CRKO Fanzine #0 by Bernd Fischer

PUNKROCK-FANZINE This is No.: PROMO /500 FEBRUARY 2010 Issue #0

Featuring:

NEW BOMB TURKS GHETTO WAYS « NOBUNNY « SEDATIVES « STEVE ADAMYK « Tina Luchessi « THE BLACK & WHITES « Douchemaster Records « WAU Y LOS ARRRGHS!!! « LOVE BOAT « BATMAN & ROBIN « SOMETHING FIERCE « RETURNABLES « CHUCKAMUCK « BEACH PATROL « Dan Melchior « Plus Tourdiaries, Reviews and lots of blah blah blah...

Blah Blah Blah...

Imprint Contact: Send promos, news, rumors, reviews, articles and feedback to: CRKO Fanzine c/o Bernd Fischer Am Hemberg 40 49716 Meppen Germany crkozine@googlemail.com CRKO Fanzine Issue #0: Print run 500 copies. The Vinyl-EP you get with this issue of the CRKO Fanzine was pressed by P.Trash Records. Thanx to Peter for the cooperation, you rule dude! The following issue of the CRKO Fanzine has no definite release date, yet. The Editor in Chief is permanently working on the zine, writing and doing interviews. As soon as enough material is collected the next issue will see the light of day… Internet: We don't have a website yet, cuz I dunno a lot about how to do that. Wanna build one for me? Get in touch! Publisher/Editor in Chief/Layout: Bernd Fischer Contributors for this issue: Bernd Fischer, Markus Pacino, Elmar "The Gimp" Gimpl, Finn Quedens, Ben Accident, Duniel, Andi Theke, Billy Pepperoni, Andy Moore Advertisement: We'll take requests for advertisements in the future. This issue's only got ads from our Partners in Crime, cuz it's the "zero-issue", got it?! Just write an e-mail for advertising-conditions and I’ll think about it. No Corporate Rock Shit pleeeeze… Legal matters (german law) Rechtliches: Dies ist keine Veröffentlichung im Sinne des Presserechts sondern ein Rundbrief an Freunde und Bekannte. Durch den Verkaufspreis werden keine Gewinne erwirtschaftet sondern lediglich Unkosten wie Druck, Porto, Bier und sonstige Auslagen gedeckt. Dieses Fanzine enthält keine persönlichen Mitteilungen und darf daher als Büchersendung verschickt werden.

HERE WE GO! Okeeeh, finally I did it! After being a long time writer for the german OxFanzine I'll do my own little fanzine now. There were many reasons to do it that way but definitely no bad blood between the Ox and me (actually I'm still writing for that zine). I'm still very grateful to Ox-chief Joachim for giving me the opportunity to write for the biggest fanzine in Germany. But the drawbacks were obvious - the Ox tries to cover a wide range of music and so the space in that zine became very limited. Every time I had a cool interview I always had to shorten it and even cut out parts that I found very interesting. That was very disappointing and by translating english interviews into German some funny wordplays lost their charme et cetera et cetera, blah blah blah... This disappointing trend went on and on in the last weeks and months and finally I said to myself: Why not do it yourself?! And so I started working on it! I took the name „CorporateRockKnockout“ from my long-time band-column in the Ox-Fanzine, where I featured a lot of cool bands I liked. And I always had the ideal in mind to publish a cool fanzine along with a great vinyl-7inch, instead of those inflationary "Pay-to-play" CDs. Weird idea but when I told some people about my plans, long-time-pal Peter from P.Trash Records walked up to me and said: "Let's do it! I'll do this great EP by STEVE ADAMYK. Why not combine our forces and publish the zine together with that EP?!" Lucky me, what a great offer! I won't bullshit you about having a "free" vinyl-single with this zine. If you may complain that the CRKO-zine is a little bit expensive please keep in mind that you get a truly fantastic piece of wax with it!!! I'll try to do highquality here and in the best case I'll break even moneywise. If you don't like it keep reading e-zines or NME or I dunno... German readers might know some of the interviews featured in this issue. But they only know the translated and shortened versions that were published in the Ox-Fanzine. Here you get the whole stories! These are the most interesting interviews I did in the last 12 months, so have fun reading them and go check out the bands! English readers might wonder that some stuff in this zine is written in German, but when I started I wasn't sure about what language to choose. Later on it became clear that a part of the print run will be shipped to Canada, so it was obvious to do as many articles as possible in English. For the german parts: grab a dictionary and translate, haha... But if you wanna give feedback considering the "language-topic" that would be great and help me to find a straight line in that question. Uh, a lot of blah blah... Anyway, if you don't like my English I don't care, haha. I'm just a stupid German and you better be glad that our granddaddies didn't win WW2 back then, cuz otherwise you'll have to speak German today and would listen to military marches, instead of cool Punkrock, Garage, Hardcore or whatever... If you wanna contribute something in the future just drop a line and I'll think about it. If you have a distro or record label that fits my musical interest feel free to send your stuff. And if you wanna place an advertisement get in touch, too. I'll see what I can do, first come first served. But for now just have fun reading the CRKO-zine! CRKO #0

CONTENTS and PLAYLISTS

CONTENTS CONTENTS

New Bomb Turks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ghetto Ways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Beach Patrol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Batman & Robin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nobunny . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Travelogue: Pacino at the „PricklyPeaBowls 2009“ . . . Love Boat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tina Luchessi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chuckamuck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dan Melchior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wau Y Los Arrrghs!!! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sedatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tourdiary: Sedatives & Idle Hands Eurotour 2009 . . Steve Adamyk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Black & Whites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Douchemaster Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Something Fierce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Returnables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reviews (Longplayer, Singles, other stuff) Travelogue: The Gimp vs. NOLA! . . . . . . . The European Tourfood Guide . . . . . . . . .

Anditol: 1. Ramones - Road To Ruin LP 2. Poison Idea - Pick Your King EP 3. EA 80 - Zweihundertzwei LP 4. Buzzcocks - Love Bites LP 5. Moving Targets - Burning In Water LP 6. Rocket From The Crypt - RFTC LP 7. Bad Brains - The Roir Sessions LP 8. Dackelblut - Schützen & Fördern LP 9. Paul Auster - Stadt aus Glas 10. Kartoffelpürre mit Rahmspinat und frischen Röstzwiebeln

Finn: 1. CUTE LEPERS Berlin Girls "7 2. WILD ZEROS s/t "10 3. SUSPECT PARTS - Maneater "7 4. OSCARS - Jump for joy "7 5. DIGITAL LEATER - Warm Brother LP 6. REIGNING SOUND - Love & Curses LP 7. CHUCKAMUCK - Autofahrn "7 8. MOJOMATICS - Another cheat on me "7 9. MODERNETTES - Barbra "7 10. CHARLIE MEGIRA - Love Police LP

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Andy Moore: 1. Deaf Wish - Reality & Visions LP 2. NastyFest, Toulouse, France - with the Fatals, Magnetix, Jack of Heart 3. DIY home renovations!!!. Especially getting to use a jackhammer on the floor of my new flat. I have become a real man. 4. Sonic Chicken 4 @ The Pits, Kortrijk Belgium 5. Kurt Vile - Childish Prodigy LP 6. Breaking The Law reunion show @ The Tote, Melbourne, Australia 7. BBQ's at the beach - it's summertime downunder 8. Magnetix - Positively Negative LP 9. Hex Dispensers - Winchester Mystery House LP 10. King Khan & BBQ - Invisible Girl LP

The Gimp: 1.THE BOY TOYS - Girls Like You 7" (Spin The Bottle) 2. THE MOBY DICKS - Ballad of the Red Dog 7" (Mammoth Cave) 3. FERGUS & GERONIMO - Tell it in my ear 7" (Transparent) 4. LENGUAS LARGAS - I Feel 7" (Tic Tac Totally) 5. THE WHITE WIRES - Pretty Girl 7" (Trouble in Mind) 6. WOODS - Songs of Shame LP (Woodsist) 7. FUNGI GIRLS - Seafaring Pyramids LP (Play Pinball) 8. BARE WIRES - Artificial Clouds LP (Tic Tac Totally) 9. GRASS WIDOW - Tattoo 12" (Captured Tracks) 10. GIRLS - Album LP (True Panther)

Pacino: 1. RAMONES - All The Stuff (And More) Vol. 1 CD 2. Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley CD (mit Extraliedern!!) 3. THE MUFFS - Really Really Happy CD 4. Metal Mike Plays The Hits Of The 90's LP 5. TEST PATTERNS - Test Patterns CD 6. THE DONNAS - The Donnas CD (Lookout) 7. SCREECHING WEASEL My Brain Hurts LP 8. THE BLACK AND WHITES - s/t LP 9. Edgar Alle Poe Hörbuch 3CD 10. EP’s: Baby Shakes, Nobunny, Sugar Stems

Bernd: 1. RETURNABLES - everything! 2. HEX DISPENSERS Winchester Mystery House 3. GLOW KIT - Television Too 4. MURDER CITY DEVILS Empty Bottles Broken Hearts

5. My new apartment 6. RnR ADVENTURE KIDS Hillbilly Psychosis LP 7. NOBUNNY - everything! 8. My gallbladder-operation 9. PHANTOM LIMBS - Best Of 10. SOMETHING FIERCE There Are No Answers LP

NEW BOMB TURKS

Do I have to say more than these three words? NEW BOMB TURKS?! To me personally this band was one of the main influences in my musical socialization! If there weren't the NBT I think I'd be a Heavy-Metal-moron today, so thanx for that, haha… And when I saw them live the first time they hit me like a damn truck! Incomparable! That was a few years ago and every new NBT-show since then was a real highlight for me. Even when the four guys from Columbus/Ohio declared that the band is defunct I already knew that they would continue in one or the other way. And they are still going! Not as a fulltime-band but for occasional shows and for the fun of it. So, in July 2009 the mighty NEW BOMB TURKS returned to Europe and a short time later I did this interview with Eric, Jim and Matt. Have fun! How many shows did you play this summer in Europe? Was there a special reason to do these shows and did you like it to come back here?

Jim: We played four shows in Europe. One in France, two in Germany, and one in Belgium. There wasn't really a special reason. We just like to play and see our friends every couple of years. It's great that people still come out to see the shows. Matt: We come back to see old friends and our favorite fans. Plus, it's fun to brag back home about a trip to Europe!!! Someday I'll bring my son over. Eric: Yeah, basically the "Sjock Fest" asked us to play, which basically covered the plane tickets so we figured why not do a few more shows just to see old friends and make a little more money. Also, I have noticed, since I check the band MySpace page alot, that we do seem to have some very young fans, especially in Europe, so I thought it'd be cool to maybe see some new faces at the shows, too and we did, especially in Solingen! The band "officially" broke up on the New Year's Eve (2002 into 2003), when we played with the BASSHOLES and DIRTBOMBS in Cleveland at the great Beachland Ballroom. But we've all agreed that every summer, if some cool offer comes up to play at a fun festival or something, and we all can get out of work or whatever, and feel that we can still put on a good show - then we'll play!!! Are there any special anecdotes that you can tell about the shows? Jim: In Stuttgart there was a naked guy with a really small penis running around the entire show. He got up on stage at one point to try to play the drums with his dick, but it was too small. Pretty funny stuff. I used to worry about the size of my own dick, but after seeing that I guy I think that all is good. I'm John Holmes compared to that cat.

Eric (Solingen 2009) Eric: Great times all! I was surprised how packed the shows were!! It's true: there was this guy in Stuttgart who was completely naked the entire show, and came on stage trying to play Sam's floor tom with his dick! Of course Solingen was crazy fun, too - the opening bands GOLDEN HELMETS and PHONOTONES were both cool! And the after-party at the bar was amazing. I got to Europe early with my gal Lesley, and saw the GORIES and OBLIVIANS at a club there. It was great, especially the OBLIVIANS. Then when we played the "Sjock Fest", the GORIES were a little better - so that balanced out!!! We partied at a bar with Eric and Jack (OBLIVIANS) and Peg and Dan (GORIES) at some bar after the "Sjock Fest", and Peg was really funny. She talked a lot of funny shit, would pass out for a bit, and then start yelling some funny story or something. Really good time with those guys! I got to hang out with some great pals like Janneke (from the RIPLETS), and some Solingen friends too, Birgit and some of the GOLDEN HELMETS, who were all cool guys!! Matt: Personally. Closing down the bar in Paris with Lili Z confiding about our love for FAUST and Krautrock.

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NEW BOMB TURKS I've been told by friends that there were not really many people in Stuttgart, compared to your last time there in 2005. Are you disappointed about things like that? Matt: Not really, those that were there were very into the show, including that aforementioned mild mannered dude that got naked on the stage and tried to beat the drum with his penis. Jim: I'm surprised and grateful when anyone still comes out to see us. We haven't had a record out in over 6 years and we don't have any real promotion in Europe anymore so it stands to reason that there would be shows with less people. I'm just glad that Micha didn't loose too much on the show. He's a good guy. Eric: Not really disappointed, it happens. It has been a long time since we went to Stuttgart; and some of our old fans probably have babies and don't go out anymore. Ha! We didn't really promote the shows much this time; it was kind of a vacation for us. When you don't have new records out and no label helping to promote the show - and technically you're not really a band anymore - you hope for the best. It was still pretty full, and the crowd was pretty crazy. After the show in Stuttgart - which was probably not totally sold out, but was pretty packed - they just HAD to have a fucking death metal DJ dance "party" thing after our show (if death metal guys actually know how to have a party). And the whole crowd just left, and there were like seven long-haired dorks banging their head to the most god-awful crap. I never understand that about some clubs in Europe - they have a totally packed, fun, rock'n'roll show with lots of people spending money on drinking; then after they kick everybody out for some techno party or something, half the amount of people show up, they bring their own drugs, and the bar makes less money. I don't get it... 85% of the time that doesn't happen, but when it does, it's soooooooo annoying. Again, the music at this Stuttgart after-party just really sukked! Eventually, some more people showed up (only in Germany could somewhat pretty girls actually listen to crap music like that). And we all hung out outside with NBT fans and had a good time. The other 3 club shows were sold out, the Jim (Solingen 2009) "Sjock Festival" was full,

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and we got to play with some good bands. So not bad for some older guys!!! Ha ha... Was this the last time that Germany saw the NEW BOMB TURKS on stage or will you return in the future? Jim: I wouldn't say that this is the last time we'll be in Germany, but I don't know for sure when we'll be back. We only do a few shows a year so we have to spread them around. I think we might be playing Speedfest in Eindhoven this year so that is at least close to Germany. (Note from the editor - The NBT meanwhile played the show at the Speedfest on November 28, 2009. Eric sez: „The fest was fun, and I think we played well (the sound on stage was a little weird). But it was odd, as I flew in Saturday morning, NO SLEEP, lots of coffee, stayed up dancing at the after-party until 4:30, and got sick from plane food on the way back Sunday (added to my fucking hangover). Good time playing and seeing the other Turks and some pals!!!!“) Eric: Who knows? Like I said earlier, we just kind of get together when we can... If we play there again, it'll probably be Solingen, or Berlin because Tim Warren (Crypt Records head) is living there again. Matt: We can be back as soon as you'll have us. Mutti????? I assume you run the band as a cool hobby at the moment, just to take the opportunities to play fun-shows when you have the time and really want to play. Don't you have an itch to record some new songs sometimes? Just for fun, even if it would only be released as a ultra-limited 7-inch-single or something like that?! Eric: Sometimes. But I live in Brooklyn now and the other guys are in Columbus, and it's hard for all of us to get together and think about trying to come up with some new songs. Maybe if we did a longer Euro trip, we could quickly record a song of covers or something. But I think it's a little disingenuous to try to just whip us 2 or 3 songs quickly one weekend I go to visit Columbus or something. But who knows... Jim: It would be great to record some new stuff. These last shows that we did went so well that I'm sure we could still make some cool records. Hopefully we'll try to do something soon, but it's hard when everyone has real jobs and the band is just a hobby. Matt: Of course, we talk about it all the time. It's just finding the time and place.

NEW BOMB TURKS Basically I interviewed a LOT of the bands and labels (and some fans, booking agents, record store guys, and others) from that scene (Crypt, In the Red, Sympathy, Estrus, Empty, Norton, etc.....). Lots of wild stories and info, and I kind of frame it with my own experience with the NEW BOMB TURKS. It will be called "WE NEVER LEARN", out June 2010, Backbeat Books. I am hoping to get it translated into French and/or German, but who knows.....

„Something is wrong with this guy...“ Jim & Eric (Solingen 2009) Another thing is the "Quit Your Dayjob" DVD you were planning since 2005. Can you give a brief recapulation about the project and when the DVD will (hopefully) be released?! Matt: It will be released when we and the "directors" get off our slack asses and do it. So maybe 2-3 years… Jim: The DVD project has completely stalled at this point. The guy that was going to do it found a real job so he doesn't have the time and we haven't been able to find someone else to take it on. We have tons of great live footage, it's just a matter of putting it all together. Hopefully someone will step up. I keep saying hopefully thinking that will make it happen. Eric: Well, if it ever comes out, it probably won't be called that! But we talk about it sometimes. I have been working on a book about '90s garage punk, and that has kept me VERY bust. Anyway, once that is done, maybe then I can take a trip to Columbus and we can try to get all the material together. I have sooooooo many old VHS tapes of NBT shows, and we did a few proper videos, so we just have to find the time and a trusty friend (who works cheap) to put it all together. We do have an official live DVD out on Cherry Red called "Reigning on Edinburgh". It's a great 2-camera live show from 1994 in Scotland; and some extra songs from a show in New Jersey in 1994. I wrote the liner notes, and there are some cool pictures in the booklet. So go find it!!!!!! Eric, you already mentioned your book-project. Can you tell what this book is all about? Eric: It will be a monster!!!! It should be out by next June (I don't know about Euro distribution). 50+ interviews, LOADS of old fliers, pictures, etc...

Are you still interested in what's going on in the Punkrock/ Garagepunk-scene nowadays? What stuff do you listen to when you are at home? Eric: Yes and no. Up to a few months ago I was editor at this national music magazine over here CMJ. So I got lots of free CDs and stuff, mostly indie rock though. I have been very busy with the book this year, and broke from no job recently (all magazines are going out of business in America). So I haven't seen as many shows. But I also think that, for the kind of music I like (and I think I have an open mind, so I listen to a lot of stuff), but for raw rock stuff, this is a very slow time for that music. I love the BLACK LIPS, MANNEQUIN MEN, DAVILA 666, LIVEFASTDIE (who just broke up), KING KHAN & BBQ (and their various offshoots), BABY SHAKES, VILENT LOVERS CLUB, JAIL WEDDINGS, and others. Jim: I still pay attention to some music, but not as much as I used to when I collected records back in the day. I really dig DAVILA 666, THE BLACK LIPS and FUCKED UP right now. Matt: To name a few … TIMES NEW VIKING, FAUST, PINE HILL HAINTS, REIGNING SOUND, A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS, Analog Africa compilations, CHEATER SLICKS, Jack Oblivian's new record, VAN HALEN bootlegs, Dave Pajo (SLINT), Scream with me - MISFITS covers, the new Jarvis Cocker album, LETS WRESTLE, Paul Bley Trio - closer, PETE AND THE PIRATES, BLANK TIME, THEE OH SEES, STRANGE BOYS, FUCKED UP, Kurt Vile..... Eric: I also like non-garage stuff like the GO TEAM, Duffy, Sondre Lerche, kinda catchy power pop or soulish stuff... Hip-hop seems to have hit a point where it really needs its own punk rock revolution... There are some cool, old bootleg gospel compilations that are floating around; and the Betty Davis reissues on Light in the Attic are nasty fun...

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NEWâ&#x20AC;&#x2C6;BOMBâ&#x20AC;&#x2C6;TURKS But I do think there are lots of kind of noisy, lo-fi, scrunchy types that came from the garage scene, but do an artsier thing (PSYCHEDELIC HORSESHIT, WAVVES, TYVEK, TIMES NEW VIKING, Kurt Vile) that I think are kind of cool; but I already notice some younger fans a little bored by it and want to rock out a little more at shows. I have a whole theory that a couple generations of kids being fed Prozac and Ritalin by their parents from the age of 4 has mellowed out lots of potential fucked-up fun punk rockers, but maybe there will be a bunch of new, crazier bands soon (I hope!).... but I'll shut up now. You can read it all in my book. Ha ha!!! Do you play in other bands or musical projects besides of the NEW BOMB TURKS? I know that Sam played with THE SUN, are they still around? Eric: THE SUN is done, I believe. I am thinking about getting some kind of project together maybe, but again, I am really concentrating on the book and then I really really have to find a fucking job!!!!

By the way: I listened a lot to the new record of the GHETTO WAYS while figuring out the questions for this interview. What do you think of the GHETTO WAYS? Jim: GHETTO WAYS are great! I saw a couple of times and really dug their shit. Eric: Dig the GHETTO WAYS! I was pals with Jenna while she was living here in NYC. Great gal. More energy than any female I have ever met... Matt: Love them. Hi Jenna! Okay, those were my questions, thanx for everything dudes! If you still have something clever to say, please do it: Eric: Still sad about Lux Interior dying. Hey kids, Stay Sick, Turn Blue!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Interview and pix: Bernd (August 2009) Weblinks: www.newbombturks.com www.myspace.com/theenewbombturks

Matt: I had a thing with Marcy Mays of SCRAWL but it never took off. I had a kid, she bought a bar. We have some good songs we may come back to. I plan on starting a band with my son, Augie. Sam is teaching him drums.

plus the CRKO-editor! A great evening in Solingen: THE NEW BOMB TURKS

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GHETTO WAYS

GHETTO WAYS KEEP ON TRUCKIN'...

Disclaimer: This interview was conducted via satellite between Berlin, Brooklyn and Indiana, while Harry was long-haul trucking across the country. The GHETTO WAYS are great! That's what the NEW BOMB TURKS say about them, and I say it, too! I love every record they did and the upcoming new platter is a hit for sure! A sufficient reason to bore Jenna (Guitar), Shane (Bass) and Harry (Drums) with some stooopid questions… This interview will appear next to an interview with the NEW BOMB TURKS! What do you think about the NBT? Do you sometimes meet Eric in Brooklyn? Shane: Nice guy, nicer than me. I've met Eric through Jenna. Last time we talked, we were trying to remember what year it could have been that one of my old bands played with the NBT in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Some big 2-day event at the Concert Cafe with a ton of bands, NBT, SPACESHITS... I think we figured out it might have been 1996 or something. Jenna: Eric's a friend and a great guy. I always like seeing him.

Shane: What if I told you that the record was chock full of real animal lust - would that be something you'd be interested in? Yep, animal lust is alright with me! Besides of that I think the album's got more pop-appeal than the GHETTO WAYS ever had, but without losing the "old energy". Do you plan such sound-developments or does this happen by accident? Harry: My truck's getting towed in front of Bennigan's right now. I've got to get back to you on that one. Jenna: The last song "Big Bad Wolf" is a nursery rhyme I wrote for my baby niece. We made it a GHETTO WAYS song in less than a minute, so maybe that shows how childish we are - ha! And two of the songs on here are soul covers. I begged the boys to play them, so now you know there's a lot of begging that goes on in the GHETTO WAYS. Shane: We play the songs and try to capture them as best we can. No master plan there.

Harry: Is Bill still in the band? Your third album "I Always Wanted You" will be out on P.Trash Records when this interview is published: What interesting things can you tell about the record?

Talking about pop: What did you think when you heard that Michael Jackson - the King of Pop - died?

GHETTO WAYS in Norway 2009

Jenna: Well, I'd been living in Berlin for a year, so when we started recording we hadn't been living together and hanging out all the time. So maybe it's a little less chaotic. But the recording process is always the same with us: Shane sets up his studio and takes charge as the Captain, and Harry and I have to behave. It's always a surprise what comes out of it - more for the singing than anything else, because we really roll that on inspiration. And Harry's lyrics are always written at the very end, so you never know what anything's about until playback.

Harry: Finally! No, I thought he was already dead.

Shane: It made me the kind of sad that only can be cured by a bottle of white wine, chilled. Shane, did you produce the album again? Are you doing production-jobs for other bands, too? Shane: I engineered and mixed it, but the producing thing is really all of us working together, or sometimes against each other. Jenna has a lot of input in what she likes sound-wise and Harry does a good job at keeping himself up in the mix. As for other bands, well, I keep pretty busy recording CRKO #0

GHETTO WAYS bands that I play in. When that ever slows down, maybe I'll do some others... The album will come out on P.Trash Records. Was there any special reason to split up with Daniel and your longtime recordlabel Alien Snatch? Harry: We went in a new direction with a twisted sound. Jenna: We had a couple of offers, but we decided to go with Peter. Peter's been working really hard over the past few years, releasing some great bands on the punk scene, and we'd worked with him before. He asked us to be on his "Killed By Trash" comp in 2006 and he put out the "Party Bag" single for our Wicked Singles series. He was generous with the money he offered for that single, great to do business with, and really laid back - letting us do our thing exactly how we wanted to. So when we started making this record, we asked him if he'd release it. You've got your own recordlabel, too: Wicked Singles Records! What can you tell about the label? Do you put out other bands, too, or just the GHETTO WAYS stuff? Jenna: Harry, Shane and I have a strong vision of what music and artwork we want to release, and in 2006 we had artistic differences with Daniel about the "Party Down" single. So we started Wicked Singles to release "Party Down". At the same time, Alicja Trout really wanted to put out

something by us, so we decided to make the first release a joint effort with her label Contaminated Records. And then we did joint releases with other labels. We've also put out a 7" from a band out of Ohio called WE MARCH. Money's always an issue, though, so we've slowed down the label. But all the GHETTO WAYS records are available for digital download through it, including „Wicked Singles Records Vol. 1“, so it's good we started it. Jenna, you've been working for Crypt Records, too. Do you still do that? What's the situation at Crypt Records today? Is there any chance for "new" bands on that label? Jenna: No, I'm not working for Crypt anymore. Tim's doing a lot of mastering right now for Norton Records and is pretty busy with that, but he still puts out a single or a comp every once in a while. Dirk runs the mailorder out of Hamburg and has the store open there. And Micha's getting back into photography. In fact, she took the photo of me that's on the cover of this new record. I think one of the last "new" bands on Crypt were the LITTLE KILLERS and they are from New York like the GHETTO WAYS. Are the LITTLE KILLERS still around? And what's the situation in New York in general today (Some time ago we heard a lot about the Tom Dash shows in NYC and a growing musical scene but there was not much more to be heard of in the last months)? Harry: I'm stuck in Indiana in a two-by-two bathroom. There's no electricity and I can't find my Budweiser... But the hairdryer seems to work! Jenna: I think the NYC scene is centered around Mike Sniper these days. He's got the band BLANK DOGS and seems to be the svengali in town getting a lot of stuff done, bands signed, etc. And Todd P still books a lot of great shows. Shane: THE LITTLE KILLERS are not around as far as I know. Andy and his wife play in a new band. The situation in NYC is that the rents are high, the garbage smells, and every once in a while I see a band I like. That said, I spend a lot of time in a cave. A few years ago Harry did the statement in the german Rockass Fanzine, that he's going to apply to be mayor of NYC. What's the matter with this project right now and what can NYC expect if Harry gets elected? Harry: What's the matter with your matter? The fact of the matter is your matter has no matter. Shane: Jenna and I are his campaign managers and we're accepting donations. Did Harry ever think about founding a pantie-brand together with NOBUNNY?

The incarnation of sexyness: Harry Warwick III - Münster 2006 10

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Harry: Tell NOBUNNY I say, "Try wearing my panties for a day."

GHETTOâ&#x20AC;&#x2C6;WAYS Okay, back to more serious questions right now: The GHETTO WAYS haven't been to Germany for a while. I think the last time was 2006, what did you do in the meantime?

Interview and live-pix: Bernd (August 2009) www.ghettoways.com www.myspace.com/ghettoways

Harry: I'm trying to come up with something clever, but I keep looking at my ankle. Jenna: In 2007 I tore my ACL during a GHETTO WAYS show in Brooklyn and had to have knee reconstruction, so we had to chill out for a while. But we played two shows in Germany last year with THE KIDS, and we just played two shows in Norway this past April.

Jenna (MĂźnster 2006)

Shane: I've been playing in other bands, and I also put together a little studio to record in, where we did this new record. I've been pretty busy in there. Are there any other bands the GHETTO WAYS members play in? And if yes, are there any releases to mention? Harry: I had one one-hour practice with a 44 meter Serbian in a project called KING KING and we haven't talked about it since, because we can't agree on who's King. But I know it's me. Jenna: While in Berlin, I recorded a soul/gospel/country record called JENNA AND THE DEN BOYS with Mirko, the drummer in KING KHAN AND THE SHRINES, and Thomas P. Funk, who was in TIGERS OF DOOM. It hasn't come out yet, but it would be cool if someone wanted to release it on vinyl. Shane: I have a few. THE LIVE ONES - we're working on a debut full length right now. Looks like it's going to be called "You're Quite Welcome." There's also a 7" out on Slow Gold Zebra. The drummer/singer Mike is in the FUZZTONES sometimes, and his brother Jon plays guitar. THE VON ERICH SUICIDE MISSION - it's all about rock n wrestling. We finished our debut full length earlier this summer. Digital release this fall. And the other band is THE BEAR COAT. We also just finished a record that will come out digitally in September. Can we expect the GHETTO WAYS on german stages anytime soon, to present the new album? Harry: Possibly early 2025. Are there any special things you like about Germany? Harry: Yeah, I like it. Shane: Coming from a farm in Wisconsin, it feels like home. Okay, those were my questions. If you want to drop some more lines or if I forgot something very important you can place it here, of course! Harry: Of course I wanna drop some more lines! Where's the drop off?

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BEACH PATROL

!! oonnssin c in is W c , y is a W B , n y e a e r B G m Green froom inggss fr GGrreeeettin

l o r t a Beach P

OKEH OKEH. ACTUALLY I DON’T KNOW WHY I LIKE THIS DEBUT RECORD. It’s not garage, it’s not powerpop, they have no concept or maskerade, the artwork is really ugly and the do not even some have listed “cool” bands on their myspace profile. Fuck, they mention SOUL ASYLUM and BIG STAR as influence!!! How low can you go???? But still, this CD (ohhh... they don’t even have something out on VINYL! AAAAARRGHHH.) is really making me smile and even singalong. Only when I’m alone in my car of course. You sent me your CD after i read so many raving reviews about it, and when i got it, and unraveled it and put it into the CD-Player, I was kinda surprised! The photos on the cover do not really “fit” to the music, you look like pretty normal 18 year old guys on the pics, and I was waiting for some typical pop punk a la Fall Out Boy or Wanna Bes or McRackins. How come you sound so much “older”? Can you name three bands people could think of while listening to BEACH PATROL? For the record, I just had a haircut the same day those pictures were taken! When the three of us started to hang out together in middle school, we each had very differing tastes in music. One thing we always had in common was that we all liked the Beatles. So it kind of started off from there. I'd say the main reason we sound 'older' is that our roots are quite a bit deeper than a lot of the bands that start now days. I.E. Most of The pop-punk bands now are influenced by GREEN DAY and BLINK 182 instead of the RAMONES and the BUZZCOCKS! That's nuts! Three bands people might think of when listening to Beach Patrol would probably include; ELVIS COSTELLO and the ATTRACTIONS, THE KINKS, and TOM PETTY and the HEARTBREAKERS.

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Did you play in other bands before founding BEACH PATROL? Why did you agree on the name BEACH PATROL? What was the runner up? Tennis Referees? Mountain Rangers? We've had a couple other bands. The only one worth mentioning is the The Vertebreakers, which was a garage/punk band that consisted of the three of us backing thee Mighty Atom K. (who now plays in TUFF BANANAS with exCATHOLIC BOYS & TEARS) on vocals. The name, Beach Patrol, comes from a Hulk Hogan song of the same name. It was a joke. Jeff had that Hulk Hogan tape in his car, and we thought it was funny as hell. Then at our first show,

we didn't have a name for the band... So local Legend Richard F**kin' Adventure declared from the rooftops in front of a live audience that we would be called Beach Patrol. I just couldn't believe the name wasn't taken! Did you play live a lot last year? How does the typical BEACH PATROL crowd look like? Do you play bars or clubs? Yeah, we played out quite a lot last year. We pretty much play anywhere that wants to have us. Clubs, Bars, legion halls,

BEACH PATROL basements, universities & festivals. We never played outside of Wisconsin besides a couple of Chicago shows, but we're going on our first real tour next week! What does the crowd look like? Well, it looks like they're havin' a good time! Most of your songs are about girls and relationships. You guys got a girlfriend? Jeff's on the market! And our good friends / roadies / merch guys; Aaron & Pierre are very eligable bachelors! But Preston

you had any other label interest recently, since you guys got a lot of good reviews of your debut album? I hope someday to be able to release more records on Duck On Monkey. The way I'd like to go about it would be to stick primarily to releasing records by Wisconsin bands. We have so many great bands around here, some of whom never get a record out. Like the old Folkways label, I'd like to release records to document what is going on here. But for the moment, I am penniless, so it might be a

and I have girlfriends.

while before that happens!

The album came out on Duck on Monkey Records, I couldn't find some info about the label or other releases so is “It's only greener…” self released?

We got 1,000 copies pressed of this album and we sold about half of

Yup. My Dad lent us the money to get it pressed. That was really cool of him. Cuz we're broke!

should be. We're still looking for a label to put out the vinyl version

them. We haven't really been sending our stuff out to labels. We probably of the album. We're going to record our second album this July, hopefully somebody will want to put it out... because right now we

What's the most embarrassing thing you ever did for a girl?

really can't afford it.

In high school it was apparently quite obvious what girl I was writing songs about and all my friends... and hell... even people I didn't know would call me out on it. Ahh well, 5 years later I'm still writing songs about that same girl! I guess I don't get

How come you grew up with classics like that (Kinks, Elvis Costello, etc)? Did you just flip through your parent's records collections? Guess its now “cool” as 15/16 year old to listen to music like this.

embarrassed easily!

It's funny, my parents really didn't affect my taste in music, they did

Do you plan to release other stuff on this label (Duck On Monkey)? Other bands? How many copies did get pressed? Have

home my own records that I picked up at thrift shops and garage

let me flip through they're records, but it was after I started bringing sales! I started listening to the beatles/the who/the kinks/elvis c. when

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BEACH PATROL I was about 12, and the kids at school would beat me up for it!

