by BBG

Keith Morris of Off! at SXSW (more by Brian Reilly)

The incredible Off! (made up of members of Black Flag, Earthless, Burning Brides, and Red Kross) will make their NYC debut at Europa on 10/21 as part of a Scenic CMJ showcase at the venue. Tickets go on sale at 11:55 AM, and limited badges will also be let in. The show is their only current NYC date during the festival (stay tuned for if that changes), but the show will be one of at least two for Earthless's Mario Rubacalba, as Earthless will also play Mercury Lounge with Strife the night before, one of two Strife shows that the band is playing (they play Death By Audio on 10/21 with Gay For Johnny Depp).

With their 1st EP 7" set to drop on Tuesday (10/12), Off! also have a pair of Record Release shows in LA next week. Amoeba Records (6400 W Sunset Blvd) gets the first taste with an all ages shindig at 7PM while the second will go down at the now defunct Club Lingerie (6507 W Sunset Blvd) across the street at 10pm (21+).

All dates and some incredible live video is below...

Continue reading "OFF! announces LA & NYC shows (CMJ included) "

by BBG

DOWNLOAD: Gay For Johnny Depp - "Suckcess" (MP3)

It's a hard road to tread when press refers to you as "the band that taste forgot", but depending on what you're going for, that could be a complement (and in this case, I think it is). Bringing to mind the post-hardcore nuttiness associated with bands like Refused, The Blood Brothers and Daughters (RIP?), Brooklyn wildmen Gay For Johnny Depp are prepping to release a new six track EP entitled Sex Vid Singles Club. The band, which features members of Mind Over Matter and Errortype 11 in their ranks, will release the EP on October 12 via Shinebox Recordings (A new label). The EP will serve as a primer for the band's full length which is due in February 2011. Dig on "Suckcess" above and a video for literally every other song below.

GFJD currently has one date on its calendar,10/21 at Matchless Death by Audio with Strife, Cruel Hand, Batillus (who just played Cake Shop), and Primitive Weapons (lineup seems to be up in the air) as part of CMJ (it's the Shinebox Recordings showcase).

The show is part of a short east coast tour one of two in NYC that the ex-straight-edge kingpins Strife are scheduled to play that week, They also play Mercury Lounge on 10/20 as part of the Converse-presented "True Til Def" show with the decidedly non-straight-edge crew of Priestess, Earthless, Disembodied, Iron Age, and Naam. Smoke 'em if you got 'em and head to the site to RSVP to the free CMJ show.

Tracklisting and tons of videos are below....

Continue reading "Gay For Johnny Depp releasing EP (MP3), playing CMJ show w/ Strife who plays free 'True Til Def' show during CMJ too"

words by Kim Kelly, photos by Erik Luyten

Eyehategod

It's been a long few days for Kim Kelly, who is currently gallavanting around Europe with Mike Scheidt and YOB, but the metal maven filed the below Roadburn report to tie up the rest of her time at the 2010 edition of the epic festival that took place during an equally historic time. If you're just joining us, check out Kim Kelly's report from Day 1 before continuing below... - BBG

Continue reading "Roadburn Festival 2010 in review"

words by Kim Kelly,

Goatsnake at Roadburn! (Erik Luyten)

Kim Kelly knows her (good) metal, and as such, we couldn't think of a better ambassador than this Philadelphian/writer for Terrorizer/Hails & Horns/Metal Injection. Kim checks in from Roadburn (April 15-18, 2010) in Tilburg, Holland, where she will take in some of the best metal bands currently in existence (and some resurrected from the grave), reporting back on what havoc the riff, and the volcano, hath wrought... - BBG

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ROADBURN DIARY - DAY 1 (Thursday, April 15)

The road to Tilburg is a very long one, indeed - at least if you're coming from the mean streets of Philadelphia. After an 8am flight from Newark that landed at Heathrow at 8pm London time (before the volcano!), a few restless hours of sleep in a hostel (where a very nice Scottish boy had acted as my human alarm clock after I discovered that both my US and UK cell phones weren't working), an hour-long bus ride to Standsted Airport (chauffeured by a rough-looking lad who spent the trip dancing in his seat to Lady Gaga and singing along under his breath), an hour flight to Eindhoven, twenty minutes on a bus to the city's central train station, forty minutes on the train to Tilburg, and a five-minute walk with my Terrorizer mates to the Grass Company cafe/weed emporium, I was finally there - the stoned Mecca that is Roadburn.

continued below...

Continue reading "Roadburn Festival 2010 kicks off despite the volcano - our Day 1 report includes Goatsnake, Eyehategod, a wedding & more"

words by BBG, photos by Tim Griffin

Baroness teamed up with Neurot Carolinians US Christmas, and the ultra-jammy Earthless at Bowery Ballroom on 11/20 as part of an ongoing tour to promote Baroness's The Blue Record. Earthless and USX's last release hit the racks earlier this year and in the tail end of 2008: Live At Roadburn and Eat The Low Dogs respectively. I did not go to NIN or Morrissey at Bowery, but I can say that I have rarely seen Bowery Ballroom THAT packed. Earthless would later play The Charleston as part of a secret show presented by Chronic Youth.

