by Ben Lozovsky

Death was alive and well Friday night (4/2), resurrecting its impassioned proto-punk for a rare reunion show at Europa in Brooklyn. It was another chapter tacked on to an agonizingly short but compelling story, one of a visionary group that never got a chance to diffuse its influence throughout the music world.

There are plenty of recipes for how to not succeed in the entertainment business, and during their brief career in the 1970's, Death seemed to embrace the ultimate one: an all-black rock trio spouting political dissent and charging aggressively behind a moribund handle, coining an ambitious art-first punk ethos in a volatile city like Detroit.

But for a band with little likelihood of flourishing, or even merely persisting, there was no shortage of bleeding deference Friday. Amid near-fanatical appeals from fans and crowd chants like "you still got it," the Hackney brothers continued to build on a legacy that took a major upswing with last year's Drag City reissue of their modest mid-70's output.

Bobby and Dannis (with guitarist Bobbie Duncan of reggae band Lambsbread, in which the two brothers also play) brought the pummeling earnestness of songs like "Politicians in My Eyes" and "Where Do We Go From Here???" out of obscurity. In a tribute to brother David, the band's original guitarist, leader, and main songwriter who passed away from cancer in 2000, Death performed with a spirit and dexterity that made those long lost cuts feel as urgent as they must have when they first emerged in a racially divided Motor City.

Keeping it in the family, Bobby's three sons performed as opener Rough Francis, a band that initially formed as a tribute to Death but now appealingly channels the original's group's ferocity in their own output.

As Death finished the show with a performance of never released song "Can You Give Me a Thrill," Bobby announced the band's intentions on putting out new material in the near future. Better late than never, Death lives on.

The Brooklyn show happened less than two weeks after the band's one show at SXSW which took place March 20th at the Mohawk. More pictures from Europa (where Sister Anne played first), below...

Continue reading "Death & Rough Francis @ Europa in Brooklyn - pics "

DOWNLOAD: Deer Tick - Beautiful Girls (Sean Kingston Cover) (MP3)

Murphy's Law @ Culture Shock '09 (Serenaz)

The lineup is out for Culture Shock 2010, which will take place April 16th and 17th at SUNY Purchase. Headliners for this year's fest are pop-punk band Bayside (avoid the "Beautiful Girls" cover on their MySpace) (and check out another version above) and indie-pop collective Los Campesinos (who'll play Irving Plaza April 22nd) Friday night, and rapper Jay Electronica and The Books on Saturday. The rest of the bill is a varied mix that includes Surfer Blood, Black Milk, Maps & Atlases, L Mag Band You Need To Hear Ava Luna, Maluca, Das Racist, The So So Glos and Turbo Fruits. The annual event isn't technically open to non-students. The full lineup is below.

Last year's lineup was headlined by Drake and The Cool Kids. In 2008, Fucked Up's headlining performance was cut short by the police.

The bands were announced earlier this month via film at an event at the school. That video, the lineup and more are below...

Continue reading "SUNY Culture Shock 2010 lineup"

Death, alive at Fun Fun Fun fest (more here)

The question on everyone's mind before the set was if the members of Death (who had just reunited this year) would be able to recreate the songs on their debut album ...For the Whole World to See, despite not having played them in 35 years. While it didn't start off good with a 20 minute soundcheck, but from the opening notes that echoed into the crowd, any fears were instantly shattered into a million pieces. ...Punk dreams do come true and Fun Fun Fun Fest helps every step of the way. - [A Review of Death at Fun Fun Fun Fest by The Creative Intersection]

Proto punks Death reportedly did well at Fun Fun Fun Fest, and now the band is turning those positive vibes in to more shows, or more specifically, a NYC show. Tickets are on sale for Death with Rough Francis (they share members) at Europa in Brooklyn on April 2nd.

Death are also set to play an official SXSW showcase at the Mohawk in Austin on Saturday, March 20th. More dates TBA.

Death's only NYC reunion show so far was a short appearance at the 2009 Joey Ramone Birthday bash. The 2010 version of that show happens May 19th at Irving Plaza.

Videos of Death from FFFFest below...