This nice interview was done by „The Gimp“!

Up on stage, do you see things in the audience that people don't think you can see? Like yawning or something like that… I once saw a guy getting laid in the back quarter of a really shitty bar while we we're playing! The girl was really ugly, so it was nothing to be proud of! Are you – as band – part of a scene? Is there currently a vivid punkrock scene in your town? Tell us sth about it… do you have a solid audience base? Yeah, we're part of a really tight-knit scene that's scattered across the whole state. We were actually just discussing that the Wisconsin punk/rocknroll scene is really diverse as far as what type of bands we have. But there's some sort of unifying quality that ties it all together. Maybe it's the beer. In any case some of my favorite bands are from Wisconsin, and I think its only a matter of time before people on a national level start taking notice of what's going on here, like Seattle or something. The Wisconsin scene is great! Do you sound live just as poppy as you sound on the album? The general consensus is that we sound more Rough and Raw in a live setting. We subconsciously play the songs a lot faster live, as well, but it's still pretty poppy. I mean, everybody dances and sings along, so I guess it translates pretty well between the live show & the album. THANKS! AND AS ALWAYS, CHECK www.myspace.com/beachpatrol

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BREAKING NEWS BULLETIN BEACH PATROL ARE GOING TO RELEASE THEIR SECOND FULL LENGHT ON WILD HONEY RECORDS, A RATHER NEW LABEL OUT OF ITALY WHICH IS NOT ONLY FAMOUS FOR IT‘S GREAT POWERPOP / GARAGE POP RECORDS, THE OWNER OF THE LABEL ALSO IS A VERY HANDSOME GUY WHO SPEAKS PERFECT ITALIAN ENGLISH.

BATMAN AND ROBIN

BATMAN AND ROBIN Interview by Billy Pepperoni at the "Prickly Pea Bowls". Sardinia/Italy, June 12, 2009 Alright, we are here with Batman and Robin in Portixeddu, Sardinia. Batman and Robin, since you are so busy fighting criminals in Gotham City, is it nice having a holiday in Sardinia? Or do you miss your day jobs? Batman: I prefer Gotham City because Italian people are too ugly for me. Robin: Yeah and I haven't met gay guys here, so I'm not that satisfied with the situation.

Are you planning on touring for your newest record? Robin: No. Batman: Maybe…if we get enough money to do a tour. Robin: We have enough money Batman. Did you forget about that? Batman: Oh yeah… I'm rich! I'm rich… I will buy Sardinia! … Soon! Robin: So we don't have to go on tour because we can buy the places where we are going to play.

Who is born first? The egg, or the chicken dance?

Which music, if any, do you listen to in the Bat Fiat rental car?

Batman: I think me. And I have done a chicken dance… a lot of chicken know how to dance. Robin: Yeah and I get a boner when he does the chicken dance.

Robin: Oh….We are just listening to our own records and some Schlager music. Batman: I listen to German Schlager.

What is your favorite type of pizza? Batman: I don't eat pizza. Gelato? Batman and Robin: Cucculione! Batman: Cucculione Classico. Know that? The Best Ice Cream in the World! Yes! What is the name of your newest record Batman and Robin? Robin: I forgot it. Batman: Look in my face and see my hero power: „My hero power is my Moustache!“ So what is your inspiration for writing new music Batman? Batman: That's a difficult question….maybe... Smashing criminals or listening to bad music like the ROCK'N'ROLL ADVENTURE KIDS…

Which is your favorite part of Prickly Pea Bowls? Batman: The End. The Finish. I like the End because I don't like the festival… What do you think of NOBUNNY? Batman: Who?!!! Bugs Bunny? Yeah… I prefer Donald Duck but Bugs Bunny is not that bad. And one last question …where do you get your moustaches from? Robin: So I don't have one because I'm too young… Batman: I have one. Robin: …and it doesn't grow on my face. Batman: Robin... a few years you will get one…on your birthday! Robin: I hope so… He's my big idol. Batman is my big idol and I hope I will get such a full moustache like him some day! Batman: Of course…Of course… And Batman…Where do you get your moustaches from? Batman: Ha Ha… I will grow it on my face… In my ugly face! You get an ugly face and you get a moustache… Okay…Thanks so much for interviewing in Sardinia! Batman: Yeah….Give me the Money for the Interview!

BATMAN AND ROBIN with NOBUNNY in the middle - Sardinia 2009

Go check: www.myspace.com/holymaccaroni

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NOBUNNY © YOU!

NOBUNNY

O-keeh, ladies and gents. It was at the end of 2008 when I crushed into this crazy new music by a guy named NOBUNNY. Fuckenn’ Genius! So I did an interview with NOBUNNY in February 2009 and that’s what you can read here. In the meantime a lot of things happened: NOBUNNY hit Europe two times, released a new album (the „Raw Romance“ tape on Burger Recs) and is heading for world-domination. All hail the Bunny, here we go! Mr. NOBUNNY, are you a human or a bunny? And if you are a bunny, why do you name yourself NOBUNNY? I'm a half breed just like Cher. I'm not really anything. Just a figment of your imagination. A big bag of biscuits n bullshit soaked in bubblegum and blood. I suppose that there are currently not many people in Germany who might know you. Can you tell us what NOBUNNY is all about and why you are something very special? Hey Germs! I am nothing special. Just a lover and a loser. I like to sing and I like to dance. I love to love when I get a chance. Jerk like you! What happens when little kids meet NOBUNNY? Do they like you or are they scared? Some kids love me, but some are scared. That's ok though, cuz I was scared by thing I didn't understand as a kid. Now I embrace the unknown. Full frontal fear facer! My girlfriend wants to know: What is your favourite animal? Female humans!

Where do you come from and where do you live at the moment? I've got information from the ROCK'N'ROLL ADVENTURE KIDS that you spend a few days at their place in Frisco? How did you leave that place? I was born in the desert an hour west of Tucson Arizona. Currently I am homeless in the bay area of Northern California. I have crashed at the RNR ADN mansion. It's an epic trip deep inside. I love going there. I love them. Marcos and I were drinking blood there a few nights ago. SERIOUSLY!!! Who is more cool? NOBUNNY or the ROCK'N'ROLL ADVENTURE KIDS? Our brother Robert and our sister Aya. You're record "Love Visions" originally came out on Bubbledumb Records. Is that your own label? And how come that 1234-Go-Records re-released it? Bubbledumb is a dude named Dave who lives out here. 1234GO re-released it cuz it was getting too big for Bubbledumb and he wanted to. I said OK! What other releases do you have so far? I have a 7inch on HoZac and a song on WORLD'S LOUSY WITH IDEAS Vol 3. I read in another interview, that you've got many offers for singles and records but you are very picky about your own songs. I really love the songs on your record so what is the magic formula to write a perfect NOBUNNY-song? If I told you I'd have to kill you! But seriously folks. Write what would YOU like to hear. That's what I do. What kind of stuff are you singing about? What are your favourite topics for lyrics? Love. Lust. Desire. Frustration. Freedom. Truth. Aren't you afraid that most people only see the "silly guy with the rabbit mask" in you and don't care about your music?

First NOBUNNY show in Germany: Meppen - May 22, 2009 16

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I'm not afraid of anything. It's ok if people take it for face value. I'm doing this for me. I'm not a careerist. I'm not a musician. Not here to play the popularity game. If nobody cared about NOBUNNY, that'd be OK with me. I live the life I love and I love the life I live. How do we stupid Germans have to imagine a

NOBUNNY NOBUNNY-liveshow? I already saw wild things on YouTube, so what happens when you enter a stage? Live shows are like life. Always a gamble. Some days are great! Some days, not so much. Fun is number one and that's really what I try to get across. How do you perform? As a One-Man-Band or do you have a regular backingband? There is nothing regular about it. It changes all the time. Lately I've had a pretty steady back up band. 4-piece. Did you ever got beaten up at a show? I got beat up on Easter while playing on the streets of Philly. That was a bummer. Mostly I end up hurting myself.... falling off tables onto broken glass... attempting acrobatics that I'm not trained for. EPILOGUE: Like I said before NOBUNNY has been to Europe two times (May and October 2009) in the meantime. And I had the honor to organize the first NOBUNNY-show in Germany at my hometown Meppen. This town is kinda the wasteland of Rock’n’Roll, but NOBUNNY and the ROCK’N’ROLL ADVENTURE KIDS scared the hell out of the kids, a lot of funny things happened and it was just fun, FUN, F-U-N! Come back soon! Interview (February 2009) and live-pix (May 2009): Bernd www.myspace.com/nobunnylovesyou

THE ESSENTIAL-NOBUNNY (SO FAR...) By Markus Pacino Ungefähr alle 30 Jahre gibt es mal so etwas wie einen perfekten Rock N Roll-Moment. Nun habe ich Elvis' revolutionäres Hüftwackeln geburtstechnisch knapp verpasst und war auch gerade nicht zugegen als die RAMONES zum ersten Mal im CBGBs auftraten. Und als ich schon alle Hoffnungen hatte fahren lassen, zumindest einmal in meinem Leben einem waschechten Rock N Roll-Moment beizuwohnen, kommt ein verrückter Amerikaner mit ner Hasenmaske daher und verwandelt das Jugendzentrum Meppen in ein Tollhaus! Drei Abende später das gleiche Schauspiel in Münster: Striptease, Bierdusche, Kopfstand, Karambolage! Gerade sein Konzert in Meppen ist mir jedoch so gut in Erinnerung geblieben, weil ich mich standhaft geweigert habe, vor dem Konzert zu erfahren, wer hinter NOBUNNY steckt. Für ne kostbare knappe halbe Stunde war die Illusion perfekt! Und als er sich am Ende dann noch ganz hasenlike die Öhrchen geputzt hat, hätte ich ihn am liebsten auf den Arm genommen und gestreichelt. Es ist wirklich so, der Bursche bewegt sich auf der Bühne wie ein Hase und singt, naja, wie Hasen vermutlich singen würden, wenn sie könnten. Und obwohl man hinter einem halbnackten, behaarten Typen mit Tiermaske normalerweise das Schlimmste vermuten würde, finden vor allem auch die Mädchen NOBUNNY einfach süß! Tja, wäre ich mal vorher auf die Idee gekommen! Aber das alles wäre natürlich nur halb so großartig, wenn die Musik nicht so toll wäre. Und da der Bursche in den letzten Jahren diesbezüglich auch nicht gerade faul war (siehe auch: HUNX AND HIS PUNX Review in diesem Heft), wage ich jetzt mal den großen Rundumschlag und lege euch folgende Scheiben ans musikliebende Herz: Love Visions LP [Bubbledumb bzw. 1234-Go] Das Standardwerk mit fast nur Hits (u. a. "Chuck Berry Holiday", "I am a girlfriend") und dem inoffiziellen Theme-Song "Nobunny loves you"! Seit den späten 70ern hat Rock N Roll nicht mehr so viel Spaß gemacht und folgerichtig stammen auch sämtliche Vorbilder und Referenzen aus dieser Zeit: RAMONES, MILK N COOKIES, CRAMPS... Muss man gehört haben! Give it to me 7" [Hozac] 2 weitere LoFi-Bubblegum-Kracher! Das Titelstück geht mal wieder sehr in Richtung RAMONES (circa "Road to ruin"), die B-Seite ist eine Vorbeugung vor Lemmy & Co Motorhead with me! Raw Romance TAPE [Burger Records] Trotz der Länge von einer knappen halben Stunde, eigentlich kein richtiges Album. Das Cover zeigt einen Hasen, der auf einer Wandergitarre spielt und leicht beduselt gegen einen riesigen Pilz lehnt. Und genauso klingt das Ding auch als hätte NOBUNNY im Keller gesessen, jede Droge genommen, die er auftreiben konnte und dabei auf der Akustischen rumgeschrammelt. Da der Bursche allerdings ein begnadeter Songschreiber ist, fällt das Ergebnis entsprechend klasse aus.

NOBUNNY eating microphones instead of carrots - Meppen 2009

SNEAKY PINKS s/t 7" [Rubber Vomit] Enthält mit "I can't wait" den Höhepunkt einer jeden NOBUNNY -Show und den gleichzeitig besten Popsong seit "Blitzkrieg Bop"! CRKO #0

PACINO at the „PRICKLYPEABOWLS“ 2009

2009 ls w o B a e P ly Prick Holiday e r u t n e v d A ll Rock N Ro by Markus Pacin

09/06/09 4:44 Uhr - irgendwo zwischen Genova und Livorno spielen sie „Rock N Roll High School“! Willkommen im gelobten Land, wo die RAMONES verehrt werden, wie bei uns höchstens Herbert Grönemeyer. So langsam dämmert der Morgen und als wir (meine Freundin Carmen und ich) an Pisa vorbeifahren, halten wir Ausschau nach dem berühmten Turm; allerdings kann man nichts erkennen und so begnügen wir uns damit, weiter Tacos mit Barbecue-Geschmack in uns reinzustopfen, dazu 2 Dosen Red Bull - wer hätte gedacht, dass so ein perfektes Frühstück aussehen kann? Die Fahrt nach Livorno, von wo aus unsere Fähre nach Sardinien geht, verläuft so reibungslos, dass wir ums kurz nach 6 vor Ort sind. Der Hafen ist jedoch gerade erst dabei zu erwachen und als wir uns zwischen die wartenden Autos gereiht haben, fällt auf, dass unser Schiff erst um 9 Uhr ablegt, statt wie am Vorabend noch von mir beschworen um 8. Wir hätten uns also nicht zwingend um halb vier morgens aus den Federn schälen müssen. So was sorgt natürlich gleich für gute Stimmung im Wagen. Aber was soll's? Getreu meinem Motto „In zehn Jahren lachen wir darüber!“ versuchen wir im Auto noch etwas Schlaf zu finden. Ich hätte auch nichts gegen eine kleine Fummelei auf dem Rücksitz, aber da thront bereits der riesige gusseiserne Kühlschrank, den wir auf unserer Reise durch halb Europa unbedingt mitnehmen mussten - auf Schlaf kann ich verzichten, auf kaltes Bier nie! Und es ist ja wohl allgemein bekannt, dass es in Italien keine Kühlschränke gibt; die kühlen alles mit Trockeneis, weil der Nebel dabei so nett aussieht. Im Hafen gibt es eine Fähre, die mit meinen Lieblingen aus den WarnerCartoons bemalt ist: Bugs Bunny, Duffy Duck, Tweety... und während ich mir 18

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gerade vorstelle, wie lustig es wohl auf so einem Ding zugehen würde, trudelt schließlich auch unser eigener Kahn ein - groß, gelb, langweilig! Die absolute Party-Fähre haben wir damit nicht erwischt, stattdessen gibt es eine Galerie mit den größten Tragödien der Seefahrtsgeschichte und im Bordkino läuft „Titanic“, jedoch nicht der berühmte Hollywood-Streifen mit Leo DiCaprio, sondern eine polnische Produktion mit Severin Jerzy. Danach zeigen sie noch „Alarmstufe: Rot“, aber den kenne ich schon, also rauf aufs Sonnendeck. Zwar ist es grau und nebelig, doch zumindest sehe ich da oben einen Schiffsjungen, der aussieht wie Marky Fanatico! Im ersten Augenblick denke ich tatsächlich, dass Marky sich in dieser Verkleidung an Bord geschmuggelt hat, um uns zu begleiten. Denn schließlich fahren wir nicht nach Sardinien, um die Insel zu erkunden oder an den zahlreichen paradiesischen Stränden abzuschnarchen. No way! Wir fahren zum Prickly Pea Bowls! 7 Tage Rock N Roll-Wahnsinn! Mehr als 25 Bands (darunter THE MUMMIES, NOBUNNY, ROCK N ROLL ADVENTURE KIDS und LOS EXPLOSIVOS), jeden Abend eine wilde Live-Show, die an geheimen Plätzen (deshalb dürfen hier auch keine Ortsnamen genannt werden) auf der ganzen Insel stattfinden! Das ganze Festival, wenn man es denn so nennen möchte, ist auf rund 150 Besucher begrenzt und kostet 500,- EUR inkl. Zimmer, Frühstück und Mittagessen. Momentan wissen wir noch nicht, was uns erwartet, weder wo wir schlafen, noch wo die erste Show stattfindet. Alles was wir haben, ist eine Wegbeschreibung nach P. Die meisten meiner Freunde hielten mich für wahnsinnig als ich ihnen erklärt habe, dass wir 1000,- EUR auf das Konto irgendeines Italieners überwiesen haben, von dem wir nicht mehr wussten als seinen Namen (Oli) und seine Bankverbindung. Meinen Eltern hab ich's gar nicht erst erzählt, die würden mich wahrscheinlich sofort entmündigen. Nur Carmen war sofort dafür zu haben. Mittlerweile rückt Sardinien immer näher und ich erwarte, dass gleich die Wolken aufbrechen und Sicht auf einen strahlend schönen Tag geben. Prickly Pea Bowls, wir kommen! 11/06/09 Die Anreise war ziemlich anstrengend. Die Fähre hat sechs Stunden gebraucht, danach mussten wir noch 300 km über die Insel fahren und gerade die letzte Stunde ging es nur noch bergauf und bergab, Kurve um Kurve bis ins totale Niemandsland nach P. In P. gibt es kaum mehr als 30 Häuser, der Ort sieht aus wie einer dieser verlassenen Nester in einem Italo-Western, wo jederzeit Klaus Kinski um die Ecke geritten kommt. Dafür gibt es eine fantastische Bucht mit einem der schönsten Strände Sardiniens. Wir wollten uns gerade auf die Suche nach den ca. 150 partyfreudigen Gestalten machen als ein Bursche mit einem Tirolerhut

PACINO at the „PRICKLYPEABOWLS“ 2009 neben uns hielt: Tiberio, der Bruder von Oli und unter freiem Himmel mit Sternen groß wie KürMitveranstalter des PPB. „Wir müssen noch eben die bisse. Willkommen auf Sardinien, Mr. Bond. Bands abholen, die heute spielen, danach zeige ich Mr. Bond war übrigens tatsächlich mal auf euch, wo ihr schlafen könnt. Fahrt mir einfach Sardinien; und zwar 1977 in „Der Spion, der mich hinterher!“, sprach's und preschte auf der staubiliebte“ und ungefähr zu jener Zeit ging es auf gen Straße von dannen. Nach einer wilden Fahrt Sardinien auch (wenn auch nur spärlich) mit der erreichten wir schließlich ein Anwesen hoch in den „touristischen Erschließung“ los. Und so sind Bergen, wo bereits etliche Mietwagen geparkt manch Straßen nur sehr langsam befahrbar, die waren. Wir schälten aus dem Auto und sahen uns nächste Autobahn liegt 50 km entfernt und in der von einer schroffen Hügellandschaft umgeben, Gegend um P. gibt es an Sehenswürdigkeiten nur oberhalb eines grünen Tals, in dem nur vereinzelte die vielen Strände und eine Tropfsteingrotte. Na, Häuser standen. Tiberio meinte, hier fände nicht was soll's. nur die heutige Show statt, sondern wir würden Während die erste Show direkt vor unsrer Haushier auch untergebracht: „ Es ist so eine Art Ferien tür stattfand, mussten wir am zweiten Abend ca. auf dem Bauernhof auf sardisch - Agriturismo.“ 4 km ins Tal laufen. Carmen fand die Idee romanUnd tatsächlich gab es unterhalb des Haupthauses tisch des Nachts über die halbe Insel zu wandeln, noch ein Gebäude mit vier Ferienwohnungen. Bei während ich versuchte, den Weg zu leuchten und dieser Gelegenheit lernten wir auch die anderen die einheimische Tierwelt in Schach zu halten. Herbergsgäste kennen: ein holländisches Pärchen, Überall um uns herum zirpte, quietschte und zwei Burschen aus der französischen Schweiz kreischte es. Gab es auf Sardinien eigentlich sowie zwei Schwestern aus Finnland. Die Zimmer Berglöwen? Und was war mit wilden Hunden, waren alles sehr spartanisch eingerichtet, dafür Wölfen und Schlangen? sauber und von der Terrasse aus konnte man das Nach einer guten Stunde erreichten wir das Meer glitzern sehen. Haus, in dessen Garage die Show stattfinden sollte. Nachdem wir uns frisch gemacht hatten, ging es Und ja, ihr habt richtig gelesen, für mich sollten an hoch zum Haupthaus, wo wir an einer großen diesem Abend ein lange gehegter Wunsch in ErfülTafel Pasta, frische Tomaten und Grillzeugs bekalung gehen - ich wollte schon immer mal eine men. Die Stimmung war wie im Landschulheim, Punkrock-Show in einer Garage sehen! Erste Band nur dass die Jungen und Mädchen hier viel cooler des Abends waren die POPPETS, ein BubblegumPopwaren als damals auf der Schule. Einige Biere Duo aus Schweden. 1 Drumcomputer, 2 Brat(und nette Unterhaltungen) später standen dann gitarren, dazu die allseits beliebten Gesangshardie ersten Shows an. Den Anfang machte der monien zwischen Mädchen und Junge - auf diese unglaubliche NOBUNNY. Carmen und ich hatten Formel kann man die POPPETS bringen. Mir hat's diese verrückte Mischung aus GG ALLIN und Bugs gefallen, der Hammer aber sollte noch kommen: Bunny bereits in Meppen und LOS EXPLOSIVOS, eine vierköpfige Münster gesehen und ehrlich Rasselbande aus Mexiko. Und gesagt, blieb sein Sardinienwenn wir von Köpfen sprechen, Auftritt etwas hinter unseren dann hier vor allem von Haaren; Erwartungen zurück. In auf einmal wirbelten überall Münster hatte er sich beinahe schwarze Locken umher. Der den Rücken gebrochen als er Schlagzeuger sang, die Gitarristen einen Kopfstand versuchte erklommen alles, was irgendwo in und von der Bühne fiel, hier Reichweite stand oder schütteten war er nur auf einen Tisch dem Publikum Tequila aus gestiegen. Danach kamen die Flaschen in den weit geöffneten VANJAS, die außer einer hochSchlund. Die Garage kochte. Die schwangeren Sängerin nicht Atmosphäre hatte etwas von jener so viel zu bieten hatten. Vielbrenzligen Situation, wie wenn leicht waren wir auch einfach jemand die Lunte einer Dynamitnur zu müde, denn noch wähstange anzündet und man auf den rend des Auftritts machten Knall wartet. Laut Elmar von Carmen und ich, dass wir ins Bachelor Records waren die Bett kamen. So verpassten wir EXPLOSIVOS zum ersten Mal in zwar KING SALAMI, aber da wir Europa unterwegs und sind so schon fast 24 Stunden auf den etwas wie Mexikos beste GaragenLOS EXPLOSIVOS band. Im wahrsten Sinne des WorBeinen waren und noch ne ganze Woche voller Konzerte tes! Die Meute direkt vor den Musiund Partys vor uns hatten, ging es einfach nicht kern tanzte und spielte verrückt; die Leute, die jemehr. Zu erwähnen wäre noch, dass die Show im doch außerhalb der Garage standen, konnten Garten unseres Herbergsvaters stattfand, also kaum etwas sehen... sicher nicht der Idealfall, aber CRKO #0

PACINO at the „PRICKLYPEABOWLS“ 2009 gerade wegen der räumlichen Enge eine der wildesten Shows, die ich je erlebt habe. Danach konnte nicht mehr viel kommen: BLACK MAMBA BEAT aus London gaben ziemlich kopflastigen Jazzpunk der Marke MINUTEMEN zum Besten und obwohl sie nicht schlecht waren, war die Luft nach den explosiven Mexikanern einfach raus. Carmen und ich machten uns an den Anstieg zu unsrer Herberge zurück natürlich zu Fuß. 13/06/09 Zwei weitere Tage voller Sonne, Strand, Meer, gutem italienischen Essen, sehr viel Bier und Rock N Roll liegen hinter uns. Die letzten zwei Shows fanden in dem nahegelegenem Örtchen F. statt, im Rahmen einer Feierlichkeit, für die die Einheimischen das ganze Dorf geschmückt hatten. Überall gab es Musik und Tanz, in jeder Gasse duftete es nach Essen und die Straßen waren mit Rosenblättern gesät worden - so feiert man sonst nur in Villariba! Die Shows waren wieder unter freiem Himmel, diesmal im Gewölbe einer ehemaligen Ruine, die jetzt zum Biergarten umfunktioniert war. Das sardische Bier heißt übrigens Ichnusa, wird in übergroßen (0,66 Liter?) Flaschen serviert und schafft am nächsten Morgen keinen Kater. Ich muss das wissen, denn ich trinke es eigentlich von morgens bis abends - außer zum Lunch, wenn unser Herbergsvater gekühlten Rotwein bringt. Musikalisch war der dritte Tag der bisher schwächste. Zunächst spielte eine holländische Instrumental-Calypso-Kapelle, danach eine OneMan-Band, die Gitarre und Schlagzeug nur selten synchron betätigen konnte, und schließlich die MAKEOUTS aus Schweden, die ganz okay waren. Insgesamt war der Abend also mehr eine Pflichtübung und so konnten Carmen und ich uns schon relativ früh (2:30 Uhr) wieder in die Federn kuscheln. Vielleicht ein paar Worte zur Organisation: die geheimen Shows waren tatsächlich so geheim, dass wir bis kurz vorher weder wussten, wer auftreten würden, noch wo, wann oder warum. Es war wirklich abenteuerlich; einmal musste ich am Strand eine Gruppe junger Männer ansprechen, die so aussahen als gehörten sie auch zum Prickly Pea Bowls, um zu erfahren, wo wir abends hinmussten. Und auch diese hatten dann nur sehr spärliche Informationen: „Ihr fahrt durch F. und da ist irgendwo ne Kirche und in der Nähe findet die Show statt.“ Na, bellissima bravo!

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Die Shows selber fingen, wenn mal sie mal gefunden hatte, meist nicht vor 0:30 an, was in den ersten Tagen gewöhnungsbedürftig war, aber mittlerweile haben Carmen und ich unseren Rhythmus so angepasst, dass der Tag mit dem Mittagessen (meist Pasta, dann Fisch oder Fleisch) und mit dem Frühstück aufhört. Zentrale Mahlzeit des Tages ist das Abendessen, das wir meist in einer gemütlichen Pizzeria in F. einnehmen, nachdem wir vom Baden kommen. Danach aufs Zimmer, duschen, ankleiden und dann zur Show. Da F. 9 km entfernt von P. liegt, mussten wir mit dem Auto fahren. Carmen übernahm den ersten Abend (Donnerstag) und so erklärte ich mich bereit, am Freitag zu nüchtern zu bleiben. Dieser Entschluss nahm jedoch eine dramatische Kehrtwende als ich erfuhr, dass an jenem Abend nicht nur die ROCK N ROLL ADVENTURE KIDS spielen sollten, sondern auch NOBUNNY noch mal die Bühne entern sollte (die alte Ruine hatte als einzige Location des gesamten Festivals eine Bühne, stilecht aus alten Zitronenkisten zusammengezimmert). Zudem gab es erstmals einen Stand der LPs und Singles feilbot und es macht einfach mehr Spaß mit einem Bier in der Hand durch die Hüllen zu stöbern. Kommen wir zur Musik. Die erste Band waren die INTELLECTUALS, die mit Schlagzeug, Gitarre und Keyboard für eine reichlich schräge Beschallung sorgten. Großes Plus war ihr sympathisches Auftreten und die augenfreundliche Präsenz der Keyboardspielerin. Die Musik war nicht schlecht, aber sie spielten einfach zu lang. Im Gegensatz dazu waren die Auftritte der folgenden Bands entschieden zu kurz, dafür umso mitreißender. Mit der Energie des Auftrittes der ROCK N ROLL ADVENTURE KIDS hätte man in dieser Nacht halb Sardinien mit Strom versorgen können. Vor der Bühne war natürlich die Hölle los, vor allem als sich Sänger/Gitarrist Marcos mitsamt Instrument in die Menge fallen ließ... dann gab es eine Pause in der gemunkelt wurde, der Platz sein von der Polizia umstellt. Den RNRAK wurde es zusehends mulmiger, dann spielten sie noch eine Nummer und verschwanden. Auftritt: NOBUNNY! Und als wolle er sich selbst davon überzeugen, was sich oberhalb des Gewölbes abspielte, begann er, das Gemäuer hochzuklettern; da Hasen ANOMALYS aber bekanntlich nicht die geschicktesten Kletterer sind, knallte er aus circa drei Metern Höhe ins Schlagzeug. Die Einheimischen, die sich zahlreich unters Publikum gemischt hatten, staunten nicht schlecht: da war ein nackter, behaarter Kerl mit Hasenkopf, der verzweifelt versuchte, sich umzubringen. Die ganz

PACINO at the „PRICKLYPEABOWLS“ 2009 kleinen Sarden hatten vielleicht sogar ein wenig Angst, aber ich schätze in 30 Jahren wird es so sein als wäre Elvis in die Stadt gekommen, damals als Rock N Roll noch wild und eine Bedrohung fürs gutbürgerliche Spießertum war. Was war das für eine herrliche Nacht! Carmen und ich waren mittlerweile so abenteuerlustig geworden, dass wir beschlossen, nach der Show zurück nach P. zu trampen. Also stellten wir uns an den Straßenrand, hielten den Daumen raus und 2 Minuten später saßen wir auf dem Rücksitz eines jungen italienischen Pärchens, das uns mit voller Kirmestechnobeschallung und in einem Höllentempo durch die Gegend kutschierte. Am Strand von P. ließen sie uns dann aussteigen und von da war es noch eine gute Stunde Fußmarsch bergan zu unserer Herberge. Zwischendurch wurde es so langsam hell und als wir nach einem kurzen Frühstück (Grissini mit Pesto) im Bett verschwanden war der Tag bereits erwacht. 14/06/09 Neben uns ist ein weiterer Deutscher eingezogen, ein netter Kerl aus der Nähe von Stuttgart, und der versicherte uns noch mal, wie viel Glück wir mit unserer Unterkunft BATMAN AND ROBIN hätten. Er hatte bereits eine Woche in einem Hotel im Tal hinter sich, das er fluchtartig verlassen hat, nachdem eine Horde Wikinger auf dieselbe Etage gezogen war. Überhaupt ist es interessant, auf wie viele Nationalitäten man hier trifft; als hätte jedes Land 5 bis 10 Abgeordnete gesandt, um irgendwo in den Hügeln Sardiniens eine wilde Rock N Roll-Party zu feiern. An den folgenden zwei Abenden sollten die Shows in einer Art Bierzelt auf dem Marktplatz von F. stattfinden, nur dass das Zelt nicht aus den herkömmlichen Materialien bestand, sondern aus einem nach Käsefondue riechendem Heu. Spannend wurde es daher als der Sänger von den holländischen ANOMALYS anfing, mit einer Dose Haarspray und einem Feuerzeug zu hantieren. Der Bursche war eh ein ziemlich unruhi-

ger Geist und so stieg er irgendwann aufs Schlagzeug, brach von da aus durchs Strohdach und verlagerte die Party kurzerhand direkt über unsere Köpfe, wo sich einige von den streichholzdünnen Balken so sehr unter seinem Gehampel bogen, dass ich zum ersten Mal dachte, dieser Urlaub wäre vielleicht doch keine so gute Idee gewesen. Ansonsten spielten noch SEXOPHONE und eine einheimische Melodycore-Kapelle, die hier einen ihrer ersten Auftritte überhaupt (inkl. PENNYWISE-mäßigem „Stand by me“-Cover) absolvieren durfte. Gerade als wir das Zelt verließen und nach Hause wollten, wartete noch eine Überraschung auf uns; draußen auf dem Marktplatz spielte eine holländische (!) Bluesgrass-Band, die PEDRO DELGADOS, eine herzergreifende Mischung aus Traditionals und CountryOriginalen mit allem was dazugehört: Banjo, Mandoline und dem durchgeknallten ANOMALYSSänger am Waschbrett. Mit der alten Kirche im Hintergrund und rund 200 glücklich-betrunkenen Zuschauern war der Auftritt von PEDRO DELGADOS auf jeden Fall der Höhepunkt dieser Nacht. Ich glaub, so manch einer von den rauen Burschen musste sich sogar eine Träne verkneifen als Erinnerungen an die ferne Heimat und längst verflossene Beziehungen die Gesellschaft heimsuchten wie Gespenster die Stunde nach Mitternacht. Danach verloren wir uns in die engen Gassen von F. und folgten den frühen Vögeln nach Hause. 15/06/09 Von den Bands, die ich bisher noch nicht kannte, war dies der beste Abend. Zunächst BATMAN AND ROBIN, die 2 Lauser aus Gotham City, Austriah, die mit simpelsten BudgetRock-Nummern und jeder Menge wüsten Beschimpfungen gegen alles und jeden („Italian people are ugly!!“) erfreuten. Selbst die alten Bauern aus F. hatten ihren Spaß als Batman in betont gebrochenem Englisch die Vorzüge von Ornella Muti lobpreiste. Super! Danach die RIPPERS! Drei junge Sarden und ihr alter Vater, der so energisch sein Mikro um sich schmiss, dass Carmen, die mutig in der ersten Reihe stand, noch lange Freude an blauen Flecken haben wird. Die musikalische Darbietung ging stak in Richtung SONICS und weil man so was ja LEM schon Dutzendfach USA YUSSUF JER CRKO #0

PACINO at the „PRICKLYPEABOWLS“ 2009 im Plattenschrank stehen hat, sah ich trotz toller Darbietung von einem Plattenkauf ab. Dafür wollte ich unbedingt eine LP von YUSSUF JERUSALEM haben, doch da war es schon zu spät. Aber zurück zum Anfang. Elmar's Freundin Julia war die erste, die uns von dieser tollen neuen Band mit dem Wahnsinnsnamen erzählte: YUSSUF JERUSALEM - klang wie ein wildgewordener Cat Stevens-Verehrer auf ganz billigen Drogen. Wir kauften uns eine Tüte weißen Nougats mit Mandeln und betraten das THE RIPPERS Zelt. Und da sahen wir sie: einen blassen Jungen mit traurigen Augen, der Gitarre spielte und sang, dazu ein farbiger Bassist und ein spindeldürres Mädel am Schlagzeug. Und da hörten wir die Musik: Lieder, wie flüssiger Honig im Fieberwahn ersonnen, mit genügend Hitpotential um die nächsten JOY DIVISON, zumindest aber die nächsten GUN CLUB zu werden. Ohne Zweifel die Entdeckung des PRICKLY PEA BOWLS 2009! Die von der Band mitgebrachten Platten waren in anderthalb Minuten ausverkauft und auch ich kam zu spät. Also haben wir dem Sänger 25 Euro in die Hand gedrückt und angefleht, er möge uns zwei Exemplare schicken, sobald er wieder daheim in Paris ist... Puh. Danach kam noch ne Band, aber Carmen und ich waren bedient. Besser konnte er nicht mehr werden. 16/06/09 Zum letzten Mal ein riesiger Teller Pasta nach dem Aufstehen. Wahrscheinlich werde ich einen Jet Lag haben, wenn ich wieder zuhause bin, und jeden Tag um 13:30 Uhr Hunger auf Pasta bekommen: „Hey, es ist 13:30. Wo bleibt meine Pasta?“ Zum letzten Mal weiße Strände und türkisfarbenes Meer. Zum letzten Mal Bier aus Literflaschen und Konzerte bis die Sonne aufgeht. Zum letzten Mal gleichgesinnte aus aller Welt und Bands sehen, von denen daheim noch keiner was gehört hat. Und trotzdem, ein Highlight stand uns noch bevor - der Auftritt der legendären MUMMIES! San Francisco's dienstälteste BudgetRock-Band, die ihr letztes reguläres Album 1992 herausbrachten, damals gab es noch nicht mal RipOff-Records, von myspace ganz zu schweigen. Nur vier dürre Typen in flatterigen weißen Anzügen, die MUMMIES halt! Rock N Roll für Kids, die statt Kabelfernsehen eine Vorhautverengung und ein Alkoholproblem bekommen haben - Kids like you and me! Das Konzert fand auf dem Dach irgendeiner Spelunke in B. statt. Schon seit Tagen hielt sich das Gerücht, dass dieses letzte Konzert um punkt 20 Uhr stattfinden würde, da die MUMMIES es zur Bedingung gemacht hatten, im Sonnenuntergang

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zu spielen. Zwar verschob sich auch dieses Spektakel um einiges nach hinten, doch um 21 Uhr war es dann ganz plötzlich soweit - die MUMMIES begaben sich an ihre Instrumente und legten los. Und wie! Im letzten Jahr hab ich KISS auf ihrer Deutschland-Tour gesehen und so wie deren Maskerade die Tatsache vertuscht, dass man es mit einer Bande 60-jähriger zu tun hat, funktioniert diese Illusion auch bei den MUMMIES, zumal diese Band agiler, chaotischer und auch spielfreudiger zur Sache ging als manche ihrer um ein Vierteljahrhundert jüngerer Kollegen. Ich kann auch gar nicht sagen, was sie alles gespielt haben; jedenfalls waren sie sehr ausdauernd. Und alle hatten Spaß! Der Trommler von den ANOMALYS erzählte mir, während wir ins selbe Klo pinkelten, dass er die MUMMIES zum letzten Mal vor 18 Jahren gesehen hatte; damals war er 18 und seitdem habe er gewusst, dass er ein Rocker sein wollte. Die ebenfalls aus der Bay Area stammenden ROCK N ROLL ADVENTURE KIDS machten auch als Zuschauer ihrem Namen alle Ehre und die Reaktion von NOBUNNY könnt ihr euch vermutlich selber ausmalen - schließlich waren diese vier verkleideten Deppen sozusagen seine Großväter! Danach spielten noch zwei Band (MAGNETIX und WEAKENDS), die zwar allgemein gut ankamen, aber für Carmen und mich stand da bereits die

THE MUMMIE S

LOVE BOAT Fahrt zum Hafen von Golfo Aranci auf dem Programm. Also verabschiedeten wir uns noch von all den netten Leuten, tauschten Mailadressen und versprachen, zumindest lose in Kontakt zu bleiben. Wie das halt so ist mit Ferienliebschaften. Schließlich trafen wir auch Tiberio, jenen Burschen, der uns am ersten Abend an irgendeiner Straßenecke aufgelesen hatte. Wir bedankten uns für alles und Tiberio schenkte uns noch mal sein Lausbubenlächeln und meinte: „Bis zum nächsten Jahr!“

Fazit: Die schlechte Nachricht zuerst: ich habe wahrscheinlich 40 Kilo zugenommen. Jetzt die gute: Rock N Roll macht wieder Spaß! Als echter Gewinner hat sich übrigens unser Kühlschrank entpuppt. Eines Tages saßen wir mit den Leuten aus unserer Herberge zusammen am Strand und eines der Mädchen meinte, dass es zu schade sei, dass es keinen Möglichkeit auf den Zimmern gebe, Getränke und Lebensmittel kalt zu stellen. Ich sagte, jaja, das sei wirklich ein Jammer und spülte ein eiskaltes Bier hinunter.

