Unquestionable Presence...

I was lucky to get into non crappy music at a very very very very young age. And additional circumstances allowed me to be able to see a lot of these bands. There was one band that I loved that all my friend always made fun of me for. Atheist. Yes, the very talented Florida Death Metal band. A lot of people didn't like that band too much because they just weren't "brutal" enough. Why listen to Atheist when Obituary, Autopsy, Entombed or Massacre records were much harder? Whatever. I loved Atheist. So, eventually, Atheist was playing around me and I wasn't going to miss it. Luckily, they were touring with some other death metal legend, so I had no problem obtaining a ride. I think it might have been a show with Massacre (who I also loved), but I can't remember for sure. Shit, I barely remember ten years ago, much less the early 90's. Everything blends together. I was so sure Atheist would be the best thing I had ever, or would ever, see live. And they were amazing! It was funny though, no one moved when they played, just stood there and watched. I remember that well. Of course, Atheist was like the first technical death metal band, but shit wasn't called technical death metal then. That came later. Such a great band. Well, they went over like a lead balloon. Later on, chaos erupted for Massacre. But to me, the highlight was Atheist.
Side note: I had money somehow then, maybe from doing chores, haha, and I wanted an Atheist shirt and all they had were XL and those were huge on me then, but I wasn't not getting one, so I had an Atheist shirt that was huge on me. Kind of like a dress. I wore that thing everywhere for months.
Atheist. Great band.

Flyboys...

SoCal punk source #1 recently sent me a CD the great old Flyboys ep with both songs from their Crayon World ep on it, as well. This is fantastic stuff, super melodic punk, with hooks and memorable vocal lines. Fuck, the ep is so good, it has a fantastic gloomy edge to it, kind of like how a lot of early OC HC bands bad. I've listened to this multiple times in the last few days and you are mistaken if you do not do the same!

Fuck...

The other day I was driving to the store to get a book I had ordered. This was pre snow so I took the longer way to take up some time. I was at a stop light and some lady pulled up next to me. She had kids in her car, two kids, and the windows were all up, probably because it was freezing out. Even colder then in The Thing. Ha. Anyways, this lady was puffing away at a cigarette. Man, those little kids don't have a fucking chance. Sitting in that car with their "parent", breathing in all that smoke, I wanted to set them free. By the time they are smart enough to realize their mother is trash it will be too late. Bummer. I think I'm losing my mind for real.

Good quote...

"They say they're so open minded but anything that doesn't agree with the bullshit they like, they are real quick to cut it down".
Truth.

Tomorrow...

Tomorrow.
9am.
Breakfast and boating.
Nice combo.
Also, I would like to add that I made a very funny flyer for the Overload show on Friday and I will post it all over the internet as soon as I scan it.
Finally, people in hardcore or punk even, should stop feeling like they should have to explain themselves to people who have NOTHING to do with either. Just saying.

Show Review...

Last night there was a show. People were excited that there a lot of people there. My old man wisdom did not allow such excitement since old man wisdom let me know that 75% of those clowns will not be seen or heard from again until the next giant hype band show.
Bands:
Convicted, or Conviction, whatever, i don't remember, they started playing and all i could think was, "oh no, another one of these type of bands". watered down tenth rate Terror clone, heavy hardcore. why copy a band who was never that good to begin with?
Mad Minds, excellent set, i still hate the slow parts, but the fast stuff, especially the new songs, are top notch, good stage presence, superb Integrity cover, possibly their best set yet, at least in the top two. A+
Let Down, is straight edge, is pretty good, fast songs, lots of energy (not the band), fun loving dudes who like cleveland.
Blacklisted, never a big fan, i like that Eye For An Eye song, they did not play it, i think, at least that was what i was told, mega pizza time.
Ceremony, wow, horrible, gargly vocals, stop and go songs, boredom awaits, not digging it at all.
Have Heart, the most overblown, overhyped band in ages, they had a couple good songs, the new stuff is crap, lots of energy (again, not the band- i miss Tank!), when they are playing fast, they got power, the slow parts remind me of the worst musical parts of the early to mid 90's.
There were three 'zines for sale.
Bands had some awful shirt designs.
People need to find a sense of humor.
Tons of people I only see at the giant shows.
Lots of young kids, which can be good, they need to get into good tunes.
Oh yeah, people don't have any style anymore when they mosh. Dudes just run back and forth as hard as they can, flailing their arms around like a gay guy running from a burning building. A saw a couple people with quality mosh style, but the run into the sides as hard as you can style is lame.
Some babes, not as many as the last Have Heart show, some girl looked like the girl from the Girl Next Door, major babe, she blew Tank Top Guy's friend, but not last night. The Driver didn't think she was too hot though. The kid needs glasses!
Mad Minds is tight. Hangouts were fun times. I give the night an A.

I see...

