Shows: Jesus And Mary Chain@The Vogue

Alt-rock originals The Jesus And Mary Chain will be playing in Indy on Thursday September 20th 2012.

From the Scottish band's formation in 1983 to it's break-up in 1999 the co-founding Reid brothers careers in music have seen the first wave of Punk, the introduction of Metal, Hair, Grunge and the full blossoming of Alt and Indie.

Over this 16 year period in rock, The Jesus And Mary Chain has carved their own unmistakable brand of searing, distinctive guitar rhythms, pounding drums and vocal performances that ranges from utter detachment to hard-hitting and sinister.

The band embodied disenchanted, disenfranchised groups of young people who were educated enough to see through bleak, pre-packaged "First World" lifestyles that only seemed to perpetuate more mindless behavior. There was a glowering fury at pointless and deeply ingrained ignorance that happily perpetuated injustice, hypocrisy, illness and then failed to acknowledge the existence of a personal identity outside of societal norms.

After a eight year split, in January of 2007, the band confirmed for Coachella, re-formed. The Reids new line-up includes Phil King on bass, Loz Colbert on drums and Mark Crozer on guitar. The Jesus And Mary Chain will be playing in Indy on Thursday September 20th 2012 as part of a new international tour.


References:

• The Jesus And Mary Chain, Official Site
• Wikipedia, The Jesus And Mary Chain
• The Vogue, Upcoming Shows
• Youtube, Jesus And Mary Chain - Head On

Deep Cuts: Punk Rock

A Happy Christmas to you happy campers with something real special for this fine Christmas season - The Clash's fourth studio album, Sandinista originally released in 1980. The album was named after a grass-roots revolutionary party formed in Nicaragua that eventually became the ruling government after many years of struggle. The album was released while the Sandinista were actively fighting in the hills for power against the remnants of the previous regime.

The 36 song collection was re-released in 1990 as contemporary bands that The Clash toured with in the 70's and 80's had begun fading away due to bitter in-fighting and sheer exhaustion. By 1990, The Ramones had played nearly 2,000 shows and the lead singer for DK, Jello Biafra, was being sued by his own band for a quarter of million dollars plus legal expenses.

This three-disc collection collects some of the best and most over-looked anthems inspired by Combat Rock and London Calling including: Career Opportunities, Silicone On Sapphire and The Police On My Back, a searing political song originally by punk-reggae outfit The Equals in 1965.

The Clash - Police On My Back

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Deep Cuts: Punk Rock

The Clash were definitive of rock's evolution away from trippy, folkie, hippie jam bands that dominated 1970's rock culture. Instead of cheap moccasins or blue suede shoes they rocked the scuffed combat boots and sung about survival in the DMZ of urban England. Turns out, a lot of kids could relate.

London Calling laid out ignored social troubles, a sense of being a helpless individual caught in the rusty gears of society, dirty politics and living in the middle of drug epidemics. Joel Strummer, the driving force behind the group, reacted by forging real anthems against any and all of these urban obstacles.

For a great many people - this was the story of their lives. The Clash's landmark London Calling album from 1977 turned these untold stories of struggle against local and international corruption (The Guns Of Brixton, Death Or Glory) over sometimes overly glossy production techniques but always with raw emotion. Songs like Lost In The Supermarket are fun and witty while also looking at widespread, crass commercialism or modern consumerism as societal means to temporarily satisfy deeper human needs.

The Clash - Death or Glory

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Off The Shelf: There Is No Authority But Yourself

Dutch film maker Alexander Oey examines the history of punk rock social phenomenon Crass.

Punk rock. The unflinching unofficial religion of a sea of disenfranchised, socially and geographically isolated kids and cranks in Western culture.

Made in England by bands like the Sex Pistols and The Exploited then commercially perfected in America, Punk rock is a lot like that Angry Kid From high school. The odd one in the corner. That Kid who, each day, scribbled lyrics into his beat up binder. The one who consistently got D's and worked a night job. The same one who secretly carried a red-flecked pipe wrench in his back pocket like some kind of hidden talisman to ward off gangs of crack fiends and packs of ultra macho jocks who dictated what was Right and Wrong behavior.

Yet, instead of resigning himself to a meaningless life he picked up his beat up binder and screamed out to the world, waving a guitar instead of pipe wrench, that The Kid wasn't taking it anymore and that his audience didn't have to either.

This is a good introduction to Crass. An English punk rock act who railed against corrupt authority figures, institutionalized racism, mindless violence, out-of-touch splinter cells w/in government, smothering social anxiety and the ever present pressure to conform to an impossible ideal - an ideal that only existed on celluloid or in the dancing scanlines of television.


Core Crass members performing live in the early 80's Pete Wright, Steve Ignorant and Andy "N.A" Palmer.