LOVE BOAT

Interview by Pacino & Bernd

Warum ausgerechnet LOVE BOAT trotz Ankündigung nicht während des "Prickly Pea Bowls 2009" auf Sardinien gespielt haben, hab ich immer noch nicht ganz kapiert. Umso mehr freute ich mich, als Mitte Juli 2009 die Plakate fürs diesjährige "Olgas Rock" in Oberhausen ausgehangen wurden - denn wer stand da als letzte und unwichtigste Band angekündigt? Bingo! Sardiniens fluffigste Garage-Pop-Band sollte auf Oberhausens beliebtesten Umsonst-und-draußen-Festival spielen. Eine gute Band auf dem "Olgas Rock", das hatte es schon seit 2005 (damals die GROOVIE GHOULIES) nicht mehr gegeben. Und gerade als ich den Veranstaltern zu ihrer exquisiten Wahl beglückwünschen und mich vor ihren Füßen im Schlamm wälzen wollte, erzählen sie mir, dass LOVE BOAT auf Forderung des städtischen Kulturbüros engagiert worden waren, denn schließlich hegt Oberhausen ein partnerschaftliches Verhältnis mit irgend so einem Dorf auf Sardinien und deshalb brauchte man händeringend ne Band aus dieser Region... Und so hüpften die drei sympathischen Sarden ins nächste Flugzeug, um 5 Stunden später an einem verregneten Samstagnachmittag vor knapp 20 interessierten Leuten den Rock'n'Roll-Kasper zu machen. So sehr ich mich auch freute, sie endlich zu sehen, taten sie mir fast auch ein wenig leid und ich hoffe, dass unser gutes Bier sie einigermaßen dafür entschädigt hat, dass sie sich noch diese ganzen Scheißbands anhören musste, die nach ihnen gespielt haben. Wie meinte Sänger Andrea noch so passend: "Dieses ganze Metal-Crossover-Zeug scheint ja noch ziemlich groß bei euch zu sein." "Nein Andrea, eigentlich haben wir einen guten Musikgeschmack! Wir zeigen das nur nicht so gerne." Auf Seite 24 geht's los mit dem Interview, dass ich kurz nach ihrem Auftritt per Mail mit Andrea geführt hab und zu dem auch Bernd noch einige Fragen beizusteuern wusste. CRKO #0

LOVE BOAT In early 2009 I hardly knew anything about Sardinia. Now I've been to the best festival ever (Prickly Pea Bowls!) and know at least 2 great bands (RIPPERS and LOVE BOAT) from there. How come that Sardinia seems to be such a good place for Rock N Roll? I don't know, it's maybe for the great tradition since the sixties, Sardinia is been a good place for that kind of music. Was it always like that? To what music did you listen when you were kids? Im not an addict of nothing in particular, it's always been a wheel of circumstances. When I was a kid I remember a lot of stuff from the 80's because I was born in 1980, I remember the progressive rock from my uncles and the Italian beat from my mother and a lot of funk and disco from the late 70 that was always played on the radio. As a kid I think I had not many precise models or stereotype, I liked to know as much things as possible. How did you get into Punkrock and stuff? Any remarkable bands or records? I don't know precisely, I remember some good bands when I was an adolescent like SLEEPWALKERS and UNINVITED, but I liked the hardcore bands from the city, too. About records... I think the first Bob Dylan s\t drives me mad from the beginning, at least it's all about the blues and songs for me. I feel not comfortable with the word punkrock. When did you decide to start/play in a band? When I was 14. We are more or less 28 years old now. I'm not too familiar with the timeline of the RIPPERS and LOVE BOAT, so which band came first? Probaly you can tell about how LOVE BOAT actually found together?

The RIPPERS are the main project. I play bass and Claudio plays guitar with them. They started officially in 2003 with many line up changes till today and that's the reason why they're known more. LOVE BOAT is just a spare time band. We started it in the summer 2006 in the bathroom of a small club in a very small town in Sardinia. We played an acoustic song and we made also a kind of jokevideo. After this the project started but at the beginning it was just like a jam between friends with nothing to lose, just have fun. Sometimes we try to do more serious and it's good too. So, a couple of months and a couple of shows later, we decided to record the songs we had at Outside-Inside studio. Why don't you have a bassplayer in your band? Because we had no intentions to play again or to do a band. And in the early beginnings it was just two acoustic guitars on the beach, a palm and some beers. We felt the drums missing, but not the bass and not so far. Both of your bands seem to get very euphoric reactions but I guess it's hard to make a living out of music these days. So what else do you do? I've got a job but it's not regular, everybody of us works when it's possible. I think the right a phrase is: make music out of living. With the RIPPERS you also toured America. How was it? What was your finest moment, what probably the worst? It was great, of course. I think worst were the burgers and eat in general, the best was to be European and play where the music has been created. Anyway, the Americans were Europeans before they were Americans, but that's another story. At the "Prickly Pea Bowls" we hoped everyday to catch you live some night… why didn't you play? Because we played with the RIPPERS. I know we were in the program, it was not confirmed and there will be a lot chances to play there with LOVE BOAT in the future.

LOVE BOAT (Münster 2009) 24

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So, I really looked forward to see you play in Oberhausen. How did you get that gig? I've heard it had something to do with the partnership of our cities?

LOVE BOAT It was all about the partnership with the Sardinian federation centre and some other organ that I really don't know well. They invited us to play. Wasn't it very stressful to come over for just one show? Yes it 's always a lot of stress, but it's always a different feeling to play in another country. And we like that. I hope you enjoyed it anyway, despite of the shitty weather and the gruesome other bands. So, how did you like it? Would you do that kind of show again? For some reason we start to play straight after the flight so we were tired from the night before and we wake up very early in the morning. So, I remember some kind of crossover band after us and some stuff like that after that, too. I think there's no particular kind of shows that I like better, we have no expectation. I mean, it's always a surprise, you never know if it's good just because it's new. But I like tiny bars more. Did you hang out at the festival the whole time or do you went for some sightseeing?

For some reason it seems like especially girls go nuts for bands like the BLACK LIPS… How are the reactions that LOVE BOAT get from the female gender? Lots of cute girls at your shows? It's a nice view in front sometimes. We are not big enough for that kind of things, but once we played in front of a lot of kids and it was very fun. Sometimes we talk about schools tour, it would be nice, but I don't think it's ever going to happen. Okay, what comes next? Any plans for touring or new releases? We are working, making new songs, no more shows for a while. I hope for touring again sometimes, but there are no definitive plans now. We'll see soon. Thanks for doing this! Anything you'd like to add? Thank you. I hope to see you again at the next Ichnusa. Take care! Go check: www.myspace.com/loveboatbeibe

No we didn't hang out at all. We were so fucked up and tired and we went to the hotel after a couple of hours. It's been fast and painless. You've just release another single on Shake Your Ass. What do you like better - ripping out three smashers for a 7" or going long distance for an album? I don 't know yet. Unfortunately it's not all about my wishes, we have to talk. I'd like to record as much songs as possible to keep the doors open. We'll see. If I want to start such a cool band like LOVE BOAT, how do I write a perfect LOVE BOAT -song? Is there a secret formula you use? We spent a lot of time under the rain and when the time is right we kill six or seven virgins and we seduce old woman for free and after that we write another perfect song…of course I'm ironic. It's a pleasure that you think that we are cool, but we don't have any secret formula... maybe I can give the recipe to cook pasta alla carborbonara or gnochetti alla campidanese.

LOVE BOAT (Oberhausen 2009) Two more things to say about LOVE BOAT in February 2010 are: A new album will be recorded this year and there are also plans for a US-tour. Very nice... Advertisement

TINA LUCHESSI

TINA LUCHESSI A LWAY S

AWESOME!!!

Okay, zu Tina Luchessi braucht man eigentlich nicht mehr viel sagen. Sie ist so etwas wie die Budgetrock-Queen von San Francisco, hat u. a. in so großartigen Bands wie den TRASHWOMEN und BOBBYTEENS gespielt, ist Chefin von Lipstick Records und arbeitet nebenher noch in einem Frisörsalon. Leider habe ich in bisherigen Interviews kaum etwas über ihre legendäre Powerpop-Combo TINA & THE TOTAL BABES gelesen, die 2001 eine Platte ganz in der Tradition von NIKKI & THE CORVETTES und HOLLY & THE ITALIANS rausgebracht haben. Wenn ihr das gute Stück (erschienen auf Sympathy for the Record Industry) irgendwo findet - zugreifen und auf den Sommer warten. Und jetzt schnallt euch an, es wird rasant! Tina, how are you? Always awesome!!! "She's so tuff" came out 2001, but it sounds as if it was recorded in the late 70s. So, probably we can take next exit right memory lane. Do you remember a song that was playing on the radio all day when you were a kid and do you still like it? VAN HALEN - "Jamie's cryin'"! And yes I still luv it!! When did you get in touch with rockmusic for the first time and decide to be in a band? I got into Rock N Roll as a kid from my sister. She was a BEATLES and STONES maniac. She introduced me to the rock for sure!!! I didn't start playing in a band til I was 20yrs old. What were your parents/friends/schoolmates thinking at that time? I was really into Glam and Punk in High School. The mish mosh bands like HANOI ROCKS, REDD CROSS, LORDS OF THE NEW CHURCH, CELEBRITY SKIN!!! But I loved the STONES, RAMONES, BLACK FLAG, THE STOOGES etc… My parents thought I was a weirdo but they were cool. They thought it was a phase, hahaha!!! Lil did they know. How was being young, crazy and in love in California, circa 1980? California rules totally for Punk and music for sure!!!! I had a lot of fun growing up. Me and my friends used to go to the City (San Francisco) every weekend, regardless if there were shows or not. Just to hang out!!! It was awesome!!! 26

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Everything was so new and fresh!!! By the way, what is your favourite highschool-movie? Rock N Roll Highschool!!!! What else!!!!??? Good choice! Okay, back to the music. What are your curent bands? I sing in TOP TEN, and I sing in a bubblegum/ glam cover band called C'MON EVERYBODY with Russell Quan, Jay Rosen and Ritchie Bucher!!! It's soooo fun!!!! I also play drums in an all girl band called THE PRIMITIVAS ALA PANDORAS ESQUE!!! You've covered 2 songs from "The Right To Be Italian" by HOLLY AND THE ITALIANS. Have you ever seen that band live or met Holly? No I wish!!! I will one day!!! We emailed once!!! Original Powerpop-LPs are pretty hard to get over here in Europe. In fact, Ive never seen a copy of CANDY's "Whatever happened to fun" my whole life. How is the state of Powerpop in the US nowadays? Powerpop to me is so overdone now. When it first got rehashed there was some great bands: FIRESTARTER, THE RAYDIOS, THE TWEEZERS (all Japanese of course), THE FEVERS, THEE MAKEOUT PARTY!!! Hmmmm, now not so many I think!! I have that CANDY LP!!!! Hahhaahah, I saw them live in the 80's. They opened for JET BOY at the Stone in SF!!!! Some people say, that Bands like CHEAP TRICK forged the hair-metal template by welding glam-rock chops to straighforward pop. What do you think of that theory and how do you witnessed the downcoming of bands like GUNS'N'ROSES or MÖTLEY CRÜE?

TINA LUCHESSI I loved all that stuff so much then. That was my teenage music I listened to for sure!!! All good things must die I guess!!! It's hard for me to get into current stuff!!! So, how did you get connected to Travis from THE FEVERS and when did you decide to do TINA & THE TOTAL BABES? Travis contacted me when I was in THE BOBBYTEENS. His band THE SHORT FUSES with his now wife Georgia came out to SF and played with us!!! We became buddies and we decided to do an LP of songs he wrote with some covers I picked that were to hard for THE BOBBYTEENS!!! At first it was all covers!! Then he wanted to do an LP and we did it!!

REAL KIDS!!! Hmmmmmm… Records, eeeeeerrrrrgggghhhh!!!!!! Double hard!!! RAMONES - Leave Home DICTATORS - Blood Brothers RAMONES - Rocket To Russia REAL KIDS - 1st LP REDD CROSS -Teen Babies!!!! Tina, thank you for taking the time! Anything youd like to add? No Problemo!!!!!!! Rock on!!!!! Climb a mountain and stay high!!!! I try. Interview: Markus Pacino Pix delivered by Tina...

How was working with those guys? It was fun recording with Travis and Jacque. Not what I was used but a good experience I think!! Did you play many shows with the TOTAL BABES? We played 2 shows ever!!! One all covers in Minneapolis and one a few years ago at the Powerpop-Fest in NYC!!! That was a blast!!! Was it just a one-record-band or are there plans to do it again sometimes? We talked about doing another record but I dunno. Seems we're to busy and I don't know if it would be as good I dunno!!!! Why fuck with a masterpiece, hahahahahah!!!!! What are you doing beside the music? Is it true that you are having a barber shop with that guy Hunx? Ya, I have a vintage boutique and hair salon called "Down at Lulus" with Seth "Hunx" from GRAVY TRAIN and HUNX AND HIS PUNX!!!

Above: Tina and Hunx at „Down at Lulus“.

Right: Tina cheerleadin’ Is there anything new coming up from the BOBBYTEENS? I hope you're still friends with Russel and the girls. I'm friends with all those guys!!! I dunno about any new BOBBYTEENS recordings but maybe we'll play live sometime in the future for sure!! Okay, last question: What are the 5 greatest bands or records ever? Bands, eeeeeeeeekkkkkk, that's hard!!! RAMONES, DICTATORS, THE STOOGES, THE STONES, THE

Myspace-Links: www.myspace.com/tippyteen www.myspace.com/thetrashwomen www.myspace.com/bobbyteens www.myspace.com/topten www.myspace.com/theprimitivas www.myspace.com/downatlulus CRKO #0

CHUCKAMUCK Lieder selber in unserem ehemaligen Proberaum "La Cave" aufgenommen und ich war danach bei King Khan Lasagne essen, der die Songs dann quasi am Abendbrottisch gemastert und ein bisschen Hall draufgemacht hat. Aber wir wollen auf jeden Fall irgendwann mal in seinem Moon Studio aufnehmen. Die Platte ist bei Staatsakt erschienen, die ja ein recht breit gefächertes Sortiment haben. Wie kommt's, dass ihr dort veröffentlicht?

CHUCKAMUCK Hippe junge Band aus Berlin-Mitte! Finn Q. interviewt Frontmann Oska Wald. Wie lange spielt ihr schon zusammen? Habt ihr schon in anderen Bands gespielt? Wir spielen jetzt seit fast drei Jahren als CHUCKAMUCK zusammen. Vorher haben Nils und Ich in der grottigen EL GRUPO CARABÖ gespielt und Lorenz war bei den ziemlich coolen THE NEIGHBOURS. In eurem Alter gibt's ja nicht viele Leute mit diesem schon etwas "spezielleren" Musikgeschmack, wie kommt das? Welche Einflüsse habt/hattet ihr? Ältere Freunde? Eltern? Ich hab früher viel Comix gezeichnet und hab dann Mono Michalke kennen gelernt und der hatte auf den immer ziemlich langweiligen Comicmessen immer so zwei kleine Single-Plattenspieler mit und hat mir ziemlich viele coole Sachen gezeigt. Geht ihr noch zur Schule? Bzw. was macht ihr ansonsten? Lorenz, Nils und Jiles gehen noch zur Schule. Ich seit Januar nicht mehr. Ich zeichne ansonsten Comix und Lorenz und Jiles angeln. Berlin ist ja momentan eher "elektronisch" angehaucht, wie steht's um die Garagenszene? Welche Bands sind außer euch noch dabei? Welche Clubs/Kneipen könnt ihr empfehlen? Ja, eher nicht so gut. Außer uns gibt's noch BIKES, die sind ziemlich fett. An Clubs ist das "West Germany" am Kottbusser Tor ganz cool. So ne alte Zahnarztklinik und als Kneipe gleich um die Ecke die "Rote Rose", eine 24 Stunden Bar. Da ist eigentlich immer was los. Eure Single wurde ja von King Khan produziert, wie kam es dazu? Ich hab King Khan 2005 kennen gelernt, als die BLACK LIPS im "West Germany" gespielt haben. Da hab ich Joe und ihm geholfen, das Babyschlagzeug von seiner Tochter zu ihm nach Hause zu tragen. Aber, was heißt produziert... Wir haben die

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Maurice hat uns diesen Sommer gefragt, weil er früher selber großer Garagenfan war.

Ihr seid öfter mit Charlie Megira und seinem MODERN DANCE CLUB unterwegs, wie ist diese Verbindung entstanden?

Zwei Kumpels von mir haben Charlie durch ein Youtube Video gefunden und haben ihn dann eingeladen. Und als die kamen, wollte sich mein Kumpel von einem befreundeten Tätowiererpärchen so ne Zeichnung von mir stechen lassen. Dann sind wir da so zu acht hin und dann plötzlich wollte Mimi, die Schlagzeugerin auch eins und dann Charlie, der sich selbst tätowiert hat und plötzlich haben alle angefangen sich gegenseitig und selbst zu tätowieren und ich hab mir das so angeguckt und einen gekifft und mich mit Kuli vollgemalt und dann zum Schluss auch eins bekommen. Aber mit Charlie Megira ist's schon krass, wir waren im Oktober mit denen zusammen in Belgien unterwegs und die sind mit einem Oneway-Ticket von Israel nach Europa geflogen und haben vorher alles verkauft, was sie haben und sind dann gleich erstmal mit MUDHONEY zusammen aufgetreten. Von denen gibt's jetzt übrigens auch ne Platte bei Burnout Records! Was habt ihr demnächst geplant? Auf jeden Fall so viel touren wie möglich und demnächst eine LP aufnehmen. Screaming Lord Sutch oder Screamin' Jay Hawkins? Beide! Chucks oder Chelsea Boots? Nix von beiden! CD oder Vinyl? Vinyl! Okay, alles richtig gemacht. Danke für das Interview!

Weblinks: www.myspace.com/therealchuckamuck www.myspace.com/themoderndanceclub

DAN MELCHIOR

an Melchior - Garage listeners may have come across this name here and there: through his records on In The Red perhaps, or the collaborations with Holly Golightly or Mr. Childish. So the category is automatically settled: file under Garage Medway whatsoever. Only Dan Melchior goes much further and deeper than that: Dan Melchior is an artist. Yep, an artist, with all those things art brings: pain, evolving, progress, experiment, reflection, rejection, megalomania and depression, or, in his own words: “Zero recognition and utter poverty” Sounds horrible to your 77 trash garage kickass ears? Au contraire! The outcome is an impressive load of songs spanning from primitive Blues to beautiful garage pop to psychedelia to loud blaring Rock and Roll… But the really impressive part about Dan Melchior’s songs is his funny, deep and excellent lyrics, brought too your stereo set with outstanding songwriting skills and ontop of that: a beautifully nagging voice that has no comparison (maybe close to Dock Boggs’ haunting rants). Or to put all this short: Dan Melchior is too good and too exciting to be just “garage”. His cosmos owes more to Knut Hamsun than to B-movie monsters (correct me if I’m wrong Mr. Melchior), it‘s like dancing your modern day paranoia instead of doing yet another square Hully Gully, it‘s about feeling lost and hateful on a party without even knowing why, you get the point: no brainless cute cliches from this man... Alright, enough of my missionary blabber now, dive deep into the world of Mr. Dan Melchior and his art. Also be sure to visit him on www.danmelchior.com and check the myspace profile of his new band DAS MENACE, which is regularly updated with new and unreleased songs! (By the way: I did this interwiev over a year ago, every try to publish it failed so far so all hail Corporate Rock Knockout! I tried to “update” with a few questions. Enjoy any way.)

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DAN MELCHIOR

I‘ve got to admit that your rather soft-sounding words on myspace about not ever being misantrophic and bitter again in your music ruined about half of my planned questions. Since that comment‘s gone by now, you‘re still feeling that way? I don‘t really know how misanthropic I am in comparison to other people. It‘s true that I really despise certain aspects of humanity and the human conditon - but I think a lot of people have these feelings, although in most cases it is necessary that they be buried pretty deep under a lot of ideas about how one should behave, what one should say - etc - otherwise how would society function? I certainly don‘t express myself in everyday life in the way I do in my music - that‘s one of the great things about writing songs, you are allowed to express these rabidly misanthropic sentiments! There is however a great deal of humour applied to these feelings (I hope this is evident), because they are of course very funny - and I am just a hilarious little man shouting at a huge and insurmountable wall almost completely in vain. To answer the second part of the question - I am feeling a lot better since I moved! You now live in North Carolina? I always wondered why someone so misantrophic and... how can I say it... obviously sensitive to insanities of civilisation can choose NY as a place to live... You are spot on as regards to NY - it was an incredibly hard place for me to live- I am ridiculously sensitive. I moved there to be with my wife and to play in the second version of the BROKE REVUE, and I began to realise it wasn‘t the place for me quite early on. Problem is we were stuck - it took us a couple of years to get it together to actually leave after we‘d decided to do so. However, I must tell you that when I was up there the other week to play with MUDHONEY I really enjoyed it, and I do actually love Manhattan as a place to visit. When I read some of the lyrics about your New York days it seems like you only went out to high society partys... That‘s what they call ‚poetic license‘! ------ I wasn‘t very involved in anything very ‚high society‘ - I just felt left out and putdown, and wrote angry little songs in retaliation. Even though ‚Gatecrasher‘ is very much based on going to a party for a fashion magazine where there were a lot of famous types, and I had to sit in a certain position so no one could see the huge hole gaping in the side of my coat. Is it coincidential that you release all your music on different labels or is it really that hard to deal with you? 30

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You‘d have to ask the labels! - I think the only label I‘ve ever been difficult with was In The Red - and I regret that. Often I just work with people for one record and I think it‘s understood that it‘s not long term - also there have been a few cases where I‘ve been dissapointed with the labels efforts - but I think that if I find someone good to work with again I‘ll just stick with them. What happened with In The Red? The BROKE REVUE went on a tour that was terribly mismanaged, and we ended up terribly in debt because of that. Larry from In the Red made certain promises about covering the costs - which he tried his best to do, but in the end the drummer ended up losing money. There was then a pretty strong concensus against Larry, and being the leader of the group,and the intermediary between the group and the label I had to be the one to break the ties. It didn‘t go all that well, which is a shame. What about the „Oh clouds unfold“ record, why didn‘t that get released? The songs I heard on myspace did not sound like it wasn‘t released for not being accesable enough... ‘O clouds‘ is a great record - probably my best in a lot of ways. The story of it not coming out is long and stupid and infuriating- it‘s to do with a very fucked up person exerting power in a very childish and ultimately self defeating way - and no, that person isn‘t me! Honestly though, I just can‘t be bothered to turn this into an essay about troubleman ------ and yes,it‘s a very accesible record. A friend played „Oh Clouds...“ to me in the meanwhile, it‘s maybe your most carefully arranged record with pop appeal galore, how can you stand a good record just lying around? Isn‘t there any other way to release it? That was a huge disaster! - I tried very hard to get out of a ridiculous situation, and no one really did anything to help me (apart from my wife). The record was paid for by a loathesome arsehole running an ‚emocore‘ label with horrible artistic pretensions - he did everything he possibly could to halt it‘s release by any other label after the relationship between the band and the label broke down, and in the end I just got worn out and moved on. I‘ll probably do something about putting it out one day - it‘s a good record. On your latest records, there‘s a lot more experiment in a lot of songs, carefull arrangements etc, which came as a pleasant surprise since a lot of old stuff nearly sounds conservative when compared to the newest. A development in the last few years? Does Blues start to bore you in the end?

DAN MELCHIOR You are spot on again - blues did start to bore me it does bore me. I cannot over emphasise how important that music was to me when I was learning to play, and how influential it has been to me, but I just overdosed on it - I really can‘t listen to blues these days - I hope I can get back into it one day, but right now it‘s pretty much the last thing I want to hear. It‘s very strange, because on my early records I was sort of playing a character - and ‚doing a voice‘ - because clearly I‘m not black or american, and the biggest liberation for me has been becoming myself by listening to people like Mark Perry and Vic Godard and realising what is good about my own voice/way of speaking. I try pretty hard to put thought and judgement into my arrangements - not to fall back on too many cliches - (although I do like to try and subvert cliches) I want to go a lot further with this. So what excites you in music today? The things that excite me are usually things that people wouldn‘t expect me to like - and often things that don‘t bare much relation to my music (on a surface level). I really like Lily Allen, PG six, Cheveu, Mighty Flashlight (wonder if he‘s ever going to do a new record), Wilco, Neil Hagerty/Howling Hex, I really like some of the Fiery Furnaces and the new Fall records, too. When you record alone, do you do it on computer (and if, which & how) or in a studio? I used to record on little tape recorders, which are good for solo acoustic stuff, but the newer stuff is done on our laptop at home... It‘s actually a lot more ‚hi-fi‘ sounding when I first bounce it onto cd than it is when it finally appears on vinyl. I hope to go back into the studio soon to record with the ‚youngbloods‘ (my new recruits) - but I‘m not paying for it, so hopefully some enterprising label will come through soon. Is DAS MENACE really a live band or just a fake name for you recording everything at home? DAS MENACE will be a band - right now it‘s just

the name I‘m using because I like band names, and coming up with them, but next year I‘m going to record with my friend Kuki on drums -who lives here in NC - I‘ve got a really good rock record up my sleeve that I think he can really help me realise it. There will be more DAS MENACE records coming out that only have me on them though there‘s one I‘m really happy with coming out on Daggerman Records. I wanted to ask you how you play live, but saw the videos on myspace in the meantime. So who‘s DAS MENACE right now? My new band consists of Kuki Kooks on drums, Katie O‘Brien on bass and me on guitar and vocals. It‘s the best band I‘ve ever had even better than the ‚OldtimeFutureshock‘ group which was good. Will there be more members in the future? The trio trims everything down to the point quite well, but there is a huge difference between how your latest records sound and between the live sound... I try not to worry about that too much. I don‘t really try to replicate recorded sound live. I started getting hung up on that in the dying days of the BROKE REVUE (I think that was one of the things that helped to make them ‚dying‘ days) - the fact is, most clubs have shitty sound and buzzsaw rock and roll is the only form of music that‘ll work. You don‘t seem to play TOO much. Coincidence? (A friend of mine, a local booker, even told me to ask you about any future Europe gigs...) I‘m going to play out a lot more now - because I‘m so happy with my band. I‘ve also been thinking about playing Europe a lot - you should put me in touch with your friend! What was your starting point in creating? You paint, write and do music, what was the first artistic urge you had? Which takes most time & attention? I drew and painted first. All of my early childhood was spent scrawling on things - I started playing guitar at 17. I have always written, but I think writing songs is what really taught me to hone it down - let go of the 15 million bad ways there are of saying everything and try to fasten on a good one for the sake of brevity and poignancy. CRKO #0

DAN MELCHIOR Song writing is tough! - just look at how much of it is absolute shit! Your novel is about to come out, tell me a bit about that. An autobiographic novel? My novel isn‘t coming out yet actually. It really isn‘t anywhere near finished - I‘m not even trying to finish it at the moment because I can only devote the energy to it that it needs (if it‘s going to be any good) in fairly short and intense periods. I‘m no novelist - but I believe I might be able to wrestle something good out of it if I really go at it a couple more times. Maybe it‘ll be readable in another year! How do you manage these artistic forms of expression, so you don‘t get lost in details but never finish anything? I just do it everyday, and try not to limit myself too much. I have a very critical attitude to my own stuff and not much gets through my filter - which probably seems amazing to people, because I put out so many records compared to most people - but I write 10 times more songs than I ever release, and I am a firm believer that the system is built up to limit everything to maximise profit, and bands/ artists become very lazy in relation to this (even little ones like me who aren‘t even going to see much profit!) --- bands used to release a single every two months with a good b side, and a lot of those songs were not on the albums that came out twice yearly either. But I‘m getting off the point --I just try to let it pour out, and then I fish out what is ‚special‘ later - you have to try not to get to hung up on the validity of it all before you do it. Did you ever have any art shows or is painting for personal purposes? No, I never had any solo shows. I was in one of the original Stuckist shows, when it was still called Group Hangman (Billy Childish and I wrote about 4 manifestoes in the late 90‘s) and I was in shows at art school - but in all honesty I usually draw or paint with the aim of creating flyer/cover art these days. I‘ve only read some of the stuckist manifestos a while ago, but after your way of writing music has changed, has that affected your taste in art, too? No, not really - - I still have a raging contempt for the art world. It‘s hard not to after you‘ve been to artschool - - twice! The painter/sculptor/photographers etc I really care about influence me in a very profound way and continue to do so, although I really only find myself indulging myself in the visual arts these days for the sake of record covers.

king back on something in your own past, and getting that pang that comes from fetishising your own comfort,or sense of completeness in that moment. It‘s a wonderful feeling, but unfortunately it tends to bypass all rational and critical faculties so that a lot of people end up saying things like ‘my bedroom when I was 10 years old was the best place in the world and they‘ll never be a place better than that‘ - etc. etc - - - it gets you very ‚stuck‘ in your own past. I think nostalgia is fun, but you can‘t buy into it too much, or it can become artistic death. [Attention readers: New questions start here!] So what happened in the meantime? Could you briefly tell us what the newer records sound like compared to your older work? I expected them (those I know) to be „real“ band albums, but they sound like you rather keep on experimenting on your own... Many records have come out (too many really) I am selling more, and getting better gigs. People seem to ‚get‘ this stuff more. The new records have been me recording on my own, and there will be at least 3 more that are in that vein, but I now have a band and will be recording with them in the near future. There‘s a shift in the music towards heavier sounding stuff. I‘ve been listening to a lot of SABBATH. We talked a lot about „Oh clouds...“ and now it‘s finally and oficially coming! Congratulations, how come? A guy living in Oakland, CA rally wanted the record to come out, and was even prepared to pay the original label back so that that would happen. The original label is run by an atrocious human being who demanded astronomical sums of money, which they were prepared to go halfway with, but then he dropped the ball and failed to get back to them. The record came out, and he is now issuing cease and desist orders to the major distributors. This seems to be having the affect of causing the record to sell quicker, and there are no longer many left. I recently discovered a blog containing several of your recordings (because my band‘s record was uploaded there aswell). Do you (still?) get mad about that or is hope bigger that it might help you out of obscurity? I don‘t care about that at all. It‘s fine - I get stuff off of blogs myself. If I really like the stuff I download I still buy it on vinyl if I ever come across it.

