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"On the application for the food co-op I filled out there was a question that asked, 'what is your favorite food and why?" I was really tempted to answer 'coffee and beer because that's all a person really needs to survive. Kick it!'" -Blake
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Cool Beans! #1 Table of Contents - The Coffee Issue
Sebadoh Interview
Sebadoh Discography
Me As TV by Bill Brown
Helmet Interview
Penis Poetry by Kevin
Joe Popperazzi by Blake and Wini
Coffee by Matt
Jesus Lizard Interview
More Coffee by Matt
Popcorn by Matt
Aaron Cometbus Interview
Coffee is a Psychedelic Drug
News?
Interview with Poindexter Fortran avid coffee fan
Fun with Bill Al and Me by Bill Brown
Reviews of Stuff
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Well, I'm finally finishing up Cool Beans! #1. Thanks for picking it up or buying it from me or whatever.
Many Many thanks to: Billy, Blake, Bert, Mike, Mike, Aaron, Page, Kurt, Lou, Reed, & Paul. Heaps of love, Matt
Cool Beans! Soundtrack:
Slint: Tweez
Bob Mould: Black Sheets of Rain
David Allan Coe: 17 Greatest Hits
Sebadoh: All of it
Food: Demo cassette
KALX 90.7 FM Berkeley
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Cult of the Dead Cow and MMoT
...present...
Sebadoh Interview: March 3, 1992
by Matt Kelly and
Blake Wotherspoon
>>> a cDc publication.......1993 <<<
-cDc- CULT OF THE DEAD COW -cDc-
____ _ ____ _ ____ _ ____ _ ___
|____digital_media____digital_culture____digital_media____digital_culture___|
We sent Lou a mail interview on August 5, 1991. He wrote back about two weeks later answering most of the questions.
CB!: HOW MANY INTERVIEWS HAVE YOU DONE AND CAN I PRINT THIS IN A ZINE?
Lou: How many interviews?? Some, not a lot... I'm at a loss for an actual # at this point... I turn down no one.
CB!: WHERE DID THE NAME SEBADOH COME FROM AND WHAT IS THE CURRENT LINE-UP?
Lou: No Meaning to Sebadoh... I started playing music with Eric in 1986; off + on (mostly off) since then.
CB!: WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF 10,000 MANIACS COVERED ONE OF YOUR SONGS?
Lou: Superchunk covered Sebadoh, I reckon that's like 10,000 Maniacs...I'm flattered, 10,000 Maniacs would put me in a coma.
CB!: HOW MANY COPIES OF THE ASSHOLE 7" ARE THERE?
Lou: There are 500 copies of "Asshole" by the way = carpentry is a miracle = I have no conception =
CB!: PLEASE GIVE ME SOME DIRT ON BARRY HENSLER OF BIG CHIEF/THE NECROS.
Lou: Barry Hensler?? nope, no dirt... the Necros - Big Chief annoy me greatly, strut rock garbage
CB!: IS THAT WOMAN SHRIEKING ON 'I BELIEVE IN FATE' TRACI LORDS?
LOU: "I Believe in Fate" features Traci, yes indeed!! good call.
CB!: HAS SUBPOP APPROACHED YOU YET WITH THEIR BIG CONTRACT TO DO A SINGLE OF THE MONTH?
Lou: Sub pop?? we're way above/below that shit right now, I doubt anyone there cares.
CB!: TELL ME ABOUT ANY COOL BANDS THAT YOU MAY HAVE BECOME INTERESTED IN LATELY.
Lou: SLINT is THE greatest band in the world though I've barely met anyone who agrees... reviews I've seen act like it's one dimensional bummer-rock "good for late nights" Fools, all of those who miss the power of SLINT. ROYAL TRUCKS, DEAD C, RIDE, ICE CUBE, MOONSHAKE (1 song anyway), I like those bands (in no particular order)
CB!: WHAT DO YOU THINK OF MY BLOODY VALENTINE?
Lou: My Bloody Valentine... I really liked "Isn't Anything" really loved the "You Made Me Realize" 12"...I bought the Tremelo ep recently but seems like they've run drastically short of ideas beyond the MBV "atmosphere"...have you heard the slew of imitators?? Smashing Orange, Slowdive, the Lily's, Nightblooms, Black Tamborine, Velocity Girl?? I like RIDE a lot though A Lot of their tunes suck, (the good ones rock)
CB!: WHAT IS SEBADOH III GOING TO BE LIKE?
Lou: Sebadoh III is out, I will personally hunt and KILL all those that call it "a mixed bag" or "too ambitious", I will TORTURE all those that say "I really like the first song best"...it's release is our test of humanity, an examination of not of our "songwriting talents" but the listener's capacity for feeling + emotion.... unfortunately I'm serious, I'm sure Sebadoh III will fall upon many a deaf ear it is a lot to digest and i doubt anyone has the time and judging from what passes for new, revolutionary, mind expanding indie-rock (PAVEMENT-LOVE CHILD-SWERVEDRIVER) we're nowhere. But you've caught me at a bad time, I'm in-between Sebadoh tours (we toured for 2 1/2 weeks April-May, Eric ditched us 2 weeks prior, Jason (new member) + I did it alone, semi-acoustic QUIET...'twas fun) Eric might've ditched Sebadoh all-together, nothing other than SLINT seems remotely alive and relevant to my life music-wise. Actually, I'm fucking LUCKY... Sebadoh is all I could want it to be, my girlfriend supports me, I have no debilitating diseases... Sebadoh will always have people ready to release our music to me at no cost to yours truly... what the fuck am I bitching about? If you like III tell me so, if not keep it to yourself... I cannot rationally handle the criticism until I'm working on the Next Sebadoh record, right now III is my life and I will only react with pathetic self-protecting snide comments... oh fuckin' well. (maybe not revolutionary I exaggerate when I PR..
CB!: OH YEAH, I WAS THINKING ABOUT TRYING TO LEARN HOW TO PLAY BASS. ANY SUGGESTIONS TO GET STARTED?
Lou: Bass tips?? fat strings, between 1 and 6 of them. ____________________________________________________________________________
The rest of this interview was done in person on March 3, 1992 by Blake and I. The show was at a club in Louisville and before it started we were all hanging out in the parking lot waiting for the first band to go on. As we were waiting, a young woman tried to sell us some helium balloons so she could get into the show. Lou bought one of her balloons. What a nice guy.
Before the show, Blake and I engaged Lou in some slagging of J. Mascis, the guitar player for Dinosaur Jr. Lou told us he actually considered going to see Dinosaur Jr. this tour which he hasn't done since he's been out of the band. He told us he also wanted to see My Bloody Valentine who were opening up. We joked about how J. was becoming a guitar legend and would soon be even more like Neil Young. An image of J. lining a small lake with speakers and then rowing out to the middle to listen to the music evolved and Lou chimed in with something about how J. would probably just put in a big long dock and walk up and down it playing guitar. Then Lou told us that J. had just recently started smoking pot and that he has a spiritual herb vibe going.
The show was fantastic and, according to the band, was the longest set they've ever played. Towards the end, Bob (the current drummer) left the stage and Jason took over on drums while Lou played Jason's bass. After an amazing 15 minutes of jamming, Jon Cook of Crain came onstage and jammed on guitar while someone I don't know took the mike and improvised vocals. All the while the TV over in the corner was showing the Muhammed Ali 50th Birthday TV special which really gave the scene a strange feel.
We met Lou outside afterward and interviewed him. ____________________________________________________________________________
Lou: So what are your questions? Ask the first thing off the top of your head.
CB!: On the Weed Forestin thing that you did, there's some stuff with Bobby Vinton on it. What's the story with that?
Lou: Mr. Lonely by Bobby Vinton, I love that song.
CB!: And you were fooling around with the tape some? It sounds really spliced up.
Lou: Yeah, on a cassette four track.
CB!: I was really into that and this other thing, a sort of a sound montage of several songs that sounded spliced together.
Lou: Yeah, that's Joni Mitchell and Tammy Wynette rotating. It's a line from a Joni Mitchell song, then a line from a Tammy Wynette song, then a line from a Joni Mitchell song, and like the tapes are kinda fucked up so it's like slower and faster and like weaving through each other.
CB!: And those tapes were messed with, they sound all warped and distorted.
Lou: Yeah, I played with the pitch control on my four track.
CB!: That was just something that you did in your room?
Lou: Yeah.
CB!: When did you move away from home?
Lou: Move away from home? Four years ago and I just moved back.
CB!: So you could live with your mom?
Lou: To live with my family. I live with my mom and dad now again.
CB!: Do you have any siblings?
Lou: Yes. Two. Two sisters. One sister is one year younger than me and the other sister is six years younger than me. I am twenty five years old.
CB!: Why is the LP of Freed Man so different from the CD Freed Weed?
Lou: Because we tried to make a really long CD that was over 120 minutes long where we included every single song from the Freed Man plus a bunch of sound montages that we had made. And it was to be our perfected version of the Freed Man album. But when we sent in the tape they said that the CD could only be 72 minutes. So we had to take off 30 minutes of the Freed Man.
CB!: So stuff from the LP Freed Man is not even on the CD?
Lou: A lot of the stuff isn't even out. There's like other ultimate versions and more songs and different stuff. We had made a huge perfect version of the Freed Man and then it was over. The CD would have to had been 110 minutes long or something, which they just can't do.
CB!: I haven't actually played the CD and the LP of Weed Forestin at the same time, but...
Lou: It's the same. Unfortunately I should have cut a lot out of Weed Forestin too, so I could make it more balanced. Just take the best songs from Weed Forestin and the best songs from Freed Man and all of that be one CD with both of them being equal length, but I kinda rushed it.
CB!: Are you going to do anything with the really good stuff that you cut out of the CD?
Lou: Maybe, maybe someday.
CB!: A Losers II?
Lou: I'm gonna make a Losers II definitely.
CB!: I like that tape a lot.
Lou: Yeah, I'm gonna make a perfected version of that.
CB!: What was the evolution of your guitar that you are playing right now? With the few strings on it?