I see people who will do or say anything to fit in and be accepted. Never mind who your friends are or what opinions you might have, because that changes depending who is around.
I see a pathetic fashion show that reminds me more of high school than anything else. Got to make sure you got that cool new shirt design on. Got to make sure all the people make sure you are down with all the right bands.
I see people who are so far from having an opinion of their own. Clowns wandering around, afraid to offend anyone, people without opinions, people who will change their mind of things depending who is around. Man, got to make sure everyone likes you. Soon enough, you will be the king of the scene!
I see people who support anything they are told is cool. Never mind the quality.
I see people who judge others based on the shirts they have on or the shoes they wear.
I see people who cannot accept others opinions and ideas.
I see crappy bands who get sad when someone doesn't like their music. Man, if those people spend half the time writing quality songs as they spent defending their bands mediocre releases then maybe people wouldn't be putting it down.
I see hardcore kids with stars (and dollar signs) in their eyes.
I see straight edge kids who aren't even straight edge.
I see people who care too much what other people think.
I see people who will read this and think, "None of that is me!", but in reality most of it is!
F U

Another Day Passes...

Things have been looking up lately...

- Jason has been hosting swimming hangouts at a hotel and they have been getting progressively better. We swim with babes, towels, chairs and eventually plants. We discovered a way to jump through the windows to get some extra air for dives. Last time we raided the pantry and got some bananas and pastry for everyone involved. Hopefully, we will get to swim there a couple more times before the fun ends in August. During the swimming hangouts, Jason took over Taylors titles as the meltdown king... BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

R.I.P.

- Riding has been particularly fun lately, as well. I specialize in riding ridiculous looking bikes. I need to bring my bike from Cleveland to Medina so I can ride in style. Anyways, we ride all over, mostly in near or total darkness. Up hills and down hills. Of course, down hills is always better. Last time Hess almost killed the Supiria, but luckily bike expert Brandon was there to fix that shit and keep things going. We always stop for snacks and the ride always ends in a giant downhill ride. We circle cars and bum out dudes with fat girls. It's always an A+ fun time and you are invited to join us.

- Shattered Faith is playing here on the 31st and I really want to go.

- "for all those people who like to party on a friday or saturday night... you know, you just got off work, you got your paycheck, you want to drink and get fucked up and party like the end of the world is around the corner... to all you people... go fuck yourselves!"

more later...

Boating...

See that boat that heads this post? That's what I spent my morning doing. Not on that boat, but on a boat...
I woke up super early today and went for a good run. Then I got home and got a call about some early morning breakfast and boating. I wasn't denying that. Things started with a cookout/breakfast on the dock and then some boating and tubing on the lake. Tubing is fun times. It is when you get pulled behind the boat on a tube. It seems easy at first, but once you get some speed and hit some wake or waves, you go airborne. What a fun way to start off the day!

Ruining Nature...

I was in the bookstore the other day and I was looking through magazines, and what do I happen to see?
Maximum Rock And Roll. The newest issue.
Let me tell you...
What a piece of shit that waste of paper has become! I remember spending much time as a young warrior, reading that magazine over and over, looking at all the adds and ordering stuff, memorizing reviews so I knew what to get when I went to the store.
I read the entire thing the other day, but it lacks all the soul and substance that made it something special many moons ago. It has safe reviews. Run of the mill columns. And an overwhelming sense of wasted trees. Nature is pissed. And I would be too if someone cut me apart and used me to create complete shit. The one worthwhile thing in the entire issue was a good review of the new Resolve 7". Otherwise, complete junk. Tim Yohannan (sp?) must roll over in his grave on a regular basis.
At least Flipside knew when it was time to retire.

Amazing night...

So, the last few weekends have kind of sucked. A major summer bummer. No worries, though, because last night was amazing.
I missed day time swimming and was losing faith that the day would be good. I got a dinner call and then the day picked up and the night ended up being amazing and one of the best nights of the summer.
- the hostess babe where we ate was A+ and Pat dropped her hints about his amazing qualities but she didn't get it. Her loss.
- Moo Town, still should be called Moo Cow, babe there gave us (basically) free ice cream. Massive amounts of ice cream.
- the bathroom there was taught lesson after lesson by one dude after another. There is a babe at eye level in there to keep you occupied while you take care of business.
- more dudes showed up and we chatted with babes in the parking lot. we decided to go riding.
- i was seriously doubting my partaking in riding, since I was already super tired, but then Brent revealed the coolest bike ever so I said "Fuck it!" and decided to go.
- Robson showed up with an out of town babe. She wasn't too into riding at first, because she had to wear boots and she definitely hated riding up hills. Everyone thought she would turn around soon, but she didn't and ended up being a worthy addition to the hangout.
- Medina is not bike friendly at all. Pussies.
- some car tried to be tough, but got surrounded by eight people and they got skurred and drove away.
- snack stops are a good idea while riding.
- we played Paperboy.
- the ding bell.
- stupid gazebo.
- Starbucks was pissed that we didn't buy anything. I bet if they fixed their shitty A/C, we would have bought lots.
- Pat sang to two babes, but they weren't having it.
- the final hill on the way back from Pat's is non stop fun, with minimal peddling and lots of being real loud.
- swimming at Brent's house. Well, not for me. But there was ball throwing, a nude Carlson, a mad Carlson, a ba-bow ass (not Carlsons, no homo), lost swim trunks, a disco ball and lots of solid jokes.
- Sheetz hangouts, massive amounts of food. Robson made a candy game to throw candy in your mouth, but minimal candy went in mouths, and lots went on the ground. Gleert gets a gold star for the day for driving to Sheetz, we tried to fit seven in that car but it wasn't happening. Alex's van was missed.
What a great night! There needs to be more hangouts like that. Solid bike hangouts! There were no negatives to the night. A+ all around.
Mad Minds interview posted soon!