There‘s references towards/against nostalgia in some linernotes and lyrics, I understand why, but at the same time you seem old fashioned in some ways yourself. Where does bad nostalgia start and is there a form of nostalgia you consider positive? There‘s a lot of difference between nostalgia and admiration of things in the past. Nostalgia is loo32

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The interview and all the illustrations were done by Duniel (www.duniel.de).

WAU Y LOS ARRRGHS

WAU Y LOS ARRRGHS! to start our show in Madrid but nobody seemed to care very much. I also wondered, who's gonna be the 3rd? Cuz', you know celebrities always die three at a time. Do you know of a third big guy dying on those days? I really wonder... [Note from the editor: Do I have to be afraid of Isidro’s forecast? A few days after we finished this interview Michael Jackson died...] Back to happier things: The new WAU Y LOS ARRRGHS record "Viven" has just been released. Was there a special reason that you released it on Munster Records and not again on Voodoo Rhythm? Well, „VIVEN!!!“ is actually a Munster recs. Production and release but it's been also released in America by Slovenly Recs (USA). With „CANTAN EN ESPANOL“ we just had a verbal agreement with Mr Beatman. He did a great job distributing the album but besides that we never had a good communication with him. we just never felt we were a Voodoo Rhythm band. So three years after that, Munster came with an offer and we just accepted it. „CANTAN EN...“ is an album we're very proud of. It is the first one and it is great we did it with Mr Beatman but that's all about it. When it comes to Garage-music, I have to admit, that you can barely make me happy with some stylish Chelsea-Boots hipster bands. Garage-music has to be rough to me. Dirty, sweaty, dangerous!!! So what country could be the right one to deliver a band that can be called a eligible candidate to fulfill my demands?! Uff course it’s the powdernose-country: SPAIN! The town is called Valencia and the band is called WAU Y LOS ARRRGHS!!! Damn, they had such a great debut-album on Voodoo Rhythm and since 2009 they have an even better album on Munster Records, called „Viven“! Plus, they seem to be the most chaotic morons around. Maybe that’s the reason that it took me a few weeks and a lot of nerves to get in touch with the band, thanx to the people at the Munster Records HQ. In June 2009 Isidro - the organ-player of WAU Y LOS ARRRGHS - finally answered my questions... Isidro, what were your thoughts when you heard that Lux Interior (CRAMPS) and Ron Asheton (STOOGES) had passed away? Over those weeks „VIVEN!!!“ was being released. We just had our first copies in our hands and we were planning some dates to present the album in Madrid, Valencia and other places so I guess this is what we had in our minds by then. I remember Juanito tried the „one minute silence“ tipe of thing

Voodoo Rhythm had some problems in 2009 and almost had to shut down the whole label, did you notice the whole affair? What are your thoughts about it? We didn't know about it. This is the first notice on this so I can't tell. I hope he's not in bad trouble and he can resolve it. There's no bad feelings nor regrets from the band to him although some people might think there are. We wish him all the luck. Your new album was recorded by Jorge Explosion, is he still playing with his old band DOCTOR EXPLOSION? Yes,we played a festival with them and some other cool bands last week in Toledo. They're not the three original members but the current ones have been together for years and they're a great live band. Don't miss them when they play in your area. Mike Mariconda was involved in the record, too. What exactly was his part in recording "Viven"? How do you like the finished record and the work of Jorge and Mike? We all agree the record sounds awesome. The first album was great but with this one they went even further. We went there for a second time cuz we

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WAU Y LOS ARRRGHS were sure Jorge was going to make a great job and this time there was Mike too. We didn't pay too much attention on technical issues. we just went there everyday and play our songs but I know Mike's help with Molongui's guitar arrangements and sound is particularly appreciated. Man, those two cats sure know how to make a record! Between the eleven new songs there are five coverversions and you had some coversongs on your debut-LP, too. Are you some kinda lazy considering songwriting? Yes, you can tell we are a lazy bunch but this is not the reason. We always liked to take a great song and arrange it and play it with our own sound and approach. We give ‘em the Arrrghs’ treatment. We also write our own material and every song we play - cover or original - has our on lyrics. This is the way we like it and we'll probably keep doing it this way. You can also see it as a sort of tribute to the big ones. Is there any special reason that you prefer singing in Spanish than in English? Juanito Wau doesn't speak english at all. We did our first two tours in Europe with him pretending or mocking he was singing in english, he didn't have lyrics at all back then. That was funny for a while but then he started writing some words and they were great so from then on he knew that was the only way to go. He's got a lot to tell and sing and he is good writer. Unfortunately I don't understand a word of Spanish, so what are your lyrics about? Juanito calls it „Lamento-punk“. This could be punk lament or punk moan. He is very inspired with 60's latin american and spanish bands who sang about love in a very sour way. It is all about guilty and regret. But also there are songs about just having fun, not caring at all about anything and destroy, baby, destroy! Your sound is so hard and aggressive that on one hand a lot of Punkrockers like WAU Y LOS ARRRGHS and on the other hand "true" Sixties-purists may hate you for your far-outsound. What kind of audience do you prefer? The perfect audience is an audience ready to have fun and a good time. In the first gigs Juanito used 34

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to start the show with: „Good night everybody. This is a WAU Y LOS ARRRGHS!!! ‘ show and everybody is welcome to dance, drink, get high and get a fuck!“ Sometimes purists don't like us. Maybe it is the fact that we are more concerned in playing music and party than in tailor-made suits and ties and haircuts. We play everywhere we are welcome. Punk shows and festivals mostly. In Valencia we have all kind of people in our shows from skateboard punkers, hardcore kids to mods to technogay-freaks to 45's collectors and their age goes from 16 to 60 years, no shit, man, we have dad old-punker and son/daughter-teen-punk going nuts in the same show. It's always great playing in Valencia! There are many rumors going round about the wild live-performances of WAU Y LOS ARRRGHS and you are often linked with stories about malicious damage, drugs and excessive sex-stories. Is all of that true or are you more the nice guys from the neighbourhood, who help old ladies in crossing the street? If we play in your city you bet we'll do our best it doesn't matter the time of the day nor the day of the week. Are we wild? I guess we just let it go. We love what we do and we conceive every show as if it was the last one ever. Regarding the stories about excess, drugs and all, I’d say that some people have tried to use them to generate some „hype“ around us or to appeal people to the shows they book. What you've heard from us is probably true but I don't think the most of the people we met wherever we go is very different from us. We love to party and have fun and we always get it one way or another. You've already been to Germany for a few shows some time ago. How did you like Germany? We've been to Berlin, Kassel, Munich and Ravensburg, if I remember well. All of them nights were good but particularly Kassel is a night we all remember for sure. That was three years ago and we were in our way to Berlin from Amsterdam. That was our day off and somebody said LOS CHICOS (from Madrid) were playing in Kassel that night so we decided to go there and party with our brothers. We showed up there pretty early and we just said „Hello, we are LOS CHICOS“ and they gave us their food, beers and beds and when the

WAU Y LOS ARRRGHS real band arrived everybody found it so funny that everything was OK and we were invited to join the show and play. That night was amazing. there was Jennes (from KING KHAN AND THE SHRINES) and the people from La House(?) and they treated us really kindly. We love these guys. When will you return to Germany and what can we expect of a show by WAU Y LOS ARRRGHS? We don't have many days to tour in Europe and since we had some commitments in Austria we're doing this area this time. You can always check our myspace. Now, Satu and Molongui are taking care of it and it is always updated. At the end of 2008 Satu joined the ROCK'N'ROLL ADVENTURE KIDS as a bassplayer on their first European tour. What were his experiences? Satu is often working as tour manager for bands around Europe. In 2008 he did it for the ADVENTURE KIDS and it seems they hit it off instantly and they offered him to play the shows with them since he was driving the van anyways for the tour. I met them all in Amsterdam while I was there visiting and the guys were really happy with Satu. They wanted Satu to join the band in the summer of 2009 again but he had a lot of stuff to do with WAU Y LOS ARRRGHS.

in WAU Y LOS ARRRGHS and your side-projects. Are you still involved with Punkrock or some kind of oldschool-hardcorepunk? Yes, me and Molongui love this shit. Man, I grew up with BLACK FLAG, THE GERMS, CIRCLE JERKS, etc... I used to skate everyday to that shit when I was a kid! I still love it today. For example there are THE REGULATIONS from Sweden. In Valencia there is these bands you shouldn't miss: ANTI-PLAYAX and C.S.C, who is my favorite European punk band (of the 21st century, of course) together with DEAN DIRG. You can also find the BLACK FLAG’s influence in VENEREANS, my side band. Okay, that's it from my side! If you wanna drop some famous last words you can do it here: I'd just like to thank you for the interest and patience with us. Thanks a lot and come see us. We'll tour Germany as soon as we can. Thanks for the interview Isidro!

On that tour Satu gave me the fantastic single of his other band: TAIL! Do the other members of WAU Y LOS ARRRGHS have sideprojects and other bands, too? We all have played in different bands from long ago, but now Satu, Molongui and Fletan are in TAIL with two more friends. Satu's other project is LAS BRAGAS DE MARILYN, a party all-cover band. Fletan's other bands are ESPANA and LOS BLUE MARINOS, an amazing surf band. I am playing with VENEREANS and NEGATIVE WAVES and Juanito's solo thing is the JUANITOONE-MOUTH-BAND. This is Juanito playing all instruments at a time with his mouth. He plays old garage-punk, surf and boogaloo classics and some originals too. Wow, this sounds very crazy! I don't get how this could work...?! How does Juanito play all the instruments at one time? Does he actually play them or is he imitating the sounds of the instruments with his voice? He actually imitates the sound of all the instruments at a time. He’s doing this ever since I know him. In 2004 we did this tour in Italy with Pete Menchetti (boss of Slovenly Recs) and Juanito was doing it in the van just to entertain the band during the drive. Pete started to record him and eventually did a party-record session at his house when he was living in Valencia. This session is meant to be a record some day.

Interview: Bernd Pix: Dotty Danger and Munster Records www.myspace.com/wauylosarrrghs

Sounds great! So Juanito is doing this crazy one-mouth-garage-stuff. But we already talked some of your punk-influences CRKO #0

SEDATIVES Pretty moody numbers at a midtempo as I recall, with LOTS of changes! Then one day at a jam, I showed them a song I had on the organ, and Dave picked up the drum sticks… it was pretty obvious that Dave, in addition to being a talented guitar player, was also capable of beating the shit out of a drum kit… plus, the idea of a punk band with a keyboard was exciting. So we changed gears, changed the lineup, wrote a halfdozen songs, and recorded our first demo. Since then, it's been myself, Steve and Emmanuel writing the songs. Basically, we each write the songs that we sing, obviously with a little bit of filling-in and idea sharing in the process. I'd say the band has developed too. The first 7“ was desperate and nasty, and then the LP unwound a bit into some moodier numbers, the comp song derailed pretty poppy, and then the latest 45 was like all of those things with more attitude.

SEDATIVES At the moment it seems as if great bands spring up like mushrooms out of the Canadian soil! Ottawa seems to be the epicentre and the SEDATIVES are some kinda leaders of the pack in O-town. Great band, great music, great people! It’s Dave (Drums), Emmanuel (Guitar and Singing), Ian (Organ and Singing) and Steve (Bass and Singing). Dave and Ian were so kind to answer some of my questions, just after they finished the first SEDATIVES-Eurotour in fall 2009. Okay, let's start with the basics. How does it all start with the SEDATIVES?

Which one of you played in the MILLION DOLLAR MARXISTS? I saw them once at the Gleis 22 in Münster/Germany in 2005. Dave: Steve's played guitar in the MARXISTS since the dawn of time. They're less active now than they used to be, but when they do play it's always an amazing show.

Dave: SEDATIVES started almost two years ago now. Ian had just moved back to Ottawa and was looking to start a band with Steve. The two of them had been friends in high school. Steve mentioned to Ian that he knew two guys, myself and Emmanuel, who were also into THE VICIOUS, THE OBSERVERS, REGULATIONS, ADVERTS, LORDS OF THE NEW CHURCH, that kinda stuff, and were looking to do something along those lines since our band LAST COMMUNION was on kind of a hiatus. At first, Ian was drumming and I was playing guitar, but it just didn't feel right. Ian and I were talking on the phone one night and he mentioned that he'd like to do something with a dirty organ sound like THE SPITS or LOST SOUNDS. I've always been a big fan of stuff like 45 GRAVE and „Beneath the Shadows“-era TSOL, so I thought that was a great idea.

Dave: As I mentioned, Emmanuel and I were first in the band LAST COMMUNION, in which I play guitar and Emmanuel sings - kind of a melodic hardcore band like PEGBOY or HÜSKER DÜ, but a bit heavier. I also play guitar and sing in a melodic punk rock band called YEAR ZERO… and I play guitar in a thrashy hardcore band called THE FUCKING MACHINES, too. Oh ya, and I play drums in Steve's solo project. I like to keep pretty busy, I guess, haha. Besides his solo stuff, Steve's also in an incredible new band called URANIUM COMEBACK with a few of the MARXISTS guys. POINTED STICKS-style stuff. So good.

Ian: That's all true. In the beginning, when we started the band, I intended to play guitar. Then I heard how good Dave and Emmanuel and Steve were on the guitar, and I said there's no way I'm playing guitar in this band when you three guys are all so much better, so I opted to play drums… which I had also played not very well in bands before. We had some interesting songs those first two or three jams. Dave wrote our first few songs.

Ian: I play guitar and sing in the WHITE WIRES. It's like three chord songs, pretty poppy, kinda bubblegum, powerpop punk stuff. We have a lot of fun in that band… it's with two really good friends of mine, Luke, also from the MILLION DOLLAR MARXISTS, and Allie, also about to be known as international party punk superstar PEACH KELLI POP! They're both really talented and creative. Luke makes the world go round like a pizza pie

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I know that all of you play in a LOT of other bands (LAST COMMUNION, YEAR ZERO, ADAMYK, WHITE WIRES). Can you tell me a little bit about all the other bands you play in?

SEDATIVES with his weekly Rock 'n Roll Pizza Party he does with Emmanuel… free bands, free DJs, free cover, free pizza!! Allie's been writing her own songs for her band PEACH KELLI POP, which I also play drums in. Both of my other bands are pretty busy too… putting out records, playing shows, travelling… it's the best!!! Did you all sell your soul to Pete P.Trash or what's the reason that he releases the most stuff from all of your bands in Europe? Dave: You didn't know that Peter was just Satan in disguise? It's true! In exchange for your soul he'll put everything you record onto wax and he'll make sure your debut EP gets a 10-point review in OX Fanzine! Seriously though, I like to think that Peter recognizes that there's something pretty special happening in Ontario right now. A lot of people are starting a lot of bands and working really hard to put on shows and put out records. It seems like there's a bit of magic surrounding our family of bands right now, and we're very happy that Peter wants to put out the music that we're creating. Peter and Susanne are totally amazing. Ian: What's the reason he releases all of our stuff? The reason is simple… great taste!!! Ian, you also run Going Gaga Records, can you tell a little bit about this really great label? Ian: Great label?? Wow, thanks! It started out as a zine a few years ago. Then, after SEDATIVES decided to do a record, I thought it would be worthwhile to release it on a label, and since I can't ask people to put out my bands, I asked the guys if it would be alright with them if I put the first 7“ out on a label called GOING GAGA RECORDS. So there it began. The idea is to put out records for bands I am in, but also bands that I love that might not have records otherwise. I like to keep it simple and budget. Limited pressings, so I don't have to borrow too much money, and it also makes it a little more special. Plus, the packaging is always super budget, handmade, stolen photocopies, handprinted, stolen paint, stolen jackets, hand numbered… real classy job! - and all of that for a nice price. I think the releases thus far have been really special. First was the SEDATIVES 7“ which disappeared, and was later repressed by P.Trash. Then the WHITE WIRES LP, which disappeared and was later repressed by Douchemaster. Then the SUPPOSITORIES LP, a fantastic gem of a

punk band!!! Then the MOTHER'S CHILDREN, powerpop punk marvels!!! Then a newly regrouped SUPPOSITORIES 45 that is unbelievable!!! Then the „Ottawa GAGA Vol.1“ comp LP which is a real triumph. Now I've got a whole pile of really exciting releases up the pipe… the WALNUT KIDS a powerpop punk secret from Montreal, the JOLIETTES - a beautiful garage combo from Sudbury featuring Rob from STATUES, SONIC AVENUES - the other powerpop punk secret from Montreal, and then the debut PEACH KELLI POP record!!! Blammo mutherfuckers!!!!! Besides of all your bands I've got the impression that there is a LOT going on in Canada and especially in Ottawa (e.g. VISITORS, STATUES and many more). Is there a new and wild PunkrockScene popping up or is it just a small circle of people who are "into it"? Dave: It definitely feels like something new and amazing is going on in Ottawa and in nearby cities (Sudbury, Montreal, etc) right now. What started off as a small circle of bands has turned into a huge, creative, tightknit community of bands, labels, zines and friends all working together and producing a lot of amazing stuff. I feel incredibly lucky that SEDATIVES happen to be at the centre of this circle, but there are so many other people who are also responsible for making our community so special. Ian: I think most other cities are pretty exciting when I visit. I LOVE to see other cities - the people, the bands, the venues, the record stores, the food. Canada is cool, there are some good cities. Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver are really special cities. Plus, smaller places like Ottawa, Calgary, Victoria, Edmonton, and Halifax often have some interesting things bubbling under the surface. I'm a fan of Ottawa, and I'm always excited to go home and go to a basement show, or the pizza party, or a club show or something. Check out the bands that played the GAGA WEEKEND. There are thirty bands, mostly from Ottawa. I'm a fan of them all!!! Okay, back to more SEDATIVES-specific things: Do you all have a crush on Debbie Harry or what's the reason that she is the cover-model for your single? Dave: The photo we used for our 7“ was one that Emmanuel and I used to sit and drool over in my living room, so it seemed like an appropriate

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SEDATIVES choice when I was designing the cover. But I think it goes without saying that all of us have a thing for Debbie Harry. She was stunning and BLONDIE were incredible! Your first full-length album was just released in Europe by P.Trash. What can you tell about the album, are you satisfied with it? I think it's a real hit-record but the vocals are a little bit thready… Dave: I'm personally pretty happy with the record, but as with everything SEDATIVES does, there was a lot of rushing and A LOT of opposing opinions, haha. After hearing the record many times and playing the songs live for months, there are certainly things I would change about the mix, some of the performances, etc. Truthfully, I think that would happen with any record I was a part of. As a band, we're constantly evolving and improving, and a record serves as a time capsule of where we were at that time, so I try not to dwell too much on it. Ian: I dunno, I personally have a lot to say about that album. There are some moments that I am really proud of. I think those moments are so good that they are redeeming of the things that I don't like about it. I mean, obviously it's gonna suck… I'll speak for myself, but what the fuck do I know about writing songs, singing, and playing instruments? Same goes for Dave producing this thing. Truth be told, we're hacks, amateurs, kids with more ideas than experience, giving up on the pros, and doing it ourselves. Thing is, we're not scared about trying and getting dissed, and to be perfectly honest, we're all FULL of ideas for the next time. It's true of the second effort of everything. I should know, I'm the second child with two brothers. First one sets the standard. On the second effort you just assume it will be everything the first was, and you go on thinking about what to add. After, you realize that you forgot about some of the essentials of the first. For SEDATIVES, I think we have a similar balance in the first to second record transition. We perfected some of our initial intentions, lost some others, and introduced some completely new elements. I know for a fact, because while in Germany I spent a lot of time bothering my friends in IDLE HANDS and Kris from Hardware Recs to translate the Mafia Forum discussions… some people were disappointed with the LP in

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comparison to the first 7“. I was intrigued by that. We've also had a lot of positive feedback from the LP too, so it's a dichotomous bean. There is also a video for "Cannot Calm Down" that appears on the DVD to the movie "The Tracey Fragments." Can you tell the story behind it? Dave: My brother-in-law Jason, who also produced and directed our new video for „Backlash“, created the „Cannot Calm Down“ video as a contest submission for the film „The Tracey Fragments.“ The contest involved re-cutting footage from the film to create a new piece, and Jason chose to do a music video for our band. The video made the short-list for the grand prize and therefore was included on the DVD. People always ask how we got Ellen Page to be in our video, but I usually just jokingly tell them that Steve used to date her. You also released a cassette (with Demo-Songs and unreleased tracks from the LP-session) and sold it on your Euro-Tour in September. Do you like that tape-format? Is it right that this cassette was ultra-limited? Ian: Tapes are great. Cheap, quick, easy to manufacture, collectible, personal… plastic?? We decided to do that tape two days before leaving for our tour. Our friends at BRUISED TONGUE suggested the idea of some demos and unreleased stuff, and we thought it would be a fun idea. We weren't sure if people would actually want them, so we made 100, and took 50 to Europe. Surprisingly, we sold all 50 at the first three shows, and were regretting not bringing any more. I imagine there are still some available on the Bruised Tongue myspace. You just finished your Euro-tour with the German IDLE HANDS, how did you like it? Any interesting anecdotes? Ian: IDLE HANDS!!! What a wicked band!!! Totally blew me away! Love their songs, their show, their

SEDATIVES

Canadians have more fun! Ian and the crowd...

records, stand up people, pure intellectuals, genius, can party like Canadians, made of fine stuff those boys!!! We had a 'trip of our lives' kinda experience… the people, the cities, the shows, the venues, the BEER, the food… Wow, it was totally unbelievable. I could rhyme off a thousand nouns! Dave: That trip was absolutely one of the best times of my life. I fell completely in love with Germany. German food, German bands, German girls… It's still crazy to me that we got to fly to Europe and play some of the coolest places I've ever seen with some of the nicest people I've ever met because of some two-minute songs we wrote in a basement. Punk rock never ceases to amaze me that way. I miss Germany and our new friends so much; I can't wait to go back in the spring! What can we expect in the future? Any new releases planned? Will you return to Europe soon (with SEDATIVES or with one of your many other bands)? Dave: After an incredibly busy summer and fall, with three recent releases and a European tour, we're going to be taking it easy for the terribly cold Canadian winter and then reconvening in the beautiful Springtime to write a new record and play more shows. In the meantime, LAST COMMUNION is planning a trip to Germany in the late Spring to promote our 12“ on P.Trash and a new 7“ that we're working on right now. YEAR ZERO will also be releasing our LP at the end of this year and THE FUCKING MACHINES are trying to stay sober enough at rehearsal to write a new 7“. Ian: The future?? I'm gonna start a new fad for the junkies… heroin popsicles! You take the spoon

after somebody cooked a hit, then you stir up some dirt in a bottle full of street puddle water, cap it and hide it at the bottom of a grocery store freezer, then come back the next day, get the bottle from the freezer, smash the glass off, and start licking!!! Fun in the sun!!! Other than that, I keep busy at work, busy with my girl, plus I've got the label, my three bands, partying, travelling around. The WHITE WIRES have two new 45s on Trouble In Mind of Chicago-famed COCOCOMA! Plus a 45 on Ugly Pop Records, the same label who put out the first TRANZMITORS 45. Then we're doing an LP on Dirtnap!!! Dirtnap also put out the record of SOMETHING FIERCE from Houston/Texas. I really have a crush on this band at the moment, what do you think of them? Ian: Aw man! That rules!! I picked up their LP in the summer… it's great!!! I've got a high regard for Texan punk!! The WAX MUSEUMS, the MARKED MEN, the DICKS, the SHITTY BEACH BOYS, the HEX DISPENSERS! Probably all nice frames of reference… certainly up in the cactus with the HDs and the MM. Good answer, good interview! Thanks a million! Naw, thank YOU Bernd!

Interview: Bernd Pix: Pierre Richardson (www.bruisedtongue.com) www.myspace.com/sedativesedatives CRKO #0

SEDATIVES + IDLE HANDS: Eurotour 2009

IDLE HANDS + SEDATIVES September Tour 2009: Ein Reisebericht...

mit Pudding von vorgestern („Der musste eh weg.“) aus der Kantine begangen. Später stellt Emmanuel in Kitty's Trinksalon noch seine DJ-Qualitäten unter Beweis und wir trinken auf ihn und uns noch was.

Am nächsten Tag auf dem „Trainspotting Festival“ im Stattbahnhof in Schweinfurt sitzt allen noch die lange Nacht in den Knochen, doch zur allgemeinen Freude gibt es, wie auch schon an den beiden ersten Tagen, irgendwas mit Kartoffeln. Dazu grandiose Sojaschnitzel vom Grill und tausend Sachen mehr. Der früher oft anzutreffende Reis mit Scheiß oder Spaby Andi + IDLE HANDS ghetti mit Sojabrocken und Möhren in Tomatensauce scheint mittlerweile Treffen fünf Deutsche vier Kanadier in Köln vor völlig aus der Mode gekommen zu sein. Zusätzlich ner Kneipe, verstehen sich auf Anhieb prächtig und vertreibt ein Wahnsinnsangebot an tollen Bands trinken zusammen viel Bier. So ging das alles los. bald die Kater, vor allem die TOYOTAS haben es den Und irgendwie ging das auch ziemlich genau so Kanadiern angetan, auch CLOAK/DAGGER begeistern. 10 Tage lang weiter. Doch wir brauchen mehr Schlafen gegangen wird heute etwas früher. Der Details. Auf geht's, bzw. here we go: Zistl, Blogwart des Mafiaboards, nimmt alle mit ins Haus seiner Eltern, wo es sich äußerst gut in Die Münster/Osnabrück Konföderation, bestehend Wohnund Jugendzimmern schlafen lässt. Nur aus IDLE HANDS (Julius, Klick, Michi und Andi) plus Chris schläft im Keller vor der Sauna... Maskottchen (Chris Hardware), sowie die in der kanadischen Hauptstadt Ottawa beheimateten Ohne größere Schwierigkeiten geht es am Folgetag SEDATIVES (Ian, Emmanuel, Steve, Dave) starten weiter nach Leipzig, der heimlichen Hauptstadt des ihre gemeinsame Entdeckungstour durch DeutschOstens. Im Schotter neben dem Zoro wird unter land, Amsterdam, Kortrijk (Belgien) und Paris am freiem Himmel vor sehr vielen Leuten erfolgreich 3. September 2009 im Kölner Sonic Ballroom. Es ist wie gegen am Horizont treibende dunkle Wolkenbänke immer schön dort, auch die IDLE HANDS machen angespielt. Schön. Genauso viel Freude bereitet das einen guten Eindruck. Und nachdem Ian sich wie hervorragende Barbeque (sicher waren auch ein Schneekönig über die für ihn beschaffte Orgel Grillkartoffeln dabei), Fassbier und das Einkaufen gefreut hat, schwitzt er selbige zusammen mit dem von Tyrannen-Quartetts in Franks Plattenladen. Leider Rest der Holzfällerbande vor den zahlreich erschiemuss schon bald aufgebrochen werden, denn am nenen Punkrock-Fachleuten erstmal tüchtig voll Abend verlangt das Subway to Peter in Chemnitz noch und Steve macht Michis Bassamp kaputt. Sehr gut, nach dem Erscheinen der bestens gelaunten Reiseso darf das weitergehen. gesellschaft, die, verstärkt durch Interimsfahrer Malle Mallorca, im nun leicht überfüllten Bus Nachdem der Sänger von MUNICIPAL WASTE sich über sächsische Landstraßen cruised und sich in später auch noch von der Partytauglichkeit der deutsch-kanadischer Kooperation mit Räuberleiter deutsch-kanadischen Reisegruppe überzeugt hat, an dem ein oder anderen hoch hängenden NPDgeht es tags darauf weiter ins heimatliche Münster Plakat am Wegesrand antifaschistisch betätigt. zum Cafe Lorenz. In aufgeräumtem Ambiente genießt Angekommen in Karl-Marx-Stadt erweist sich Wirtin man hier hervorragende vegane Burger an Heidi nach anfänglicher Schroffheit als äußerst Pommes Frites, lässt sich gemeinsam trotz schwaliebenswert, aber lieb haben tut man sich gegencher Gesangsanlage (laut Chef Bossek waren des seitig nach den Darbietungen beider Bands bald öfteren die Boxen durch die, für westliche Ohren sowieso nur noch. Nicht zuletzt die zahlreichen ungewohnte, Musik einiger die Räume des Spirituosenspezialitäten machen auch Emmanuel Stadtteilzentrums nutzenden Hochzeitsgesellschafwieder froh, nachdem er kurz vorher während der ten in Mitleidenschaft gezogen worden, woraufhin Show noch ein bisschen ausflippen musste, da er man die maximale Kapazität der Anlage nachträgeine Gitarre nach der anderen um ihre Saiten erlich drosseln ließ) von zahlreichen Freunden und leichterte und sich mit der vierten, der eigentlichen Bekannten abfeiern, die Orgel zeigt erste Anzeichen Ersatzgitarre, gerade so über die Ziellinie retten von Unzufriedenheit aufgrund der ständigen Bekonnte. Einige Stunden später wird nach ein paar schwitzung durch Ian, Julius Gitarrenamp geht in’ gemeinsamen Wrestle- und Boxversuchen brav im Arsch und zum Abschluss wird Chris’ Geburtstag ladeneigenen Pennraum geschlummert und am 40

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SEDATIVES + IDLE HANDS: Eurotour 2009 nächsten Tag auf OUT ON A LIMB-Zombers Balkon mit Blick aufs Stadion des Chemnitzer FC kräftig gefrühstückt.

mit Andi und Julius, die daraufhin ca. eine Stunde lang kichernd auf dem Gehweg hocken. Während später ein Teil der Bande bereits auf einem dünnen Teppich im Appartment des holländischen Bassisten schläft, leihen sich Julius, Emmanuel und Ian ein Rad vom Straßenrand und drehen damit bis in die Morgenstunden einige Runden um die Grachten. Nachdem man dann am nächsten Tag vom netten, aber schweigsamen und schließlich ziellos umherirrenden Gastgeber an einen enttäuschenden Plattenladen geführt wurde, werden noch holländische Spezialitäten im Supermarkt eingekauft und ab geht es Richtung Belgien.