Lou: I just have always played with as many strings as were on my guitar when I was growing up and sometimes that was 5 or 4 because I couldn't buy strings. And also with 3 strings or so it's just got a much heavier sound and I was able to strum it with a lot more force than I would be able to strum it with 6 strings so I had more control over the rhythm of the guitar. Then I started learning how to strum different ways with just 4 strings. And that's what I play primarily now is 4 string guitar. About 90% of my songs are written on 4 string guitar if not 95%.
CB!: Were you writing any of this music when you were in Dinosaur? Or was all the music you were writing kept to yourself?
Lou: What do you mean?
CB!: Were you writing any music that was Dinosaur music?
Lou: No, it could never be Dinosaur music. I didn't want it to be electric, I wanted to play it acoustic. Cause I played electric all the time and I went on tour and just played really loud all the time. I wanted to create something acoustic. Dinosaur didn't ever exactly lend itself to any sort of sensitive handling so I never ventured to bring anything that I wanted to play quiet. I didn't want to bring it in just so we could make it electric, I didn't think it would sound very good. Besides most of my songs were written in alternate tunings and I like the nuances of an alternate tuning. And I never did write any of my songs on regular guitar. You know, I just wouldn't want to hear those songs... I just liked alternate tuning acoustic sound, I like that, it's what I was into.
CB!: I like it too.
Lou: You know, maybe I'm just slowly learning the guitar and maybe some day I'll have 6 strings on my guitar.
CB!: I really like the 12 string deal.
Lou: It's really a 6 stings, it just has two low ones. (2 double strings on the bottom, and 2 single strings on the top) It gives it a meatier sound. You can just be like God Almighty at certain points. It's really wonderful, especially when I have 2 distortion pedals. It just feels really good to play.
CB!: Do you often play bass during a show?
Lou: I don't play like we played tonight very often. Me and Jason tonight were just like completely fucking attached. It was really weird. Everything we played was just like one thing to another. We just really flow together incredibly well when we play bass and drums. It's kinda scary. I think I play with him a lot more powerfully than I played with Murph(The drummer from Dinosaur Jr.). That's really funny. I can't believe that what we're doing is actually evolving into something that's much more powerful than Dinosaur is.
CB!: It was really amazing when just the two of you were playing together.
Lou: It.. we.. fucking, I don't know. Tonight we were just absolutely attached. In this total spiritual-musical sense. There was something completely flowing between us when we were doing that. It was completely fun.
CB!: Was it Louisville, Slint being here, or just you guys?
Lou: It could be the land but it could also... I mean we had a really good show last night in Tennessee too. I really felt as though we really fed off the land there, I think we were feeding off the land here as well. But I don't know if it's Slint. I don't know what it is exactly, I really can't tell. I don't think it's all just centered on the fact that Slint is here. It seems to be something that manifests itself in the majority of the people who are here. There is just a certain vibe that I think I sense and I think Jason sensed it as well. I don't know it could be just a purely musical influence but then it could be also, something more spiritual.
CB!: I've been listening to your tapes for years and years, and I really wondered what you would sound like live. It didn't sound anything like I imagined, it was fucking cool.
Lou: That's cool. That's fucking great. Really, actually, the way we play live is really close to the way I play acoustic. I think because Jason has complete freedom to play whatever he wants in a song and he really counteracts my stuff really really well. I'm not working alone at all, there are two other people who are shaping the sound on their own level, and it's completely exciting.
CB!: What about your lyrics? Do you ever just write stuff instead of writing into a journal?
Lou: Yeah, it could be considered that. Actually I've said that many times. My songs are my diary. To write them for myself, I don't care. I want to share them immediately for some reason. Cause I would love to hear music like that so I make the music that I want to hear. I want to hear someone talking to me about what they are feeling.
CB!: When did you start doing that?
Lou: I don't know, I think I've always done that. I think I have sort of an exhibitionist streak.
CB!: Tonight you introduced a song as being about how pornography has ruined the way you feel sex.
Lou: It hasn't ruined it, but it's something that I've been thinking about recently so I wrote a song about it.
CB!: What's it called?
Lou: Home Made. It's something that my thoughts on it aren't very formulated but I've been able to improvise on the lyrics when we play live. It seems to be taking some sort of shape. When we play live and I'm faced with having to sing a song that I don't have lyrics for it makes me take it off the top of my head and make it into a lyric as immediately as I feel it. It's a good way to read down to the exact feeling of the song and expressing it as directly as I can is meaningful to myself.
CB!: It's something that startled me because it's something that I've been thinking about recently too. I didn't really expect to have something reach out from the stage and have someone tell me what I'm thinking about.
Lou: I've been noticing that everything runs in waves. I was especially convinced of that last fall. When we left on tour last time was when the Nirvana record was released. With the Nirvana record, it's been accompanied by a rash of psychic disturbances among my friends. It's sort of uncanny, a wave of romantic re-evaluation, of death, of contemplating all the people around us dying - like just among my friends. I really feel like there is some sort of wave going on. I also have the same feeling that if I write about exactly what I'm thinking about, and there's other people that feel the same thing... I think this is incredibly important right now. For people to communicate. People need to communicate and enjoy music, because music is dying. It should be transformed into the true folk art that it is. It should be something that is a true expression of the way people feel. It should be a connection between people.
CB!: Definitely. Communication.
Lou: It's definitely time. I feel as though right now I'm possessed with a need to communicate. It's the most interesting and exciting thing that's ever happened to me.
CB!: I think your stuff is amazing.
Lou: Thanks. That's totally cool. I hope a lot of people think that that's the whole point you know.
CB!: I think they do. I try to throw in some Sebadoh on tapes I make for people and say "listen to this."
Lou: I'm sensing that that is happening. I sense some sort of progress. I feel a power from that.
CB!: It's kind of weird to be connected to all these people that way probably.
Lou: Yeah, it's really interesting, I'm very curious about what's going to happen. I'm sort of curious as to how well I'm going to handle it. How much it's going to fuck me up.
CB!: Just to clarify, why are you no longer in Dinosaur?
Lou: Why? Because it was an emotionally-totally-completely-impossible- uptight-horrible-situation. No one's heard this?
CB!: I just don't understand what happened.
Lou: They said they broke up the band and they didn't. They told me the band had broken up and that was it, and they went on without me under the same name and they weren't broken up. They did it so they wouldn't have to tell me. They had no idea, or J. in particular had no idea how to communicate with me whatsoever. He was completely lost.
CB!: You became sort of infamous in a way. They went on MTV and said, "we want a new bass player because our last one was terrible." or something like that.
Lou: They just didn't get along with me. It was great. All that stuff was completely great. That was the funniest thing. I've been vindicated in so many ways so it's nothing that I'm really worried about anymore. I just feel like I've been completely freed from that situation and I feel that freedom intensely right now. I'd rather not even think about it anymore. I thought about it for almost two solid years. You talk to me anytime and I was just completely obsessed with hatred. I was completely horribly bitter, I just didn't take it very well and I made sure that everyone knew. But right now things are going really well. I want to be as big as My Bloody Valentine.
CB!: They have money behind them. I think they are being engineered to hit the charts or something. They're just gonna be big big big...
Lou: Big big big they're going to the top top top. And they suck too. They're completely great, but they can't write a song to save their fucking lives. They actually have some serious power behind them, but there is no fucking feeling or emotion. The feeling is in the music, but lyrically it's pretty dead. I mean, if it's played so loud... I don't think they are actually experimenting with their music. From what I can tell they are very of-the-moment, they are very much what people want to hear right now, and they are part of this wave, but I think that in the end their relatively meager talents will be exposed. [Lou retracts this statement in CB! #2]
CB!: What do you think of Ride?
Lou: I love Ride.
Jason(who just walked over): Except for that new piece of shit.
Lou: Their new thing really sucks. For the cover of the new Sebadoh thing I took the cover of their new ep and cut it to shreds, spread it out on paper and put Sebadoh underneath because I was so disappointed.
CB!: So what bands do you like?
Lou: Definitely, lets talk about this. Slowdive...
CB!: What do they sound like?
Lou: They just sound like shit, they sound like the Cocteau Twins and New Order just they play like these really simple little creeping songs that are played like through a billion effects, but there are actual transcendent moments in two or three songs where they just break through into this chiming mass of..this wall of sound like ching ching ching... with these breathy vocals and it's really pretty exciting. It kind of reminds me of the same euphoria that I'll get sometimes when I listen to My Bloody Valentine, but it's not as heavy and distorted as My Bloody Valentine, but they're ok. And I like one song by Moonshake another Creation band which doesn't actually sound like a Creation band. They have a Cocteau Twins influence, but they fuck it up, it's really cool, they just really cut things up. There's this one song called Coward that really blows me away. I like Black Tamborine, Wing Tip Slowed.
Jason: Wing Tip Sloat, they're from McKlain, Virginia. They are awesome, they have one single out and a cassette.
CB!: What do you think of Pavement?
Lou: I don't care about Pavement. I think they were really good live, but I don't think their records are anything special at all. It's sort of like My Bloody Valentine. There is a wave of certain style of bands that sort of tap into something briefly, but I think in the end their meager talents will be exposed.
CB!: I can't think of any more questions.
Lou: My negativity is bringing it all to a total complete halt.
Jason: Ok! Let's go! ____________________________________________________________________________
We all stood up and started walking back to the club, and Lou turned and walked into a low-hanging sign.
