words by BBG, photos by Jesse Lindmar

Though they just played Cake Shop on 3/13 with Todd and Sewerkraut (pictures in this post) followed by a string of shows at SXSW, according to a post from Hardcore Gig Volume, Drunkdriver officially called it quits just two days before their Saturday night record release party at Market Hotel (which has now been moved to 538 Johnson).

Message boards are lighting up, as the timing of the break up coincides with a new wave of old allegations from drummer Jeremy's past life in the band Wives (Dean & Randy pre-No Age):

This is Jeremy from drunkdriver. I am not a rapist. This is based on an accusation from when I was 15 years old. Years after that when I was 23, a friend of mine and I got drunk and slept together. We were on tour and a friend of her's overheard about the incident from when I was 15 (from that girl's best friend) and put this story together like so.

After all this Dean and Randy were by my side. I got irresponsibly blackout drunk in Texas and was inappropriate, woke up with my clothes on but I definitely did not rape anyone or do anything that could be called rape. I was a drunk asshole that night. NEVER was the word "NO" or any force ever used in ANY of the instances.

After years of being there for me, Dean and Randy of Wives couldn't continue being in a band with me and that was the end. Roy did play drums for the rest of the tour with them. When I got back home to LA I called my family and found out that some real-life, non punk issues that put this whole thing into perspective for me, all the while a friend was convincing me to visit New York.

I came out to visit and it seemed like my life could use a big change, so I stayed. I've been here for 5 years and I feel like my entire life has changed for the better. Had I stayed in LA I'm sure I could have defended myself, but I most definitely did not flee here. If I were fleeing I would not go where everyone ends up a few times a year. I am just trying to go on with my life and be a good friend to the great friends I have. This is also a very short version of this but if you would like to know more you can email me here: worktodeathrecords@gmail.com

UPDATE: See comments for more about that.

More pictures from Cake Shop and the amended 538 Johnson show lineup below...

Continue reading "Drunkdriver played Cake Shop (pics) & SXSW, but broke up (why?) & cancelled their Saturday record release show"

by BBG

Drunkdriver at Union Pool (more by Samantha Marble)

Besides the previously mentioned show at Cake Shop with Todd on 3/14, Drunkdriver have added a pair of upcoming gigs. First up, the band will play a record release show at Market Hotel on 3/27 with Vile Gash, Aerosols, Neon Blud and Scapegoat. Monster Island Basement will house the second show on 4/4 with Lamps and Pop. 1280. In addition, these nutjobs have clarified their plans for SXSW by announcing their participation in the WFMU/Aquarius Records showcase on March 19th and the Load/Siltbreeze/Parts Unknown showcase on March 20th. Full Drunkdriver dates are below.

Continue reading "Drunkdriver add more NYC shows & SXSW (2010 dates) "

words by BBG, photos by Samantha Marble

Gospel

Very excited to see one of my oldest favorite bands, GOSPEL, reunited tonight at Union Pool. - [TheUnknownGlow]

After three years away from the stage, and in front of a beyond sold-out crowd at Union Pool, Gospel made their triumphant return with the always unhinged noise punks Drunkdriver and galloping Tournament.

Though the band has been away from the stage a bit, they recently showed their hand with respect to new material... another show/record/tour? Possibly. More details to come, we'll keep you posted.

Drunkdriver has a ton of interesting shows in their near future as they prep to release their self-titled LP on Load Records. Look for the band at the WFMU/Aquarius Records, Load, and Parts Unknown shows at SXSW 2010. Before that, the band will play with Iron Age at Union Pool on 2/16 and intersect with another SXSW showcasing artist in NYC when they team up with Riot Season's Todd at Cake Shop on March 14th. The band is also scheduled to meet up with everyone's favorite massholes, Mind Eraser, at Death By Audio on June 9th.

All dates and tons of pics are below...

Continue reading "Gospel, Drunkdriver & Tournament played Union Pool - pics "

by BBG

STATS at Public Assembly (more by Justina Villanueva)

The city is always brimming with great art, whether from MSG to a loft in Bushwick. Here are some more NYC shows that are definitely worth a look over the coming weekend...

Continue reading "Gospel, STATS, Vaz, Psychic Limb & other upcoming shows "

by BBG

Pissed Jeans at MHOW (more by Chloe Rice)

Including their recent appearance at WFMU Fest, Pissed Jeans have booked three shows in NYC in the month of October. The first is part of the Sub Pop/Hardly Art showcase at Mercury Lounge which will include a stellar lineup of Male Bonding, Obits, Golden Triangle, The Dutchess & The Duke, Moondoggies, Dum Dum Girls, and Unnatural Helpers. $12 to get in and there are no advance tickets.

