ZINE: Heckler #2: Music/SK8/Snow Zine

[John Baccigaluppi]

HT GET CUT OFF, KEEP READING
THIS MIGHT GET CUT OFF, KEEP READING

************HECKLER MAGAZINE***********
***********SNOW/SK8/MUSIC*************
*********THE FARTSY ARTSY ISSUE*********

PART 3-MUSIC
Heckler is a free magazine about snowboarding, skateboarding &
music. We distribute mainly on the west coast of the USA, but have
scattered distribution in the rest of the US and a little bit overseas.
Following is the complete text of our latest issue.
To make reading it more manageable, I have split the magazine up
into 3 parts, 1 for each subject we cover. We are posting the
Snowboarding section of the mag on rec.skiing.snowboard, the
skateboard section on alt.skate-board, and the music section on
alt.zines. We hope you'll read the other sections, and let us know if
you have any problems finding them.
This is our second time we have posted the mag onto The Internet,
so if we're doing something wrong or if you have some suggestions
on how we might post it differently in the future, please e-mail us
at Heckl...@aol.com and give us some input. We would like to put
the magazine in some form onto the World Wide Web, but we haven't
quite figured it out. Any WWW experts out there, feel free to gove us
advice.
If you'd like a free hard copy of the mag (72 pages, including LOT's
of photos) send us an 8 1/2" by 11" Self Adressed Stamped Envelope
with $1.33 postage on it to:
Heckler Magazine
UseNet Request
PO Box 507
Sacramento, CA 95812

Hope you like the mag...

************TABLE OF CONTENTS*********
1. Mix Master Mike Interview
2. Slayer Interview
3. Public Enemy Speech
4. Flop Article
5. Sam I Am Article
6. 5" 10" Article
7. Consolidated Interview
8. Bureau Of The Glorious Article
9. Music & Zine Reviews

************SK8 TABLE OF CONTENTS*********
(posted on alt.skate-board)
1. Tony Hawk Interview
2. Neal Hendrix Article
3. Lathan Spaulding's Friends
4. Steve Cabalerro Mini-Interview
5. Beer City Skateboards
6. Roman de Salvo Profile
7. On Style & Meaning
8. Free Skateboard Contest

*******SNOW TABLE OF CONTENTS*********
(posted on rec.skiing.snowboard)
1. Editorial: Sucking In The 70's
2. Letters To Heckler
3. Phil Ferguson Profile
4. Tim Manning Interview
5. Carabeth Burnside Article
6. Noah Salasnek Interview
7. Contest Schedule
8. Shock Value in Advertising
9. Video Reviews
10. Gossip Section

********MIX MASTER MIKE INTERVIEW*********

Heckler Magazine (Matt Kennedy): So were are you from?
Mix Master Mike: I'm from San Francisco but I chill all over. Right
now I'm hangin out here in Sac but where I'm at is where I'm at you
know, bark at the hoes and shake the bush you know what im saying.
HM: So how did you start out?
MM: Basically back in the days around '85 I was in eleveth grade and
I used to cut school and shit. I'd go home and start scratchin' and I
could hear the bell ring but I was scratchin' and I'd be like ‘oh well
you know there goes the rest of the day.’ I didnt really think they
were teaching me anything I needed to know. George Washington
don't relate to me, you know what Im saying. What actually got me
in to scratchin' was when I saw this Herbie Hancock video and it
had Grand Master DST on there scratchin' and that hella inspired
me and I was like, ‘damm I want to do that shit too,’ you know. I
started out pause mixing with two tape decks trying to make one
beat while recording with another tape deck. From there I got two
beat up old turntables and a Radio Shack mixer well kind of like
you got right here you know (pointing at my delapadated equipment).
HM: So what else inspired you?
MM: Well musically you know back in the day I listened to a lot of
funk but I really like a lot of Jimi Hendrix. I'm inspired by Bruce
Lee because of my brother. But I just need to tell you the inventor
of scratching is Grand Master Theodore and Hip Hop music started
in the Bronx river projects with Kool DJ Heart just to kick some
knowledge for you all out there who don't really know.
HM: What kind of music do you do?
MM: The music I do is a method where I shred the braid. This new
form of art on my turntables is like turntable music or turntable
jazz and its called liquid scratch jazz. It consists of just my
turntables and my 808 beat machine. Just like people used to do
back in the day. Its like a turntable orchestra. Its jazz, its scratch
jazz, you can feel it, it's an art. Its like Jimi Hendrix on the guitar,
Mike on the turntable. My music's really universal, you never know
whats going to come out of what I make.
HM: What sort of titles do you have?
MM: Well, in 1992 I won the World Music Seminar in New York. I
was the first D.J. from the west coast to ever take the world title.
That same year in Japan I won the New Music Seminar Award.
Then the next year I defended my title in London. And, I don't know
if I'm going to babble anymore cause I just wanna rip some shit on
wax now. But, I'm down to babble anyone in the world, you know
what I mean.
HM: What kind of advice do you have for upcoming D.J.s?
MM: Believe in yourself, know your culture, know where D.J.'s
started, know who invented it. Just have respect, you know, don't
diss anybody, be original, have your own shit, don't use anybody
else's shit. Basically, you know, just don't D.J., cause I'm going to
wax you.
HM: Gimme' some props.
MM: I got two albums coming out and a video. The first album's
called Mix Master Beats One, Swerving Through The Cuts, the second
album is called Music's Worst Nightmare, Memoirs Of A Serial Wax
Killer. And my video's called the Art of Turntable Terror. D. J.
Quebert, D. J. Appollo, The Rock Steady Crew, The D.J.
Nation, D.J. Red Alert, D.J. Preire, Grand Master Flash, My
Bros in Sac., Steve, Noah, and Matt, and John.

