BFF

P.S. If you want a post card, send me your address. I might be cheap and wait til I get back to Georgia to send it, but maybe I'll get you one of those really pretty ones of Princess Di's head.

In that spirit... enjoy "My Head in Front of Your Head" by Best Friends Forever.

Jodie Foster's Army

I saw Loser Life last night which was pretty awesome... met Steven (who also plays in Contaminators, Human Mess, and Harpoon Guns) and their roadie, Javier, who's in Mr. Highway. Plus got a couple of their 7"s (they were all out of the Euro tour press of their new LP as it was their last date of a two month tour) and some sweet records from a couple random distros (two Sex Vid 7"s and the Bands Who Don't Give a Shit About Being God 7" comp). It was pretty different being at a show here. They seem to be way more into the screamo over here, and the kids didn't really dance or mosh or anything.

Anyway...

I don't really listen to that much '80s stuff, but I've been listening to a lot of JFA lately.

Jodie Foster's Army were skate punks from Phoenix Arizona. They released their first 7", Blatant Localism, on Placebo way back in July of '81. I first heard them circa middle school when they were on a Tony Hawk (video game) soundtrack. They've been popping up from time to time lately (for example on Pat from Apeshit!'s shirt at Fest), and I think they're some good summer jams.


Murray Bowles, MRR

Their name is pretty ridiculous (I'm a huge fan) and is a reference to John Hinckley, Jr.'s attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan. He was motivated by an obsession with Jodie Foster which started after he saw her in Taxi Driver. Hinckley later called the shooting "the greatest love offering in the history of the world." Yeah, so he was kind of nuts and was found not guilty by reason of insanity... that's where JFA's name comes from... "Jodie dear, for you I'll kill that louse."

The song that has their name is on Blatant Localism along with five others. This 7" was put on We Know You Suck, a comp put out by Alternative Tentacles which also had their first LP and some live and rare stuff.



They're actually still a band, which I think is kinda weird, but you can check them out over here.

JFA- Blatant Localism
Get We Know You Suck from Alternative Tentacles

The Conversions, girly shit, etc.

So the main reason for this post is really that I'm kind of OCD and can't handle the Shorebirds post without pictures... but also, I finished an exam today and enjoy rambling in general.

I've mentioned it already, but if you're in the Boston area, definitely check out the last Conversions show on August 2. I would definitely be there if I were within a few hours of the Democracy Center...

Saturday, August 2nd at the Zine Library (45 Mt. Auburn Street, Harvard Square, Cambridge), 6 pm

CONVERSIONS
BRAIN KILLER
LIFE PARTNERS
SCAPEGOAT

Last year at Record Hospital Fest:

by Candace

You can still get Prisoners' Invention from Level Plane on beautiful blue vinyl. Do it. I was listening to this getting hyped up for my exam this morning.

Here's one track: "Basement Escapism"

Other than that, been listening to Best Friends Forever, Pygmy Lush, & Coke Bust among others.

And Christa has joined on for Girly Shit!

Shorebirds

I have a roughly ten minute walk to and from class twice a day. During this time I've been listening to a lot of pop punk (what's new?) and straight forward punk & hardcore. I've been having a lot of fun listening to Shorebirds a lot. Their self-titled 7"- so good.

For those unfamiliar, Shorebirds include Matt Canino from Latterman and Chris Bauermeister from Jawbreaker. After Latterman broke up, Matt moved across country from Long Island to Olympia. Not surprising coming from these bands, this shit is incredibly catchy. Oh and they're super punk cause they don't have a myspace or anything (just ask Christa or Spoonboy).

They just announced that they broke up, which sucks.

"Shorebirds broke up. It was just time for it to not be a band anymore. However, we are still releasing the LP, which is now all finished up. It will be available as soon as it is done being pressed and such."

So be sure to look for that here soon.

"NO I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO NO I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO"

That's all for Shorebirds for now. Sorry this shit is bland without pictures, but I couldn't really find a good one and didn't want to post something blurry. Feel free to send me one.

