More Record Reviews: Now Even Beefier!

After a while of hiding in my remote arctic cave and letting poor Audio Ed do the heavy lifting around here, I'm back to earn my keep at the Audio Ammunition Underwater Stronghold.  Hopefully Ed won't make me pay for my insubordinate behavior by cleaning the latrine with a toothbrush again.  Stay tight though, we'll be back very soon with more delectables! - J Castro

ANMLS – S/T LP (Slovenly Recordings/Algo)

These guys are from Santiago, Chile and they throw down a hard, fast and mean style of punk rock.  The kind where you can actually feel the power radiating from the speakers and hitting your gut. Listening to this record gives you the same kind of feeling you get when watching a street brawl and one of the guys picks up a broken bottle.  The songs are sung entirely in Spanish and the production is slightly distorted but it gives the record an edge.  If you’re looking for adrenaline inducing punk but are getting tired of your old Negative Approach and Cro Mags records, then seek out ANMLS. 
 - JC

Anxieties – Buried Alive CD (Lab Rat Industries)

This band had been around for ten plus years cranking out the perfect blend of The Damned, The Dickies and the Dead Kennedys style of punk rock. Yes, they’re that good.  They also radiate a similar vibe to fellow Pacific North Westerners the Briefs. Their newest release Buried Alive is actually 4 new tracks with a whole grip of remastered older tracks from previous, long out of print EP’s.  The only way this CD would be better is if it came wrapped in a skinny tie! - JC

Denim and Leather – Sacred Autism LP (Drunken Sailor)

This is some heavy stuff!  Denim and Leather found in their brains the prefect mix of 80's DC Hardcore levels of ferocity with the heaviness of bands like Jesus Lizard and Scratch Acid.  But then they go and sound like Nick Cave on the tune “Ancient Cowboy Burial Ground” and there’s also a Husker Du vibe peppered on some tracks as well. If I had to compare it to anything going on right now, I’d say it’s in the same room with bands like Ceremony and TV Freaks.  - JC 

Fashionism – Smash Singles LP (Drunken Sailor)

My favorite band has two, count them TWO new releases. Absolutely Glorious! As the title suggests this is a compilation of the band’s stellar singles. If you’ve been cruelly depriving your ear drums of the sweet sounds of Vancouver’s Fashionism, then let me attempt to describe what you’ve been missing.  Think The Gift era Jam mod pop mixed with the raw melodic punk sounds of bands like the Boys, Generation X and Teenage Head.  Yes that’s what you’ve been missing. Now go cry and clench your fists in regret. But redemption is still at hand and it lies in the purchase of this record.  - JC

Fashionism – Come On My Baby 7” (Drunken Sailor/Neon Taste)

Another striking single from Fashionism.  The A-Side and title track explodes with The Clash’s “White Riot” levels of energy and never lets up. “Come On My Baby” has more of a pop sensibility to it though.  The B-Side, is called “Baby She’s Gone” and it’s a slower, crying in my beer style song that sounds like it could have been an early Elvis Costello penned tune.  I can’t quite put into words how much this band inspires me.  They’re the kind of band that makes you want to get up and start your own group. – JC 

F.U.K. – Detroit 1977 7” (Hozac)

This is another fine addition to the Hozac’s wonderful archival series.  The name of the record pretty much says it all.  F.U.K. (Fucked Up Kids) apparently played one show on Halloween night, 1977 in Ann Arbor MI and only recorded these two songs! The band also features a couple of guys that went and formed some band called Mission of Burma, perhaps you’ve heard of them?  The A-side is a scrappy smoker of a 77 punk tune, B-Side sounds a little more early New Wave like The Now.  – JC

Freak Genes – Qwak Qwak LP (Drunken Sailor)

If you remember the stellar Playtime LP that this band released last year, well not too much has changed thankfully.  But if you don’t, then I’ll have you know that Freak Genes are still emitting the same Swell Maps meets The Toy Dolls bizarre smart ass style of irreverent music.  Some of the tunes on here also give me a Sleaford Mods feel too. This LP is a 17 song mammoth with few clunkers folks.  That says something about this band right there.  - JC

ISS – S/T LP (Drunken Sailor)

This duo have the dead pan delivery and biting wit of groups like The Fall, Wire and Gang of Four. Now try to imagine that laid out over droning minimalist beats. The music is in a haunting post punk production and the vocals are delivered with venom like only the British know how to do.  But these guys are from North Carolina?! Oh yes, you read that right! Drunken Sailor calls it “post-punk-garage-sample-lo-fi-snot-core at its finest”.  Very well said, I totally agree! - JC

Ruby Karinto S/T LP (Hozac)