*********SLAYER INTERVIEW*********

More fun with Mike Day: Five minutes with Kerry King.
Last week during a lazy stroll through downtown, I picked up a local
entertainment weekly. As I flipped pages, I noticed an ad for a
Slayer new release and signing session. Lightbulbs began exploding
freely in the general area above my head. I grabbed the phone and
threw a call to sonny to pop the idea of a low key interview. As fate
would have it, Sonny had also felt the Lightbulb. So we met, and
with the help of Matty Kennedy's supervision, we moto'd to Tower.
After numerous attempts to "go through channels" in order to secure
an interview, (gratitude to two real people: Bridget at W.E.A. and
Kenny at American. Thanks for keeping Rich occupied.) The tour
manager: Rich Fuckwad, shut us completely. So we decided in true
Heckler fashion to wait until Fuckwad bailed, then I would corner
Kerry King and throw some stealth questions. Mr. King respectfully
answered my questions. The following is a detailed transcription of
my unauthorized conversation. Listen and learn.
Mike Day: Kerry, Do you mind if I ask you a few questions for our
magazine?
Kerry King: What magazine?
MD: Heckler Magazine.
KK: Yeah, go ahead.
MD:Okay, what are your quick thoughts on morality?
KK: Don't give me no political stuff.
MD: Ok.
KK: We ain't got time for political stuff.
MD: What new bands have earned your respect?
KK: Pantera, and uh, Machine Head.
MD: Are there any bands that you hate musically? You know,
mainstream bands?
KK: I was never a big fan of Nirvana and I don't really like the uh,
Seattle scene as a whole. But you know..... Ace out single bands,
there's too many of them. There's a lot of bands I don't like, but as a
whole I don't like the Seattle vibe. You know, I like Stone Temple
Pilots, who ain't from Seattle anyway, and I like Alice in Chains
who are from Seattle, but....
MD: It's all kind of an act?
KK: What is?
MD: The whole Seattle scene.
KK: It just don't thrill me. You know, it's not my vibe at all.
Sonny Mayugba: What do you do other than music? Other than
Slayer?
KK: Drink.
MD: Yeah.
KK: Pretty much. That's what took us so long. You know we just sat
around and picked our ass for a couple of years. That's about it.
SM: You mean the last album. That's why it took so long?
KK: You get sidetracked. You know, just havin' fun not worrying about
what you gotta do.
MD: Do you think we could get a few shots of your ink?
KK: I gotta finish it man.. That's the only problem with ink on your
head, it fades big time.
SM: So what's up with the future for Slayer?
KK: A lot of fuckin' touring, man.
MD: When is that gonna start?
KK: After New Years. We gotta go to Europe and then we do the
States. Probably for a good 9-10 weeks.
MD: Cool, cool...
KK: It'll be huge. Huge, Huge....
MD: I know you guys got new vinyl right now. After your upcoming
tour, you guys will be returning to the studio, of course?
KK: We're supposed to do a song for the upcoming uh, Tales From
The Crypt fuckin' movie.
MD: Nice.
KK: I wasn't too hip on it, but..... We're also going to put out this
compilation thing of our own, it's kinda cool. I don't have enough
details to talk about it, but it'll be cool. It's gonna be a bunch of old
songs, plus a couple of tatolly new songs. We're planning on doing
like a next summer BIG U.S. tour to like grease that.. So not a whole
album, but a few new tracks.
SM: So where do you guys live?
KK: I live in Arizona.
Unfortunately, our conversation was aruptly ended due to the return
of Rich Fuckwad tour manager/dickhead. I thanked Kerry for his time
and vacated the premises without hesitation, before Fuckwad could
talk to me. Sonny on the other hand, received a personal lecture on
"Professional Etiquette" from none other than Rich himself. After
reducing the tour manager's authority to stupidity with logic, Sonny
met outside for departure. The moral of this story is: If life hands
you bullshit, hand it to the industry guy. I prefer to leave it on his
pillow. Don't get pushed around. Because after all else fails, you can
still just go to the source. Don't be afraid to stomp a few toes, or
even heads to get what you need.......More fun soon.
-Mike Day
P.S. The new shit is entitled Divine Intervention, your ears will
bleed.... MD.

************PUBLIC ENEMY SPEECH********

The music business that once turned it's back to rap now treats the
art form like boxes of cereal creating a bitter taste in the face of
the hip hop world. Having your act together in rap feels like being
sane inside of an asylum.
-Chuck D

