MEDICATION: A BUDDYHEAD BLOG

Tank - "Filth Hounds Of Hades"

Anyone who is down with "Machine Gun Etiquette" by The Damned knows that the killer bass intro on 'Love Song' comes courtesy of Mr. Alasdair 'Algy' Ward. Not long after that classic album was released, Algy went on to form the more metal leaning band Tank. Consisting of Ward (b,v) plus brothers Mark (g) and Peter Brabbs (d), their blistering live performances put the power trio on the map. Immediately drawing the interest of Motorhead's Lemmy Kilmister, Tank began to play higher profile gigs and festivals and in 1982, released their debut, "Filth Hounds Of Hades". Produced by Fast Eddie Clarke (also a Motorhead member at the time), the playing is tight and the hooks are catchy. Some thought of the band as a mere Motorhead rip-off, but repeated listenings proved them wrong. Definitely a notable album of the era. First pressings of the LP came with a free single featuring 'The Snake/Don't Walk Away (live)'.

(Download - "Struck by Lightning")

(Download - "Turn Your Head Around")

Mean Reds | Wires On Fire "Split EP/DVD"

Buddyhead #18 is a split EP/DVD between Mean Reds & Wires On Fire and it's hot off the presses! You can now pick up a copy at Amoeba in Hollywood, at Fuck Yeah Fest July 2nd (which both bands are playing with Beehive & The Barracudas, Giant Drag, Dillinger Four, Darker My Love, Your Enemies Friends and others) or from our online store in the next week or so.  It features two new songs from each band, one cover and one original. Mean Reds tackle Minor Threat's "Minor Threat" and Wires On Fire do Alice Cooper's "I'm Eighteen". You can hear each band's original song from this split by streaming them here. The split is also a dvd of an entire live show that took place in downtown Los Angeles back in late 2004 with a set from both bands and plenty of genitalia flapping around during the show as well. Oh, and the artwork is by Raymond Pettibone too. Yeeebrah!

(Stream the songs here)

Year Future - "The Hidden Hand"

This is the second EP from LA's art punk's, Year Future. The first one is good as well, so pick that up too. But for the record, I think this one is an improvement. Both EPs are out on the singer's own label, GSL. Which if you aren't already hip to, puts out some of the best independent releases around. Sonny (the singer) was also in a few bands before this one that you might have heard of called Angel Hair and The VSS (so was this website's own David Clifford). If you haven't yet, check em out dude. I like this band because they remind me of Joy Division and Dead Kennedy's at the same time, plus the guitar player kills it with all those weird cool noises he makes. These guys are one of the most interesting "punk bands" around these day, get into em.  There's only three songs on here so it'd be lame if I gave away more than one song... just go buy this record. Also, check their website for show dates.

(Download - "Nature Unveiled")

Looks like the only show they have lined up is:
July 21 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Smell w/ Federation X, Business Lady, The Pope

The Rolling Stones - "Angie (Alternative Version)"

The chaos of the internet has created some great things... pushing the limits of intellectual property and creating an amazing culture of large scale collobarations that can be heard by a myriad of peoples. Phenomena such as the "mash up", in particular, the Grey Album that Dangermouse created with the use of Beatles and Jay-Z tracks exemplify this. Anyhow - this phenomenon continues and it is beautiful to see that the lines of the sacred can be moved and adjusted much like the artist Banksy putting up his own subversive works in the Tate gallery.  This lass that sang with The 'Stones has also done other collaborations as well. I think I may have to play slide guitar on this 'stones track later. Hmmm, anyhow, without further ado... listen up.

(Download - "Angie" Alt. Mix)

Pailhead - "Trait"

I've always been a fan of Ministry (I don't like their last few releases) and their various side projects like Lard and The Revolting Cocks, but one of my favorite things Al Jourgensen has done is the Pailhead stuff with Ian MacKaye.  Kind of sounds like a weird pairing but it works.  They released the "No Bunny/I Will Refuse" single, the "Trait" EP and that was that.  If you buy the CD now it has all six songs on it.  I believe the Pailhead stuff was released around the time Ministry released "The Land Of Rape And Honey" and that's pretty much what it sounds like.  Imagine Ian MacKaye singing "Deity" and you get the picture.  These are my two favorite tracks from the "Trait" CD.