Tschüß Chemnitz, Hallo Berlin. BIS AUFS MESSER und HOPS & BARLEY heißen hier die ersten Stationen. Mit Händen voller Platten, Taschen ohne Geld, Kartoffeln mit Gemüsesauce im Bauch geht es am Abend dann in die Katakomben des Koma F. Wie immer hier besser nicht zuviele Gedanken machen über evtl. ausbrechendes Feuer oder ähnliches. Das machen dann aber auch weder die Bands noch die den Laden völlig zurammelnden Besucher. IDLE HANDS sind super, die Eine halbe Stunde, eine SEDATIVES legen noch Tafel Schokolade, SchokoIan & Julius: backseat-pals einen drauf und hauen plätzchen und einen Liter alles kurz und klein. Chocomel später muß Der Keller kocht. Grandios! Genauso schön wird es Michi plötzlich ganz dringend aufs Klo. Die nächdann noch stundenlang vor und in der Fankenste Raststätte kommt gerade noch rechtzeitig. Im Bar, wo u.a. PRÜGELPRINZ-Litty einen detailreibelgischen Kortrijk ist das berühmt-berüchtigte Pit's chen Vortrag über die Kunst des Plattenauflegens die nächste Station. Eine schön abgeranzte, sehr hält. Gut zu wissen sowas. Später noch oben-ohne kleine, fensterlose Punkkneipe. Die Pissoirs befin„Sausage-Party“ in PRESS GANG-Lennarts Küche und den sich ohne größeren Sicht- und Spritzschutz im sinnloses Gelaber bis in die Morgenstunden. kleinen Vorraum neben Kasse und Merchstand. Das Menü ist reichhaltig, bunt durcheinandergeNach kurzem Sightseeing und der Verabschiedung würfelt international und Ramzez, der offensichtMalles, führt die Reise am nächsten Tag bei bestem lich auch gerne mal ein Bier trinkt, versorgt uns Wetter weiter nach Hamburg in die Lobusch. Wieder ununterbrochen mit selbigem. Auf die Frage, ob die tolles Essen (Kartoffeln), im Vergleich zu Berlin Bratlinge vegan seien, antwortet er: „Yes. Well, for aber nicht ganz so gut besuchtes Konzert. Angebme it's vegan, maybe for you not“ und holt die lich schrecken die 10 Minuten Entfernung vom frisch gebratenen Steaks aus der Küche. Und wurKiez plus der aus früheren (härteren?) Zeiten rühde bisher schon bei jedem Auftritt um die Wette gerende schlechte Ruf des Lobusch immer noch einige schwitzt, setzt dieser Abend im gerammelt vollen potentielle Besucher ab. Umgekehrt schreckte der Laden allem, was war und noch kommen sollte, Großteil der Reisegesellschaft aber nicht davor die schweißtriefende Krone auf. Körperliche Zuzurück, zur After-Show-Party noch die feine Cobrasammenbrüche sind zwar keine zu beklagen, aber Bar aufzusuchen und kräftig das Tanzbein zu der ein oder andere befindet sich zwischenzeitlich schwingen. Währenddessen ließen sich Chris und kurz davor. Holla, die Waldfee! Das Überleben Andi in der Lobusch von einem redseligen HSV-Fan wird mit merkwürdigem belgischen Spezialitätenin die großen Chancen des Internetgeschäfts mit bier gefeiert, einer stark kohlensäurehaltigen High-End TV- und Hifi-Gerätschaften einweihen. Mischung aus Schwarzbier und Sekt, serviert in Später dann versucht den Shop im Netz zu finden: flachen Glaskelchen. Irgendwann landen wir dann Fehler: Server nicht gefunden. Dagegen uneingeerschöpft bei einer jungen Dame, die sehr nett, aber schränkt zu empfehlen: FISCHKOPP PLATTENSHOP! auch merkwürdig aufgedreht wirkt. Am nächsten In Amsterdam kommt man nach Stau und kurzem Morgen ist sie aber wieder ganz normal. Zum mitUnterhosenwechsel in Osnabrück viel zu spät am täglichen Frühstück gibt es erneut ein buntes AllerOccii an. Der Promoter ist not amused, versteht lei, mit Rührei und Speck für die, die mögen. Dazu irgendwie nichts und die anwesenden Menschen reicht Ramzez, der erzählt, dass er am frühen Morsind nur während der als zweite Band spielenden gen nicht mehr hätte Fahrrad fahren können und SICK MORMONS bereit, sich näher und zahlreicher deshalb mit dem Auto zur Arbeit fahren musste, vor die Bühne zu begeben. Komisch. Und keine eine Vielzahl an Bieren, welche er mit „Drink! Kartoffeln. Schnell wieder raus und ab in die Drink! Breakfast beer. It's good!“ anpreist. Am nächstgelegene Bar. Ein viel erzählender aber kein besten gefallen allen die kleinen schwarzen FlaStück zuhörender Ami teilt seine Kräuter-Zigarette schen mit völlig verschimmelten Etiketten, die CRKO #0

SEDATIVES + IDLE HANDS: Eurotour 2009 Ramzez munter zwischen die Töpfe und Teller stellt. Mit „I found it in the basement. It's good. Drink!“ versucht Ramzez unser Vertrauen zu gewinnen. „Hmm, delicious!“ sagt Dave und stellt in einem unbeobachteten Moment eine der ungeöffneten Flaschen hinter sich auf den Boden. Und schon geht die wilde Fahrt weiter nach Paris, wo wir im Le Pixi erwartet werden. Vorher kämpfen wir uns aber erst noch bis ins Zentrum der Stadt der Liebe, um den Eiffelturm zu begutachten. Zwar können wir bereits zumindest die Spitze dieses Bauwerks über den Häuserblocks erkennen, doch das muss reichen, denn aus Zeitgründen geht es weiter zum Laden. Noch so einen Quatsch wie in Amsterdam wollen wir dann doch nicht erleben. In einer vermutlicherweise typisch fränzösischen Bar liegt das Le Pixi in deren Keller. Eine Mischung aus Chlor und Kellermuff verbreitet zusammen mit kaltem Nudelsalat nicht gerade allerbeste Stimmung. Dazu gibt es Pepsi, allerdings in einer, vor dem Hintergrund, dass eine der Veranstalterinnen Tochter des Pepsi-Europa-Konzern-Chefs ist, überschaubaren Menge. Und dann auch noch Pepsi LIGHT! Aber die Shows machen Spaß, auch wenn sich mittlerweile alle inklusive Ians Orgel kurz vor auf dem Zahnfleisch gehend befinden. Andi, der, von den Eindrücken aus Kortrijk belastet, den ganzen Tag schon mit körperlichen Unbefindlichkeiten zu kämpfen hatte, geht danach erstmal kotzen. Schwupps! und morgen ist schon der letzte gemeinsame Tag. Daher wird kurzfristig entschieden, direkt nach dem Konzert gen München zum Kafe Kult aufzubrechen und die Nacht durchzufahren. Ca. neun Stunden später stehen alle mit Schlafsack in der Hand vor Michl-TAKEN BY SURPRISE’s Münchner Wohnung, und der charmante junge Mann gewährt Einlass. Kurze Erholung, weiter in den nächsten Biergarten. Langsam macht sich Abschiedsstimmung breit. Gerade deshalb holen alle den Rest ihrer ohnehin überschaubaren Kräfte aus sich heraus und machen die letze Show, gestärkt durch Kartoffelpuffer, nochmal zu einem Fest. Danach geht dann aber endgültig nicht mehr viel und zum ersten 42

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Mal auf der gesamten Tour sind alle relativ früh im Bett und überraschen damit den wiedergenesenen Andi, der sein letztes Bier alleine auftrinken muss. Am nächsten Morgen Aufbruch in aller Frühe und die vier Kanadier zum Münchner Flughafen gebracht. Planlos wandert man gemeinsan von einem Schalter zum anderen, niemand kann genau sagen, wo denn die Taschen, Instrumentenkoffer und die riesige Kiste mit neuerworbenen Platten jeweils hin müssen. Doch irgendwann ist auch das geklärt. Herzergreifende Szenen spielen sich nun ab, naja, nicht ganz. Aber 9 junge Männer sind Freunde geworden und müssen sich zum Abschied nochmal tüchtig in den Arm nehmen. Die IDLE HANDS und Chris fahren alleine weiter, nordwärts, Richtung Heimat. Endlich ist mehr Platz im Bus und keine Kanadier mehr, die sich alle 5 Minuten für irgendwas Banales überschwenglich bedanken, was man denen allerdings nach 3 Tagen zum größten Teil ausgetrieben hatte. Und nachdem auf dem Rückweg noch das AK44 in Gießen zusammen mit MASSHYSTERI bespielt wurde, fallen alle total erledigt ins Bett und summen sich mit „O Canada!...“ in den Schlaf.

www.myspace.com/sedativesedatives www.myspace.com/idlehandspunk

Pix: Taken from the IDLE HANDS family-album, thanx...

IDLE HANDS live

in Cologne

STEVE ADAMYK

STEVE ADAMYK Howdy kiddos! As you might have noticed, the brilliant gimmick of the CRKO-zine is a pretty 7-Inch Vinyl-EP by this great dude STEVE ADAMYK from Canada. A big thanx to Peter from P.Trash Records in Bielefeld/Germany for making this possible! Even though the CRKO zero-issue comes out in the cold European winterdays, this platter will hopefully bring a little bit of sunshine to your homes and gets you prepared for a warm summer! And in case you're not familiar with STEVE ADAMYK, here you'll get whole story so far… The name of the bandleader in STEVE ADAMYK is - guess what?! - Steve Adamyk!!! Steve is from Canada and played guitar in MILLION DOLLAR MARXISTS from 2001-2008. The M$M toured USA/ Canada for 4 years and even did one Euro tour with ZEKE. They were on the Label Gearhead from San Francisco (also the label of the HIVES in the USA etc). Now the MARXISTS aren't as active as they were before, so Steve was one of four musicians that started SEDATIVES about 2 years ago and have been pushing that pretty hard. Besides of that he was in such bands as URANIUM COMEBACK, TOKEN, HANDICAP 5 and probably countless other shitty high school punk bands. As for the band STEVE ADAMYK, he formed it with Dave Williams (FUCKING MACHINES, SEDATIVES, YEAR ZERO) and Davey Quesnelle from MOTHER'S CHILDREN and M$M (plus various other bands like MALE NURSE, CLOVEN HOOFS, CHANDELIERS). The band is very influenced by classic 70/80's power pop and punk from that era, as well as a lot of new garage. They have 2 singles already recorded: One is for P.Trash and you'll find it together with this issue of the CRKO-zine! Another 7" will come out the same time as the P.Trash single on Red Lounge Records from Karlsruhe/Germany! The artwork for the P.Trash

single was designed by Kenneth J Maclaurin who you should know as the guitarist from MOTHER'S CHILDREN and the mastermind behind the artwork for several releases by Ottawa bands such as new releases by SEDATIVES, SUPPOSITORIES and THE ACTION. STEVE ADAMYK will start recording a full LP for P.Trash during Christmas time 2009. You might ask yourself, if STEVE ADAMYK can be considered as a fulltime band or more like a musical side project, so that's what I asked Steve: „It was originally planned as a side project, when I would just record or play the odd acoustic gig, but it has now formed into a full time band. Since everyone in my other bands (Ian with WHITE WIRES, Dave with YEAR ZERO etc.) are busy with other projects, it has given me time to focus on this fully. Although we're using my name, I plan on having it act as a regular band, rather than a solo project. The songs are all initially written by me, but both Dave's add a lot in the recording process. It wouldn't be the same without them on board!“ I also asked Steve if the band STEVE ADAMYK plays live shows on a regular basis: „Not in a couple of years, but we've booked a show for December and plan on playing the surrounding areas (Toronto, Montreal etc) once the records are released. We'll be playing live lots in 2010 and hopefully in Europe once the LP is released. I have plans to tour Europe in fall 2010.“ Cool, sounds great to me! Last but not least I have to say „Thank you“ to Steve and the ottawaexplosion.com homepage who delivered me most of the infos. And you better hurry now and grab the vinyl, spin it on your record player and dance craaaazyyy! (Bernd)

Weblinks: www.myspace.com/steveadamyk www.ottawaexplosion.com

www.myspace.com/milliondollarmarxists

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BLACK AND WHITES

THE BLACK AND WHITES THE BLACK AND WHITES I don’t have to say much: The BLACK & WHITES put out the best Punkrock record in 2008! And that’s why I talked to bandleader Talbot Adams in December 2008... Talbot, let's start with the basics: When and why were the BLACK AND WHITES formed? In late 2005 I had decided to quit all the bands I was in, because I was kind of tired of playing music. So, I decided to make a record to document all the songs that I had written that had never been recorded properly, which was all of them. I gathered all my friends together and we recorded 10 songs. I originally wanted it to be an album. But, I sent it to a few labels, and the labels were more into doing singles and the rest is history. I heard about some line-up changes. Who is currently in the band and why did the old members leave/had to leave the band? The first show/incarnation of the band was as a 2 piece guitar/drums combo. Then it was a 4 piece band for the second show, before finally settling to a guitar, bass, drums three piece. Twinkle Van Winkle had been the first drummer, but she had her own songs to record for her excellent single out recently on Contaminated Records. Tyler Keith was in the band as a lead guitar player, because he had contributed such excellent lead playing on the

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BLACK AND WHITES recordings, but he was busy doing his own thing with THE PREACHER'S KIDS. So, the main line-up that lasted 2 years was Patrick on Drums, Johnny on Guitar/Vocals and Myself on Bass/Vocals. Patrick quit the band because he was tired of playing music. Rich Crook is our new drummer. In what bands did you and the other band members play before you started the BLACK AND WHITES? I was in DIRTY KNIVES, ROYAL PENDLETONS, DARKEST HOURS, JENNY JEANS, DUTCH MASTERS, CHECKMATES and PREACHER'S KIDS. Johnny was in BODY CONDOMS, WITHDRAWLS, PREACHER'S KIDS, UNFAIR TO JAMES. Patrick was in DUTCH MASTERS, STALEFISH and LOCAL TOUGHS. Tyler: NECKBONES, PREACHER'S KIDS, JENNY JEANS. Twinkle: JENNY JEANS Rich: LOST SOUNDS, KNAUGHTY KNIGHTS. Do you or the other band members currently play in other bands/projects beside of the BLACK AND WHITES? Johnny and I both play in THE PREACHER'S KIDS and LOVER! Rich Crook is LOVER! Johnny still plays with THE WITHDRAWLS occasionally.

BLACK AND WHITES Talbot, are you some kind of a "bandleader"? Is THE BLACK AND WHITES "your" band or is it some kind of a democratic thing with the other band members? It's both. I really enjoyed your Douchemaster LP but I was wondering if your songs base on "real-life stories". What about "Multiple Girls" for example, is that a true story? Some are real-life. Some are fabricated. "Multiple Girls" is based on a true story that occurred 6 years ago, before I met my wife! Another true story I read about the BLACK AND WHITES: Is it true that you once put out a cassette-single? Yes! Hiss Lab from Jackson, Mississippi put out our first single on Cassette. You had a single out on the German label P.Trash Records. Was there any other interest from Germany or Europe in general for releases or tours of the BLACK AND WHITES? Yes, some interest for records, not so much for tours. Have you ever been to Germany or Europe with other bands? Would you like to tour Europe with the BLACK AND WHITES? Oh Yes. We have all toured Europe, including Germany with other bands. I love Germany. I would love to tour Europe with THE BLACK AND WHITES. Maybe one day. Which bands from Europe do you know/like? REDONDO BEAT, King Khan, COLA FREAKS, HIPSHAKES, ROUGH BLUE, ROLLING STONES, THE WHO, Billy Childish, CHEVEU, among others. What are the next things and future plans we can expect from the BLACK AND WHITES? I'm not sure. I'm getting kind of old. I own a house now. I'm married. I want to have some children. I guess we'll see. -------------------------[November 2009]-----------------------------Okay, Talbot! We did that interview in December 2008. A few days later I met Johnny and Rich when they played the "Gleis 22" in Münster/Germany with LOVER! Unfortunately you were not around, I'd loved to talk to you personally...

We never formally broke up. But, we're not doing much at all. We played two shows in our hometown this year. Patrick is eager to play from time to time. He was the drummer on the album who had to quit the band before. We will probably not record or tour for quite some time, if ever. It would be great to tour Europe and elsewhere, but I have to make a living and support these little boys! I really do love touring. But, I just never made much money at it! Do you still play in THE PREACHER'S KIDS and LOVER! or any other band? Johnny is still in the PREACHER'S KIDS and LOVER! PREACHER'S KIDS rarely play and are kind of defunct. LOVER! However is in the midst of a big tour of the USA and I believe have plans to come to Europe in February of 2010 (editor’s note: that tour is postponed). I am not playing with anyone. But, I have been doing some recording Yes, Bryan from Douchemaster already mentioned your solorecord, what can you tell about it? Is the music comparable to the BLACK AND WHITES? Is it only a recording project or do you plan live-performances? Did you play all the instruments alone or were there other musicians involved? I recorded about 15 songs at my house this spring and summer, just recording on weekends. I played all the instruments. The music is certainly somewhat similar at times to the BLACK AND WHITES, in that it is kind of poppy and it is definitely intended to be a rock-record. It may be slightly different, in that it is more low-fidelity and a bit simpler. I chose the best 10 songs and Bryan has agreed to put it out, which is great. It will just be called „Talbot Adams“ and the album will be titled „Weekend“. I would like to do some live performances of it at some point, just to represent it a bit, maybe with some people I have not played with before, just to do something different. We'll see. Having kids changes everything! Thanks again for everything, Talbot! I really appreciate your music and I'm really looking forward to the solo-record. I really hope you make it to Germany some day! Thanks Bernd. Great to hear from you.

Wish I would have been there, sounds fun. It would be great to meet you. I have played "Gleis 22" before with the PREACHER'S KIDS on their first tour of Europe, and it was a blast! A thing I heard from Bryan (Douchemaster Records) was, that you are becoming a dad. Are the twins already born? The twins were born one month ago. They are beautiful boys. My wife and I could not be happier. Did the BLACK AND WHITES actually broke up or is there still a chance for new recordings, shows or (the greatest thing ever) a european tour?

Interview: Bernd Pic: Canderson CRKO #0

DOUCHEMASTER RECORDS How big is the city of Atlanta? I mean, have you been familiar with the guys in BLACK LIPS or the CARBONAS before they were in bands? Metro Atlanta is in fact pretty big. The music scene that has been producing the bands people have become familiar with is not, however. The guys in the BLACK LIPS are a bit younger than me, so I didn't meet any of those guys until after they started destroying the fucking city. I've been around the CARBONAS dudes forever. Jesse (Gitarrist bei den CARBONAS und auch als GENTLEMANN JESSE bekannt), in fact was one of the handful of people I knew in Atlanta before I moved here. He was a weird little fucker and played in some questionable bands at the time, but we've been keeping an eye out for each other for more than a decade now. That doesn't mean we are or have ever been lovers, however. When did you notice that there was something going on that needed to be recorded and put out? I don't know that I ever noticed that there was a need for any sort of documentation. I sort of fell into this accidentally. Greg (Sänger bei den CARBONAS) wanted to self release a CARBONAS single, and I offered to help basically for the experience of it. We hardly pressed any copies at all, and it sold OK at first. It started snow balling however, and we actually started making a little bit of money. The BEAT BEAT BEAT guys and BUSY SIGNALS were good buddies who thought we were onto something, so they came to us with song to release. Those first three records were all so good that we sorted of ended up with a killer foundation.

DOUCHEMASTER RECORDS Nein, der Kerl, der da oben so stolz mit seinen Würstchen wedelt, ist nicht Praktikant bei einer städtischen Großmetzgerei, sondern Bryan Rackley, seines Zeichens Küchenchef von Douchemaster Records, einem meiner derzeitigen Lieblingslabels. Mit den LP's von GENTLEMAN JESSE, BABY SHAKES und den BLACK AND WHITES hat der Bursche auch gleich die drei besten Platten des Jahres 2008 abgeliefert, von den vielen fantastischen Singles (CARBONAS, CHEAP TIME, LIVE FAST DIE) ganz zu schweigen. Zudem scheint der gute Bryan noch ein sehr netter und humoriger Zeitgenosse zu sein. Also, packt euer Würstchen weg und lest folgendes Interview! Bryan, you're from Atlanta which seems to be one of the best places for Garage/ Budget Rock nowadays. How was it to grow up there? I grew up in south Georgia in a town called Valdosta. It's a pretty dreadful place, and music is not a big deal for most who live there. The BEACH BOYS played at the university there when I was a kid, and my parents took me. They had already become a parody of their former selves, and I believe I was more impressed that Uncle Jesse from Full House was in the band…Although I can't remember if Stamos was actually touring with them at this point. Bill Cosby did a show there, however, and that shit ruled.

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Were there any labels you thought of as a role model when you start Douchemaster (like Bomp, SST, Lookout or Goner)? We didn't have any grandiose aspirations about this. We were several releases into this before we even started thinking of this as an actual record label. At the time this was getting under way, however, I was really into 70s pop and I pretty much thought Bomp was the coolest. I couldn't get them to order from us, and I remember thinking about how cool it would be if Bomp someday carried our records. Do you run the ship alone? How many people are helping you out and can you make a living out of the label? Jesse and Greg are still very important in the talent recruitment department. They tour and see new bands all the time, so that is very helpful in keeping me updated on what the fuck is going on out there. Dave is tremendously important on the engineering side. As far as the operational side is con-

DOUCHEMASTER RECORDS cerned, I take care of that alone. Trying to make a living out of this would be very difficult. Profit margins for vinyl records are horrible, and you really have to sell quite a lot of singles if you want any sort of mentionable return. If you want to make a living off of a record label, you better find some release that are suitable for consumers of digital media. So, how do you get aware of new bands? Do they still send demotapes these days? We get good demos occasionally. We become aware of new bands generally because they are in our network. Either we've worked with members in a previous band or they are friend of friends. That sort of thing. DMR seems to focus on 7"-releases. By which factors do you decide if you want to put out an album by a band? A lot of it honestly depends on if we think we can break even. So far the LPs we've done have been with bands we had already worked with on singles. I'm perfectly cool with releasing a single and not seeing great sales if its something I think is good. LPs are expensive, however, so I need to think I can sell a reasonable amount of copies before we press an LP. What's the story with the BLACK AND WHITES who did -hands down- the best record of 2008? Are they still together or do they play in new bands? BLACK AND WHITES are essentially defunct. Talbot's got a set of twins on the way, and he sorta pulled the plug on the operation. Johnny is still playing with LOVER I believe. Talbot wrote a solo record that we'll be releasing in 2010. (Editor’s note: Dear reader - if you haven’t read the BLACK AND WHITES interview in this zine, do it NOW!) What are your alltime-favorite bands or records? Impossible to answer that one I think. My options are to reach for something pretty obscure that people will respect or say it's the BEATLES, right? Or I could tell you it's the STONES and then I'll get a bunch of crappy demos from kids that look like Ron Wood. How about I just say that the new SMITH WESTERNS and BOX ELDERS Lps are great, and DAVILA 666 is the most exciting live band out there right now.

Do you get many orders from overseas and do you think websites like myspace.com help to reach more people/sell more records? Yes we do. We have a lot of loyal mailorder customers and distributors in Europe. Concerning myspace, I think there was a time when it was very helpful in making people aware of current releases. Its popularity is dwindling, however, and I fell like the only people on it anymore are bands. Its free though and easy to update, so I suppose I'll continue to use it for now. Have you ever been to Europe and have you seen some shows here? I've been there, but never seen a show in Europe… Unless you count that sex show I saw in Barcelona. What would you recommend enthusiastic young people that would like to start a record label? Which advantages and disadvantages have you experienced by putting out records? For starters I'd say spend a little time thinking about it before you call it something ridiculous like Douchemaster. You may find that you're actually proud of your accomplishment as a small business owner, and you wanna tell your parents about it. The advantages are that you get to meet a shit load of people and get into most shows for free. Keep in mind that this is a labour of love. You aren't likely to get rich off this. On top of that people will get pissed at you when you fuck up or don't show interest in releasing their record. So, what's next for DMR? Any new bands or records coming out? We have 7"s on the burner for MOJOMATICS, HALF RATS, and TIMMY VULGAR. LPs on the way from WHITE WIRES, BAD SPORTS, and CRUSADERS OF LOVE. Bryan, thanks for doing this! Last words? I think that should do it. Thank you for your interest. Folks can find us at: www.douchemasterrecords.com

What do you think of reunion-tours like MUMMIES, RIP OFFS or NEW BOMB TURKS did in the last couple of years and would you like to put out records of those "older" bands? Haven't seen any of them, so I couldn't tell you. I certainly think its cool that they are playing. Maybe a little unfortunate that they had to split up and wait 10 to 15 years to actualize their popularity potential. Of course I'd release records by them. I'd be stupid not to…I think.

Interview: Markus Pacino

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SOMETHING FIERCE

SOMETHING FIERCE SOMETHING FIERCE

down by the police, with BE MY DOPPELGANGER, a fantastic band from Indiana. We were barbecuing on the patio and playing with half-stacks! Where did you get taught to write such brilliant songs and arrangements? At Starbucks?

Fuck y’all, they’re from Texas! Besides of being famous for death penalties the state of Texas produced countless fantastic punkrock bands, e.g. MARKED MEN, WAX MUSEUMS, HEX DISPENSERS and many more... On the fast lane of the Texan major punkrock-league is this young band from Houston: SOMETHING FIERCE! Grab their record „There Are No Answers“ and convince yourself! It’s great! Guitarist/singer Steven Garcia answered some of my stoopid questions in October 2009. Thanx dude! Okay, let's start with a brief band-introduction. Since when does SOMETHING FIERCE exist? How did the band develop from the start? Who is in the band (name, instrument, age, favourite-food etc.)? Did anyone of you play in other well known bands or do you currently play in interesting sideprojects? We've existed since 2005, in one form or another, but we didn't really solidify until the end of that year. It started with Niki and Steven writing very raw pop punk songs and recording on a 4-track. Andrew joined a few months later and everything took off from there. Currently, Steven is on Guitar, Niki on Bass, and Andrew keeps the beat. We all love Hot Dogs. Can you define the familial relationship of your bassplayer Niki Sevven to MOTLEY CRÜE's Nikki Sixx? The family of rock'n'roll? Niki Sevven, with one "k", has had the nickname since she was but a young punk rocker, playing in a band with her father. I'd seen their band, THE NECKBREAKERS, perform while looking for band members and knew right away that she was perfect. Is that story true, that you and Niki work at two different Starbucks-coffee shops right across the street from each other? How is this common knowledge?! Yes, we work at the famed "Starbucks across the street from each other" also coined "The End of The Universe" by comedian Lewis Black. The really amazing part is that there's now a third Starbucks on that corner. All complaining aside, it pays the bills, and we get to play our loud rock music. Once, they even let us host a real punk show, loud enough to get shut 48

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Well, I write most of the material, but I've never had any formal training or classes, except for a few piano lessons, which I had no patience to bother with. I've just been writing for so long, starting with poetry in elementary school, that the knowledge for rhythmic structure later spread into my songs. I also write A LOT of throwaway tunes that will probably never be recorded, so the process of elimination between my songs and the band is extensive enough to leave only the solid jams. And yeah, the coffee probably helped with our midnight practice sessions. What can you tell me about your current album "There are no answers"? I think it's really great, a hit record, but I also think the sound should have been a little bit "crispier". What do you think? The album, as we know it today, was actually a demo session, mixed with a few older 7" recordings from a different studio. Those recordings weren't initially meant to be the full-length, but as we laid the tracks, we realized something special was going on. In a small studio, we were able to relax and really think about production, however lo-fi it may have been, so I believe that were we to record at a big, more expensive place, the album would not have turned out as well. Big studios can force a band to rush production, as we'd done on the first album, and we just wanted a different experience. You did a funny video for the song "Aliens". Can you tell me a little bit more about it, especially about the fantastic leading actor Tucker Diggle? Tucker was a spectacle of beauty when I first found him, trolling around the mean aisles of an Austin toy store, and not only was he the perfect lead for our music video, but he inspired me to make the thing! He wasn't punk, though. That took special direction and planning from myself, a pair of scissors, paper, a black marker, some staples, an old pair of jeans, and of course, his honorary punk buttons. What followed was me embarrassing myself in public, my hand up a pigs butt, mouthing lyrics to a camera while being completely alone. Luckily, I have no shame. The new record was released by Dirtnap, a real cool label. How did you make the deal? Dirtnap was the dream label, and we knew it would be right for us, so we bothered the hell out of Ken for years! None of that mattered, though. Ultimately, it was the product of real support from other people involved in this music, perfect timing, backbreaking tours, and friends that put themsel-

SOMETHING FIERCE ves on the line on our behalf. All of that came together when he saw us in Portland. You self-released your debut album before "There are no answers" came out. Is the debut still available somewhere? It's only available directly through us and maybe on Interpunk.com, if I ever remember to mail them more CD's. Obviously, the sound and song writing is less mature, but it had some jams, most notably the title-track, "Come For The Bastards." Contrary to a lot of other punk bands nowadays, I think your lyrics are really worth reading. They are ambitious and I really can identify with them. Do you put a lot of work in your lyrics or is the music more important to you? I write very personal moments of my life into songs, so it astonishes me that so many others can connect to them. But that's just the human experience. However lonely or hurt we feel, it's sobering to remember that nearly everyone has gone through the same love and loss. As far as music vs. lyrics, I think they are equally important. You often make allusions to your hometown Houston in your lyrics. Is there anything to tell about Houston? Are there other cool bands in the area? In Germany we recognize many cool bands from Texas but is there something around like a new Texas Garage and Punk scene? Houston is a self-defeating town, which is why the bands tear themselves apart before they get a chance to become something, so I'm not sure if it will ever sustain a collection of bands the way that Austin or Denton manages. Knowing that, we still love our city because it's more impervious to the scenester types, and it keeps us tuff. A few of our favorite groups holding down the fort are TEENAGE KICKS, THE TAKES, SECRET PROSTITUTES, BORN LIARS, NO TALK and MUHAMMADAli.

On the thanks-lists of your releases you often name the RETURNABLES. Can you tell a little bit about that band? I only knew the fantastic EP on Dirtnap that was released after their singer passed away… They were phenomenal! You must track down the other albums, "Unrequited Hits" and "So When Can I See You Again…." Those albums are speedy punk/powerpop with hooks done to perfection. I guess the affair began around 2007. By the time I discovered them, everything had happened with their loss, so I sent an e-mail expressing my condolences and how much I enjoyed their music. To my surprise, the guitarist, Frankie, responded in kind and convinced me that we should play Chicago. That sparked our first tour. We stayed with Frankie and fell in love with Chicago. I also talked about SOMETHING FIERCE with Ian of the WHITE WIRES/SEDATIVES, and he really seemed to like you. What do you think of his bands? I learned about the WHITE WIRES from Ken at Dirtnap. He was praising their LP, so I tracked it down and was head over heels. Now, this is my first listen to THE SEDATIVES. Man, I have been blowing it for years! What are the future projects for SOMETHING FIERCE? Do you plan new releases or a new full-length-album? And when will you come over to play Germany??? We have some 7" releases in the tube, but most efforts are going toward writing the next full-length for Dirtnap. When that is finished, an extensive Euro tour already being discussed will follow, and I hear it will begin in Germany. www.myspace.com/somethingfiercehouston Interview: Bernd Pix were delivered by the band

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Bands you should have known of: THE RETURNABLES

BANDS YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOWN OF...

THE RETURNABLES THE RETURNABLES

Okay okay, I'm not the guy who will preach to you about bands you MUST know to be cool, hip or whatever. But sometimes I really feel the urge to point out on bands that otherwise would be overlooked for all eternity. Maybe you know this magic moments - you'll get a record of a band you never heard of, your expectations are not that high, you put the record on and … the music totally amazes you!!! And then you try to get more information about the band and realize that they'll never have "success" (whatever you call success in the musical scene we're in, haha) in one or the other way because they split up way to soon, because a bandmember passed away or whatever… Same is the story with me and THE RETURNABLES from Chicago. I got their EP on Dirtnap Records in 2006 and was blown away by this fantastic Punkrock-/PowerPop-band!!! Then I took a look at the CD-booklet and saw that THE RETURNABLES were defunct and the EP was kind of a tribute to their bandmember Bobby James Lee Ray, who died in a tragic car crash in 2005. I couldn't believe it… Even so I always kept listening to that awesome EP since then, put their songs on mixtapes for my friends and just loved the band! And when I interviewed the great SOMETHING FIERCE from Texas a few weeks ago and their singer Steven Garcia told me about their connection to THE RETURNABLES, I took the chance and finally contacted Frankie, the RETURNABLES-guitarist. The lineup of THE RETURNABLES was Reggie Lee Ray (Bass, aka Bran Harvey), Arturo Lee Ray (Drums, aka Art Kubin), Bobby James Lee Ray (Guitar, aka John Glick) and Frankie Lee Ray (Guitar, aka Jonathan Ben-Isvy). Frankie and Reggie took the time and answered my questions. Just read it and don't forget to check out THE RETURNABLES - simply a fantastic band!!! When and how did THE RETURNABLES start and what inspired you to start the band? Have some of you been in other bands before (that I might know of)? Reggie: Over beers one night in Madison, Wisconsin, John and I decided we should form a band based

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on our mutual love for THE UNDERTONES, as well as all things late-70s/early80s new wave and power pop. So we did. That band, THE UNDERCLONES, morphed into THE RETURNABLES after a move to Chicago in the fall of 1998 and the addition of Richard Stuverud on drums, who had played with THE FASTBACKS among many others. That original lineup recorded the first EP, "So When Can I See You Again?" in the summer of '99. Shortly thereafter, Stuverud and John Schuppel, the other guitarist, quit. Artpop, who had previously drummed for M.O.T.O., and Frankie, who had previously done nothing (ha!) then stepped in, and the classic lineup was in place by early 2000. What was the reason to choose those "Lee Ray" pseudonyms for every bandmember?

Frankie: Well, the Lee Ray pseudonym pre-dates me. I joined the band in late '99 and was soon christened Alfonse Francis (Frankie) Lee Ray. It sort of represented my official acceptance to the band. As I remember it, the Lee Ray moniker comes from a butchering of THE LYRES' band name by a local college radio DJ. At the time the great Boston garage band just had much of its catalogue re-released by Matador, so they were getting a bit of college air play. After playing one of the their songs, the DJ, who was probably still in her mother's womb when THE LYRES stuff originally came out, mispronounced their name as THE LEE RAYS, instead of the LYRES with a hard i. (We Americans are not the most literate bunch, including the ones who go to college). John, was driving home from work, heard it, thought it was just perfect, and probably over some beers later on, it was decided that Lee Ray would make for great pseudonyms given the inside joke and the significance of the LYRES' music to the band. Reggie: Frankie has the story basically right, except THE LEE RAYS was a leading contender to be the actual band name. But we couldn't all agree. So after THE RETURNABLES was chosen, the Lee Ray pseudonym was adopted as a sort of consolation prize. What were the achievements of THE RETURNABLES during their time of existence? Did you do any tours? What records did you release (on what labels)? Are the releases still available? Frankie: I'd say our biggest achievement was simply making great pop songs that we're all still proud of. John said that the only ones he wrote for other than himself were his wife, Becky, and his band-

Bands you should have known of: THE RETURNABLES mates. Regarding the bandmate part, I think we all sort of felt that way. If it was good enough for each other then it was good enough. I think that standard left us with a legacy of terrific songs that we're all still proud of. Aside from that, there are many highlights. Getting positive reviews from Ira Robbins in "The Trouser Press" was huge. He was a journalist that we admired and his record guides were like bibles to us. Jeff Pezatti of NAKED RAYGUN put out our first two albums, "Unrequited Hits" and "So When Can I See You Again… Plus", on his Jettison Music label. That was a huge thrill not only because our records were out there, but because someone we respected immensely thought enough of us to put out our music. Our last CD, "The Returnables", was released by Dirtnap Records, which was also a huge thrill because there are so many great bands on that roster that it's an honor to be among them. Other than that, it's amazing how many great bands that we loved and admired we got to play with - a CD release with THE DICTATORS, a tour with THE REAL KIDS, THE FLESHTONES, THE MARKED MEN, THE EPOXIES, THE DIALS, OUTRAGEOUS CHERRY. Sometimes it's hard to believe that we shared a bill with so many great bands and people. Reggie: We did do some touring, though mainly regional. We did hit the coasts a couple of times, but we were primarily a Midwest act. As for the records, all the releases are out of print. But if anyone is interested in obtaining a copy of something, they can just email us and we'll hook them up. THE RETURNABLES came to an end when bandmember John Glick aka Bobby James Lee Ray was killed in an auto collision. Can you please tell how and when this happened and maybe try to express your feelings at that time? Frankie: For my part, I'd rather not go into the details of the incident. There's ample information out there for people who want to look it up. As for my feelings - I was and remain completely devastated by the loss of John. I read in your myspace-blog that a woman named Jeannette Sliwinski was involved in that accident. Did she cause the tragic incidence? What are your thoughts about her? Frankie: Again, I'd rather not waste any time on her. She's a selfish murderer and that's all there is to it. What was John's position within the band? Was he the mainsongwriter or kind of a bandleader?