Apparently I can now add Hozac records to that list of labels that churn out unpredictable releases!  Ruby Karinto are a four piece band from Victoria, BC and play synth heavy herky jerky pop tunes.  I can easily imagine Mike Myers and Dana Carvey dancing to this during one of those old Saturday Night Live Sprockets sketches.  This isn’t one of those instantly likeable records, this is one you have to sit and absorb in order to appreciate the band’s complexity.  – JC

Ogikubo Station – We Can Pretend Like LP (Asian Man Records)

This is the duo’s (which includes Mike Park & Mixtape's Maura Weaver) follow up to last year’s Self-Titled debut EP which was an all folk endeavor.  This time around they employ a full band on some of the songs. Even though they did give some of the tunes here the full instrumental treatment they still remain melancholy, which gives them a Shins/Death Cab for Cutie/Rilo Kiley feel to them now.  That may seem like a lazy comparison but the song writing on this album is definitely on the Ben Gibbard/Jenny Lewis level. This is quite an ambitious and well executed effort and I highly recommend this if you're at all a fan of the above mentioned bands or that style of music.  - JC

Sex Tourists - S/T LP (Drunken Sailor)

WOW! We never quite know what to expect from Drunken Sailor records, except for the fact that their releases are usually pretty great.  Seeing this record and the band’s name, my imagination ran all over the place.  I grew up on dark 80’s synth pop like New Order, OMD, Depeche Mode. Pet Shop Boys, Human League, well by now you get the picture.  Australia’s Sex Tourists’ fantastic LP fits in perfectly with all of the above mentioned bands.  If you’re a fan of that style, I can’t recommend this enough! - JC

The Sueves – R.I.P. Clearance Event LP (Hozac)

This band is from Chicago and are now offering, well technically their fourth LP (some of their previous long players were cassette releases) for you to go home and play really really loudly.  Bands like this, the louder you play them the better they sound.  The Sueves draw from a similar river as Drive Like Jehu, Rocket From The Crypt, Hot Snakes, Obits and maybe even some drops of Nation of Ulysses tossed in.  This is my first time hearing this band and based on this LP, now I’m on the hunt for their earlier stuff.  - JC

Rad Max – Rad Tracks LP (Self Released)

These guys are from Portland and classify themselves “Rad Wave”.  And why not, after rap/metal country/rap and reggaeton, new musical mishmash genres can't get any worse.  The band’s official description – “a chaotic vision of post-punk tomfoolery, ping-ponging through a kitschy, apocalyptic 80’s landscape”. I couldn’t have said it better myself.  This release reminds me of Boris the Sprinkler coupled with Eddie Money cheese infused mochismo.  The production is pretty good, the synths swirl around in the background and the guitar is thick and up front, K.K. Downing style! - JC

RIK & The Pigs – A Child’s Gator LP (Total Punk)

Well now this is quite impressive!  Olympia Washington’s Rik & the Pigs have come a long way.  They’re going for a 70’s Aussie sound like The Saints, X, Chosen Few types but scrappier and they’re pulling it!  The production on this LP is the best I’ve heard on any Pigs record so far. Not to say it’s polished or anything but this new clearer sound suits the band perfectly.  The guitars are hook filled and set to full buzzsaw mode and the vocals radiate desperation and madness!  This one’s a stunner kids! - JC

Velveteen Rabbit – Mind Numbing Entertainment  7” (Hozac)

Oh wow, as soon as I heard the opening guitar sound on this 7” I knew I was in for something special.  Former Jeanies unleash two of the best songs I’ve heard all year!  Think Marc Bolan’s monster hooks along with those hard stomping Gary Glitter beats mixed with Bowie’s softer spoken vocal delivery and you’ve got yourself a super star of a record!  The B-Side has an almost Lovin’ Spoonful melody to it and it cooks hot too!  Excuse me while I pick my jaw up off the floor now. 
On second thought, I'll just leave it down there since I'm about to listen to this record again and I'm not going to pick off all the cat hair and potato chip crumbs off of it again! – JC

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The Anxieties - Mining Punks Past To Fortify It's Future

Portland's long running punk outfit The Anxieties are at it again.  And if you're asking yourself: well what exactly that J?  Okay, I will try to put to words what I hear and feel when I put on their records. Well.... um..... it's punk!  What a lazy writer I am huh?  But there it is, plain and simple, love it or hate it, that's what it is.  Their music is fabulously stripped of all dead weight so it moves fast, the attitude and delivery is snotty and the riffs are catchy as a hangnail on a mohair sweater.  Their influences are all over the place from early 80's SoCal Skate Punk to the searing 77 Euro and Aussie stuff.  If you dig bands like The Stitches, The Gaggers, and The Briefs - you're gonna get all hot in the noggin (and maybe a few other places, who knows!) when you hear these guys.  Top notch punk from people who not only know the history of their craft well, but really seem to "get it".  I think that's the key ingredients here. Yeah there's a million punk bands out there, it's not hard to play but most of them don't seem to grasp what it's really all about.  At least not in the same sense I interpret it. So when I come across a group out that seems to have what I'm looking for, I grab hold and hang on tight and if you're into any of the music I mentioned above; you should too because the great ones are hard to come by now days and I count The Anxieties as one of 'em.