Baroness's The Blue Record is piling on the accolades, with "best record of the year" being thrown it's way numerous times. I dig the record and highly recommend it, but not as nutso over it as (seemingly) the rest of the metal nation. Judge for yourself by streaming the record on their MySpace, or catching them on tour, and if you're lucky/from Japan, you can catch them with Isis!

Tour dates and more pictures from Bowery are below...

Continue reading "Baroness, Earthless & US Christmas @ Bowery Ballroom -pics"

by BBG

DOWNLOAD: Quest For Fire - "Bison Eyes" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Quest For Fire - "Strange Waves" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Quest For Fire - "The Hawk That Hunts The Walking" (MP3)

Naam at a BV-CMJ Day Party (more by Paul Birman)

Toronto's Quest For Fire have announced a short stint of dates which include NYC with Weird Owl, Chyld and BV CMJ alums Naam at Pianos on 12/4. Full tour dates are below. Quest For Fire, which features former members of The Deadly Snakes & Cursed, recently dropped their self-titled full length on Tee Pee Records. Dig on some tracks above.

Word has it that another band on Tee Pee Records has scheduled a show in NYC on 11/20 with Tournament at The Charleston as part of the Chronic Youth series of shows. We have no confirmation on the "who", but the show will feature 20+ minute jams and will sound "out of this world".

Baroness kicks off their tour with Earthless in Washington DC on Wednesday. Tickets are still on sale for the NYC show at Bowery Ballroom on Friday (11/20).

Tournament is also scheduled to play NYC as part of the BV-Sponsored Coalesce + A Storm of Light + Coliseum show at Europa on 12/30. Tickets are still available. Coalesce recently played a show in Austin. Check out the pics and some free MP3s from their new EP.

Chronic Youth and BV have teamed up to present Javelina, Black Tusk, Batillus and a Special Guest at The Charleston on 11/18. The flyer for that show and a list of more killer shows this week, and all tour dates, below....

Continue reading "Quest for Fire tour dates, another secret show at The Charleston, Baroness & Earthless tour kicking off & more "

by Black Bubblegum

Baroness at Bowery Ballroom (more by Tim Griffin)

The Blue Record impacts on 10/13, and Baroness will hit the road in November with a rotating cast of characters. Tickets are on sale for a November 20th NYC show at Bowery Ballroom where the band will be joined by the mighty Earthless and US Christmas.

Baroness is currently streaming two songs from their new album at their myspace.

Pig Destroyer will meet up with Baroness in Atlanta, but will hit NYC when they team up with Eyehategod and Goatwhore for a Rocksoff cruise on 10/24. Tickets are still available for the show that is now officially part of CMJ.

Dark Castle will also team up with Baroness on their tour. The duo played NYC last night (Monday, Sept 7) with Orphan, The Body, and Malkuth at Precious Metal. Dark Castle is also scheduled to play Lost & Lulu Alligator Bar on 9/13 with Tournament, Ramps, and The Body.

Full Dark Castle and Baroness dates, as well as a Dark Castle video below...

Continue reading "Baroness, Earthless, Dark Castle & other 2009 Tour Dates "

by Andrew Frisicano

Dinosaur Jr. @ ATP NY 2008 (more by Abbey Braden)

Dinosaur Jr.'s ninth LP, Farm, is out today (as is the new record by their Jagjaguwar label-mates Sunset Rubdown). In support of that record, the band has a nearly-two-month North American tour planned for the fall. That includes a show at Pop Montreal among many other places. No NYC date has been announced as part of that tour, but that's probably because of Dino Jr.'s free Summerstage show with the Walkmen on August 16th, not to mention the sold out show at Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn happening this Thursday (6/25) with Screaming Females.

Joining Dinosaur Jr. on their October dates will be Lou Barlow + the Missingmen, a group that is, as speculated, Lou with Tom Watson and Raul Morales, the crew that toured with Mike Watt a few months ago (including dates supporting Dinosaur Jr.).

The Missingmen will continue to play with Mike Watt too, with scattered shows along the West Coast scheduled (see full dates below).

Watt is also gigging with his other groups. He'll play in August with the Secondmen (with that group's original members, organist Pete Mazich and drummer Jerry Trebotic).

Before that, Watt'll debut a new band at the August 1st Central Park Summerstage show. That group, Floored by Four, also includes Nels Cline, Yuka Honda and Dougie Bowne. M. Ward headlines the show.

Floored by Four has plans to record in the days leading up to the Summerstage show. To tally up Watt's recording projects, his forthcoming records include Hyphenated Man (w/ the Missingmen), a Black Gang (w/ Nels Cline) record, a new Secondmen disc and probably others.

One of Watt's finest records, the Minutemen's Double Nickels on the Dime, will be recognized at the Bowery Poetry Club for a 25th anniversary celebration of the album on Saturday, July 25th. The plans for the party are as follows...

Be prepared for the extreme unusual, with spoken word renditions of songs on the album, musical tributes, rare videos and recordings, and special musical guest stars, including the bassist for the Minutemen, Mike Watt.