Frankie: The song writing was fairly well distributed in the band, though I wrote the least. That said, John wrote the largest chunk of the songs, and in many ways he was the heart and soul of the band. John was rock n' roll. It emanated from his pores the way it does from the special ones from time to time. There was a certain joyous exuberance to a RETURNABLES show, and to me at least, that exuberance came straight from John. John was killed together with Michael Dahlquist (SILKWORM) and Doug Meis (THE DIALS). I haven't heard about those bands before, what can you tell me about them? Are they still around or did they break up after Michael and Doug died? Frankie: Both were very special human beings every bit the tragic loss that John was. Though, I only knew Michael for about a year prior to his death, he was simply a gentleman. Just a really good, highly intelligent guy. SILKWORM was quite a popular indie band, particularly in the 90s. They did kind of an indie-artrock thing with great searing guitars and excellent songwriting. Andy Cohen and Tim Migett, the other members, disbanded SILKWORM after the loss of Michael and started a new band, BOTTOMLESS PIT, which is fantastic. Doug was just awesome. A total sweetheart, hilariously funny, a great head on his shoulders and one of the best drummers I've ever seen. He played in THE DIALS with Becky, John's wife, which at the time was sort of THE RETURNABLES' sister band. Just a powerhouse of newwave, garagey girl-group pop. They're still going, and they continue to make great music: CHECK THEM OUT! The accident happened four years ago: What are your feelings in 2009? Frankie: I remain incredibly sad. Really, that's the main thing. There isn't an hour that goes by that I don't think about John, and it's usually much more frequent than that. I miss him enormously, but I do feel blessed that he was part of my life and for the strength of our friendship - even if it was cut way too short. Even though every tragedy has it's own terrible and personal dimension the accident of John, Michael and Doug reminded me of the tragedy of the EXPLODING HEARTS, when they lost three bandmembers in 2003. Did you know the EXPLODING

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Bands you should have known of: THE RETURNABLES HEARTS or shared a stage with them once? Frankie: We did not know THE EXPLODING HEARTS personally, but we certainly knew their record and listened to it a ton. "Guitar Romantic" is one of my favorite albums of the decade. Their loss is just a terrible tragedy. How come the release of the RETURNABLES Ep in 2006 on Dirtnap after John died? Frankie: We were in the midst of recording the album when John died. We recorded the four studio tracks and were kind of figuring out what to do next - continue recording on our own, find a label to put it out, etc. Then John was gone. We happened to play a live show where decent recordings were made of a couple of our newer songs - "End of the World" and "Last to Know" without which there wouldn't have been any record of, so we decided to see if we could get what we had out as an EP. Kenny Wisconsin from Dirtnap was an old friend from Madison, and he decided to put out the EP to honor John. It was a tremendously classy gesture because Kenny had to know that he wouldn't see any real return on his investment since THE RETURNABLES were done and wouldn't tour to support it. I heard that you created a charitable fund for John. Did you do benefit shows with other bands? And is it true that you'll play a benefit show with the remaining RETURNABLES members in February 2010? Reggie: It is true. There's been an annual benefit show every year to raise money for the charity and this year we'll actually be playing, as John would have turned 40 in February, 2010. The time felt right for a reunion. Did some of the remaining members of the RETURNABLES start other bands or musical projects between 2005 and 2009? Reggie: Frankie put together a band called NERVOUS FINGERS that recently came to an end. Art and I formed a band called TEENAGE IMPOSTERS, which Frankie has since joined. We don't play out as much as we'd like, but it's still a very good time. Ryan Weinstein, who had started

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playing with THE RETURNABLES in the months just prior to John's death, has played in quite a few Chicago bands, most recently MAXIMUM WAGE. Will there be a chance that the RETURNABLES continue as a band with the remaining members? Reggie: It's hard to imagine THE RETURNABLES without John, which is why we retired the band after his death. But it's just as hard to imagine never playing these songs again with such good friends. Right now, we're just all pretty excited to get together for this reunion show. I know that you are buddies with the great SOMETHING FIERCE from Texas. Are the remaining members of the RETURNABLES still interested in music? What stuff/bands do you listen to nowadays? Reggie: Pretty much everything that comes out on Dirtnap is aces in my book. And of course THE FLESHTONES and THE FLAMING STARS. Frankie: Yep. Reggie said it. I'm nuts about everything THE FLAMING STARS put out. I hate to admit it, but most of what I listen to is old stuff. If you were to look at my CD-changer and record player right now (the ipod mostly collects dust) you'd see TELEVISION, DEVO, Bowie, THE WIPERS, Tobin Sprout and Neil Young. I guess I'm not all that hip and with it. As for new stuff, I love what SOMETHING FIERCE is doing. THE BIRDS OF AVALON, OUTRAGEOUS CHERRY and THE HEX DISPENSERS are pretty great. I don't know. I guess I'm ready for something to knock my socks off. Any suggestions? Thanks for everything! Do you have any last words for the readers? Reggie: Thanks for reading. And drop us a line. We'd love to hear from you. Interview: Bernd Weblinks: www.myspace.com/thereturnables www.myspace.com/thedialsmusic www.myspace.com/teenageimposters www.myspace.com/nervousfingers www.myspace.com/theleerays

IF YOUâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;RE LOOKING FOR RECORDS TO FLIP ON EBAY

FUCK OFF!

Yeah maybe we did a BLACK LIPS single years ago but how the hell was I to know that they beat up the WAVVES kid now. Or was it vice versa? I dunno, this whole TERMINAL BOREDOM forum thingy makes me dizzy. Hipsters now listen to minimal electronic music? And talk about it on garage punk boards? Come on.... so things continue to get rotten. I dont want no special limited editions, no screen printed sleeves, no 12"es with 4 tracks on it, nope. We re no hipster label. If you are looking for some bad music limited to 33 copies with three different sleeves, go somewhere else and listen to that ka-ka. Just give me some fine rocanrol, a nice sleeve that can take some ruff handling.... i waffeled long enough, i try to keep it simple for you retarded lo-budget rockers:

- BUY OUR RECORDS, WE NEED MONIES BEAT BEAT self titled LP [BR-30]

THE MAKEOUTS In a strange land! LP [BR-33]

INDIAN WARS If you want me 7" [BR-34]

BARRERACUDAS Dog Food 7" [BR-35]

MYELIN SHEATHS Stackticon 7" [BR-36]

THE YOLKS self titled LP [BR-25]

Of course we have some copies of the other releases ready, like GUT REACTIONS, SUGAR STEMS, TERRORDACTYLS, BATMAN & ROBIN, REAL NUMBERS, MARVELOUS DARLINGS, POPPETS, RNR ADVENTURE KIDS, THE FEELERS et cetera... write us at info@bachelorrecords.com SOON: PIPSQUEAK 7", THE FLAKES 7", CAVE WEDDINGS 7", SKIPPER 10" and more I cannot remember now.

THE POWERCHORDS More than me 7" [BR-37]

PLEXI 3 Tides of Change LP [BR-26]

THE FINEST IN ROCANROL RECORDINGS

B AC H E L O R R E C O R D S, 5 4 2 1 A D N E T 1 8 6 , AU S T R I A H ! B AC H E L O R R E C O R D S . C O M

REVIEWS

LONGPLAYER-REVIEWS If you wonder why most of the records get good reviews in here - that's because we LOVE the music and still buy most of the platters ourselves! Anyway, if you run a label or distro, we would appreciate to get added to your promo mailing list in case you are willing to see our critical and honest reviews of your bands here. Just make sure that you are familiar with the music that appears here, we all like Garage, oldschool Punkrock, KBD, Powerpop, Poppunk, earlyHC and stuff like that… Are you with us? Get in touch! Crappy music will be burned in my backyard, haha…

AC4 s/t LP [Ny Våg] Hum, how to start writing about this record without mentioning the name Dennis Lyxzén in first place? Ooooh, I already did it! Okay, fuck it! Here you have your reason to hate this record: it's the guy who was in various bands like REFUSED, THE (INTERNATIONAL) NOISE CONSPIRACY, LOST PATROL BAND and others. Can I already hear the "Sellout" yells by the pseudo-elite DIY-Hardcorepunkpolice? Funny funny… Actually this album surprises me, cuz I didn't know what kind of music the AC4 were supposed to play. I dunno if any little hipster indiegirl/boy will grab this platter, but if they do so, I'd really like to be the fly on the wall of their bedroom, when the AC4 spit out their 15 cuts of pissed 80ies Hardcorepunk. And it would be interesting to see the faces of those windmillin' Bollo-Core jocks, who know nothing more about Hardcore than maybe REFUSED's "New Noise" and some HATEBREED songs on their harddisk. All I can say is that I like this record! Maybe it's not a classic but it's got the vibe, the energy and the right kind of middlefinger-humor in the lyrics to put a smile on my face. Uptemposongs plus some great singalong choruses, too. Kinda the old spirit of ADOLESCENTS, MINOR THREAT or DAG NASTY mixed up with the energy of newer bands like REGULATIONS or DEAN DIRG. And no, this is NOT a Lyxzén-solo-thingy - AC4 is backed up by David Sandström (REFUSED), Karl Backman (VECTORS) and Jens Nordén (REGULATIONS). And that's what I call a great line-up. No surprise they delivered a fine record! (Bernd)

shows and everything else. Great sound, great attitude: Hardcore the way it should be! So check out this platter! (Bernd)

ALPINIST minus.mensch LP [Alerta Antifascista / Phobiact / Contraszt!] Wow, what a heavyweight! These four young guys from Germany blast out 11 songs that'll rip your head off. While other juveniles their age spend their time with cheesy Metalcore, ALPINIST stand within the tradition of great rough Portland-Crustbands like HIS HERO IS GONE, TRAGEDY and most of all FROM ASHES RISE (primarily in the high/low shouting). And that's definitely the sound they can enthuse me with! Besides of that the ALPINIST guys are 100% DIY-activists in their hometown Münster with putting up

THE APERS You Are Only As Strong As The Table You Dance On LP/CD [Asian Man] Weird title for an album but the APERS are as strong as ever. The new record is kinda more Punkrock again, mainly written on tour and more in the vein of all those old records on Lookout like early SCREECHING WEASEL et cetera. This oldschool-Poppunk was kinda dead the last years, but I grew up with this sound and always liked it. And THE APERS always flew the flag for Poppunk over all those years since they started in 1996-97. So I think they really deserve it to be on a bigger

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APACHE Boomtown Gems LP [Birdman Records] I saw this band from Frisco live in Summer 2009 and it was kinda one of the hairiest gigs of my life (except for some cheese-metal concerts in my juvenile years, uff course). Especially the guitarplayer looked really funny: a John-Lennon-Lookalike with the biggest curly afro-hair you can imagine. The show started with the bassplayer sayin': "Welcome to the Seventies!" And that's what it was - a great show of cool poppy SeventiesPowerrock with a little Glam and Garage-edge. Like the DEAD BOYS or NEW YORK DOLLS play the songs of CHEAP TRICK. Heavy riffs, a punchin' drumbeat, pumping basslines, cool stuff all in all. The best music for cruisin' around in the summertime with a trunk full of beer… (Bernd)

label like Asian Man now. Rotterdam Poppunk Veterans! And they deliver the full works again: Everything from Uptempo-Punksongs to heartmeltin' tearjerkers. This one's a good one. (Bernd) THE ASSASSINATIONS Future Blasts From The Past CD [Hashishin Records] Fuzzzzz, bay-bee, fuuuuuuuzzzzzzzzz!!!! Fuckin' hell, "Intoxication", the opening track to the debut of this doggone cool fivepiece from Berlin possesses just such a brainblowing fat groove, as like if you'd be listening to some great lost recordings of some drugged up session involving the gentlemen Purkhiser, Vega and Osterberg! 60ies Garage meets up with early 70ies hardrock and there are also discreet influences of rhythm'n'blues and soul to be found. "Hallucination girl", for example, quivers nervously in between the laid-back honky tonk-attitude of early STONES and slightly psychedelic attempts, whilst "Midnight cowboy" also could be a forgotten LYNYRD SKYNYRD-title, covered by GUN CLUB - or just the other way round?! Also not too bad, the very dark and threatening sneaker "Cities of the red night". With "Devil killed a woman", the next to last of those nine very tight produced and diversified arranged songs, you even get a nasty stoner rockpunch in the gut, before everthing fades away conciliably in - huh - some kind of a VELVET UNDERGROUND … Yes, a really beautiful "out-of-timerecord" and highly recommended! (Ben Accident) BABY SHAKES The First One LP [Douchemaster] Unfortunately I just missed the BABY SHAKES on their Euro-tour but fortunately I've got their record here to wipe away my tears. All in all the BABY SHAKES are one of the best bands worldwide at the moment, considering girl-fronted BubblegumPowerpop. Not only Douchemaster Records stands again for a seal of quality but Dave Rahn (CARBONAS, GENTLEMAN JESSE & HIS MEN) recorded this platter and beats the drums, too. Well done Dave! The BABY SHAKES deliver the right kind of music for people who like to have fun, love to dance, watch funny highschool-movies (for example "Josie and the Pussycats") and listen to

REVIEWS

NIKKI & THE CORVETTES. Some of my favourite things to do in my spare time, of course… (Bernd) BILLY CHILDISH Archive From 1959 - The Billy Childish Story 3-LP [Damaged Goods] Billy Who???? Ha, no, just kidding… I'm not the guy who is into collecting records by Billy Childish and I think that would be very difficult, due to the fact that this guy was involved in hundred+ recordings. The "My first Billy Childish" album that came out some time ago offered a nice opportunity to get in touch with the music of Mr. Childish and this triple record goes some steps further with lots of songs and music from all periods of his career. Songs by the BUFF MEDWAYS, MILKSHAKES, HEADCOATS and HEADCOATEES, CHATHAM SINGERS, POP RIVETS, MIGHTY CAESARS, KYRA, DELMONAS and the MUSICIANS OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE. All in all 51 cuts, a nice gatefold-sleeve and linernotes by Lois Wilson. This music has influenced so many bands in the international Punkrock- and Garage-circus, it's just great to have a collection like this to listen to and see how fresh these tunes still sound. Timeless music, highly recommended, not only to the people who were not very familiar with Billy Childish so far. (Bernd) BLACK & WHITES s/t LP [Douchemaster] This rikkord is a little bit older, but it sure was one of my fave albums in 2008! Or should I say: The best damn Punkrock-record in 2008!?! You don't own this piece of wax? Just try everything you can to get it! 14 songs, every single one a killer! Catchy tunes, simple like the RAMONES, poppy like the best American late 70s-powerpop-stuff, and 100% rock'n'roll like the DEVIL DOGS or LITTLE KILLERS. This is so good, I'm out of words… Do I have to say more? (Bernd) BLACK LIPS 200Millionthousand LP [Vice] Aaaah yeah, the BLACK LIPS… I dunno if I should tell you about my

"Road to Damascus" experience with this band… It was May 2004 when I saw this band live in Münster/Germany the first time, without knowing any of their records. The local promoter was (and is) completely nuts about the BLACK LIPS and so I was very excited when they entered the stage. Thirty minutes later I was stunned. That was the WORST musical performance I ever witnessed! Plus the guitarist puked on stage (green noodles), the bassplayer pissed himself in the mouth and King Khan (who was in the audience that night) messed up the show with throwing birthday-cakes at the band… So, on one hand I had to judge the BLACK LIPS as the worst band I've ever seen, but on the other hand I had to appreciate them for expressing pure Rock'n'Roll danger! When they played one year later my girlfriend refused to go with threatening me to end our relationship if I would go to the show. So I didn't go, cuz I love her very much… (yeah, you can call me a slow coach, I don't care, haha) It had to get 2006 until we both went to another BLACK LIPS show. First song: What's that? Second song: Can it be true? Third song: This has to a different band, they are so damn GOOD! So, that was the evening I fell in love with the BLACK LIPS! Too bad that they started playing in bigger venues the next year. Strange hipsterpeople started talking to me about this crazy "new" band. "Fuck off" I said, "they are not new!" I even found a photo in a fashion-zine, with some dumbass models wearing BLACK LIPS bags. Very strange, but maybe nothing to blame the BLACK LIPS for, personally. They took a long way and did hard work to get to the point where they are today! And fact is: I still like them! But the point is that they reached a level I'm not familiar with. I don't like the venues they play in and especially I don't like 90 % of the people there. BLACK LIPS somehow became a part of the daily grind, and I don't say that in bad faith. When I listen to the "200Millionthousand" I still like it, but it doesn't kick me like their music and shows did "back in the days". The BLACK LIPS still have their unique sound, they sometimes remind me of a completely stoned version of the ROLLING STONES. Just good music! But somehow the tension is gone a little bit and there's no more danger in it. If you want a good BLACK LIPS record you can't do much wrong with "200Millionthousand". But I think I can never get the good old feeling back… (Bernd) BRUTAL KNIGHTS Total Rebellion LP [P.Trash] Yeah, those Canadian HC-Punk morons again! I really love the BRUTAL KNIGHTS, doesn't matter live on stage or pressed on vinyl. "Total Rebellion" is

more a MiniLP or Maxi instead of a fulllength record, but the 8 songs again are a true pleasure. Pissed off, trashy, uptempo but played precisely on point. The singer sounds like a total lunatic again, and yeah, even though the music is a maximum trashy HC-Punk-bastard, there are really catchy melodies lurking round the corner all the time. That's what Punk should sound like in 2009! (Bernd)

COCOCOMA Things Are Not All Right LP [Goner] Everybody loves COCOCOMA, and yay, they delivered another fun record, again! The married couple Bill and Lisa Roe teams up again with Mike Fitzpatrick and they whip through ten new great songs. Here and there they add some organ sound and altogether the new album is far more poppy than the debut to me. A raw poppyness of course, that makes you feel familiar with every single song, even though you only spun the record one or two times. The winching voice is another COCOCOMA-trademark, and if you think you might know it from somewhere, have a listen to HEADACHE CITY, the "sisterband" of COCOCOMA. The music of HEADACHE CITY is somehow related to COCOCOMA, of course, but HEADACHE CITY is a little bit rougher. Meanwhile COCOCOMA is the headquarter for obvious Garage-Rock'n'Roll hit tunes. Well done boys'n'girls! (Bernd) CUTE LEPERS Smart Accessories LP/CD [Europe: Damaged Goods / US: Blackheart Records] Whooooaoow, the title track is such an incredible killer, with its rich horn section and the tremendously catchy chorus; it just makes me jumping all around in my flat and turn into some kind of a spastic squirrel with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder … Awesome!! But also the other twelve tunes definitely understand how to combine the best ingredients of the well approved '77 snotpunk of the BRIEFS with highly caries-infecting dirty candymelodies of the late '70ies modpunkrevival and of course not to forget all CRKO #0

REVIEWS those charming "uhhhuuus" and "ahaaaaas" by their extremely charming and sweet backing vocal-girls! Very british sounding for a bunch of Seattle-lads though, often much more affected by the likes of THE BUZZCOCKS and co, rather than CHEAP TRICK and sometimes even some Mr. Costello adds a dozy "Hello, how are you?" (hey, that's a metaphor, dumbass!). However, Steve E. Nix is surely one of the most splendid powerpop-/pop-punk-songwriters these days and the second CUTE LEPERS just a ride on the bubblegum-rollercoaster par excellence. Most likely the best summer record you can expect for the winter season 2009/2010 - great!! (Ben Accident) DAMPFMASCHINE I Love My Body LP [My Ruin] Okay, for all you non-german readers: "Dampfmaschine" is the german word for "steam engine" and that's exactly what this band sounds like! Steamy, sweaty and dirty! And baby, I saw them live and I can tell you that in reference to the album-title - they really have bodies you can love! Before they morphed into DAMPFMASCHINE the band was called GOOD WITCH OF THE SOUTH and played some kind of heavy stoner-rock. But now they remind me more of a german version of TURBONEGRO, back in that dangerous era when TRBNGR didn't become those lame festivalrockers they are today… Cool stuff, a self-ironic redneck attitude (german lyrics by the way) and a very good but rough recording. Lots of talking between the songs, cuz it was all recorded live in one take. Other bands should do that, too! And everyone who covers mighty german legends TRIO is a winner to me! German chartrocker Bela B. (DIE ÄRZTE) loves DAMPFMASCHINE, I love them and you should love them, too! Their bodies and their record! Btw: The LP on My Ruin is pressed on nice white vinyl. (Bernd) DERBY DOLLS Rich Kids Love Hate CD [That Lux Good Records] Yesssss! Thank god not every new band in Germany wants to sound like PENNYWISE, AFI or other shoppingmallpunk-crap. The DERBY DOLLS from Tübingen are one of these refreshing exceptions - just great and simple Punkrock, in the vein of bands like TILT or the fantastic GITS. Naming this bands should give you an important pointer - the DERBY DOLLS are female-fronted. And goddamn', their singer Helen has such a great voice. Okay, just like my pal Markus Pacino I like high-pitched eeeeky eeeeky girl-chants in Powerpopbands, too. But Helen's voice is really dark, with a great sound-spectrum. Reminds me a little bit of a mixture of Mia Zapata (GITS) and Brody Dalle (DISTILLERS). 56

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And if some of the readers might not like Ms. Dalle or the DISTILLERS, cuz they are mainstream-shit - I hope at least the GITS-comparison scores! DERBY DOLLS are young, fresh and in ya face - check 'em out! (Bernd)

LOS EXPLOSIVOS s/t LP [Slovenly] This band popped up on my radar when Markus Pacino told me whacky things about their raw performance at the "PricklyPeaBowls 2009" festival in Sardinia. The headline on this record says "The best Mexican Garage combo". Dude, I've never been to Mexico and I dunno about the Garage scene over there, but I can tell you that LOS EXPLOSIVOS can punch the shit out of their instruments, for sure! If you read the word "Garage" you hopefully don't expect lame sixties-clones. Go piss in your Chelsea boots, cuz these crazy Mexicans sound like a drug-crazed punk-band, playing the most uptempo sixties-stuff you can imagine! Including the cover song "Luie Luie" (sic!) plus 14 own cuts. Wild wild wild! The singer screams like a true maniac and the whole lyrics are in Spanish! That's Rock'n'Roll language Numero Uno to me, even though I don't understand a word. Based on the furious sound the lyrics just have to be about breaking things, sniffing glue, bothering girls and praising Beelzebub. And that's exactly nuts to me, yeehaw! (Bernd) GHETTO WAYS I Always Wanted You LP [P.Trash] What to expect from the third record of Brooklyn's finest GHETTO WAYS? I expected a lot and the "I Always Wanted You" album really comes up to my expectations. The band concentrates on real catchy and soulful tunes, packed with a high level of Punkrock-energy. They rearranged their sound a little bit, it's still very rough but not as trashy as it was sometimes in the past. Stomping drums, a buzzin' bass and a crunchy guitar play real poppy hit-songs. Just listen to the title-track - in a better world it should be played by radio-stations all day (and night) long! 10 tunes on this platter, no drop outs, just hits like the uptem-

po "Can you feel it", sexy copulationrock like "The Feel And The Love" or the nursery rhyme (!) "Big Bad Wolf". Great job! (Bernd) HEADACHE CITY We Can't Have Anything Nice LP [P.Trash] They can't have anything nice?! Maaaan, this record they put out is nice! HEADACHE CITY is some kind of a "sister-band" to COCOCOMA and the music is dominated by this strange winching voice, too. Even more than COCOCOMA, I think. And because two of the three people in HEADACHE CITY play in COCOCOMA, too, I just have to draw the musical comparison, soooorry - the point is that both bands sound comparable and different at the same time. Hard to tell, ahem, I hope you can follow me… I think HEADACHE CITY are a little bit rougher, with a gloomier atmosphere. Yeah, atmosphere, that's the right word! HEADACHE CITY's got the atmosphere! Just check the vibe and the extraordinary guitar-line in "Gypsy". Plus you get some more great Garagerock-hits, partly known from EPs on fancy labels like HoZac (included in different versions here). Songs like "Channel 9", "Down The Drain", "Shivvers" or "1986" definitely stand out of a lot of nowadays average Garagepunk music and this record grows a little bit more, everytime I spin it on my recordplayer… (Bernd)

HEX DISPENSERS Winchester Mystery House LP/CD [Alien Snatch] It's my decided opinion that the debut album of the HEX DISPENSERS must be considered as one of nowadays Garagepunk-classics! Based on that fact it's hard for some bands to record a worthy follower. But no problemo for the HEX DISPENSERS! The "Winchester Mystery House" record includes all the ingredients of the debut and improves the sound a little bit. Don't get me wrong - the HEX DISPENSERS don't reinvent their sound from scratch! Why should they?! The sound they produce is so unique, NO ONE is comparable to them at this point. Did you ever read a Lovecraft-story? Have you ever

REVIEWS that some people can still write and play the best teenage-hymns ever, even though they already are in their late twenties/early thierties, haha… Great melodies, great rhythm, great feelings! The first pressing came along with a nice selfmade DVD and mint green Vinyl. But apart from this record-collector-shit, you'll just get great music here for sure! Go for it! (Bernd)

found something comparable to Lovecraft in literature that is NOT only a cheap copy? I haven't! Same goes for the HEX DISPENSERS in music - they are just leaders of the pack. Simple like the RAMONES, gloomy like the WIPERS, but establishing their own unique sound in every single song, especially by Alex Cuervo's hypnotizing vocals and a very special guitar sound. Mark Ryan (MARKED MEN) and Dave Rahn (CARBONAS, GENTLEMAN JESSE) were involved in the recording and … aah, enough blah blah from a stupid reviewer - just get this record, it's a HIT! (Bernd) HEXTALLS Call It A Comeback LP [House Party] Haha, this one's got an awesome slating review at the "Maximum Rock'n'Roll" Fanzine. Actually I don't know why, cuz this platter (orange vinyl) is really cool. Yeah, it's dumb sometimes, there are some really infantile lyrics on it and the music is everything else than inventive. But who cares?! The MRR? Okay, let them listen to some reeeeaaaal arty or deeply emotional stuff. Yawn... I'll have fun with this record in the meantime! The HEXTALLS were around in Canada for quite a while but this record is the first one after a longer break of the band, I think. They love icehockey like the HANSON BROTHERS do and they burst out 18 songs like CHIXDIGGIT, SCREECHING WEASEL or NERF HERDER couldn't have done it better. Oldschool Poppunk galore! Thumbs up and let's go Minigolf! (Bernd) LOS HORIES Don't Bother Us! CD-EP [Off The Hip] Hum, do they sell millions in Japan or what's the reason to press this music on CD? Vinyl would fit them better! O-keeh, I won't bother you with this format-shit anymore, coz the music is really nice. LOS HORIES are from New Zealand and they know how to play good Sixties-Attack-Sound. Nothing spectacular but 5 good songs somewhere between SONICS, FUZZTONES, BLACK LIPS and all the stuff from Billy Childish. (Bernd) HUNX AND HIS PUNX Gay Singles TAPE [Burger Records] Okay, ich erzähl euch jetzt mal ne dufte Geschichte. Also: der Typ, der hinter NOBUNNY steckt, wollte mal eine All-Girl-Garagen-Band zusammenstellen (So wie dir frühen DONNAS? Ja, genauso wie die frühen DONNAS!). Also schrieb er ne ganze Menge von diesen 60's-Pop inspirierten Songs und weil die später ja mal von Mädchen intoniert werden sollten, schrieb er die Texte halt auch aus der Sicht von Mädchen - diesen typischen Teenage-Herzschmerz-Scheiß halt, den wir hier alle so lieben. Fortan strolchte

der Typ, der hinter NOBUNNY steckt, also um die örtlich Highschools, um nach Mädchen Ausschau zu halten, die in seiner Band sein wollten. Hier und da fasste er sich mal ein Herz und sprach eine von diesen minderjährigen Schönheiten an, doch denen war es wohl ein wenig mulmig zumute. Sie liefen weg und alarmierten vielleicht sogar ihre Eltern oder die Polizei... Jetzt saß dieser Bursche also auf einem ganzen Sack voller Rohdiamanten und keiner wollte sie spielen oder singen. Schließlich kam er nach San Francisco und traf einen schwulen Barbier namens Hunx! Und dieser Hunx wollte diese Songs! Also gründete der Kerl, der hinter NOBUNNY steckt, und der homosexuelle Frisör gemeinsam eine Band, was den Vorteil hatte, dass die Texte nicht mehr extra umgeschrieben werden mussten. Fortan nahmen sie bis in alle Ewigkeit kleine Schallplatten auf, die wie ne Mischung aus den frühen DONNAS, PANSY DIVISION und NOBUNNY klangen. Und weil das alles so schön war, waren die Dinger natürlich in Windeseile ausverkauft. Zum Glück aber gibt es Burger Records, dieses grundsympathische Kassettenlabel aus Anaheim, Kalifornien, das all diese verschollenen Perlen nochmals aufreiht und für nur $6 an die Zuspätgekommenen verkauft. Und damit hat diese Geschichte für alle ein Happy-End! Kaufen! PS: Eine LPVersion ist mittlerweile auf True Panther erschienen, nach 1000 Stück ist Schluss! (Pacino) IDLE HANDS Postponed LP [Hardware Records] Okay, here it is - the first full-length by the new German Punkrock-Wunderkinder IDLE HANDS, featuring Andi (MISSING SHADOWS) and Julius (PRESS GANG, DRAMAMINE)! And yes, the record is a real blast! The band from the area Münster/Osnabrück already had nothing but hits on their seven-inches and here you get a 14-song-full-service again. All killers, no fillers. Almost every song is a poppy little Punkrockhymn, somewhere between STATUES, BUZZCOCKS, WIPERS, HÜSKER DÜ et cetera, et cetera… It's really exciting,

INTELLECTUALS Triple LP+CD [Jeetkune] I really got into this long-running 2-girl/1-boy trio from Rome/Italy when they released their second album "Invisible Is The Best". Great record, just good times with that platter! So here it is, their third album and they recorded it at London's famous Toe Rag Studios and added a bass (played by Nick Normal) to their basic-instrumentation (Guitar, Drums, Keys). Once again, they delivered 11 songs of cool Italian Garagerock with a lot of wave-influence in it. Sounds a little bit like a wild mixture of X-RAY SPEX, LES SEXAREENOS and really cheesy LOST SOUNDS to me. The female vocals might sound a lil' bit too squeaky for some people, but Guitar_Boys voice is a good contrast to that. Even though I still like the previous album a little better, there are some real cool tunes on this platter, e.g. "Lost in an empty world" or "Orange alert". It's pressed on white wax, along with a CD and a nice booklet. Nice package. (Bernd)

JAY REATARD Watch Me Fall LP [Matador] Nach zwei SingleSammlungen nun also das langerwartete zweite Album des wilden Burschen aus Tennessee. Die dazugehörigen Konzerte waren (zumindest in Köln) mal wieder nur sehr spärlich besucht; irgendwie scheint das ReatardPhänomen bei uns nicht so zu funktionieren. Mir egal, ich lasse mir immer wieder gerne mal nach Feierabend eine ordentliche Dröhnung von Mr. Reatard verpassen. Dabei fällt schon beim ersten Hören auf, dass die neue Scheibe um einiges freundlicher ausgeCRKO #0

REVIEWS fallen ist als noch die "Blood Visions". Man weiß ja, dass Jay ein großer Verehrer der frühen DEVO ist und genau dieser Vorliebe lässt er auf "Watch me fall" freien Lauf! Hört euch nur mal "Faking it" an, klingt 100 % nach DEVO und ist momentan mein Hit auf der Platte! Tja, mehr gibt es eigentlich nicht zu sagen. (Pacino) [Addendum: Pacino wrote this review in fall 2009. Jay Reatard died on January 13, 2010, as everyone of you might know from various message-boards... The whole CRKO-crew is stunned! R.I.P. Jay! Thanx for the music … Bernd] KAMIKATZE Falling Down CD [Dirty Faces] Oh awesome, one of these swedish girls grew a beard! No, just kidding: Ellvis left the band and they've got this nice guy Jackson playing bass now. KAMIKATZE are still a refreshing band in the European early80sHardcore circus, due to the female singing. Ah, hm, whatever you call singing, haha. When Tess Törner screams out a "Thrashcore in your face" you know you're in the right place. This one's a fine record again, harsh but nice! I hope I can catch KAMIKATZE on stage sometime soon… (Bernd)

THE KING KHAN & BBQ SHOW Invisible Girl LP [In The Red] I really have a crush on nice cover-paintings and this rekkid definitely has a beautiful one. Besides of that the two death-cult-brothers deliver some great music again! The tambourine is ringing, the doo-woping vocals are just excellent, the sound is crunchy and rough but not too lo-fi, the songs are cranky but danceable and there's some strange sexuality in the lyrics if you know whatta mean. Some slow tunes (for example a ballad like "Third Ave") some more uptempo (e.g. "I'll Be Loving You"). Just pick your favourite, there's something for everyone! "Tastebuds" and "Truth Or Dare" even remind me a little bit of the mighty SPITS sometimes. Yeah, King Khan and Mark "BBQ" Sultan kinda took the best things from their two previous albums and mix it all 58

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up on their third one. This is a fun record for sure, even though I still like their debut best. But you can't do anything wrong with the "Invisible Girl" rekkerd... (Bernd) LEGENDS OF MOTORSPORT Yeah Uh Huh CD [Band-Promo] I got this CD from Andy (DIGGER & THE PUSSYCATS) and this is (approximately) what he said about LEGENDS OF MOTORSPORT when he gave the copy to me: "Their sound is very unique. They've got this Farfisa organ plus a really heavy downtuned guitar and completely ridiculous lyrics." Sounded interesting to me and Andy's description about LOM was completely right. These four dudes from Melbourne/Australia are for sure not afraid to mix up heavy sludge-guitars with classic Rock'n'Roll themes. Like EYEHATEGOD play the BEACH BOYS or GRIEF play KINKS songs. Damn, this really sounds crazy and different and gives you the feeling in the belly, that only a musclecar can give you, heading for full speed (or with the words of LOM: "the quarter mile in 6.1 seconds......"). Plus they've got humor, just listen to the funny lyrics, performed by this maniac who almost sounds like MISTREATERS Christreater gone r-e-a-ll-y wild! Definitely a cool sound but very hard to describe. So go check 'em out! (Bernd) M.O.T.O. Single File 2-LP [Red Lounge] First of all: Wowee, a fantastic packaging! Two heavy vinyl-platters packed in a nice gatefold-sleeve! If I combine all my infos right, I think this one is a reissue of the CD-release on Criminal IQ Records (which I don't possess), that covered M.O.T.O singles from 1988 to 1993. Just because I've never been that much into M.O.T.O., this is the right record for me! Actually I don't know why I haven't been that much into M.O.T.O., cause this record is really great! Pure Pop for Punkrockers! Even though the music is very simple, M.O.T.O. demonstrates again that not everyone can write and play such simple tunes. But M.O.T.O. can! And they prove it with these 33 beautiful songs. As regards music M.O.T.O. always remind me of a mixture between RAMONES, MARKED MEN, Daniel Johnston, PANSY DIVISION and old WEEZER-stuff. And even though it's very minimalistic and stripped-down (sometimes only guitar, drums and vocals) it's 100 % fun! Plus M.O.T.O. and songwriter Paul Caporino got the right kind of humor - if I could award the Grammy for funny songtitles I would give it to M.O.T.O.! Or can I do something wrong with titles like "Crystallize My Penis", "It's So Big It's Fluorescent", "Dick About It", "I Am The Cheese" or "Go Naked"?! (Bernd)

