Stubble 45

Bringing you the new growth in music today - Since 1987

INTERVIEWS: STUBBLE talks with:

ISSUE 45

Live show reviews including:

36 Crazyfists’ Brock Lindow

Bullet For My Valentine

Without M* F* Order PLUS: The Lizardman @ Boston Tattoo Convention

and: Cheetah Chrome; Hatebreed’s Jamey Jasta; ENSIFERUM’s Sami Hinkka; members of MINISTRY

With Anti-Flag Fan JW

PLUS Tons of CD, DVD, and Book Reviews, Ask Basement Steve, AND A NEW KRISPY KITTY KOMIC EPISODE - BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND

See us online at www.stubblemusiczine.com - we are a Fanzine dedicated to “New” Music.

Submissions are welcome but can not be returned. All submissions become the property of Stubble Musiczine and your submission is acceptance of these terms.

We review virtually all commercial releases received in CD or DVD format. If you don’t see the review we have not received a copy.

Are You Interested in helping spread Stubble? Reporter, distribution or web design Contact us at stubblezne@aol.com OUR NEXT ISSUE #46: As Usual new music CD and DVD reviews, lotsa pix.

Interviews and live show reviews from 07 and 08, new comics – including Krispy Kitty- and much more. Issue 46 will be on our web site 1 week after it goes to print (more to come).

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STUBBLE 3 Interviews Waldo the Dog Faced Boy, Bloody Mess and the Skabs STUBBLE 4 Interviews Napalm Death, Godflesh, the Cedar Street Sluts STUBBLE 5 Interviews Agony Column, Peter Yarmouth, and Industrial Giants KMFDM! STUBBLE 6 Interviews Jah Wobble, Bolt Thrower, Blind Rhino, and Entombed STUBBLE 7 Interviews Impetigo, 4 Non Blondes, Rocket From The Crypt, and Gabby Skab STUBBLE 8 Interviews Sun 60, Mind Bomb, Juliana Hatfield, Fudge Tunnel, King Missile, My Life With The Thrill Kill Cult, Moth Macabre, Psyclone Rangers, Sweetwater, Season To Risk, Sheep On Drugs, Dillon Fence, Iggy Pop STUBBLE 9 Interviews Chainsaw Kittens, Redd Kross, Carcass, Life Of Agony, SNFU, and Sepultura STUBBLE 10 Interviews KMFDM, Melvins, The Poor, Offspring STUBBLE 11 Interviews Sky Cries Mary, Miranda Sex Garden, Gass Huffer, Samaiam, Testament, and Velvet Crush STUBBLE 12 Interviews Butt Trumpet, Dirt Merchants, and Dink STUBBLE 13 Interviews X-Cops, Lunachicks, Sponge, and Fear Factory STUBBLE 15 Interview SISTER MACHINE GUN STUBBLE 17 Interviews Switchblade Symphony, Hindu Death Orgy STUBBLE 18 Interviews Rasputina, New Bomb Turks, Sponge, X-Men’s Scott Lobdell STUBBLE 19 Shitty Interview Issue with Screw 32, Ruth Ruth, Bloody Mess STUBBLE 20 Interviews My Dying Bride, Spahn Ranch, Sunshine Blind, Kristen Barry Sky Cries Mary STUBBLE 21 Interviews Kristeen Young, Slymenstra Hymen of GWAR STUBBLE 22 Interviews LIMP, The Damned, Pat Dinizio, Clutch STUBBLE 23 Interviews JJ Burnell, No More Heroes STUBBLE 24 Live Shows Smoking Grooves, Ozzfest, Tribute to Dean Dirt of 10-96.

STUBBLE 25 Interviews Zebrahead. The Amazing Crowns, Dave Davies STUBBLE 26 Interviews Hugh Cornwell, Holiday In Peoria STUBBLE 27 Interviews Vega, Hugh Cornwell STUBBLE 28 Interviews Lords Of Acid, Praga Kahn, Kitty Harte at Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame STUBBLE 29 Interviews Dandy Warhols, Gordon Gano STUBBLE 30 Features on Wonderdrug Records, Point .08 STUBBLE 31 Interviews - The Grandmothers, Hugh Cornwell, Ozzfest 2001, 2001 Warped STUBBLE 32 Interviews The Grandmothers, The Bouncing Souls, The Line; features Ask Basement Steve STUBBLE 33 -Vans Warped Tour 2002, Jeep World Outside Festival, Ozzfest 2002

STUBBLE 34 Interviews Dave Vanian of The Damned, KITTIE STUBBLE 35 Interviews with Daughters; The Dandy Warhols; Robinson’s Racin’ Pigs show review STUBBLE 36 Interviews Bloody F. Mess; Live show reviews - Bouncing Souls, King’s X, Life of Agony, more STUBBLE 37 Interviews AGAINST ME; Live show reviews including 2004 Ozzfest and Warped Tours, Ruth Ruth, KMFDM, Murder Junkies, JET, The Hives, Hot Water Music, All That Remains

STUBBLE 38 Interviews Me First And The Gimmee Gimmees, The Explosion; Live show reviews: KASABIAN STUBBLE 39 Interviews El Pus, Ruth Ruth; Live show reviews: Slipknot, Shadows Fall, Rebelpalooza, No Address STUBBLE 40 Interviews Every Time I Die, Soilwork, Tower Of Power; Live show reviews Ozzfest 2005, Warped 2005, Anger Management Tour, Gigantour and more!

STUBBLE 41 Live show reviews: The Slackers, Sevendust, Regina Spektor, Particle, Some Girls,WMFO. Help from Ask Basement Steve, and more!

STUBBLE 42: Huge Concert Review issue – Warped, Ozzfest, Hank III; Interviews with Unearth, All That Remains, and Norma Jean Plus: Ask Basement Steve.

STUBBLE 43: Interview with Hank Williams III, Live Show Reviews – Type O, Evanescence, WMFO, Bloody & The Transfusions, Cattle Decapitation, Daughters, The Locust and more!

Plus: Ask Basement Steve.

STUBBLE 44: Big Interview Issue - Interviews with Sascha of KMFDM, ChthoniC’s Freddy, Left Face of Maradou, Rob Arnold, lead guitar Chimaira, Every Time I Die’s Jordon, The Milwaukees’ Jeff Norstedt, Trevor Peres, Guitars, Obituary, and Greg Weeks, bass, The Red Chord.

Live Show Reviews – Zappa PlaysZappa, Bloody & The Transfusions, and more! Plus: a new Krispy Kitty comic episode.

Contact us: stubblezne@aol.com

Interviews 36 CRAZYFISTS Rockstar Mayhem Tour Shoreline Amp Mountain View, CA, July 12, 2008 Hailing from Kenai, Alaska, 36 Crazyfists (whose name comes from the Jackie Chan movie of the same name), is releasing its own brand of metal with their latest release The Tide and its Takers, the band’s fifth studio release and first with Ferret Music. We caught up with front-man Brock Lindow at the Rockstar Mayhem Tour, this year’s Ozzfest alternative featuring over 14 bands including Slipknot, Mastodon, Suicide Silence, and The Red Chord.

Stubble: You guys tore it up today. The crowd was going nuts. You have a new album out on Ferret Music?

Brock: Yeah, came out in February, The Tide and Its Takers.

Stubble: How’s it feel to be a rock star?

Brock: I don’t know, I’m not a very good one.

Stubble: Shut the hell up, I saw you out there today…

Brock: Well, it was fun man, I have a good time. I am grateful to be apart of it, it’s pretty damn cool for us.

Stubble: So you opened the day’s festivities?

Brock: Not everyday, it rotates everyday. But today we got the luxury of being the first band.

Stubble: You killed it. Didn’t feel like an opening set at all.

Brock: Thank you.

Stubble: So what is coming up for 36 Crazyfists?

Brock: Well, we do all the off dates with Wall of Jericho right now for two more weeks. Then the It Dies Today, Trivium, All That Remains tour, six weeks with them. In Flames, we do six weeks with them. Then we go to Europe.

We’re pretty much on tour till next summer.

Stubble: If you met Lemmy from Motorhead would you do speed with him?

Brock: Nah, but I would drink some whiskey with him.

Stubble: Ever met him?

Brock: No but I have been in the Rainbow on Sunset when he was playing PacMan. I have actually seen Lemmy a couple times. I mean we played a couple of festivals with Motorhead in Europe.

Stubble: Does the band plan on incorporating lasers or wearing masks to get a broader appeal?

Brock: No, absolutely not.

20TH ANNUAL BOSTON TATTOO CONVENTION Boston Center for the Arts Boston, MA September 13, 2008 Lysine Ore interviewed Lizard Man for STUBBLE. Here’s a sample of their conversation.

One of the biggest attractions of the Boston Tattoo Convention is the other attendees. A big activity is admiring and – if you have tattoos, piercing or scarification yourself – being admired. Men and women stroll with shirts pulled down or up, or one pants leg rolled up, baring flesh that is raw and raised, maybe bleeding just a little, and enhanced with something new to show. You can sign up to be judged for tattoos in categories such as large, medium or small, black & gray or color, or even best cover-up (before photo required).

The annual convention draws artists from all over America - especially the Northeast – and even from other countries. You can go through their portfolios and make an appointment to get your first, or next, tattoo. Be warned: a lot of artists are practically all booked before the convention starts.

The Boston Baby Dolls brought their new interpretations of old style burlesque to the stage – witty dancing to cool music that shouldn’t be obscure, wearing pasties with twirling tassels, and of course classy disrobing.

No one should miss a chance to see the Lizardman, not just because of the modifications that he’s been making to his body for years, such as tattoos, splitting his tongue, and getting subdermal teflon implants to form horned ridges over his eyes, but also to see him lift a keg by his extended earlobes. He has a great personality too – smart, blunt, funny, take me or leave me. He aims to stamp out indifference, as he says in his blog. Opening for the Lizardman was Joel Keith, with a stand-up, lie-down, jumparound act that included air guitar and air sex. The Lizardman challenged a woman in the crowd, who shielded a little boy’s eyes during the air sex, pointing out that the boy probably wouldn’t have known what it meant, and, if he did, they already had bigger problems.

He made himself available for photos with whoever wanted them. As he stood on stage, he told the crowd that, if you have nothing in your life that you think is worth devoting your skin to, then your life isn’t one that I need to hear about. – Lysine Ore

BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE Rockstar Taste of Chaos Tour San Jose State Event Center April 15, 2008 Michael “Padge” Paget (Lead guitar) Michael “Moose” Thomas (Drums) Interviewed by Jeff Longo(center)

Working their way from the second stage side show, to the main stage big time, Bullet for My Valentine is finally ready to conquer America. They have played some of the biggest festivals in Europe including Donnington Park for three consecutive years, the Download Festival, 2008 appearances at Rock am Ring and Rock im Park, they’ve toured with Metallica twice, been thrown off the Rob Zombie tour in 2006, but immediately picked up to support Guns N Roses European jaunt.. They are recognized by Kerrang Magazine as Best British Newcomer (2005,) Metal Hammer Golden God Award winner (2006), Best UK single Tears Don’t Fall (2006), and just recently 2008 Best British Band. Their new album Scream Aim Fire debuted at number 4 on the Billboard 200 and shows substantial musical maturity over their Sony debut The Poison (2005).

Stubble caught up with Padge and Moose in San Jose where that very day bassist Jay James rushed back to the UK to be with his 2-year old daughter who had been hospitalized.

Updated report is that she is doing fine. Matt, Padge, and Moose played two abbreviated shows with their guitar tech, Kevin Papworth, sitting in on bass (San Jose/April 12 and Sacramento/April 13,) , however, the band felt they were not playing the best they could and decided to cancel the last five dates of the tour.

Be sure to catch them as they are completing the final leg of their US headlining tour (Ends 9/28 in Tucson, AZ), a one off date in Japan, and finally a European tour with Lacuna Coil and Bleeding Through that will run till the end of the year.

Stubble: I hear that Jay had some kind of emergency?

Padge: Jay, our bass player, had some family problems so he had to go home. Our tech is going to fill in for tonight I think...

Moose: He is, Kev, the bad ass mother-fucker is going to play bass tonight. The bald man cometh.

Stubble: So how does that work? The Bald Man he also do the drums, guitar?

Padge: Umm no I think throughout this tour we have options.

Moose: There is like 3 drummers, our crew, myself, my drum tech, Mole our engineer. And Kyle who plays bass, our other tech, so if we have any trouble, like today, when Kev was up at 6 am learning the parts.

Jason: (Front man SF bay area metal band Becoming) It’s always good having a back up plan…

Stubble: Jason is a bass player. So if you guys need anything...

(We all laugh.)

Stubble: …he only knows Smoke on the Water though, is that ok? So you guys are all from Wales and knew each other growing up?

Padge: Yeah, forever really...since school...yeah forever...

Jason: Like a family huh? Or a marriage?

Moose: I wouldn’t bunn him though... (huh?)

Stubble: You guys have been on the road for about two years now…

Moose: Pretty much, yeah, the only break we've had was to record the record (Scream, Aim, Fire 2008) and finish it....

Stubble: Well, then you are officially living the rock star dream then…?

Moose: I never see myself [as a rock star], it’s weird, I just see myself as a drummer. Obviously, (thoughtful pause), other people see us as rock stars, but it’s alright ...it’s alright.

Jason: How do you like your job?

Padge: It’s pretty damn good.

Moose: I expected a lot and it’s more than I expected.

Padge: In different ways.

Stubble: Well I guess it all goes back to why you’re doing this in the first place.

Moose: Just to make living playing drums you know?...there are definitely other benefits….

Stubble: So with all the girls I have seen here today, I would say that’s a benefit!

Moose: Obviously we are good boys and everything... but there are a lot of females who would like to meet us, I think.

Padge: Especially our lead singer; he’s a pretty boy.

Stubble: How did you end up on the Guns N Roses tour?

Moose: We were in rehearsals and our manager called and said do you guys want to play with Guns. We were like OK...

Stubble: How was it working with Axel?

Padge: No one really saw much of him at all. You know we had a dressing room and stuff...so it was pretty much our show wasn’t it?

Moose: He was never there. He only came in to do the show and left. We were there all day, so it was kind of like...yeah, this is our shit!

Stubble: Who did you guys hang out with?

Padge: Sebastian Bach… Who was that girl who was there.... ?

Moose: Tara Patrick Padge: She a porn star? And the guy from Biohazard.

Moose: As we were walking down after the show our dressing room was on the 3rd floor. On the second floor, we had to walk past…. there were all these people in the room: I saw Kid Rock, the guy from Biohazard and his girl, who else was there? The guy from Korn was there as well, the guy from Limp Bizkit…

Padge: …but they were in the after party as well, Mickey Rourke, .Lenny Kravitz...

Stubble: Did security throw you out when you tried to get in?

Moose: No, I was too shy. I wish I'd actually gone in and said hello and said who we were.

Stubble: You might have scared them...

Moose: They can’t scare me...

Stubble: So no crazy stories, its all Leave it to Beaver back stage?

Moose: Yeah I mean you know, we just show up at the show and play the show... we like to get drunk a lot .

Stubble: Big Guinness fans I take it, the fruit of the British Isles…

Moose: Yeah but I gotta quit, ‘cause I am starting to develop a massive beer belly, mostly from the last America tour, when we was doing Guinness a lot. It was like an 8 weeker… I think.

Padge: …Guinness every day, what'n it?

Moose: I need to have a break from the Guinness... Go to something lighter… a Corona. See where Guinness comes in for me is when I am feeling like shit or got a hangover, I like a nice cold can of Guinness…

Padge: …a potato milk-shake.

Stubble: Hair of the dog.

Moose: Lately we’ve got on the Crown Royal and Coke.

Stubble: The Black Tooth.

Moose: We were partying with…

Padge: … Rita, Dime Bag’s girl...she was showing’ us all these Black Tooths; pouring the Coke in the mouth…a ritual, wasn’t it?

Moose: I don’t drink Jack.

Padge: …you do a shot of Crown and Coke and its like…Ahhhh,. That is fucking lovely. Pause…You do some Jack and ughhhhh…

Stubble: Red Bull and Vodka? Captain Morgan?

Moose: I never tried Captain Morgan.

Stubble: The spicy rum.

Moose: Well, I'm not a spicy guy....

Stubble: Are you sure? Isn’t that a Twisted Sister shirt you’re wearing? (It wasn’t…)

Moose: I like Jameson on the rocks. Irish whiskey on the rocks.

Stubble: Speaking of the Irish. When are you guys going to give Ireland back to the Irish?

Moose: That is England’s fault, not ours, but we are good friends.

Stubble: It’s all the same thing right?

Padge: No, it’s two different countries, man!

Stubble: No. There is Ireland, Scotland, and England.

Right?

Moose: No there is Wales and England as well.

Stubble: Hmmm, really. Well, how big is Wales?

