by BBG

Testors in 1977

"Testors erupted on the New York scene at the epicenter of the punk rock explosion in 1976. Little has been known about this band until now, due to their fiery temperament and desire to burn every bridge in sight. Their incendiary sound consisted of dueling guitar noise, scrappy garage bashing and Sonny Vincent's street poetry. Their earliest recordings are considerably tougher, louder and more desparate than any other music made at the time (or since!). Testors were a beautiful mess. Absolutely one of the most raw, catastrophic, and shocking bands to ever grace the stage of Max's Kansas City and CBGB's during the mid-70s punk heyday." [Swami Records]

Testors will return to the stage for a "sneak preview performance in NYC" on April 9th at the Delancey, one of two reunion shows scheduled for the band that will feature the "original '77 line-up". The second show will see Sonny Vincent and his band at the Atlanta Mess Around Festival on April 16, where the band will will join Oblivians, Subsonics, Hunx & His Punx, Mind Spiders, and many many others.

The full lineup for the Altanta Mess Around Festival and some Testors videos below...

Continue reading "Testors reuniting for Mess Around Festival (and a NYC show)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: White Wires - Pretty Girl (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: White Wires - Ha Ha Holiday (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: White Wires - Did You Forget My Name? (MP3)

White Wires @ SXSW

I think the single best SXSW 2010 performance by a band I hadn't seen before had to have been Canadians The White Wires, who I caught at the Trouble in Mind party at the Longbranch Inn (my vote for Worst Bathroom at SXSW 2010).  The Ottawa trio ripped it up with a short, sharp set of hook-laden rock n' roll that reminded me a lot of late '70s new wave -- think the Nerves, Rezillos or even Tom Petty. Despite being mid-afternoon, they had the crowd dancing and left me wanting more. Seriously awesome.

This week, there's finally more. On their way down to this year's Atlanta Mess-Around (April 23-25), The White Wires are stopping at Cake Shop on Thursday (4/22) where they'll play alongside Alabama's also-good Thomas Function and locals We Are Country Mice. The show is put on by Daed Pizza which is a new label/party night from the Cake Shop/Bruar Falls folks. It's White Wires' only NYC performance, so don't miss it.

There are three White Wires MP3 to download above: "Ha Ha Holiday" from their debut LP which came out last year on Douchemaster Records; "Pretty Girl," the killer A-side to their single on 7"-only label Trouble in Mind; and "Did You Forget My Name" from their upcoming album on Dirtnap Records.

Thomas Function also play on Friday (4/23) at Monster Island with Harlem and Girls at Dawn -- that's a good show too. All tour dates for White Wires and Thomas Function, the full Mess-Around linep, plus some videos, below...

Continue reading "White Wires play NYC, with Thomas Function & this weekend's Atlanta's Mess-Around - MP3s, videos & 2010 dates "

words by BBG, photos by Rich Gaccione, Anthony Childs

Floor at The Earl in Atlanta (4/3/10)

Floor is slow-thudding metal royalty... Know the following: South Florida is the asshole of the music world. It is almost impossible for a band to make it hailing from this sequestered swamp. But Steve Brooks and Anthony Vialon did it. For better or for worse, they trudged along with different drummers and made an honest stab (a refreshing stab if you will) at the burgeoning doom/sludge market of the early '90s. Bands will wear their loves on their sleeves, and the whole Black Sabbath thing is okay, but when you factor in geographical isolation receding into the "guitar bomb" and pop nuances into some real macho music, you know you have something special at hand...

And it is with great pride that I can say that I was there. There to witness the stacked amps and unrelenting fog machine as Churchill's Hideaway Pub got a taste of the building blocks it is built upon... [The show started with] Brooks and Vialon on double axes with founding drummer (and awesome local artist) Betty Monteavaro on drums for a solid half-hour set. Sludge mayhem that was as unpolished as what they committed to vinyl in the early '90s. Delicious and crucial. Followed by a second set featuring next-in-line drummer Jeff Sousa tearing through the No Idea Records maroon Dove LP. A highlight was most certainly their fogged-out rendition of "Namaste." And then, as the piece of resistance, was a short break followed by drummer Henry Wilson aiding the cause as the band ripped through the "full-length" album, opening with crowd pleaser "Scimitar" in its full guitar-bomb goodness. - [Miami New Times]

The above review comes from Floor's reunion show at Churchhill's Hideaway Pub in Miami on 3/27, one of a few shows that the band played as part of a celebration of the recent release of the Floor boxset (out now on Robotic Empire). Although, we don't have any pics from Miami, we do have shots from all of the others including Common Grounds in Gainesville, FL (4/2, care of Rich Gaccione) and TWO at The Earl in Atlanta (4/3 & 4/4, courtesy Rich Gaccione and Anthony Childs respectively). Pics from those show are below.

Continue reading "Floor played reunion shows - pics & videos "

wonder what happen in ATL? pics, report? van fucked up? or did Jared puss out to the "fag" -Anon Oct. 5 1:49AM

WAVVES show crowd (more by Leia Jospe)

After the Wavves/Black Lips fight in Brooklyn on Friday, Sept. 25th, Jared Swilley promised further trouble when Wavves played Atlanta (Black Lips' hometown) this past weekend. More specifically, Jared said, "[Nathan of Wavves]'s coming to Atlanta October 3rd and we're gonna get ugly on him. We're gonna destroy their van, we're gonna destroy their faces, we're gonna get crazy on em'. Nasty style."