(Download - "I Will Refuse")

(Download - "Man Should Surrender")

The Pink Mountaintops - "The Pink Mountaintops"

This is the sexy side of Black Mountain. The pink side. I think this is a side project or maybe it's just another band all together. Who knows seeing as how these dudes are Canadians. We interviewed these guys a while ago and they kind of explain it all if you read it. Click  here. Take off, eh? Man-o-man, I dig the tunes these dudes are cranking out. It's refreshing. Plus they're really good people too, which makes me like em even more. Matt (from Black Mountain) gave me the coolest Appetite era Guns N' Roses t shirt about 5-6 years ago when we rolled through Vancouver, BC on tour. In return I think we fucked up his neighbors car pretty bad with our van and also broke a mirror in Matt's apartment. Fuck, that explains all the bad luck! Oh well, if my math is correct that's only a year or so left. If your girlfriend is making you take her to see Coldplay (how much do they wish they were U2 by the way?) this year, make sure you get there early so at least you can see the opening band... Black Fuckin' Mountain!  Chalk up a point for Team Earthdog! Yeeeeeeeebrah!  These three songs that I picked out are my favorites on the record cuz they're just great stonsey summer time songs. When I first got these records I was leaning towards Black Mountain as my favorite but now I think this record is winning the popularity contest with me. The whole record is great, go buy this.

(Download - "Rock N' Roll Fantasy")

(Download - "Sweet 69")

(Download - "Tourist In Your Town")

NEW BUDDYHEAD SHIRTS FOR SALE







We just put up three new T Shirt designs in our online store. They are: "Ban Hippies (And New Yorkers)", The "Coffin" shirt and the token "Skull" shirt. We've also "slashed" a bunch prices on some of the old shit we wanna move outta there. So if you enjoy this website and you want us to eat, buy a freakin shirt man. Thanks.
http://www.merchlackey.com/buddyhead/

We have yet another new writer for this blog. Please give a warm Buddyhead welcome to Tony Bevilacqua. Tony was in The Distillers and is in The Drips as well as a bunch of other shit. Yeeeeeeeeeeeebrah!

 

Brainiac - "Hissing Prigs In Static Couture"

My roommate in college played me Brainiac and I fucking flipped out.  They were one of those bands that you wished you had been listening to all along.  I immediately rushed out and bought every release I could find by them.  They were everything I liked about music.  Pop structured tunes with very unpoppy sounding music, great dynamics and a heavy amount of noise.  Timmy Taylor's vocals ranged from whispers to screams or a crazy falsetto and John Schmersal is one of the most unique guitar players I've ever heard.  He writes great riffs and uses the strangest dissonant chord voicings you've ever heard.

These two tracks are from their third lp, "Hissing Prigs In Static Couture".  You can still buy their Touch And Go release but the early stuff came out on Grass Records and is unfortunately out of print.  A few weeks after the release of and ep entitled "Electro-Shock For President", Timmy Taylor died in a car accident.  I got to see them play once and I was floored.  Timmy was one of the best vocalists i've ever seen perform. 

Since the end of brainiac, John has gone on to form Enon.  Check out their second release, "High Society".

(Download - "Vincent Come On Down")

(Download - "Nothing Ever Changes")

Munly & The Lee Lewis Harlots

Munly takes to Flannery O'Connor like GG Allin took to Iggy Pop... he dirtiest it up to the point of nearly surreal, ugly realism. That is to say, similar to the dark musings of the Country Teasers, Munly and his string section band of lovely young ladies, the Lee Lewis Harlots play a form of Americana music that parallels Sixteen Horsepower, Nick Cave, the Gun Club, etc. in its lush romanticism of arcane lore. However, Munly's songs have a very uniquely ugly and eerie transgressive tone amid beautiful compositions that sets his work apart. It reveals a dark, scary and yet playfully perverse vision of life that reminds me of the aesthetics of both Tim Burton and David Lynch.

Munly is best known as the darker side to Denver's odd-country group Slim Cessna's Auto Club, although he has also released several of his own albums over the past decade. Described by Munly himself as "Gothic Folk" music, his songs should appeal to fans of all varieties of outlaw music.

"Another Song About Jesus, A Wedding Sheet, and A Bowie Knife" highlights Munly's songwriting talents, with pizzicato strings, banjo strums and lightly brushed drums, it is a sinister lament and murder ballad wrapped up in one. "Of Silas Fauntleroy's Willingness to Influence the Panel" is a brisk paced shit-kicker with cool backing vocals, excellent string work and furthermore nasty subject matter. "My Darling Sambo" comes from Munly's previous album and dives headlong into button-pushing taboos.