Interview by J Castro

Who is currently in the band and what does everyone do in it?

Scott Von Rocket – spazzy rhythm guitar and surf riffs, rants & raves (as you'll likely see by my answers to these questions...)

Tommy Tension – hitting things with unbridled enthusiasm

Travis “Sweet Trav” Thoughtcrime – jagged 4-string rumbling

Erik Electron – precision 6-string surgery

How did you all meet and decide to play music together?

SCOTT: I formed the band in 2003 with original drummer Dylan Auf Kilter out of the ashes of our previous band, The Wristrockets and recruited our friends Tristan Tower and Matt Adore to join us on lead guitar and bass. Since then all useable parts of members who've left (3 drummers, 3 lead guitarists, and 1 bassist) have been continuously cannibalized and reassembled in the lab until we ended up at the line-up you see before you today.

What band or musician first inspired you to want to pick up an instrument and learn to play and/or write music?

SCOTT: I don't think it really shows up as influence in the songwriting, but definitely the album “Wrong” by Nomeansno. When I heard that sick, overdriven tone on those thumping bass notes on the opening track, I just thought “Oh man, I want to know how to make a sound like that!” I generally play guitar rather than bass now, but that was definitely what set the ball rolling...

How would you describe your band to your grandparents?

SCOTT: I would probably tell my grandfather “You know all the things you liked to give me a hard time about when I was in high school, like wearing eyeliner, and having funny hair and my ears pierced? Just imagine that as a sound.” He was fantastic, but a very old-school American man. He was always kind to me and the teasing was always good-natured, but he definitely didn't get why I felt the need to be punk. I doubt he would have ever wanted to actually hear the band, but he would have been proud of me for doing what I believed in, and especially for doing it on my terms.

What sorts of things do you typically enjoy writing songs about? 

SCOTT: Dystopia, mental issues, anger, loneliness, desperation, financial ruin, y'know just regular life...

I’ve heard people say that playing and writing music is therapeutic to them.  Have you ever found this to be true?

SCOTT: I have an extremely bipolar relationship with music. Most of the time it's therapeutic and cathartic and if I don't get to do it for a couple of months at a time I start to go crazy, but sometimes the stress and tedium of trying to arrange shows and practice, as well as the financial strain of trying to get music released makes me want to burn the planet to the ground.

Does it annoy you or distract you at all to see some of your audience members fondling their phones while you’re up on stage performing?

SCOTT: Not really. I mean, if somebody was just staring right at their screen the whole time that would be a bit of a bummer, but I know as an audience member as well, a lot of the time if I have my phone out I'm texting people or making social media posts actually trying to get more people out to the show.

After one of your shows, what sort of feeling or sentiment do you hope your audience walks away with? 

SCOTT: I hope more than anything that they got a charge from the kind of energy that we're putting out. I focus a lot more on what I'd call “playing like you mean it” than being note-perfect and not making any mistakes, and that's something I like to get when I see a band as well.

What is your favorite album to listen to from start to finish?

SCOTT: I really do listen to lot more of my music collection from my mp3 player set to shuffle, primarily because I have so much now that if I don't do that there's stuff that I'll never remember to listen to. But when I do pick an album to play start to finish, D.I. - What Good Is Grief To A God?, Agent Orange - Living In Darkness, or the Sharp Objects full length are always my first choices.

What’s the best advice anyone has ever given you that you still follow to this day?

SCOTT: Rather than one specific piece of advice, I would say that the experience of going on tour as a roadie for D.O.A. in 1994 taught me everything that I know about being in a band that I do still follow today. It's kind of come full circle as well, as part of my lateness in turning these answers in to you is due to the fact I just got to go out with them again on another tour at the end of May.

What is the best way people can hear and get a hold of your music?

Http://www.theanxieties.com or http://theanxieties.bandcamp.com

What lies ahead for the band in 2016?

SCOTT: Hoping to get our new full-length album Mission Failure out as our first 12-inch vinyl release. We've had a few 7-inches on vinyl, but never a full album. We also have a new EP called Buried Alive in the works. We're almost done mixing that, so it's mainly a matter of deciding if that one's going to be digital only or have physical product as well. If we decide that vinyl's not an option for that, it could actually be out before Mission Failure.

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