Sebadoh Discography[click for current discography] as of 2-94:
12"s and CDs:
Freed Man LP--32 tracks--Homestead Weed Forestin LP 23 tracks--Homestead Freed Weed CD 41 tracks--Homestead (contains only partial _Freed Man_, has 2 previously unreleased tracks) Sebadoh III CD/LP--23 Tracks--Homestead Rockin' the Forest 12"/CD--8 tracks--20/20 UK Sebadoh vs. Helmet 12"/CD--9 tracks--20/20 UK Sebadoh vs. Helmet Rockin the Forest LP/CD--17 tracks--City Slang Germany Smash your Head 12"/CD--12 tracks--Sub Pop (all tracks taken from Rockin' the Forest and vs. Helmet) Soul and Fire 12"/CD--6 tracks--Domino UK [contains the tape played before/during early shows and is a must have-Matt] Bubble and Scrape CD/LP--17 tracks--Sub Pop/Domino/City Slang
7"s:
Asshole--7 tracks--Vertical (2 pressings so far) Gimme Indie Rock--5 tracks--Homestead Oven is My Friend--5 tracks--Siltbreeze Soul and Fire--4 tracks--Sub Pop (different b-sides than 12") 14 minute noise/fragments BONUS 7" with UK Bubble and Scrape--came with first 1,000 vinyl LPs, otherwise unavailable
Compilations and Splits:
split w/Big Stick--5 tracks--Sonic Life fanzine (Blast First) UK (no longer available) Magic Ribbons box set split w/King Missile--6 tracks--Leopard Gecko Split w/Azalia Snail--3 tracks--Dark Beloved Cloud "Scars 4 Eyes" Big Fish in a Little Sea CD--Jama Disc (first studio recording, very different from III's version, local Western Mass compilation) "Soulmate"--Sub Pop--SASSY magazine 7" (same version as Sebadoh vs. Helmet) "It's so Hard to Fall in Love"--Sub Pop _Lovesongs_ CD (same version as Rockin' the Forest) (any other Sub Pop compilations contain album tracks) "Whitey Peach", Volume CD, fanzine UK (recorded live in '92)
Sentridoh cassette:
Losers--40 tracks--Shrimper (not available) cassette Most of the Worst and Some of the Best--16 tracks--Shrimper (not available) cassette Sensif Dull Thump King of the Dry Hump--Shrimper cassette "Certain Dance, Circumstance"--Pawn Shop Reverb compilation of Shrimper bands --Shrimper cassette Wasted Pieces--Shrimper cassette
Sentridoh 7"s:
Me and My Arrow, Ghost of a Rollercoaster--Shrimper 7" compilation Losercore b/w Really Insane--Smells Like Records Mysterious Sentridoh EP--6 tracks--Little Brother Records [compilation] "Say Mold, Same Old" Hot Tips CD comp.--Dedicated/Melody Maker
Other:
Deep Wound-7" (includes J. Mascis in band.. early hardcore years for these guys) Belt Buckle 7"--4 tracks--Sonic Bubblegum) Lou, Bob Fay, Eric Matthews Sparkalepsy, The Heather's Overbite EP"--8 tracks--Vertical (Jason solo) Leaky Chipmonk 1 track on Fortune Cookie Prize CD/LP (Beat Happening Tribute record). The band included Bob Weston, Lou Barlow, Bob Fay and Trish Matthews. The track covered was "Our Secret" John Davis Folk Implosion -or- Nervous Johnny and the Pothead [Stuff coming soon! I hope! -Matt]
Lou's first band was Wayne and the Wangs, then he formed Deep Wound with J when J answered Lou's ad in the local newspaper. Then Dinosaur of course. Lou was booted out of Dinosaur in a very uncool way. They told him the band had broken up, and then went on without him.
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The mismarked mail could appear in mailboxes anywhere. 12/11/91
Columbus, Ohio (AP) -- Because of a mistake by a rushed technician, up to 12,000 pieces of mail were stamped with the phrase "You Bitch," a Postal Service Spokesman said. A worker testing an optical character scanner Saturday at the main post office in downtown Columbus forgot to delete his test phrase when he was called away to another job. Ed Johnson director of marketing and communications for the post office, said Monday. Johnson said the two words were printed on 10,000 to 12,000 envelopes 5 1/4 inches tall or larger -- envelopes "about the size of Christmas cards." "We had intended to have holiday greetings or 'Merry Christmas' as messages that go on the envelopes," Johnson said. "It turned out to be a bit different than that." He said the technician was horrified when he found out what had happened. The Postal Service did not identify the worker, but said he will face disciplinary action, although officials said the error was unintentional. The mismarked mail could appear in mailboxes anywhere in the country. Columbus postal authorities notified other post offices nationwide so they would know where the problem came from, Johnson said. Postal workers blocked the words out with black marker on the few envelopes they could find. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hashbrowns 5 Different Ways
* "Traditional Golden Brown"
* "Scattered & Smothered"
* "Scattered, Smothered & Covered"
* "Scattered, Smothered, Covered and Chunked"
* "Scattered, Smothered, Covered, Chunked & Topped"
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Me As TV - Bill Dreamwhip
It's like this. Nausea seeps outta my insides like toxic waste, my mouth waters, gets ready for the barf. I sweat cold pricks. Fight it, fight it. Then the black fuzz, like I'm losing The Signal, losing reception, my vision particularizes, pixilates. I scramble around, try to get some blood to my head. Too late. The National Anthem bounces off of a few of my synapses, then I'm off the air. I wake up on the floor, like coming outta possession. Or maybe like being repossessed. Re-animated by Consciousness, that fucken demon Signal that torments me, makes me see, and feel, and fret. Sure, I fight Unconsciousness, cuz I crave the Signal, I'm an addict. I may not like the program, but what else is there? Black fuzz, nothing.
I got nailed last nite, flew off my skate and busted my wrist. I think I wacked myself offline, and all today feel like the Signal's weaker, more distant. And it makes me sad. Fucken sad. Cuz I don't like the darkness, I don't like what's behind the black fuzz, the eye-static. It's sleep, but no dreams. It's a dead place. I fight it, I WANT my mtv, I want the Signal, I gotta be tuned in, y'know? But there's that other thing inside me, where the nausea comes from, where I'm so fucken tired, tired of Consciousness, tired of Noise, and Spectacle, sick of my eyes being peeled open, pupils dilated, watching the grotesque parade of baby molesters and sex-as-death and little boys with puffed out tummies and sunken cheeks. What's the whisper? Let go? Tune out? Sleep, man. And what's the fuzz, anyway? Black fuzz, like some transdimensional cunt, like a clump of pubes, and I've been born once, and it HURT, so - once is enough. The fuzzy curtain I passed thru. Once, thanks mom, and here I am, in the land of the Signal, conscious and scared and sick, and then there's the fuzz again, the cunt, maybe God's pubes - and I'm being pulled back in, curled up like a fetus, cold and quiet, tuned out, sleeping like a miscarriage.
Okay. So it hurts, so the Signal burns thru my pupils and makes my hair fall out, but shit, I wanna FEEL, I need it, I need the fix, I gotta be conscious. Fuck the fuzzy curtain. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Queens man admits blowing up goat (from the New York Daily News)
A Queens man pleaded guilty yesterday to animal-cruelty charges for blowing
up a goat.
Leroy Wilkinson, 46, of Cambria Heights was arrested Nov. 27th after the
fire department responded to reports of an explosion at his house.
"When they got there they found body parts of a goat and dead carcasses of
other animals," said Herman Cohen, chief of law enforcement for the ASPCA.
Wilkinson told authorities he was "performing a religious ceremony." He was
sentenced to five days of community service.
-Mike Hurewitz
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Cult of the Dead Cow and MMoT
...present... Helmet Interview: July 17, 1992
by Matt Kelly
>>> a cDc publication.......1993 <<<
-cDc- CULT OF THE DEAD COW -cDc-
____ _ ____ _ ____ _ ____ _ ___
|____digital_media____digital_culture____digital_media____digital_culture___|
Interview with Page Hamilton of Helmet on July 17, 1992 at St. Andrew's Hall in Detroit as conducted by Matt Kelly.
CB!: What 7" singles are you guys going to do, and are they going to be on Amphetamine Reptile?
PH: Well, we did "In the Meantime," and that came out this spring I think some time. "In the Meantime" was the last 7" we released and hopefully we will do more 7"s with AmRep.
CB!: Is there a plan?
PH: No plan right now, we're just going to tour our butts off on this and enjoy ourselves. We're/I'm working on new stuff and we're going to slowly incorporate the new stuff into the set, hopefully record a few songs in the fall, record a few more in the winter or spring, and then mix something, have something out by next fall again.
CB!: You (Page) wrote most of the songs that you're doing right now.
PH: I write all the music and lyrics, then bring in the band, and they turn it into something interesting by being really great players and stuff. And then we just sort of shape it like that.
CB!: Somebody told me that "No Nicky No" was written by the whole band.
PH: "No Nicky No" was a group jam. I didn't feel like writing anything, and we got home from a tour and the next day had to go into the studio and come up with something the day after we got back. So we rehearsed that night, and I had a riff that had been bouncing around for a while; I threw it out at the guys, we played it, and then we just added on to it. And Henry came up with a riff and we all added different parts and just went in and refined it the next day in the studio and that was it. So it was a lot of fun. But the problem with that, we found, was jam tunes are not as satisfying in the long run - we played it twice live after that and then said, "let's retire this." It's more fun to play stuff where the structures are a little more interesting, and that's why I've been working on most of the stuff.
CB!: Have you retired many songs?
PH: No, I still kind of think that we're gonna try to keep everything available, and eventually we'll go learn "Taken" again, that's something we haven't done for a long time. And then that B-side "No Nicky No" and "Murder," we haven't played that in a very, very long time. But I hope to eventually pull that back. It's fun to keep everything at your disposal if you want to play it, but I think we tend to work towards new stuff, and if people request stuff it's kind of fun to play it for them. So, that's the only thing. "Impressionable" we pulled that out of our hat because we get lots of requests for that. And I completely forgot the lyrics and I was completely improvising nonsense.
CB!: I liked the opening band tonight.
PH: Yeah, they've been around New York for a while, and I just love 'em. I think they're really great. I love Crawl Pappy a lot. This is the first opportunity we had to take somebody with us as openers and just bands that we think are really great in New York and want to expose to people. We're looking forward to this month.
CB!: Quicksand (the other band opening for Helmet) is on Interscope also, right?
PH: No, they just sign to Polysomething, 'Dor, 'Gram, Polyville, Polytone, Polysomething.
CB!: What do you listen to that you think would surprise people?
