Episode 7
Welcome to what was intended as an Easter Monday episode of the TNB/TTW! We’re coming at you fifteen days late… and counting… but, compared to what the Son of Man went through to return after three days, we’re doing a’ight… all things considered! Today… and by “today” I mean “this week” and/or “this month”… we are talking about bands and solo artists who released only one or two or a few documents into the world… AKA “one and done”… AKA… “The short-timers”… not that we have a Messiah complex or anything…
In this economy… audio costs the same as video!! #bogmonstermusic
Similarly… or is that sill-ily?… the YouTube playlist can be got for the same cost of zero dollars… and only a fraction of your precious life essence…
Dan’s Notes
Cannibal Ox
Okay, given that two of these guys did get back together eventually in the mid 2010’s using the Can Ox name I may be stretching my own theme to include them, but that stuff was done without original producer El P handling beatmaking duties and his contributions are part of what makes Can Ox’s sole full length of their original run so classic, then it’s really not the same group then is it? (Yes it is, I suppose, but I wanted to include them here so humour me). The product of a fledgling producer (who had previously only made beats for his old group Company Flow) inviting two talented emcees – Vordul Mega and Vast Aire,who were in need of some structure to work around, to move into his spare room for a year and feeding them dark, spaced out synth heavy beats until they cooked up their classic “Cold Vein” LP in 2001 – an apocalyptic mutation of futuristic New York-style boom bap rap, if the future in question was an alternate version of Blade Runner that involved the Tyrell Corporation building their robot factory pyramid in Brooklyn instead of Los Angeles. From there the members went their separate ways pursuing various solo projects to differing levels of success while also coping with real life circumstances like mental health crises etc and then things never really came together for any sort of follow up from all three, though Vast and Vordul did get back together in the mid 2010’s without El-P and have done a few things using the Can Ox name since but none with the impact of Cold Vein and none with any production from El-P, who was such a big part of the sound of that sole full length from their original run.
The Uncluded
Two truly unique artists coming together for one of the catchiest meditations on grief and loss put to record. Aesop Rock and Kimya Dawson have deep deep catalogues of their own and started collaborating here and there in the late 00’s/early 2010’s initially via appearances on each others’ Skelethon and Thunderthighs albums respectively, and then by more actively working on material together that culminated in their one album under the name The Uncluded, 2013’s Hokey Fright. While Dawson and Aes my seem like an odd mix at first, they are both New York weirdos of a certain vintage transplanted to the west coast after going through life changes, and felt like a perfect combination of seemingly incongruous flavours that compliment each others’ styles perfectly. It’s really too bad they only did the one album together as everything the two have done together have been quite enjoyable. On a related personal note, it was looking into another performer who collaborated sang with the two of them on the song “Captain Lou” from Dawson’s Thunderthighs record, one Bryan Danielson fka former WWE World Champion Daniel Bryan, which was one of my introductory points to the world of pro wrestling fandom, a point I forgot to mention on the actual show so I had to include it here.
Behead The Prophet No Lord Shall Live
I know there are plenty of great punk bands that only released one album, but these folks were truly ahead of their time in so many ways that it’s really too bad we only ever got one full length and a couple of EPs before they parted ways and some members went on to more accessible and popular acts. Loud fast and queer (all five members of BTP NLSL openly identified as gay or bi), Behead The Prophet had the name of a metal band, the visual style of a post punk band (tight black and white suits), the riffs of a hardcore band, and layered over all of it the free form noise elements provided by violinist Michael, who despite being in his late 60’s during the time the band was active, tied it all together with waves of distorted effects-laden violin virtuosity. BTP NLSL burned bright for just a few years in the mid-late 90’s, releasing a handful of EP’s and their one full length before moving on to other endeavours. The guitarist and bassist moved on to form Tight Bros From Way Back When (one of my favourite band names of all time) afterward with folks from KARP, their violinist kept working on his noise project Noggin until his passing the late 00’s and last I googled their vocalist is now a well-loved chef in the Pacific Northwest culinary scene. Even though they weren’t around for all that long they are still one of my favourite bands from that scene and era today.
