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).

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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!

Heavenly vs. Satan

I've been back home for a few days and have encountered/noticed some good & bad things...

Good: Raiding the Amoeba 7" bins... some choice finds include the Tokidoki 7", the Rodan 7", Pink Razors LP, an old X 7", a couple Brenda Lee 7"s (I've been listening to "Dum Dum" over & over, & others. Plus I met Juan from Abe Vigoda when checking out- nice dude.
Bad: Spending too much money there.
Good: I realized I'll be able to sell back a lot of my old CDs to more than make up for that deficit.

Good: Seeing Abe Vigoda at the Smell a couple nights ago and No Age at the Getty tonight.

Bad: Having to deal with LA hipsters and all of their contrived bullshit.

Bad: Having to pick up some Glee Clubbers that are staying at my house in Pasadena yesterday and having them be an hour late.
Good: Getting to frighten them with Baader Brains.

Good: Free/yummy/easily accessible food.

Good: Driving down Sunset on my way home from Matt's listening to Heavenly vs. Satan.



Heavenly Vs. Satan is my favorite Heavenly album. Their first album, it was originally issued as Sarah Records 603- I found this online a couple months ago (which I was very excited about, obviously). K reissued it several years ago (2001 I think) adding some extra tracks from early 7"s.

Heavenly was basically Talulah Gosh part two. Amelia & Mathew were quite a team. Thank you England. I found Amelia's work email & address recently (she's an economist these days, and sort of was too in the days of Heavenly), and I kind of want to write her a letter to say thanks for making lovely music.

Anyway, this album has some of my favorite Heavenly songs, especially "Cool Guitar Boy." I'm posting the K reissue version.

Heavenly Vs. Satan
Buy the reissue from K

Libyans

I went to the Ratscellar last Monday with Christa & David to see Blank Stare (who seems to have a new LP out on Refuse Records), Total Abuse, Tipper's Gore, & others. Liz Libyans was there, and I was happy to see her laughing at the stupid slamdancing boys. My thoughts exactly. Blank Stare was definitely my favorite of the night. The drummer from Social Circkle (can't remember his name right now) is in it, and he's great.

Anyway, I missed out on the last Libyans show because the Ratscellar was temporarily closed down and the show was moved to Midway Cafe which is 21+. They were going to have a show on the 26th but were having trouble finding a space. Liz said they were going to combine in with a Western Mass show, but it's no longer listed on their myspace, so I guess it's not happening. Not that I'm in the area anymore anyway. I guess I'll have to wait until the fall. They're touring then also.


Picture from Fest '08 from Christa.

I really like their 7", and they're always fun live. I came across their demo from last year online recently. It's got some of the same songs from the 7" (no "Weclome to the Neighborhood" though), plus a few more. I think they've got another record coming out but can't really find any info on it. Check out the demo though.

Libyans- Demo '07
Get their Welcome to the Neighborhood 7"

Pocahaunted + Robedoor pics

Apologies for the lack of updates. Things got a bit crazy my last week in Cambridge, but just arrived back home.

Everything came together really well for the Robedoor/Pocahaunted show. Eric brought an amp (thanks) and managed to sneak into Lowell to grab a few from there as well. And my self-taught PA skills sufficed. Thanks to everyone who showed up/helped out. Special thanks to Alex for letting us use the Advo, Dan for the band room key, Ben for his help with the band room, Shirley for the drums she left behind (not sure if you knew I grabbed some of those for the show), and more, I'm sure.

It was nice to finally meet Britt after emailing with him for months. Everyone was super nice, and the sets were great. Plus, free records!! Anyway, for some pictures...

Robedoor setting up (Alex & Britt)


About to get started






Amanda looks on














The crowd


Setting up for Pocahaunted








P'Haunted gets started




















more music to come soon...

