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Lost & Found... OOP by HOME BLITZ

Cracked open an unmarked box and look what I found... a stack of Out of Phase by HOME BLITZ. Long suspected to be out of print, this thing was meant for wax, and the esteemed Bob Weston at the Chicago Mastering Service could not have done a finer job cutting the grooves. It's a known contemporary classic and it can be yours (provided you live in the USA) for $15 postpaid to TestosterTunes over at gmail.

We're Back

Hello again readers. I should apologize for the absence. They say that a spurned lover can only be pushed away so many times before she's had enough. Well I hope that we haven't reached the limit yet, baby. Let me tug at your heartstrings a little while longer.

So what's the story? What do I have to report? Not much.

By now, everybody knows that the WATERY LOVE matinee was an unparalleled success. Dozens of good-time guys and girls showed up for the afternoon of a lifetime filled with beer, loud guitars, and sunshine. Speaking of WL, click over here to listen to and download the tracks from the out of print Debut 45. Thanks to Jason Sigal at the WFMU's Free Music Archive for that.

Most of us have seen PURLING HISS perform a number of times, and those unkempt bags o' bones are picking up steam with each billing. If you knock back a few pints and squint your eyes, you'd swear that the rhythm section is named Scott and Ron. And Dizzy? Everyone agrees that he's the voice of a generation that howls at the moon and talks with its fingers.

Good buddy and friend to the label DJ Sully has retaken the FM dial on Thursday mornings. He's promised slightly more conventional playlists with the same insightful commentary and guest voices. The program is called The Naked Gun and you can learn more over here.

And now let's get down to it. Let's find out what 2011 has in store, what better food you're going to eat, and what you're going to buy that you can't already afford. The Future...

This year will bring tunes from FACTORYMEN, SPACIN', BLUES CONTROL & other select artists.

PARTY ADDICTION is proving to be a hell of an album. It's finding it's way to the top of the charts and we can all agree that it bridges the gap between Kraut and krautrock.

You might as well know that we've joined the social networking site called Twitter. Take a peak at twitter.com/testostertunes if you'd like to keep in touch. No musings on current events or limp stabs at humor, simply relevant information and life lessons.

And in the way of live music? Tuesday June 14th, BIRDS OF MAYA, MILK MUSIC, & HOME BLITZ @ Kong Fu Necktie in Philadelphia.

Just Some Photos

VIOLENT STUDENTS 'Party Addiction'

VIOLENT STUDENTS
Party Addiction
RR//TT#29

Here's the last gasp effort from VIOLENT STUDENTS, a defunct Philadelphia-based black hole Punk / HC outfit whose wasters have been and continue to be involved in some arguably more-refined and mature projects. This self-medicated, throbbing set was recorded live at their final gig inside a South Philadelphia firetrap before a crowd of black-clad pencil-necked geeks that shrank with each passing tic of the metronome. Most of those intensely posed youngsters left too early to witness an exploratory stomp through “Seekers of the Truth”. The Students here are joined by BLUES CONTROL’s Lea Cho, who was a last second replacement on guitar when Jim Winters (of Earth Crisis, Conviction, etc) proved tardy. The flip side is A Handy Magician, originally infamously issued as a cassette in 2004 or so. And as a more articulate scribe has famously noted, if you remember a Violent Students gig, then you weren’t there.

Insightful liner notes courtesy of Tony Rettman.

Side A

Intro

Overpower, Overcome

Very Hot & Awfully Wet

Seekers

Side B

A Handy Magician (orig. RR//TT#2)

Listen to a sample here.

This record will ship in about 3 weeks, so please show patience or purchase a copy from a trusted mail-order house or chain record store.

U.S. - $15 postpaid

Canada - $18

The Rest of the World - $25

Paypal to TestosterTunes over at gee mail

WATERY LOVE, PLEASURE LEFTISTS, SPACIN'.... Sunday April 17 in Phila

SUNDAY APRIL 17

@ The El Bar

Front & Master Sts.

6pm, Early

WATERY LOVE

PLEASURE LEFTISTS

(Homostupids connection, Fan Death Recs.)

SPACIN'

For those with an unsatisfactory social life...

A monthly event featuring recorded music and a cash bar. It occurs at a reasonable hour on a weekday night so it's ideal for people with jobs.

Monday March 14th's Invited Guest: Max Milgram of AKA Music, Violent Students, Watery Love, & Overt Hostility.