Exploding Hearts
A tragic story story of a career cut short, though with the upcoming reissue of their sole full length “Guitar Romantic” on Third Man Records, more people will finally be able to check out their awesome power pop punk songs again 20:years after their initial release. The Exploding Hearts were darlings of the Pacific Northwest scene of the early 00’s, with a sound akin to a mix of an American Buzzcocks or Undertones and what the Strokes wished they sounded like, with an extra heaping dose of snotty punk swagger over top of it all. Unfortunately, in July 2003 just a couple of months after what would be their sole full length was released, the band was driving home from a series of shows at San Francisco’s Bottom Of The Hill Club and the the diver fell asleep at the wheel, crashing the van. Three of the four members of the band passed away due to injuries sustained in the accident, with only guitarist Terry Six surviving. Six would later go on to form The Riffs with Scott Goto (who was later to become front man of LONG KNIFE, who we talked about on a previous episode), and as mentioned previously their album is being reissued on Third Man Records this year to celebrate it’s 20th anniversary, and I highly recommended you pick up when it comes out.
Gorilla Biscuits
It’s wild to me that this band only really one full length album but they’re one of those bands whose members started playing together young (they met in high school) and then moved on to new ideas, new projects and new careers while still in their early 20’s. They occupy a similar space as Matt’s picks Operation Ivy , but in the subgenre of youth crew straightedge hardcore instead of ska-punk, being a young band with a passionate but still accessible take on their respective subgenre who usually end up being one of most folks’ early introductions to said genre and who had members move on to more successful acts later on (in this case GB guitarist Walter Schriefels’ recently reunited 90’s era project Quicksand). Mixing the speed and anger of their contemporaries with the melody of bands like The Descendents they created a potent offshoot of the hardcore genre that lives on today, with their sole 1989 full length on Revelation Records still widely available as an accessible but awesome and passionate introductory point to that era of hardcore for sure and the genre as a whole.
Miscellany
Main Source – Live At The BBQ (feat 18 year old Nas), a runner up pick of mine for the topic that may be discussed more in-depth on a follow up to the topic.
Quicksand – Landmine Spring (Walter Schriefels’ post- Gorilla Biscuits band)
Schlong – I feel Pretty (Dave Mello’s post-Op Ivy band, from their 1993 “Punk Side Story” album, guest vocals by Anna Joy from BLATZ)
Kimya Dawson – Captain Lou feat Aesop Rock and Bryan Danielson
The Riffs – A Million Scars (feat members of The Exploding Hearts and Long Knife)
Company Flow – Patriotism (El-P’s first group)
Tight Bros From Way Back When – Hurricane (post BTP NLSL band also featuring Karp/Big Business members)
Matt’s Notes
As it’s been… checks notes… 16 days and counting… since we recorded this episode… through no fault of Dan’s… it turns out we’re here for a long time rather than a short time… as far as these things go…
In fact, we’re only a few days out from our next recording session! And I’ll be goddamned if I’m running away to Kelowna for another week without getting that episode up as well…
Drill Sergeant: What a load of happy horseshit! You think anybody gives a sweet fuck about your “personal issues”?
Private Matt: Derp
DS: What the fuck did you just mumble out of that gasping piehole? This isn’t some kind of goddamned all-you-can-mutter group therapy jack-off session!
PM: Yes, Sarge. I mean no, Sarge.
DS: You passive-aggressive little weasel! No wonder you can’t sustain a marriage or even a single goddamned Tinder date. Christ, I’m trying not to puke just looking at you!
PM: Sorry, Sarge.
DS: Did you just APOLOGIZE to me, you goddamned shitstain? And if you think going “meta” here is going to save your sorry, ridiculous, unemployed ass you have another think coming!
Sorry… where were we?
For the sake of getting ‘er done, these notes will be necessarily brief! Here’s the original game plan for my part of the show from 2.5 weeks back… we didn’t get through all of this on the episode… that I remember, anyway… nor will these notes cover all of it… but… for those interested in “process”… here’s a peek behind the camo curtain…
Slow Parker
This is a paragraph about Slow Parker. It’s not as cool or relaxing as listening to SP. And it won’t make you headbang & flail your way into the ER the way Shotmaker did… But it still is trying to convey something of that essence.