Chuck D: Yo, first of all, my name's Chuck D. and I think my man right
here, he needs no introduction. He gonna kick in there.
Flavor Flav: Yeah my name's Flavor Flav and we in full effect! Thanks
for being with us, really.
CD: So, first of all, I don't know how many D.J's we have here, but
we'd like to thank the Pro's Record Pool, and amongst everybody
else that has affiliation, whatever you've done, support us
throughout the years, we really feel it. Straight up. I don't think we
would be here if we really didn't feel it. Ya'll (Oakland/Bay Area) are
real and true to the game. And right now, as rap enters, maybe it's
16th official year, that whole thing with being true to the game is
something with a question mark after it. Everybody can contribute
but I think right now, the business is making hip hop so exploitable
and disposable and although its a billion dollar industry, how many
people of color gettin' something out of it? Well how many
contributors to it actually can make claim that this could be a
career for many of us to fit into. Not just as an artist up there
singing a song or dancing or even doin' producing, or even having a
production company, but there's about 23 other occupations that are
being unacknowledged right about now. And that's my biggest
complaint and beef. And of course the record companies would like
to put rap and hip hop into a box and sell it like Nestle's candybars.
But it ain't like that.
I mean right now, you know everything about the black situation,
ain't about on the down, negative side. The record companies are
laughing cause they don't feel that they accountable to our
neighborhood. So I just feel some violence gotta be out there and
brother's gotta make a dollar too, sister's gotta make a dollar too.
Whether you black or brown, we still brother's and sister's. Straight
up. And we need to make a big piece of that pie. And I say that cause
I see it just drippin' out. 90% of it drippin' out into somebody else's
hands until they use it all up. So here we are in 1994 lookin' at hip
hop and rap music the same way many of us was lookin' at Jazz and
Blues and all those other music that we created. Always on the
creative end and very rarely on the business end. We have people on
part of the business need to be acknowledged. And I always have to
speak with the record company. I talk seriously for my record
company right now, you know cause I heard my product, R.A.L.(Rush
Artist Labels) product, Def Jam product was banned by the
college jocks. It was banned, and rightfully so. Excuse my language,
but, you know I've been going through this bullshit with these record
companies, especially with my record company for the longest. Now
this is no offense to Mike Kaiser or John Stockton who are good
people new on board, and I've been with Def Jam for 8 years. I'm
trying to get the fuck up out of here. Really, it's plenty of times like
I was telling my man Dave, I have people (Label sales
representatives and label staff) support our records, for 7 to 8 years
and they haven't even received a platinum album for L.L. Cool J
much less Public Enemy, so I dug in my pocket and tried to dig up and
make 400 plaques. Now I know I can't hit everybody but, damn, I got
tired of being involved with a situation that never looked out for the
people. And so if you're involved in the record business, in the D.J.
business, I'd like to personally apologize for a lack of record
company correspondence, especially from my end.
And I'm sitting in my own offices and we trying to do the best that
we could, reach out to the pools, keep the vinyl alive. You know,
keeping the vinyl alive is one thing, but if you don't keep the
turntables alive, shit, what you gonna feed the records to? You gotta
feed the records to something. Right now they're downstairs on
turntables makin' it. Technique's just disbanded with the 1200.
Alright? So you know, yeah, we can make all the vinyls that we
want, make all kinds of vinyls. All the sudden you got a turntable
disability. The record companies are trying to- forget trying to
knock out vinyl, they damn near getting ready for the interactive
superhighway. Sending everybody a piece of downloading equipment
so you can order your records through the telephone or through the
t.v. Yeah, 1-800-DOWNLOAD HIP HOP. And while I try to tell my
people, I say you know, right now you got so many new companies on
the cutting edge, and on the legal end of receiving so much loot, why
are black artists coming in and the fuck going right out that door,
man? I mean you got more rap artists between the age of 24 and 32
with so many frustrating stories, it's a godamn shame. It's like
godamn Blues and Soul, you know Etta James and Ruth Brown
stories all over again. And they keep picking people- it's cool, you
know, you 16, you 17, you 18, but what they doin' is they picking
groups 16, 17, 18, years old, taking 'em, using, doubling up on their
lawyers and you know with referrals, using 'em up and sell 100,000
units and then cutting them off. They making it more disposable and
the de-emphasizing the ability of- they de-emphasizing careers at
this point and then what happens, cause I'm one of the few able to
make a career out of it, I end up being a therapist. Talking to people
at 24, 25, trying to get back into the music industry once they have a
little bit of knowledge up here. So I would advise each and
everybody, if you're in the business- this is a billion dollar business
getting ready to be multi-billion dollar. If you go figure out how to
provide a service and get some of this loot, we gotta make the
record companies accountable. For years, I've been trying to make my
record company accountable, you know, and it's a love-hate
relationship, but right now I'm telling you this might be the first day
I'm ready to bounce them the fuck up out of my life. The less middle
men you got and the middle of your game, the better off you be the
rest of your life cause look, fun and games, like people talk about hip
hop, "Yo, okay, kid check this shit out. We need to take this back to
the parks." When you're 17 years old, you can take it back to the
parks. When you 30 years old, how you gonna feed your kids? Now I
could see if nobody was getting paid, but in a billion dollar industry
if you was doin' it for the love of it and for the heart of it, you
stupid! So you gotta figure out who gettin' the loot. It's a
muthafucking big game hustle. Ya'll know how the hustlers
play. Yo, believe me the, bigger hustlers are in the record business
than in drugs. Because you know what, they can get away with it. And
it's all legal. So all ya'll involved with hip hop, you gotta figure out
the 23 areas that loot is sprouting out of that they not telling
anybody about. It ain't about the amount of groups that sprout up.
Groups, talent is everywhere. 6, 7 years old people got talent. How
many areas can we fill? How many people could we put upon a CEO's
ass and say, "Look man, you gotta donate X amount of this money,
because if you're putting out 'gangster rap', then you gotta donate
this money out of your company that you're not paying the gangster
rapper and put up a youth center. We're gonna hold you accountable.
You need heavy minded people for that shit. And I'm telling you, after
the year 2000, you're gonna figure out more and more, "Damn, man, I
love hip hop and shit, but I'm tired of buying these god-damn records.
And I ain't getting paid for this shit." And I'm telling ya'll, believe
me, it's a multi-billion dollar industry.
I've been to 35 countries, right? Around the world 4 times. A lot of
people say ,"Yo man, what're you going to Korea for? They like hip
hop over there?" I say,"What the fuck you think I was there for? To
pick up sneakers?" Yo look man, I done 1400 shows, 35 countries,
straight up. Yo what's up. Africa is a continent that's breakin' wide
the fuck open. Philips-Polygram, who Def Jam just made a deal,
which got sold from Sony to Polygram for some millions of dollars
that I still haven't found out to this day and the ink is not dry.
They're getting ready to set up so much shop in Africa, it's a shame.
I've been in a few countries in Africa, and they pluggin' up tapes like
boom bam and all day long. And don't think they just like(In Swahili
accent), "Well Public Enemy and M.C. Hammer." They up on Da Brat
and all that. They're getting bootleg tapes in Africa too. But who you
think be running the bootleg plants? The companies. These
muthafuckers around the world while you thinking the block. Fuck
the block. The whole god-damned planet. We taught as black people
the original Asiatic patterns. You're taught that the whole planet is
yours, not the block. It's bigger than that. It's like Rakim, the great
philosopher of our time said, "It's not where you're from, it's where
you're at." We should be at all over the place. Def Jam is sold to
Polygram, which is the world's biggest conglomerate record power.
You know what that means? They went out and bought Motown and
all the catalog for 364 million dollars, right? All they are is a
company that buys and soaks other companies up like a big amoeba.
They waiting for it Perspective, A & M, shut them down and said,
"Look, we got that part of Black music with Jimi Jam and Terry
Lewis." Then they got Motown. Then they said they wanted the
streets. Not so much the streets; you gotta be on the cutting edge
label to be Jive cause they got the boom bam flip squad shit, right?
No, they lookin' for "world" acceptance. What's known to hip hop?
They went and bought Def Jam. So Def Jam, Motown, and Perspective.
Now what you think Polygram gonna do? The C.D. Rom era. They gonna
open up that whole thing with that computer shit and they gonna
make Kakillions off it, alright? Now you can look at this as a hobby
all you want, but when you get 40, 41 and your kids be rollin' up like,
"Dad, you know what I'm saying? Yo,I need to borrow the car, yo." You
can talk all that slang talk, "Yo, check this shit out, son. It's like
this here, ya know what I'm sayin?." You gotta show 'em some money.
If you doin' this hip hop thing and the multibillion dollar thing, get in
it. Maybe you can help me out oneday. Cause I'm tired of fighting
invisible wars.
I'd like to get these CEO's in the boxing ring and knock them the fuck
on out. I'll tell you an example. Well people say,"Well can you come
with It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back?" You know how
much I've been sued for that record? I ain't sampling no more! First
of all, I take a little snippet and, "Ah Public Enemy. They got money."
I get sued for it. They hiring these people and putting 'em up. "Yo, you
know I'm sayin'. I'm the rap kid." All the beat finders, right? These
companies are finding these suckers and putting them up on the label
and paying them a salary so they can find a beat and then go back to
the label and say, "You know what? They got that beat from where?
Here, there, there. Yo, this is what's gonna cost 'em." And therefore
the artists out there are getting sued for using rap products on their
records. You know what, the lawyers and the record companies don't
have a downside. The artists got a downside. I've been sued at least
$400,000 worth. $400,000 by Polygram, the label I just been sold to.
So say, fuck that, man. If I'm gonna move over there, I want all my
muthafucking money back. Every godamn dime and then some. I was
talking with my man Ice T the other day. And me and Ice, we've been
around the world together, alright? And here we be fighting these
muthafuckers at this level and The Source tryin' to prove that they
some underground shit. Let me tell you man- there's no such thing as
underground. You know what underground means now? Everything you
hear, Snoop Dogg on mainstream radio. Either you in or you out.
Underground mean under the ground, meaning 6 feet deep. It's over.
It's dead. You can't make it. Hip hop is now mainstream and let's get
that understood. So we gotta understand, okay. We gotta grow with
this.
And let me tell you about The Source, alright? My only beef is like,
cool, say what you want to say about me and all that, but don't be a
white boy owned magazine, claiming you are an authority, sending
your little niggers to make little fucking statements, right? And at
the same time say, "Okay, we underground, we represent, we truly
not commercial," and you make sure you puttin' somebody(in the mag)
that can sell that magazine every godamn month. They remind me of
the guy that you out in school, right? You cuttin' classes, right? Wit
your boy, right? Your boy cuttin' classes with you, right? At the end
of the semester, you left back, but this muthafucker's gettin' 3
diplomas on the same day cause he was back studying up at night.
"Yo, my man, what's up? Man, I thought we was- damn- yo man,
wussup??!?" Don't let them play that underground shit cause behind
the scenes, they building up their institutionalized shit. Straight up.
And 10 years from now, when they start having all these
documentaries and the Library of Congress opens up and shit like
that, who you think gonna be there? Those fucking white boys. So I
ain't no racist muthafucker, but I'm telling ya'll just as it is, man. If
the shoe fits, yo, then wear it. They put Luke on the cover and
everybody else wrote in the next month on how fucked up Miami
Base is. Muthafuckers ain't never been to Miami. How the fuck you
gonna talk about any other place if you ain't been off your block. If
you don't know shit, shut the fuck up. It's like muthafuckers in New
York, "Ah California, man, what the fuck they doing with a wet-ass
Jerri-Curl?" I tell them, "You ain't been there. Don't even fucking
comment. And you got some growing up to do cause you ain't been no
fucking where. And when you go out there, maybe you'll understand a
little something." Same thing I tell you about the Miami Base. When
you go down to Miami and down there in Florida, yo, those are black
people too. But what makes your blackness different from their
blackness? What makes your beat more hip? The original thing of hip
hop is that hip hop is black people's creativity. Rap is rap over
music. The music that was used in the beginning back in New York,
we was taking fuckin' Lolita Halloway and rapping over it.
Alright? So all this "real hip hop beats" man, comes from
muthafuckers 18 and 19 that's barely out of school that don't know
enough. What you want to do? You want to build an institution and
you want to make a science of it, but science is to know. It's either
right or it's wrong. But everybody gotta get their facts straight. So,
when The Source becomes an institution, they should be able to add
some balance and understand there's other magazines out there doing
a good job. That's it.
Flavor Flav: Yo, before we do that, I just wanted to build on that
magazine shit too. We got any writers in here? Newspapers?
Magazines? I've seen some people writing (I quietly raise my hand). I
just want to say to all the writers, ya'll play a big part of this too,
you know. Because whatever ya'll put out on the streets, people have
a tendency to believe. You know what I'm saying, so, you know, to all
the true, like Chuck says, being true to the game. All you true to the
game writers, you know what I'm saying, word up, ya'll keep it real,
you know what I'm saying. You got a lot of writers that be writing
some real bullshit, fucked up stories just like The Source. You know
what I'm saying? And we not trying to just down The Source like
that but I'm gonna tell you like this, you know, they wrote some
fucked up shit about us, you know what I'm saying? And what makes
them real mad right now is that, I'm on the front cover of their
magazine with a real slammin' interview inside, you know what I'm
saying? So whoever wrote that article about us is feeling like a real
asshole right about now, you know what I'm saying? So, I want to
say to all you writers who's writing some fucked up stories, yo, get
the facts straight, you know what I'm saying, cause whatever ya'll
put out for your people is gonna have a tendency to believe, you know
what I'm saying, without going to the horses mouth and finding out
the real true information and they gonna just pass around, and pass
it around, and pass it around. If you ain't been in the hood, you can't
dictate the hood. You know what I'm saying? Come out and see what's
going on first, you know what I'm saying. Then you write about it,
you know what I'm saying. And that's the move. But for all you true
to the game writers who've been really supporting us, writing the
real deal and giving it to the people exactly the way we gave it to
ya'll today, yo, our hearts go out to ya'll. Much love. The only reason
we talk this shit about The Source is cause they drew first blood.
Word up. Fuck The Source.
CD: I'm not even gonna go there. I'm just saying that--
FF: I'm going there.
CD: It's not about an individual thing, because that doesn't matter.
It's like, who they writin' for bothers me more than their individual
tapes. It's just, what they're writing for and who's giving them these
godamned jobs which is quite disturbing because, which means they
could flip the script on anybody. Of course, they pat me on my back,
but at the same time, there's gonna be a knife somewhere along the
line. How the fuck can you fucking do the same thing for 20 years and
muthafuckers smile up in your face. NO. So that's the controlling
mechanism. I come from an area of rap and hip hop where it had to be
more than 2 dimensional. And the business right now, and the
stigma, where before you made a record, so what, you had a record.
Number 2, you had to prove a record. And proving a record is coming
in front of the people and so people could say,"Oh I see where they're
coming from there. They rocked the fuck out of this record. I didn't
like that shit till I'd seen it." Now because a lot of rap performances
and tours been downscaled, now they got the song and they got the
video. Most people are going from song to video cause performance
and presentation are not being developed through the company. We
like to keep rap and hip hop 4 dimensional. You have your song, you
have your video, you have your performance and you have your
presentation of your character or characteristics. That has to get
across to the public, the public right now, being there's so many
rappers out there, they got to see the performers face to face and
shake some hands. If performances are definitely not in question,
then the rappers need to be out in the community washing cars,
straight up, washing cars, building community. They ain't gotta
donate money, just be out there and sweep the streets with me one
day. Come to the kids after they get out of school or just be in the
park one day doin' something. And that's where it gotta go. Cause
right now it's a fantasy thing that's going on. Some of ya'll
understand you gotta keep artists in check. Cause the artist got a big
record deal, selling a lot of records, muthafucker can't come pop up
out of a limo and be like, "So what's up my man? You know what I'm
saying? So. you been playin' much? Keep 'em back for a second." I
mean, yo, you gotta understand, I started my career back in '87. I
seen 'em come and go. Writers, promoters, artists. Why the fuck am I
still doing the same thing? There gotta be a way, a right way and a
wrong way.
WHAT SIDE YOU ON...WHAT SIDE YOU ON...

