Lost Boyz – Plug Me In

Lost Boyz - Jeeps, Lex Coups, Bimaz & Benz

Lost Boyz - The Yearn

Lost Boyz - Love, Peace And Nappiness

Lost Boyz - What’s Wrong

A friend just clued me in on this interview with Joe Petagano, the man behind many of Motörhead’s album covers and their iconic Snaggletooth mascot. In addition to Motörhead, Mr. Petagano has also worked on artwork for other head shop wall legends as Zeppelin, Floyd and Nazereth.

The interview is broken up into two parts and includes cameos from Lemmy and other members of Motörhead who regard Petagano and the visuals he has created as the band’s unsung fourth member. Pretty good stuff for anyone interested in the history of Rock and Metal art.

Two of the US’s, nay the world’s best Thrash bands are invading Brooklyn this Thursday night for a killer show at the Knitting Factory. If you’ve never seen either of these guys live, you haven’t lived! Both bands put on some of the most fist pumping and pit inducing performances around. Just check our recap of the last time Municipal Waste hit New York.

Municipal Waste and Toxic Holocaust will be joined by pummeling hellfire that is Brooklyn’s very own Atakke. If you’re a fan of Metal or just anything and everything brutal this isn’t a show you want to miss. But be warned, you’ll probably be leaving bloody and bruised and you’re going to like it!

And if that wasn’t enough, Chronic Youth and ourselves are throwing the official after-party for the show! You don’t have two bands like Municipal Waste and Toxic Holocaust come into town and have the party end when the last riff gets plays…no, no, no! These guys rage well into the night and once they’re done rocking on stage they’ll get behind the turntables for a night of metal,mayhem and booze over at the Charleston!

The event is free and if you’ve ever been to the den of depravity that’s known as The Charleston, then you’ll know you’ll be waking up happy and hurtin’ the next morning! Plus who knows, maybe we can get a band wasted enough to play a set.

Thursday April 22nd, 10pm
The Charleston
174 Bedford Ave.
Brooklyn, NY
No Cover!



Black Breath – Heavy Breathing (2010) [Southern Lord] // Grade: B

Discharge, Entombed and early Cave-In. That’s how I’d sum up Black Breath’s newest endeavor, Heavy Breathing. I first heard their 4-track EP Razor to Oblivion not too long ago after Southern Lord signed them. Expecting something completely different, I was pleasantly surprised by the Seattle-band’s approach to old school death and hardcore-infused thrash. I.e. not really Southern Lord’s forte. Heavy Breathing is a nostalgic trip back to your youth. All the bands you grew up listening to with a fresh new edge and face.

The Cave-In reference may be a bit off for most of you, but there’s a reason to bring them up. After learning that Kurt Ballou was behind the production, it’s easy to see where the Boston-hardcore sound came from. Ballou helped bring Converge to the metal megalith that they are today and it’s this one element that really sculpts Heavy Breathing into a solid album. Black Breath’s sound is sharpened by the predominant guitars, something Ballou is known for in his work. That along with the commanding vocals, creates a pretty strong formula for a great sound. It’s not as simple as that though. Since its easy to fuck this formula up, Heavy Breathing maintains a raw feel without going over the top. Something a lot of bands in the genre seem to fall victim to. The end result is either too polished or so compressed that it ruins the experience.

Heavy Breathing won’t let you down though, so don’t fret. Each track pays homage to a crustier day in metal and magnifies the punches. As long as you don’t compare Razor to Oblivion to Heavy Breathing, you’ll be pretty satisfied with this album. While the d-beat and crust influence is still apparent in Heavy Breathing, it has no where near the amount of energy as their first EP. It almost makes you wonder what it would sound like if they had never signed to Southern Lord.