MUNICIPAL WASTE Massive Aggressive LP [Earache] I remember me and my cousin hanging out at his place when we were 12-13 years old. His older brother had all those metal-records we borrowed from him. Okay, actually we stole them from his room and got beaten up when we were caught red-handed. So this game was kinda dangerous and we were better off with picking up the right records from his collection, when we were on the raid again. The main criteria were - uff course - the cover paintings! Monsters, corpses, blood, pentagrams - we wanted it all! So I think that was the reason that we preadolescent brats only picked up the classic trash metal albums and got very influenced by this music. Remember the nice covers of DESTRUCTION "Mad Butcher", EXHORDER "Slaughter in the Vatican", SACRED REICH "Surf Nicaragua" or SLAYER "Show no Mercy"?!?!? Damn, especially the last one showed true crayon-evil, haha! If MUNICIPAL WASTE would've been around at that time, I'm sure the "Massive Aggressive" cover would've caught our attention! Zombies, severed heads, cool songtitles like "Divine Blasphemer" or "Wolves of Chernobyl" - nobody can do something wrong with that... And we would've loved the music, too! Bonedry NeoThrash, somewhere between ANTHRAX and 80ies HC/Thrash crossover, including a nice METALLICA riff rip-off in "Relentless Threat". Even though I have to mention I liked MUNICIPAL WASTE's "Art of Partying" album a little better (maybe because real pit-hits like "Sadistic Magician" or "Headbanger Face Rip" are missing on "Massive Aggressive") this one's still a good one. Approved by the Teenage Thrash Association! (Bernd) NOBUNNY … is putting out great records and Pacino wrote an essential guide to his music. If you can't read german you gotta learn it first and go to the NOBUNNY-page in this issue. If you don't wanna learn german just go and grab NOBUNNY's records, coz they are f-u-n-t-a-s-t-i-c! (Bernd)

REVIEWS

OKMONIKS Party Fever!!! LP [Slovenly] Nine track double-A-side record. This is pure organ-driven PartyRock'n'Roll! Due to singer Helen's voice THE OKMONIKS remind me a little bit of a cool mixture between the simple early DONNAS-stuff and THE MUMMIES. Too bad I missed them live in fall 2009… Come back please, play in my town, stay at my place! And, oh, I'm listening to the song "Not That Good" right now - is there a bunny looking out of the hole??? (Bernd) PLEXI 3 Tides Of Change LP [Bachelor] 13 songs on nice orange vinyl by the PLEXI 3 from Milwaukee. This is just great garage- and mod-flavoured Punkrock/Powerpop with part male/part female vocals. Sometimes it's sweet like cotton candy, but it surely has a good punk-bite! The band already had some singles out on various labels (e.g. HoZac) and this longplayer is a winner! Go and get it, it will put a big smile on your face! Btw: Bassplayer Adam also puts out the "Plastique Pop" fanzine. (Bernd) POPPETS s/t LP [P.Trash / FDH] After the the stunning HEARTATTACKS (from Stockholm) disbanded, their bandleader Magnus founded the POPPETS, together with his girlfriend Lina. The POPPETS are kinda different from the rough TEENGENERATE-inspired sound of the HEARTATTAKKS (damn, I LOVED this band!), but it's great stuff for sure! Still it's cool'n'simple punkrock but it's more poppy and budgetrock instead of "in ya face" Punk. Uh, who would've guessed that with that bandname?! Two trashy guitars, a cheesy drumcomputer, 8 songs that run on 45 rpm and clock down in less than 15 minutes plus the biggest lead-out grooves I've ever seen… So all in all more a Mini-LP than a fulllength, but there's some fine music on it! (Bernd)

RAYDIOS Now! LP [Dirtnap] I can tell you a story about one of the biggest faults of my life: about ten years ago my then pal Nilz Nonchalant of the BACKWOOD CREATURES told me that from the ashes of the fantastic TEENGENERATE this great new band has risen: THE RAYDIOS! Their "Original Demo Recordings" were just out on Screaming Apple Records and Nilz told me to get that platter ASAP! But I didn't! I still don't know why… Stupid little me… If anyone still has a copy please give it to me as a gift! Thankfully THE RAYDIOS are still around (or they are reformed, I dunno…) and they just released this new rekkid. What can I say, it's a real good Punkrock-record! Not as lo-fi and over the top like TEENGENERATE but more cool and catchy rockin' 77-sound like THE KIDS, THE SAINTS or DICTATORS. A dirty dozen of songs plus this unique Japanese accent in the vocals we all love. (Bernd) REIGNING SOUND Love And Curses LP [In The Red] As a really big fan of Greg Cartwright's Bands I was curious about the new REIGNING SOUND album. It's been five years since their last LP "Too much guitar." (During this this time Greg played with Mary Weiss of the SHANGRI-LAS and the DETROIT COBRAS.) Unfortunately "Love & Curses" couldn't come up to my expectations. It consists of 50-50 ballads and rockers, but "Debris" is the only song that could keep up with REIGNING SOUND's earlier stuff. The other songs are still okay, but if you're not a die-hard fan, you better get yourself the "Time Bomb High School" album, one of the best records of all time! (Finn)

RETURNABLES So When Can I See You Again? … Plus CD Unrequited Hits CD s/t MCD [Jettison Music / Dirtnap] Wow, what a great band! The fantastic RETURNABLES from Chicago were active as a

band from 1998 - 2005 before singer/guitarist Bobby James Lee Ray was killed in a tragic car crash. Due to the fact that I feature the RETURNABLES in this issues rubric "Bands you should have known of" (read it!), you might imagine that their records might be out of print or at least hard to get. The easiest platter to get might be their self-titled EP on Dirtnap and this one is truly a gem! Four tracks were recorded for an upcoming album - and holy mother, based on this tracks the RETURNABLES truly were on the verge to record an instant classic Punkrock/Powerpop album! Just listen to "Teenage Imposters" or "What Would Mother Say" - outstanding hits, unbeatable melodies and a band on the peak of creativity! In addition you get three live recordings (good quality) of songs for that upcoming album that never saw the light of day. The previous albums "So When Can I See You Again? … Plus" and "Unrequited Hits" are great, too. You can listen to a band that develops a real unique sound. The stuff of the RETURNABLES is close to perfection when you search for music in the vein of bands like UNDERTONES or EXPLODING HEARTS. At least that's my opinion. And when I talk about "perfection" you hopefully don't expect clean production or shit like that. The RETURNABLES have the right kind of roughness, a real unique voice and the perfection is more in the way they perform their songs - you can feel that it's straight from the heart and they really loved to play their music. You can still find the band on myspace www.myspace.com/thereturnables - just get in touch with them, show your admiration and listen to great music! (Bernd) RIVERBOAT GAMBLERS Underneath The Owl LP [Volcom] The RIVERBOAT GAMBLERS are still a band I like, even though they changed their sound a lot since I first listened to them. Yeah, they play the Warped-tour today, together with shitty Emopop-bands, but I still like them. Okay, their sound is very clean today and I kinda miss the dirt, the sweat and their old savageness. But nevertheless: the music is still good and the band knows how to write catchy and energetic Punkrocksongs. If you know any young kids who are into trendy bands like AFI or AGAINST ME, you better recommend the RIVERBOAT GAMBLERS to them! They're definitely the better choice and I hope they play smaller clubs anytime soon and I can catch them live. (Bernd) ROCK'N'ROLL ADVENTURE KIDS Hillbilly Psychosis LP [Soul Not Style / Total Trash] Haha, what album-title would fit better with this manic 2-piece from Berkeley, California!? Combined with the offenCRKO #0

REVIEWS ding cover-artwork "Hillbilly Psychosis" definitely straightens out who's the craziest band around: The ROCK'N'ROLL ADVENTURE KIDS are! This is crazy Garage-Hillbilly-Punk-Trash'n'Roll to scare your parents with! Pure sonic frenzy straight from the mental hospital. If you don't like this I don't like you! (Bernd)

SEDATIVES s/t LP [P.Trash] Here it is, the first longplayer of the best horse in the Ottawa-barn! Their first single was a blast (you get 3 of the 5 EP-Songs in different versions on the LP) and the album is great, too! My main criticism about the sound of this record are only the vocals. They are a little bit too thin and mixed in the background. But don't get me wrong, it's not a total disaster, it's still okay. SEDATIVES prove that they are one of the coolest Punkrock-bands around, at the moment. They are really simple, but they've got that certain something that not every band has. Obviously remarkable is the organ-sound, that sometimes reminds me of Seattle's fantastic MURDER CITY DEVILS, even though the complete SEDATIVES-bandsound is different from the MDC. The SEDATIVES also have their gloomy WIPERSmoments but at the same time they are catchy and poppy. Just listen to modern classics like "Cannot Calm Down" or "Slip Away" â&#x20AC;Ś damn, these tunes are so great! To say it again: this record is really good! But if the SEDATIVES manage it, to get a more powerful sound with the next album, they are really able to record a classic! (Bernd) SHITTY LIMITS Beware The Limits LP [La Vida Es Un Mus] 12 short blasts on 45 rpm! People really seem to go nuts about this combo, I think. And yeah it's a real good record, even though I'm not COMPLETELY having kittens about the SHITTY LIMITS. Only a little bit, haha. This is a mixture of early Westcoast-HC-Punk with a little Garagetouch. Just listen to that SONICS-Stomp in "Hardwired". Simple, 60

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rough and energetic music. Kind of a "missing link" between Hardcorepunk and Garage. Sounds good? Sounds good! (Bernd)

SLOPPY SECONDS Endless Bummer LP [Kid Tested Records] Yeah, the JunkRock-Kings from Indianapolis are back!!! Damn, I would've bet on that they split up years ago, I really didn't know they still exist. It was 10 years ago that I saw them live in Lingen/Germany and it was a blast! BoBa's biceps was as big as my thigh, B.A. drank 10 beers on stage and kept a straight-face, while I was getting REALLY shitfaced that night. Oh, and the music was great, of course! I really loved that band - four ugly guys playing just great RAMONES-influenced Party-Punkrock, with a tricky RnR-guitar, dirty humor and high spirits. So what to expect from a new album since ... I dunno ... 10 years or something?! Oh people, I can tell you: This is great entertainment! You hear the first tone and you know it's the SLOPPY SECONDS! Back with a bang! And even though the album is called "Endless bummer", there's really not a single bummer on this platter! 18 songs, hit after hit! You wanna take song-titles as a statement? Just check "DIY til we die" or "You can't kill Joey Ramone"! Did I hear somebody say "Poppunk is dead"?! Shut up and listen to this record! It was a real surprise to me that the SLOPPY SECONDS released a new album and it is just pure fun to listen to it! I hope they get their fat asses over to Europe some time soon! LP is pressed on nice green vinyl! (Bernd) SOMETHING FIERCE There Are No Answers LP/CD [Dirtnap] Wow, this is just hits, hits, hits from Houston/Texas!!! From the first tone on I just wanna dance and yell along! Great songwriting, an impulsive rhythm and the heart in the right place - that's SOMETHING FIERCE! I knew the band from a split-EP (some of their older EP-songs are featured on this record, too) and I knew back then, that

this band could be really great. And they prove it with this record! It's got the energy, it's got the passion, it's just biting Punkrock with Pop-Appeal, deep in the vein of bands like UNDERTONES, BUZZCOCKS or newer Texan stuff like the MARKED MEN. The only thing I could complain about is, that they could improve the production a little bit, but - aaaah, fuck it - this record is great anyway! Damn, this band is young, I think they are really up for Punkrockworld-domination when they do the right things on the following record. Meanwhile you better listen to "There Are No Answers" and go craaaaayyyzeeee! (Bernd) Sonny Vincent With Members Of RFTC s/t LP/CD [We Deliver The Guts/Cargo] Can there be anything bad when good ol' Sonny teams up with Speedo and Ruby Mars of ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT? Nooooo, uff course not! Sonny and the boys recorded this somewhere around 2003 when they toured the US together. I dunno why it took them 6 years to finally release the record, but lucky for all of us that it finally happened! There are 11 songs on this platter that deliver a cool mixture between Sonny's soloand bandstuff and the music of RFTC. I always get reminded of great bands like DEAD BOYS, LAZY COWGIRLS or HEARTBREAKERS, too. Maybe it's not an instant classic but its rough, snotty and grown-up American OldschoolPunkrock, with the right mixture of FuckYou-Attitude and sentimentality. I don't know exactly about the format, but I think it comes on vinyl plus CD. But I only got an ugly Promo-CD, boohoo... Anyhow, you can't do anything wrong with this! (Bernd) THE SPITS s/t (Fourth Album) LP/CD [Thriftstore / Recess] Oh yeah, this thingy clocks down in 15 minutes - whatever you call a new "full-length", haha. It's superior synthie-driven trashpunk once again - that's what Punk 2010 should sound like: Totally fucked up!!! When I listen to a SPITS-record I often have the picture in mind, that they have to drag these guys out of gutter after nights of unspeakable excesses, just five minutes before they start recording. Primitive as fuck, but just great! Comes with a 1-to-1 rip-off of the RAMONES' "Loudmouth" in "Life Of Crime". Can't wait to see them live on stage again, burning down their drumkit and messing up the whole place! (Bernd) TEENAGE COOL KIDS Queer Salutations LP Foreign Lands LP [Protagonist Music / Narshardaa] Two albums by this cool band from Denton/Texas. To be upfront with it:

REVIEWS TEENAGE COOL KIDS somehow gave me back the faith in real good indierock! They sound a little bit like PAVEMENT on a Punkrock-trip, or like DINOSAUR JR or PHANTOM PLANET or WEEZER (minus corniness). Truly good music and good lyrics, too! The "Queer Salutations" album was recorded in 2007 and is a little bit rougher and straightforward. Nice piece of wax on orange vinyl. But the masterpiece is "Foreign Lands" from 2008, that was pressed for Europe by Narshardaa. The sound was brought to perfection and is complex but catchy. Unresting guitarpattern, fresh and unconsumed, a sentimental-optimistic atmosphere. It makes my heart beat faster! I saw the TEENAGE COOL KIDS live in fall 2009 and they are a great liveband, too! In a better world they would be on top of the charts, instead of all those crappy shoppingmall-emorock combos. Go support the TEENAGE COOL KIDS! (Bernd) TERRORDACTYLS s/t LP [Bachelor] Oh yeah, Bachelor Records again, so it has to be another cool Garagepoppunkrock record… Wroooong! Sure, this record is kinda cool (even though I won't listen to it all day long) but it's nothing I ever would have expected to be released by Bachelor-impressario The Gimp. The TERRORDACTYLS is a duo that plays poppy Anti-Folk, the kind of music you might know - for example - from the "Juno" soundtrack. Yeah, that's it. Even Kimya Dawson (ex-MOLDY PEACHES) appears on this record and sings a duet in "Devices". The music is funny, sometimes melancholic, sometimes cranky. An acoustic guitar, basic drums, sometimes a piano and over and over again this damn instrument, of what I can't remember the name… Is it a mouth harp?! A kazoo?! I dunno, nevermind, just listen to it yourself. To me this is good music for relaxed moments and I think your little sister might like it as well. But don't play this to me if I'm spoiled for a punkrockfight, haha… (Bernd) TEST PATTERNS Test Patterns CD [Base] Mit der neuen EP der TEST PATTERNS hat man so seine liebe Not - entweder man entscheidet sich fürs Vinyl, und somit für das schmuckere Format, oder aber für die CD und erhält zusätzlich noch die Lieder der vorherigen zwei Singles - das macht dann insgesamt 14 Songs. Ich hab mich für die digitale Variante entschieden und bin absolut glücklich damit! Die TEST PATTERNS spielen bis zum Anschlag verzerrten PowerPop, die Gitarren tun manchmal richtig weh in den Ohren und immer, wenn man zur Anlage hechtet und die Lautstärke runter drehen will, kommt so eine Melodie daher, die einen nur noch

lauter drehen lässt. Im Ernst, kaum eine Band hat mir in letzter Zeit so viele Ohrwürmer beschert wie diese hier ("Summer Days", "Situations", "Fall in place", "Flower of mind", "Crazy over you"). Ihr müsst diese Platte gehört haben, sonst könnt ihr es nicht glauben, auch wenn ihr danach taub sein solltet (was ich aber nicht glaube). Im "Plastique Pop" Fanzine wurde ihr Sound übrigens als eine poppige Version von TEENGENERATE beschrieben, ich würde hingegen sagen, sie klingen wie eine krachige Version von DIRTBIKE ANNIE, was sicherlich auch an den zuckersüßen Vocals von Gitarristin Yago liegt. Die TEST PATTERNS haben dieses Jahr übrigens auf dem Oberhausener "Garage Craze" Festival gespielt und auch wenn kaum einer ihre Lieder kannte, haben sie so ziemlich alles und jeden mitgerissen. Außerdem waren sie so wahnsinnig nett und cool, dass ihr sie einfach unterstützen müsst! Jetzt! (Pacino) V.A.: Killed By Trash 2 LP [P.Trash] The "Killed By Death" battle axe, second strike! The formula for success: 20 songs, all known (or not) from the (semi-)legendary KBD-comps, covered by contemporary Punkrock- and early-HC-bands. The idea makes sense, cuz P.Trash is specialized for that kinda sound. Some of the performing bands are well known (e.g. LIVE FAST DIE, STATUES, BRUTAL KNIGHTS, FUCKED UP) and of some I've never heard of before (WASTED PIDO, BUD WHITE, RAD KIDS). But no problem, no bummers on this comp. Of course, some versions are better than others, but all in all it's all very rough, trashy and authentic. Punk, the way it's meant to be, if ya know whatta mean! (Bernd) VICIOUS CYCLE Pale Blue Dot LP [Deranged] Oh, by reading the lyrics I got the point about the album-title. It's a metaphor for planet earth. So maybe you can imagine that the main focus of the lyrics is about environment protection. In a very social-romantic way, I might add, ahem… Sorry guys, nothing against your idealism, but I had to smile from time to time… Apart from that, the "Pale Blue Dot" album produces evidence, that rocking HC-Punk can still be played creditable and innovative nowadays, without giving off a pathetic and retrograde 81-vibe all the time. I still appreciate VICIOUS CYCLE as some kind of brother-in-crime band of FUCKED UP, not only because FUKKED UP had brought this sound some steps ahead (FU-singer Damian also appears as a guest singer on this platter). The only bummer in between the 13 songs is the strange ballad "For Carl", but I think that song has a speci-

al meaning to the band, so it's okay with me. If you like innovative HC-Punk, this one's for you! Good piece of wax, delivered in a nice gatefold-sleeve. (Bernd)

WAU Y LOS ARRRGHS!!! Viven! LP/CD [Munster] Hallelujah, the slobs from Valencia are back. Their first album on Voodoo Rhythm was great, the new album on Munster is a burner! It was recorded with Jorge Explosion and Mike Mariconda and the new producing-team put the sound on a higher level! It's rough, wild, organ-driven Garage-/Lamento-Punk, played straight to the point. Maybe the opinions of the purists might differ about the real rough voice of leadsinger Juanito. But purists should jump in a lake! This is pure garage-dementia, that was pressed on wax. It's so great, I have to bang my head against the wall … uh ah … I'm bleeding … don't care … Bli Blu Bla … see ya at the mental hospital… (Bernd)

WHITE WIRES s/t LP SEDATIVES s/t 7" [Going Gaga] Es tut sich was in Ottawa! Zwei relativ junge Bands, bei denen es auch irgendwelche personelle Überschneidungen geben soll, trumpfen hier mit ihren ersten Veröffentlichungen auf. Die SEDATIVES habe ich auf ihrer geraCRKO #0

REVIEWS de absolvierten Europa-Reise leider verpasst, dafür passe ich jetzt umso mehr auf, dass das nicht noch einmal passiert; ihr orgelgetriebener 60'sGarageSound weiß nämlich durchaus zu gefallen. Okay, da ist jetzt nicht viel dabei, was man nicht schon mal gehört hätte, aber darum geht's ja auch nicht. Der jugendliche Elan wird gekonnt aufs Vinyl übertragen und das kann man von all dem Mist, der derzeit im Radio läuft, nun wirklich nicht behaupten. Die WHITE WIRES gefallen mir sogar noch ne Ecke besser, die haben zwar keine Orgel, dafür aber ein süßes Mädchen hinterm Schlagzeug und für so was gibt es bei mir ja immer Extrapunkte! Schade nur, dass die nicht auch ab und an mal zum Mikro greift; bei wechselgeschlechtliche Harmonien flippe ich ja meist total aus! Aber auch so ist das ne runde Sache. So rund sogar, dass der gute Bryan von Douchemaster die Scheibe just wiederveröffentlicht hat. Also, kurz reinhören und - wenn ihr noch Kohle übrig haben sollet - bestellen! (Pacino)

THE WOGGLES Tempo Tantrum LP/CD [Wicked Cool] Okay, this one is not a new album by these cool Garage-veterans from Athens, Georgia. It's a compilation of 12 instrumental-songs, that THE WOGGLES recorded during their whole time of existence (from 1987 til now) for various singles, albums and compilations (I think the vinyl has 2 trakks more on it, but unfortunately I only have the Digipak-CD here). To do an album with solely instrumentals sometimes is a risky thing in my eyes, coz in most cases it get's kinda boring in a little while. But dudes and dudettes we're talking about THE WOGGLES here! This band is the incarnation of a pure Rock'n'Roll-Party and sure they know how to blast out a dozen of instrumental-cuts without getting boring! They've got the punch, they've got the Rock, they've got the shimmie and uff course the shake, too. I can't wait until they release a new "regular" album and I could still kick my own butt for missing them on german stages in November 2009! Come back soon buddies! (Bernd)

THE YOLKS s/t LP [Bachelor] Was zur Hölle ist denn mit den STROKES los? Ich gebe ja zu, dass ich deren erste Platte damals ganz gut fand, aber danach kam doch nur noch Scheiße! Lahmes Geplärre von ReicheLeute-Söhnen, die auf ihrem Schweizer Privat-Internat zufällig mal an ner VELVET UNDERGROUND-Platte geschnuppert haben... und so was wurde uns tatsächlich mal als die Rettung des Rock N Rolls verkauft. Schämt euch, den jungen Leuten so was anzutun. Da haben die Kids von heute es fast besser, denn die haben immerhin die YOLKS! Und die klingen, tja, so wie die STROKES in richtig gut halt... etwas flotter, etwas weniger perfekt, dafür mit den besseren Melodien! Und jetzt riskiert mal was, macht mal etwas richtig Verrücktes und überweist dem Elmar von Bachelor die lumpigen 9 Euros (plus Porto) für diese Platte! Denn bald wird sie ausverkauft sein und dann ist das Geheule wieder groß! Also, wer auch nur einen Funken guten Geschmacks besitzt, ist ein YOLKS-Fan! (Pacino)

SINGLES-REVIEWS

BABY SHAKES With you around/Too much time 7" [Lil' Chewy] Zwei ganz brandneuen Nummern der drei Grazien aus New York City! Ich weiß, das PreisLeistungsverhältnis einer Single ist geradezu lächerlich geworden; da bekommt man zwei Songs für 6,- Euro, während man die LP (12 Songs) für 10,bekommt. Die Single ist halt ein Liebhaberformat und wenn man eine Band lieb hat, muss man halt auch die neue Single haben. Und ja, ich hab die BABY SHAKES lieb, ganz doll sogar. Weil die hübsch sind und so tolle Lieder machen, die nach Wochenende, Schlummerpartys und Himbeereis schmecken! Wer so was mag, sollte zugreifen! (Pacino)

springe auf den nächsten Güterzug! (Pacino)

MARVELOUS DARLINGS Sleeping like a dead man 7" [Bachelor] Meine ich das nur oder hat das Cover eine gewisse Ähnlichkeit mit Bob Dylan's "The times they are a-changin"? Spätesten wenn auf der B-Seite eine Mundharmonika ertönt, weiß ich, dass mich mein Eindruck nicht völlig getäuscht hat. Und es ist genau diese Stück namens "Call it a night", welches ich gerade fünf Mal hintereinander hören musste. Aber wie klingt das denn nun? Tja, ein bisschen wie das Beste aus knapp 60 Jahren amerikanischer Musikgeschichte - RAMONES, BIG STAR & Dylan. Ich ziehe meinen Hut und

SUGAR STEMS Beat Beat Beat 7" [Bachelor] Wo gabelt der Gimp eigentlich immer diese genialen Bands auf? Das kann doch langsam kein Zufall mehr sein! Zum Glück sitzt der Bursche irgendwo in Österreich, sonst müsste ich ihm bis ans Ende aller Tage auf meine Kosten saufen lassen, weil er so schöne Platten rausbringt... Okay, ich weiß nix über die SUGAR STEMS, nur dass sie aus Milwaukee kommen und da zwei Mädchen singen und dies die poppigste Bachelor-Single aller Zeiten ist. Müsst ihr haben! Aber schnell, gibt wie immer nur 500 Stück. (Pacino)

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REAL NUMBERS s/t 7" [Bachelor] Ja, genauso was brauche ich nach einer durchzechten Nacht um meine Rock N Roll-Geister wieder zu reanimieren. Immer wenn man sich fragt, ob dieses ganze Rumgehänge, trinken und auf Konzerte gehen überhaupt noch irgendeinen Sinn ergibt, hört man so eine Platte und schon kann man es kaum mehr erwarten, in einem stinkenden Kellerloch zu stehen, Bier zu trinken und eine Band wie die REAL NUMBERS zu sehen. Wieder eine fantastische Single auf Bachelor Records! (Pacino)

SUSPECT PARTS Maneater 7" [Taken by surprise] This is the second record of the international superband SUSPECT PARS. Members are: Justin from the CLOROX GIRLS, Chris from the BRIEFS, Smail from the SHOCKS (and some guy I don't know, haha). The first single was kinda Post-Punk-stuff, so now it's time for some cheesy powerpop. "Maneater" is a really great! The Flipside is a cover of "She cracked" by the MODERN LOVERS, which I like more than the original version. Get it! (Finn) THE VISITORS Tropic Of Cancer 7" [House Party] What's going on in Ottawa?! Seems to me like every person between 18 and 25 runs one or two bands there. The VISITORS are one of them and they deliver 4 songs here on beautiful blue-yellow vinyl along with a nice postcard. The three people in the band look like they sprang out of a nerd-movie and they kinda do this globetrotter-runninggag as a bandconcept, I think. I really love those 2 songs that are sung by Miss Antarctica Cat Da Gama. They remind me a little of the later powerpop influenced stuff of the ZODIAC KILLERS. The other 2 songs are cool, too - more the classic QUEERS-styled poppunk. (Bernd)

REVIEWS What the f*§#... A punkrock-fanzine with only six 7“-reviews in it?! Can’t be true... But it is! Unprofessional as I am, I still have that pile of EP’s (see below) lying in front of my stereo. I hope I can do reviews for the next issue... To the right you find a self-portrait that I did at the time I was so damn much behind schedule and constantly kept thinking about those damn EP-reviews. The cat told me to knock it on the head and do it next time. Thanx for teaching me professional music journalism, kittie...

REVIEWS: Other stuff... Christoph Lampert WE CALL IT PUNK - WHEN ENERGY MEETS ATTITUDE [Book + 7"| Ox-Verlag | ox-fanzine.de | 180 pages, 29,80 Euro plus package] Just in time for the end of its 20th anniversary year, Germany's probably most important fanzine concerning "punkrock, hardcore and rock'n'roll" rewards itself with a slightly delayed but definitaley impressive birthday gift. Author Christoph Lampert, being around on all kinds of important punk shows since the last two decades with his Minolta Dynax cameras, did not only bother to plunder his huge archive for that reason, but also invested some enormous efforts to get hold of original comments from any of the 77 (!) documented bands. And the result of all that is an incredible affectionate and fascinating kaleidoscope of a highly energetic, colorful and versatile scene. From A like ALL up to Z like THE ZATOPEKS, from 1989 (for example JINGO DE LUNCH or RICH KIDS ON LSD) up to 2008 (GOGOL BORDELLO, THE TURBO A.C.'s, etc.), from pop-punk like the QUEERS up to hardcore like the SPERMBIRDS there's just about everything relevant to be found. The book is divided in two parts: "Classic years" (1989 until 2006) and "digital years" (until today) and being a stubborn old black/white-romantic, it's mainly the coarse-grained pictures back from a time, in which I still used to play with "Masters of the universe"-action men, that attract my attention the most. Watching the historic pics of groups like the RUBBERMAIDS, BAD RELIGION, MEGA CITY FOUR or VERBAL ABUSE makes one believe to feel the condensed water dripping down the ceiling

and oh boy, how much would I have loved to be there … But never mind, therefor one gets at least a nice compensation in the shape of some exciting stories and so you may witness Ray Cappo from YOUTH OF TODAY proving that even sXe-kids know how to kick some drunk metalheads' dumbasses, 2BAD banging up some boring student wankers' party, THE BOXHAMSTERS teach us that they were not the only ones back in 1990, who used to wear sweat pants on stage, CREEPSHOW-singer Sarah refers about her cruel fears, waking up in a hospital in the most provincial backwaters of southern Germany and THE BOTTROPS report about how it feels to play a summer open air, when it's about 113 degrees fahrenheit. As a much too short soundtrack, there's also a neat 7"-record, with live recordings of the as well featured VERNON WALTERS, SOULSIDE, SAMIAM and PASCOW included and the book comes along with a classy black hardcover. Limited to ridiculous 444 copies, so don't hesitate! (Ben Accident) Dolf Hermannstädter GOT ME? HARDCORE-PUNK ALS LEBENSENTWURF [Book, 314 pages, Mox & Maritz Verlag] German book = german review: Dolf ist in Deutschland als Herausgeber des Trust-Fanzines bekannt, dem dienstältesten Heft der Republik in Sachen Hardcore und Punk. Seit 1986 hat er dort auch in (fast) jeder Ausgabe eine Kolumne beigesteuert, die in diesem Buch nun bis zum Jahr 2007 gesammelt vorliegen. Ich für meinen Teil muss zugeben, dass das Trust aus irgendwelchen Gründen immer ziemlich an mir vorbei-

gegangen ist, daher war es für mich ganz praktisch die Gedanken des Herrn Hermannstädter jetzt mal gesammelt lesen zu können. Vorab wurde ich gewarnt, dass Dolfs Stil sehr trocken wäre. Das war er auch, aber ich hab das Buch trotzdem relativ zügig durchgelesen, da die Thematik mich ja doch interessierte. Dolfs Stil kommt mir oft wie eine Art "Stream Of Consciousness" vor, manchmal ist das in der Tat ziemlich anstrengend. Und er scheint mir auch oft ein wenig in der eigenen Gedankenwelt gefangen zu sein. Der Buchtitel deutet ja schon an, dass er des Öfteren mal nachfragt, ob der Leser ihn überhaupt versteht. Aber auch wenn er oft in Ansätzen stecken bleibt, vertritt Dolf eine starke persönliche Meinung. Er stellt den Status Quo der "Szene" oft in Frage und lässt seine Gedanken um Für und Wider von Inhalten und feststehenden Idealen kreisen. Über 20 Jahre behandelt er Themen wie Gefühle, Wut, Ideen, Meinung, Revolution, Anderssein, Haltung, Politik, Kreativität, Leben, Ethos und Spaß. Alles dreht sich auch immer wieder um alte Ideale des Hardcore/Punk: Verantwortung(sbewusstsein), Zuverlässigkeit, Ehrlichkeit, Menschlichkeit, überlegtes Handeln (statt nur nachzudenken), bewusster Konsum, Umweltschutz, Vegetarismus, Disziplin. Positiv ist, dass er dabei viele gute Denkanstöße gibt. Andererseits hört sich aber vieles auch wieder nach elitärem Regel-Blabla von einem Szene-Gralshüter an, auch wenn es vielleicht nicht so gemeint ist. Und wie gesagt: Der Stil ist gewöhnungsbedürftig. Insofern ist das Buch wohl eher etwas für Leute die sich wirklich für diese ungeschminkte "SubkulturThematik" interessieren. Und die sind ja

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REVIEWS meist eh schon "Szene-Mitglieder". Ich glaube kaum, dass sich stumpfe BolloCoreler, trendige Emo-Sauertöpfe oder sonstige Atticus-Kleiderständer mit den Inhalten dieses Buches auseinandersetzen, obwohl es ihnen vielleicht mal ganz gut tun würde. Übrigens wäre in Sachen Lektorat weit mehr möglich gewesen, z. B. mit Fußnoten, die das Ganze in einen besser nachzuvollziehenden Kontext gebracht hätten. Schließlich wird hier ein Zeitraum von 20 Jahren abgedeckt, da sind einem ja nicht immer alle Ereignisse/Bands noch so präsent. Und nennt mich pedantisch, aber warum bringt man ein Buch gesammelter Kolumnen heraus und lässt das dann nicht Korrektur lesen? Ist das "authentisch" oder ärgerlich? Ich finde letzteres. Im Fanzine selbst mögen Rechtschreibfehler ja noch okay sein, weil wegen semiprofessionelles DIY und so. Wenn allerdings ein Buch nur so vor Tippfehlern strotzt finde ich das eher peinlich. Aber vielleicht ergibt sich aus den vielen fehlenden Buchstaben - in der richtigen Reihenfolge zusammengesetzt - ja eine universelle Antwort auf Dolfs zahlreiche unbeantwortete Fragen. Got me? (Bernd)

FANATICO FANZINE #6 [A5, b/w, markyfanatico@hotmail.com] It's an all-german zine, so I do an allgerman review: Ein gutes altes selbstkopiertes A5er-Fanzine, hach, wo gibt's das noch?! Aus Oberhausen kommt jedenfalls wieder (nach zwischenzeit64

