We Will Cock You

 

I pretty much gave up on the Revolting Cocks with their banal Linger Ficken' Good which was simply too retarded and disjointed to pretend to like. Coming off like a "worst hits" of everything that was hanging around the studio after Al finished Psalm 69, LFG would have been completely forgotten if not for the lazy Rod Stewart cover and slavishly milking the Nirvana-driven William Burroughs beatnik renaissance the media world was jerking off to. And, to be honest, Beers, Steers + Qveers wasn't that good to begin with as well. OK then. With that bitter ramble off my chest, I only recently discovered RevCo (their hip new-millenium moniker) actually got back together, thankfully sans Chris Connelly whose brit-dancepop influence I have always absolutely hated on any Jourgensen projects. Honestly, Cocked And Loaded sounds way more like a classic Ministry album then anything else out there today. It's still terribly manic and over-programmed but every song fucking rocks and there is a refreshing sense of humor about it all (which is maybe all the 'Cocks were s'posed to be when juxtaposed against the über-political Ministry). Some of the usual suspects show up (Biafra and Haynes) but there are supposedly appearances from ZZ Top and Cheap Trick on this record as well. You'd never be able to tell - for all I know that was legal's way of clearing guitar samples. Even still, a solid 55 minutes of industrial metal from the guy who invented the genre, reinvented a dead side project and is still going strong today. 

Purple Head

Still Wanted Dead Or Alive

A real hidden treasure from hip-hop's golden era, Kool G. Rap's sadly underrated Live And Let Die is significantly more akin to the West Coast style dominating the scene at the time than Rap's previous LPs. It comes as no surprise with Sir Jinx producing that Ice Cube managed to stumble into the studio for a few lyrics as do Geto Boys Scarface and Bushwick Bill. Labelmate Big Daddy Kane shows up as well. Some of the songs are a little akin to the fast-paced stuff Cube did on AmeriKKKA's but there are enough slow bass-heavy tunes (sounding much like Scarface's Rap-A-Lot debut) to keep it fresh. And his ode to cock-blocking is fucking hilarious. It's unfortunate that Warner Bros. balked at the record cover and eventually refused the LP's distribution (the bad taste of Body Count still in everyone's mouth) - Live And Let Die never had a chance at the recognition it deserved. Kool G. Rap has stayed on the scene since and has enjoyed a respectable (and respected) career but this is easily my favorite record of his - enjoy.

Kool Genius

Straight Outta Drummondville

Wow, give it up to fucking Québec people. The best French screamo nonsense from Canada since Despised Icon decided they wanted to quit and "raise families". Good for them. Back here on planet Earth I was happy to stumble upon the first LP from fellow countrymen Politess. Way less harmonic-heavy deathcore and much more screaming hardcore this record reminds me a lot more of what Eighteen Visions was trying to do back in the day. It drags at times but it's still the best heavy shit I've heard this week. Gotta love the saxophone overdubs as well - shades of Siege. Check 'em on bandcamp and enjoy.

Never Going Back To Wawa

Do It Like An Instrumental

Look, when it comes down to it, there's little I can write to further extol the greatness of the Geto Boys' Def American release. I came across these instrumentals of "Fuck 'Em" and "Do It Like A G.O." the other day and have been listening to them non-stop. Evidently the cuts existed as a 12" vinyl-only release back in 1990 but I'm pretty sure these were culled together from the original record samples by someone with a LOT more Audacity dexterity then me. A complaint? I just wish there was an instrumental version of the whole album. Enjoy. 

Like A Cardiac

Faith

Straight outta Finland comes another incredible slab of vinyl from some nameless four-piece playing the most desperate doomcore sludge. Regardless of what that says about my internet searches (or basic musical tastes in general), Usko has been on my playlist radar for the last couple years after their solid debut Kuusi LP which was admittedly a tad more dronish (think Loinen... Stumm... yeah you get it) than this 2013 single which mainlines the meth, turns up the gain and elevates the tempo to a resounding 4/4 with excellent results. Some powerviolence influences in there as well - it's an enjoyable 10-minute fix.

