Ted Leo + the Pharmacists "Live in MI '07"

Get Your Rocks Off

First off, let me try and quickly explain why I haven't made a post in a few days. I said I would be back Friday, but I had work and didn't do it after (6am). Saturday I went to Warped Tour, saw Bad Religion. Later I ate chicken and drank beer, standing in a parking lot with a circle of my friends who are from here and not on the Warped Tour. Great. Anyway, Sunday-Tuesday was spent bro-ing the fuck out with The Snips (Toronto) & We Are The Union (Michigan) (on tour now!!). Expect to see something on here from both of them. Here's your awesome free shit.

Ted fuckin' Leo, man. "Shake the Sheets" is one of those albums that makes the sunniest day seem brighter and makes any lengthy drive fun. It will prevent you from putting your pants on if you listen to it while getting dressed. He tours like a madman. In fact, he's playing a FREE show in New York City this Thursday. Here's a live set from April 2007 at The Magic Stick in Detroit, MI.

Download Here

I'm not gonna say when you'll get more music, but I'll be uploading music from my own collection soon. Suggestions are encouraged!!

Chotto Ghetto "Rampage"/"Walk is Godlike"

A Little Ghetto, A Lotta Awesome

(from l to r) Jody Giachello(d), Fletcher Alliston(b), Chris Candy(v) and Chris Shilakes(g)
www.ChottoGhetto.com

I'm posting the two Chotto Ghetto EPs that are on Quote Unquote Records because the last one was Fishbone and Chotto Ghetto are highly influenced by them. Also, in the liner notes to "Walk is Godlike" you can find this "Chotto Ghetto got to play with Fishbone....YAY!". I can go on & on about how awesome the dudes in Chotto Ghetto are, but I'd rather focus on their music.

RAMPAGE

Released April 2007
Download Here

"Rhythmic Violence" really jumps out at you. It's kind of like Refused but not like those bands that try to sound like Refused. Okay, that might be the reefer talking. The keyboard/sick metal riff on "Emergency" can get stuck in your head for a while, don't say I didn't warn you. "Holy Wars" is in a word, "Triumphant".

"I'll take a front for another uproar, I do not care to disrespect you."

And then there's "Sodium Penthanol: Truth Serum". Although he's not playing on this recording, drummer Jody Giachello tears this fucking song to shreds live. It's great, they're great, this EP is great.

WALK IS GODLIKE

Released April 15th, 2009
Download Here

This album is just about twice as long as "Rampage", but the songs are a lot faster. I don't mean that in a bad way at all. The record is quick, and the songs are very direct. The jam at the end of "Liquid Diamond Lipstick" is in two words, "the shit". Don't worry, much like "Rampage", this album has another triumphant track, "Tattooed Holidays". Jody's entrance into the band really comes through on this record. The changes in "Tattooed Holidays" are that of a highly skilled DJ. For real.

All in all, I would say that "Rampage" has kind of a Glassjaw vibe, and that "Walk is Godlike" has kind of a Faith No More vibe. So that's how I see them progressing musically. They just fucking played with The Adolescents and they're playing with Mike Watt's band on Friday. Sick d00ds. Time for fatty foods and sleep. Next post Friday?

Fishbone is Red Hot!

A Quick One for Today

Fishbone is by far, the most underrated band I can think of. They are also, one of the three best live acts I've ever seen (The Beastie Boys and Jimmy Cliff are the other 2). If you have not seen Fishbone live, what the heck is wrong with you dummy? They still tour pretty often and have been around for 30 YEARS! In fact, they'll be playing on a boat in the New York Harbor on August 15th. Maybe you'll catch my drunk land-loving ass there.

Here is a great live album taped in Lyon, France from 1989. The setlist is a great mix of the best of "the early stuff": Self-Titled EP, In Your Face and Truth & Soul. To sweeten the deal, the album and many, many others are 100% legal thanks to the folks at Archive.org

Here is the setlist:

1. I Got a Fish
2. Skankin' to the Beat
3. Question of Life
4. Lyin' Ass Bitch
5. Ugly
6. Freddie's Dead
7. Cholly (Gonna Have a Good Time Jam)
8. Pouring Rain
9. Slow Bus Movin' (Howard Beach Party)
10. Give it Up
11. Deep Inside
12. Bonin' in the Boneyard
13. One Day
14. Ma & Pa
15. Ghetto Soundwave
16. Subliminal Fascism
17. "Simon Says" The Kingpin
18. Party At Ground Zero
19. Hide Behind my Glasses
20. Fishbone is Red Hot
21. Change

Download the album here

FOLLOW UP: The Classics of Love / Bomb the Music Industry show was apparently crazy stupid sick. Guess who wasn't there? This guy. Guess what this guy missed? Classics of Love covering "The Crowd".