**********FLOP ARTICLE************

There are few things that are more frustrating than seeing
mediocre, overly-derivative, lackluster bands getting played on MTV
and commercial radio, let alone dominating the airwaves, while
more original and interesting bands go completely unnoticed. It
becomes downright painful
hearing Stone Temple Pilots or Collective Soul every time you
get the courage to turn on the radio. It could be argued that the
reason for this is because the lesser known bands are too weird,
less talented, or even less accessible than the so-called "stars", but
that couldn't be further from the truth. There is a list a mile long, in
nine-point type, of bands that fit this description, but I chose to
focus on Seattle's Flop because they are such a shining example.
Flop are pros at crafting the perfect pop song. One listen to either of
their highly acclaimed releases and you'll get the picture. Their
sound has been described as starting "somewhere in punkville" and
ending up near "the pop genius of bands like Cheap Trick, the
Buzzcocks and - dare we say it - the Beatles." Which is not unlike
the comparisons people were giving Nirvana when Nevermind came
out. The difference is that while Nirvana would veer off into barely
controlled tantrums and tirades, Flop stay committed to the
melodies, expertly delivered by vocalist/guitarist Rusty
Willoughby.
Because of their punk-ish roots, I asked Rusty at a recent show with
the Lemonheads if they had any fear of being lumped in with the
current wave of "Pop-Punk" bands.
"Oh, I don't know," he begins cautiously, "They would be stupid to try
and lump us in with anything, really, because we would just end up
disappointing them". I, however, find it hard to believe that Flop
would disappoint anyone. At least anyone with an affinity for a well
written song.
The bands dubious beginnings were explained thusly; "We were all
born as infants, and we grew up to be toddlers,then children, then
adolescents, and then when we were late-adolescents, early
twenties, we all met each other, and by the time we were in our mid
twenties we were a band".
I discovered later, though, that Flop does have a history. Rusty used
to play in the band Pure Joy, guitarist Bill Campbell played in
Chemistry Set,
bassist Paul Schurr played in Seers of Bavaria, and drummer
Nate Johnson played in Pure Joy as well (even if it was for all of
48 hours). Even later I found out that both Nate and Rusty once beat
the skins for the legendary Fastbacks. Now what was that about
toddlers?
Flop's second and latest release, Whenever You're Ready, was
produced by Martin Rushent (the Buzzcocks, Go-Go's, Human
League, Generation X, and The Who) and released by, not one, but
three record labels collectively (Frontier, Sony, and Sony's new
subsidiary, 550 Music). It's "A swift kick in the pants to anyone
who thinks Seattle is all whiny, long-haired grunge...a brazen power
pop fest, loaded with adrenalin pumping rythymns, sunny (if slightly
sinister) harmonies, and spastic dual guitars...". If that doesn't sound
inviting, I don't know what does.
So, it goes to stand that unless the spine-less, brain-dead, sheep of
commercial radio get a clue, we can look forward to more STP, more
Collective Soul, more Candlebox, or even worse, the bands that are
going to rip them off. And no one will get the opportunity to be
turned on to lesser-known greats like Flop. I think Fugazi sum it up
best when Guy and Ian sing, "Nevermind what they're selling, it's
what you're buying". Live by it.
-Sean Schroeder