Shorebirds- self-titled 7"

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Unrelated, but these are some things I've been digging lately or am excited for.

Libyans
They're probably my favorite Boston band right now (especially with the demise of the Conversions & Social Circkle). They've got a 12" EP coming out at the end of August and a tour to go with it.

Barn Owl
More Not Not Fun music that's just really pretty. I've had some experiences lately where drone/psych stuff has made them way more in tune/enjoyable. One was sitting in the park outside St. Patrick's in Dublin this past weekend while listening to this. Get From Our Mouths a Perpetual Light here.

Off With Their Heads
New LP out now on No Idea. I haven't heard it yet, but rad punk out Minneapolis.

The Two Funerals
I mentioned it before, but 7" (their first vinyl release!) out soon.

Loser Life
I'm excited to see this show with Meg on Sunday. Hoping to get a European tour copy of their new LP.
Plus pub crawl the night before...
me: how many pubs do you think is a good # for a pub crawl?
Megan: until we have to crawl
that number

Career Suicide
Next week at the Grosvenor (August 2).

Wish I could go to...
Boredoms 88- Foot Village are playing as part of this on August 8th at the La Brea Tar Pits.

Last Conversions show

Redwing Blackbird tour

Girly Shit
Jess has joined on too, and some fliers now on the myspace. Excited to start booking shows.

Turboslut

photos by erik gamlem

Katy Otto posted some Exotic Fever news a few days ago on VLV:

"In December, Exotic Fever will release a split lp of two DC-area bands that inspire and captivate me – Turboslut www.turboslut.org and Pygmylush. It is one of the most exciting projects I have ever worked on and means a lot to me. These bands play together often. Turboslut will be touring in October. Stay tuned!"

Turboslut are a band from DC who played their first show last October. They've played with a lot of really rad bands (RH Fest favorite ¡Apeshit!, Des Ark, Pink Razors, the aforementioned Pygmy Lush, New Bloods, TTF, etc.) and have a demo out. You can get the songs on their website (or I have it nicely zipped below) and can order it from them by emailing turboslutsavedmylife@gmail.com.



A description from their website:

"from the ashes of chugga chugga, haymarket, worm talk, conglomo, monsters, flat tummy, and roblatz…dc grunge punker chix destroy you"

Some dedication...




They've been playing a ton of shows in the DC area, and I'm hoping they'll come up to the Boston area when they tour in October. They also have a lot of DC area shows soon so check 'em out (I haven't actually seen 'em yet). I think one of them lives at the Girl Cave.

day two of dna test fest!
SATURDAY JULY 26, 2008 - in MD @ WMUC (3130 S Campus Dining Hall, College Park, MD 20742-8431) with HOMEBLITZ, NOCNITSA, COPIER, LOCRIAN, VIOLET, HOMOSTUPIDS, and Y-DI. 6pm.

dc area mania
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 20, 2008 - in Arlington, VA @ Kansas House with THE SHUDDERS.

FRIDAY AUGUST 29, 2008 - in DC @ the Girl Cave with SALOME, RED THREAD, MEADOWS, and MOON BALLOON & HIS UNEARTHLY ADVENTURES. 7pm 6bux.

a benefit for off our backs
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 7, 2008 - in DC @ TBA.

phase fest!
SEPTEMBER 10-13, 2008 - in DC @ Phase One! Washington, D.C.’s queer music festival. More info here: phasefest.com


On a semi-related note to the touring, the whole booking deal is proceeding... We now have an email address (girlyshtcambridge@gmail.com) and a myspace (cause we're really legit). That's not really up & running, but friend us anyway. I would have made a snazzy picture or something, but my photoshop doesn't work off campus nor do I have a scanner.