June 22 at the Advocate: Pocahaunted + Robedoor

Pocahaunted & Robedoor are departing for their East Coast tour very soon. They'll be playing in Cambridge at the Advocate (21 South Street, Harvard Square) on June 22. Doors around 8:30. Get excited! More dates:

June 20: Less Artists More Condos, Brooklyn, NY (with Woods, Ponytail, & Pink Reason)
June 21: House show, New Brunswick, NJ (with Woods Family Creeps & Car Commercials)
June 22: The Advocate, Cambridge, MA
June 23: TBA, Northampton, MA
June 24: The Stairwell Gallery, Providence, RI (with Woods Family Creeps)
June 25: Cakeshop, Manhattan, NY (Pocahaunted only with Indian Jewelry)
June 26: Upstate Artists Guild, Albany, NY (with Thurston Moore + Bill Nace & Century Plants)
June 27: 66 Hope Street, Brooklyn, NY (with Woods Family Creeps & Religious Knives)
June 28: Adventure Island, Philadelphia, PA (with Woods Family Creeps & Weyes Bluhd)
June 29: Scarey Studios, Baltimore, MD (with Woods Family Creeps, Religious Knives, & Lexie Mountain Boys)

More info at Pocahaunted's myspace.

The two bands frequently work together; one example is Hunted Gathering.



From Digitalis:

"There's a savage battle raging in the hallowed streets of Los Angeles, being fought by prehistoric megaliths spewing lava from their mouths. These acid-tongued shamans are interested in one thing and one thing only, and that's to raze this city to the ground. Okay, perhaps it's not so apocalyptic, but hot off the heels of opening for Sonic Youth, dirt worshipers Robedoor and their native sisters Pocahaunted have unleashed an army for the ages with "Hunted Gathering." Drones painted with black holes collapse under their own weight while the archangelic voices of Pocahaunted birth a brand new world of spirit decay.

"Hunted Gathering" is both a split release and a collaboration. Each band offers up their own malfeasance while collaborating on the epic final eponymous track. The union of these two groups is a natural combination. Two members are married and run the Not Not Fun label together and they share amps and practice space, for example. But there's also something about both that is visceral and raw. Robedoor's subsonic doom is washed down with a smooth chaser of Pocahaunted's reverberating soul sounds.

Recorded by the inimitable Bobb Bruno at the NNF/Bored Fortress studio space across many moons in 2007 and mastered by Yellow Swans' Pete Swanson, "Hunted Gathering" is an essential feast for fans of doom-infused drones and Stevie Nicks. These hunting & gathering songs from the Eagle Rock air also feature appearances by the aforementioned Bruno as well as Changeling mastermind, Roy Tatum.

Climb the totem pole and let these mutant beasts put you under their psychosis spell. "Hunted Gathering" is full of antiquated sounds soaked in electric mud. Robedoor and Pocahaunted are your brothers and sisters in conjuring and the gatekeepers to a lost universe of sonic enchantment."

Come to the show in Harvard Square-- better yet, help out (just get in touch with me). Or go see them, wherever you may be.

Pocahaunted + Robedoor- Hunted Gathering
Buy it from Not Not Fun

Hey Girl!

I've been listening to Hey Girl! for a while now, but my interest was sort of resparked when I read last summer's issue of Give Me Back last week- Katy Otto (who runs Exotic Fever and has played in bands like Del Cielo) sent us the summer & winter 2007 zines along with some EF records a few weeks ago (she helps put out GMB). The new issue should be coming out soon.



Back to Hey Girl! though... Hailing from San Francisco, Rashida, Rosie, & Naomi play dirty girl-punk. In their interview in GMB, they said they started a band because they decided Minor Section (a girl gang at SF punk shows) had to have a band... I wish we had that here-- a solid girl gang at shows & more girl-bands.

They put out their Spill Your Guts LP last May on Thrillhouse Records. Ten songs in under fourteen minutes. And one is a cover of "Always Be My Baby."



Listen to this and check out Give Me Back! Talk about gender & punk rock!

Hey Girl!- Spill Your Guts
Buy it from Thrillhouse

Apparently, we're just one degree apart as Rosie went to high school with Seph.