The Worst Haircut Ever...

Many many many many years ago, I had long hair. Long metal hair, well past my shoulders, blonde, but at one point dyed black, in order to look even more evil. The story about the legendary mess I made while dying my hair is a great story, but nevertheless, a story for another day. Anyways, my hair was long. This was in 8th grade and I was nearing the end of the days of long hair. In fact, 8th grade was about to end and there was a fancy dance planned for the graduating class. I normally didn't attend any school functions, fuck, I attended school itself as little as possible. Well, you see, I wanted to go to this dance real bad because a bud of mine told me that this total babe that I had been eyeing for years was "into" me. I wouldn't have minded being "into" her either, if you know what I mean. So I told him that I would be at that dance and to somehow let her know that I would be there. So as the time grew closer to this dance, I concocted this grand plan to woo this girl and make her mine! This included wearing "normal" clothes and, gasp, cutting off my ruling metal hair. I ended up obtaining nice dress pants and a button down shirt, that could be worn with or without a tie. Everyday I would come up with all these great lines to say to her. I imagined that she would love my new look and blush when I said all these great things that I had thought up. So the day of the dance arrived and it was a couple hours before the dance and I suddenly realized that I had forgotten to get a hair cut! Shit! Well... I would just have to do it myself! After all, how hard could it be cut hair? So I took scissors out of the desk in our den and went to work. I cut and trimmed and styled and...
OH NO! What had I done? It looked like a blind man had went to town on my head with hedge clippers. Not cool I surely would not be wooing any babes with hair like this! What to do? I know! I would fix it!
Well, any attempt to fix it just made things even worse. I tried to even out one side and made it too short, so I tried to shorten the other side, but then that was too short, so I went back and tried to make the other side match, and on and on and on.
Eventually, I gave up and figured, I would just dye it black and slick it all back, like some douche bag Italian guy. But no hair dye!
I eventually gave up and settled on the 'animal with mange' look, patches longer than others, some parts real short and others scraggly. The back was the worst part, because I couldn't even see it in the mirror, and it ended up being a huge inverted U, but all uneven and lopsided. Hell, this girl wouldn't even care though. At some point, I also bagged the fancy clothes idea because I know I ended up wearing jeans and a Possessed shirt.
I left my house and walked to where the dance was. Everyone I passed gave me weird looks. Hmmm, I started to think this would not be going as planned. I walked up to the door and some lady I had never seen before was there, taking names and giving out name tags. She took one look at me and said to go home and not to come back until I 'fixed myself'. Hahaha. I soon abandoned any ideas I had about that babe because I saw other people arriving and they all had on fancy clothes and dresses and ties. That wasn't me! I found a pay phone and called up dudes who weren't going to that dance and some metal friends and we went on a giant citywide vandalism spree that night instead. What a great time!

Can't Kill What's Inside...

So say there is this kid, and he has a band and they have some solid tunes and the kid takes the time to write some lyrics for these songs. He writes about what he knows and how he feels and how he sees things. The words fit the music perfectly, and are actually pretty cool. Holy shit, the tunes are really good and people are way into it. They have a solid late 80's hardcore sound. But then people decide to crack on the dudes lyrics because they are "too simple" or "generic". That really burns me. Not every song needs in depth lectures or essays for lyrics. Save that shit for the crappy math metal hectic core bands that make you wish you were deaf. In fact, don't ever listen to those terrible clown bands. I like the bands better, who just say how they feel and who cares if it is simple? Everything doesn't need to be advanced and mature and stupid for it to me good or worth listening to. I'll take someone, any day, who just says how they feel without being a wordy "clever" idiot.

Booooooo!

Stupid fucking flat tire fucking up my plans last night. Oh, I was pissed!
Luckily, the tow was free since stealth dog knows people.
Not so luckily, the new tire was not free! Also, I don't think stealth dog was too pleased about having to drive me to Westlake after midnight to get the other car. Fuck.
Hopefully this upcoming weekend fixes this bummer of a week.

More later...

It's a backwards world...

So I was supper happy to see that TSOL will have a new record soon and touring a bit in support of it. But.... there are no shows close to here! What the fuck?!?! The only midwest date is Chicago on October 12th. Of course I will be going to that.
The saddest part of this new information was that some of their shows, not the one in Chicago thank god, are 'in support' of Rancid and/or Tiger Army. HAHAHAHAHAHA. What a stupid backwards fucked up world this is when a band like TSOL has to play 'in support' of piece of shit bands like Rancid and Tiger Army. Fuck, that shit is clown music. I suppose people will go and see good music (TSOL) and then stop listening to horseshit bands. At least I would certainly hope so. Anyways, someone should come to that show with me, so it's not a solo drive. I'll get tickets and everything and the hotel room is free as always. The show is a big fest, so there is the chance of other good bands.