I went to the show at the Odd Fellows Hall… I did my nerdy sideways dance near the front… it was the best of times… full stop...
Many thanks to publisher, writer, musician, and all-around awesome guy Matt Carter for writing this amazing piece on Fredericton venues from “back in the day” which was invaluable when I was writing the preceding sentences…
Medictation
This is a paragraph about Medictation. Leatherface (Sunderland, UK) + the Sainte Catherines (Montreal) = L-O-V-E. Especially when you consider it was the last recorded music by Dickie Hammond… who passed away far too early… shortly before the album was released… the Stalingrad clip above pays tribute to one of the best to ever pick up the axe… and he could sing just as well as Frankie as well, as it turns out…
Operation Ivy
This is a paragraph about Op Ivy. What can I say that’s original about them? Absolutely nothing. Right! That takes care of that!
Note: Back when this was recorded… two-and-a-half very long weeks ago… I could have sworn that the new Jesse M & Tim Timebomb project was called Bad Optix… but now all the official Internet stuff from Hellcat Records says Doom Regulator… anyways… do check it out! If good music is your thing…
Alderknot
This is a paragraph about Alderknot. I wrote as much about them as I’m reasonably capable of back in the notes for Episode Four…
One of my favorite gigs of the era was seeing them at the Boyce Farmer’s Market in 199-whatever… and then getting the demo tape… and playing it to death on my shitty boombox / multi-CD changer of the day…
Shoutout to the aforementioned Matt Carter for being the drummer of record when the Barn Overload album came out… and who appears on their Discogs page… also: a shoutout to whoever is behind this goddamned lovely and informative blogspot about Atlantic Canadian punk and hardcore…
The Broadways & Rapeman
This is a paragraph about two massively awesome and hugely influential and short-lived bands from Chicago, Illinois, USA. Brendan & Chris, later from the Lawrence Arms, started out in the Broadways together… and their one full-length is still available on Asian Man Records… from what I can tell from random interactions online this band meant one hell of a lot to a lot of people at the time… and, for my money, it’s an amazing historical document of a scene I never heard from at the time… Somewhere across town, I like to imagine, Steve Albini was doing Steve Albini things… including this much-lauded and much-protested band Rapeman… questionable and problematic… definitely… rocking as hell… undeniably… what makes this worth including is that Steve A has since made a turn to accountability… stating unequivocally and clearly on the record that he regrets his past “edgelord” behavior… including the naming of this band…
And furthermore…
Ben Nichols… Singer, guitarist, and writer for Lucero has released exactly ONE solo EP… written specifically about the epic, apocalyptic novel Blood Meridian, or, the Evening Redness in the West by certified American genius Cormac McCarthy… this came out in 2009 when I was living in Qatar… about six months before the birth of my first son… and I read the novel twice around the time… while listening to this EP on repeat… flash forward nearly a decade-and-a-half and Lucero is still going strong… with their latest Should’ve Learned by Now released just a month or two ago… as well, Ben has recently collaborated with his daughter… and released a fascinating and deeply cool synthwave album on Bandcamp…
Nerve Shack & Crisis Party
When somebody I know cares enough to recommend a band to me, I try and check it out!
Many thanks to my friend and former colleague Paula for letting me know about her best friend’s son’s band Nerve Shack… this is indeed something that fits with this show! Contemporary hard rock hailing from The Rock… I dig the bits I’ve heard so far… which gives me hope for the young’uns of our region… When (not if) we get around to doing another episode about Atlantic rock music I will be digging more deeply into their YouTube and Bandcamp…
Finally… Dan gave me the heads up to Crisis Party… who were playing a show in Kamloops… and while I didn’t make it to the show… “middle-aged Dad syndrome” winning that evening… they are also worthy of further follow-up on an episode of regional scenes… in this case Ottawa and Halifax…
Thanks as always for choosing to spend any of your dwindling hours with us! We appreciate you! Tread lightly into the rest of your time… and we’ll catch you again, hopefully, in three days and a wakeup!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Filed under: Uncategorized - @ April 26, 2023 8:55 pm