Moose: Very small.

Stubble: Then basically you’re a suburb of England?

Moose: Yeah a lot of people don’t know it’s there. It’s a country on its own.

Stubble: Ok then, riddle me this: Do you have an army?

Moose: Yeah we have the Welsh Guards at Buckingham Palace. Those guys with the big black furry hats...

Stubble: Sorry man. That’s not an army.

Moose: That's the Welsh Guard.

(So you say.)

Stubble: Mel Gibson?

Moose: Australian.

Padge: Freedom.

Stubble: He plays every nationality but his own...

Padge: I think every film he has done has been brilliant.

Stubble: Would you do speed with Lemmy from Motorhead?

Padge: Fuck yeah.

Moose: I wouldn’t, Padgey would. I would drink all the alcohol and Padge can do the speed.

Padge: I met Lemmy once. He's cool. He took a turn to me’ girl, and he turned around and looked at me making the “Damn that bitch looks fine” look. I was like you…you bastard. A compliment though....

Stubble: So you guys both have family at home. Do you get homesick?

Moose: It’s nice with the internet so I can still see my kids.

Padge: 10 years ago it must of been tricky, but with technology and stuff it’s a lot easier doing longer tours cause you can see each other on the screen.

Stubble: So you guys are heading back home right for like 3 or 4 weeks then off to Australia, then Japan...

Padge: There is always something to look forward to.

Moose: Summer festival time, yeah.

Stubble: So Padge nice VANS! The Iron Maiden edition.

Very cool. So you actually shared the stage with the Maiden and one Mr. Bruce Dickenson? Man, he talks too much…

Moose: I think he’s great. I hate it when bands just get up and play their songs and that’s it. I love Ozzy to bits too.

Stubble: Who are you listening to right now?

Moose: Iron Maiden, Somewhere in time.

Stubble: On Scream, Aim, Fire you guys brought in Colin Richardson again (Fear Factory, Carcass, Napalm Death, Machine Head).

Moose: One of the reasons we wanted to work with Colin in the first place was the stuff he did on Burn My Eyes (Machine Head, Roadrunner 1994 ). (In the background two female fans can be heard…)

FF: Oh my god Becky, is that..? Are you guys from B4MV? Moose: Yeah.

FF: Can we get a picture with you?

Moose: Most of the songs were written on the road, at least Scream Aim Fire was.

Padge: …in our bedroom in El Paso.

Moose: Yeah, Padge locked himself in the bedroom all day everyday for two months.

FF: Would you sign my shirt I don’t have anything to write on Thank you. I love you guys….I have all your CDs. Stubble: WOW, I think that really made her day.

Moose: Yeah…I have two kids, and I live with my lovely girlfriend.

Stubble: Got it. So why record in El Paso?

Moose: Yeah, well, if we'd had been LA or near a bar or strip club….

Padge: …we would have been fucked…

Moose: …we would have been fucked. Because we would have been in the bar or strip club… the further away from trouble the better!

Stubble: OK, so it’s the same thing but completely different. At least you don’t have to worry about getting recognized.

Moose: Well we did.

Padge: No we didn’t.

Moose: Well that would have been good.

CHEETAH CHROME STUBBLE’s Ken Zebbyn Interviews Cheetah Chrome August 23, 2008 Ken: Hey, good to catch up with you again. Let’s start with a little chronology.

In 1974, how old were you at the time when you were involved in Rocket From The Tombs, which was sort of the roots for a lot of things you’re known for?

Cheetah: I was about 19 when I first became involved in the Rockets, maybe just turned 19, but I know the record was out by 1975 because it came out on my birthday. I’d already been in a band for a while then. Then by the time I was 21 or whatever I was in the Dead Boys.

Ken: That’s starting out pretty young in the music business and already having a good deal of success.

Cheetah: At the time I wanted success. At the time I was considered just a dismal failure. I had some little notoriety around Cleveland, and that was it.

Ken: I remember seeing you once or twice back when you played Lupo’s in Providence. They were great gigs. I really enjoyed the shows, but I know that for artist the way you look at success may be different. You guys were a big name then. I remember picking up some obscure magazines like Punk Magazine - I don’t even know if it had more than like 3 or 4 issues, but they had lots of pictures of you guys. You looked really outrageous. Can you name something outrageous in the Dead Boy years that either you, Stiv, or one of the other guys did?

Cheetah: Well actually, you mentioned Lupo’s, we were landing in Providence the other night and we were talking about a time when Neil Diamond was playing Providence when we were playing a couple of nights at Lupo’s. Neil Diamond was staying in same hotel by the Convention Center, a floor above or below us, and complained about the noise so the next morning we had to move. We got a call saying we were disturbing Mr. Diamond. We moved to like the 5th floor, on the other side of the hotel. So that night we

played Lupo’s and when we got done playing, the very last thing Stiv said was “We wanna tell everyone we love Providence so much that we’re having a party tonight, free beer and everything over at the Holiday Inn on the 15th floor.”

Ken: Oh, this is bringing back memories. I was at that show. We all looked at each other… but we didn’t go.

Cheetah: Well a lot of people did! It was on Neil Diamond’s floor, so basically we’re sitting on the 5th floor, far away from the action, watching the cop cars come and go, and there was nothing they could do to us cuz we were all sitting quietly in our rooms.

Ken: That’s great! The Dead Boys had 2 albums but there’s been a lot of stuff after. Out of the stuff that’s been released post-band, what do you think the best stuff is?

Cheetah: None of it. I mean, it’s all live stuff of varying quality. I guess I like the Younger, Louder and Snottier best, but it’s basically a remix. That would probably be the one I’d have to pick by default, not cuz I like it.

Ken: When Johnny Blitz got attacked – that was a big story back in the day, but I don’t know if most of our readers today would even know anything about it. Could you share your thoughts?

Cheetah: It was just one of those stupid incidents that never should have happened.

Johnny and our roadie Michael were eating in a restaurant with their girlfriends and they were coming out of the restaurant and crossing 5th Avenue, and this car swerved at them like they were gonna hit ‘em, like drunk kids do sometimes, and one of the girls yelled “Fuck you!” or “Fuckin asshole” or something like that. Boom, the brakes come on and 5 guys pile out and start a beef with Johnny and Mike. It ended up being like, somebody pulled a knife, yeah Blitz pulled a knife, somebody got his knife away from the him. Then somebody hit him with a baseball bat from behind, got his knife and stabbed him with it. It was a big confused thing. I wasn’t there, I was just there for the phone call later that morning. We all went up to the hospital and he was in surgery forever. So we were all in suspense.

We kept in touch with how he was doing. He even went home to Cleveland for a while, for the whole recuperation scene. Six months he was out of commission.

Ken: I remember that being a big thing. How big a factor was that in the band breaking up? How did that happen, anyway?

Cheetah: I think the main factor in the breakup of the band was that we ended up being stuck in New York for too long with too much time on our hands, and ended up dabbling in substances we probably shouldn’t have dabbled in, you know? So, by the time we were ready to go back to work there were a couple of people in band were less than 100 percent to go on the road. Also contributing to it was that, you know, Johnny was weak. We had to travel with a drummer who had to know all our songs in case Johnny couldn’t make it. To Johnny’s credit he only did it for half of a set but still, we were kinda limping a lot of the time. When we went out though I thought the shows were still pretty good.

Ken: It still shows, that you guys still get along.

Cheetah: If Stiv hadn’t passed away we probably would have gotten together again at some point. I think with time everybody would have grown up a little bit. There are still some reasons we fell apart at the time, but a lot of it is water under the bridge, we’ve grown up and got past it.

Ken: So when you first did solo stuff you came through Providence back in ’81 and you played the original Living Room, that was on the same street as the original Lupo’s. A pile of us wanted to see you so because of the Dead Boys, so we all went and it was a lot of fun. GG Allin played drums for you guys. Your set was 2 or 3 songs. What was going on for you guys that night?

Cheetah: Well the drummer’s wife had gotten really pissed at him for some reason, pissed at him for going like he wasn’t supposed to come with me, or something, and he ended up having to fly home. That’s why GG ended up on drums. So our whole set what was we could mange to teach GG at sound check. That was a pretty bad gig you know, a cursed tour. The Boston show was good, but that’s it.

Ken: It’s so weird that that should come up. That night, that’s when the whole thing started with GG’s career. The people he ended up working with, Black & Blue Records and the whole thing. They went to see you and ended up seeing him, and ended up signing him.

Cheetah: It is kind of bizarre because GG seemed like such a nice clean cut kid at that point. I don’t know how much is my fault, but he’s assured me since then that it wasn’t. Oh yeah, I saw Merle last night. Did you see him?

Ken: Yeah I did see him. And I know he’s always been a big fan too.

Cheetah: I always liked GG and Merle. We were always good friends.

Ken: Funny how things in life twist together. From there you were working with Jeff Dahl?

Cheetah: Yeah, I did some work with Jeff Dahl, did the record together, had some serious gigs in California, a gig in Cleveland, then I was with Ghetto Dogs for a year. I got back together with the Dead Boys, kind of bounced around in the 80s. Every time I’d sit down try to work on something serious something else came up.

Ken: How much of a factor was Tregunnah from the Lords of the New Church – when he couldn’t get back into the US, did that help one of the reunions speed up, for Stiv?

Cheetah: Some of it. It was hard, we were definitely plain painful. We were also having a situation where the Dead Boys wanted to get something together and wanted him to dump and the Lords. He was contractually obligated so we couldn’t, but then finally they claimed they had an ad in the paper for a singer and he saw it, found it and came to the gig with the ad on a t-shirt. I’m not sure of the whole story, but they weren’t getting along and that ended it and that was right about the time we started thinking about putting together a new project and along came Stiv.

Ken: I remember you guys played the Rat in Boston one of your reunion tours. That was a great show.

Cheetah: That was probably the last show with the original Dead Boys. New Year’s Eve, that was the last show of the original Dead Boys with Stiv.

Ken: Really? Wow! You learn something new every day.

You’ve known Dave Thomas for a long time, from Rocket From The Tombs…

Cheetah: It seems that way, but realistically we only hung out for that one year we were working together. I mean, we didn’t see each other for 20 years.

Ken: Out of all the band members you had and played with, who was the most outrageous and can you tell us a little story about him?

Cheetah: Let me see. The biggest character? Probably have to say hands down Johnny Blitz, he’s just so colorful and into something all the time, he can be a slight pain in

the butt. But we love the guy an awful lot. Hasn’t changed a damn bit. He’s definitely one who sticks out. A great drummer, he keeps the spirit alive in more ways than one.

Ken: So will all the touring you’ve done over the years, could you give us a road story about something ironic or that started out looking disappointing but then got better, or the opposite?

Cheetah: There’s so many it’s hard to pick just one.

There’s a book called Gigs From Hell, I don’t know if you ever saw that. There’s a story I told in that one about a solo gig I did in Atlanta at a cavernous place called the Masquerade. We’re driving down from Nashville probably about 1997, ’98, in bass player’s van, which wasn’t new. So we driving to Atlanta and stopped at a gas station near Chattanooga in a place called Calhoun, Georgia, which is still about 2 hours from Atlanta. We get back in the car and we hear this “Knock, knock, knock” in the engine. And I’m like “Oh, what the hell’s that?” Johnny our drummer and a couple of guys said “Oh, that’s bad. We threw a rod.” So we’re like, “Try it gain, try it again.” So we try it again, more knocking, “Yup that’s what it is. We threw a rod.” And we’re near a gas station but it’s like Friday on Labor Day weekend, so there’s not gonna be anybody open who’ll fix till Tuesday or whatever. So I call the booking agent. He said “I’ll come and get you guys,” but he doesn’t realize we got all the equipment with us. So we’re in this restaurant in this little town in Georgia and we don’t know what the hell to do. We start drinkin and eatin and all that good stuff, and the guy at the gas station says “Oh yeah, we’ll fix it, it sounds like a thrown rod blah blah blah,” so we had to hire somebody to drive us to the gig. We got somebody in Chattanooga to drive us to the gig in a pickup truck, so we got my car and a pickup now, and all the equipment in the back. So we drive to Atlanta, we get there, and it turns out Blondie’s playing the same fuckin night and there’s nobody there. We play the gig pissed off. I walked out at one point. Got paid, thank god, y’know? Then we had to get hotel rooms and then hire a trailer to tow the van back to Nashville. We towed the van over Lookout Mountain and blah blah blah. When we get back to Nashville, all the money from the gig’s gone because it went for hotel rooms, it went for fuel, and everything’s gone. The next day my bass player takes the van and tows it down to the gas station to the mechanic that he uses. The guy looks at it and says “Oh, you’ve got a loose valve cover.

He didn’t even charge him to fix it – it took him like 30 seconds. The only good thing was, we got paid and nobody died.

Ken: Two very important things.

Cheetah: Other than that, that had to bed about the worst experience, because it was just dreadful. We were so skunk drunk by the time we got to Atlanta, we were trying to sober up for the gig and all we did was get hangovers.

Ken: You’re from Cleveland - the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s there – do you think there’s any chance you or one of bands would get the recognition to be there?

Cheetah: I think the Dead Boys probably pissed off too many people. Have to be a wild card. Rockets… I think you have to be around 25 years before you can qualify. Their first record didn’t come out until 2003, so it’ll be a while.

Maybe my son can make it. You like to think somebody notices what you’re doing, but I doubt it.

Ken: It’s a different level - to some extent I think there’d be someone on the underground complaining if you were.

Cheetah: Well, I made the top 100 of Musician magazine.

Ken: Any plans to extend what you did last night with Unnatural Acts and maybe do something more?

Cheetah: When I come to play Boston I like to use them.

Right now it looks like I’m going to be using Joan Jett’s band, you know Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, we’re doing our first show in New York on the 12th of September. We’ll probably book some more shows over the winter, that’s the plan now. I want to do that before I do anything else.

Ken: Sounds good. Are you going to be recording with them?

Cheetah: I’ve got a lot of stuff I’m planning to put out that’s been recorded already.

That’s the only thing we’re trying to do now. The thing with Smog Veil looks pretty good, we’re just trying to figure out how to work it or if it’s sellable. There’s just no way of knowing how many people going to want it, especially since they can download all they want online.

Ken: It’s definitely the easiest way to do it. There’s plenty of services out there who cater to it, it’s just how much you want to…

Cheetah: Yeah, and that way I don’t have to please anybody except myself, and hopefully the audience, and the record companies are completely out of the picture.

Ken: The art’s 100 percent yours that way.

Cheetah: It’s kept me out of the business for years. I just didn’t want to deal with the record companies.

Ken: Sure. At the end of the day, it’s the reason most people perform, it’s an expression of art, and they do it because they enjoy it, and when someone asks to change what you want to do, the enthusiasm you had for what you’re doing kind of suffers as well.

Cheetah: Exactly. I love what I’m doing, and it’s funny, I’ve done fairly well without having to do a whole bunch of records.

Ken: So now you’re in Nashville, Tennessee, where they have the Grand Ole Opry, country music… and you’re a good guitar player. Have you been dragged into a country jam session yet?

Cheetah: No, I haven’t. It’s funny because there’s also a alternative scene there, and I never hear or see country music. I mean, I know a couple guys that play it but I’ve never been in a room with them and a guitar. There’s a very closed shop as far as doing sessions here. There are also a bunch of guys like Eric Brittingham and Tom Keifer from Cinderella live down there, and Rush’s got a place down there. Jack White’s got a place down there. There’s a lot of rock and rollers too. They don’t call it music city for nothing.

It’s a very comfortable place to live for a musician. There are, damn, studios all over the place and it’s a good place to base a tour out of. It’s very convenient and you got lots of good restaurants, good clubs.

Ken: Yeah and the weather’s not bad there, either.

Cheetah: The weather’s great, only three months of winter there.

Ken: Good catching up with you, sounds like life is good.

Cheetah: Oh yeah, can’t complain at all.

Ken: Any final words for the Boston readers?

Cheetah: Go Sox, what else?

Ken: That’s one way to stay popular.

Cheetah: And see ya soon - it’s one of my favorite towns.

See review of Dead Boys DVD in this issue.

ENSIFERUM AT PAGAN FEST USA Sami Hinkka (Bass Player) The Avalon, Santa Clara, CA April 2008 Interviewed by Jeff Longo With their axes, swords, and drinking horns raised high, the Viking horde that is Pagan Fest descended on the Avalon on Santa Clara. The annual tour features some of Europe’s best known Folk/Viking/Heroic metal bands. Not familiar with the genre? Then think renaissance fair melodies on steroids, meets Braveheart. The charge was lead by Finland veterans Ensiferum whose rabid fans packed the room as the bands rewarded them with galloping metal rhythms, fist pumping choruses complete with pounding drums, shredding guitars. Of course we couldn’t for get the accordions, violins, flutes, and of course Vikings in skirts. Fellow countryman Turisas, Tyr, and Eluveitie rounded out the bill.