Also, the picture at the top of this post is a shot os TSOL playing at a place called The Vex. Notice the white faces. Hahaha.

This weekend is fixing to be a lot of fun, four days off work, a solid show, fireworks, babes, a great time!

More soon...

Coffin Brothers review and news...

Hello!
The Summer Of Hate show went fantastic last night. There were a lot of bands and two stages to work with but things moved smoothly. It was nice not having to wait forever between bands too, especially since it was kind of hot in there. People need to stop being big babies and move closer to the stage. Big crowds of people all huddles in the doorways is mega lame. Who cares if someone dives on you or bumps into you?! It's a punk and hardcore show and things should be wild and out of control!
Other than that, great show, lots of solid bands and an all around great time.
There are a lot of bands around here now. Good hardcore or punk bands. Here is a list of all the ones that I can think of: Right Idea, Overload, My Rulez, Mad Minds, Point Blank, Coffin Brothers, Crowd Deterrent, Triceratops, I Can't Lose, American Werewolves, Search Bloc and possibly more that I'm not remembering right now. We have enough bands and people for a mini Army of hardcore and punk people. Anywhere we go, we should be able to completely take over. I think there should be a big summer locals only show, get all those bands to play somewhere cool. Fuck, play at the beach somehow. What a wild time that would be! The momentum is here to make something amazing and I hope it doesn't get fucked up. There are a lot of solid shows coming up and there needs to be a massive flyer campaign to get tons more people to come to shows. Recruit as many new people as we can! I don't mean passing out flyers at shows. Do what I do and put them in book stores, record stores, malls, skate stores, give them to random kids I see skating around, give them to anyone who looks like they would like to come and hae a good time. Do that and you will see amazing things.


Last night I got this great CD from a new Cleveland band called Coffin Brothers. I am very impressed with what I hear. This is cool, hardcore with melodic and memorable songs, some even have a slight Oi! influence. There are six songs and they are all great. The subject matter is somewhat dark, but handled in a positive way. They also excel at writing catchy sing-a-long chorus parts. Fuck, there are even guitar solos that remind me of the mini solos in a lot of early SoCal punk bands songs, the kind that get stuck in your head for days.
This is an A+ release.
Go to: www.myspace.com/coffinbrothers

More soon...

If I Had A Hammer...

A long time ago, I tried to have a record label. I failed miserably. Mostly due to laziness. Well, now I am more secure in life and have some funds for fun things and whatnot, so I often think I will give it another go. Most current bands that I like have record labels. Hmmmm, what to do? I discussed this a bit with someone and they suggested I put out older stuff, reissues or whatever, of all the great old music that I always talk about. A lot of that is not too easy to come by and I figure that I have been pretty good at tracking down some older dudes who were in those bands. If this works out how I would like it to, each release would come with many pages of notes and pictures from band members, a history and other cool stuff. We shall see though. I am in contact with three people now from three great old bands and am attempting to work out some sort of release with one of them and will then bring it up with the other two. I suppose it will be a lot easier to convince them of my seriousness when I have an actual release to show them. We will see how this works out soon enough.


Through my travels, searching for lost music, I often find people who are very generous in sharing things from their archives. Sometimes they will even have folders full of unseen pictures from bands that I love a lot. The one above this writing is an early picture of TSOL and it came from someone who likes to share old things. Sometimes, I think that this is a screen shot from the TSOL song in The Slog Movie. His clothes looks the same and some of his white face paint still remains. What a great band! Man, I talk about them a lot. If it bores people, I really don't care. Early on all followers of TSOL wore white face paint so they could tell who was friends in the wild pits. At one point, the owner of the Cuckoo's Nest, a great venue for many early punk shows, banned TSOL from there, because of the activities of their fans. They begged to get back on shows and the owner, Jerry Roach, said yes, but, "no more white face gang", so that was the end of that. Ha. If interested in the Cuckoo's Nest, I recommend the great documentary, Urban Struggle: The Battle For The Cuckoo's Nest.

Soon, I will be starting a random piece on this blog titled, "Great Front Men Of Punk And Hardcore". Look forward to it because it will be filled with lots of great pictures and videos.

I hate a lot of people.

Talk to you soon.

Nothing going on...

"How did you get those bruises?"
"Slammin' with my friends"

Fuck, I'm bored right now. Hopefully something fun will go on tonight.
Tomorrow is the big Summer Of Hate show. There are a lot of good bands playing that... Right Idea... Wisdom In Chains... Crowd Deterrent... and more.
Ok, back to researching old bands.
xxx

Mad Minds recording and anonymous punk...