************SAM I AM ARTICLE**********

"Last season I was at Donner every single weekend" Samiam
guitarist Sergie Loobkoff is telling me via AT&T from the
Atlantic Records office in L.A. This is the umpteenth interview
he's done to try to get the word out on Samiam's remarkable new
record, Clumsy. It was recorded in a month with producer Lou
Giordano (Sugar, Husker Du. SSD) at San Francisco's Coast
Recorders.
For me Clumsy is the quintessential Samiam record, focusing in on
everything I found so appealing about the band in the first place;
urgently melodic vocals, powerful guitar stylings that convey a
sense of emotion, and a tasteful rythymn section that doesn't lack an
identity. Punk, but not run of the mill by any stretch. Says Loobkoff,
"Samiam is sort of this weird kind of band...We've never been like, 1-
2-3-4 punk rock. We've always had the slower parts, the groovier
parts, and punk rock parts. We've never just been straight-forward
punk rock. When we first started out people kind of didn't know what
to make of it, like "What the fuck are these tempo changes, that's
not punk rock."
Samiam doesn't justify themselves to the ultra-punk crowd for
being different, they don't have to; their credentials speak for
themselves. Guitarist James Brogan was previously in Nor Cal punk
heavyweights, Social Unrest, Vocalist Jason Beebout and
original bassist Martin Brohm were both involved in Gilman St.
faves, Isocracy, and current bassist Aaron Rubin was a founding
member of The Mr. T Experience.
Like many of their contemporaries who have made the jump from
smaller independent labels to majors, Samiam (they made the jump
from New Red Archives to Atlantic after releasing three records
with the former) are enjoying the advantage of having a bigger
budget to work with when it comes to recording their music. "We got
to go to a bigger studio, and we got to have Lou produce it." Which, in
terms of making the difference in recording an album, a producer can
make all the difference in the world. Fortunately, Lou sports some
pretty impressive credentials himself. In other words, they were
stoked. "When the first Sugar record came out, I was at Jason's
house, me, him and Mike, the bass player in Green Day, were
listening to it, and me and Jason were like 'Man, this record sounds
sooooo good, if there was any way we could ever get this guy to
produce our record', but never thinking that we actually could or be
in the position that could get him...It was pretty much like if we
were not on Atlantic we'd never be able to afford it...It gave us that
option that we probably would have never had."
But signing to a major is not without its pitfalls. Recent rumours
have suggested that the band succombed to pressure from Atlantic
to drop their now former drummer and use a session drummer to
record Clumsy. Sergie explained, "When it first started (recording
Clumsy ), it was one of the worst experiences ever, it was horrible.
Over the last year we had been having problems with him, not to get
into it too much, but he was doing speed. And it wasn't like the point
where he was doing crazy things, well I shouldn't get into it too
much, it just got kind of untidy and stuff. When it came time to
record, it was a mess...and...I don't know how to explain
this...actually, we pretty much vowed not to say anything, just sort
of go 'No comment' and stuff, but while we were on tour he's done a
bunch of shitty things. So we decided, without going too far into it
and talking shit, just not to cover up for him. But when it actually
happened, a lot of it was he just wasn't cutting it as far as
recording goes...It just wasn't working, tempos were going up and
down, and we were trying to do all these studio tricks to try and
make it work, whereas if we had decided to stay with him, it wasn't
going to be him playing on this record anyway, it was pretty much
going to be him-through-a-computer kind of thing. It was just so
fucked up, especially because of us having a weird relationship
because of drugs."
But all was not lost, they found a permanent replacement in session
drummer Victor Indrizzo, who also carries a few credentials
himself, having done stints in both Redd Kross and Masters of
Reality. So I guess Samiam doesn't have to worry about whether or
not he'll fare as well on the road. And for a band that's already
completed three world tours, (the band had already completed 45
dates in Europe before the release of their 1990 self-titled debut)
that's something that is definitely a consideration.
As for upcoming tours, the band will be heading out any day, opening
for Bad Religion, or Green Day. My guess is that they'll be doing
both. For Sergie Loobkoff's sake, I hope Samiam waits until the snow
melts...I'd hate to miss him at Donner this year.
-Sean Schroeder

*************5' 10" ARTICLE************

Somehow I knew that my interview with 5’10” would take place at
the last minute, spontaneously, in the middle of the night, after lots
of prior attempts to get together. So when Brent, drummer and
resident one-who-keeps-the shit-together for 5’10”, woke me up at
2 in the morning with a phone call saying they were taking off for
tour soon, and did I still want to do the interview, I wasn’t surprised
or annoyed. I just said no and went back to sleep. But I knew that
five minutes later I’d get out of bed. Walking the few blocks from my
house to Kevin & Allyson’s, tape recorder and Polaroid Camera in
hand, I felt that there was no better time for the interview to
finally happen. Kevin, who sings and plays guitar, is nocturnal
anyway, so I knew he’d be at his best. Jen (bass) and Allyson (guitar
& vocals) are usually pretty quiet, but I was hoping that they’d be a
little bit hyper and goofy because of the late hour and the fact that
they were heading out for a month-long tour.

Also, It wasn’t like I was doing ‘5’10”: The Rolling Stone Interview’.
I’ve known Brent for three years now. I’ve known Jen for a while too,
and I’m slowly getting to be good friends with Kevin and Allyson. The
band I’m in, Far, is touring with Kev’s other band, 7 Seconds, and
we’re also putting out a 7” on his label, Pazzafist Records. Oh
yeah, Kev & Al did the art for the 7”, too. 5’10” recorded at
Enharmonik Studios (which is located in the same building that
this paper comes out of) by John Baccigaluppi, the same guy that
lays out this paper. (You say incestuous, we say co-operative). So
more than a traditional interview, this was just hanging out with
them for a couple of hours and talking into a tape recorder.

Let’s get it out of the way: 5’10” is something of an indie-rock
supergroup. Jen used to play bass in the wonderful Tiger Trap,
Brent played drums in straight-edge band Inner Strength, and
Kevin, well, you know. And if you don’t, you should. That said, 5’10”
is just as good as, and totally different than, any previous project
that any of them have been involved in. Die-hard fans of the old
groups may disagree, but fuck ‘em.

The group came together in strange ways, all of which I’m not clear
on. Kevin and Brent had been playing together in an ever-changing
string of Kevin’s side projects, which were pretty loud affairs. At
the same time, Kevin and Allyson had been doing great acoustic stuff
under names like Mustard and Waterbed Cult. To me, it seems like
5’10” is those two paths meeting; great pop harmonies with noisy
arrangements, all very spontaneous and energetic. Rodney, Reggie &
Emily, their new record, doesn’t even have bass on it. That’s partly
‘cause there wasn’t anyone around, and more because Kev just didn’t
hear any interesting bass parts happening. After the record, though,
mostly at Brent’s insistence, they started looking for a bassist. Jen
was just hanging out and working after the breakup of Tiger Trap,
and I told her and Brent that they should try playing together.

To hear Jen tell it, “a little boy pulled me out of the crowd.”
Like a Bruce Springsteen video.
“Smiley Brent pulled me out of the crowd at some show and said,
‘Jonah told me to talk to you’.”
I’m a matchmaker. It was probably leftover guilt since I was half-
way responsible for the destruction of Tiger Trap (but that’s another
story).