Compare/contrast that lineup, which covers a wide spectrum of styles, with Pissed Jeans' show on 10/30 at Le Poisson Rouge billed as "NYU Halloween Punk/Hardcore Fest". Pissed Jeans will headline with support coming from Awesome Color, Drunkdriver, My Mind, The Sleepies, and Ex-Wife. Tickets are only $2 if you have an NYU ID and $5 without and, um, costumes are highly encouraged.

Sub Pop CMJ set times, and a live video of Pissed Jeans below...

Continue reading "Pissed Jeans playing NYU Halloween Hardcore Fest @ LPR"

photos by Lori Baily

LA Record (via): When Teenage Jesus and the Jerks played in New York City last year, it was always set up as a one-shot deal. Yet here we are.

Lydia Lunch (vocals/guitar): I never thought I would have done reunions--it's ridiculous to me. It's Thurston Moore that's to be blamed with his no wave book that he put out last year. A few months before it was coming out he was actually in Barcelona on my couch and he turned to me and said, 'Well, what about a Teenage Jesus reunion?' I said, 'What about the fact that they're all dead except for Sclavunos? Are you ready to take the wrath of the wire coat hanger and play bass?' And he jumped up and down and said, 'Yes!' So that's how Teenage Jesus got together in the beginning. He decided he'd go under the coat hanger so we did the New York show and then we developed All Tomorrow's Parties. I guess the final nail in the coffin for the next couple of shows was based in the fact that in Montreal there's something called a Pop Symposium--they invited me last year with my multimedia thing and then they got the snifter of Teenage Jesus and they were so kind and I said, 'Well, I'm not going all the way to the States for one fucking show--I don't even want to come there for five shows!' Also the fact that I knew Thurston couldn't do it and so my favorite bass player in the world must be Algis Kizys from the Swans and he's doing it. This is what you get in L.A.--Jim Sclavunos, the original bass player, now on drums and Algis Kizys from Swans on bass--how could I say no? Mostly to me, it's kind of ridiculous. It's absurdist and I've always been absurd anyway. I've always considered myself a Dadaist and it's the most Dada fucking music, and it must be the most Dada idea that 30 years later we're doing this. One of the reasons is there is still not enough women playing ugly fucking music as a counter to all these pop princesses.

Teenage Jesus and the Jerks returned over the weekend to headline the third and final night of the WFMU Festival at Music Hall of Williamsburg (10/3). Drunkdriver, Sightings, and Talk Normal were also on the bill.

One night later Lydia Lunch joined JG Thirwell and a bunch of pop princesses for a benefit show at Carnegie Hall.

One night earlier (Friday), Pissed Jeans headlined WFMU Fest. Faust were the night before that (Thursday). More pictures from Saturday, below...

Continue reading "Teenage Jesus & The Jerks played (ugly music at) the WFMU Fest @ MHOW (blame Thurston Moore) - pics"

Teenage Jesus & the Jerks @ KF in 2008 (more by Lori Baily)

WFMU will be putting on a three-day Brooklyn festival at the Music Hall of Williamsburg from October 1st-3rd. Its Thursday and Saturday night bills will be headlined by two classic acts, German krautrock-ers Faust and NYC No Wave punks Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, respectively, while Friday night will feature Philly's Pissed Jeans (who have a new record out) in the top spot.

TJ & the Jerks last reunited in 2008 for a night at the Knitting Factory where Thurston Moore played bass. And like Faust, they're also playing Pop Montreal around the same time.

Tickets for all three WFMU days go on sale Thursday, September 3rd at noon. Pissed Jeans is only $12 advanced. The other two are $20 each.

The station writes, "These shows will not be broadcast over the air/net." Full lineup and poster below...

Continue reading "WFMU Fest @ MHOW - 3 days of shows w/ Teenage Jesus & the Jerks, Pissed Jeans, Faust & more (Oct 1-3, 2009) "

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: White Mice - "PasssTheFissst" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Liturgy - "Ecstatic Rite" (MP3)

If you like your noise rock caustic, filthy, and dressed up in a dead mouse costume, then clear your schedule on Monday night (8/10) and head down to Death By Audio.

Rodent obsessed, toilet-humored, ill-tongued masked wackos. Weed-fueled, grinding sludge, noise-damaged, broken oscillator junkyard trio. Demented cheese lovers with a beef against God. Yeah The White Mice from Providence are all those things and more. Too fucked up and noise fixated for the average metalhead, too stoned, sleazy and salacious for the hipster and punk set, The White Mice have for years existed on the fringes of every underground scene and belonged to none of em.

Musically speaking one might hear traces of Melvins, Brainbombs, Buzzoven and their Providence brethren in Landed, Drop Dead and Lightning Bolt. And yet the Mice, whose devastatingly loud (like Dino Jr. loud), crude and visually incredible live show leaves mouths agape and the uninitiated properly converted, easily stand apart from any proper comparison as a beast of their own making.