THUR MARCH 3

PURLING HISS

WATERY LOVE

@ KFN in Philadelphia

doors at 8pm

HOMOSTUPIDS to visit the West Coast

Attn: Readers in California, Reno, the Pacific Northwest, and Vancouver. Cleveland's HOMOSTUPIDS are making an out-of-character trip to your area. It takes a special combination of begging and bribing to get these mutants to even cross the Ohio River, so one can only assume that they're expecting something special from the mellow hordes near the other Ocean. Only a bona fide mental defective would pass up the opportunity to witness the globe's foremost black-hole Skull Music act.

Fri. Mar 4 San Fran w/ Knight Of the New Crusade, Wild Thing *Venue TBA
Sat. Mar 5 Oakland w/ Little Queenie @ Stork Club
Sun. Mar 6 Sacramento w/ Rat Damage @ The Hub
Mon. Mar 7 Reno w/ Soda Jerk @ The HQ
Tue. Mar 8 Portland w/ White Fang, Therapists @ House Show
Wed. Mar 9 Olympia w/ Criminal Code, Red and Black @ House Show
Thr. Mar 10 Vancouver w/ Shearing Pinx, Eating Out @ Honey Lounge
Fri. Mar 11 Seattle w/ Black Breath, Condominium, White Wards @The Highline
Sat. Mar 12 Portland w/ Condominium, Organized Sports @ Slab Town

NEVERMIND by CLOCKCLEANER re-released

Six years back, Cleaner got involved with a grownup who wears black nail polish and hangs a pentagram around his neck. Scary! This frightening individual pulled up in his hearse, got a hold of an album titled Nevermind, and disappeared in a plume of smoke. Haven't seen him since. He's likely stirring a cauldron and staring at the calendar, waiting anxiously for Halloween to arrive.

Anyway, the reasonable people at Fan Death Records have re-released Nevermind on a vinyl LP. It's a nasty record that's been locked away by a comic book reader for too long.

Click over here

http://fandeathrecords.com/news/

and here

http://www.midheaven.com/item/nevermind-by-clockcleaner-lp

Patrick Warburton as The Woman Chaser

BIRDS OF MAYA live clip

Here's a vid from way back in May 2010 when BIRDS OF MAYA played their Ready To Howl record release gig at the El Bar in Philadelphia.

Many thanks to Tiffany Yoon.

Here's some dates for Birds-related events..

Sun 1/30/2011 SPACIN’ @ Kung Fu Necktie, Philadelphia
Fri 2/18/2011 Megajam Booze Band @ Mroom, Philadelphia
Sat 2/19/2011 Purling Hiss @ Good Weekend Warehouse, Allentown
Sat 2/26/2011 Birds of Maya @ Golden West, Baltimore

third speed light... got blood in your eyes

[Took down the photo of Daniel. Too gruesome to look at. -Ed.]

All evidence points to a wild gig at the Cake Shop in NYC the other night. Dan DiMaggio of HOME BLITZ evidently took a chair to the face during the latter portion of their set. The uncompromising showman carried on with the set in spite of a gruesome gash above the eyes. He's since been stitched up and he's in high spirits.

Me, We

Happy Birthday to the Louisville Lip, who turns 68 today.

PH and 'Stupids news

SATURDAY JAN 22

PURLING HISS

HOME BLITZ

THE MAD SCENE

@ The Cake Shop, NYC

THURSDAY MARCH 3

PURLING HISS

BOGAN DUST

@ Kong Fu Necktie, Phila

_______________

Additionally... OG Skulls THE HOMOSTUPIDS are going to the West Coast in March.

Happy 2011

Expect some news from this web presence in the near future. For now, here's a photograph.

Paging Dave Kendall (or more likely, Lewis Largent)... it's a PURLING HISS music video

Here's a nice hazy vid that the Sunday post-midnight crowd should appreciate. It's a tune called "Passenger Queen" by PURLING HISS and it's from the album titled Hissteria.

It was put together by Jake Fennell in southern California.

Rare BWY gig in Cleve-o

Hey take a look at this hideous flyer. It announces the record release gig at Now That's Class in Cleveland for The Trilogy by BRAINWASHED YOUTH. Anyone wanting a copy of the record should show up, as the damn thing is just about sold out. Also on the bill: FOLDED SHIRT and FLYIN' TRICHECOS. And it says that all the bands are required to wear white pants, for some reason. Hopefully that'll distinguish the performers from their grubby audience.