PH: A lot of people are becoming aware that I listen to a lot of jazz and that I studied jazz at Manhattan School of Music and University of Oregon. That's what my musical background is in. I also listen to classical music 'cause I studied at conservatories. I suppose you wouldn't hear those influences in Helmet, so that might be a shock. Probably things I listen to that would turn people's stomach - I don't own any country/western records, but I totally love it for a change on the radio when we're driving. I like the schlocko country stuff, and the old country stuff. I also really like Bob Dylan and some classic rock stuff that punkers seem to not be into. I love the Doors and Hendrix and all that stuff.
CB!: How do you feel about bands like the Grateful Dead that are still playing?
PH: The Grateful Dead are a band that I don't like. They've lived a long time and done a lot of stuff. They're just not my cup of tea. I've seen them actually twice when I was at college in Oregon, every roommate I had was a Deadhead, yeah, dropping acid every five minutes and having flashbacks, pouring maple syrup on our shag rug, and watching Creature Features and listening to Dead bootlegs and stuff. And I guess that kind of ruined it for me. It wasn't my thing. At that time, I was really into jazz and they were giving me a lot of shit for having a hollow-body jazz guitar, and I didn't look like a rocker.
CB!: Are you done with college now?
PH: Yeah. Finished in '87, actually. My Masters in '87.
CB!: How old are you?
PH: 32. Yeah.
CB!: I thought you were younger.
PH: Yeah, people say I look younger, I guess. It's that exercise regimen, I suppose.
CB!: So, Steve Albini produced just one song for you?
PH: Yeah, Steve would look at it more like engineering. And same with Wharton (Tiers), I think. We've worked with Wharton in the past, and we really wanted to do something with Steve. We did some demos, and it worked out conveniently that we were in Chicago and could do demos. We wanted to do the album right then, but Steve couldn't do it. So we came back to New York and compared the demos and decided that they were so close that we could just stay in New York with Wharton and ride our bikes to the studio.
CB!: So it really wasn't that you had a preference between the tapes?
PH: They're both fantastic. There's no question about it. They're both incredibly talented. Wharton had a little bit warmer guitar sound, Steve had a little crisper drum and vocal sound.
CB!: On the new single, "No Nicky No" seems to have a better sound to it than the A-side.
PH: Yeah, that was mixed by Wharton. Punchy. I think the Jesus Lizard records sound phenomenal, and Steve does all those. As well as the Tar records. Wharton has done almost 70 albums, so he knows what the hell's going on too.
CB!: What about Don Fury?
PH: Don Fury did our first 7", it was actually our first demo tape and we pulled the 7" off that. He's another very talented guy in New York City.
CB!: How many songs are on that?
PH: First demo? Four. "Born Annoying," "Rumble," and then two songs that were never released called "Shirley MacLaine," and "Geisha to Go." Those were odd little ditties sort of influenced by Mission of Burma, Husker Du and Monk or something. They're very weird.
CB!: Have you played with any other bands recently that really impressed you?
PH: Um there are a lot of New York bands that we like. Well, we're going to take Loudspeaker with us on the next tour, and I love 'em. There are a lot of great New York bands, the ones that everybody knows like Boss Hog and Surgery... we play with a lot of bands, and some of them I dig and some of them I don't dig. A lot of the names escape me. I have a bad memory when it comes to band names. I like the Jesus Lizard and Melvins a lot. But everybody loves them, I guess. The Jesus Lizard and the Melvins are doing something that's really fresh. You can see their roots and you can hear, I suppose, a Sabbathy influence in the Melvins and a Birthday Party influence in the Jesus Lizard.
CB!: I played you guys for my Mom tonight before I came to the show.
PH: Oh, wow. Was she headbangin' or was she...?
CB!: She told me to bring earplugs. What was your reaction to that guy on MTV (Dave Kendall of 120 Minutes) referring to you as a woman?
PH: I didn't see it. Everybody told me about it and said that they were laughing hysterically, then apparently he apologized three weeks later, two weeks later or something, I didn't see it, I don't really watch MTV. I don't have cable. I always knew the guy was a put-on anyway, he's just a guy that they put a stick up his ass and they show him how to move his hands and fill him in on cue cards. It's pretty obvious, and this pretty much revealed it, I suppose.
CB!: Never heard the band, never going to, and trying to save face on TV.
PH: I have no desire to go out and do an interview with the guy, 'cause he's never heard of us. Ricky Rackman (host of Headbanger's Ball on MTV) has known about Helmet for two years, and he's a metal dude but he seems to have his ear to the ground, more informed. He was talking to our booking agent two years ago about having us play at his Cat House or something in L.A.
CB!: Your video that got a little play, do you think that...
PH: I've seen a little bit of change, yeah, there's no question. The album came out three weeks ago and we toured in March and April, and before the album came out, the day after we finished recording it, we split out on tour. It was normal, the audience was building gradually. This time, they've doubled, tripled and quadrupled. We've sold out every show, so there has to be something. Either the album is getting exposure, or MTV, or something is happening. The label is doing their job, I don't know. It's all a mystery to me, I don't know how that works.
CB!: Where did the cover from the most recent 7" come from?
PH: That was a Tom Hazelmyer creation. We left it completely up to Tom, and he sent it out to us and we immediately said, "yeah, that's great."
CB!: I thought that the picture itself might have come from a Christian pamphlet about people dying in car crashes and going to heaven.
PH: Really? That's great. I have no idea where it came from. Tom came up with it, we just loved the way it looked. Tom does really great artwork. It's one of his strong points.
CB!: Did SubPop screw you over? I heard you saying something about that earlier.
PH: Oh, well, no, they didn't screw us over. It was just one of those weird things where they... SubCop - Pop - could have had Helmet three years ago, they were somebody we had sent a demo to 'cause I had heard of them. I knew who they were because I had heard Mudhoney. They said, "Yeah, you guys are really great. We're into doing a new thing for SubPop, and we think you guys are it." And then they never got back to us. And then we opened for Tad and the guy came up to us and said, "Are we going to do a single together?" And I didn't know who he was, I had no idea. And then Tad said, "This is Jonathan from SubPop." And I said, "Oh yeah. Oh sure. That'd be great." And then they offered us a really low amount of money, and we told Hazelmyer, and he said, "Nah, just pass. We'll put out a single if you want." And I said ok. And then the other guy, Bruce, called back and said, "I'm sorry, how about if we give you this, that, and this?"
CB!: Was this your first single?
PH: No, this was after STRAP IT ON was out, this was what eventually was "Oven." So, Tom worked out a deal with them, to do the AmRep compilation. And that's what we ended up doing. So they didn't screw us. They just kind of were a little bit fishy about the whole thing. They weren't very assertive or whatever, and we were very happy with AmRep. There was no reason for us to do anything unless we could make a little bit of money and get a little bit more exposure. So Tom said, "I've got this thing worked out, we have complete control of the artwork" They had originally Frank Kozick did a porno-Flintstones thing for the cover of "Smells Like Smoked Sausage." It was going to be called something else. It was like Fred fucking Dino and Betty and Barney going at it. It was some really obscene thing. I said, "that's a little bit crass, isn't it?" So they came up with this smoked sausage thing.
CB!: So, it had to do with you saying...
PH: No, no, no. I think SubPop turned it down. But I told Tom, "It's not really my cup of tea, as you know." He said, "It's great, it's great." I said, "Well, whatever." So I think SubPop said, "Well, come on."
CB!: So do you think this type of decision comes from being older?
PH: Yeah, I suppose, having lived through more things than someone who's 21 as opposed to 31 or 32. You come into contact with a lot of things on the road, and I certainly have fairly developed opinions about things. A lot of bands will do anything to sell records and become rich and famous. We're not one of those bands. We don't consider signing to a major label being in the jaws of a Satanic Majesty, but we won't tour with Skid Row or fuckin' Poison. There are certain things, like last night they had flyers all over the club in Toronto. I wasn't aware of it. Like little Helmet mini-bios and stuff, and I saw them and that kind of stuff flips me out. It was just something the record company in Canada thought was a good thing and I suppose they meant well, but they didn't understand that we're about to play a show. If we can't win people over playing a show, then we're pretty fucked, you know? If we gotta put out some piece of literature - "Forget what you've heard about Helmet and focus on what you're hearing..." and some little bio - a bio is fine to introduce people at a record store or distributors. But at a show, you're there to play, and if you can't rock their butt, then you suck. So, give it up. That kind of stuff a major label isn't going to understand. The reason we went to Interscope is we feel we have complete control over the United States, anyway, to guide them and do stuff that we feel comfortable with.
CB!: What's Interscope a subsidiary of?
PH: Atlantic. And they're distributed by WEA. Warner/Elektra/Atlantic.
CB!: That's it.
PH: Cool.
(Helmet was given $300 for their song on the Subpop release SMELLS LIKE SMOKED SAUSAGE)
Special thanks to Mike Seery for his help transcribing this file. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Poetry By Kevin
My penis is-
the garter snake
in your garage
that you hit over and over
with the baseball bat.
Hiss.
Hiss.
My penis, my penis, Is not a heroin fiend. And if it was on the showroom floor, I'd wax it to a glossy sheen.
I'm a gonna pound my penis flat as a pancake jus' to please you, dear. WHAM WHAM WHAM <yow> WHAM <eergh>
There... two feet wide, quarter inch thick. Much like a sail for floating in a lake with a cool breeze blowing, my penis extended above - propelling me to and fro. Or perhaps a fan, to flap and cool my testicles in the hot summer sun. I can even roll it up, like a poster or carpet, and make the meanest poker you ever did see.
YEEHAW!
YEEHAW
I'm feeling antagonistic towards my penis So me an' Penis are gonna go at it "No holds barred", as they say And when it's over, One of us is gonna be BEATEN to a BLOODY PULP.