This evening, Mad Minds recorded back ups for their upcoming 7".
I am happy to say that their new songs are good. Hanging out was a lot of fun and eating after was also great. Lots of laughs. I think this band will get a lot bigger when people hear their new stuff. Their new intro thing is mega hard and the vocals are solid throughout. One song has this cool bass part, where its all low at first and then he had a couple notes where its higher, like dun dun dun deeeee deeeee! It sounds great!
At work today, I was at some house, and there was a car in the drive way and it had a TSOL sticker on it. No other stickers, just this one. Fuck, TSOL is my favorite band. I wonder who lives there? They had to be cool. Hell, anyone who likes TSOL is great in my book. I wasn't about to go knock on the door and be like, "Hey, um, I like your TSOL sticker!" It would have been cool if some babe walked out of the house, wearing a D.I. shirt, but that car didn't look like a car that a babe would drive. Well, it's always cool when I see random stuff like that, especially when it's something that I like.

Have Heart / Right Idea / Mad Minds- 06/23- show review...

I was looking forward to this show for a long time. It started pretty early and there weren't a lot of people there to start things off, but i was ok because eventually there were a lot of people all over the place. There were a lot of babes at this show. And not even like the average 'hardcore girl' babes that populate shows. I mean real babes, 8's and 9's, and even one 10! Fuck, half of the people at this show are people I have barely ever seen at other shows. They all, babes and dudes, need to start going to other shows.
The first bands were Decisions and Gravemaker. I heard music, it was ok, but the monster vocals ruined it for me.
Then, there were some good hangouts outside.
Mad Minds was next. They have a new intro that is crushing and they had a tight sound tonight. The sound reminded me of the sound that Dumptruck had on that Sweet Vision comp. Very cool. Also, the new songs are really good and a nice selection of covers. More people need to listen to Lifesblood because when they play that song, it should be chaos, but it wasn't. What the fuck?!?!?!? Most importantly, this was the best showing that Mad Minds has had so far. There were people all over the place, lots of fun and more and more people seem to be knowing the words to the songs. Very cool. Also, great new shirt design drawn by artist wizard XSlabaX.
Right Idea was next and things were amazing, dives and singing and mosh. They just got back from a California tour and dudes looked tired, but they pulled off a great set. I was bummed about still not hearing the Straight Ahead cover, but fuck it! You know they are good when they don't even need covers. Every song is a hit and they continue to be the best band around.
Halfway through their set, there was a 'surprise' Overload set. Well, it wasn't a surprise at all since everyone knew but they are also great late 80's styled hardcore. The first song they played is definitely a hit. They also threw in a Project X cover which upped the chaos level even further. Then Right Idea played another song and that was that.
Next, dudes found out that Verse had van troubles and wouldn't be playing. No worries, as I do not like that band.
Then, dudes also found out that Have Heart was trying to help Verse and would be late, so....
commence hangouts!
Lots of good talking and jokes and babes and an all around great time!
Have Heart called to tell that they didn't even go to the right place! What the fuck! Steal Peanut's Tom Tom and you will never get lost ever again!
Then, we were 'treated' to some horrible metal bands. No thanks. Those were definitely all 'pizza bands'.
Another hour passes, at least...
...Fuck, I'm tired....
...So are other dudes... and I am thinking about sleep more than I am thinking about Have Heart....
...so tired... tired of waiting... The Hawk jokes never get old.... lots of babes... but so tired....
Ok, fuck it, a bunch of us took off. Good night.
I am told Have Heart was really good.
I'm glad that XSlabaX hung out. He is a solid dude and does a lot of amazing artwork for all the great bands and asks for nothing in return. He did the art for the great new Mad Minds shirt.
I'm also glad that there were a lot of younger dudes at this show. We are building something strong and amazing and I hope it continues.
Hope This Helps had new tank top designs. They look good and are much better than the first ones. Oddly enough, Tank Top Guy has still not been spotted in a tank top this warm season. What the fuck?!?!?!?
Everyone reading this should go to the Summer Of Hate show this Saturday. You get Right Idea. You get Triceratops. You get Wisdom In Chains. You get Crowd Deterrent. You get Coffin Brothers. You get Major Beef. You get an entire night of fun, laughs and hangouts. It's bound to be a great time, so come and hangout!
More later....

Shaved For Battle...

The preferred way to have ones hair is of the shaved or extremely close cut variety.
There are many reasons for this. The most important is that it looks cool. There are other reasons though. With the weather reaching all new highs, it is definitely cooler, temperature wise. Just be sure to wear sunscreen or a hat if outside for a long time or you just might end up looking like some Hiroshima dweller Jap from World War Two!!! If you are a thug life fighter guy, a shaved head is the only choice. When in battle, your enemy will try anything to get an upper hand. And that includes grabbing your hair!
I hate going to shows and seeing the 'AFI look'. Disgusting. The shaggy black hair, sometimes a little messy, maybe even falling over ones eyes, for the added dark and angst filled look. The people sporting this foul hair cut can usually been seen wearing girl pants, and they aren't even girls! But that's another post for another day.
A lot of time and effort is put into this hair style, one would assume. But it takes little time or effort to grab this silly hair and use it as a handle, as you heave them into a wall, window or your knee!
Other times, girls have a modified version of this, known as the 'Helmet Head', where they plaster their hair to their head, with all varieties of hair gel. This was mega popular in the mid to late '90s, but has been making a comeback. Sometimes a babe can pull this off, and continue looking like a total babe. But other times, they look like a fucked up Star Trek character, and are from that point dubbed a 'Romulan'. A good guy named Clif came up with that name years ago.
Of course, there are many preferred methods of hair care for girls besides shaving your head, and that is ok. But if you are a guy and you look in the mirror and realize that what you see has more in common with a girl then maybe it's time to...
Shave Your Head!