We fall into talking about how much merchandise to bring on tour
and the fact that Kevin has become a hopeless cyber-geek. 7 Seconds
even got listed as a band that was ‘online’ in some magazine (they
listed Al’s UC Davis account as their Internet address; ouch!). Kev
posted tour dates on the Internet and got lots of responses, and even
though most were just asking to get on the list, they might have a
place to stay in Boston because of it (struggling bands take note!).
As hyped a thing as the whole cyberspace thing has become, it is a
great way to hook up with people at a grass-roots level, making it a
really logical extension to the DIY community that all the band
members come from. No, Allyson was never in a punk band, but she’s
DIY in life, an artist in the truest sense. Her ceramic sculptures and
hangings decorate the apartment, along with Kevin’s photos.

A clueless journalist recently compared a 5’10” song called Make
You Come to Prince, just because it’s an openly sexual song. As
retarded a comparison as that is, it does have some merit that the
reviewer didn’t intend. Kevin has always had that rare ability to
write and sing about subjects that seem boring, pretentious or
sophomoric, and turn them into profound, great songs. On older 7
Seconds albums, his outlook was relentlessly positive, whether he
was singing about his band or the sorry state of the world. These
days, things are darker and less direct, but lighter and funnier too.
‘Make You Come’ is sexy, but in a human, sweet way. Toys is a
beautiful, sad song that talks about this generation better than all
the stupid press combined. In general, there is a sense of alienation
throughout the lyrics, but still a great sense of self throughout.
“For years, people just pegged me as being this certain kind of
lyricist, just very ‘he wants to save the world’ and everything, you
know, ‘bright future’. But then you get so pegged that when you do,
well, with Drop Acid (an old project) I was doing different things
and people were going, “what the fuck is this?””.

I remember a reviewer kinda liking the [Drop Acid] record, but
saying, “but fuckin’ gimme a break, like, Kevin Seconds, Mr. ‘I
Hate Sports’, singing about basketball?”. I mean, just the punks-
holding-on-like-Skynyrd-fans sort of thing, wanting it always to be
the same. (laughter)
Al speaks up.
“Yea, we’ve been talking about that lately. We just got a letter from
somebody who couldn’t deal with the fact that he’s”, Allyson cracks
a smile, “a changing growing person. It was just like, ‘you can’t do
that.’”
After a little more bagging on people who can’t evolve, I change the
subject to Kev’s prolific songwriting, and how it works in 5’10”.
At this point, are you bringing in complete tunes, or...
“Well, I’m always writing little melodies or whatever.”
Al interjects, “I always come home and he’s like, ‘hey, listen to
these five songs I wrote’. In the past ten minutes or something.”
“But out of those, you know, I’ll weed ‘em out... I like keeping things
separate, I mean, I don’t know if it’s a selfish thing, it’s kind of nice
to have things that are just yours.”
So by the time you bring something to practice, is it something
you’re pretty set on, or do you just throw stuff out there for them to
say, ‘I like this, I don’t like that’...
“We have to tell him we like it,” jokes Jen, “‘cause if we say that
we don’t, he’ll start to cry.” (laughter)
Kev runs with it. “We have this idea that if we ever get popular, get
really big, and we play arenas and get really rich, y’know, if that
ever happens, we‘ll have a set, and it’d just be like me up in this
guard tower, just fuckin’ lookin’ down on ‘em. It’s kind of a concept
set.”
Sort of a Roger Waters thing.
“Oh yea!” he laughs, then continues more earnestly, “No, I don’t
write and go, ‘you have to do this’. I’m more that way with 7
Seconds, ‘cause everyone wants to go way out and do this crazy shit,
but with these guys -- I don’t know, I think we’re pretty much in
tune--” Noticing that the other band members are exchanging
dubious looks and giggling, he continues, “I dunno, maybe I’m just
conning myself, maybe everybody just really is, like, in fear--” at
this point everyone cracks up. “I dunno, help me out here, guys!”

All fucking with Kevin aside, he is the main creative force in the
group, and everyone seems fine with that. Jen, Brent and Allyson all
contribute in their own ways, musical or otherwise. They’ve even
named a new song ‘Straight-up Jen’ in honor of Jen’s love for the
song. She has a great bass line in it, too. Allyson’s backing vocals
have brought a beautiful, hook-filled dimension to the music, and
Brent is one of the best ‘team-player’ drummers I’ve ever known.
When I first heard him messing around alone on a drum kit, I thought,
“this guy sucks”. But then I picked up a guitar and started jamming
on something and he came in perfectly, understated and solid.

In asking Brent about the difference between 5’10” and the other
bands he’s been in with Kevin, I start a little gender war between
him and Al.
“It should be real interesting on tour (Allyson and Jen immediately
start in on him, but he continues). Chris Carnahan in Drop Acid
was great to pick on because he loved to frump, and he hated me
because I just laughed at everything.”
And are we insinuating that women are gonna love to frump?
“No, but they’re--”
Al cuts him off. “Oh yea, sure, Pook! (Brent’s nickname is Pooky --
don’t ask) It’ll be great.”
Pook’s diggin’ himself a hole.
“He’s already dug himself a hole”, Allyson quips.
“This woman constantly harasses me” Brent says in defense,
“pinches me in the face when we play play basketball.”
“Oh yea, well... THAT was an accident.”
Jen, in her peaceful voice, says, “I don’t do anything to deserve
this.”
“Jen doesn’t do anything” Brent confirms, “I just make her laugh all
the time onstage.”
You’re like the gleeful drummer, singing along while you play --
you’re like the band’s biggest fan, and you’re on stage.
“Well, you know, why hate the band you’re in?”
That’s true. Speaking of which, Allyson, I love this band, so you
better learn to play and sing all those parts or I’m going to replace
you.

Through all the little bickering, there are smiles on everyone.

We talked for a while about the merits of small, cluttered spaces.
We talked for a while about 5’10”. We snapped some Polaroids. They
went on tour and I went home. While on tour, their van got ripped off
and a 12-year old pulled a gun on them. They seem to feel positive
about the experience anyway. Go get ‘Rodney, Reggie & Emily’. You’ll
see why they’re all in such a good mood.
-Jonah Matranga