In 2007 Ensiferum released their third studio album Victory Songs on Spinefarm Records (Universal Music Group). They will be touring the US as main support for Amon Amarth, on the Twilight of the Thunder God starting October. Stubble got a chance to hang out with Sami Hinkka (bass player) and Janne Parviainen (drums) shortly before their set…

Stubble: Who are Ensifum?

Sami: We are a folk metal band from Finland and we are about good music.

Stubble: Pretty damn cold up there…

Sami: Yes but actually it is very warm there right now.

Stubble: Folk metal?

Sami: Well the founder of the band, actually the only original member these days, Markus Toivonen, our guitar player, it was in like 1995 and he still is very into folk music.

Around the world, Scandinavia and Irish, he was very into it....and he was digging that stuff and all these melodies.

He also liked very much extreme metal. So we wanted to find a way to combine it. Because everybody was like…at the time there was not so many melodic bands. In the metal scene it was more like bam bam bam stuff so he wanted to combine those things.

Stubble: I have to admit that I never heard of you before and wasn’t sure what to expect. So when I pulled up to the venue and there was a huge line to get in I was surprised.

You definitely have a fan base here in Santa Clara. How long have you been a rock star?

Sami: Ha-ha we don’t consider ourselves rock stars (laughs). I've been in the band since the beginning of 2005.

There have been a lot of line up changes because there comes a point in a band whether you have to make choice.

Do you want to do it 100% or not.

Stubble: Very difficult.

Sami: Yes, And also the former singer guitar player Jari Mäenpää started Wintersun and that was also a matter of choice because they want to do a tour. They just released an album, and Jari was like I want to do this solo project.

Dude! Jari, you got to go. But no drama there; we are still friends.

Stubble: There does seem to be a revolving door when it comes to line up changes. What other bands did you play in?

Sami: I played in totally different kind of band, called Rapture, not The Rapture. I heard there is a band also called Rapture, a very small Finnish band.

Stubble: Is it weird to have to sing your songs in another language? Being a native of the US where English is the primary language it would be weird if I had to sing in Spanish or French...

(Sami chuckles at my naïveté.)

Sami: I see what you mean...umm, but it’s not so much big deal. We were just talking with our engineer today; in Scandinavia they don’t drop any TVs so people speak very good English. So it’s not so different.

Stubble: What bands are you listening to?

Sami: I will tell you. I enjoy silence as much as I can while on tour. Some Finnish jazz, REM, some folk metal bands, Rush, Simon and Garfunkel…

(We laugh, …Garfunkel!) The Kinks, Eric Clapton, King Diamond, Capatonda from Sweden, Iron Maiden of course, Dream Theater…

Stubble: So tell me about your latest album Victory Songs.

Sami: It’s very good. I think we are very pleased with it.

Everybody! It is nice to have the same line-up. This album and the EP we made before. Is it wrong to say EP was like a rehearsal kind of, for the new line up, it was like testing how things work in the studio.

Stubble: So you have been on the US leg of Pagan Fest for a little over 7 weeks, do you miss home?

Sami: Time to time, but not so much as you think. But our guitar player Pete, he was on tour with this other band called Northern…he came straight from there, so when this ends he’s done like 75 shows.

Stubble: Wow, a true warrior. Does it get boring playing the same songs every night?

Sami: No. but on the other hand, when I am on tour, I don’t check out other bands. I only do a couple of nights, because too much is too much. And I want to concentrate to our gig.

Stubble: What’s the near future hold for Ensiferum?

Sami: Yeah, we are working on new material. And after this we have some summer festivals in Europe, Wacken Open Air...

Stubble: Wow. What is it like to play that show? I mean the line-ups for Wacken are insane?

Sami: We played there in 2005 actually, it was amazing.

We played the main stage, we didn’t really know what to expect; we go on stage and eleven thousand people are going crazy... and we were like "what the fuck"?!

Stubble: Bet you felt like a rock star then…that must have been incredible.

Sami: Yeah! The sun was shining, people were very into it, and everyone was in good mood, just having fun...

Stubble: Do you hang out with the crowds during festival down time?

Sami: Hell Yeah.

Stubble: Do people recognize you?

Sami: Me? No...And I am happy about that (laughing).

Petri (Lindroos) our singer, because he is front all the time, and also he is a singer of Northern and he is a tall guy, so people know to see him, all the time. People don’t recognize me.

Stubble: Nice tour bus by the way. Broken down on you yet?

Sami: No. No...(Gives me the crazy look. Like buses never break down...) This is like... home.

Stubble: How have the crowds been?

Sami: Our fans are incredible.

Stubble: Hell yeah, I met a few of them in the parking lot…

Sami: The one thing I really like in our fans, they are not aggressive in a bad way. We have a fucking wall of death at our gigs, circle pits, mosh pits, crowd surfing, stage diving, but there have never been any problems. There was this one gig in Finland; a guy broke his leg.

Stubble: I remember the first time I saw the Wall of Death was when Lamb of God first brought it out a few years ago at Ozzfest…

Sami: I’ve never even heard about it till I saw it on stage!

I was like, What the fuck?!

Stubble: You mean the first time you ever saw it was when it happened?

Sami: YEAH! (Janne Parviainen, the drummer, enters.)

Stubble: So is rock n roll dead? Where are all the parties?

Sami: I don’t party on tour, because I want to concentrate on gigs.

Stubble: Isn’t that one of the top reasons to start a band?

Sami: Tour? Should that be the reason? Just to party?

Come on...(a little agitated that I would insinuate such a thing…)

Stubble: No, not just party, it would be a bunch of reasons.

(Quickly back pedaling, there are two Vikings in the room now, I am out numbered.)

Sami: No, that's been my reason...why do kids start a band, they want to make music. And that's something we should remember. Why are we doing this?

(We reflect on this for a moment… Does anyone remember laughter?)

MINISTRY Sin Quirn (Ministry, Revolting Cocks) guitar Burton C Bell (Fear Factory, Ascension of the Watchers) vocals Hotel Sienna, San Francisco, CA May 2008 Interviewed by Jeff Longo After 27 years of performing the band known only as Ministry is retiring. Their infamous front man and creative juggernaut Al Jorgensen has decided to put some of his toys away to focus full time on developing and producing artists on his record label 13th Planet. As parting gifts Al leaves us with the final Ministry release appropriately titled The Last Sucker (13th Planet 2007) and an interesting cover album also appropriately titled Cover Up (13th Planet 2008). The show complete with 15ft high chain link fence, video screen, and a skull mic stand, conjuring up images of 1989’s Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste tour. Joining Al on tour is Tony Campos from Static-X, Tommy Victor and Aaron Rossi from Prong, Sin Quirin is a member of Jorgensen’s side project The Revolting Cocks, John Bechdel is currently involved with Ascension of the Watchers and as a guest vocalist Burton C

Bell, front man for the Watchers and Fear Factory, wrecked the Warfield for over two hours.

Stubble hung out with Sin and Burton on a breezy afternoon in San Francisco between sold out shows at the Fillmore.

Stubble: How are you doing on this fine day?

Burton: Not much, just hanging out in sunny San Francisco… (It is NOT sunny.)

Stubble: How are the shows coming?

Sin: Excellent, out of control. Every show has been phenomenal…the fence…

Burton: The fist night was cool. Even for a San Francisco show Sin: Exactly. Once we get into California usually you get people just kind of stand there Burton: It wasn’t like that last night.

Stubble: Any special guests show up to pay their last respects at the show last night?

Burton: Jello Biafra (of Dead Kennedys Fame)…That was the first time I ever got to talk to him and seeing Al and him sitting on a couch together… Now there is a photographic moment…I think he might show up Denver...who knows.

Stubble: The Last Sucker?

Burton: It’s a great record. To me it would have been perfect after Psalm 69. Has that energy. Al is angry and awake on this record. It’s a record with a purpose. See you later fuckers. The songs are great. I was glad to be apart of it. Sin wrote some great leads Sin: Man that was an experience doing that record. When al asked me to write some music for it he said I want you to think Rio Grande but heavier. But I was thinking well, if this is the last Ministry album I didn’t think we wanted to go out with total speed metal riffs. So I went back to Land of Rape and Honey Psalm 69 and that frame of mind. So the riffs that i bought in are slower, a little groovier, they are more of that repetitive kind of thing and that is what i brought to it.....thank God he dug what I wrote..

Stubble: Which ones were those?

Sin: I did the music for four of the songs on the record. I also played guitar and lead and bass except for Raven Song and The Last Sucker End of Days which Tommy did. So I got to play a lot of guitar.

Stubble: Sin, I am really looking forward to seeing you play.

Sin: It should be good....plus you're wearing a Kiss shirt (referring to my kick ass Love Gun shirt), so we already get along. You are sporting my colors. (Pulls up his sleeve of his leather jacket to reveal a road worn Ace Freely wrist band...) I got to see them in 78, I was four. I saw them during the filming of Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park.

Burton: NO WAY! Sin: During the filming, I am in the crowd!

STUBBLE: You were there!?

Sin: The crowd shots near the Colossus at Magic Mountain? I am in there!

(Burton and I laugh heartily.)

Sin: I still have my parking pass which is worth like 500 bucks…

Stubble: I loved those guys as a kid. I have the comic somewhere that had their blood mixed in with the ink.

Sin: Yeah, I got all that stuff. Then I saw them again the following year on the Dynasty tour, so I got to see the original line up in the 70's twice!

STUBBLE: Got a chance to listen to the new Ministry covers album (2008 Cover Up, 13th Planet). I have to admit when I saw the track listing, one of the songs that I wasn’t looking

forward to hearing was “Under My Thumb”, but you did a great job on the vocals....

Burton: Al did a great job on that, he produced it. I was there doing what ever he wanted me to do. He was like try it like this or use this voice. It was fun to do. AL really killed it on the leads Stubble: “Mississippi Queen” was also a surprise.

Sin: I did all the rhythm and Tommy (Tommy Victor of Prong) did the leads on Mississippi queen and Space Trucking. On Roadhouse blues we traded off leads on that one.

Burton: I am having a blast touring with one of my favorite bands ever.

Stubble: Being a guest vocalist on three songs you do a lot of hanging around… how long do you have to wait to go on?

Burton: About 2 hours.

Sin: Well that depends on how much wine Uncle Al has been ingested…(I see…)

Stubble: Both of you have projects on 13th Planet (AOTW, Revolting Cocks, Ministry). How is working with 13th Planet different than say working with a traditional label as?

Sin: To me it’s a lot more artist friendly, with Al it’s like, he gave me a lot of freedom in the studio.

But at the same time a lot of guidance and a lot of positive reinforcement that I needed, that I never had with other producers. It was really cool. He made me feel really comfortable and made it very relaxed. I think that makes for better art.

Burton: There was no pressure; I mean Al is the label head...

Sin: No suits.

Burton: I mean Al is an artist. I mean his reputation and resume speaks for itself. He’s worked with a lot of my favorite bands. Mixing, recording. producing, writing songs... that kind of bullshit.

Sin: Drinking...

Burton: Whatever he says is viable. It’s worth a damn and if he has a suggestion, well let’s try it. He knows what he's talking about. He's not just some suit sitting behind a desk saying, "Let’s shorten the song by 30 seconds…we can get it on the radio...” Not that kind of bullshit. For me working with him he is not just a label head, he is another artistic ear that you can bend on a minute and if he has some suggestions, sure lets do it... He signs bands he likes with people that he likes in it of course. It is very artist friendly.

Stubble: Burton, your project Ascension of the Watchers just released Numinosum (2008 13th Planet Records).

Burton: Came out in February.

Stubble: I like it, although not what I expected.

Burton: It’s different.

Stubble: Whose idea was it to do “Sounds of Silence”?

Burton: Mine. That is something that i have been working on for a long time. I had a vision for it. It all started when I had this 7” single that you play at 45 but when I played it at 33 it was the heaviest Goth song I ever heard. I was like I want to do that version.

Stubble: Surprisingly, I think it’s good...

Burton: That was one of the songs that Al wanted to mix, he mixed residual presence and sounds. Al added his bits too, I have a twin brother who played lead guitar and he did the harmony vocal.

Stubble: Distribution?

Burton: It’s getting out there. It’s a slow start but 13th Planet is a young label as well and they are taking the right steps one at a time. For me as the first label for AOTW it’s

perfect. I wasn’t expecting instant fame selling 100K records the first week. I got to get it out there, take baby steps…this is a new band.

Stubble: I think that covering “Sounds of Silence” or covers in general is a good way to get your band out there.

Burton: We are working on the right techniques and one step at a time.

Stubble: Being on this tour is definitely giving you more exposure.

Burton: It’s all songs we have heard (Cover Up 2008), but Al's version...I love the version of “Mississippi Queen”, “Radar love”...

Sin: I think “Radar Love” came out great.

Stubble: Seems like it would do well in a live setting. Tell me what an AOTW show would be like?

Burton: Uh a bit more textured. We have a live drummer and bass player; all the songs have that live feeling to it. To me it’s more textured, fuller sounding.

Stubble: Cool lighting and video would help bring out the texture more…

(And some mushrooms wouldn’t hurt either….)

Burton: Depending. I am talking to a friend of mine in NY who has some visual ideas. To me I want to keep it simple you know almost silhouetted, kind of lounge like…

Stubble to SIN: Kind of like a Revolting Cocks show?

Sin: Not quite (He laughs out loud.)

Stubble: The Ministry Circus couldn’t match what you must be used to with your last band Society One and Mr. Zane’s on-stage antics?

Sin: I wouldn’t say that.

Stubble: Any chance of seeing Uncle Al dangling from chains and meat hooks tonight?

Sin: (Laughs) NO. Burton: Al has his moments, things that go beyond suspension. (hmmm) Stubble: I am really looking forward to hearing the new album. What is the title?

Sin: Sex-O Olympico will be out in early 2009.

Burton: The album is awesome.

Stubble: When the Ministry tour is over, Al will be focusing on Revolting Cocks last album and tour also. Is that as far out as you’re looking right now?

Sin: Yeah...but I am not really at liberty to say...

(After much coaxing and pleading, Sin would not divulge his future plans.)

Stubble: Any last words?

Burton: Come check out Ministry, check out the Last Sucker and Cover Up, and check out Revolting Cocks, Ascension of the Watchers... It’s a whole new planet…13th Planet.

HATEBREED – JAMEY JASTA The Grand SF Spring 2008 San Francisco, CA

Interviewed by Jeff Longo (Stubble) and Josh Kutras (Handlebars)

Jamey Jasta, front man for hardcore legends Hatebreed, is livin’ large. His band Hatebreed is one of the few bands to emerge from the underground and enjoy mainstream success and retain the loyalty of its core fans. Teaming up with KOCH Records Hatebreed to release several projects over the next year that includes: the band’s first ever live DVD “Live Dominance” (release date September 2, 2008); a Hatebreed performed, all-covers album entitled “For the Lions…” with the band covering their favorite songs from the likes of D.R.I, Cro-Mags, Metallica, Crowbar, Negative Approach, Obituary, Misfits; and lastly, Vinnie Paul (Pantera, Damage Plan, Hell Yeah!) is set to produce a live album titled “Live in Dallas” due out in early 2009.

If that’s not enough for you, Jamey also stays busy with his side projects ICEPICK and Relapse Recording artists Kingdom of Sorrow, with Kirk Windstein of Crowbar, is taking off with album sales, touring, and live appearances at Ozzfest. Word is Jamey is also set to release a novel

tentatively titled “A Headbanger’s Tell All,” about his three and a half years as host of MTV’s Headbanger’s ball. Oh, and he also operates his own line of clothing (Hatewear) and record label Stillborn Records.

Stubble and Handlebar Mustache got a chance to hang out with Jamey on his tour bus before their headlining set at the Grand in San Francisco with Type O Negative and 3Inches of Blood…

Stubble: I think the first time I saw you guys was at Ozzfest 2001 on the second stage…

Handlebar: The first time I saw you I saw you at the Maritime Hall (San Francisco) with Motorhead and...

Mr. Jasta: And Dropkicks! Yeah, that was a crazy tour. I thought this might be the same place but I hear it closed down.

Stubble: So you’re on tour with Type O Negative and 3 Inches of Blood…

Mr. Jasta: Type O is cool….We personally chose 3 inches of blood, love those guys…

(Kill the Orcs!)

Stubble: I hear Hatebreed will be releasing their first ever live DVD “Live Dominance” on September 2 (KOCH Records 2008)?

Mr. Jasta: Yep. We are just approving some clips, we got footage from Germany, New York, Philly, Detroit…a lot of content. It’s just a live DVD. We're going to do a different DVD, with a documentary that shows the beginning, the early days, shit like that, This is going to showcase this album (Supremacy Roadrunner 2006), this album's cycle, Frank (Frank Novinec, Guitars) joining the band over this two years.