Cacaw, Liturgy, and White Suns also play the Brooklyn show on Monday. Expect White Mice to crank out some new material from their upcoming debut on 20 Buck Spin, Ganjahovahdose, due in October. One of those tracks, "PasssTheFissst", is available for download above (along with Liturgy's "Ecstatic Rite", which you first saw here).

After NYC, White Mice will scoot down the east coast eventually crash landing at the absolutely killer Filth City Fest II in Baltimore, MD with a massive lineup of Hammers of Misfortune, Ludicra (both are in NYC on 8/11, tickets here), Asshole Parade (who are coming to NYC), Defeatist (who played BV Show No Mercy), Pulling Teeth, Man Will Destroy Himself, Cough (who played Europa with Liturgy), Fight Amp (who are playing NYC in September), Infernal Stronghold, and soooooo many others. Tickets are still available. Set times and the full band list is below.

White Mice is currently featured on a new cassette-only comp on Damage Rituals entitled The Dead Hand: Human Machines along with a cast of out-there heavy luminaries like Ocrilim (aka Mick Barr), STATS (who also played BV / Show No Mercy), Vaz, Drunkdriver, Child Abuse, Dysrhythmia, Zs, and many many others. Pick that up here.

The next edition of Show No Mercy will feature Mick Barr, Gnaw, and Castevet and will take place on Sept 6th at Public Assembly.

White Mice tour dates, as well as video of White Mice, Liturgy, drunkdriver, and Child Abuse are below....

Continue reading "White Mice playing DBA, Filth City Fest (lineup), other places "

by Andrew Frisicano

NY EYE & EAR FEST II - JULY 9 - 12, 2009!
4 DAYS - 3 VENUES - 2 BOROUGHS
Knitting Factory & 92Y Tribeca in Manhattan & Death By Audio in Brooklyn
Pendu presents: NY Eye & Ear Fest II ... a massive 4-day New Music and Arts Fete showcasing some of the most exciting bands, artists, and filmmakers currently living and working here in NYC. In addition, NYE&E assembles a Record Fair featuring NYC-based Record Labels and Vendors selling LPs, CDs, 7''s, cassettes, lathes, comics, zines, stickers, and art prints.

The fest is a part II to the December event of the same name. The Fest's four days of music kick off at the Knitting Factory on July 9th. The bands there include Grooms, Liturgy and Love Like Deloreans (to name a few) with headliners Nymph and Neg-Fi. The fest returns to the Knit on Friday, July 10th, for a show with Magik Markers, Child Abuse and more. In addition to the venue's two floors of music, its already-creepy basement will be turned into a "Video Art Installation and a 7-hour Continuous Drone Room."

The Fest then switches to the 92YTribeca on Saturday for a concert and a free record fair. Also at 92Y will be a program called "Women of NYCinema," with films and music from Sarah Lipstate (aka Noveller), Liz Wendelbo, Rachel Blackwell and Dirty Churches. The vendors range from big names like Matador Records to the recently featured Journal of Popular Noise to notable jazz label ESP-Disk.

The fest's final, fourth day moves to Brooklyn for a closing party at Death by Audio. That lineup includes Murdertronics, Team Robespierre, Talibam!, Total Abuse and Drunkdriver.

Tickets for Thursday, Friday, and a variety of Saturday packages are available.

Separate from the festival, on Thursday, July 9th the 92YTribeca will screen filmmaker Brendan Toller's I Need That Record, a documentary about the problems facing record stores around the country. It will be the NYC premiere of the movie that was getting some attention already all the back on Record Store Day 2008. The movie includes interviews with Thurston Moore, Ian Mackaye, Mike Watt, Chris Frantz and more. Toller will be on hand for the showing. Tickets are on sale.

More details on the film (with video trailer) and the Ear and Eye Festival, below...

Continue reading "NY Ear & Eye Fest II - shows & record fair this weekend @ KF, DBA & 92Y Tribeca (also screening 'I Need That Record')"

by Black Bubblegum

Amebix, in a rare moment of calm? (more by Justina Villanueva)

Chaos in Tejas 2009 is on and poppin', having laid out May 21st-24th in Austin for a crust/punk/hardcore field day(s)... dig on the sick FINALIZED lineup that includes punk favorites like Amebix, Cock Sparrer, and Cro-Mags, as well as Eyehategod, The Thermals, Harvey Milk, Annihilation Time, Outlaw Order, Crude, Severed Head of State, Warcry, Ponytail, Trash Talk... the killer list goes on:

Continue reading "Chaos in Tejas is coming to Austin (no, not SXSW) ++++++++++ Mind Eraser & Sex Vid coming to NYC"