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licher längerer Pause) in regelmäßigen Abständen das FANATICO FANZINE, das für alle Oldschool-RamonescoreFanatiker eigentlich das RundumGlücklich-Paket darstellen sollte. Es gibt Interviews mit WAX.ON WAX.OFF, LE VOLUME ÉTAIT AU MAXIMUM, den YOOHOOS und ein RamopunkFinnland-Special. Dazu massig Reviews, Konzertberichte und Kolumnengedöns. Was alles in den Schatten stellt ist jedenfalls das Tagebuch vom Meister himself: Mr. Marky Fanatico! Unglaublich was der Knabe alles so erlebt. Wenn man das durchliest, hat man anschließend wortwörtlich die Hose nass. Die Jungs vor Lachen und die Mädels vor sexueller Erregung (vermute ich mal)… Manch einer ist ja geneigt zu glauben, dass mindestens die Hälfte von Markys Gelaber erfunden ist, aber ich weiß: Er verschweigt noch was!!! Und das kommt hoffentlich in der kommenden Ausgabe, ich warte Herr Fanatico… Alles in allem ist das ganze Heft eine echte Spaß-Angelegenheit, hier wird frei von der Leber weg von den eigenen Unzulänglichkeiten geplaudert und dabei auf Stil und Orthographie geschissen. Und so soll's auch sein! Wenn ihr euch übrigens wundert warum ich das FANATICO toll finde das Cover stammt von mir, ich hab eine Kolumne geschrieben und ich träume nachts von Marky! Heißer Typ, heißes Heft! (Bernd) OX #87 [A4, full-colour, 116 pages + CD. www.oxfanzine.de] All-german zine = all-german review: Ja ja, das Ox. Als ich ein kleiner Punkrocker war, da war das Ox neben diversen obskuren A5ern eigentlich das einzige Heft, das ich regelmäßig konsumiert habe. Und damals hat man noch Postkarten geschrieben um Hefte zu bestellen! Quasi seit ich mich in dieser "Szene" bewege hatte ich also ein OxAbo, alleine aus dem Grund, weil das Ox eine riesige Bandbreite an Musik abdeckte und man dort umfassend über alles informiert wurde, was so abging. Früher hab ich das Heft auch tatsächlich KOMPLETT gelesen, trotz teilweise MikroSchriftgröße 6 Punkt. Mit der Zeit ist das anders geworden, was aber wohl auch daran liegt, dass ich seit mittlerweile 6 Jahren selbst für das Heft

schreibe. Dementsprechend will ich mich hier auch nicht mit zu viel Lob aus dem Fenster lehnen, haha… Der Joachim macht seine Sache jedenfalls weiterhin konsequent und gut, das soll ihm erst mal jemand nachmachen! Nur sollte sich jeder darüber bewusst sein, dass man im Ox u. U. einen gewissen Anteil an Bands/Themen geliefert bekommt, die man persönlich nicht allzu interessant findet. Sei's drum, das Ox ist nach wie vor eins der wichtigsten Medien im Bereich "Punkrock, Hardcore , Rock'n'Roll" (wie es ja auch so schön unter dem Logo steht) und ich möchte nicht wissen, was für eine Lücke gerissen wird, sollte es das Heft irgendwann mal nicht mehr geben. Vom Cover der Ausgabe #87 blickt uns das wunderschöne Antlitz von Lemmy entgegen und im Heft sind außerdem folgende Bands für CRKO-Leser interessant: AC4, ASSASSINATORS, MEINE KLEINE DEUTSCHE, HUNX AND HIS PUNX (meine Interviews mit den GHETTO WAYS, SEDATIVES und SOMETHING FIERCE findet ihr in den Originalversionen in dieser Ausgabe des CRKO-Fanzines, da können interessierte Menschen dann ja mal ermessen um wie viel man manche Texte fürs Ox kürzen muss). Dazu natürlich tonnenweise Reviews, Liveberichte und Kolumnen von genial bis grottig. Alles in allem ist das Ox seine 4,50 Euro aber immer noch wert. Was ich jedoch an Kritik noch loswerden muss betrifft die CD: Nachdem ich den Silberling mehrere Ausgaben lang überhaupt nicht mehr angehört habe (das sagt vielleicht schon einiges), hab ich letztens 3-4 liegen gebliebene Ox-CDs am Stück durchgehört - Erschreckend!!! Echt, was da teilweise für eine Scheiße drauf war, da sollte man sich überlegen diesen "Pay To Play" Kram besser ganz sein zu lassen. Denn hier kauft sich offensichtlich nur noch das graue Mittelmaß (oder schlimmer) ein, das kann doch kein Qualitätsstandard sein. Vor ein paar Jahren war das noch anders, da konnte man anhand der OxCD wirklich noch mal coole Sachen entdecken. Vereinzelte Highlights wie z. B. die CUTE LEPERS reißen da heutzutage auch nicht mehr viel raus, leider… Evtl. wäre da ein anderes Konzept angebracht, so macht das keinen Sinn mehr. Auf dekadente Fanzine-VinylsingleBeilagen melde ich allerdings bald ein Patent an, hehe… (Bernd)

THE GIMP vs. NOLA

is is the gimp here and Hello all you „readers” of this rag! Th ut this town called ... I am going to tell you some stories abo

NEW ORLEANS [THIS IS HOW I REMEMBER IT]

Yeah that's right, this town was hit by a pretty nasty hurricane a couple of years ago and many peeps died or resided somewhere else, and the city still looks trashed, but on the plus side, they invented this cocktail called “Hurricane” and this one hits you real

TWO MEXICAN AMERICANS

good. Good stuff. But don't drink it in Bourbon Street, cause Bourbon Street stinks! Why is the gimp even taking a trip to NOLA you ask? Well, I just had to visit my girlfriend Julia Droolia (yeah she drools a lot) cause she said “You know what the folks in NOLA do all day? Eat and drink!”. Hell yeah, I thought, I like that too! So I bought me a ticket and watched some movies, and drank weird small cans of beer (one was called “Fliegendaubler” or sth like that, google it!) and a couple of hours later the plane spit me out at Louie Armstrong International Airport New Orleans! On the arrival day THE TRASHIES were supposed to play at some bar along with TACOCAT and DIE ROTZ and some other bands but the TRASHIES canceled their show and because of the intercontinental flight I was pretty trashed too, so I called it a day.

Next Day: October 31st! Halloween is big thing in the USA, you should already know that, but in New Orleans

MATT YETI MUSCLE

it's really crazy. After a shopping at some thrift stores (I bought a LP of the US ARMY BAND and the US

IAN

MILITARY ACADEMY BAND for only 95 cents) we JARED

went to lunch at a yum yum Mexican Restaurant called Juan's Flying Burrito and most of the people already wore costumes. Our drinks were served by Michael Jackson (“Thriller” era). I hate to dress up but I didn't have a choice this time, so – after a lil nap at the campus - we hopped on the bus to the SATURN BAR, disguised as Mexicans, you know, big sombrero, fake moustaches and stupid T-Shirts, plus two bottles of Tequila Sunrise strapped around our waists. Most of the people were dressed up, including show promoter Matt Muscle who wore a very impressive Yeti suit. First band up was BASTARD SONS OF MARVIN HIRSCH, two kids who looked like 12 and 14 years of age, but with enough self confidence to play crappy punkrock to a bunch of drunk grown ups, the guitar player was dressed a gang member of the Baseball Furies from THE WARRIORS flick. The second band was MAKESHIFT LOVER but I hardly remember anything, nothing got stuck in my head. After a small CRKO #0

THE GIMP vs. NOLA

STEVIE KING LOUIE YEAH IT IS STEVIE AG AIN BUT THIS TIME IN FU LL SMURF STYLE. YOU SH OU SEE THIS PIC IN COLOR LD ...

break KING LOUIE played with his new band the MISSING MONUMENTS, a four piece providing Class A powerpop / punkrock! The “Secret Band” headlining wasn't so secret anymore, the BLACK LIPS were already at the bar so.... surprisingly only Cole Alexander and his girlfriend was dressed up (Cowboy respectively Burka made of US flag). The BLACK LIPS played a rather short set and played some instrumentals. Maybe they were just tired cause they played a big show at the VOODOO FEST in the afternoon… There was nothing left to do at Saturn Bar so we went to Stevie's (from STATUTORY TRIANGLE) place where she and two friends finished their smurf outfits and right after that we drove to ONE EYED JACKS were Mr. QUINTRON was supposed to play. Everyone was already pretty loaded, and I made no exception, but after waiting for like aaaaages to see Quintron start performing I had enough and we hailed a cab to go back to the UNO Campus… Next Day: Sightseeing at the French Quarter. Of course this part of the town was very crowded and in some streets it smelled like under a truck stop toilet seat, so that sightseeing trip was a short one and we went to the Cementary Number KNOCK OUT ONE

One aka City of the dead, to see the aboveground tombs. There are no normal graves in NOLA cause the wooden coffins would float to the surface after hard rain or a

hurricane and hardly anyone wants to see dead bodies that

got buried for a couple of years in swamp land. So they made vaults, even for voodoo queens. It was no wonder that we saw a couple of Goths sitting around the tomb of Marie Laveau, smoking and drinking and spending

sacrifices. Weird kids. Time to go.

Next up was record hunting! Well, I had to go to JIM

RUSSELL RECORDS but of course the place is a mess, and instead of pulling out record after record for hours we just

snatched two old 45s and left the place. I mean I don't have anything against an overstocked selection but I don't see a point in putting a microwave in the middle of it and cooking a meal there… smells no good, huh? The

DOMINO RECORD SHACK was way better, maybe for US

Citizens a bit pricey but strong Euro makes me happy

and I got me some new records for cheap.

STATUTORY TRIANGLE played that night at the Saturn Bar so it was again time to go there and drink two Dollar PBRs! Three other bands were also listed but GHOST

KNIFE (with a Riverboat Gamblers member) already left

the town, the other two bands sucked so it was on

STATUTORY TRIANGLE to entertain us and yup, they did!!!!! I don't know what this kind of music is called but some of you might say electropunk or sth like that. Its only two

people singing, a drum computer and keyboard, aaaaaand

it's very dangerous. As long as Stevie stays behind the keys

you can feel save but if she jumps upfront you better hide.

Great band with no release out yet, maybe they scare away all record moguls. Listen to them on myspace they are

awesome. 66

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THE GIMP vs. NOLA

10 AM BLOODY MARY

NEXT DAY: Swamp Day. About 40 minutes south of New

and made it rancho relaxo. Just went to some more

Orleans is the Jean Lafitte Preserve where they had different

antique stores and second hand clothing stores in

trails for interested folks like us, and so we spent a couple of

Magazine Street, I bought three postcards from Salzburg,

hours there watching spiders, snakes and alligators. Actually

to bring them back to Austriah! and bury them in the holy

pretty funny that they named a National Park after a pirate but

ground of my hometown. Feels great to recreate the

well, some things are different in New Orleans… Back in the

equilibrium of the universe, step by step. So no show this

city we were pretty hungry so it was time for Cajun Food…

day, we went to see that movie “Good Hair” and drank

GUMBO! And JAMBALAYA!!! Plus CHARGRILLED

some cans of Budweiser at the Campus. I later found out

OYSTERS with parmesan cheese and local beer at the Acme

that UNDERGROUND RAILROAD TO CANDYLAND played at

Oyster House, est. 1910. YUMYUM!!!! At nite it was time for

the tiny CIRCLE BAR that night, goddamnit!!!

Saturn Bar (Again! Sic!) cause THOMAS FUNCTION played with YUSSUF JERUSALEM, like at the show the day before very few people showed up. Maybe its because the promoter of these shows left the country on November 1st for a vacation in Morocco. No joke. Thomas Function was surprisingly good,

What to do when you wake up with a headache? I dunno but we thought it's a good ideato go Mid City to the Ruby Slipper Café just because they serve FREE BLOODY MARYS or MIMOSAS for breakfast! How about that! I admit it was

Yussuf Jerusalem was also great but not as great as in Sardinia, Italy in May. Both bands looked kinda raddled, no wonder, they had already been on tour for several weeks. They pulled a lot of inside jokes that nobody gets. Yawn. But again, nice evening, but no party. We skipped the PEACHES show at House of Blues the day after

RHODES / STATUTORY TRIANGLE CRKO #0

THE GIMP vs. NOLA

who was also at this show. Yes, the REM Michael Stipe. Don't ask me what he was doing there, but he was there, believe me.) was in a drunken haze, the KK & BBQ SHOW was lighting the fuse… people went nuts and I watched them dance around from the back, and the Spellcaster lodge turned into a smell castle. Haha. What a play with words. Enuff! They went out of beer so I switched to Whisky! What a gooood idea…. Rhodes from STATUTORY TRIANGLE was out of control, everyone seemed to be on sth, and I was just waiting for a SWAT team to clean this place up…. Top notch evening! Thanks Mr.Quintron! And thanks a lot kinda hard to eat up my scrambled eggs, bacon and breakfast

potatoes but accompanied with a cocktail it was so strange

that I had to laugh several times… surely an eye-opening combo! A lil bit tipsy we went to the NoMa, the New Orleans Museum of Art, which was thankfully a relatively

to Stevie and Rhodes + the Saturn Bar! I

CHEERS!

small museum, so we didn't spend much time there and

were able to go to the city park next to the NoMa and hang

out in the sun at 20°C while Austria was freezing already… Nighttime was reserved for a special show at QUINTRONs house, the SPELLCASTER LODGE. It's not an official bar, and I

don't think the shows there are 100% official too but a lot of

people showed up, like 200, in the backyard alone were tons of people who covered the area in pot smoke. They had some fancy drinks designed, named after the bands that played, and the whole place was really neat! The only problem were all the blokes that showed up. I don't know where they came from but they looked like the got ripped out of VICE magazines. I hate it. You know them, the IAM-WEIRDER-THAN-YOU-SO-LOOK-AT-ME squad. The first band SEX HEX was blech but THOSE DARLINS were up next and I was blown away from both, sight and sound of this three girls one guy band. This band is getting a lot of shit because they might sound a bit too country pop on record but the live appearance was breathtaking, a lot

rowdier and trashier than the full length. Winners of the BEST BAND OF THE EVENING category. Easily. I

thought MISSING MONUMENTS were having a hard time

playing after Those Darlins, and they surely had in the

beginning but soon they won over the piss drunk audience. And just when when everyone (except maybe Michael Stipe 68

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www.myspace.com/statutorytriangle www.quintronandmisspussycat.com www.thosedarlins.com www.therubyslippercafe.net www.myspace.com/saturnbar www.oneeyedjacks.net

EPILOGUE

EPILOGUE Wowee, what a ride! When I started working on this in fall 2009 (I actually wrote the intro of the zine at that time) I couldn't imagine what a shitload of stress it would be. Don't get me wrong, it also was a shitload of fun! But besides of working with fantastic bands, listening to great music and having fun at cool concerts, there were also drawbacks, e.g. running out of money and troubles with business-shit and the German tax office. Not to mention the problems in my everyday life, just to name a few: relocation, hospitalization and REAL bad news considering my family. But especially the last point teaches me a bitter lesson right now: Do things while you CAN do them!!! And so I did! I always wanted to do a cool fanzine and here it is! Hope you'll have fun with it, cuz it's the best I was able to do at the moment. I often try to be a perfectionist and even though I know there are some things to optimize, I'm really happy with the result. In the future I'll try to place some more of my drawings and cartoons in here, but for now you'll have to be content with the NBT-cover (a recycled gigposter I did in summer 2009). But hey, Duniel did this great illustrated interview with Dan Melchior, isn't it great?! I'm really a fan of handmade drawings, comics and cartoons! Soulless Photoshopgraphics are for Emocore-fuckers! My first deadline for the zine was December 2009 and at the moment I write this it's already February 2010, so that kinda sucks, but so be it! It's still a FANzine and I'm a FAN, not a pro! I know there were some people waiting for this, so BIG sorry for the delay! I hope the result was worth the time of waiting. What happened since I started working on the zine? First of all: Jay Reatard died in January 2010. Just a footnote for the CRKO-Zine? No, definitely not! I really love Jay's work, but I didn't wanna do a "Jay-R-Tributezine". Maybe I'll write a little bit more on the tragedy in the next issue. And yes, "tragedy" might appear as a strong word to some, but I think Jay's death is a tragedy! Another one of the good one's is gone much too soon! Think about it, messageboard-bootlickers… Other things that happened in my personal environment affect my hometown Meppen. A real small town (35.000 habitants) in northwestern Germany. Some people consider Meppen as a "heavy-drinking-area", and yeah, they might be right… The funny thing is, that the town-administration enacted a law a few weeks ago, that it is forbidden to drink alcohol in certain outdoor-areas and times (the "amusement-areas" uff course), or just to carry alcohol with you. The hidden agenda is to stop violence, fights and vandalism. Haha, how funny is that?! Okay, maybe they have a little less broken glass on the streets but you can still get shitfaced in all the bars around and start a fight. Baboons! So, if you'll have to wait for the next CRKO-issue much to long, you know that they arrested me with a beer bottle in my hand on the streets of Meppen the new world capital of prohibition! Meppen also has funny kids - some of them are very interested in all kinds of rock music, so that's cool. But they act kinda weird. The same old story: Everyone's complaining about Meppen - a shithole with nothing to do! But they don't start anything to change it! The internet-generation is so phleg-

matic, unbelievable! Or is it something in the water here?! All they do is move to bigger and "hipper" cities and stay the same morons as before… Oh oh, I'm up to start pathetic speeches again, haha… What I wanted to say is: Right now, the kids are getting angry in Meppen! Cuz not a long time after the townadministration announced the "outdoor-alcohol-prohibition", other plans became public, that they want to close a local bar in the near future - the "Rockpalast". And the "Rockpalast" is kinda the most important place to hang out in Meppen, if you are interested in rock music and different lifestyles. To be honest the "Rockpalast" is a real dumphole, but if you live in such a small town like Meppen - with all its conservatism even a dumphole can be paradise, if everyone else looks at you as an outcast. I went there since 15 years and even NOBUNNY kissed little girls there one evening in May 2009! The reason for closing the "Rockpalast" is, that there are plans to build three city mansions at that place. A "Let the pecunious babbitts in and kick out the kids!" sorta thing… And the kids are very upset about it and it seems to me they finally wanna DO something to change it. I don't know what is going to happen, but there's the smell of protest in the air. Uh yeah… Maybe a good chance for me to put up some funny "tribute-gigs" and recruit some willing adepts for putting up cool punkrock-shows in the future, we'll see… (my REAL bad family-news kinda disrupt my plans very much, right now) Oh, and talking about "pecunious babbitts" before - yes, this zine is very expensive. Not only when you buy it, but also when I produce it. So don't bother me with protest-mails about "squeezing you for money". What you get here is my ideal of a cool fanzine: Great bands are featured, it is neatly printed, has a good layout plus a cool vinyl-single. Believe me, I pump my last cents in this project and I spend most of my slender spare time on it. So don't blame me for trying to break even! Quality has its price and if you're with me that's cool! If not, go search the internet for more interesting things than this old-fashioned printzine… Btw: the target audience of the CRKO-zine can be described as wealthy mid-aged dentists with abnormal big record-collections, haha… You'll get a free copy for fixing my teeth! Mentioning the internet above, here are some internet-facts about the CRKO-zine: no homepage, no Twitter, no Facebook, no messageboard-blabber! I don't need this (at the moment) so I don't waste time on it. If you wanna drop me a line you can do it by e-mail (crkozine@googlemail.com). I'll try to answer but I can't promise anything. Actually I don't even run a myspace-site for the zine. But if you wanna visit related sites check in here: www.myspace.com/timmeheiehummerecords www.myspace.com/bombenbernd Before I kick you out with the incredibly funny "European Tourfood Guide" (THANX Andy!), here are some of the things planned for the upcoming issue: THE REVELATORS/John Schooley, a focus on cool Danish bands (if you have to contribute something, please get in touch), a "Xerox your own fucking life" fanzinespecial and lots more (hopefully). Plus another great EP again, uff course! Hope you all are with me again in a few months! If you've got something to tell drop me a line! See ya!

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EUROPEAN TOURFOOD GUIDE

THE EUROPEAN TOURFOOD GUIDE THE BEST E F DAY 1 - Altstadt, Eindhoven, Netherlands Meal: Salmon Steaks with potato puree and salad. Sauce I can no longer remember. Score - 9/10 Holy shit. First day of the tour and our pal Richard took us out for what is almost my favourite food in the world, Salmon. I couldn't remember all the subtle details of this meal, but the Salmon was cooked supremely and the plate got licked clean. Sam, Richard and I all ordered the same thing because we were afraid if we didn't order it and someone else did, we would be left extremely jealous. This meal brought on the first stiffy I cracked of the tour.

ATS)) SYCATS PUSSYC THE PUS GER && THE (DIGGER ore (DIG by Moore Andyy Mo by And Packing your bags, saying goodbye to your girlfriend and sitting on a plane for 22 hours while you fly from Melbourne to Amsterdam isn't something everyone wants to do in their lives. But when the journey is to travel around Europe for 24 days playing rock and roll shows, most people would happily give their left testicle for the chance. I'm one of the lucky ones who is not necessarily talented enough to do it, but has somehow managed to fool people into letting me and my pal Sam get drunk and hit the stages on the circuit on the other side of the world to our homes in. Five times! And I might add there's damn good reason my friends are jealous. It's kind of like a paid holiday, only you make some money back to cover the costs ... and you get free food, alcohol and accommodation. Food and alcohol makes the world go round ... well at least my world. Accommodation is overrated … after food and alcohol, I'll happily sleep anywhere: the floor, a bush, car boot, the gutter, standing up. For those of you unlucky enough to have seen me in the flesh, I am not the most attractively, athletic shaped man, and there are two very good reasons for that: food and alcohol. So you can imagine what it's like when I get to indulge for free; I'm like a pig in shit. And my partner in crime Sam isn't too far behind me (his parents are Italian - it's in his blood) Now everyone knows how the cards lie when it comes to beer in Europe. The Belgians and the Germans know what they're doing, the French have no idea, and everyone in between does a pretty good job (and by that I mean probably on par with Australian taste-of-beer standards but a long way above the British and Americans). So there's not a lot I can enlighten you with on the subject of beer. Food, on the other hand, is a completely different story. There is really good food in a lot of places in Europe, so I thought I'd keep a diary of all the meals we were served throughout the tour, just to give you an idea of what we eat and how good it was. I should firstly point out that we are extremely grateful for anything gifted to us while we are on the road, especially food and beer. In Australia you don't get shit. Well you get beer, but no food or place to sleep. If I give shit to a meal, it's simply the food I am talking about, the generosity and goodwill in which it was given to me is the most important thing. Fuck, I was served bran flakes with yoghurt for dinner once. I wasn't happy but I was grateful and thanked the promoter very much for the generous breakfast cereal dinner he gave me. And it helped bring on a good shit after the show too. Thanks man! I should also mention that I am a piscatarian/aquatarian, which basically means I'm one of those try hard vegetarians who eats seafood. How very fashionable of me. So here goes: the best and worst meals from the DIGGER & THE PUSSYCATS European tour 2009.

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DAY 2 - The Pits, Kortrijk, Belgium

Meal: Vegetarian fake crumbed chicken breast with croquettes, mushrooms in creamy pepper sauce and salad, with Belgian mayo and various other condiments Score - 8.5/10 Fuck yeah. The Pits is not only the best place to play in Europe but it also serves the most honest meal on the continent. Carnivores get steak. Vegies get some sort of soy-based fake meat, but the good stuff (well actually I'm pretty sure it's quite bad for you) bought at Lidl that tastes like when your mum left you at home while she went out shopping and you raided the freezer and cooked an entire packet of chicken nuggets all to yourself, dipping each nugget in chilli sauce, with the whole affair causing you to shit and vomit yourself silly about an hour later and when your mum gets home and asks what you've been up to, you tell her: "Not much, just watching some TV". Only a vegetarian version. I think you get my drift. Solid, home-cooked with love by Folky and friends.

DAY 4 - Le Chaland Qui Passe, Binic, France

Meal: Seafood platter comprising a half crab, langoustines, small prawns, oysters, scallops and three different kinds of sea snails (which I can't remember the names of) Score: 9.5/10 Seafood is to me what a fresh young virgin is to a vampire: the ultimate meal. I've had seafood platters before but very few could compare to this. I'd never eaten any sort of snail (from either land or sea) so I had to be shown how to extract the little suckers from their shells, but put them on a piece of bread with some aioli and they're simply delicious. I love crab too, oysters, prawns, the whole lot. My pal Udo commented that he wouldn't get something like this because you have to work too hard to get your food. Well I can tell you this one was well worth the effort - although I reckon my hands were a bit fishy for the next couple of days. Might I add that the Buzet wine was very tasty and there was live gypsy music while we ate. Fucken awesome!

DAY 9 - Cafe Pompier, Bordeaux, France

Meal: Three different vegetarian tarts with green salad. Fig muffins for dessert. Score: 8.5/10 The thing that gets me about the French is they have figured out how to make the most simple food taste fucking dynamite. Every meal is served with a really crispy green salad and a simple brown dressing (usually olive oil, balsamic, seeded mustard, salt and pepper - but they must do something else to it?) that is to die for, and this is usually the best bit. I like to eat the salad last and then mop up the dressing with my bread. These tarts were simply divine, made

EUROPEAN TOURFOOD GUIDE by one of the organisers that afternoon with a lot of love. Figs are my favourite fruit. They're not all that common in Australia, so I'd never had a fig cake of any sort but fuck me sideways, I hope I get to have one again. I should also mention that this show was put on by Simon from the WEAKENDS and his friends, and the girls set the table, sat down and absolutely chowed down in a way that left us puzzled as to how they could maintain such petite figures. The girls also proudly informed us that all the food was cooked entirely by the boys. Good one fellas!!!

DAY 13 - Zoro, Leipzig, Germany

Meal: Bhaji and samosa with tomato, chilli and coriander chutney, chickpea salad, rice and vegan chocolate cake for dessert. Score 8.5/10 A vegetarians delight, the food at the Zoro is always fukking insane. I reckon they must spend a good 5 hours preparing dinner because it's completely vegan and for it to taste so bloody good but also have a good nutritional value there must be a million ingredients in each dish, and there is an entire bench full of food. This night we played with a punk band that had a vegan and two blokes that I reckon wouldn't mind polishing off a kebab or three on the mean streets of London after a night out on the piss. They'd probably even kill and skin the lamb themselves. I think they enjoyed their meat because they were whingeing about playing squat after squat and having to eat shitty stews and plain vegie pasta each night. Even they were blown away by this meal and ate two or three plate fulls. Admittedly Sam and I did have to punish the venue's toilets at least twice each after the feed, but hey, it was a long night and it also meant we made some extra room for another helping. Vegan food has never been so tasty!

GRÜNKOHL - the green jewel of the earth

DAY 15 - Sauna Klub, Wolfsburg, Germany

Meal: Grünkohl with vegie sausages and potatoes. Score: 8.5/10 Grünkohl = life. That is what I found out in Wolfsburg. Fuck Volkswagen, I will always remember this city for the meal I ate there with our friend Thorsten who introduced us to this delightful green jewel of the earth. I swear Jesus died on the cross and came back as Grünkohl. It tastes so fucking good and it makes you do these really filthy burps for the rest of the night so you can keep tasting the wondrous flavour over and over and over again. I was warned that nobody would want to make out with me after eating, which would make my girlfriend happy and proves yet another benefit of this fantastic member of the cabbage family - it serves as a chastity belt. So when your daughters hit the ripe old age of 14, serve them up Grünkohl daily and

you won't have any seedy boys trying to slay them with their pork swords. When I start a cult, we will worship Grünkohl, the world's REAL saviour. (If only you could get it in Australia - I've looked at all the markets and haven't found it yet)

THE WORST E F DAY 7 - 1929, Rennes, France

Meal: Pizza Score: 1/10 Ok, so the promoter in Rennes, Seb, is a really good friend of ours who makes the most delicious galettes for us each morning we wake up in this lovely part of Bretagne. It's a shame he wasn't cooking our meal this night. Seb had to fight with the bar to actually get any food, even though it had been agreed beforehand. They relented and offered us pizza, which arrived about 90 minutes after it was ordered. It was completely flat with fuck all topping and was basically disgustingly congealed cheese. It was like eating a pile of cheese on a piece of cardboard that had been left out in the Australian sun for a week. The food arrived 5 minutes before we played so we thought it best to eat after the show. We ate shortly after getting off stage (I could only manage two pieces even though I was starving) and I was practically shitting my pants before we even had a chance to load out the equipment. On the upside, I've committed it to memory for the next time I need to unclog my bowels and don't have access to a good laxative. (I should also mention that we were fed pizza 4 times on this tour - and I'm not a big pizza fan at the best of times)

DAY 11 - Cafe Gambetta, Paris, France

Meal: plain, salted potato chips then Soto Mie instant noodles later in the evening. Score 3.5/10 Hahaha. This was really funny and this is not the promoter's fault. Well kind of anyway. He is a really good friend of ours who used to live in Melbourne, so Antoine, we love you but I'm gonna give you shit. We took it upon ourselves to eat a big lunch at a restaurant called Flunch (see below) so we weren't that hungry. When we arrived in Paris Antoine told us he hadn't organised anything but that he would go down to the shop and get us some food. We told him we weren't very hungry and not to worry too much but he said he'd get something anyway. He returned with 2 packets of plain, salted chips. We had made a pact on the tour that we weren't going to eat any potato chips, only corn chips. This pact was broken in Paris. So we had some potato chips, warm piss-flavoured beer, played the show and loaded the van. Antoine said we'd get some real dinner back at his flat, but then there was some confusion as to whether we'd get something along the way. We left the bar and headed for his flat under the assumption that we'd load the equipment inside and then go get some food together. We let ourselves in, loaded the equipment and waited for him to arrive by underground. He got home about 5 minutes later, sat on the couch, ripped open a paper bag and started eating a kebab and chips. "What should we do about food?" we asked him. He told us we'd better hurry and get something as all the shops were starting to close. He had some samurai sauce on his face. Hahahaha. So Sam and Udo ran down to the boulevard and finally found a place still open so they could get something to eat. I raided my emergency stash of instant noodles that I've learnt to take on tour for the occasions where promoters forget that I don't eat meat. So it was more miscommunication on many levels, but it was fucking hilarious when us three boys were sitting there really fucking hungry and Antoine rocked up with a stinky kebab

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EUROPEAN TOURFOOD GUIDE and chips and just started eating them in front of us. (I can hear Antoine's voice right now, when he reads this he's gonna ring me up and say "fuck you, man". Lucky we're in love with each other)

DAY 21 - Casanica, Liege, Belgium

Meal: Chilli beans Score: 5/10 Chilli beans is a common food to get on tour because when promoters see a vegetarian food request, they know that they can make something tasty that is filling and caters for everyone. I actually really like chilli. So does Sam. This Chilli wasn't particularly bad, but it wasn't particularly great either. Couple that with the fact that it was the third time in 8 days that we were eating chilli and, yeah, it didn't go down well. I had a very small plate which I just picked at a bit and mostly ate bread. What made matters worse was watching the 7-man support band eat it like they'd just emerged from the desert after three days of no food and water. They were shovelling it in. Pigs! (I must note that the editor of this magazine's girlfriend makes the best chilli we've had in Europe)

either of us have ever said Grace before a meal. And so our love affair began. We made a pledge on that day to visit Flunch on each tour and thus far we kept our word. The sad thing is the good times are only just a memory. The food is fucking awful and you always eat too much, then you gas each other in the car with bad farts and have to stop about 100km up the highway to murder a brown snake in some poor petrol station toilet. So the lesson to be learned about Flunch is that we have this ideal of the food being great, but we are deluded. It is not. We will, however, continue to eat there as long as we live because Flunch saved us on a cold, lonely, miserable night. Viva la Flunch

Sam and Udo in Bamberg: Sauerkraut, Wurst’n Rauchbier

F SPECIAL FOOD INDULGENCES E

Meal: Lunch at Flunch comprising three types of potato (mashed, chips and scalloped), beans, cabbage, peas drenched in gravy. Score 5.5/10 Ok, so Sam and I make an effort to stop off at Flunch at least once every tour. It's a shitty buffet all you can eat restaurant chain in France that fat people and the elderly frequent. Children also have their birthday parties here (Sam and I always pretend it's our birthday so we can get a free balloon!!) Our mate Antoine from Paris who gave us potato chips for dinner pretends he hates this place but we always drag him there for lunch because we know he secretly loves it. I think he has a Flunch tattoo on his left arse cheek. So we found this place one day when we were staying in a shitty Formule 1 hotel somewhere in bumfuck France on our very first tour. I think we'd just played a show to 3 people that hated us and we had to drive all the way from the west coast to somewhere in eastern Germany with only one day off. After a full day of driving and stopping at the hotel we went for a look at the local restaurants and Sam was saying how he had a craving for mashed potato. I too had a craving for mashed potato, swimming in gravy. Lo and behold we stumbled upon Flunch and were able to treat ourselves to 4 different types of potato, all on the one plate, dripping in gravy. I think it was the only time

Lunch on the highway in France

END

CRKO #0

Meal: Lunch at Schlenkerla Brewery, Bamberg. Sam and Udo had Sauerkraut and wurst, Andy got shitfaced on Rauchbier. Score: 10/10 I like beer. A lot. About 3 years ago when on tour with my other band KAMIKAZE TRIO my pal Udo who is a beer connoisseur, took us on a slight detour in the Franconian Alps of Northern Bavaria to a small city, Bamberg, famous for their Rauchbier, or "smokebeer" (the malt is smoked delicious). I fucken love the shit. Well I got home to Melbourne last year from living in Glasgow and I found that my local bottle shop sells the original smokebeer from the Schlenkerla Brauerei in Bamberg. No fucking shit, I can buy the stuff in Australia. So on this trip we made a 200km detour between Mannheim and Leipzig (yeah we had to get up early) so that we could have lunch in the Brauerei. Sadly they didn't have any vegetarian options (imagine the shit I would have taken if I had eaten an entire plate of Sauerkraut?!) so I just had a liquid lunch. They had a special smokey wheat beer, which was pretty good, but my favourite is still the Marzen. Anyways, Sam reckons that the sauerkraut was the best he'd ever eaten. Udo thought it was maybe a little too sweet for his liking, but still thought it was good. The wurst on the other hand! For Sam, whose father is a farmer and has trained his children to appreciate meat, it was heaven. Also the best he'd tasted and Udo, who recently moved to Norway via South Africa, was taken back to his mothers cooking in the small town of Freiberg in Saxony. Anyways, even though I didn't get to eat anything, this was my favourite meal of the tour. Smokebeer: I could take a bath in the stuff!!

So there you have it. The food of the DIGGER & THE PUSSYCATS European tour as told to you by the fatter cunt of the two in the band. Please feel free to send me over some seeds for Grünkohl. Andy Moore DIGGER & THE PUSSYCATS