Crass, formed in 1977 from of a group of edgy artists and actors, promoted Anarchism as a political ideology to combat corruption. Crass went on to form the base of a resistance movement against exploitative English policies and popularized the Anarcho-Punk movement of punk subculture by advocating real and direct action in social arenas as varied as political protest, animal rights, personal accountability and environmentalism.

Crass utilized and advocated a DIY punk ethic approach by producing sound collages, graphics, anti-Nuke pamphlets, solid albums and films that remain nearly unique in Western culture outside of Medieval monasteries and the utmost levels of Higher Education.


Promotional material typical of Crass who advocated positive and lasting social change.

Alexander Oey's rockumentary of Crass, There is No Authority But Yourself, was premiered at the Raindance Film Festival at the Piccadilly Circus, London Trocadero in October 2006 and part of the Official Selection film program at the Flipside Film Festival in May 2008.


References:

• Wikipedia, Crass
• Wikipedia, There Is No Authority But Yourself
• Wikipedia, Steve Ignorant
• Amazon, There Is No Authority But Yourself (2006)
• Punk Rocker UK, Crass Profile
• Southen Records, Crass Merch!

Deep Cuts: UK Punk

Before the Simple Minds were an internationally successful band they were a series of school boy hardcore bands playing crumby dives in Glasgow. Among the best of their early efforts in the mid-1970's was Johnny And The Self Abusers.

The Self-Abusers were a Scottish version of Black Flag, a raging, self-destructive punk outfit, that played it's first show on Easter Sunday in Glascow in 1977. The Self-Abusers, dubbed "Johnny Plague", "Pripton Weird", "Sid Syphilis" and future Simple Minds guitarist and drummer Chuck Burchill chose "Charlie Argue". The foursome managed to release just one 7-inch record from the short-lived punk label Chiswick entitled Saints and Sinners.

Johnny And The Self Abusers - Pablo Picasso

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References:

• Dream Reaper, Saints And Sinners

Off The Shelf: Burning Down The House (2009)

CBGB's was an iconic NYC club that fostered the growth of Rock n Roll in America.

Mandy Stein (Too Tough To Die: Johnny Ramone (2006)) presents Burning Down The House (2009) featuring Hilly Kristal, who passed away at the age of 75 in 2007 one year after his iconic rock club finally shut it's doors. Kristal owned and operated CBGB's beginning in 1973. His run-down Bowery club eventually became an icon of Punk Rock and fostered the growth of Punk, Alternative and Indie music in America through out three decades in NYC before closing in 2006.

Stein's film features superstar interviews from surviving Ramone Tommy, to NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg and David Byrne (Talking Heads). Jim Jarmusch (Dead Man (1995) w/Johnny Depp), Kurt Loder, Henry Rollins and Cheetah Chrome (Dead Boys) also talk about the music that came through for the 30+ years the club was open.

Another new CBCG movie is in the works for 2012 tentatively-titled CBGB.

References:

• Wikipedia, Hilly Kristal
• IMDB, Mandy Stein
• Paste Magazine, New CBGB Movie Upcoming

Off The Shelf: Who Cares?

The Duane Peters phenomena involves a lotta stitches.

Duane Peters is nicknamed "The Master of Disaster" for a reason. He's a punk rock singer/songwriter and innovative professional skateboarder. Active since 1978, he is best known as the singer in the California punk rock band U.S. Bombs, which formed in 1993.

Peters is credited for inventing many tricks, such as the "acid drop" into a pool/bowl, the "layback grind", the "Indy air", the "Sweeper", the "backside layback grind revert", the "fakie hang-up" (a.k.a. "Disaster"), the "invert revert", the "fakie thruster", and the "loop of death", a full 360-degree rotation in a specially designed loop.

He's added acting to his resume and will be in the 2011 indie film Hostility Hotel set in San Fransisco. The film features the darker side of underground culture smashed up into a two-day drug binge.



References:

• Wikipedia, Duane Peters
• Hostility Hotel, Check-In

Deep Cuts From Daddy's Vault: Punk

Early 1980's music in Los Angeles meant X, Black Flag and Wasted Youth. These were bands that defined the hardcore sound. Wasted Youth, although lesser known today, played national tours with The Ramones and DK. After they broke up, drummer Joey Castillo joined Danzig then Queens of the Stone Age. Dave Kushner has gone on to become a member of Velvet Revolver.

Wasted Youth - Problem Child.mp3

ZERO BOYS: 1981

Re-posted from the original segment at Youtube.

This live footage, features Indy punk icons The Zero Boys. It was filmed in Indianapolis at a "Pizza Castle" in 1981 was directed by Mike Moser. The original version of the song can be found on the Secretly Canadian reissue version of the Vicious Circle LP.