If my penis was a choke collar, I would wrap it around your neck... Pull it tight-
Thirty-six
Inches o'
Gore-filled
Hateful
Tits of salvation
-and strangle you like the dog you are.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sometimes I get angry. That chickenshit Joe Popperazzi flicks my cherries
from my Eve cigarettes. You know, the one's with the flowery Garden of Eden
filters. I order another Pink Lady from the bartender. Pink Ladies come
with plastic swords that hold fruit chunks. I unsheath the sword and look
for Joe across the crowded smokey barroom. His bra is jumping out of his
shirt from the trendy black light, his chest rising and falling like my
pillow did during last night's flashback. I catch his attention and motion
towards the women's room for a meeting inside. That sick bastard thinks I
want to fuck him. Little does he know what I really have in mind. Once
inside we move into a stall and lock the metal door behind us. I move
toward his face as if to kiss him but abruptly place my mouth over his
eyeball and begin to suck very hard, as if trying to pull a hard boiled egg
through a small straw. I hold his eyelids apart with my teeth and begin to
feel his veins rising out of his eye and squishing against my tongue. Why
isn't he screaming? I suck harder till I hear that lovely little 'pop' of
Joe Popperazzi's eye leaving the socket. It hits the back of my throat with
a thud but I suck it back onto my tongue and open my mouth, letting Joe's
eye look at Joe and Joe look at his eye. I pull the cocktail sword from my
pocket and delicately shove it through the eyeball. It squirts a little
into Joe's other eye. I drop it into the Pink Lady as Joe passes out falling
into the toilet. I light an Eve cigarette and slowly blow smoke at Joe
giggling like a nun on Christmas. "Elvis is the one and only king!" I
scream, and laughing, I leave the toilet to go dance to 'Suspicious Minds.'
-Blake and Wini
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First to the Finish Line It's SLUMBERLAND RECORDS' Summer '93 Line-up!
Sleepyhead "Punk Rock City USA" LP/CD/7" Jane Pow Both LPs on one CD Stereolab "Switched On" LP/CD "John Cage Bubblegum" 7" Velocity Girl Early singles compilation CD
Send a stamp for a complete list!
Slumberland Records Box 14731 Berkeley, CA 94701 USA ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coffee Coffee what would I do without you?
You are there when I need you in the morning, and still around when it's time for the final stretch on the job.
Coffee Coffee you transform my world into someplace I can easily deal with. Someplace I've mastered. Someplace I'm comfortable.
But wo, when my coffee cannister is empty, and I don't have the change to go to the coffee shop.
I may as well hide in my bed waiting for withdrawl into
psychosis.
-Matt
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Jesus Lizard interview by Matt and Chad.
Brought to you by MMoT, cDc, and
Cool Beans! BBS - music nerd central Spring 1991
Chad and I set up interviews with The Jesus Lizard and Dinosaur Jr. for a final project in my Audio Production course and for broadcasts on our respective radio shows. We drove down to Bogarts in Cincinnati and checked in at the front door. As it turned out, Dinosaur Jr's label, Sire Records (subsidiary of Warner Brothers/subsidiary of Time Warner the mega corporation that owns more media outlets than any other company in the world-ie they are basically in control of what people in the United States read, listen to, and see for 'news' and 'entertainment') had not left us tickets and back stage passes at the door as they had promised.
We were frustrated, but decided to try to meet up with the bands around back by the stage door. We approached David Yow and David Sims of The Jesus Lizard at the back door and told them about Sire Records not coming through on their end of the deal. So being the cool guys they are they told us to just grab some equipment and walk in the door with them just saying "we're with the band." Which we did. After we were in we had to deal with the guy who was in charge of backstage security who knew that there weren't seven members of The Jesus Lizard. (Um, Steve Albini was hanging out too, he was running sound for them and so he was band member number 5.) So we convinced the security dude to put Chad on The Jesus Lizard's guest list, and I'd continue to tell people I was in the band.
So we were hanging out in the dressing room below the stage when we started rolling the tape.
Chad: Does that microphone actually pick up? From all the way over there?
Matt: It's a shotgun mike.
Chad: How far would it pick up? If I went across the street?
Albini (with a mock gay drawl): Please Chad, shut the door...
Steve Albini radio I.D.: Hi, this is Steve Albini and I'm not in a band or anything, and I ceased to be important about five years ago and I don't listen to the radio, but if I did, and I happened to live in Cincinnati, which I don't, I would listen to WYSO, 91.3fm, Yellow Springs.
Steve telling a favorite joke when he thought he was off-mike: What's the other one, uh, um, Gay Chinese restaurant... uh, um, Sum Young Guy Cum... heh-heh sorry... (No, he's not hung up on homosexuality... no....)
David Sims: Hey, who the hell are you?
David Yow: Mike the Mechanic...
Chad: ok..
David Yow: So this guys name is Cliff Lippman, and his radio name is Cliff-Hanger.
Chad: Every DJ in Northern California has a stupid fucking name. I think it's a law.
Yow: Yeah, I'll bet it's worse than Southern California, woh-hoh... Well, I'll eat... (looking at Chad) Ok, you're on the list (looking at me.) You have to sneak around..
Matt: Ok...
Albini: Ok, later... (pause and from outside the room) How the fuck do we get out of here?
Stage hand: Up those stairs, to the stage, out the other door....
David Yow, Duane Denison and Steve Albini were off eating a cheese burger and playing pool down the street. Leaving us with Mac McNeilly and David Sims.
Chad: Yeah, I saw you guys with Sonic Youth out in St. Louis. That was the best sound I've heard in a long time.
Mac: That was Steve doing sound.
Matt: Was he doing it for both bands or....
Sims: No, just us.... sorta like... this doesn't really look like it's going to be that bad, but sometimes opening for these really big bands like this we really get shafted on the P.A.
Mac: So that's really the major reason that Steve is along is to make sure that doesn't happen.
Sims: Besides the fact that he does a good job on sound.
Matt: So you don't play with the soundboard set up for the other band....
Sims: Yeah, and so we don't play much too quiet you know?
When the other guys returned we started the 'official' interview. David Yow took my microphone and spoke to the group saying "This is the interview. If you have a comment to make, you can make a comment, but make it quietly, and civil. Keep a civil tongue, don't say fuck or cunt or swollen twat."
Albini(to the 3 groupies who came back stage to meet the band and were in the process of drinking the band's beer.): Just keep drinking girls..
Groupie 1: Are you from a radio station?
Matt(reading the microphone switch, hoping it was on): Uh, yeah. Uh, lesse... AUS or EIN?
Groupie 2: That means your ass...
Matt: Chad, ask a question.
Albini: You may not touch my monkey.
Groupie 2(looking at the 10 inch cylinder which is my microphone): That is the most awesome thing I've ever seen. Great design. What is that called exactly?
Matt: A shotgun mic.
Simms: This is Kim, and this is Lisa... this is Mac, David, Steve, David...
Groupie 1: Mac, David, Steve, David...
Albini: That's Jennifer, Mac, Lisa, Chad, Matt...
Yow: Jennifer, David, Chad,
Mac: Matt, Chad, this is David... (audio is kind of garbled as everyone starts saying everyone else's name at the same time...)
Albini: Everywhere I turn, there are like stacks of Jennifers...
Yow: Ok, hey hey HEY HEY!
Chad: To start off with, who are you all, and why are you in The Jesus Lizard?
Sims: Nothing else to do.
Yow: The Jesus Lizard and because we are in The Jesus Lizard.
Chad: So you're a skate band right?
Yow: No.
Chad: You were all in different bands before you were in The Jesus Lizard right?
Yow: Toxic Shock OI! Tha's right, I were in Toxic Shock.
Duane: I was in Cargo Cult... before that I was in a band called Bill's Corpse which was the best fucking band.
Yow: Actually what he meant by that was that he had his penis in a man named Bill who was dead. Duane is kind of into fucking dead men.
Duane: But I'm not alone in this, I was just read Montgomery Cliff's biography, and I wasn't alone in this. Monty had a doctor who used to raid the morgue and put stiffs down in his car...
Chad (the segue master): So are you guys touring right now?
Yow: Um, actually, last Saturday was the last day of the last tour we're doing... we had a little time off... we have another show on Tuesday... then in June we go out for another month.
Chad: Where are you going?
Yow: Western Canada and California... Bye Jennifer, bye Brian... bye man... There's actually a chance we might be opening for these guys again. Someplace. There's going to be several shows with Glass Eye from Austin warming us up.
Matt: They do a great cover of Cecilia...
Sims: Yeah, it's a GREAT cover!
Albini: They're going to be WARMING you up?
Sims: Baking.
Chad: Do you have day jobs?
Yow: It's not like we're rich, we don't have time, because we're touring constantly... but we do make extra cash doing Mexican fireworks like this. (he tosses a lit match at Lisa)
Lisa(Groupie #1): And turning tricks on the side.
Chad: All right.
Matt: Wow.
Sims: I had this hamburger on the corner called Wings and Rings and I had this hamburger that just about made me vomit...
Mac: But it was juicy.
Albini: It's not made for faggots to eat... you don't want a lighter you want a bottle opener right?
Lisa: Whatever.
Jennifer: Are you drunk already?
Matt(to Jennifer): Um, excuse me, please don't kick my tape recorder...
Yow: Oh, I'm sorry.
Matt: Uh, we're catching the chaos of the moment...
Yow: My scab's all gone... um, keep it down, keep it down....
Matt: Is this what most Jesus Lizard dressing rooms are like?
Yow: No, most have a deli platter and girls with a lot less clothes on...
Sims: Midget Clowns and small dogs.
Yow: There was this time in Pittsburgh where a midget clown was running around giving flowers to everybody.
Chad: In the dressing room?
Yow: Yeah, and everywhere...
Chad: Was he a fixture at this club?
Yow: I have no idea...
Sims: No actually, they mixed our rider up with Queen's... They thought that the midget was for Freddy Mercury...
Yow: Bicycle, Bicycle...
Albini: I want to smell a bicycle seat...
Yow: I could grow a mustache if I so desired.
Matt: I'll bet you could...
Yow: I damn straight could! Chad, what's the next question?
Chad: Do you know why KRK from Flipside says that you and the Laughing Hyenas are going to "take it to the grave..."?