Throughout the album, this precision is very apparent. “Escape From Death” has a killer fucking intro. Fast-paced picking and circle-pit inducing vocals, it’s one tough fight to the front of the crowd! “I Am Beyond” comes across as a gargantuan track, filled with heavy and sludgy modern death metal. From here on out, the album gets fairly obvious. A little Possessed here, a little Nausea there but where’s my thrashy crust of Razor to Oblivion? It’s not until “Children Of The Horn” that you hear the old sound coming through. Again, it’s not a critique as much as it is an observation. “Wewhocannotbenamed” really closes the album with a brutal ending.

From the initial expectations of a band signed to a predominately doom and black metal label, to the brief experience with a 12-minute EP and the exceedingly-ambitious full-length, it’s been a hell of time getting to know this band but what’s next for Black Breath? They’ve got all the ingredients to conquer death metal in the 21st century and make a name for themselves. It’s really going to put the crew over at Southern Lord’s thumbs to the screws. They better watch out or their fan base might actually like this fresh taste of death metal they’ve served up on a silver platter. Is this the first step in a shift for the label? I hope so.

Jim Jones and Cam officially buried the hatchet after announcing to MissInfo that they are rebuilding relations. Pause. No confirmation of an official Dipset reunion yet due to busy schedules but the two are confident that something can happen in the future.

I got one question mane: tell me who next?

Andrew from Knife Fight organized this thing where we’re gonna do slideshows of our art and talk about it and ourselves. My cronie, Maggie Lee, is gonna be there talking and showing shit as well.  It’s free and it’s gonna be a good night. Pete’s Candy Store is teeny so get there on time or be stuck peering around a corner to try to peek in.

Friday April 23rd, 10pm
Pete’s Candy Store
709 Lorimer St.
Brooklyn, NY
No Cover!

Are you guys ready for more B-A-S-S? Particulairly all of our mopsters across the Atlantic? Because if you are it’s time to get excited…

After delivering a hard hitting Keep Watch XVII, AC Slater is embarking on another UK/European slaughter! Screw the Icelandic volcano ash! Our hero in Bass will be destroying heads from April through May in support of his latest single, “Take You Higher” featuring our pals Ninjasonik which is out now on Trouble & Bass.

The Trouble & Bass crew and Ninjasonik goin’ extra ham in this video. See them all chase the flying bass ham and party it out New York City style alongside friends and luminaries such as 12th Planet, Flinch and Diplo.

The Bitters – East General (2010) [Mexican Summer] // Grade: A-

On a first listen, The Bitters sound like the next gritty, lo-fi band destined for a cult following. Which is a good enough draw to grab your attention and get you through your first listen of the Toronto boy-girl duo’s debut, East General. But by the time you’ve made it though the album’s 11 tracks your upfront assumptions about the band’s sound have proved false. East General may be filled with raw, unpolished instrumentation, but The Bitters are no lo-fi band.

Toronto duo Ben Cook (Fucked Up, Young Governor) and Aerin Fogel draw from decades of music history, settling on a unique sound that’s one part unpredictable, female-fronted art punk and one part 60′s garage pop. Fogel’s powerful voice carries with it a sense of recklessness, shifting from Siouxsie Sioux-esque wails to the syncopated punk stylings of Ari Up (Slits). You never quite know where Fogel is going to vocally go next and so you hang on, invested in her course across East General. “Travelin’ Girl” is pure garage pop bliss, with Fogel demonstrating that she can write hooks just as well, if not better, than many a popular indie rock band. Her disinterested sneer on “Impatient As Can Be” continues to add to Fogel’s developing persona. She’s an aural actress, tweaking her vocals to match the mood expressed through each song’s lyrics.

While Fogel’s vocals most definitely carry East General (and she will probably always remain the main focus of the band), the instrumentation both her and Cook provide is nothing to pass over. Fuzzy guitar, subdued percussion and plenty of distortion offer consistency amongst the vocal chaos. “Nails In The Coffin” swings along, the guitar echoing Fogel’s vocals with instrumental hooks. Alongside “Travelin’ Girl”, “East” gets my vote for album standout, featuring growling vocals and odd, agitated guitar backing, made weirder (and greater) by the surprising addition of a sax solo from Fogel.

