IT'S A LIVING… BUT IT'S NOT A LIFE #13.6
J Church avec Honey Bear - See ya, Spring - Oh shit, I forgot the shows!
SHOWS!!!
I fucking forgot to mention some shows in the last newsletter so I'm
rushing to get this one out. We are playing here in Austin on Thursday
the 19th, yes tomorrow, at Sound On Sound which is located at 106 E. North
Loop. It's a last minute in-store to get ready and try out some new songs
and some really old ones before flying off to Japan. The show is early;
it starts at 5:00. Also playing are the Sweethearts and Army of Jesus.
Plus we are going to Japan, remember?
MAY
26 Kanagawa, Yokohama Club 24 West w/ Hard Skin
27 Tokyo Red Cloth w/ Hard Skin
28 Sendai Birdland w/ The Urchin, Deeds Not Words
29 Niigata Nile Studio w/ The Urchin, Spraypaint
30 Kyoto Kiyamachi East w/ The Urchin, I Excuse
31 Nagoya Huck Finn w/ The Urchin, Navel
JUNE
1 Mie Ise Question w/ The Urchin, The Because, Drift Age
2 Matsuyama Jet w/ The Because, Drift Age
3 Tokushima Crowbar w/ The Because, Drift Age
4 Osaka Saomai w/ The Because, Drift Age, I Excuse
5 Tokyo Match Vox w/ The Because, Drift Age, Blotto
J CHURCH LIVE LP #3
So, now that the second live album is finally done, I'm taking pre-orders
for the third one. "Trick Or Treat Feedback And Distortion"
was recorded live at Pitzer College at Claremont, CA on Halloween 1993.
Like the previous two records, it will be limited to 20 copies. It's $15
ppd. from me. You can Pay Pal me at honeybearrecords@hotmail.com.
2004 "SOCIETE EST UNE FLEUR CARNIVORE" EUROPEAN TOUR DIARY
PT. 4
(Fuck, this is a long tour…)
DECEMBER 12th HANNOVER, Germany (Korn)
By far our worst show here, not many people turned out, 30 or so maybe?
The only really high point was I got to see my pal Julia Strechel if only
briefly as she was pretty ill. Still, glad to have made contact. I miss
the good old days staying at her flat on the top floor. That's just one
of those moments in time you can never relive.
DECEMBER 13th HAMBURG, Germany (off)
I like Hamburg. It's easy to kill time here and be amused by whatever.
It's like the good old days in pre-Giuliani New York. Sort of. Maybe nothing
was that sleazy. Did a little more record shopping. Scored a German Eric
Dolphy LP. Nothing to do tonight in Ingo's hometown. We go out looking
for some foosball. I buy some marzipan to take home. Fuck, it's cold here.
DECEMBER 14th OLDENBURG, Germany (Alhambra)
Got our new, somewhat smaller van and headed off for Oldenburg with Sasha
behind the wheel. He seems like a pretty cool guy.
The Alhambra is a cool space started by a bunch of lefty professors
in the `70s. I don't know the whole story. But I know that there is a
cool apartment and computer center for women as part of the space. This
is our second time here, the first being in '95. Once again there is an
interesting German band that I really don't know how to describe. They're
called Mad Minority. Not really hardcore but not typically punk either,
they're definitely not metal. It's more of the unique German punk, growl,
hybrid that I associate with things like Trust fanzine in the late `80s
and early `90s. Nice guys too.
Turns out to be a great show, which is a huge relief. We spend the night
telling ghost stories in the creepy band room where we are meant to sleep.
Jo is afraid of everything. The movie Maximum Overdrive
freaked her out.
DECEMBER 15th DORTMUND, Germany (JUZ)
Another town I've heard of but have never been to. Joachim is there with
some folks from Ox fanzine, which is probably the best
German zine along with Trust.
Playing tonight with an enjoyable local ska band that I would have assumed
were metal just by looking at them. Another fun night as we seem to be
hitting areas much more familiar with us. It feels like a fun hall show
in the Midwest with us playing right on the floor.
It's Jo's last night with us so she is on the A Train to Shitfaced.
By the time we're done playing she is sloppy drunk and hilarious. I'm
gonna miss her company. Having a girl as part of the entourage always
drastically changes the atmosphere for the better. I just hate when it
feels like "lads night out".