Patterns Of Force...

- The picture that heads this post is of John Macias (Circle One) and Greg Graffin (Bad Religion). It is one of my favorite pictures. I hope you like it as much as I do.

- This summer is shaping up to be great, and it's not even actually summer yet! There are always great hangouts, whether it's at a show, at someone's house or anywhere else. Man, everywhere we go, we take over. Sometimes this bums people out, but who cares. If you can't laugh and have a good time, then you shouldn't be around.

- Monday is a great show:

Come and hangout and have a good time. There are at least three good bands playing and I am sure there will be mega fun eating hangouts after! See you there!

- You know what I hate? Lingerers. People who used to be into hardcore but now they are somehow too good for it. Hey, if you find something else in life that you are into, awesome! I'm all for finding things to be excited about. What makes these lingerers bad is that they put down hardcore and say how lame it is and how shitty everyone involved in it is.... yet you see them at all the shows! They still hang around, putting things down and spreading their misery, yet they are too stupid to leave!!! Pathetic! There are tons of great bands and people and shows and hangouts and they need to go away and make room for people who count.

- That is all for now!

Positive Youth On The Rise...

There is this new band from around here and they are called Overload. Their demo will be out on Thursday. You can here rough unmastered songs here...
www.myspace.com/overloadhc
This is one of the only demo's that I have been very excited about in a long time.
I place it right next to Right Idea, True Colors and Fired Up.
If this sucked, I would definately say so.
It doesn't.
It is A+ excellent.
They will have shirts on Thursday too.
Get a demo and a shirt and go see them on July 8th at Now That's Class.
Overload.
I'm impressed.

Walking and Talking, Sucking and Fucking...

Overload Demo Recording Session 15 June 2008

Yesterday, a great new band, Overload, recorded their demo. Let me tell you, it is fantastic! They definately remind me of something that would have come from California in the late 80's crossed with an Allentown SXE band circa 1997. How is that for a description?!?!?!?!?! The band is killer and the demo will be four songs, and possibly a secret blooper track at the end. A heavy duty group of 5 extra people joined the band to help do back ups, Hess, Tank Top Guy, Pat, Sean and myself. Oh what a fun time it was! So much fun that you almost didn't notice how hot the house was. There were many jokes, like the headline of this post, alternate lyrics had everyone cracking up. There are two guest vocal spots on this demo.
This is an honest blog, if something sucks, I will say that it sucks, whether my friends are in the band or not, I hate fakes. So when I say that this demo is the best thing I have heard in a while, I am being 100% serious. I love music like this! This city is taking off! Right Idea, Overload, Mad Minds, Coffin Bros, My Rulez, the positive youth are on the rise!
Luckily for everyone reading this, I had a top secret spy camera with with and managed to get this shot of backups...


After the recording was over, there was a tree climbing contest outside and then we headed to a Mexican place to eat. Oh, Mexican two nights in a row. Holy shit, my toilet hates me today! There were a lot of good jokes and Jason almost ruined some babe and her dudes date by crashing through their table like the Kool Aid man through a wall! Then some babes showed up. A lot of fun was had. Here is a picture to give you an idea of what a wild time we had...


Then, babes and some dudes headed to Kent for other stuff but other had to head to Medina Movie Palace for an exclusive viewing of Red Dawn. Tank Top Guy made his first appearance at a movie night and was a worthy addition, adding lots of jokes. While that makes him cool, he wasn't nearly as cool as this guy...


Once movie night was over, we all headed home. On the way home, there were talks about how great the Overload demo is and then there was talk about Circle One fighting Suicidals.
Overall, this was a fantastic weekend and feel free to join us anytime!

Reviews...

Here are some reviews of things I got last night at the Resolve show...

Can't Sit Still Fanzine: Issue #2- February 2008

I was surprised to see an actual 'zine for sale at a show. I think this is made by the singer of Resolve. It is a well done, xeroxed 'zine, with interviews with some of my favorite current bands; Birds Of A Feather (best interview in here), Get The Most, Always Aware and some other bands that I haven't heard yet. This has all the standard 'zine stuff, interviews, reviews and commentary. Since 'zines are so scarce now, this is a golden find. The pictures are of unusual quality for a photocopied 'zine, so that is an added bonus. Good writing + good pictures = A+
Unfortunately, there is no address inside anywhere (frown), but I bet if you wrote to the band at www.myspace.com/resolve they could tell you where to order one from.