Yow: I don't know why he said that, I don't know who he is, and I don't know why he'd say that... take WHAT to the grave?
Matt: I think he meant that as a band you would "take it to the grave..."
Yow: Do you think he's so stupid as to imply, oops I spit on myself, that we're gonna be a band till we die?
Duane: I think he meant that we were going to die soon.
Yow: Well, if you look at the big picture, we're all gonna die pretty damn soon.... Did you know that Yoko Ono is 2 years younger than Johnny Cash?
Jennifer: Johnny who?
Chad: Any good anecdotes?
Mac: Tell them about the band with the ice machine.
Duane: Well, there was this band in Europe called Cadaver Back and they were gonna play with us, and they set up their stuff, and they had driven 3 hours to get there, and they ended up not playing because their smoke machine didn't work. So they packed up their stuff and left. I guess it was a drag for them because they couldn't play with smoke.
Yow: That's really sad.
Sims: I was in disbelief...
Chad: Um, groupies, have you read I'M WITH THE BAND?
Groupie 1: What does that have to do with anything...
Groupie 2: Pamela Debarres? That book... (garbled)... Can you imagine that?
Yow: I'm illiterate.
Dinosaur Jr. starts playing upstairs...
Yow: Oh, fuck, is this Dinosaur Jr.? This whiney bullshit, I don't know about this kind of crap, with the jangley guitars, and the weak ass garbage... I don't know... is this what it's coming to?
Matt: So you like this?
Yow: Yeah, I like it a lot.
Chad: You've worked with Steve on all the albums right? How has that been?
Yow: He's good to work with and his tongue is gentle on a man's taint.
Chad: We've run out of Jesus Lizard questions, can we give you the Dinosaur interview also?
Matt: We're not going to get to talk to them, so you guys can do both...
Yow: Can I ask the questions? You guys, you guys, hold it down... Matt and Chad didn't get to talk to Dinosaur Jr. so we're going to do their interview for them.
Duane: I'll be J.
Chad: Steve will you be Murph?
Yow: Someone stole our radio station's copy of Green Mind. Can we have another one?
(Big pause, then everyone starts whining)
Albini: Um, we don't have stuff like that on tour...
Duane: Call our record company...
Albini: Aren't there people who take care of all that?
Yow: What's wrong with you guys?
Duane: We're J. Mascis!
Yow: Did you find a new bass player yet?
Albini: No.
Duane: Um.
Yow: Has the new album been doing well?
Albini: No.
Duane: It turns pretty good.
Yow: How did you get so tight with Sonic Youth?
Albini: Sex.
Yow: Have you written any songs about THEM?
Duane: The giant ants?
(At this point David Yow starts rotating between questions on the list and questions he made up)
Yow: Do you guys like Flipper Jr.?
Duane: Not at all, those guys suck.
Yow: Was your father really called Dinosaur? Yow: How many times must a cannonball fly? Yow: I like the God, the 600, the uh, Goo demo... how many songs were recorded?
Albini: Uh.
Yow: What is Lou Reed doing now?
Albini: Giving head down in Soho!
Yow: What is Louis Armstrong doing now? Yow: What do you think of Lebanon? Yow: Are you guys computer wackers? Yow: A computer BBS Amigo? Yow: Do you have anything you'd like to close with? Yow: What is the significance of Bug? Why not beetle or worm?
Duane: Beetle or worm.
Yow: Whose hair is the longest? Yow: What does J. stand for?
Duane: Freedom!
(Rumor: David Yow drinks a lot.)
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Ephedrine Hydrochloride STAY-ALERT tm 100 tablets a bronchodilator 25 mg
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Ok, mix a lot of cheap coffee with a fair amount of good coffee and put it in your automatic coffee maker. Fill the machine with as much water as you can fit into your pot. Let it brew. Then leave it on for about 24 hours just sitting there keeping warm. The level will probably go down a little bit, and the color will turn a little darker brown. The smell will probably drive you nuts if you are anything like me and crave coffee most of the time anyway, but be patient. God down to the coffee store and get a free sample cup of coffee from them. Or use your espresso machine today. Ok, it's 24 hours later, pour yourself a mug of 1/3 whole milk and 2/3 dark brown brew. Dig it. -Matt
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First of all you need a bag of white cheddar popcorn..like Smartfood or something equivalent. I used to swear by Smartfood only because it is more powerfully loaded with that white powdery cheese stuff, but then I tried some brands and was impressed with the subtle differences of each. Second you need to pop up at least twice as much of the regular stuff. Use a little bit of oil and a pan, (or one of those rad poppers that stirs and encourages all kernals to pop--kinda like movie theater popcorn poppers) Mix all the popcorn together in a big paper grocery bag. The third and most important part is the spicing. Make sure you have the following-Salt, Pepper, Nutritional Yeast, Lemon Pepper (without MSG tastes better), Garlic Powder (optional), and Parmesan Cheese (also optional). Go nuts with the Yeast and Lemon Pepper and Salt, then add some pepper and taste it, add some more, add Parmesan Cheese (careful, too much of this tastes like shit), Garlic Powder, maybe Chili Powder if you have some around....This is about all I put on Popcorn, and each time I make it, it tastes different, but almost always is incredible. So then close the top of the bag and shake it up. As you are eating it some of the stuff will probably settle to the bottom of the bag, so just close the top, invert the bag and shake it all back to the top. Eat it till you can't move. Oh and be careful if you are drinking beer to avoid Yeast Overload which happens when you are drinking Yeasty dark beer...which is good, but be careful. -Matt
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SubPop -- A big BOO HISS goes to Subpop for the way they are packaging their singles recently. No inner sleeve and a hard type cover so every time you take your singles out to play them and put them back in you end up scratching them up.
I'm glad they are signing bands like Sebadoh and Hazel and putting out stuff like the Wipers and the Vaselines and all, but I REALLY miss the old 7" packaging style. Why did they change it? -Matt
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Aaron Cometbus Interview (conducted spring or summer 1992 by mail)
Presented by Cool Beans! BBS and MMoT in Cooperation with
Cult of the Dead Cow Communications
This is an interview with Aaron the guy who puts out Cometbus zine and used to be the drummer for the band Crimpshrine. Currently I think he's playing in a band called Pinhead Gunpowder. All of this was done in the mail since I've never met him face to face. The main problem with this interview is that I sent him the only copy of the questions...so now I'm trying to reconstruct what I originally asked.
CB!: I'm starting a zine and having a hard time with layout. I was wondering if you had any advice.
Aaron: I would never write a How-to-Publish-a-Zine thing, I think all those How-to's only serve to make everything homogenous, boring and take the personal discovery out of it. The only suggestion you or anybody else needs its to work hard at what you want to do, be honest, write about what you know or at least admit what you don't know, take chances, have fun. Why would you possibly want to make layout easier?
CB!: In Cometbus #27 you wrote about that guy Kevin, where is he now?
Aaron: Kevin is still around town somewhere, heard he's getting married, I can't wait to find out what he thinks of the stories.
CB!: What was the best thing you ever found in a dumpster?
Aaron: Best dumpster find, shit, that's a hard one. I'm sure there's something I'm forgetting, but lately Lots of Good Food is the best thing I've dumpstered.
CB!: What is your favorite city?
Aaron: Berkeley.
CB!: What would you say are the best places for pizza and burritos in the Bay Area?
Aaron: La Cumbre is, I think, the best burrito at $1.25 for rice and bean. Best pizza, that I don't know.
CB!: What is your favorite thing to drink?
Aaron: I like coffee and water and shitty beer and Berry Cisco and whiskey. This is what I drink, probably in that order.
CB!: What is your favorite food?
Aaron: 9 grain pancakes with walnuts and poppy seeds.
CB!: I know you don't drive, but if you owned a car what kind would it be?
Aaron: It would be one that I can live in that didn't run.
CB!: What is your favorite song of all time?
Aaron: "Stay Free" by the Clash.
CB!: So is all the out of print Crimpshrine going to be reissued?
Aaron: There will indeed be a reissued collection of various Crimpshrine stuff [Aaron is opposed to having the stuff stuff put out on CD so it'll only be reissued on vinyl.]
CB!: Who are the lyrics for the song "Summertime" about?
Aaron: They are about Jeff's friend's older sister.
CB!: In the song "Bricks" on the first Crimpshrine single there is a part of the song where the bass starts to play a riff from an A-Ha song. Was that intentional?
Aaron: Yeah, that was intentional, but we wouldn't have done it if we knew
it would've ended up on a record.
CB!: What is that strange sound on the song "Free Will"?
Aaron: The slurping noise on "Free Will" is an oriental percussion instrument.
CB!: Which Crimpshrine songs did you write the lyrics for?
Aaron: "Another Day", "Rearranged", "Tomorrow", "Butterflies", "Easy Answers", all 3 on the No Idea zine 7", most of the album, oh and "Pretty Mess". Jeff wrote "Summertime", "Situation", "Bricks", "Construction", and another third of all of our songs.
CB!: I used to be in a band a few years ago and now the guys that I was in that band with are in new bands. I know you are in a similar situation with Fifteen, and that people compare Fifteen to Crimpshrine and stuff. How does this stuff affect you?
Aaron: Your question about Fifteen is really interesting and something I've thought about a lot, but no one's ever asked before. It is strange. Mostly it is annoying, but even more annoying is that some of it is good. But what's missing for me, and people think I'm just going to be spiteful, but there's no sense of urgency, no spark for me like Crimpshrine had. Not that it was just me, mind you, that added that. I was part of it, and the combination of me and Jeff was the other part. I'd add a lot of lyrics and rhythm ideas that seem to be lacking in Fifteen. But mostly, listening to it makes me realize how much I hate him, and the religious references make me sick. On their own besides the religious stuff, they'd be pretty good, but the fact that everyone says it's "just like Crimpshrine" bums me out cuz it makes me thing they just didn't understand at all. It will be interesting once my new stuff starts coming out, I think people will understand more the different aspects that made up Crimpshrine and where they led to.
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COFFEEWHISKEYBEER
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415-648-PUNK(7865)(BBS now defunct)
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Coffee is a Psychedelic Drug.