Turboslut- Order of the Turboslut

Screeching Weasel

I think I've encountered a more concentration population of bros than perhaps ever before. This seems odd as I'm in the UK, but there are a ton of Americans in my program, especially in my dorm. There are also way more guys than girls- not sure of the percentages, but on my little hall of five rooms or so, I'm the only girl. I generally try to avoid bros in high doses, but sometimes it seems unavoidable. One bad incident was this past Friday night with a particularly drunk & sexist dude. I'm not going to go into the details (especially to spare anyone I've talked to lately because I've probably ranted about it), but I was certainly not amused. I've more or less cut myself off socially from my program which is probably not a good thing, but whatever. An English friend of mine is going to be in town for a couple days this week, and I'm going to Dublin this weekend. I'll have some visitors the following weekend too. (Not everyone here actually sucks.)

Anyway, getting to the point, I generally hate when asshole guys make sexist and/or homophobic comments. They can't really get away with joking about shit either. I find Screeching Weasel to fall outside of this category... they can use sarcasm to pull shit off without being one of the other highly irritating pop punk acts I listened to in high school (maybe not in your opinion, but in mine). Plus they're not asshole bros.



I started listening to Screeching Weasel when I was "really into" pop punk in middle school, but most of the bands I listened to were painfully bad. When I was too cool for that shit in high school, I took a break from the Weasel, but it's been back in my regular rotation for some time now.

Evidence: a gchat from several months ago with Evan:

Evan: I WANNA TELL YOU WHAT'S ON MY MIND
AND I WANNA BILL YOU FOR WASTED TIME
i'm addicted to the weasel right now
me: so good
I need to burn the archived CDs that I don't have
Evan: for sure
i'm getting super hard into a lot of early hardcore, punk, and pop-punk records lately for some reason
it's like, descendents? check. black flag? cheeeeeeeeck. misfits? quite check. screeching weasel? get at me.

Also, I love all the Boston punks with Weasel stuff sewn onto their hoodies.

Pervo Devo was one of their earliest 7"s and has their usual sarcasm. While a lot of overly sarcastic pop punk is just stupid, SW manages to bring that along with some very clever comments. The first song is "I Wanna Be a Homosexual," which is pretty self-explanatory. The second, "She's Giving Me the Creeps," talks about a girl whose "hippie bullshit" is giving him the creeps... "She says her armpits are harry cause it's natural, so why does she shave her head?"



It was their second 7" after Punkhouse (which Milli, if you're reading this, was going to be on your tape before that ate shit & died). It came out with Ben Weasel's sex-themed zine and was released by a label (Shred of Dignity) which later became Outpunk.

So this may seem a lot different than a lot of the stuff I normally post (i.e. queer people or women talking about related issues). I embrace Screeching Weasel's humor though. You're welcome to disagree or dislike them just because a lot of people think they're annoying. Feel free to comment with thoughts in general, if this pisses you off, whatever. (This goes for in general too; this doesn't have to be a one-way conversation. You can set it up so it'll email you back when there's more comments too.)

Other than that, ordered the new Off With Their Heads from No Idea; some Pocahaunted cassette went for over $100 on ebay (kind of like the Vivian Girls LP)-- I don't get people; excited to see Loser Life next weekend with a bunch of other bands. Also, Meg, KJ, & I are going to start booking shows when we get back in the fall- more details to come. And hooray for procrastination on my test tomorrow. Oh yeah, and I got myspace again because I'm lame and sometimes need to professionally stalk/comment outside of the RH myspace. Hunt me down.
And sorry if you don't actually know me, and you've increasingly had to read my rants or just scroll more to avoid them.

Screeching Weasel- Pervo Devo

Loser Life flier:


And last Conversions show!

Redwing Blackbird tour + Ampere covers

Redwing Blackbird are doing a short northeast tour pretty soon. Check them out if you're in the area. More info at their myspace.


Summer tour poster

July 22: Strange Maine, Portland, Maine
July 23: Abbey Lounge, Somerville, Massachusetts
July 24: TBA, Amherst, Massachusetts
July 25: Capital District Federation of Ideas, Albany, New York
July 26: Koinonia, Plattsburgh, New York
July 27: Radio Bean, Burlington, Vermont
July 28: Reynold’s Hall, Peterborough, New Hampshire

I've been listening to their Ampere covers a lot lately since Rios posted it over at Cookie Cutter.