Golden Hill

Blues Man

A week late, I know. While I grew up vaguely familiar with B.B. King's oldies radio hits, I never actually listened to an album of his until way into the 90's. A co-worker/dope dealer friend of mine who was in retrospect a clear-as-day bad fucking seed surprised me one afternoon by dropping this CD on the boom box and insisting I teach him how to play a few of the riffs on guitar in exchange for some cheaply cut blow. I bit. What actually occurred that afternoon was us getting high as fucking kites while listening repeatedly to the wah-wah grooves of "Everybody Lies A Little" for ten hours. To this day I can't get that song out of my head and my buddy still can't play a lick of guitar. Rest in peace Mr. King.

The thrill is not gone...

Broken Lung II

Is there really anything more to say other than this band is without a doubt the second incarnation of Abominable Iron Sloth? While there are some subtle differences (mainly in the vocals), I can't help but be reminded of "I Am Your Carcass" while listening to this excellent slab of sludgecore. Pounding, sluggish downtuned metal to destroy. There are some slight stoner/Southern sludge-esque influences, especially in "There Was A Bloodbath" and "Take Back The Hive" to keep it interesting but make no mistake, this is textbook chugging riffage here. For those who care, the band is busy putting finishing touches on their second album (preview track here) and I posted a couple demo tracks from this LP a few years ago. Enjoy.

A Grudge In The Key Of Sludge

The Dude abides...

Awesome record from Detroit one-man musical extraordinaire Dude. Shit, this motherfucker flies solo, dig? You only wish your home-grown 4-track recordings could lick the guava like this fucking guy. If you haven't realized, I was pleasantly surprised by Dude's amazing debut of which I stumbled upon after many drunken hours surveying the tripe on bandcamp. Influenced by a myriad of bands ranging from the Beatles to the Bee Gees (c'mon tell me you can't envision the "Spicks & Specks" chords during the opening to "In The Next Pocket"), Dude is channeling the vibe Ween and Beck brought to the forefront a decade ago. An easily listenable album worth some of your hard earned duckets. Enjoy.

iamdude

loud. noisy. grating.

Sweet fucking debut EP from a bunch of insane Austrian grinders; this is not the same defunct post-metal Brooklyn, NY two-piece I raved about a few years ago. Instead Orphan blasts forth from the middle of nowhere (actually Linz, Austria) and are a blistering amalgam of metalcore (Burnt By The Sun maybe?) grind, and insane break-heavy hardcore à la the first See You Next Tuesday record. Of course the noisy nonsense is all over in about 15 manic minutes but it never gets tiring and most bands wish they could fit so many grooves into a single record. The band is actively touring around eastern Europe this summer so catch these crazy fuckers if at all possible. Facebook here. Bandcamp there. Enjoy.

grow. shine. wither. die.

Ted, Just Admit It...

I thought I'd switch gears real quick and upload what I feel is a rather important piece of out-of-print literature - the 1981 biography by Ted Bundy's ex-girlfriend Elizabeth Kloepfer. Under the pseudonym Elizabeth Kendall (she was also known as Beth Archer or Meg Anders) she writes an absolutely compelling diatribe about living with someone who was at the time brutally murdering innocent women while appearing as an absolute snapshot of normalcy. He's as insecure and flawed as any of us - likes Mickey's malt liquor of all things! The book follows their relationship through the 1976 Utah trial for Carol DaRonch's attempted kidnapping and ends with some sporadic contact after his escape to Florida. Kloepfer is incredibly honest - her struggles with alcohol alone are almost worthy of a novel - much less living with a serial killer. Essential reading. I also included an audio recording of Ted Bundy's Fatal Addiction interview with evangelist James Dobson the day before his execution, January 23, 1989. Ted is annoyingly self-serving and indirectly absolves himself under the guise of blaming pornography and slasher movies for his actions. Yeah, I know he is scared of dying in 24 hours but have some self respect and take some ownership for shit's sake. There's a great moment where a phone rings in the background and he pauses. Nope, it's not the governor motherfucker, execution is still on schedule. He doesn't answer any specific murder questions - primarily 12-year old Kim Leach which is frustrating (he claims he "can't really talk about that right now") which would have satisfied the whole reason for the interview - instead he kind of tries to make it seem like the pain is a burden he's carrying. Fucked up shit. Enjoy.

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