Stubble: Pit shots?

Mr. Jasta: Definitely caught a lot of pit shots, definitely tried to capture that live energy of our live show. We should have done a DVD a long time ago, but there was always red tape, so that's why this KOCH deal worked out perfectly.

Stubble: Most memorable moment for those shows?

Mr. Jasta: Dresden Germany was like a real trip for us, because they said it was the biggest hardcore show in attendance, like ever. In the world; it was like 6,000 some people. It was pretty much a straight hardcore show with us Agnostic Front, Ignite. So it was great to capture that.

And then you got the Stillborn Fest shows.

Stubble: Wish we were there. The most memorable for me would have to be the Jagermeister Music Tour at The Warfield in 2003 with Slayer…

Mr. Jasta: In the other DVD, the documentary, showing the rise of the band, there is a whole part with Slayer and how when they gave us their stamp of approval. Being like the first band to tour with them to have our bands name chanted every night. We were hanging out with Kerry (Kerry King Slayer Frontman) last night, and I always send songs out to them. I mean to give exposure to an underground hardcore band was a great opportunity for us. We kind of model ourselves after what they do. They've always made the right decisions. They never changed their sound. They never really deviated from what they wanted to do. I respect that.

Stubble: Kingdom of sorrow is doing well…

Mr. Jasta: For a side project it’s already sold more than ICEPICK, my first side thing.

Stubble: Released on Relapse Records…

Mr. Jasta: They were the label I wanted to work with from the beginning. They've been great. They had ads in all the magazines. Did a ton of press. They flew me to Europe to

do a press tour. It was really good. We did two videos that were really pro. They really let us see through on the vision.

A lot of times a label, especially with a side project, “Let’s not get too crazy, let’s keep the focus on the head of the snake.”

Stubble: Can’t ask for more than that…

Mr. Jasta: We (Hatebreed) are free agents right now. We are basically looking for a deal, but KOCH came to us and said let’s do these three projects: the live album, which was produced and recorded by Vinnie Paul (Pantera, Damage Plan, & Hell Yeah! Like I need to tell you that!), “Live in Dallas,” so that's going to be cool.

(You think?!)

Stubble: Sounds pretty fucking cool to me…

Mr. Jasta: It’s not just a live album, it’s like a cool piece of product that has a making of… DVD, with all the behind the scenes, like a mini-movie, to go with it. So that will come out next spring (2008). Then the covers album that will hopefully be out in October, which was a challenge for us because we do Metallica; we do Negative Approach, Obituary, Misfits, DRI…so across the board it’s different stuff for us to do. Different styles of drumming, different styles of singing for me, it’s coming out of the box. It’s going to be different. And it’s hopefully going to inspire kids. Its coming with a twenty page booklet, a bio on each band. Why we choose them, Where we were when we first heard the song.

How it changed our life. How you should go and learn the history and pay homage and respect to the history. So it should be cool. So far some of the bands we covered are really digging it like Freddy Madball, heard the Madball cover and was psyched.

Stubble: I dig the positive message in some of your songs.

Mr. Jasta: That's where were different, we always tried to have an up-lifting...I mean there's negative stuff too, but you need a balance.

Stubble: Ever get labeled as a white supremacist band? I mean the name Hatebreed, album and song titles like “Rise of Brutality, I Will Be Heard, Supremacy…?” I always see a comment or two when I am on-line; obviously you and I know you aren’t but…

Mr. Jasta: People just don’t get it. But that's the same thing with Slayer, you got one guy who is Cuban and another guy is Chilean and there’s white supremacists’ at every show. We don’t have a political agenda and we’re not going to say who can and can’t listen to the band. Like people said when we chose the title, “Are worried about misconceptions?” We've been around for so many years how could you really misconceive what were really about? And if you buy the CD and read it...plus I thought if there was any controversy surrounding it hopefully people would buy the CD and read it. /*HEAR THE REST OF THIS INTERVIEW AND MORE ON STUBBLERADIO - www.myspace.com/stubbleradio, www stubblemusiczine.com, iTunes.

Live Show Reviews JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR Opera House, Boston MA May 16th 2008 Before I comment on the performance I want to review how the policy at this venue makes the event much less enjoyable. In most theaters (I say most because of Opera House not doing so) patrons can not be seated once the performance begins; latecomers have to wait till the next act to sit. I have also seen cases where there is a back of theater area for latecomers and again they get real seats in next act.

Opera House lets people in anytime. 40 minutes into the show one person of the 3 empty seats in our row arrived, 10 minutes later person 2, and 5 more for person 3 of which that clod stepped on my date’s foot. As much as I deplore the people I blame the venue. It will need to be a must-see show for me to return to this amateur theater.

The show overall was very entertaining. Corey Glover’s (Judas) voice was as good as I recall. With the slower arrangements of the songs (to make sure you heard every word of the lyrics?) he ensured that it did not detract from the show. Tiffini Dodson as Mary Magdalene was also possessed with a great vocal range. Ted Neeley at age 64 showed a bit of wear, speaking some of the normally sung lyrics, and yet still was able to get the high-pitched screams out on some of the songs. Overall I would say he was a little disappointing, but not to most of the audience. Many screamed like they were at an Elvis show every time he sang. I think the 3 behind us were Ted groupies, they screamed at many inappropriate times. Michael Wright had difficulty keeping his voice as deep as the Caiaphas part is traditionally sung.

As with most performances, directors like to change things to make a footprint. Rearranging King Herod’s Song as a Caribbean/Salsa tune was less than impressive and casting King Herod as a flamingly gay version of Hedonism Bot missed the mark. The music volume was very low throughout the performance, so it did not “Rock The House” as advertised. It sounded like piped-in music not live, but in fact there was a band listed in the program. I saw a local version years ago in Boston with Gary Cherome in the lead role. While that version lacked costumes and talent they at least had a rocking band keeping it as a ROCK Opera. The additional song “Could We Start Again Please” was as disappointing as it was unnecessary, could we leave it out please?

The lyrics got an update too with most of the changes reinforcing that the Jews, not the Romans, killed Jesus. I wondered if Mel Gibson was consulting.

Despite all the above issues it was great to bring this music back to a live setting and the title song was impressively delivered by Corey Glover and the accompanying cast that brought the house to its feet!

Sad that many patrons felt the need to run for the exits after it was done like leaving a pop star show after hearing the hit. The merchandise stand was not very busy but at $35.00 a t-shirt why would it be. – DB

THE PRODUCERS North Shore Music Theatre Beverly, MA, May 15th 2008 Back in 1968 you had to imagine this coming to live theater. The movie was it.

Now it is the 21st century, Wow, Nazis, homosexuality, and tasteless humor as a schlock show meant to offend and bomb is now trendy and chic. The musical version of this movie differs from the musical, most notably missing hippie character Lorenzo St. DuBois, aka L.S.D. But to keep the play moving, it made sense to combine the LSD role with characters ex-Nazi Franz Liebkind and director Roger De Bris.

It did not detract from the laughs at all.

NSMT’s Barry Ivan ensured laughter throughout by having the actors play it way over the top. I nearly lost it when the cagefull of pigeon puppets all gave the Nazi salute with 1 wing, and the lead pigeon, Adolph, wearing a Nazi armband. Stuart Marland as De Bris and Fred Berman as Carmen Ghia had me crying with laughter as they captured the characters of the 1968 movie to a tee during the scene that featured the song “Keep it Gay.” Lead actors Scott Davidson as Max Bialystock and Jim Stanek as Leo Bloom were very good, and Amy Bodnar was very easy on the eyes and showcased her strong vocals as Ulla. Hats off to Madeline Doherty as Touch Me Feel Me, she was outrageously good too.

You can always count on good acting and staging at NSMT, but sometimes the material they perform is the killer.

Not with this one, the material was up to par with the presentation. A great way to kick off the 2008 season ending the play telling the crowd to get out! The standing ovation was well deserved. – KZ Photo Credit: Amy Bodnar (Ulla) Photo by Paul Lyden

After another visit from Mr Planetary Groove for more useless information out came Don White. Now Don usually plays with a few musicians but tonite he decided to go solo and try a pseudo stand up act. While the audience was polite and forgiving I found it to be quite boring for the most part. A few of his jokes on being a parent of teenagers were funny; it wasn't like an actual comedian. If he had sung more and had a few musicians I might have not wanted to leave.

Unfortunately he did not and it was a mildly amusing performance at best. I'm so glad we did not arrive late and miss the Lunch Lady. - MTC WITHOUT M* F* ORDER Music on the Y, Sacramento CA June 17, 2008

DON WHITE / CHRISTINE LAVIN The Regent Theatre Arlington MA March 8, 2008 On a wet rainy evening we trudged through the streets and found our way to this charming old theater. The performance began with a guy who said he wasn't funny yet that did not stop him from trying to tell jokes to entice the crowd to see some comedian who was coming soon. Then came the pretentious agent from Planetary Groove who babbled on about upcoming events of which some were the same. By the way he wasn't funny either.

Finally the show began with Christine Lavin who admitted on stage that she looks like a ex-nun or a High School Cafeteria Lunch Lady. I would agree with that. She began her set with a political ditty on how she loves Hillary but voted for Obama. It was perfect for the crusty old audience (average age 50) in this very Blue State in a solid Blue city. Then she did "What Was I Thinking" a funny tune about bad decisions, and of course that is her shtick, Folk music with witty lyrics. She had an effects footpad nearby so she could sing alone yet do multiple vocals including fast or slow like The Chipmunks or Munchkins. Very silly woman for sure. I am familiar with one of her song from a Best of DR Demento album. While she did play guitar she did a lot of a capella.

She did a thing for those who have birthdays in the triangle between Dec 20th and New Years Eve and spoke with the audience members who have such birthdays. She brought 2 up to the stage for a trivia contest and it provided a few yucks. She ended with her big hit "Sensitive New Age Guy" and invited all the men onstage to sing along. As I said silly but entertaining.

When you road trip two hours to see a show on a Tuesday night you had better fucking get your money’s worth. Well, if watching a grown man mutilate himself with thumbtacks and barbwire while bleeding profusely for most of the night is your idea of worth it, then WMFO is your new band.

Not only have these boys from St. Louis successfully combined a classic hardcore punk/metal sound with catchy lyrics that would make French hooker blush, but they somehow pull off a live show that on the surface could be mistaken for a bad WWF (ala Nick Foley) rip-off. With lyrics only a molested altar boy could write, front man Capt.

Perverto belted out song after song while systematically smashing his face and body up with various instruments such as a cheese grater, thumbtacks, a crown of barbed wire, and the occasional fluorescent light bulb.

Opening the set in Sacramento at Music on the Y, WMFO ripped through new hits like “Who Gives a Shit”, ”Playground Pussy,” and “Mind Fuck” from their latest album, Desensitivity Training (2007 Black & Blue Records). During “This Bloods For You”, sung to the tune of This Bud’s for You, no sooner did I blink than the Capt. did a face plant on to the concrete floor littered with fresh thumb tacks. On his knees he shouts the chorus as the blood gushes from his forehead.

Some laughed, some gasped, but not a person moved.

The set thundered forward with our dive-bar Jesus inviting the audience to take their punches, kicks, fluids, as he presented himself around the room to the tune of “Bar Fight”. One of the surprises of the evening, “Teenage Cunt”, came off as one of the best songs of the night with guys and gals alike chanting the perverted chorus loud and proud as the mic was offered. No one turned him down, but I can bet everyone took an extra long shower when they got home.

The hits kept coming with anthems “Mindfuck”; “I punched her in the head and fucked her”; “you wouldn’t be hungry if you lived in the USA” from “Hungry For the USA”, which was dedicated to the starving kids around the world.

WMFO has solidified their place in the Scum Rock hall of shame. I dare say they have re-invented it with songs that are offensive, funny, and expertly performed. I expected to see a freak show and was blown away by a great fucking show that highlighted punk, metal, and rock n roll. – Jeff and Alex (See the CD review in this issue.)

Maria of WWE WWE Providence, RI January 26, 08 The time is approximately 7:20 PM as the pig enters the Dunkin Blonuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island, anticipating a fun night of WWE wrestling. It's the day before the big Rumble so the house show card should theoretically reflect the upcoming PPV in some regard, shouldn't it? I guess we'll soon see......

Teddy Long comes out to the ring and promises "the greatest super show in the history of the WWE". I nearly blow out my vocal chords before the show even begins as I scream "Peanut Head!!! Peanut Head!!!!" Teddy doesn't appreciate my support.

Holly & Rhodes take on Carlito & Santino. What?!?!?! No Maria???? And the winner of the match is "Who the fuck cares, there's no Maria!!!!!"

Tommy Dreamer beats that ECW black dude with the beads in his hair. Yeah, I should know his name but I'm pretty blown out right now and I'm writing this up from memory so cut me some slack.

I think Mark Henry decimates Little Guido next. One thing's for sure, this card is really sucking so far.

CM Punk beats Chavo Guerrero to win a spot in the Rumble tomorrow night. Big whooop!!!

I think it's intermission next. If I forgot a match or two don't worry about it. That first part of the show blew some major chunks. I head to the lobby for a much needed coffee coolada!!!

Okay, I get back to my seat just in time to see HHH beat Umaga in a cage match. As HHH poses on the top of the cage I flip him off big time. The pussy looks right at me too but he

doesn't do a damn thing because he knows better than to mess with the pig.

Alright, finally something worth seeing. It's "Best Body" contest time and out comes Maria, Layla and Kelly Kelly.

Thanks to my extremely loud whistles and my ear splitting squeals, Maria gets the upset victory. Kelly Kelly's pouting but I don't care because I'm focused on Maria's tight little caboose. Oh shit, here comes Beth Phoenix!!! In person, she's way bigger than the other three girls. Layla bails as Beth easily takes out Kelly Kelly & Maria. As she's posing with Candice's title belt, Maria & Kelly Kelly recover enough to sneak up from behind and pull Beth's tights down around her ankles. I have a flash back to a previous house show where Ric Flair's brown eye was literally winkin' at the guy right next to me. ***shiver*** I really didn't need to see this or that!!!!

It was supposed to be JBL vs Y2J and then in the main event, a three way title bout between Orton, Hardy and Mysterio but Rey Rey's a no show so they book a tag match instead, Orton & JBL vs Y2J & Hardy. I hang around long enough to get Jericho's attention with my "KYJ" chants and then I sneak out early to beat the traffic.

In summation, the ring was small and the card was lame but the beer was cold, the weed was strong and Maria had a really nice butt so it wasn't all bad. – JV

ROB ZOMBIE 12/4/08 Pepsi Center, Denver, CO Well let me just start out saying "WHAT A SHOW". If you like Fire, Girls, and loud music, this is the show for you.

The audience was getting all pumped up for their hero Rob Zombie, and began chanting “Zombie! Zombie!” as Pantera blasted from the speakers. It was 10 P.M as background music of Dr. Hook's "Cover Of The Rolling Stone” blared, and smoke began to fill the stage. The stage props featured skeleton heads, and voodoo dolls and candles. Pandemonium broke loose as Rob Zombie and his band that features guitar virtuoso John 5, bass player Blasko, and ex Ted Nugent and Alice Cooper drummer Tommy Clufetos took the stage. All of the members of the band looked like they were part of the Ku Klux Klan donning skeleton masks and hats during the opening song, "American Witch." Curvaceous go-go dancers kept a beat that was accentuated by continuous bursts of flame whole the curvaceous go-go dancers kept a beat that was accentuated by continuous bursts of flame. Zombie performed an energized, very animated show to a sold out crowd of faithful Zombie followers. I can't wait to see him again. This is a must see concert. - Army Of One

CD Reviews 36 CRAZYFISTS – The Tide and Its Takers (Ferret Music) Alaskan Jackie Chan enthusiasts bent on originality. An enthusiastic, talented, and hard-working band who deserves some recognition. After their performance at the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival, they may have already arrived. – KC See interview in this issue.

46BLISS – Wish Me Away (Pistachio Records) Original music from this trio, who can’t be dismissed as simply ‘electronic pop.’ The spiritual quality of Clare Venoit’s vocals and the haunting lyrics of, say, “All Over Now,” create a much more poetic and creative element than the phrase includes. - CC A 750 ML AFFAIR (Kettle Black Records) Alt-rock with fascinatin’ rhythms.