Resolve- Summer Sessions '08

These are the newest recordings from this great band. Four songs, one with an intro before it. This is really good late 80's style hardcore from St. Louis. I like it a lot when good bands pop up in obscure places. I thought the only music that came from St. Louis was horribly shitty rap music. I'm glad I was wrong though. This band reminds me a lot of Turning Point. Since they already played here, and most people were too lazy/stupid to go, I will say that you should check them out next time they play here.
I'd also like to mention that I am really happy that there are more and more bands of this style popping up each day. It's the style I like best and it really is the best time when bands like this play live. Holy jeez, am I sick of the chugga core horseshit that has plagued my ears for the last few years. I won't give up faith though because I know what things are like in hardcore when they are good.

Resolve- Shirt for new 7"

This shirt is white with black ink. The front has a cool Resolve logo with a big X behind it on the left chest. The back has the cover from their new 7" on Commitment Records. It is a picture of a dude in a varsity jacket, wrecking things and scaring people. Hahah. That's wonderful. The sleeve has a Commitment Record logo of an Xed up guy skating. This shirt reminds of a something that Pressure Release would have had, which to me, is a good thing.

Resolve- Tour Shirt- Robocop Design

I guess this shirt is for their current tour. it is an orange shirt with black ink. I don't see too many orange shirts at shows, so that is good. On there front, there is a Resolve logo and under it is a drawing of Robocop. Fuck, Robocop rules. Any fan of action can appreciate the carnage in the first two Robocop movies. Fantastic choice for a shirt.

I say this band has some good stuff with them on tour and people should get all of this and support a good band that is trying hard and playing actual hardcore.

More later...

Resolve / I Can't Lose - 06/14

Resolve and I Can't Lose at Now That's Class on June 14th

This show was supposed to start at 6pm. Early shows in this city are a guaranteed failure. Well, it didn't end up starting until well after 7. There was supposed to be three bands but one of them, SSCP, didn't bother to show up. No worries though because that band sucks balls. I Can't Lose played first and had lots of good songs, including a completely random Infest cover. The original songs are good too and I wish they would hurry up and record new stuff.
Next, was Resolve, the youth crew from St. Louis. This band rules, I think they sound a lot like demo era Turning Point. Great stuff. The guitar player is a big guy and he got some good air on the jumps I saw him do. They have a new 7" on Commitment Records and it is top notch. I'll post a review of it soon.
So the bands were good, but the show sucked. Why? Well, there was no one there! If you though that shitty Mind Eraser show a while back was sparsely attended, then you should have seen the crowd here. Seven or eight people. Tops. What a shame! That's why living in this city sometimes makes me want to blow my brains out. A shitty Ringworm or any other random mosh core gay band will draw a lot, but when good hardcore bands come here, the turnout is weak.
You lazy fuckers need to start flyering shows. And I don't mean posting bulletins on myspace to the same people over and over and over and over and over and over, etc. Take an hour and make a flyer and go to the store and get copies made and then put them everywhere. The internet has turned you all into a bunch of lazy skrulls. That First Step show had real flyers which were put everywhere, and the turnout was good.
Holy shit, if I see one more myspace post about some show coming up, I'm going to through this computer through the wall.
Anyways, Resolve are cool dudes. They went to eat with us after the show. We went to El Jalapeno. I think the place was borderline gross and I'm sure anyone who ate there, will be paying for it later on tonight or in the morning, if you know what I mean. The singer of Resolve ordered a bean burrito and the sneaky staff at that place tried to trick him with a meat burrito but that dude had meat radar and he caught that shit and sent it back! Later on, I thought the singer got bummed when we were talking about funny stuff, but then he was laughing, so no worries I guess.
After eating, I was tempted to come home and go to bed, but I opted to go bike riding in Medina. Bad choice. I was falling asleep on the way out there and then only rode for a little while before I came back. Fuck, I hate being tired all the time. Biking is fun though, maybe I will go again soon.
Ok, soon, I will be posting reviews of all the goodies I got at the show tonight and add some more info about the Summer Of Hate fun fest in a couple weeks.

News From The Frontline...

It's a Friday the 13th weekend and there is a lot of stuff going on...

Saturday, June 14th, at 6pm, at Now That's Class, there is a hardcore show...
Resolve- St. Louis positive youth
Waster- food band
I Can't Lose- members from every Cleveland band, has a demo, get it!
show is at 6pm and costs $5. don't be a cheap fuck!

Besides that...
This is a mega recording weekend for many good Cleveland bands...
Overload
fuck, this band is great! they remind me of something that would have come from California circa 1989, but with a bit harder edge. They have four songs and are recording them this weekend! The songs rip it up! Their first show was good, but no one knew the tunes yet, so this demo is good because now there will be A+ shows to go with the A+ tunes. They practiced last night and things are tight. I'll post a song on here as soon as they record, so all you cheap fucks who won't even spend a cent to support friends can still hear a tune.

My Rulez
they are recording for a new demo, or possibly a 7", this weekend, as well. They sound like early 80's angry stuff, kind of like Negative Approach. They debuted new songs last night, and have been playing other ones at recent shows, and the stuff is great. This band is banned from Luna's in Stow because they "left onions all over the floor". Hahaha.