*************CONSOLIDATED INTERVIEW************

Heckler: Listening to the new record, it seems you're so eclectic,
you move from rock, to hip-hop, to industrial to whatever labels you
want to call it. Many bands attempt to do that and wind up sounding
like they're trying to buy into one scene then into the next, however
it all comes from the heart with you guys. Would you care to
comment on that, the new record, the musicianship?
Adam Sherburne/Consolidated: I think it's an important thing for us
to recognize we've made a few changes in the formula or the process
under which we made records before this one. The last two were
made hauling ass, under duress, with the clock running: Mark
programming beats in one room, Phil programming beats and
reviewing audience tapes in another, and me apologizing for
programmed music with guitar, drums, orchestrated stuff, and
writing lyrics in the other room, and then we had to add the tapes
into the record and stuff.
On this record we afforded ourselves the one basic luxury of having
all our tools in one room and if we decided to make a song that was a
programmed hip-hop track, we did. If we decided to make songs that
rock or that use whatever historical instrumentation like guitar and
drums, we had it all there. And the other thing that was obviously
significant in its formula for the album was that we formally
composed 15 songs, we didn't just fart out, puke out 75 minutes of
information, audience shit, just beats and noise all the time, which
I think is good. It might be viewed as a conservative move or a
conventional move, but it was just something different from what
we'd done before, so we did it. I think the songs are more fully
realized.
H: A recent article in Option Magazine seemed to focus only on your
politics and barely mentioned your music. Comments on that?
AS: I can say three words: "Journalists have agendas." I don't know
what her trip is, she obviously had it in for me personally, or maybe
that's a picture of myself that I don't want to see as myself, but I
don't think it went down that way. I frankly think that she had it in
from the beginning. There was no discussion of the music, there was
no discussion of our other politics, there was just pretty much the
situation where she wanted to push all of my buttons about my
feelings about pornography and prostitution. Whatever, that's her
license. She said the shit the way she saw it. It may hurt for a
second but that's what they're there to do. I think negative press is
instructive. I value it as much as I do positive shit. But at least Phil
was a nice Jewish boy from Peidmont.
H: Dog and Pony Show. What inspired that song?
AS: Being musicians. It's just like if your priorities are art and ideas
and you're tryin to make it in a business that only cares about the
bottom line. We aren't ever gonna make anyone happy who only cares
about the bottom line, about units, so it's always sort of a problem.
We do what we can and challenge ourselves musically. If someone
gets into it, well cool.
H: So what are you into other than Consolidated and music?
AS: I'm just into trying to maintain some functionality in my
personal life. I got shit going on in Portland: family, community
involvement. I volunteer for a women's and children's advocacy group
called The Portland Women's Crisis Line and a group called Stopping
Violence Against Women.
H: How many instruments do you play? Programming?
AS: Guitar and bass. But if you've got a sampler, you can play
anything. We've all got a decent drum set and guitar rigs this time.
The sound quality is a little better now, which is cool cause it's
nice to fucking rock when you wanna rock, it's nice to do the other
shit too.
It's a weird world justifying the kind of pain you put your personal
shit through to try to be a pop group and at the same time maybe it
provides a useful service to some people in the public. They get shit
out of our music or they look at things differently once they've seen
a show. The band is encouraging them to critique the band or to take
the time to speak out about their opinions. We think it's probably the
most single most valuable contribution we make: it ain't the music
or the videos or even our shows. It's at the shows when the music
stops and the audience becomes on the same level with the band,
where they can say whatever the fuck they want. It's fascinating.
It's sometimes boring. It's sometimes really confrontational to the
point of verging on violence. It's sometimes really draining. It's
interesting.
H: If you had to pick one, what's your favorite song on the album?
AS: I have three favorites. I'd have to say "Woman Shoots John" is
kind of an interesting one for us. It came out sounding the way we
wanted. And "Das Habe Ich Nicht Gewusst" which is inspired by this
friend from Berlin named Casper Broustman. He's the son of an
avant-garde tenor sax player, Peter Broustman. Our soundman is best
friends with his drummer, so we've known them awhile. They toured
with Helmet, but essentially they're unknown here in the States. And
Casper is playing some rickety old rig and he sounds like Diamanda
Galas and Jimi Hendrix all by himself on the guitar. But then he's got
a wicked rhythm section that fuckin' smokes. So that song was
definitely influenced by them.
I like the real mellow sort of blues track called "Recuperation." Like
Zappa with the vocals. Overall, a bit of a step up.
H: What makes you really happy?
AS: Selfishly, being happy would probably entail being with my
family and also being able to play music. Being with my wife and
kids, having friends over in the backyard, firing up the Weber, just
whatever. I'm looking forward to it now, but it's not gonna happen
until Thanksgiving. It'll be good, it'll be covered in rain and snow by
then. You'll probably be going up there to catch the snow.

And I probably will. The bottom line, so to speak, is that "Business
of Punishment" (London) is an unexpected exceptionally raging album.
Adam is an intense artist, not because he wants to be, but because
he has to be. Almost as if God told him.
Bravo! Consolidated, Bravo!
Word,
Sonny
'94

*********BUREAU OF THE GLORIOUS ARTICLE*********

The one thing that makes music worthwhile is it's ability to provoke
emotion. This is the reason why the majority of music being offered
today is crap. There is no feeling behind it. What I love about music
is that it can make me sad, it can make me smile, it can make me
scared, and it can make me feel alive. The best bands, to me, are the
ones that can make me feel all these things during the course of a
thirty minute set. Bureau of the Glorious is one of the few bands
that has the ability to bring me to that level. I don't think they'll
ever appeal to a mass audience for the same reason. The majority of
people don't want something challenging, they just want
entertainment. I was in Little Rock, AR the summer before last and
was talking to my roommate Chris Sanders on the phone back in
Sacramento. He was excited because he had been playing with some
people and it was coming together very well. I was stoked that he
had something going after the crash and burn of his last band, and
really wanted to hear it. Chris had his own guitar style, and has been
writing good stuff for a long time. By the time I got home about four
weeks later, the core of the band was functioning, but without a
vocalist. I went and checked out a practice and was pretty
impressed. They went on a long search for a vocalist, trying out a
bunch of them, but no one really clicked. Through a friend of a friend,
they found Shannon Savage and finally managed to play a show.
I had never met Shannon before and actually didn't meet her until
recently. She's very soft spoken and friendly (which can be said
about everyone in the band). I talked to her awhile outside of a bar
called Old Ironsides after the Bureau had just played. I hate the
place. I think that bars, in general, and Old Ironsides in particular,
are horrible places for shows. It seems that people are there to
drink and pick up on boys/girls, and I found myself being the only one
standing up front and paying attention to the band. I was happy to
find out that she felt the same way and was uncomfortable playing
there. Before playing in Bureau, she would do shows with just
herself and an acoustic guitar. This is the first band situation she
has been involved in. At first, it looked like she was uncomfortable
without her guitar, but that passed quickly. Her vocals float
beautifully over the dense and loud guitars of Chris and Eric
Stenman.
Chris has been playing music ever since I've known him. We were in a
band together for almost five years called Platypus Scourge. We
always had this horrible problem of finding bass players and
drummers and the band finally dissolved under the strain. Chris
started Exhale soon after; a band which played a grand total of four
shows before breaking up. But they were amazing. They have since
reformed with a new line-up (Eric and Matt McCord from Bureau
replacing the former bassist and drummer), and are playing again
soon. Chris has his own agenda on the stage, and adds a level of
intensity to their set that would be missing otherwise. He also has
an amazing pomade collection.
I first met Eric when Platypus Scourge would play shows with his
first band Elegy. We ended up getting along well and carpooling to
school for awhile. Something that always amazed me was his ability
to be intelligent about being a Christian at that time. Since I grew
up a punk, I pretty much have a negative view of all religions. But he
had the ability to express himself intelligently on the subject and I
respected him for that even though I disagreed with where he came
from. In the summer of 1992, Elegy metamorphisized into the more
industrial band Tinfed. Eric recorded one record, Synaptic Hardware,
with them but with half the band living in San Francisco, Eric
decided to quit and devote his time to Bureau.
Matt also played in Elegy, but was not happy playing with them and
left after a year. Between then and the formation of Bureau, he
played with Prayer Wheel, Drop Acid, and Caboose. Matt has the
reputation of being a snob, but I just don't see it. He definitely has a
narrow taste in music and tends to make enemies by dissing
everyone's favorite bands. He likes to listen to The Police a lot,
which shows in his drumming style. For the first time since I've
known him, he is in a band he is happy with.
I was stoked when Chris first told me he was in a band with Nick.
Nick's reputation preceded him up here. He used to be in a band called
Pitchfork which broke up when he moved up here from San Diego to
go to college. For those of you without a clue, two people from
Pitchfork continued on in the same vein to form Drive Like Jehu,
which is a really logical extension of where Pitchfork would have
gone. Nick has a great bass style which is loose without being
sloppy. He also has a sense of humor which I have yet to grasp.
I'm sleeping one evening after work, when the phone wakes me up. A
loud voice on the other end says,"This is Jane from MCA records. I'm
calling about Bureau of the Glorious. Could I get a promo-packet?"
This article wouldn't be complete if I didn't mention the major label
thing. I have this theory that the goal of the band and the goal of the
label should be the same. I do a label because I love music. I put out
records by bands that love music. The sole purpose of the label is to
make available to others music that has moved me. Obviously the
goal of a major label is profit. If a band doesn't sell, they get
dropped. It looks as if Bureau might sign with a major sometime in
the future, which I think is a bad move. Whatever their decision, I
wish them the best of luck and thank them for providing wonderful
music.
-Scott Torguson