“American Dream” concerns the failure of same, while “Fine” is a sarcastic exploration of what you tell everyone when it’s not, in fact, fine. The title track deals with alcoholism and addiction. Emotionally relentless, yet strangely interesting as a whole. – RK THE ABSENCE – Riders of the Plague (Metal Blade Records) Melodic thrash death metal if you must know. This album includes a cover of Testament’s “Into the Pit,” and if you like Testament you’ll love The Absence. – CC ADEMA – Kill The Headlights (Adema Music) I was immediately interested by the title, Kill The Headlights, because it reminded me of a Beck lyric (“…and put it in neutral”). Tight and memorable tunes, particularly “Waiting For Daylight.” But is it punk or is it metal? You decide. – KH AEON – Rise To Dominate (Metal Blade Records) Catchy guitar riffs and technical expertise mark this Swedish outfit. A very tight band on the CD, and said to be brutal live. Diverse songs, including “Luke 4:5-7,” referring to the Book of Luke’s passage on the temptation of Jesus. I think they’re serious about this domination thing. - CC

AMERICAN STEEL – Destroy Their Future (Fat Wreck Chords) A nice offering from a band that’s been quiet too long. Still pushing the envelope of what qualifies as punk – well this does. A punk rocker. - CC AMPLIFIED HEAT – How Do You Like the Sound of That (Arclight Records) 3 brothers whose work is blueslike, then poppy at times. “She Drank That Wine” in particular sounds like some of Jimi’s stuff. Then Jimi meets Iggy and they boogie on the title cut. Keep it up.

- dB ANCIENT PISTOL – Bear Hill Phenomenon: An Atom Age Soundscape Oh my god I thought they were tuning up when the CD started but I think they were just playing an out of tune guitar. Why? The drum machine helps I guess but I am not getting this. At all. - CC ARIEL APARICIO – All These Brilliant Things (Devious Planet) Sides one and two? Is that an instruction on how to view the order and placement of the songs? “Hang Around” is a little inscrutable. Should I hang around or not? I prefer “Jameson and Cocaine” with its crashing down drums and cymbals. Not symbols.

“Down In Tijuana” has cool percussion too. Overall an interesting original effort. Keep going, I wanna see what’s next. - xoxo ARTHURKILL – The Pain (OnTop Entertainment) My favorite song on this CD is a cover of “Come Together.” I prefer it to the original Beatles version. That being said, these guys – from Staten Island come on strong at all times with guitar-driven original music and hardhitting lyrics. - KH JOSEPH ASHLEY – Concerto and Rhapsody (Mia Mind Music) Now for something completely different. Whether with an orchestra or piano accompaniment, Ashley plays the harmonica for straight – and beautifully. His playing takes the harmonica and the music seriously, showcasing the versatility of the sounds he can make with it. Some George Gershwin tunes add to the fun,

including my favorite cut “The Man I Love.” - RiP AYO – Joyful (Interscope) Ayo sings acoustic soul a la Sade, but also composes, and plays guitar and piano. Delicate and honest songs sung in a lovely and surprisingly deep voice.

– KH BABY ELEPHANT – Turn My Teeth Up! (Godforsaken Music) After a brief spacey intro, the second cut “Baby Elephants N Thangs,” starts with clear piano notes and dissolves into flute and an incomprehensible voice-over. “Cool Runnins,” a reggae number, is a welcome change of pace on the album. “Crack Addicts In Love” is, obviously, a love song. Some very subtle maracas in the background made me wonder if my car was falling apart, which I actually enjoyed very much. The title cut “Turn My Teeth Up” is interesting and varied with lots of unexpected percussion. It’s all strange, cool, and different. Put that on yer ring tone and smoke it. – JR SEBASTIAN BACH – Angel Down (Get Off My Bach Productions/MRV/Caroline/EMI) Rocking metal from this guy who gets around, fa sure. This album has the dread Axl Rose contributing vocals on a cover of Aerosmith’s “Back In the Saddle,” and two other cuts.

“Bitchslap” is a powerfully delivered ‘love is a bitch, bitch’ type of tirade.

Interestingly, the cover art is by Bach’s late father, David Bierk, famous in his own right. It’s called – get ready for it – “David Watching.” Brrr. - CC THE BANGKOK FIVE – We Love What Kills Us (Long Live Crime Records) A 5-song sampler. The actual album has I don’t know how many songs, with Spanish versions of tunes included. It’s about LA, including the Latino culture that pierces the banality of that la la city. “Straight Fell Off” would be great in Spanish. The vocals on that song remind me a little of Ad Frank. That’s not a bad thing! “For The Haters” is a bit like Sublime, energyand guitar-wise. And that’s not a bad thing either. - KC

BALZAC – Deep Blue: Chaos From Darkism (Misfits Records) Misfits-inspired horror rock and Japanese punk exemplified by such offerings as “Horrorock” and “Ziggy Stardust.” They have opened for the Misfits and toured with the Circle Jerks, among many others. Includes a horrifying bonus DVD, and you really need to see the visuals to get the essence of this band. An exciting episode in the horror punk genre. - KH

BLACK TIDE – Light From Above (Interscope) Fresh thrashy anthems like “Shout” and “Let Me,” as well as a faithful rendition of “Hit The Lights,” make this one not to be missed. You don’t need to know this, but it’s amazing that the leader of this band is 14 years old – and the band’s been together 4 years already! Whoah. Very good music. KH

CINDER ROAD – Superhuman (Caroline Records) A nice mix of 11 all-original rousing anthems and rock ballads. – A Pos JEFF COFFEY – Long Way Home (SmokeTree Records) The album taken as a whole is kind of a homey and caring autobio of a singer-songwriter who’s in a good place and shows it. Specifically “Long Way Home,” about the journey to that place. Upbeat and comforting pop. CC THE COKE DARES – Feelin’ Up (Essay Records / Reibenbach Records) Chaotic music like any garage band, recalling Richard Hell and the Voidoids, VOX and the like. Mildly entertaining. KZ

BEHOLD (beholdband.com) A mélange of rhythm guitar, melodic bass, artsy punk, and general alternative-ness. The founding members got their guitar player on Craig’s List – no seriously. But he is a Berklee graduate so it’s OK. They got the drummer there too. Wide-ranging, artistic, and very cosmopolitan. - KH THE BIRTHDAY MASSACRE – Looking Glass (Metropolis Records) Long-standing rockers provide new tracks, remixes, and 1 cover. I’m sorry but I love covers. “I Think We’re Alone Now” is as amazing as advertised, and almost makes me forget about Lena Lovich‘s spooky version of the Shondells hit. Worth checking out for that song alone. – KH

BLAQK AUDIO – CexCells (Interscope) The vocalist sounds like U2’s Bono, but the music is of course completely different. Electronica, synth- and software-heavy music from AFI’s Puget and Havoc. This is completely different from AFI’s synth-pop efforts, and apparently something that Puget has been percolating for years. I consider this some of the more interesting electronic music being created now. CC

NAT KING COLE – The Spanish Remixes (MVD Audio) Nat King Cole sings 12 songs in Spanish. Recorded in and remixed in ’07. An old Chilean folk song “Yo Vendo Unos Ojos Negros” is pretty but also funny – it means “I have two black eyes for sale.” Although he died in 1965, the songs are remixes from several 1990 and 1991 releases of songs he apparently recorded in 19591962. Nice stuff, but you gotta admit this guy’s released more stuff since his death than TuPac! - KC COUNTING CROWS – Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings (Geffen Records) The CD itself looks like a vinyl record.

This is totally appropriate because the CD has 6 songs for Saturday nights, and 8 songs for Sunday mornings, with different producers. “1492” has squealing guitars and feedback along with the strong, distinctive vocals of Dan Vickrey. Thoughtful lyrics sung loud, such as when plinky guitar lures you into “Hanging Tree” and then starts smashing and thrashing. Splendid. – KC

BLACKLIST UNION – Breakin Bread With the Devil (BLU Records) The angst, anger and raw sexuality of these guys’ guitar playing and, especially, the lyrics, reflect the squalidity (?) and beauty of Hollywood life. Escapist songs and songs about healing. This bread’s for U. - CC

CHARLOTTE SOMETIMES (Geffen) Indie folk with an edge on this catchy debut. “How I Could Just Kill A Man” uses some of Cypress Hill’s words against them. And to misquote an old punk song, “She’s got a right.” – KH

CRASH ROMEO – Gave Me the Clap (Trustkill Records) Poppy and energetic vocals with mainly dance type tunes. “Better Off in Jersey” in particular is fun and aggressive. – KH

Warhols feel to it at first, but changes to a more anthemic showcase for Ms. Sparks’ talents. Donita Sparks, formerly of L7, puts forth an excellent effort with this, her newest band. Pick it up! - KH

CRAVING LUCY (Riker Hill Records) Strong vocally and musically. I really enjoyed this album, but the publicity photo looks like they’re in Pawtucket (The Bucket) RI. If so, they wanna get out I’m sure. - MTC SHERYL CROW – Detours (Interscope/A&M Records) Topical. From the homey acoustic opener to rocking numbers like “Love Is Free,” she’s got it goin’ on with this CD. I like the Robert Plant-like percussion in “(if we could only get) Out Of Our Heads.” “Make It Go Away,” about her bout with breast cancer, is touchingly honest. Plus, even a blind man can tell she’s hot! BB DEF LEPPARD – Songs From The Sparkle Lounge (Bludgeon Riffola Limited) The Sparkle Lounge is the backstage area from Def L’s 2006 tour. “Nine Lives” (wasn’t that an Aerosmith tour?) is the single but if this is DL’s 9th life I would have to say that’s enough outta you. “C’Mon C’Mon” is also kinda lame compared to the expected rockingness. Yuh they were commercial before but this is redonkulous. - xxo DEL THE FUNKY HOMOSAPIEN - 11th Hour (Definitive Jux) Del is back solo. The first cut, uninvitingly titled “Raw Sewage,” showcases a more simplified rap style, but it just doesn’t do anything for me.

- KH DESTROY EVERYTHING – Freedom Of Speech Means Talk Is Cheap (Tent City Records) “True Believer” and “No Punk Intended” are representative cuts displaying the angsty Destroy Everything ethos. Talk is cheap. Check it out your own self, it’s worth a look.

– CC

DIRTY HARRY – Songs From The Edge (Worldwide Entertainment Group) If Dirty Harry’s “Frayed At The Edges” music video is any indication, she is a dirty girl. Partial lyric: “All my friends are sluts or junkies.” It’s a real rocker and looks like a GOOD show. - TDS

DUSTY RHODES AND THE RIVER BAND – First You Live (SideOneDummy) “Keys to the Truck” has un-mellow, rough country-style vocals and harmonies, rather poorly performed.

“Grampa Mac,” on the other hand, is a slow, melodious ballad about Kyle Divine’s great grandpa. A true story about a family skeleton, and it’s the best of the lot. – KH EDENBRIDGE – The Chronicles of Eden (Locomotive Records) A 2-CD set with new songs, bonus tracks, and rarities on disc 1 and bestof songs, chosen by their fans, on CD 2. Very heavy and moving, particularly the smashing “Anthem” and “The Grand Design.” - LB EGYPT CENTRAL (Fat Lady Music) This is their polished and remixed CD. “You Make Me Sick” is a sick single, and “Over and Under” was featured on the WWE movie The Condemned.

Positive energy for the fans. - LB

THE DOLLYROTS – Because I'm Awesome (Blackheart Records) Infectious pop-punk with a polished CEDAR STREET SLUTS sound. Speaking of polish, I'd like to squeeze off a little boy butter on that lead singer. I'd pick her up like a bowling ball and roll her all the way to... (clears throat).

Anyway, this shit's pretty good. 13 sexalicious songs. - JV DORM SESSIONS 5 (Heavy Rotation Records) Varied and uneven. 10 artists with 2 tracks each but for me “So Small” is the standout cut. Electronic fusion music with fun percussion from Black Tea. - TDS DONITA SPARKS & THE STELLAR MOMENTS - Transmiticate (SparksFly) Comes on bangin’ with “Fly Feather Fly,” and on to the appropriately titled “Dare Dare;” kind of a dark pop dance rock feel pervades the album. “Infancy of a Disaster” has a bit of a Dandy

ELBOW – The Seldom Seen Kid (Fiction/Geffen Records) UK accented with an inexplicably prophetic sound. The single, “Grounds for Divorce,” Reminds me of Yes with Phil Collins. Interesting music, great album title. - KH ENTER SHIKARI – Take To The Skies (Ambush Reality) Like putting your face in a running electric fan. Gutsy and berserk hardcore screamo – or is it ‘violent house music’?. Defies description. The cuts “Sorry, you’re not a winner” and “OK, time for plan B” are representative of this band’s Bad Attitude. Intense, among many other adjectives. - KH EVERY TIME I DIE – The Big Dirty (Ferret Music) Apocalyptic insanity from the amazing beast of melodic hardcore. “INRIhab” is a little different from the other cuts – guess that’s where the melodic part comes in. Some clever titles and lyrics, as in “Rendez-Voodoo.” - RR

DAVID FAGIN – For Promotional Use Only (Noshpit Entertainment) The Rosenbergs’ singer-songwriter has produced a major departure from his previous band work. It’s more based personal experiences, particularly “The Goddess Of Nothing.” Mellow rock on, Fagin. - KR FATAL FLYING GUILLLOTEENS – Quantum Fucking (Frenchkiss Records) Whoa cacophony thy name is Fatal Flying Guilloteens. “The First Act Of Violence” was the first cut to assault my ears, but sadly yes it was only the first. The title of “The Siren” cut is spot on. Ouch, ouch. - CC SLIM FATZ – The Original Slim (Aladdin Entertainment Recordings) His sandpaper voice tells us of a gritty life, spelled out in Delta blues music.

Poignant songs with great slide guitar and true feeling. - CC

50 CENT – Curtis (Shady Records/ Aftermath/Interscope/ G Unit/Violator) Using Dr. Dre and Eminem, 50 Cent’s latest also has guests including Mary J. Blige and Young Buck. Fiddy has the same confidence as always, and he shows his roots (personally, not musically) in the title cut “Curtis.” Cuz he’s really Curtis Jackson III. Like he says, a survivor – musically and personally. Hot. - MTC THE FLATLINERS – The Great Awake (Fat Wreck Chords) Encompassing punk rock, reggae, and regular rock with powerful sound and some good lyrics too. An impressive effort overall. - TK

FIXER – Before The Sun (Riker Hill Records) This is a fun modern punk album. 11 cuts including the very long “Tuxedo.”

My favorite is “Hillbilly Heroin” – with a title like that how could you not listen?

Second is the more straightforward and melodic “Mixing In With My Blood,” which could also be called “Good Boy”.

Are you sure this is their first release?

Very interesting. - KH FOGHAT – Live II (Locomotive Records) This 2-disc set includes Foghat faves like “Drivin’ Wheel” and “Slow Ride,” as well as “Take Me To The River,” a tune that I associate with The Talking Heads, but which always reminds me of that singing fish on The Sopranos. But I digress. Anyway it’s Foghat but I don’t think it’s the original vocalist from back in the day. For pre-existing fans, mainly. - ab

THE FRATELLIS - Costello Music (CherryTreeRecords) 10CC pop with a mild punk attitude.

Just a hint of surf overtones thrown in for good measure. Very well produced and surprisingly enjoyable considering I generally have no use whatsoever for anything even remotely pop. Track four is bordering on ANT music. They might wanna watch that in the future. 13 melodious mixes. - JV

FROM FIRST TO LAST (Interscope) An angry band, and bitter. (Bit him too.) Likely this is based on their age and testosterone count. I’d like to call it Bitey Garage Pop – count your fingers after ejecting the disc. – KC

FUNERAL DRESS – Hello From The Underground (SOS Records) Pasteurized punk-rock with a Celtic influence. Where's the edge? I think these guys are too talented to be playing punk. They should shift to either straight ahead hard rock or pure Celtic folk where they might actually stand out from the crowd. 13 over processed picks. - JV

THE GHOULS - Stand Alone (SOS Records) PeterPan punk that's more creamy than crunchy. If there's such a thing as elevator punk then this is it. 12 emasculated tracks. - JV GOOD RIDDANCE – Remain In Memory The Final Show (Fat Wreck Chords) Loud, fast and angsty. 31 cuts, mostly short, like old school punk. Good stuff and a great live recording. – CC

FUELED BY FIRE – Spread The Fire (Metal Blade Records) With a title cut called “Ernest Goes To Hell,” how can you not listen to it?

Unexpectedly, it’s an instrumental. Still rocks though. I recommend “Betrayal” as the most harsh and heartfelt raging spewage. - BS

THE GRIP WEEDS – House Of Vibes Revisited (Ground Up Records) Retro pop with a message. Includes remixes and some demos of songs, along with the finished versions. Put it in your PC while online to see more pix, hear interviews, etc. Catchy at times, recalling the Who and the Beatles. - JR

GUARDS OF METROPOLIS – Alligator (Slackertone Records) Melodic pop rock from Norway and California. Unnecessary at best. - TDS

KING DUST – Full Denim Jacket (Maggadee Records) Mind-shredding vocals and no cutesy stuff. “High Road To Hell,” in particular, makes full use of the dual Les Pauls’ attack on your senses. Incidentally bass player Dan Cav, who lost his leg in a freak accident while he stood on a sidewalk, now has a titanium leg and is more metal than ever! - KC

GOLDFINGER – Hello Destiny (SideOneDummy) Peppy ska punk. “Get Up” is a very Sublime-esque offering, both vocally and rhythmically. “Goodbye” has a more original sound, still ska punk, but more personal lyrically as well.