The Bitters’ East General totally caught me off guard. What I first thought would be a moderately interesting debut, turned out to be an unexpected winner of an album filled with variety, raw spirit and unique sounds.

Lost, shutup. We’re broken up until the finale.

I know, I know, it was a necessary episode. They’ve been leading us up to the big reunion of the two camps – especially Sun and Jin – for basically the entire season. But I’m worried that it took too long. Things really didn’t get interesting this season until Desmond was thrown back in the game and I felt like they took their time with that as well. I’ve invested years in this show and I’ve kept my faith the entire time…but now I feel like early years Jack; I just want off this fucking Island. I’ve had enough of people talking esoterically then walking off into the jungle.

Be real with me, folks. Who really gives a sincere shit about these characters anymore? I haven’t welled-up with emotion since “The Constant.” What gives? The only character, at this point in time, that I feel an inkling of emotion for is alt-Jack. If the alt-reality has to come to an end to stop Smokey, Jack is going to have to say adios to his son. That sucks. My heart goes out to Des and Penny too (I’m not that jaded). But everyone else? Suck it. Hurley could have his sideburns kidnapped by Al-Qaeda. I don’t care.

When the question about the whispers was put to rest so matter-of-fact, I thought it was pretty humorous. But Locke just fessing up about being Christian? Whatever. I’m sure there’s like a thousand plot holes there but I’m not about to investigate.

Sun losing her voice was definitely the alt-world bleeding over into reality. That’s probably why Locke was freaked out when she got it back. Ok? Cool.

Widmore, rain fire and let’s go home.

* I feel like I was maybe too harsh back there. So as a bonus, please enjoy the trailer for Revelation, a Christian thriller starring Lost‘s Frank Lapidus.

Captain America: Who Won’t Wear the Shield #1
You have to hand it to Marvel for being self-conscious. After giving the readers Captain America: Who Will Wear the Shield, a comic that revealed and settled nothing, they’re releasing this little gem. And better yet, they’re going to make four bucks off of everyone ridiculous enough to buy it. It’s something like “Hey, we realized how retarded our one-shots are, now buy another one because we’re totally ironic and self-efficacious.”

I’m not going to buy it, but I have to hand it to Marvel for trying, you know? Nothing like post-modern recognition meeting capitalism. Bravo to you guys.

One of the difficult things about writing this column every week is trying to find something exciting. If you’re a comic book fan, you know that generally the same comic books come out the same week of every month. I mean, I can only recommend Daredevil so many times before I’m like “Drinkwater, you’re fucking redundant.” So I scour the release lists and the shit that I recommend is off the table, and that leaves what exactly?

Stuff I haven’t read, or don’t want to check out.

It isn’t that I’m not adventurous, but I generally have no interest in reading something like Fall Of the Hulk: Throwdown On Planet Zuul or whatever. Does that make me close-minded? Perhaps. I’m always looking for suggestions though. Throw something my way and I’m game to try it out.

Star Wars Official Starships And Vehicles Collection Magazine #13
However, one of the beautiful things about writing this shit is that I get to glance at the list of weekly releases. Such an action inevitably leads me to come across things such as this. That’s right, Star Wars fanboys. There are magazines dedicated to detailing the official vehicles of the Star Wars Universe. This son of a bitch is going to tell you everything you ever wanted to know about Tie Bombers. I know I’ve had a few questions about them. You know, fuselage, and uh, missile capacity and shit.

And now I can have those questions answered for me, for eighteen bucks. Eighteen bucks! Holy fuck! I can’t fathom buying this magazine for that sort of money, but I can picture myself ten years ago begging my Mom to buy it for me. Maybe that’s the target audience: little kids with boners for a galaxy far, far, away.

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