Rios: all those covers are pretty great
then i listen to the ampere songs and im like "oh thats what you are saying"

They put out that three-song tape for their fall tour last year I think. I'm not sure if you can still get it, but you can find their CD at their myspace.

Redwing Blackbird- Ampere Covers
Ampere- Original versions

Ordination of Aaron

Perhaps it's all the rain in London, being lonely in a new city, or just my love of '90s emo in general, but I've been listening to a lot of Ordination of Aaron lately.



Ordination of Aaron were an emo band from Kalmazoo, Michigan, during the mid '90s (1993-95). I think I first heard them on their split with Indian Summer- "Battle of Tippecanoe" is a great song. In addition to that split they released a couple 7"s, an LP, and participated on a few comps. They played shows with a ton of other awesome '90s hardcore bands (seriously, if you look at old fliers on this myspace page, it reads like a who's who).

Arcade Kahca compiled their discography on vinyl & CD a while back. Tough at times, pretty all the time. Members went on to be in Broken Hearts are Blue, Daredevil, and the M's.

Ordination of Aaron- Completed Works

The Two Funerals + Phantom Pregnancies

So the riot grrrl carnival was kind of a bust... Great idea, but most of the bands were pretty mediocre or bad. Oh well.

If I were doing one and distance & other factors were no object, I'd want to get the Two Funerals. I'm not gonna post any tracks or a whole album for various reasons (mostly that I think one of the girls is in tweegrrlshare), but check them out. Awesome girl punk outta VA. They don't seem to play shows that often- I think they all go to different schools down there or something. And if they do play shows, they seem to be mostly in Virginia or the DC area. I'd like to get 'em up in Boston at some point. Anyway, they've got a 7" coming out soon on the Cottage Records. That's TTF in the pic (not some random band from the carnival).

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On a not-so-related note, I'm in London now for the next six weeks-ish, so I figured I'd post something from that general area. I don't know too much about Phantom Pregnancies, and I don't have any of my records with me to look at liner notes. Karen from Huggy Bear started the band. I like them a lot more than Huggy Bear though (I've never gotten that into them). Anyway, I know that they released at least one 7" (which I found at Amoeba recently), a split with the Imperials, and an LP (Assassination City on Damaged Goods). Dim Mak released an LP comp of some of this stuff circa 2003 called The Compilation That Could Have Been a Contender. Super fuzzy, super fun.

If anyone knows any good girl bands from London or wants to fill me in on DIY shows here, holla.

Phantom Pregnancies- The Compilation That Could Have Been a Contender

Baader Brains + more

In the spirit of Fourth of July, I figured I'd post some Baader Brains. Nothing screams patriotism like "We must fight day and night to destroy the United States of America."



More brilliance (and samples of course) from the always elusive Mike Kirsch (Please Inform the Captain This Is a Hijack, John Henry West, etc. etc.). This came out this past winter on Clean Plate and Waking Records. Fucking solid.

This shit is worth it just for the album art and liner notes. Oh and the incredible music.

Baader Brains played a show pretty recently with Ampere and some others (I think maybe Punch) at Gilman Street in Berkeley recently- must have been epic.

Baader Brains- The Complete Unfinished Works of the Young Tigers
Get it from Clean Plate

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In other news, the new issue of Give Me Back is out now; get it here.

And, Riot Grrrl Independence Day Carnival from 6 pm to midnight at the Smell on the 4th- a benefit for the Downtown Women's Center. Bruise Violet, the Pristines, Las Sangronas Y El Cabron, Motormouth Maybelles, Mermaid, No Ma'am, HOTTUB!, Sasha And the Shamrocks, All Neon Like, Zombelle, Anus Kings, the Loner Rebels, and more. Get amped yo!