Some people like their coffee black. Some people like it loaded up with sugar and cream. I like my coffee black when I'm drinking it with a meal, but usually I put whole milk in it.
On days that I don't have to work I usually eat a bunch of shit before I go to bed, then wake up at noon or 1 in the afternoon. When I wake up, my coffee maker has already made a full pot for me to drink. For the next 4-5 hours I go through cup after cup of coffee with milk in it. If I were to drink it black I wouldn't be getting any nutritional value out of the coffee and I'd have to eat sooner. That's the reason I use whole milk instead of skim or 2% so I can go as long as possible on my coffee buzz. It also cuts down on the gnawing acidic feeling in your stomach. You may not know the feeling I'm talking about, but if you've gone for an extended time not eating anything solid while drinking very strong coffee you do. This is why I say coffee is a psychedelic drug. Try it.
(oh, make sure you have something to work on, like a dirty apartment or a zine so you don't go crazy)
Other things to try: Put whiskey in your coffee (Reed swears by it)
Smoke pot then drink coffee (Try calls it a poor man's
speedball)
Put 1/4 cup of instant coffee in a mug, then add hot
water and milk and force it down (know as a Bonus Cup
in Descendents circles)
Let your coffee cook for a couple days till it's dark
and has the appropriate thickness.
Best Coffee Music: The Birthday Party - Hits
Nuisance - Confusion Hill
Johnny Cash - Live From Folsom Prison
Herb Alpert and Tijuana Brass - Any
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Complimentary Seasonings
curry powder*ginger*garlic*black pepper > vegatable stir frys
chili powder*basil*cumin*black pepper > chili, mexican dishes, bean dishes
basil*oregano*garlic*parsley > tomato, egg, cheese and fish dishes
cinnamon*nutmeg*ginger > hot beverages, sweet breads, fruit salad
caraway*dill weed*parsley*black pepper* > cabbage, carrots, potatoes, soups
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Police: Family killed dad because he was miserable (UPI) Boynton Beach, FLA -- Detectives said a man's family confessed they shot him to death because he was miserable and grouchy and spent most of his time on the couch watching television
Mary Grieco, 48, her 15-year-old daughter Ann, and the daughters boyfriend, Melvin Steele, 19, are charged with conspiracy and first degree murder in the death of Joe Grieco, 52. They are in the Palm Beach County jail pending a March Trial.
According to documents made public last week by the Palm Beach County State's attorney's Office, the family was under pressure from mounting debts.
Ann Grieco said her father was depressed and cranky all the time. She said her parents could not afford a divorce.
They spiked his chicken dinner with LSD and put cocaine in his wine, trying to prompt a heart attack. "We tried everything we could think of," Ann Grieco told police. Wife Mary crawled into bed with her snoring husband, clutching a pistol, and shot him in the left temple Aug 9, Police said.
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Mother who said teddy bear told her to kill found insane Camden, J.J. (AP) -- A woman who told psychiatrists her teddy bear ordered her to kill her three sons has been aquitted of attempted murder by reason of insanity. Doris Triplett, 31 had been charged with one count of attempted murder and three counts of aggrivated assault and child endangerment. Prosecutors say she tried to kill her youngest son, 7, by slashing his throat and her older sons, aged 10 and 14, by giving them overdoses of pills and cold medicine. She tried to kill herself after the April 24 attack on her youngest son, authorities said. Superior Court Judge Leon A. Wingate on Tuesday ruled that the woman was not guilty of the crimes by reason of insanity. He scheduled a Feb. 8th hearing to determine what treatment will be ordered.
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More Hours Less Pay Get Back To Work!
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"Big deal. Death comes with the territory. See you at Disneyland." - Serial Killer Richard Ramirez, after a jury sentenced him to death for the 13 "Nightstalker" murders in Los Angeles
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Interview with Poindexter Fortran avid coffee fan:
CB: For those REAL coffee drinkers, how do you go about making the PERFECT cup of coffee? How do you store your coffee? Do you buy the coffee beans and refrigerate them and only take out what you need, then grind it? Or do you buy it already ground?
One of the best ways to make coffee is in a press-pot (sometimes called a French press). It's a glass carafe that you put the coffee grounds into, add hot water, and wait a few minutes. There is a screen on the end of a plunger that you use to press the coffee to the bottom of the carafe. It does leave more sediment than a paper filter but doesn't add or take away any flavors. For storing coffee, the you should keep a few days worth in an airtight container at room temperature in a dark place. You can use a jar, Tupperware, or a ziplock bag. If you have more than a few days worth, you can store that in the freezer but you don't want to keep taking the coffee in and out of the freezer because moisture will condense on the coffee. If you have a grinder, you should grind the coffee yourself, right before you need it.
CB: For those REAL coffee drinkers, how do you go about making the PERFECT cup of coffee?
Use freshly ground coffee, 1 slightly rounded tablespoon per cup, and ice cold water in your machine.
CB: How do you store your coffee?
Unground and unrefrigerated in an air-tight container. Coffee, once ground, begins to lose some of its flavor. Refrigeration also makes the bean lose its flavor.
CB: Would you at any time, drink coffee that has been sitting on the burner for more than 30 minutes?
No way!!!! That is I why I use an Oster machine. With an Oster the coffee is kept hot in a thermo-caraffe. A few other machines now use such caraffes.
CB: For those REAL coffee drinkers, how do you go about making the PERFECT cup of coffee?
Peet's French Roast and Sumatra (60/40). Water from a Brita filter system. Paper filter. My beat up old Braun maker.
Kinda like sex in a cup.
--poindexter
Oster is just another brand name. I'm sure you heard of the Osterizer (blender). Anyway, Oster coffee machines work the same way as most others, except that instead of the coffee dripping from the filter into a regular glass caraffe on a heated plate, it drops into a thermo-caraffe (basically a large handled thermos.
The thermo caraffe does an excellent job keeping the coffee hot. I have drank coffee up to 24 hours after it was made with the Oster, and it was still piping hot.
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Lonely & Sad Texan Guy is selling T-shirts (home-made and nifty).
ALL PROCEEDS go to South Plains AIDS Resource Center.
God God God God AIDS sucks so bad. Write for a catalog.
Bill's shirt thing 4617 94th St. Lubbock, TX 79424
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Fun with Bill and Al and Me By Bill Dreamwhip
So, it was one of the goddamned BORINGEST fucken weeks i've ever spent ANYWHERE. GOD! If you gotta go to Little Rock, Arkansas, bring drugs. And THOSE barely helped.
Anyways, so i was taping the last few days of the governor's campaign for the h.q. staff 'cuz i have this goofy/rad pal from college who was unemployed and somehow managed to get a job on the clinton staff. Yawn. So, i'm spending days and days filming nasty political people answering their phones and saying 'Thank Yeeew' in these really cool, thick Arkansan accents. Oh, and i was drinking PLENTY of chocolate milk, which was a habit i thought i'd broken freshman yr. in college. God, choco-moo is so good. It has a form of algae in it...that's what makes it Rich and Thick and Yummy.
Oh, so i finally found a place that made a fucken good latte, so, as the Endless Days Passed, i'd spend more and more time there, drinking really good coffee and reading the local paper, and once sorta falling asleep at the table, which really made the waitress people sad and confused and even scared 'cuz it was a newish place, and wasn't sure yet if it was a "coffeehouse" or a "bistro," and didn't really know what to do about a kid in funny clothes with a week's stubble who hung out every day and all. I discovered in arkansas that i really do have some kinda dandruff problem (the problem is i start shedding skin when i neglect to shower for extended periods of time. ick.).
So, Election Day finally fucken came (the whole reason i didn't just up and go was cuz i wanted to see the Election Thing happen), and it was kinda raddish. Richard Dreyfus came by the grubby little h.q., and looked really fucken old and haggard and short. Then stuff got weird. See, i was hanging in this office place till clinton passed 270 electoral college votes, then i decided to wade into the HUGE horrible loud crowd that was out by the old statehouse, waiting for bill's acceptance speech. Anyway, so there's the podium in front, then the special section for the Elite/Empowered/Wealthy, then all these police barriers, then the general spectator gallery, and way out back was this Press Riser, like this big bleachers, with all these film crews on it. So my Press pal mananged to sneak me up onto the risers, and i was kinda looking out over this big ol' crowd. And it was cold as shit. And people had been waiting for hours and hours, listening to "Born in the USA" OVER AND OVER AND OVER. The atmosphere was getting kinda nasty. Then this choir starting singing, and people thought 'ah, at last.' but the choir went on and on, singing encore after encore of "America the beautiful," and sounding more nervous each rendition. So, anyways, after a while, i noticed in the spectator gallery in front of me there was some shoving. Pretty soon, like this whole block of people (mostly young arkansans who looked like the type who yell 'faggot' as an insult) were shoving around and yelling, like a giant mosh pit. It was INTENSE. and there was this poor newslady trying to give an on-the-scene telecast, and she was getting knocked around and looked really scared and all. Then, weird weird, i see these two guys in blue suits, and they shove thru. the crowd with these big neon-orange bags, which seemed strange. Then they opened 'em up and started pulling out fucken BILLY CLUBS, and tossing 'em to some of the cops who were on the sidelines. And then the cops move in with the clubs, and a few rush over to the press stand i was up on and started guarding the stairs up, and i'm thinking 'fuck, what if there's a RIOT at Bill Clinton's Victory party? Wow. It was surreal. And all this was happening in the weird, flat-white daylight glow of these giant spotlights they'd erected over the whole area. So, like, when you looked straight up, the sky was totally BLACK, but then your surroundings were lit up like daytime.
Anyways, that was pretty fucked. Then bill comes out and says blah blah blah, and comes back to the press stand and kisses me on the mouth, and i won't go into the rest for reasons of national security and all. Then i drove home thru. beautiful and cool north tx., and even went thru. PARIS, timmy, and passed by the big ass Campbell's Fortress. Wow. Soup IS Good Food.
Whew. So. Details details. And it's all so fucken interesting...