Continue reading "Death playing Brooklyn & SXSW ++ Fun Fun Fun Fest videos "

DOWNLOAD: Death - Politicians In My Eyes (MP3)

Death of Detroit

Forgotten except by the most fervent punk rock record collectors... Death would likely have remained lost in obscurity if not for the discovery last year of a 1974 demo tape in [bassist] Bobby [Hackney]'s attic. Released [in February] by Drag City Records as "... For the Whole World to See," Death's newly unearthed recordings reveal a remarkable missing link between the high-energy hard rock of Detroit bands like the Stooges and MC5 from the late 1960s and early '70s and the high-velocity assault of punk from its breakthrough years of 1976 and '77. Death's songs "Politicians in My Eyes," "Keep On Knocking" and "Freakin Out" are scorching blasts of feral ur-punk, making the brothers unwitting artistic kin to their punk-pioneer contemporaries the Ramones, in New York; Rocket From the Tombs, in Cleveland; and the Saints, in Brisbane, Australia. They also preceded Bad Brains, the most celebrated African-American punk band, by almost five years. [NYTimes]

Just a few months after Drag City breathed life into ...For The Whole World To See, Death (not to be confused with the legendary Floridian death metal band featuring the late Chuck Schuldiner) was resurrected. The Brothers Hackney have scheduled three US shows over the last weekend in September in their former hometown of Detroit (they reside in Bulington, VT), Chicago, and Cleveland. They're also now confirmed to play Austin's Fun Fun Fun Fest in November.

No word on who will fill the shoes of guitarist David Hackney (he passed from lung cancer in 2000), though odds are one of the Hackney's sons in Rough Francis will probably be elected. Rough Francis, who routinely cover material by Death, will provide support on all dates (minus Fun Fun Fun). Earlier this year they appeared with members of Death at Joey Ramone's 58th birthday show on May 19th at Irving Plaza. Videos of their performance are posted below.

Death's back story is an interesting one:

In 1975 at Detroit's United Sound Studios with engineer Jim Vitti, they recorded seven songs written by David and Bobby. According to the Hackney family, Columbia Records president Clive Davis funded the recording sessions, but asked the band to change its name to something more commercially palatable than Death. When the Hackneys refused, Davis ceased his support. The following year they self-released 500 copies from the session on the 7" single "Politicians in My Eyes" b/w "Keep on Knocking," on their Tryangle label, which eventually became a collectors' item.

"Politicians In My Eyes", a song that Jack White of The White Stripes/Dead Weather/The Raconteurs described as "ahead of punk, and ahead of their time," is available for download above (and in one of the videos below). The videos and all tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Death played Ramones gig, playing FFFFest & other shows"

Celebrating what would have been the 58th birthday of punk icon Joey Ramone, the annual Joey Ramone Birthday Bash will take place Tuesday, May 19th at The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza. Mickey Leigh, event organizer and brother of Joey Ramone, has announced that, as part of the 9th annual Bash, fans will be treated to a special advance sneak peek listen to rough mixes of never-before-heard Joey Ramone solo recordings. Various producers, including long-time Ramones producer Ed Stasium, are currently preparing tracks for a full album worth of material, slated for posthumous release at the end of the year.

This year's headliners are Fishbone and Supersuckers. The spectacular party will conclude with The Friends Of Joey featuring Richie Ramone, Handsome Dick Manitoba, Jean Beauvoir, Ivan Julian, George Tabb, Al Maddy and Mickey Leigh. Also appearing are Death and Rough Francis (both bands were the subject of a feature story in the New York Times on March 12), Uncle Monk (featuring Tommy Ramone), Bebe Buell, and Tom Clark & The High Action Boys. As the audience enters the venue they will once again be greeted by musician Tracy Thornton, playing Ramones songs on the steel drum. And, in what has become a Birthday Bash tradition, Sean O'Sullivan's Punk Pipers will round out the night on the bagpipes. The fete will be emceed by Matt Pinfield and Peter Aschner. Additional surprises are expected at the evening's events...Net proceeds from the Bash go to support the Joey Ramone Foundation for Lymphoma Research.

Tickets are on sale now. The annual event, organized by Joey's mom and brother, has been happening since 2001.

Videos from the 2008 party, below...

Continue reading "2009 Joey Ramone Birthday Bash lineup & new album info "