Definitely worth a listen. - KC HERMANO – …Into The Exam Room (Regain Records) A heavy rock outfit that does songs about regular life as they know it.

“Bona-Fide.” The title says it all.

Surprisingly, band members recorded their separate tracks in separate cities.

– KH THE HIVES – The Black and White Album (A&M/Octone Records) From Sweden comes this CD of loud riffy guitars and snazzy punk rock. The addition of bass line is a big improvement for this band; it’s really really good. “Giddy Up!”. - KH IGGY POP – Live In San Francisco 1981 (MVD Audio) You can get this as a DVD so let’s begin by saying I recommend that - even though the video is minimal the performance and the clothing are classic. This CD features 2 unreleased tracks produced by Cars legend (at least in Boston) Ric Ocasek in 1983 and that may be a reason for Iggy completists like me to buy this (but I didn't). And that’s really it except that the CD is screwed up not giving you the cuts as listed. After track 5, track 6 begins the show all over again instead of “Bang Bang.” Then all is as listed on tracks 13 and 14 which are the unreleased ones “Fire Engine” and “Warrior Tribe”. Neither song is more than a B side with “Warrior Tribe” being the better to me. If the CD wasn't more than an afterthought to whomever put together the master (unless press copies are intentionally defective). – KZ JUICEHEAD – The Devil Made Me Do It (Misfits Records) Chicago punk powerhouse with de rigeur distorted guitars. Of great social and political import, and a bit like Operation Ivy. Truly punk. - CC

JIMMY EAT WORLD – Chase This Light (Interscope) After so many albums, it’s refreshing that Jimmy Eat World is still growing, gaining in confidence and presence, and not losing its enthusiasm and momentum. The anthemic “Electable (Give It Up)” is actually irresistible. I thought they were singing “Turn It Up” – so I did. “Gotta Be Somebody’s Blues” is also a standout, with sinuous rhythms and a creepy sound. “Pick It Up.” – KH JISTORAY – Hollywood (Humble Town Records) Folk rock that breaks into jazz like a baseball game turned physical. The dugouts empty and all heck breaks loose. Pretty funky. Check out my favorite, “Secretariat” – saddle up (but please don’t cowboy up). – KH

KENNA – Make Sure They See My Face (Interscope) A search for identity from this I-shouldbe-a-star-already strainer and striver. ”Out Of Control” uses the Ramone’s lyrics to express some of this singersongwriter’s disillusionment, but also his determination. A genre-defying mix of pop tunes. – CC

KIM KLINE (Kim Kline Music) An excellent singer, songwriter and performer with piss and vinegar as well as rock and roll in her blood. “Sick Reality” and “Hush Lullaby” are two sides of the same coin; her spontaneous and emotion-driven words and performances. Truly artistic. - KH KOS ATLANTIS - Hymns For Disco (Virgin Records) The first track opens with some formulaic scratch, closely followed by the lyrics "OK, it's about to go down...".

Yeah, right down the shitter and out onto the reject pile. Forced white boy rock-rap crap ala DEEE-LITE without the hip female vocals. 14 forgettable flops. - JV

KULA SHAKER - Strange Folk (Cooking Vinyl) Six years ago Kula Shaker were beginning to be a well known act. This band of strict vegetarians who had an element of mysticism and eastern spirituality in their music were on a roll and shortly after the second CD Pigs, Peasants & Astronauts in 1999 they disbanded. Lead singer, guitarist Crispian Mills was recording some new music and asked his former bandmates to try it out; the reunion came to fruition. The CD is a more refined effort than before. The smooth progressive pop draws you in from the opening track “Out On The Highway” to the bonus track “Super CB Operator” that concludes it. My favorite is “Song Of Love/Narayana” with a nice Hindu sound that reminded me of Govinda off their debut CD "K". How can you not get into “Dictator Of The Free World” with the catchy "I'm a dic, I'm a dic, I'm a dic, I'm a dictator" start to the chorus? I hope to catch them live before they break up again! - DB

JUSTIN LANNING – Behind These Eyes (King George Records) First of all No, the single “Take My Breath Away” is not a cover of the ubiquitous 1970s Air Supply hit.

The background on each song is interesting – for example, on “Without You,” boy meets girl on tour, boy loses girl due to geographical distance issues… and writes another song.

Emotive and heartfelt. – CC LEO - Nightmares (DreamMakers Music) Sad and hopeful songs. The title cut and the single “Chemical Cell” share a theme of escape-in-a-good-way, freeing yourself from various nightmares. Many tracks have some awesome drumming by Chad Szaliga, now with Breaking Benjamin. - TDS LILLIAN AXE – Waters Rising (Locomotive Records) The cover shows a tea party with the mad hatter and friends. The first couple of songs remind me a little of Deo. Hmm. Make that a lot. The acoustic cut “I Have To Die, Goodbye” shows more variation and interest. Trippy. – dB LINWOOD – Burn Effect (Waxsaw Records) From rock to folk balladry, including a mélange of mediocrity like a sub sub Sponge. - MTC THE LOVED ONES – Build & Burn (Fat Wreck Chords) Joyful pop punk (no not in a religious way). Loudfast straightforward pop punk. I know they hate labels and are more motivated about touring than about making albums, but how does “the new Smashmouth” sound? No offense. – KH LVX COLLECTIVE – 50.5.10 (Green Tea) The debut album of Dave Harrow (of Jah Wobble and other fame) and vocalist Zen(The Visionaries Crew, Writers Block). An interesting variety of genres including old-school Dub (“Days Like These”), soul (“Expressions,” with Azul), and rock (“Shining.”) Rawther impressive. – CC MILLENCOLIN – Machine 15 (Epitaph) Fifteen tracks of classic poppunk with a sense of humor. “Turnkey Paradise” is about playing it safe, but Millencolin isn’t. KH

JONAH MATRANGA – And (Limekiln Records) A nice, homey feel with pleasant vocals and skillful guitar. Well crafted and not without surprises, such as the wistful love lost song “You Always Said You Hated San Francisco.” The lyric continues, “with all the fucking flowers in their hair.” See? - KH JOHN MCBAIN – The In-Flight Feature (Expansion Team Records) The 1st cut is “The Underwater Pornographer’s Assistant,” and it sounds very liquid. Others have airplane or spaceship sounds, continuing the flight theme. (Also some cuts with guitar music that doesn’t sound like flight.) In-Flight is right; this is way out there, without vocals to explain it or anchor it. Includes 3 tracks not on the original release. Weird and moody. - CC

M.I.A. – Kala (Interscope) Electrifying music from a woman who likes cars (Thunderbird, Cadillac), but doesn’t drive. (Does she roller skate?)

The same ‘but’ does not apply to her song “Boyz,” and a ringtone of same is included with this CD. Her politically opinionated hip-hop hits at everyone from Bush to Interscope. You can also dance to it. Recommended. - KH

MEAT BEAT MANIFESTO – Autoimmune (Metropolis Records) Melodies and dance beats from outer space. Political songs with progressive beat sounds. - CC MELDRUM – Blowin’ Up the Machine (Locomotive Records) Metal rockin’ bitches out for a good time. Special guest appearance from Motorhead’s Lemmy. A talented group indeed. - KH MESS ANGER – Black House Mess (Thorns’N Nails Music) Emotional and spiritual. “My Voodoo Doll” is my favorite because it’s, like, an in-your-face regression to that immediate method of exorcising personal pain. Guitar-driven and powerful. Recommended. - dB

THE MILWAUKEES – American Anthems Vol. I (City Desk Records) These really are American anthems.

“Highway To The Sun” invokes a trip to California, palm trees etc., and all the hope and possibility - and disillusionment - that trip implies.

Guitarist Jeff Nordstedt was interviewed

by Jeff Longo in issue 44; check it out too. With this album, The Milwaukees are coming of age. – KH

JAMES MORRISON - Undiscovered (Interscope Records) Mellow Motown pop, complete with full blown orchestral arrangements. I suggest Jimmy try his luck at American Idol. While his range is a bit limited, he makes up for it with gritty intensity. 11 laid back tracks. - JV MUDVAYNE –

By The People, For The People (Epic) “Dull Boy” and a cover of The Police’s “King Of Pain” enliven this latest offering from Mudvayne. These 2 cuts are a little out of the ordinary compared to their live concert fare. Different therefore good. – KH

MUSTASCH – Latest Version of the Truth (Regain Records) Already known in Europe, Mustasch released their first CD on their latest label. Powerful guitar with the addition of strings makes it interesting, more rock than metal perhaps. – dB

MUSCLES – Guns Babes Lemonade (Modular) The first cut, “Sweaty,” is a headbanger. “My Friend Richard,” my favorite, sounds like RUN-DMC if they were Australian. Dance music with a rap sensibility. - KH

THE OLD HAUNTS – Poisonous Times (Kill Rock Stars) Sludgy garage rock with heartfelt punky urgency. - TDS

THE MYRIAD With Arrows, With Poise (Koch Records) From a title that evoked a favorite childhood memory (the bangalicious “Grandfather Clock”) to a title invoking what is possibly my worst fear (the boniging resonance of “Stuck In A Glass Elevator”), some really diverse cuts.

Intriguing variety. - KH MYSTIC PROPHECY – Satanic Curses (Locomotive Records) Fast satanic metal and mid-tempo satanic metal. You also get a fairly faithful version of “Paranoid,” with heavy guitar riffs. Metallic to the max! CC NEW YOUNG PONY CLUB – Fantastic Playroom (Modular) The single “Ice Cream” is rude but cute.

UK disco pop that you can also listen to sober. - dB NO USE FOR A NAME – The Feel Good Record Of The Year (Fat Wreck Chords) These guys from San Jose are crazy. “I Want To Be Wrong” is just one example. 14 bouncy new songs This studio album may be their best yet.

Yes, I think it is aptly named. - TDS

OF HEARTS AND SHADOWS – Touching Base With A Chainsaw (Tyburn Records) This strikes me as a strange choice for the band’s name, but whatever. Thrash metal with generally throat-straining lead vocals. There are sparks of variation in the background harmonies, though, and they make this band more promising than the usual offerings from ThrashLand. - CC

ONEREPUBLIC – Dreaming Out Loud (Interscope) I guess dreaming out loud worked this time – the band had a hit song before they released their first CD. “Apologize” is smooth and pretty and, yes, it definitely has a dreamy quality.

- CC ONLY NOW EXISTING – Escape Artist (Vision Records) All original songs and a video of “Instinct” in this follow-up to Voodoo Doll. Philosophical and danceable; despite the orchestration, it grows on you. - KC OPETH – The Roundhouse Tapes (Peaceville Records) This 2-CD set was recorded at the peak of the Ghost Reveries tour, and it’s a nice group of tight, sometimes thundering, sometimes haunting (like “Windowpane”), metal melodies.

Unfortunately, The Powers That Be – the maniacs responsible - whoever they are – decided that they would put an annoying beep, as if a word was being censored, approximately every 90 seconds throughout both CDs. I understand that the intent is to remove any resale value, but the beeps made it very distracting and hard to listen to. I kept waiting for the beep so I could leave a message.

Otherwise it would have been nice to listen to - again and again, actually. – TDS

ORESKABAND (Terry Dollar Records) As seen at Warped. Cool dance music from Japan. 6 Japanese teens who met in middle school and decided to form a band. Exciting and energetic. Not to mention cute. – dB OTEP – The Ascension (Koch Records) Poetic heavy metal – with the only ‘out’ lesbian frontperson in metal. If you’re not familiar with this band, “Perfectly Flawed” is a good example of the poetic side of Otep. Check out this unique offering; they exceed their reputation. Sugar Cookie

THE PIPETTES – We Are The Pipettes (Cherrytree/Interscope Records) “It Hurts To See You Dance So well” is fun, Brit-pop in a 50’s style. A bit reminiscent of Kirsty MacColl (“Boy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He’s Elvis”), but with more beat. Good and fun. - KH PORTUGAL THE MAN – Church Mouth (Fearless Records) “Bottom” is my pick of these 12 cuts because it has the most percussive rhythm. In contrast the title cut is faster and simpler and just not what I wanted from P the M. Enjoyable overall – you can hear his talent and dedication. - MTC PRONG – Power Of The Damager (Megaforce Records) Powerful and hard hitting, particularly the crazed title cut. Theyre baaack! RiP THE QUEERS – CBGB OMFUG Masters: Live February 23, 2003 The Bowery Collection (MVD Audio) It starts with a cover of “Rockaway Beach,” which is always fun, and then it goes on with 30 more punk cuts, mostly rude but what do you expect? If you need more Queers in your life, this one’s for you, bud! – RiP

RAT WAKES RED – Energy Garage (Rat Disk) This 4-song EP is poppy and spacey.

Look out for their full length CD. You also get a DVD of “Anyway Now,” originally released on their Horizon Drops CD. Interesting! – LB THE RESIDENTS - The Bunny Boy (Santa Dog Records) For those of you unfamiliar with this band, you may find it to be kind of like King Missile performing “Tubular Bells”.

But no, this is the Residents. They’ve sounded like this for quite some time minimalistic music and twisted sociopathic ramblings of a confused form of consciousness –in this installment minus the usual questions for Christianity, The CD booklet threatens a live tour as well as a narrative Internet series. This type of nonsense is exactly what all of you needs. Put down the Hannah Montana and Jonas Brothers stop fantasizing that Madonna is 25, and listen to something creative for a change. One of the darkest tracks is “Pictures from a Little Girl.” A sample of the lyrics: “Large faces covered with scratch marks, kind of like the paper had once been swarming with ants, and she killed them all with her crayons.” - DB REIGN OF PESTILENCEThe Birth Of Failure (Roptopus Records) These brave boys are harshly attacking taboo subjects, first with 4 studio tracks, including “Die Already Michael Jackson,” which is a welcome entry in the poll of public opinion. Then there are 4 live tracks, notably “Prostitute Skinsuit”, with rippling guitar riffs and pounding everything else. But the secret tracks – oh yes. My favorite is a rollicking countryesque song about smoking crystal meth. I think it implies that there is a woman called Crystal Meth who is smokin’ hot. The last cut is also cool; zithery at first, and then some Irish jig-y harmonica. Strange enough to make it worth your while!

Oh yeah, and mine too. - TDS THE REZIDUDES – Welcome To The Suck (Locomotive Records) Fun covers out of this New Hampshire band. Includes songs that were good (“Come Dancing,” for example) but mostly covers of songs that we all hated (Jenny 867-5309) by the time the radio folks were done playing them. More punk than metal, like the Gimmees but more raw. East Coast, as

apposed to California, I guess. My favorite is “Runaway,” mostly for the fast and sloppy “Why, why, why, why why” chorus. Yes I repeat it’s fun. - KH ROBYN (Konichiwa/Cherrytree/ Interscope Records) This petite Swedish pop bombshell can rap threateningly in her cute unaccented English, as in “Konichiwa Bitches,” and then do what you might call hard pop vocals in “Who’s That Girl” (which is not a cover). There are also some sad ballads, but the best is the bangin stuff noted above. Fresh. – RiP

a variety of subject matter as well, from hobbies to war. Neat. - RiP THE SAMMUS THEORY – See (It) Through (OCI Records) From the packaging, I was totally expecting some bad ass grindcore or rancid death metal but, unfortunately, their sound is more like generic softcore METALLICA, much better suited for a wrestler’s entrance than a mosh pit bout. I'd strongly suggest that they send a copy of this disc to WWE. I hear Snitsky is looking for a new theme song. 14 lukewarm licks. - JV

CARINA ROUND – Slow Motion Addict (Interscope Records) Heavily processed psychedelic punk rock. The vocals are a cross between KATE BUSH and ANA VOOG with just a touch of Annie Lennox inflection thrown in to give it an edge. I know it sounds scary but it's really not. In fact, it's quite enjoyable in a manic sort of way.

The lady's a real looker too. I wanna see her live! 12 trendy tracks. – JV TOM SAVELL – You Just Gotta Love It (Still Fumin’ Records) We got 2 copies so here are 2 opposing reviews: Interesting of a variety of songs, from a couple of Moody Blues covers, including a very nice version of “So Deep Within You,” to a Bobby Vinton number.

There’s also a cute kid playing baseball on the cover – you actually do gotta love it. – MTC

YVETTE ROVIRA – The Art of Attraction (Mia Mind Music) Very danceable. Interestingly, each song on the CD (except the intro) is dedicated to a different zodiac sign.

