-style emotions, they want to kick your ass with rock. And if you want to see them do their Twisted Sister and MC5 covers, you better go check them out quick before they get sick of playing them…

The Faggz are just a band full of straight guys that need attention, and they will take no stops to get it. This band is the latest runoff from the primary source of creative innovation that has been flooding the streets of the Mission District for some time now. I got my greasy little hands on a live compilation tape that not only highlights their original stuff, but also displays some covers that pay homage to the damaged and deranged folk that have inspired them to fearlessly stomp on our eardrums. Look out for songs originally done by Flipper and Big Black and don’t bitch me out about not warning you.

Our man Lance has been hard at work with his band Hollow. He does not give an airbound fuck about rocking our brains out. This band is constantly evolving, and relying more on complex textures and subtle melodies to communicate the everyday frustrations of coping with your emotions and trying to get by with what you have and what seem to be inches away from what you can grasp.

Lastly, I got a nice little gem of a seven-inch from Touch & Go, aptly called Michael Gerald’s Party Machine, replete with that Kosik art that we have been seeing a bit too much of lately. For those of you that are not in the know, Michael Gerald is the bass player and lead singer for Killdozer, and his band is on the first side of this record, covering a Procol Harem song called Conquistador. I love this guy’s voice. It makes my insides burn sweetly. Besides, you gotta admire someone who stands on a soapbox and tells stories in between songs when they play live. On the other side, we have Alice Donut subjecting us to a heart-rendering version of Every Christian Lion-Hearted Man Will Tell You, a song originally penned by the Gives brothers. yes, that would be the Beegees, plus the dead one. The Donut takes this song as their own as if to warn us that everything that has the word Christian in it will lead us to no good . Thanks for the reminder.

Well, that’s all the stuff that I could beg, borrow, or steal to review. The Spiller’s life is not a glamorous life, so if you’re in a band and you have some material, send it to me so I can slag on it. I’ll always have time for that.

-The Spiller