Oh yeah, i don't care if her hubbie's v.p., i still will NEVER forgive Tipper for that PMRC bullshit. Whatta fucken idiot. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reviews of stuff
Please send any records tapes or whatever you would like me to review to Cool Beans! 249 Duncan St, San Francisco 94131
BATMAN BRAND COLOGNE
I got a bottle of Batman brand cologne for christmas, I'd have to give it a thumbs down, smells too much like Brut. -FP
DEVO-LIVE the MONGOLOID Years CD *** Rykodisc Pickering Warf Bldg C, Salem, Mass 01970
Before all that silly Oh No It's Devo! and New Traditionalists stuff Devo were a seriously (well, maybe not SERIOUSLY) punk band! This CD is a compilation of 3 concerts from 1975, 1976, and 1977. It's amazing to hear this band back when they would be making so much noise, and provoking their audience into fights. It's pretty amazing to hear these guys when they were really crazy. I think this was before they decided they wanted to be "bigger than McDonalds". It's much more fun than Jerkin' Back and Forth anyway. -Matt
DIS-Ed Was Solace b/w Girl Song 7" ****1/2 12Inch Records Po Box Box 4083 Urbana, IL 61801
This was the first promo record I received so first I'd like to thank Rob of Dis for sending it to me. Second I'd like to say THANK YOU FOR SENDING IT TO ME! IT'S GREAT! If *I* were in a band, I'd want it to sound like THIS. My first impression was, "yeah, I hear some Slint in this" then "Yup, Albini sure produced this", then "Wow, this is great stuff!" It's slow, but powerful. Lots of thick guitar, but the effects aren't overdone. I can't wait to get DIS's CD which is also available on 12Inch Records. The only negative thing I really have to say about this single is that at times it suffers from hiss. I'm not sure if it's my pressing or if it's tape hiss from before the record was pressed. It doesn't really detract from the record though. -Matt
FOOD-cassette PO BOX 53832, Lubbock, TX 79453
This is a pretty special tape. It's got cool sometimes minimalistic, sometimes busy songs with interesting lyrics. It's lacking a track listing, but you can pretty much figure out which songs are which (like say the song about Gamera) and you may find yourself (like I did) putting this on when you can't really figure out what you want to listen to, then wake up in the middle of the night singing some of these songs about losing it. [see me as TV written by the singer/lyricist of FOOD]
f00de'
A good snack-type thing to do: get 4 Ritz crackers and a slice of American cheese. You split the cheese into 4 pieces and eat a piece with a cracker. See, it's pretty complicated, but each piece of cheese corresponds to a Ritz cracker. It'll make sense if you try it. Gosh. -Kevin
HAZEL-Jilted b/w Truly 7" **** Subpop Records
This band took me by surprise at the anti-flannel and grunge Subpop show in SF a couple months back. They were first on the bill (also on the bill Pond, Fastbacks and Velocity Girl) and didn't really catch my attention till I realized there was some guy with long hair just sort of wandering around on stage while the band ignored him as if he were invisible. He walked around mocking, but not touching the 3 musicians that comprised Hazel. Then occasionally he'd have a fit of some sort and start dancing. After watching him for a few minutes I found myself really enjoying Hazel's music. They did a full set of sorta poppy sorta grungey, very catchy songs. I was most impressed. So I grabbed this at Mod Lang took it home and it quickly became one of my favorite singles. The vocals are split between the male guitar player and the female drummer and together they harmonize wonderfully! Hazel has what so many other bands are lacking and could use. If I could put my finger on exactly what that is, I'd tell you. But instead I'll just tell you to go grab this single and look for future releases by Hazel on Subpop. -Matt
HOSPITAL FOOD
Subject : where am i? Here's my review of hospital food: it sucks, don't eat it. and even if you ask for 7up or whatever, they'll bring you caffeine-free, lemon-lime Shasta. and 1/2 a can at that. IV tape sucks, too, especially when they rip it off yer skin and all your arm-hai
ICE CREAM
Well, I have been sampling some of the new flavors, and the results are in: Haagen-Dasz Triple Brownie Overload:too similar to B&J's NY Super FudgeChunk. Haagen-Dasz Cappucino Commotion: interesting little number, pretty tasty. Ben and Jerry's Wild Maine Blueberry: this is a mistake, the blueberries are frozen and very weird. - Erik
LIQUID ALL
This really does remove stains. It removed some blood stains from my bed quite nicely. Don't ask me how they got there. (I know, but I'm not talking) -Troy
MOONSHAKE-Eva Luna CD ****1/2 too pure po box 1944 London NW10 5PJ
This album just BLEW me away. I picked up the 2nd Hand Clothes CD5 a few months earlier but I wasn't prepared for how powerful the rhythms and lyrics and samples and guitar were going to be on this! Moonshake alternate between a male singer and a more shoe-gazier sounding female singer. The drums march along in the background while layers and layers of guitar and samples tease and then smash the listener. This may be the album of the year for me. I don't know when and if it will be available domestically, but it's worth paying the high cost of an import. On a final note, while listening to this record for the first time I realized that my stereo speakers weren't set up in the right place. So I spent the next 1/2 hour figuring out where to put them so the Moonshake CD would sound it's very best. This record has ruled my life for months now. - Matt
MULE-CD ***1/2 Quarter Stick P.O. Box 25342 Chicago, IL 60625
You may know the rhythm section of this band as being the Rhythm section for the Laughing Hyenas. Along with a guy from a band called Wig (also from Michigan) this band plays a really tight and harsh combination of country and guitar rock. I much prefer Kevin and PW's voices over John Brannon's any day. I saw them play live at the Kennel Club a month or so ago and their live performance rates even higher on my scale than this record. There are two singles available too. I'm Hell and Tennessee Hustler. All Mule is recommended. Especially live. - Matt
NUISANCE-Confusion Hill CD ***1/2 Lookout! Records PO Box 11374 Berkeley, CA 94701
This isn't a new CD, as a matter of fact I think they have a new CD available this week. But I haven't picked that up yet. This, Like Mule also has a guitar rock, country feel to it. Nuisance kind of sound like a combination of Squirrel Bait and Loop. The only reason I compare them at all to Loop is because they do this sort of really repetitive rhythm thing that mutates and then suddenly changes tempo and suddenly it's like being jerked in several directions at once. The Squirrel Bait comparison is because other than the rhythm craziness, they sound a lot like SB. And that's GREAT! Again, Nuisance live is so much better than Nuisance in the studio, but this album is not a dissapointment at all. With topics like nicotine, broken vans, pot (they're from Humboldt County I believe) and of course girls (they are a Lookout! band after all..) they score big points. This album is far better than any of their compilation tracks or singles. Oh, and they don't sound ANYTHING like Green Day or Crimpshrine. - Matt
PAVEMENT-Westing (By Musket and Saxton) CD **** Drag City Records
This is the reissue of all the Pavement tracks that were released as singles and on compilations. I think it's all of them, but since I'm fairly new the Pavement groove, I won't try to sound like an authority. This is a record that came highly recommended from several people, and they were right. I've spent (woah...I'm writing this review and suddenly Pavement comes on the radio...COSMIC!) much of my time for the last few days listening to this CD over and over on random. These guys know what it means to make beautiful noise. The songs are simple, yet engaging and the noise is just right for my ears. It's wonderful.
A review of MY SURGERY:
Subject: groove on life...groove on VICODIN. Only about an hour spent on my tummy. huge wonderful electric shocks through my body, silly jokes made by mr. surgeon guy...interesting forms of pain. Only a not-so-strong local anesthetic. Wonderful!!! Love it tons. Got to see the tumor they removed afterwards--the LOVELIEST. only drawback: I couldn't keep my tumor. [they had to send it in to pathology.] but shit...and now i equal on nice superstrong vicodin., i'd give it an "A" Like stee, moanin ludlow. - Steve
Swirlies-****1/2 What to do About Them CDep
Imagine that Ride suddenly got a lot smoother and bassier. Imagine that My Bloody Valentine have singers you can actually hear because they are not buried in fuzz. Imagine that everything about what makes you like this kind of music was a rubber band and that you could pluck it and "real slow like" you could just be a rubber band with it..and you could both flex and bend and roll around. Ok, you're listening to the first Swirlies ep on Taang and you realize that you are enjoying this more than the major label fuzz bands...and they don't have the same budget..and they are amazing. Well, I think you'd better go buy it. Has more surface noise than any of my vinyl records. you'd better go buy it. - Matt
Swirlies- CDep** Taang! also...
Boy, what a let down. I was expecting this to just rule the whole world. But it didn't move me much at all. It's not nearly as cool as the first cdep thing. I guess they are getting to be better musicians or something, but really they just sound more like Sonic Youth. There is a little bit of Sebadoh influence evident here, but it doesn't quite work right. I dunno, what can I say? I'm just depressed cause my hopes were too high. It's not a bad record or anything, just not the god blow that I was hoping for. - Matt
[you may have noticed that I mostly only reviewed stuff I really liked. Well, this is the first issue and I had all the records ever released to choose from, so I decided to just focus on the ones released semi-recently that I've been listening to a lot.-Matt]
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Other Zines and stuff
No Duh! $2 to 2 Aldie St, Allston, Massechusetts
Mudflap $1 plus 2 29cent stamps to (new address again) 2629 19th st, SF, CA 94110
Mole $3 Box 5033, Herndon, VA 22070
Nice Slacks $3 PO box 476659, Chicago, IL, 60647
Shampoop $2 Blake c/o Matt 249 Duncan, SF, CA 94131
Dirty Plotte Comic $? Drawn and Quarterly 4550 Boyer St, Montreal,
Quebec, Canada H2J-3E4
Peepshow Comic $? Drawn And Quarterly
American Manure $1 (small but fun) PO box 20294, Oakland, CA 94620
Rollerderby $2.50 Lisa Carver c/o Seymour Glass, PO box 424762, SF, CA
94142
Meatcake/Darcy Megan $lots of money$ Meatcake c/o Tedium House same PO
box as Rollerderby
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You are the new coffee generation...