Mad Minds
Honestly, half of their demo bores me to tears, but they seemed to have learned from their mistakes, since their new songs are much faster and possibly even harder. Always better live than recorded, hopefully their upcoming 7" will match the live show. Too bad the record won't have jokes about disgusting fat girls, like the live show does. They need to play more shows with the real line up or Dan will continue to be pissed.

So...
unless you are a scum who wastes your weekends drinking your life away, you should hit up that show, the inevitable eating hangouts/restaurant destructions. Hey, if you are cool enough, you might even be allowed to do back ups at a recording session! Sessiooooooooooooons!

There is lots of cool stuff coming up too...
Right Idea
They have a classic 12" about to be released on React! Records. Hurry up and get that out! Best band around right now. They are going to California next weekend for three shows. One show is with Betrayed. That is another great band. Anyways, they are also on two comps that are coming out sometime in the next few months. They also have new shirt designs. Go here... if-you-cared.blogspot.com for more info and free songs!

Upcoming Shows...

Monday June 23rd at Now That's Class
Have Heart
Verse
Right Idea- !
Mad Minds- hopefully playing new songs
Grave Maker/Decades- shouldn't even be on this show!
$10 7:00 pm

Saturday July 5th, at Now That's Class
Face Value reunion
i don't know who else is playing, but there is no reason to not be at this.
probably like $8

Friday July 11th at Now That's Class
Reign Supreme- playing Cleveland for the 50th time, we'll see if there are more than 5 people into them this time, probably not
Let Down- unfortunately, the levels of chaos won't reach the same peak as the early January show, but it should still be good
Colin Of Arabia- absolutely horrible band who supposedly cancelled their tour because of gas prices, good, band sucks.
+ More TBA - hopefully not more than one more TBA
$8 9:00 pm

That is all for now. More stuff posted soon!

Opinions?!?!?!? What's an opinion?

I remember when I first got into punk and hardcore. It was the early 90's and it was one of the worst times for hardcore. Music was slowed down to a crawl. Songs were endless messes of chugging guitars and wretched screaming vocals. Ugh. My ears bleed just thinking about it. Well, things eventually got better and there are even still a few bands around now keeping the spirit alive. Anyways, I often think about about how hardcore has changed since I got into it. One thing I always go back to is how opinionated everyone was when I first got into it. Every show had twenty different 'zines all talking about this or that or whatever, straight edge, animal rights, religion, mean 'zines, etc. Not everyone agreed with everything, hell, some people even got sad all the time because they couldn't handle that not everyone thought exactly like them. A lot has changed since then, the styles, music, everything. Some for the better. Some for the worse.
There is one part that has continually gotten worse. And that would be opinions. Fuck, no one has opinions anymore. The music in the early to mid 90's was, for the most part, terrible shit. But at least those people has opinions and the best part, was that they were never afraid to say them.
Man, now I see people, everyone is afraid to offend anyone else. Got to watch what you say! Morons. I see 'zines and websites where people review something that they don't like, but instead of saying, "Hey, I think this sucks!", they take the easy (bitch) way out, "Um, this isn't my thing, I'm a big pussy, so I'll just say that 'they are good at what they do'" What the fuck!?!?!?!?! If I say that something sucks, I'll explain why I think it sucks, which is what should always be done. Clarify! But don't be a buster and censor yourself!
People who do this, I say, have what I call 'scene person syndrome'. This person is afraid that someone won't like them. This person wants to be friends with everyone, all bands, all people, etc. It is a sickening disease. Hey, I'm all for having lots of friends into different things, but never at the cost of altering what you think. These people are pretenders. And fake. They are easy to spot.
Oh, it gets worse when it gets to band dudes. Band dudes never have opinions at all anymore. Can't offend someone with the fact that you just might not like what their band is doing. I like to attribute this to music being filled with big babies who can't take criticism. I'm glad that most people in bands that I know aren't like this. If you are going to release music for anyone to hear, then chances are, some people might not be into it. The worst are the losers who threaten to beat up people who don't like their band. Idiots. There is a big difference between talking shit and stating your opinion.
So...
- stop being pathetic and stop being afraid to say what you think.
- not everyone will always like what you have to say, that's life.
I don't know, but when I got into things, hardcore and punk was about saying what was on your mind and not worrying about whether or not everyone liked it.

Welcome!!!

Welcome to the first post on T.C.F.Y.C.!!!  

This will be a lot like a 'zine.  I will have interviews, reviews, pictures and lots of commentary on all sorts of things.  One thing this page will not be lacking is opinions.  More on that later, though.  

This won't only be about hardcore and punk, even though those are my favorite kinds of music.  I will be talking about movies a lot.  I will be talking about life, people and situations, as well.  I will be analyzing pictures as well.  Sometimes there is stupid shit in life that needs to be talked about, discussed or made fun of, so that will be done here too.  

If you read this and want to contribute, then write to me and we will work something out.  I would like more than just me to be writing on here.  

Have fun!