Well, Wavves did play Atlanta, but without incident, though the show wasn't scheduled for October 3rd (it was October 4th) and the venue had extra security... and no glass bottles.... and Black Lip Cole Alexander in attendance. The full story, with the show's enhanced security measures and a post-show review from Nathan himself, below...

Continue reading "WAVVES played Atlanta (there was peace, it 'was awesome')"

words by Black Bubblegum, photos by Steven Brown & Anthony Childs

DOWNLOAD: Rwake - Leviticus (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Kylesa - Said And Done (MP3)

"How about this fuckin' lineup man? Whoever put this thing together, I'd like to shake their hand" - CT of Rwake

Boris (Steven Brown)


I'd like to think it was the jawdropping lineup decreed by the gods upon Mt Scion that brought people out in droves to The Masquerade in Atlanta on February 28th, but I would imagine that some of it was also due to "free show" factor. Either way, there is something ridiculawesome about bands as great as Harvey Milk, Wolves In The Throne Room, and Coalesce having to turn people away due to reaching capacity. That is my idea of sweet metal justice... some of my current favorite bands in front of the audiences they deserve.

The Masquerade is a 2+ level club. The biggest stage, dubbed "Heaven", is located on the second floor and houses somewhere in the neighborhood of 1000 people. Two adjacent clubs on the main level, "Hell" & "Purgatory", house considerably less: "Hell" is primarily a dance floor, so there were some obstructed sightlines. "Purgatory" had multiple tiers, no elevated stage and very little room in front of the band. Behind the venue in a grassy area which was muddy due to the prior night's rain, a 4,000 person capacity tent was constructed for the main stage.

continued below...

Continue reading "Scion Rock Fest in review & pictures (Boris, Neurosis, Kylesa, Salome, Withered, Krallice, 1349 & more)"

According to this message board...

K-Holes are a new local collection of Atlanta expats featuring current and former members of Black Lips, Wet Dreams, Golden Triangle, and McNasty himself (who ain't actually from Atlanta but married into it)!

It looks like the K-Holes show at Glasslands last night was a good time. More of Leia Jospe's photos from yesterday's King Khan show at McCarren Pool HERE.

photos by Leia Jospe

In a way, Sunday's free King Khan & the Shrines / Deerhunter (they didn't headline) / Black Lips show was also a King Khan show in three parts. Part one was the very entertaining performance by King Khan & The Shrines. Part two was King Khan on stage with Deerhunter whose final notes were overshadowed by King Khan's bare ass with a flower stuck in it. Part three was King Khan on stage with Black Lips which included a one-song guest appearance by The King Khan & BBQ Show (who are playing Santos Monday night) and a grand finale with the entire Atlanta crew on stage throwing toilet paper, ripping apart pillows and just generally being silly. The photos in this most are basically limited to act one...

Continue reading "King Khan & The Shrines @ McCarren Pool, NYC - pics"

Atlanta band Howlies have some great demo songs now streaming on their MySpace. Not surprisingly, this band comes from the same neck of the woods as Black Lips, and one of their upcoming Atlanta shows is with King Khan & The Shrines. Their self-listed list of influences is a long one and probably sums them up pretty good:

velvet underground. beach boys. chuck berry. howlin wolf. bo diddley. james brown. sam cooke. hollies. heat wave. freddy 'boom boom' cannon. ramones. stones. beatles. kinks. link wray. dion and the belmonts. swingin' medallions. easybeats. CAN. CCR. four seasons. coasters. mothers of invention. kim fowley. phil spector. stooges. misfits. tom petty & the heartbreakers. the falcons. flipper. hawaii. satan. the ATL.

I want to check them out at Pianos TONIGHT (April 26, 2008) (@ 11pm) (before The Jones Street Boys). Videos & tour dates below....

Continue reading "Howlies (from Atlanta) - 2008 Tour Dates (TONIGHT!), listen"

DOWNLOAD: Dead Confederate - The Rat (live on KEXP) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Dead Confederate - Get Out (MP3)

Like Deerhunter & Black Lips, Dead Confederate are from Atlanta, GA, and are playing a show in Athens, Georgia show on December 5th. Unlike Deerhunter & Black Lips, Dead Confederate's music didn't immediately do anything for me. Their name does keep coming up though - KEXP likes them, and they're signed to Razor & Tie. New Yorkers can give them a try tonight @ Mercury Lounge (Nov 28, 2007). The Head Set, Drug Rug, Falcon and Five Times August are also on the bill.

I previously reported that Black Lips are touring in 2008 - two NYC shows included. Since then, even more (non-NYC) shows were announced. All tour dates below....

Continue reading "Dead Confederate (tonight), updated Black Lips tour dates"

DOWNLOAD: Black Lips - Not A Problem (Live from Tijuana) (MP3)

You may have heard the news that Deerhunter are going on hiatus. Well, don't get too emotional about it, because their definition of "hiatus" is five months off of touring at the most. They're scheduled to play ATP in May, and their last show before the "hiatus" is December 8th in Spain. They're also playing a couple of hometown shows with their fellow Atlantans Black Lips on November 30th & December 5th.

Not on hiatus, Black Lips (also playing ATP) will be touring in February and March. Tickets are now on sale for shows at Bowery Ballroom on March 10th, and one the next day at Music Hall of Williamsburg.

Insound is giving away a free Black Lips DVD with purchase of Good Bad Not Evil. Bomp! is selling a limited edition LP featuring music by Cole Alexander of Black Lips & Bradford Cox of Deerhunter (or get it for free). Download Atlas Sound (Bradford solo)'s latest track HERE. All known tour dates below....

Continue reading "BLACK LIPS Tour Dates, DVD + DEERHUNTER (not) on hiatus"