July Trip to Philadephia & NYC

Amanda and I went up to Philadelphia and NYC to hang out with our good buddy Josh. Saw some other good shit while we were at it.



We went to the Francis Bacon exhibit at the Metropolitan. Blew my mind, they had over 60 different pieces of his work. It was overwhelming to see that many of his pieces together at once. Fantastic and strange to see all these weirdos walking around looking at screaming Popes and people painted to look like bloody pieces of meat.

While we were trying to figure out our food options around Central Park, we heard this girl singing, like someone out of the musical, Annie. We looked around for a bit, confused, trying to figure out where this hideous, cute little voice was coming from. We then looked up and saw this girl sitting in front of her window, from the 5th floor (or so), just singing at the people down on the street. Bizarre.



We also went to the free Mission Of Burma / Fucked Up show. It was ok, and weird. I haven't seen Fucked Up since their 7" days, and they actually sounded pretty good, considering that it was outside, by the waterfront. Lots of ironic looking people walking around. Infuriating. Mission Of Burma sounded kind of shitty, but it was still cool to see them play, I guess.

Brian and I dicking around at the free show:


After that, we went to the show that I was more exited for- Tragedy / Morne / Brain Handle / Blacklisted / Brainkiller. Like a dumb fuck, I was too late and missed Brainkiller. I really wanted to see them, their demo is great. Oh well. Brain Handle, Morne and Tragedy all destroyed. I was really pumped to finally see Morne...fucking crushing. I love the Filth Of Mankind records and obviously Grief rules, so this was highly anticipated for me after the great demo that Morne released. They did not disappoint.



Brain Handle:


Morne:




Tragedy:


Big thanks for Josh, Erica/Ariel and Amanda for a great trip.

8/02/09: SAVIOURS/SOURVEIN/NUKKEHAMMER columbus

sreepy floyd on back up vocals.

8pm doors $8
9:05-9:35 Tank Destroyer
9:50-10:20 Nukkehammer
10:35-11:15 Sourvein
11:30-12:30 Saviours

8/10 PERDITION (NYC) @LOD in Columbus

PERDITION is great midpaced, raw d-beat from New York. This show also marks the return of PANCREATECTOMIE. Ears will be fukked on this night.

ASSASSINATORS U.S. Tour 2009!

Great Denmark punk group finally coming to the U.S. in October. Check out their LP and 2 7"s.

THE ASSASSINATORS USA TOUR

OCTOBER 2009
8- NYC
9-PHILLY
10-PITTSBURGH
11-DETROIT
12- CHICAGO
13- CINCINNATI
14-ASHEVILLE
15- RICHMOND
16- BALTIMORE
17- NYC
18- BOSTON/PROVIDENCE
19- ALBANY
20- NJ

8/15/09 Preying Hands (ex- BALLAST) Columbus show

This should be a major rager, I had not seen BALLAST live since their demo days, and when I saw PREYING HANDS last year on their home turf in Montreal, they blew me away. Great melodic hardcore punk, I am looking forward to this one.

Other shows in the area that Black Dove are playing with them:

Fri. 8/14/09
Cincinnati @The Catticorn House
Preying Hands, Black Dove +TBA

Sun. 8/16/09
Pittsburgh, PA @Roboto 7pm
722 Wood St. Wilkinsburg, PA
Preying Hands, Black Dove, Auryn, Assymetric Warfare

7/15/09 Last House On The Left show (Columbus)

The word "AMAZING" gets overused time and time again, but in this case, I think it is the most appropriate word to describe this flyer.

WINO: Punctuated Equilibrium LP/10"

Label: Southernlord Records SUNN99
Release Date: January 26, 2009/ vinyl summer 2009
Side A
Release Me 6:30
Punctuated Equilibrium 2:50
The Woman In The Orange Pants 3:33
Smilin Road 5:10
Eyes of The Flesh 4:14

Side B:
Wild Blue Yonder 6:26
Secret Realm Devotion 4:52
Water Crane 2:02
Gods, Frauds, Neo-Cons and Demagogues 3:12
Silver Lining 4:24

bonus 10"
Side A
Chest Fever4:33
Der Gift (The Poison) 2:44

Side B
The Comet And The Moon 4:45
On The (Sacrificial) Lamb 2:20

One of my favorite records of 2009 given THEE supreme vinyl treatment. Scott "WINO" Weinrich is definitely is a legend of underground rock, He has been called "The Godfather of Doom Metal", "America's Lemmy" and "Guitar Worlds' 64th Greatest Metal Guitar Player of All Time". That should be good enough for a short bio. Punctuated Equilibrium is Wino's first solo effort in nearly 30 years of playing Power Fucking Trio, Biker Doom, Stoner Van Jams, Heavy Metal Spirit Rock, Whatever you call it, we all should have started paying attention in the 1980s. This LP with bonus 10" EP is signature WINO songwriting; a blend of Black Sabbath, Grand Funk, Metal Punk and lead guitar ripping that makes Frank Zappa smile from beyond. If you don't dig guitar solos then I'm sorry, maybe you should try some WINO. On this album WINO is joined by drummer Jean-Paul Gaster and John Blank on bass. Needless to say these guys are top notch players and I'm sure they were stoked to play on this record because It wouldn't be as good without them. The first cut sets the tone, This is where I open my sunroof because "Release Me" has less gloom and doom than I expect from WINO. Spirit Metal for sure! The second (title) track is thrashy metal punk that shows WINO's other side, The side of a dude who saw VOID and SSD on acid. "The Woman in the Orange Pants" is the first instrumental on the album and it is similar to the super heavy prog moments of WINO's last band THE HIDDEN HAND. "Smilin Road" could easily be off MOUNTAIN's Greatest Hits, and I mean that in the best way possible. On this track I noticed how great of a drummer J.P. Gaster is. He Smokes! The last song on side one "Eyes of the Flesh" has that unmistakable WINO DOOOOOM vibe, sick wah leads that nod to SAINT VITUS. Side two kicks off with a song that sounds like WINO jamming with the rythym section of FUGAZI and getting the DUB treatment. "Secret Realm Devotion" is a 70s style burner with a cool dumptruck low end wah wah riff. "Gods, Frauds and Neo-Cons" is another heavy proggy jammer with good lyrics about war and deception ala MC5. The verse at the end of song segues into the last cut "Silver Lining" a positive but heavy WINO vibe permeating the verse, culminating in a solo guitar freak out. Since the vinyl version comes with a bonus 10" ill be reviewing it too. Side C starts with a THREE DOG NIGHT cover which is really good and has some cool keyboard hooks. Der Gift is a short Prog jam with a bunch of otherwordly guitar sounds. "The Comet and the Moon" is a kinda poppy 70s rock song dedicated to his wife. Lets see you do that, tough guy. The 10" closes out with another Soulful Riffer that has a little southern rock feel. So when does the next one come out already??

The artwork and packaging for "Punctuated Equilibrium" are fantastic. It comes with lyrics and liner notes where WINO lays down some heavy wisdom. The 10" actually has its own pocket on the inside of the gatefold. The vinyl is forest green swirled and it looks great with the full color record labels. Its really cool to see Southern Lord records give the best treatment to this recording, Good job robed hessians.

Sadly, bass player Jon Blank passed away soon after the release of this record, R.I.P.

Mamma, I'm coming home....

So I am going to be playing in my hometown area, in Parkersburg, West Virginia on July 24th. I actually grew up in Marietta, OH, which is just across the Ohio river...population, 14,000, nestled on the edge of Appalachia. We're not quite playing on the showboat Becky Thatcher or an Armory dance...but nevertheless....this should be interesting!