“Age of Aquarius” has nice piano music, and “Be with Me” has horns punctuating the lyrics. “High Life” introduces some unexpected rap singing from MC Atlas, and “All About You” lets someone know that it’s not all about them. Unique. KH RUNON FRAGMENT – R.F. (myspace.com/runonfragmentsf) A mixture of musical “types” (I’m sick of the word genre) including grunge, metal, and guitar hero style. Three guys, two of them songwriters, provide

It reeks of "GB Band" with of all people, the percussion icon Aynsley Dunbar playing drums on 2 tracks with my favorite being Wayne Shanklin's "Jezebel." Tom has no originals so you get covers of Neil Diamond's "Play Me" and Elvis Presley's "I Can't Help Falling In Love With You." "Please Love Me Forever" is show tune-esque spooge.

The cover design looks so DIY, like the band that practices in your neighbor’s garage. – KZ SEVEN MARY THREE Day&NightDriving (Bellum/Icon) Nice acoustic music. The first cut, “Last Kiss,” begins with the words “You were my first mistake.” Nice associations with other songs, for example the Dandy’s “Last High.” - CC

go right to the master instead. 13 heavily processed ditties. - JV SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO Attack Decay Sustain Release (Interscope) Creative, electro-synth dance music for raves. Put on your Tigger costume and dance it out. - CC

SEMI PRECIOUS WEAPONS – We Love You. (Precious Records) Hot glam-rock from, where else, NYC. Giant bi frontman Justin Tranter has his own jewelry line – guns, braille diamonds, etc. “Magnetic Baby” indeed.

The other 3 are not quite so hot but hey I wouldn’t kick them out of… my private club, either. Plus America needs more glam rock punk with hot frontmen. Recently signed to Razor & Tie Records. Congrats! - KH SHIVAREE - Tainted Love: Mating Calls And Fight Songs (ZOE Records) Cutsie psychedelic retro pop, like Melanie with vocal control. 11 trippy tracks. - JV THE SHOW IS THE RAINBOW Gymnasia (S.A.F. Records) Electronika retardika. It's like The Lost Dick Urine Tapes recorded in a real studio. Catchy like a social disease. I hate that I love it. 12 tantalizing tracks of pure insanity. - JV

THE SLACKERS – Self Medication (Indication Records) Is it reggae? Is it rock? To me it’s like Sublime without the hard drug references, guns and child rape. And yes, that’s a good thing! The title cut, “Self Medication,” has a catchy intro with very nice horns, clever lyrics, and groovin’ backing vocals. “I Don’t Have To” is a bit of a rockabilly rocker with a straightforward yet playful manner. Go Slackers. – KH

Jacksonesque vocals in the background really rub me the wrong way. It could be because I equate that sound with flaming pedophilia. Naaa, it just sucks.

A two song/four track EP. The street tracks are almost indistinguishable from the radio mixes. Oh shit, now I can't get these mealy mouthed songs out of my head. You bastard!!!! - JV SNOOP DOGG – Ego Trippin (Interscope) Gangsta rap and country music coexist comfortably on this CD, just Snoop doing what he feels like doing.

According to interviews, Snoop wants to be thought of a family guy and a gangsta too – but not a killer. And he’s still kickin’ – smart and creative, not just staying relevant but staying – uh, un-shot. Keep it up Dogg. - dB

SLIGHTLY STOOPID – Chronchitis (Slightly Stoopid/Controlled Substance Sound Labs) Acoustic and electric rock with a bluesy reggae feel. It’s all music, right?

Though shouldn’t that be Chronic-itis?

Originally signed by Brad Nowell of Sublime fame. - TDS SMOKE OR FIRE – This Sinking Ship (Fat Wreck Chords) Another Green Day wannabe. More rock-punk than punk-rock. If the album title is referring to their careers then it's aptly named because these guys are going down fast. They're a perfect opening act in a second rate live dive but really not much of an at home CD listen. 12 crash and burn tracks. - JV

SOULJA BOY – Tellem (Interscope) I really enjoyed this CD. With the vocals and nothing else but electronic music, it’s like Devo meets Eminem.

And all those songs about snap that rope and crank this and that – Devo, man. Snappin it. Except for the one where he sings about his shoes, which reminded me of Run DMC (“My Adidas”). That’s a good thing! Makes you dance in your pants. – KC SPIDER ROCKETS – Ever After (Locomotive/Screaming Ferret/RYKO) Helena Cos’s in-your-face vocals, reminiscent of Garbage, are especially effective in “Hate.” The band recently toured with Lillian Axe to ass-kickin’ effect. Looking forward to their next effort. – CC

WALTER SICKERT & THE ARMY OF BROKEN TOYS - 1889 (www.ARMYOFTOYS.com) Psychedelic folk. Walter sings just like Adrian Belew which is a very good thing but sadly the killer Belew guitar is missing. Not bad but I'd much rather

SONA - Man In The Mirror (Imperial Records) Soul Train lite, pop-rap crap with an extremely sing-songy feel. Think Kid Rock on Quaaludes. The Michael

SPiN (spinrocks.com) No more covers for them! This foursome now plays original compositions and is happy to, and with songs like the wistful yet powerful rock ballad “Home” and the synthesized bass on “Playing Dead,” this is the right direction for SPiN. - TDS

ANNA STAFFORD – Staring at the Sky (San Gabriel Music) Beautifully performed violin and cello numbers that have a contemporary sound with a classical feel. All music produced, composed, and arranged by Anna Stafford, who plays violin and keyboard. Truly a new take on violin music from an extremely talented artist. Heavy with feeling, this should appeal to people who don’t like traditional classical music. – KH STEVE STEVENS – Memory Crash (Magna Carta) Mr. Stevens wrote all cuts except “Day Of The Eagle” by Robin Trower. 2 short songs and the rest are all over 5 minutes. I think that’s too long to expect anyone to listen to these selfindulgent guitar riffs. The title cut “Memory Crash” has some interesting melodic moments, however. - KH

JIM STUBBLEFIELD – Guitarra Exotica (Natural Elements Records) Inciendo’s guitarist plays rumba flamenco gypsy guitar music that’s fast and sensual. Makes you wanna watch those fingers fly. More alternative than his work with Inciendo; pretty folky type world music. - CC SUMMER OF LOVE ORAL ARCHIVE – Rock Scully (MVD Audio) Unfortunately, not as entertaining as I expected. Disappointing. – KZ Jr. SUNDAY GIRL – Sick Views for the Greater Cause (self) Introspective songwriting with deep rock roots. This band has since been signed to ThunderCreek. You’ll be hearing from them, I expect. Original and also surprisingly good. - CC

STOBO – Stobology (Fork Tongue Records) The singer combines an emotionless drone a la Lou Reed’s Berlin, with the whininess of say Gordon Gano. That’s good whininess, not like Tom Petty whininess. Overall a kind of pedestrian low key Lou Reed type of experience, which may prove popular with people who haven’t heard Velvet Underground etc. – KH STORMTROOPERS OF DEATH (SOD) – Rise of the Infidels (Megaforce Records) Remember Rev. Horton Heat’s cover of “Stop That Pigeon”? That’s who these guys sound like. Vocal delivery at times like Black Flag, at others more like Circle Jerks. Most of the 24 cuts are from a live performance in Seattle, including many ballads dedicated to various dead musicians. The ballads are all as short as the other songs, and most of these are recognizable licks for each musician, ending with “You’re dead.” “The Ballad of INXS” is my favorite cut. Neat. - RiP STORY OF THE YEAR – The Black Swan (Epitaph) Metal and angst. The single “Wake Up” and others explore social and moral (political?) issues close to the band members’ hearts, taking the band into a new period of musical growth.

Heartfelt. - CC

SWITCHES – Lay Down The Law (Interscope) A catchy, fun listen. I wanted to hate the Switches (“Snakes and Ladders” indeed. Bleedin jickeys.) but it’s catchy catchy music. I wouldn’t call them a pop band, but they certainly have a pop sensibility in their arsenal. - KZ TANGERINE DREAM – Madcap’s Flaming Duty (ZEIT) Always long tracks but with them I don’t mind. Stunning use of the flute.

Also, after 40 years together they have released this, their second album with vocals – yay! Dedicated to Syd Barrett, the title is a reference to his album The Madcap Laughs. - RiP indeed

TESTAMENT – The Formation Of Damnation (Nuclear Blast Records) 1984 strikes again with the new Testament… CD. Very heavy metal with political and spiritual messages. “The Evil Has Landed” is about the twin towers and 9/11; “Killing Season” is for all the soldiers in this war. Support the troops, not the war. Possibly their best so far. - MO THREE – The End Is Begun (Metal Blade Records) Prog rock with bonuses; a cover of “See Emily Play,” and DVD content with production video and live performances. Dark and talented folks, a fitting follow-up to Wake Pig. - CC THROW THE FIGHT – In Pursuit of Tomorrow (Cordless Recordings) “Ready For War” comes right on and truly takes no prisoners. Gritty metalrock. “Delete Me” stands out with Baustert screaming things that make you understand why the words are being screamed. Check it. - KH

TOKIO HOTEL – Scream (Cherrytree/Interscope) Maybe that’s how they spell Tokyo in Germany, but they’re playing pop music. Germany’s version of Good Charlotte. So poppy it makes me want to put the wall back up. – CC TILL WE DIE – Pressing On (Screaming Ferret Wreckords) Chasing the fame of Godsmack, Shadows Fall and others, this well known prog and melodic rock band finally released a CD. It’s not as good as their live shows, but you can now listen to them in the relative comfort of your own home – instead of at an outdoor concert in Worchester, MA or something. - KC

THE TOILET BOYS – Sex Music (Dead City Records) Yay, a cover of “Carbona Not Glue.”

Fun, sex, and music. Glam rock lives in Peoria. Also features cameos by Debbie Harry, John Waters. Much appreciated.

– KH

GEOFF WESTEN – Vidiots - Tune In!!

(Disturbing Music) An appropriate follow-up to the tight and poppy The Pigs – OINK! Nice dance numbers, and the horns on “Don’t Stop the Kiss” are truly awesome. – KH

KT TUNSTALL – Drastic Fantastic (Relentless) Pleasant and plaintive vocals and acoustic guitar, especially in “If Only.”

“White Bird” is more lighthearted and fun, but “I Don’t Want You Now” is the strongest, to me, despite the occasional muted kazoo. Yup, kazoo. Nice. - TDS TURBONEGRO – Retox (Cooking Vinyl) I had to laugh at the name of this one – nonsensical and unrepentant. Thank you! Check em out, with songs like “I Wanna Come” and Hot & Filthy,” they must be great live. – RiP VIRGINIA COALITION – Home This Year (bluhammock music) The title cut (Gotta Get) “Home This Year” is a rocking, melodic, and thoughtful homesick on the road story.

“Sing Along” is a folky but pretty call for peace and unity. Simply but nicely done. - KC VOLBEAT – The Strength / The Sound / The Songs (Rebel Monster Records) Kind of a marching effect from the songs on this one. The drums and guitars are very tight. Weird and interesting lyrics, like “I feel like going crazy.” Then all of a sudden the 13th cut is a cover of “I Only Wanna Be With You.” A nice surprise. Strangely this reminds me a little of Alice Cooper’s School’s Out album. It’s probably just the percussion (concussion?). - KH

WHISTLE JACKET – Stop Start Skip & Jump (Giving Away Records) Indie pop from Wakefield, MA that at first seems kind of weak, but oh look, it does have a harmonica in “Say Hello.”

As it plays this CD kind of sounds almost plausible. “Skip and Jump” is a jangly boogie with a sing-songy banjoesque element. It’s different, I’ll give em that. - KH

WILDPHYR – Movement Social and political consciousness with slide guitars! A nice mix of grunge, pop, and Irish-influenced styles. The bass player Squirrel is an important component to this energetic and often frustrated Movement. - CC

WILL.I.AM – Songs About Girls (Interscope) Nice rockin tunes that are “not Peas songs.” The bouncy “I Got It From My Mama” is the single, but my favorite is “Heartbreaker.” The singer is apologizing for breaking a woman’s heart: “I’m sorry I broke your heart/You must think that I’m a fuckin’ jerk.” At least he’s sorry about it. – KH ALEX WINSTON –

By The Roots (Pratdral Records) Hard driving rock in 6 original songs (full length to follow). Her roots truly are in rock, and “He Calls You Baby” could be called downright feminist. (“I ain’t yo’ baby, baby”). Plus she makes fun of the president. What more do you want? Go for it. - CC

WITHOUT M* F* ORDER – Desensitivity Training (Black & Blue Records) Explosive, profane, irreverent, and surprisingly enjoyable. Even the CD art is wicked cool. “Idle Americans” is the best cut IMO, which is good cuz some of these titles are a lil risqué even for STUBBLE. Favorite sing-a-longs like “Teenage Cunt”, for example. “Hit And Run” is an irreverent, politically incorrect savage romp. You gotta love the CD art, too. On the cover frontman Captain Perverto is teaching some bad lessons, and the back cover has the song titles carved in a school desk a la Alice Cooper’s School’s Out. It is no act, although I’ve heard their stage show is incredible too. “This Bloods For You” – and it’s real. – TDS See the live show review in this issue.

RENEE ZAWAWAI – L-E-G-E-N-D-S (Sapiens/Mia Mind Music) Dance party music derived from personal experiences, good and bad; mostly playful pop. - dB

Compilations & Soundtracks ACROSS THE UNIVERSE (Interscope Records) Beatles songs performed by cast members ‘from the musical motion picture’. The songs are performed in faithful Brit style, perhaps a bit more straightforward (read: less poppy) than the originals. Joe Cocker sings “Come Together” so that’s always good.

Plain singing and no fancy music, just singing some Beatles covers. - KH DORM SESSIONS - Volume 4 (Heavy Rotation Records) Features STEVE FOXX THE BEATBOXX, KID:NAP:KIN, THICK AS THIEVES, BIG D & THE KIDS TABLE, SPIRITUAL REZ, THE TEENAGE SYMPHONIES, MADI DIAZ, AIDEN EVE AND THE INNOCENT and SEPTEMBER TWILIGHT. An eclectic mix of pop-rock-ska with an intermittent edge. It's a little FISH, a dash of KING CRIMSON, a bit of CHILI PEPPERS, and a touch of BEATLES with just a smattering of GREENDAY on the side. 19 gender neutral tracks. - JV GUITAR HEROES III – Legends of Rock Companion Pack (Activision) OK there are some good bands and good songs on here but it still seems like some sort of electric guitar karaoke. If you’re like the kids on Southpark you might like it though. Go ahead, pick it up. And while you’re at it clean your room. - KZ LOONEY TUNES – Sing-A-Long Christmas (Immergent) I’m sorry but this CD is dangerous.

Keep it away from your kids, especially in the car or anywhere else you can’t escape. They will play it and play it and play it. They can also download it just about everywhere, but tell them to keep it on their iPods. By the way, Billy West of Futurama is one of the singers.

– CC WE WISH YOU A METAL XMAS AND A HEADBANGING NEW YEAR (Armoury Records) This is a great holiday album. Bring it to your folks’ house when you go for Xmas dinner, and put it on when your dad gets out the old records. You know, like the one with the dogs barking to “Jingle Bells.” Put on my favorite, “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer,” and see who salutes it.

Includes vocals by Alice Cooper, Dave Grohl, and many more. Pick it up! - KH

ZOOMBA ROCKS 2008 (Zoomba Label Group) This 5-band comp is an interesting mix.

Apocalyptica’s “I’m Not Jesus” surprised me because it’s metal that mentions Jesus without sacrilege. Amazing! They may be taking the wrong approach for their target market, though. You don’t see many metalheads with Jesus tshirts. Anyway. My favorite cut here is Three Days Grace‘s “(Let’s Start a) Riot,” but maybe I’m just bored. Bullet For My Valentine sounds a lot like Avenged Sevenfold – I guess that is the future of metal. - KH DVD Reviews LONG JOHN BALDRY – It Ain’t Easy: Live At Iowa State (Quantum Leap) A 1987 performance in Iowa (what’s John Baldry doing in Iowa)? He truly is a legend, a musician’s musician. You gotta love his “Iko Iko” and “Don’t Try To Lay No Boogie Woogie…” (despite the overlong and pointless intro). Kathi McDonald sings on a cover of “You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman.”

Kind of an odd choice, but nice vocals.

Long John became late in ’05.

Everything stops for tea. – KH THE BEACH BOYS AND THE SATAN (Zeit1) Mostly this is a history of Brian Wilson, his music, and surf music. The present day Brian is a sad person who describes virtually everything as “scary.”