Munly & The Lee Lewis Harlots -- a split release between Alternative Tentacles/Smooch Records in early 2005 -- is an epic album featuring a DVD audio disc that features the entire album mixed in different formats, including DTS and 5.1 surround sound.  The disc also includes a visual "booklet" featuring 90 images, hidden audio bonus tracks, and best of all, Munly reading the lyrics to all of the songs on the album unaccompanied. The album was recorded and mixed by Bob Ferbrache, who has lent his skills to recent albums by Sixteen Horsepower, Woven Hand, Slim Cessna's Auto Club, et al.

Check out the Smooch Records site for more MP3s, photos, reviews, etc.

(Download - "Another Song About Jesus, A Wedding Sheet and A Bowie Knife")

(Download - "Of Silas Fauntleroy's Willingness ro Influence the Panel")

(Download - "My Darling Sambo")

the Bronx

I’ve been asked a shitload of times what I think punk rock is and I’ve realized that I have no fucking clue.  I’m a fan of a bunch of old punk bands, but all of these new bands that are dubbed punk are merely bubblegum bullshit.  One of the few bands that has breathed life back into good punk rock is the Bronx.  They’re four guys being themselves that write high energy tunes about what they know and see living in Los Angeles.  Their self- titled LP is a great record from start to finish.  There’s no fake ass political agenda, there’s no look, there’s no Hot Topic… you get the point.    If you’re a kid getting into punk rock and you’ve already had your history lesson and you’re looking for something new, skip what labels like Warner Bros and the Warped Tour is telling you is punk rock and get this shit.  I’ve had the pleasure of seeing them play live quite a bit and I haven’t been so psyched on a punk band since the Nerve Agents.
The Bronx are busy right now doing the follow up to their self-titled lp.  Also, if you can find the Bats! EP. They do a great cover of the Saints tune “ Private Affair”.

(Download - "False Alarm")

(Download - "I Got Chills")

The Jesus And Mary Chain - "Come On" single

Question: What's cooler than The Jesus And Mary Chain? Answer: The Jesus And Mary Chain covering "New Kind Of Kick" by The Cramps, "Alphabet Street" by Prince and "Ghost Of A Smile" by The Pogues.

I dig this band's covers. Actually, I dig every single one of this band's songs. It's an addiction. These guys have perfected the art of covering someone else's song in my eyes. They pick great songs, they turn up the cool with their "I don't give a fuck about anything" vocal delivery and then they always throw just the right amount of feedback on top. You can't beat that formula as far as I'm concerned. These are from the "Come On" single with the blue cover (the orange one has shit that ended up on "Hate Rock N' Roll"), which even though it's outta print you can probably still find it in a used bin somewhere for a few bucks. I'm not sure why this hasn't ended up on some b-sides record yet because all these tracks are slammin'. Although, if I had to pick one I'd go with The Cramps cover as my favorite. If you dig these, check out the songs I posted from "Stoned And Dethroned" (which is the album the single "Come On" is from) and "Barbed Wire Kisses" too.

(Download - "Come On")

(Download - "New Kind Of Kick")

(Download - "Alphabet Street" )

(Download - "Ghost Of A Smile")

On a side and kind of related note, did anyone else see that interview with Jim Reid in Filter Magazine? It was a good idea and defiantly a noble effort but the guy they got to do the interview didn't know dick about The Jesus And Mary Chain! They shoulda got me to interview Jim, I woulda brought homeboy a joint and got him to talk about how rad he is! I'm pretty sure that's his favorite topic. And why not interview William too? He now lives in LA and he wrote most of the songs anyways. Either way, check out the interview cuz when it comes down to it, it's still Jim Reid. Another thing to check out from Filter was their surprisingly well done Spacemen 3 interview with both J. Spacemen and Sonic Boom. Jason fucks up Sonic Boom so hard in it. Good work Filter, that almost makes up for your weenie sucking best of 2004 lists dudes. If someone could please introduce me to some people who actually listen to The Arcade Fire, new Morrissey,Franz Ferdinand,Bloc Party, Muse, Razorlight, Bright Eyes and Modest Mouse and I'll introduce you to some huge fuckin' geeks!

Also, in case you haven't noticed, we have a new head writing for Medication now. Please give Pat Hoed a nice warm and fluffy Buddyhead welcome. His rock resume includes playing bass in Nip Drivers, Left Insane and Down By Law. He was a DJ (Adam Bomb) on KXLU from '84 - '90 and hosted the punk/hc show 'The Final Countdown' for 5 years. And in 1990 he and a dude from his high school started a band called Brujeria. Yeah he's cooler than you. So far he's posted about The Stains, Riot & Venom. Which makes me look like a total pussy when I post JAMC songs right after that, but fuck it!