Performers confirmed so far include Michael T. Fournier (author of Double Nickels on the Dime (33-1/3 press), New Jersey experimental indie rock band Twede Kamer, Worcester, MA Minutemen cover band Pillowman, mystery punk bassist The Bass Player from Hand Job, electro-poetic mistress Jackie Sheeler, Jazz piano cabaret duo Peter Carlaftes & Kayo, Warhol scenester Ronnie Norpel and punkster poet Kat Georges (author of Punk Rock Journal).

Continue reading "Dinosaur Jr. album out, touring w/ Lou Barlow & the Missingmen (dates) sans Mike Watt who is plenty busy"

DOWNLOAD: Earthless - Godspeed (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Phosphorescent - Reasons to Quit (Willie Nelson) (MP3)

Earthless

Jagjaguwar announced the addition of Dinosaur Jr. to their label family earlier this week. Not many details were released, but they said, "Its not often that the shiny reveries of our younger, more formative years get to coincide with the psyche of our professional lives. Let's call it castle building, start making plans for a new tower, muse on it in our quieter moments, then move on. WE'RE STOKED!" Other Jagjaguwar artists include Okkervil River, Bon Iver, Women, Black Mountain, and Swan Lake who just released their new album along with some free MP3's.

The Secretly Canadian/Jagjaguwar/Dead Oceans SXSW showcase takes place at Mohawk in Austin on Thursday, March 19. Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band, Julie Doiron, Foreign Born, These Are Powers, Women, Richard Swift, Bishop Allen, Phosphorescent, BLK JKS, Akron/Family, and "Special Guests" are on that 2-stage bill. I can't say for sure who the special guest is, but Dinosaur Jr. will be at SXSW. They have a publicized SXSW show just one night later. Apparently BlackBerry (yes, the phones) have taken over the Court Street Courtyard for a couple of nights. Dinosaur Jr. are playing that. They go on after Grizzy Bear (one of two shows they're playing) who go on after Peter Bjorn and John.

Phosphorescent is playing two official shows at SXSW. They're doing a normal set at the above-mentioned showcase, and they're performing their new Willie Nelson tribute album from start to finish at the BrooklynVegan showcase at Club DeVille one night earlier which is exactly what they're doing at the Bell House in Brooklyn this Saturday night.

Lou Barlow is also playing at least one show at SXSW. The Dinosaur Jr. bassist is listed as ""Lou Barlow w/ Imaad Wasif" on the Merge/Barsuk showcase at The Parish on March 21st. Telekinesis, The Wooden Birds,, Say Hi, The Rosebuds, and Ra Ra Riot are also playing that show.

J Mascis's other band Witch is currently on tour with Earthless. That tour brings them to Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn TONIGHT (2/25). Children open up and tickets are still on sale. If you go, don't miss San Diego's Earthless.

Earthless is the brainchild of Mario Rubalcaba, Mike Eginton & Isaiah Mitchell. Rubalcaba a prolific drummer has worn the alias of Ruby Mars during his stint with Rocket From The Crypt, went on to bang away for the Hot Snakes, was the drummer for hardcore art-punks Clikatat Ikatowi and previously was in the Black Heart Procession... and prior to that? Mario was a member of Tony Alva's Alva Team skateboarding crew. He now finds himself, along with bassist Mike Eginton and guitarist Isaiah Mitchell, knee deep in the near opposite direction of all things punk rock, ensconced in the world of jam, space and "cosmic nodding" a.k.a. Earthless.

Speaking of Hot Snakes, and the Bell House and SXSW, Obits kick off a tour on March 15th.

Video of Earthless performing at Roadburn 2008 (the performance they just released as a live album), below...

Continue reading "Dinosaur Jr, Jagjaguwar, Witch, Lou Barlow and Earthless"

by Black Bubblegum

Witch

Witch and Earthless will team up for a short tour in February 2009. That includes a show at Music Hall of Williamsburg on the 25th. Tickets go on sale 12/23 at noon.

Witch dropped Paralyzed in March, and it was recently named as one of the best heavy albums of the year by Decibel.... check out that full list below. Look for a few of those to repeat on my own top metal list, coming very soon.

We knew that Witch counts J. Mascis as a member, but the band also contains (or, rather attempts to contain) Kyle Thomas, AKA King Tuff. King Tuff recently dropped his debut Was Dead on October 7th via Tee Pee which is also Witch's label.

J Mascis also recently released an album of his own, and on his own label... Baked Goods. Out now, J + Friends Sing + Chant for Amma is a "collection of devotional songs dedicated to the living Indian Saint, Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi (Amma)" with all of the proceeds going towards "a vast range of humanitarian projects, including orphanages, charitable hospitals and free homes for the homeless". For more on Amma, head here.

Earthless (mem of Rocket From The Crypt, Hot Snakes, Black Heart Procession) recently dropped their live album Live at Roadburn, captured at the ridiculawesome festival that will include Saint Vitus, Amon Duul II, Neurosis, and many other greats in 2009.

All lists and dates below...

Continue reading "Witch & Earthless tour dates, a new J Mascis charity album, Decibel's top 2008 albums"