Interestingly he was always afraid of the ocean, even before his brother Dennis drowned. The “investigation of their connections to the Manson Family” was pretty weak. The best part was Kim Fowley singing little ditties that make fun of each year in the 1960s. DB BILL BRUFORD - Bill Bruford's Earthworks Video Anthology (Summerford Records) The first of a two disc series chronicling the legendary Bruford quartet EARTHWORKS. This one covers the 2000s and volume two will do the same for the 1990s. All I can say is hot damn! If you're a fan of contemporary jazz then this is a must MUST have.

They float through key & time changes like an Indy driver through highway traffic. I could elaborate further but I'd much rather just sit back and get lost in the rhythm. 14 sensational jams. – JV

THE BYRDS – Under Review (Sexy Intellectual) The US music business’ response to the British ’Invasion, the Byrds eventually got more recognition through performing Dylan covers than they did imitating the Beatles. It’s hard to believe that these guys recorded a cover of “House of the Rising Sun“ in their Beatle haircuts and matching suits – still, the type of song was not a typical Beatles love song. In the Extras, guitarist Jerry Cole recalls tales of Phil Spector, producer and avid gun collector, who on one occasion showed off his .45s, then his accordion. Cole also talks about Charles Manson – “spooky.” Live and studio recordings, notably including “Mr. Spaceman.”

Check them out! - KH

CLAMBAKE (1967) (MGM) With Elvis Presley, Shelley Fabares, Will Hutchins, Bill Bixby A classic storyline ala The Prince & The Pauper. Elvis is the rich son who meets a regular guy who is traveling to Florida to work as a waterski instructor. They switch places so Elvis can be successful both at finding love along with business without the advantage of his father’s money. The story unfolds with a background of beaches and summer shacks complete with people dancing on the roofs. There was no clambake at any time. They did have lobster but no clams. They sang about a clambake, it's the movie title but no clams. There are 8 songs Elvis recorded and released for this film and some are pretty cool. The song "Do The Clam" is not in this movie or the soundtrack. The best part of the film is when Bill Bixby squares off with Elvis saying he knew karate and then posing. Elvis says "Shut Up" and tags him. It's like Elvis playing a John Wayne scene. I don't want to give it away but Elvis invents a super goop and it is not in or from his pants. Or at least I don't think there is any man made ingredient but who knows with man who rhymes with pelvis. My favorite song lyric "Mama's little baby likes clambake, clambake Mama's little baby likes clambake too." – KZ

NICK DRAKE - Under Review (Sexy Intellectual) This is a 90 minute documentary of a relative obscure British acoustic singersongwriter who presumably committed suicide in 1974 at the tender age of 26.

His brief career produced just three folk/pop albums with a combined record sales of about 20,000. The fact that people are still talking about him today is a tribute to his creative song writing abilities. Not my particular cup of tea but if you like the mellow Jicky shit then this will probably appeal to you greatly. - JV

DEAD BOYSNight Of The Living Dead Boys (MVD Video) For those who lived through the beginning of American Punk Rock in the late 70's then you know that The Dead Boys were one of the best of the lot.

Long before the CA punk scene gave us Circle Jerks, Black Flag, Dead Kennedys and many others, these guys from the suburbs of Cleveland Ohio were sharing the stage at CBGB with The Ramones.

Led by the antics of Stiv Bators they paved the way. I first caught them at the original Lupo’s in 1977 and they more than any other band got me to be a huge fan of punk rock. This DVD is not high quality video like the 1977 live at CBGB DVD, but it covers music from both albums and for me it is essential.

Plus the bonus interview footage and Sonic Reducer video (also not great video quality) was great to watch. Stiv is no longer with us so this is the only way to see them on video. 16 songs and since they do Sonic Reducer twice there are 17 live tracks. The stage commentary is very entertaining too.

This show was part of the reunion tour that took place when Stiv's band LORDS OF THE NEW CHURCH could not tour the USA. The bass player had an outstanding warrant so Stiv got back with his roots and played with Cheetah Chrome, Jimmy Zero, Johnny Blitz and Jeff Magnum. If you love punk and do not own Young Loud & Snotty pick that up too. Essential punk rock from a pioneer band. - KZ See Cheetah Chrome interview in this issue.

BERT JANSCH – Fresh As A Sweet Sunday Morning (MVD) Meandering acoustic guitar and pitch challenged vocals that make Bob Dylan sound like an opera star. The arrogance just drips from his lips like water from a open faucet. Oh, he took guitar lessons from David Graham. That explains the pretension. Run time -101 minutes. I dare you to make it through this whole thing in one sitting without blowing out your brains. – JV DENNIS LOCORRIERE – The Unique Voice Of Dr. Hook (MVD) The vocals are a bit of an acquired taste but the musical performance is exceptional throughout. They're a little blues, a little pop and little country with just a pinch of funk thrown in when appropriate. A pretty diverse collection of songs performed in DR HOOK's own unique style. Featuring "Walk Right In", "You Make My Pants Want To Get Up And Dance" and their big hit "The Cover Of The Rolling Stone." 122 thoroughly enjoyable minutes of party tunes. - JV LENA LOVICH – Live From New York At Studio 54 (MVD Visual) This DVD includes longer versions of the familiar songs, with that live sound rather than the studio versions I’m used to. I love Lena Lovich. She’s sort of a happy medium between Cyndi Lauper and Lydia Lunch. Disturbed, but happy and creative. - CC MARQUEE CLUB 25TH ANNIVERSARY (Angel Air Waves) The celebration at this London club consists of footage, mainly from 1983 and ’84, of band who played there.

Each performance is introduced by a brief discussion, with various

personages reminiscing about the club’s 25 year history. A raspy Dr. John does “Little Liza Jane,” and the familiar “Couldn’t Get It Right” by Climax Blues Band is enlivened by a little a capella audience sing-a-long. Highlights include Alexis Corner doing “Hootchie Kootchie Man,” and the rollicking opener, “Paper Match” performed by Osibisa. Fun! - RiP THE PINK FLOYD AND SYD BARRETT STORY (Zeit Media) This comprehensive 2 DVD set is sad and interesting, kind of like the Brian Wilson/Beach Boys situation that ensued after the principal’s (alleged) “drug-induced breakdown.” It traces the band’s origins from the 1960s, including the band name, and the vibrant 3 years when Syd Barrett was a working member of Pink Floyd. The bonus disc has complete interviews with former bandmates. The Wall, in case you hadn’t guessed, was based on Syd’s story. The story of the song “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” is particularly poignant. Recommended. KH

Freddie QUEEN – THE FREDDY MERCURY STORY – Under Review 1946 – 1991 (Sexy Intellectual) An interesting account of Freddie Mercury’s life, from his birth in Zanzibar and on through the 1964 move to England, which had just begin to swing like a pendulum do. Includes interviews with bandmates, friends, and admirers documenting the evolution of Queen, its unique sound, and Freddie as frontman.

A MUST SEE for Queen fans, and oddly for punk fans as well. Check out the clip of Sid Vicious as a fan introducing himself to Freddie when “Bohemian Rhapsody” came out. Sid: I love the way you’re merging rock with opera, it’s fabulous.” Freddie: “Thank you, Mr. Ferocious.” So cute from both of them.

– KH

Sid

SHAGGY – Live At Chiemsee Reggae Summer (A Charly Films Release) If you’re in the mood for reggae, look no further. My favorite was the at times unrecognizable cover of Mungo Jerry’s “In The Summertime,” with attitude and reggae digressions. Janis’ “Piece Of My Heart” gets a similar treatment.

Shaggy gets the German audience to loosen up and join in, shouting “I can’t hear you!” and “T’row your hands in the air!” The Bob Marley tribute is faithful to the original “True King of Reggae,” and is a nice medley of 4 Marley hits.

Good stuff with energetic performances. - CC JOHN SINCLAIR - 20 To Life-The Life And Times Of John Sinclair (MVD) John's claim to fame is that he got busted in the 60's for possession of two joints and spent 10 years in the slammer. Musically speaking, he slow raps over delta blues and this is a movie telling his tree huggin' hippie radical tale. Starring John Lennon, Ed Sanders, Commander Cody, MC5 and a bunch of other Satan loving anarchists.

I bet he claimed "the joints weren't even mine". Yeah, go tell it to someone who cares, dirtbag. - JV NEIL YOUNG – Under Review 1976-2006 (Sexy Intellectual) A quality documentary covering the second half of Neil's career from 1976 2006, featuring live and studio recordings and chock full of obscure footage, rare interviews and seldom seen photos. Running time 79 minutes.

- JV TAD – Busted Circuits and Ringing Ears (MVD Visual) The story of a band that is described only in extreme terms by the commentators. TAD was a grunge band that smoked a lot of pot and were happy playing the music they wanted to play. They are intense on stage, very very loud with plenty of heavy angst.

Frontman Tad Doyle has great onstage banter, and it’s fun to watch this huge guy stage diving onto skinny teenagers.

An incredible story, with special feature music videos too. - DB WHO'S BEEN TALKING? – Johnny Thunders In Concert (MVD) The audio has been out in a CD set for some time and is a well recorded live Thunders performance from Japan. This

DVD is a video of the show and the video quality is not as good as the other videos with lower quality audio.

For the Thunders fan (like me) this is a must have! For those who want to see Johnny all wasted falling over himself this ain't the DVD. This is a rock and roll show kiddies and Johnny was arguably at his best. The 2 medleys of oldies are very cool and with a lot of his classics (except “You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory”) this DVD is a good introduction. He performs songs from his years with The NY Dolls, The Heartbreakers, and his solo work. I saw Johnny back in the day many times and he was sometimes good sometimes too high but always worth the ticket price.

Since this was his last recorded show and since he is dead this is your only way to check it out! - DB

AMY WINEHOUSE – The Girl Done Good: A Documentary Review (Sexy Intellectual) Well if you’ve heard this young woman sing you don’t need this documentary to tell you that she’s an amazingly talented performer. Still it is a complete and informative account of Ms. W’s career so far. Personally I loved her “I Don’t Wanna Go To Rehab,” and it recalled Billie Holliday in more ways than one. Like Billie Amy is just “kind of don’t care-ish.” We hope she keeps singing the blues and living in the sun.

– KH Z02 – Ain’t It Beautiful (Riker Hill Records) Well this is actually a DVD promoting their album by the same name (reviewed in STUBBLE 44). Anyway, it

has nice graphics introducing the videos, with an exploding TV set. ZO2 is musically reminiscent of Led Z, but vocally more like Golden Earring. Still, they have their own sound – and look.

Interestingly, the bassist David Z was with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, while the drummer Paulie Z was with Blue Man Group for years. “If You See Kay (tell her I’m gone”) is my favorite, with driving guitars and drums any hard rock band would be proud of. I also like the CD cover, a pin-up cutie checking her tan lines in the mirror. dB

Book Reviews THE LANGUAGE OF FEAR – Del James (Dell) This is a collection of short stories by Guns N’ Roses’ road manager. One story inspired the GNR hit video “November Rain.” But background aside, these are very cool stories.

Realistic characters experiencing real horror in their lives, and dealing with it in various ways. With his writing style and subject matter I’d say the horror aspects remind me of Stephen King and the realism approaches Andrew Vachhs. – KH NEW YORK DOLLS – Photographs by Bob Gruen (Abrams Image) Even the outside of this book is fantastic; it’s cover is hot hot pink satiny fabric, with the title in silver loopy script. Many fab photos in color and black and white, all taken by Gruen. Also includes commentary, comments, and interviews with many of the key figures: Sylvain Sylvain, Johnny Thunders, Arthur Kane and more. Beautifully presented in a wide format that shows off the pictures nicely. A wonderful book for any fan or aficionado, or for those who missed all that and want to learn more. - KH THREE WISHES – An Intimate Look at Jazz Greats

By Pannonica de Koenigswarter

(Abrams Image)

This book is amazing. Over a decade in the 1960s, ‘Nica’ compiled the responses of many jazz musicians to the question ”If you had three wishes, what would they be?” Some of the answers are funny, some sad, and many deeply felt. Accompanying Polaroid pictures make this a great coffee table book. At least 2 of my friends want to read it next. - KH

Dear Steve: I'm a 13-year-old girl who just entered the eighth grade. I have a few friends, but I often feel like I'm invisible. They never take the time to call me. I guess I could take the first step and call them, but I don't know what to say. I guess I'm a little shy.

I spent a long, miserable summer with no one to talk to. I want to change this before I start high school next year. I am noticing several cute guys in class. If I have so much trouble with my friendships with other girls, how am I ever going to get to know some of the guys I'm starting to like? How do I get them to notice me? I hate to think I'll just fade into the shadows. Can you help? -- ALONE AND SHY IN CALIFORNIA Dear Shy: Sporting a micro mini and fishnets ought to get a few guys’ attention and then, once they're looking your way, the occasional "Sharon Stone style flash" should seal the deal provided the "California dudes" you've set your sights on are not rump rangers. Good luck with that. Oh yeah, be sure to make it only a quick flash and not a prolonged spread. You don't want them to think that you're too easy even though, based on your incessant whining, it's quite obvious that you'll be willing to put out at the drop of a hat for just a moment of acknowledgment.

As for the ladies, once you establish your pack of horny mutt admirers circling for a shot at that honey pot, the girls will come to you for advice.

Thank me very much.

Dear Basement Steve: I am a 39year-old married man. "Lana" and I have been married 10 years. We deal with the usual problems (our son, jobs, money) as a team. I feel blessed to have married my best friend.

My job requires traveling. While seeing new things and meeting new people interest me, when I'm away from Lana and our young son, I suffer from extreme separation anxiety.

It is not a trust issue. I trust Lana completely, and I know she is taking excellent care of our son. My problem is I miss them terribly. I cry every night that I'm away. When I call home, I break down. Lana understands this is how I am and doesn't judge me. She's always supportive.

Am I crazy? Is this normal? Other guys I know who travel appear to enjoy it. But if I look at a photo of Lana or our son while I'm away, I end up in tears. I don't want to be this way, but it has reached the point where I can't see myself traveling anymore for business.

-- BAWLING AT THE AIRPORT Bawling: "I feel blessed to have married my best friend" is code for "My wife is a cottage cheese riddled pig with a face like a wookie". If I were in your shoes I'd be crying myself to sleep every night too. Stop wasting my time and go get yourself some cheap hooker action. If your wife is as fugly as I'd bet the ranch she is, a three fitty street walker ought to do the trick and I'm not talking hundreds here either.

Basement Steve: I married the love of my life, "Simon," a year ago. At the time, I was five months pregnant.

While Simon and I stood taking our vows at the altar, his mother, "Bernice," felt the need to stand up and announce that the only reason we were being married was because I was pregnant -- and that I'd done it on purpose to tie him down. I was devastated hearing this at my wedding, and I let Simon know it. I tried to forgive her.

A few months later, Bernice arrived at the hospital as I was giving birth.

Again, she started in on how I got pregnant on purpose to tie her son down and began telling everyone in my family how horrible I was. Again, I tried to forgive her.

The final straw came when plans were being made to celebrate Simon's college graduation. Bernice made dinner reservations for everyone in the family and excluded my son and me. I told Simon how hurt I was. His response was, "I can't control my mother."

I was so fed up with having to swallow her abuse with no support from my husband that I kicked him out. I desperately wish he would confront his mother about her abusive behavior, but he's scared of her. I have tried talking to her about it, but when I do she just gets worse. I want to save my

marriage, but I don't want Bernice around me or my son anymore. What should I do? - Had Enough in Grapevine, Tex. Dear Grapevine: Why do these transparent rubes always try to spin their pathetic tales in order to gain my sympathy. It's painfully obvious to me that the little rug rat isn't even his so you're lucky that he married you in the first place. Secondly, had you been swallowing the man chowder instead of letting the entire neighborhood baste your nasty brisket, you wouldn't have to swallow your in-law's ire now. If you think walking out on Simon will somehow regain his trust then think again. He's probably been looking for an excuse to dump your sorry ass and you've just handed it to him on a silver platter. Now, if you want him back you're gonna have to get your hands and knees and beg Bernice to put in a good word for you. I'm sure that's a position that you're well familiar with.

Dear Basement Steve: One of my favorite sitcoms, now seen in reruns, is Married With Children. Did you ever see the show during its 10-year run? If so, what advice would you have given to Al, Peg, and the kids? – Curious in Cleveland Dear Curious: I live a rather isolated life dedicated to serving others, and I have not seen this show. I haven’t drooled over the hot blonde daughter, either. Sorry, I can’t be of more help.

Basement Steve regrets that it is simply impossible for him to answer all of the hundreds of questions submitted to him each week. However, he does read every question, and tries to select those which are of the most general interest to our readers. Also, questions in all caps won't be answered.

Basement Steve asks, "Is your question urgent?” If you feel you MUST have his help, you can get a personal answer from Basement Steve within two business days by availing yourself of his reasonably-priced private counseling.

Note: STUBBLE MusicZine is not responsible for any consequences to taking this advice. Just remember that Basement Steve’s advice is worth every penny you paid for it! - Editor

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