Autumnal Round-Up

Well look, sometimes it can get so I can't check in at this weblog with the frequency that I'd like and that my readers demand. Sometimes there's just too much livin' to do. My hands get full of guitars and pint glasses and sometimes a pigskin and the keyboard gets neglected. And my precious and fickle readers feel scorned and they need to find somewhere else to direct their eyes. Well, fret no longer. Here's a quick entry that'll eat up a few minutes of your day and send your browser across cyberspace.

First of all, the HOMOSTUPIDS proved that world that an audio cassette doesn't have to just some stupid little spineless piss-take project in 2010. Turns out that, for the man or woman on the go, it's an essential medium for jamming the finest tunes available. A lot of automobiles once came standard with tape decks, and a good number of those are still on the road. A very lucky few of those have the pleasure of holding the 'Stupids Great Music Collection (companion to last year's Our Best Shit cassette) in its grips. It features a couple radio ads in the great Flag tradition and it's got some terrifying and raging tunes that are just too much to keep confined to a home stereo. "Doper"? "Flies Die"? The BB King inflected "Mister Payback"? These tunes are essential listening in this world. "Taping the Worm"? "Brown Items"? Those kick much ass as well. And you get the 'Stupids take on GG's "Live to Be Hated" as well. Two Goddamn Times in a row!! It's a thoroughly solid listen on a drive to work, to the beach, to the slopes, to the bar, to the dentist, or to wherever one might drive. Look for a copy at Fan Death Records. And yeah, I realize that an mp3 player can funnel music into an automobile, but it's such a hassle and then you end up skipping around like a guy with a satellite dish and a remote control...

Speaking of FDR, keep those eyes peeled for the vinyl release of CLOCKCLEANER's Nevermind. This album was recorded in about 2004 and it was originally released only on compact disc (because "People. Do not. Purchase. Vinyl") by an archetypal speciman who worships the devil and is rumored to keep a coffin (in which he intends to rest eternally!) in his living room. For extra cash he models black jeans, black t-shirts, black nail polish, and a black goatee. He also sells weak drugs to weak people. But yeah, the record is being committed to wax... In more timely news, check out FDR figurehead Sean Gray's weekly music and sports themed radio broadcast Get Up and Fight on Mondays from 7-9pm on WMUC2. Recent broadcasts have included discussions of Donovon McNabb, YDI, Ray Lewis, and Violent Apathy.

Currently zigging and zagging across the US, Perth, Australia's TACO LEG are out there holding their heads even higher than they did when we last checked in. Great combo of thrown-off guitars and monotone, upfront blurting; charm and grit all wrapped up in 3 baby-faced mates. A buddy observed that, unlike a lot of modern groups that get rolled up in the Messthetics rug, Taco Leg isn't afraid to stand their singer up front on stage and in the mix. I'd agree. Andrew is up there flailing around in the long shadow of that guy Mark Smith. Definitely worth a night out for even the most hardened and uninterested music fan.

Here's a nice surprise: A great new LP of electric guitar-based droning, vamping, and licking came through. It's titled Eyewash Silver by KING BLOOD and it's on the Ignorant Gore label. Some seemingly eastern squeals jump out from this one, and the bass and drums (maybe just one drum, certainly a cymbal) throb along to maintain head nodding. Looks to be limited. Nice listen if you can get it.

Everyone ought to know that good friend of the label KURT VILE has a new single. Its a nice maudlin offering called In My Time. It's a classy affair and the flip has some nice canned drums that bring me back to the pre-Zanghi days. This may or may not be a sign of things to come, though all reports lead me to believe that the next big KV record will have some big sounds, big guitars, big drums, and all around big things. All these pieces are building up to reveal the man beneath it all. Relatedly, WAR ON DRUGS, the work of the longest-tenured VIOLATOR (or maybe KV is the 2nd longest-tenured War on Drugs?) recently issued a tidy twelve inch of new tunes. The title is Future Weather and it's got swells, swagger, and Springsteen-moves. The propulsive drumming sounds familar... turns out Violator Zanghi shows up here as well.

Goddamn... Mike "Dizzy" Polizze took a month of from his buds in BIRDS OF MAYA to take a trip with PURLING HISS. Our man wouldn't even give a glimpse of his live outfit until he had already showed it to about 30 other cities. PH was opening for the Violators, and those guys report that it was a hell of a privilege to watch the thing gel before their eyes and in their ears night after night. "Don't diss the Hiss!" became the mantra of this crew. And so these unkempt tossers pulled back into port something fierce...

RIP

It's a topsy-turvy world, and maybe the problems of two people don't amount to a hill of beans. But this is our hill. And these are our beans!