Bomb the Music Industry's van took a shit. So did We Are The Union's go to their shows & buy shit. Stuck Lucky is also on tour, but their van seems to work. LATER DUDES<3>

No Go on the Show

Hey, Jealousy

I ordered Classics of Love's "Walking in Shadows EP" from Asian Man Records a few weeks ago. I got a clear 12" and a CD for $10. You should do the same. It's real good. "No Return" is my favorite.

"It always seems like, by the time the hit the lights
You'll find a way to drag yourself back home."

More importantly, this show happened tonight:

Nickel City is.. you guessed it, an arcade that has shows in the "Party Room" which is pretty appropriate. Most of the games are new and take like 5 or 6 quarters but the rest are old awesome ones that are free. Bomb the Music Industry, Classics of Love & Laura Stevenson at an arcade on a Saturday Night? Sucks to be me and anyone else who gives a shit.

For us, there is the Walking in Shadows EP. It's available at asianmanrecords.com. Also, if you're interested in Jesse's previous band Common Rider but haven't heard them yet, MusicRuinedMyLife posted the Lookout Records 7", "Am I On My Own?".

Download the record here.

This is my favorite release from Common Rider, featuring Billie Joe Armstrong filling out the band alongside Mass Giorgini and Dan Lumley (of Screeching Weasel) all backing Jesse Michaels. It's a very high-energy record that is not quite "This is Unity Music" but definitely not "Last Wave Rockers" (both available from Hopeless Records or somewhere like Amazon or iTunes)

Today my father is getting married and I have to make a toast. This means: 1. I cannot drink until I black out like I did at my Mother's second wedding, when they "lost me" for a while and surfaced in the ladies room hugging the toilet. and B. I have to talk to my entire family, my future Step-Mother's family, and anyone else there about God-knows-what. The only stories I have to tell are about the time I met her, and that one about my mother's wedding. She came to a show I had played, and I was running around the stage in my underwear. My band finished our set, and I changed into a Beret and striped shirt, Sharpie mustache and all. It wasn't until I had changed into the Frenchmen outfit that I had actually met her. So that's what I'm going to say. Then and only then will I be able to drink my face off and wind up in the ladies room. Night-Night!!

The Best Gets Better!

It's kind of like when they came out with Super Nintendo.

The Coventry Automatics!

thx marcoonthebass

Jerry Dammers (keyboards), Horace Panter (bass), Lynval Golding (guitar), Silverton Hutchison (drums) Roddy Byers (guitar) & Terry Hall (vocals)

1. Wake Up
2. Nite Klub/Raquel
3. Rock & Roll Nightmare
4. Look But Don't Touch
5. Concrete Jungle
6. It's Up to You
7. Stupid Marriage
8. Blank Expression
9. Too Much Too Young
10. Little Bitch
11. (Dawning of A) New Era
12. Jay Walker
    

So tonight I finally found this album on a ska related blog which makes me feel kinda dumb for not looking for one in the first place. My love for The Specials began when I first got The Singles Collection.
I was returning a Reel Big Fish cd I already had that I was given as a gift. I saw 7 dudes and checkerboard on the cover so I said "Fuck It!" and exchanged it. That's all it took to get me in the mood back then: Checkerboard and at least a half-dozen well-dressed men. Anyway, I was aware of The Coventry Automatics, but never heard their album before. So to me, this is a re-birth of my favorite band (a "Dawning of a New Era" seemed a bit too tacky). It's like if Led Zeppelin had recorded all of Metallica's songs 15 years before they had, and Tom Malinowski JUST found out about this yesterday. Tom Malinowska would cream his trousers.
As The Specials, Jerry Dammers, Terry Hall and the others blew away audiences worldwide with their intense live show and incredible music. I am too young to have ever seen this lineup and probably never will. Jerry Dammers refuses to perform as part of any Reunion so far. There is talk of dates in the US and so I'll wait.. and wait.. and wait. Until then, I'll enjoy these older (but new to me) recordings of Specials hits by The Coventry Automatics. Check out the album here!