DECEMBER 16th SAARLOUIS, Germany (JUZ)
I guess Saarlouis was a French town. After the occupation they were given
a choice between going back to French or staying German. They voted for
German.
Another youth center, which is a weird government, funded ugly building
called JUZ. It's a place for kids to hang out and they also do regular
gigs all sponsored by tax dollars.
The show itself turned out crappy as no one there really new how to
work the PA. So vocals were intermittent at best. A shame as people stuck
around through a German emo band and a hilarious German hip-hop group.
God, this place is a mess. There is junk and cigarettes everywhere. The
whole place stinks of beer and smoke.
IN THE J CHURCH LISTENING ROOM
101ERS - Elgin Avenue Breakdown LP
During the height of my initial punk obsession in the early `80s, I would
pour over the lists of import records for sale in the back of Trouser
Press. As much as I loved Flipside and eventually
Maximum, Trouser Press connected me
most with the music as it was what got me into the mode of mail-order.
The fact that many of the articles were written like chimps with typewriters
or the fact that they were covering such `naff bands as Duran Duran didn't
matter. In the same way that Starlog had previously fueled my Sci-Fi nerdiness
with it's amazing back page adverts for Space 1999 models, Trouser
Press was the way I could spend my hard earned cash on ridiculously
overpriced singles and LPs.
The Clash were just one of many bands that I felt like I needed everything
from. It was never enough to just get Sandinista. I also
needed Sandinista Now! and the Hitsville UK/Mikey Dread
split. So when this collection of pre-Clash Strummer material of dubious
origin appeared, I had to get it.
I think pub rock mostly kinda sucks. It's interesting from a sociological
point of view as a precursor to punk and it's fun to pick out the elements
that were borrowed or stolen. But it's mostly just shit bar music and
the 101ers were more or less quintessential pub rock. But, keeping in
mind the manic state in which I ordered this record, I quite enjoy it.
Keys To Your Heart is just a great almost Motown-esque
tune and Silent Telephone is also a great moody number.
I was also excited to hear their take on Junco Partner
which was actually one of my least favorite tracks on Sandinista.
The live recordings are not very good, but just good enough for the crazed
fan and apparently that means me. Most importantly for this type of boot,
it looks really great. Great cover art and cool photos on the back with
interesting fan liner notes. If you're a collector like me (and I do hope
you're not), this is the kind of thing that's fun to come across.
(Andalucia Records)
ADICTS, THE - Sound Of Music LP
I couldn't believe it when the rubbish Tower Records in Honolulu got
a copy of the second Adicts album without me having to special order it.
Like a lot of folks who got into the second wave of UK punk like I did,
the Punk And Disorderly LP was crucial. It was like getting
the best news you can imagine. Here are those bands you've been reading
about and this is what they sound like. It was an instant lesson in what
was happening in London and why that town still ruled. One of my favorite
tracks on the record was Straight Jacket by the Adicts.
Yeah, loved that EP and loved the first album so I was pretty primed
for the second LP. Everyone always talks about the sophomore jinx. I don't
know. I think it's all perception. If you do a second album that sounds
just like the first, you're not challenging yourself. If you do something
different, you're selling out or something. I like Leave Home
and I like Give `Em Enough Rope so I don't know what
to say. Sound Of Music is surely slicker than anything
the Adicts had done and there is some acoustic guitar. Even a fiddle.
But it's a bunch of great tunes. KTUH used to play Chinese Takeaway
all the time and when UK/DK came out, I couldn't believe
how great the band looked performing Joker In The Pack.
Those are still my two favorite songs on the record. But there are a lot
of other greats here as well.
The Adicts were never the most important band in England and they weren't
about to change the world. But for sheer entertainment value, the first
two albums are solid.
BIG BLACK - You Got It All, Dad! We're Gonna Hit! LP
This is the notorious live bootleg from I don't remember when. I don't
even remember how I got this. Suffice it to say that it's a great sounding
live recording and as unhappy as Albini seems to be with bootlegs, the
less said that better.
I think a lot of why this boot is so notorious is the cover, which includes
the transcriptions of a dozen Black Box recorders moments before impact.
Here's my favorite:
Pilot: Harry… we're over!
Captain: Give me the engine!
Tower: Ah, look out!
Pilot: We're over.
(SOUND OF IMPACT)
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