The Bureau Of The Glorious has two 7" singles out on Sunney
Sindicut Records and Eating Blur Records and is currently
recording a full length album, and did not perform at the
Independent Music Seminar.

************MUSIC & ZINE REVIEWS**************

SWIZ
No Punches Pulled
Jade Tree
2310 Kennwynn Rd. Wilmington, DE 19810
This has been out for a while, but I definitely think it is worthy of
mention. Swiz existed between 1988-1990. They were the first
band, I think, to blend hardcore with the "DC" sound. They were angry
without it being unfocused. This CD collects everything they ever
recorded. Two LP's and three 7"s. Every song is a classic, although
the newer stuff is better than the older. If you like vinyl (like I do), I
recommend searching out the five different records. This CD
captures an influential band wonderfully. What are they doing now?
Their bassist, Nathan Carson plays guitar in Shudder to Think;
the guitarist , Jason Farrell, does most of the graphics for
Dischord Records; and the drummer, Alex, was playing drums for
Severin. You should definitely buy this.
-Scott Torguson is a regular Heckler Contributor. He also runs
Sunney Sindicut Records and sings in Amber Inn.

Threadbare
7"
Watermark
POB 28849 Philadelphia, PA 19151-0849
Angry new-school hardcore. They do it beautifully. This is a very
abused style of music. Most bands do it horribly. This is done to
perfection. It's very heavy and on the verge of being metal without
crossing that line. The lyrics are depressing and well written. To top
everything off is the packaging. The cover is held together with a
piece of twine, and the lyrics are printed in gold on tracing paper.
-ST

Down by Law
punkrockacademyfightsong
Epitaph Records
This record proves that Dave Smalley is still the man. I like the
old school feeling of Flower Tattoo, Punk as Fuck, and The King and I.
However, it lacks the every song is kick-ass attitude of their first
release. But it's definitely worth adding to your Smalley collection.
-Jason Cooper sings & plays bass in Welt and is currently
recording a record for Dr. Dream records.

Rancid
Let's go
Epitaph Records
Not much more to say besides, Punk Rock. Out of the twenty-three
songs on it, some start to sound familiar after number 13 or 14. But
hey, like I said, it's punk. St. Mary sticks in my head as being one of
the choice picks as well as International Cover Up and Let's Go. If
you like real punk rock, check it out.
-JC

Pegboy
Earwig
Stick Records
I first heard these guys in my buddy's car. I thought their first full
length, Strong Reaction was unbelievable and it was all I listened to
for some time. This new album didn't do anything for me. The phrase,
"One hit wonder" comes to mind.
-JC

Slint
10" EP
Touch & Go
The Louisville guitar band, which hasn't had any releases since '91,
is back. Their new single consists of two lengthy boring
instrumentals. It's done in the same style as their last EP Spiderland
(which was great by the way). The band has seemed to take a giant
step backward in this one. The first track is just a repetitive riff
followed by ambient sound, which builds into a worse riff. The
second track squeaks along at an annoying pace set by bass and
drums. Then it falls flat into silence, someone shouts 1,2,3,4, and an
anti-climatic Albini-type noise fest begins. Essentially a long
warm-up with nowhere to go. Given a closer listen, I think these may
be out-takes from the Spiderland sessions.
-Matt McCord plays drums in The Bureau Of The Glorious.

R.E.M. - Monster -
From the band that has served as the guidepost for the Jangle-Pop
Music Revolution, comes Monster. R.E.M. has abandoned the stylistic
modern rock approach of their last two albums. They've dropped the
use of string arrangements, horns and acoustic guitars. The new
material is droney, rough, and semi-experimental. King of Comedy
has a Velvet Underground meets U2 Zooropa feel with a drum
machine. Strange Currencies is a re-working or companion piece to
Everybody Hurts; but this time with a better vocal. While other
tracks, like Star 69, Let me In, and You, are reminiscent of the
Document/ Green period. This entire record is heavy with
atmosphere, mainly due to Peter Buck's overdriven tremolo
infected guitar playing, which pounds through the songs and ties
them together thematically. the use of organ controlled guitar
feedback, and Stipes' falsetto vocals are complimentary. A
completely satisfying listen- another masterpiece in the R.E.M. saga.
-MM

No in-depth reviews for me this time, instead I'm going to mention
(as briefly as possible, which is hard for me) 10 records I've been
listening to since the last Heckler came out:
1. The The Dusk Epic
I know you're only supposed to review new records (this is a year
old), but this is new to me, and is an absolutely brilliant record.
Forget The The's industrial phase, this record is an organic pop-rock
record with a heavy gospel/R & B feel. And I mean gospel as in huge
choirs from the dusty South with bluesy rhythm sections, not Amy
Grant or contemporary Christian music. Matt Johnson has truly
matured as a songwriter, and this set of songs almost seems like a
suite about searching for your own personal relationship with your
life with lyrics like I ain't never found peace upon the breast of a
girl, I ain't never found peace with the religions of the world, I ain't
never found peace at the bottom of a glass, Sometimes it seems the
more I ask for the less I receive. This is perhaps the kind of record
Kurt Cobain might have made if he had grown up instead of killing
himself.
2. Justice System Rooftop Soundcheck MCA
This hip hop sextet from Greenburgh, NY are mining similar jazz
influenced territory as US3 and the Digables but with 2 differences;
One, these guys play all their own instruments. At the heart of
Justice System is a Jazz Quartet that could just as easily have put
out an instrumental neo be bop record. And two, on top of the quality
musical grooves, these guys rock. As rappers, these guys have more
in common with PE than Digable Planets. This is an incredibly
mature and confident debut LP and I highly recommend that you buy
it. Definitely in my top 10 of the year.
3. Luscious Jackson Natural Ingredients Grand Royal
Some bands have killer grooves and some have great melodies and
songs. When you can pull off both at the same time you have the
perfect pop song like Deep Shag, the 3rd cut on this disc. The rest of
the CD has it's moments, but this is it's high point.
4. CharmFueled 5 song 4-track demo
This 5 song demo from CharmFueled is my current favorite. Trish
(ex Vomit Launch singer) Sean, Jim & Dan really know how to
write great pop songs that alterna-rock bands like the Lemonheads
can only take a vague stab at. Watch out for this band from Chico. (A
Nor-Cal musical hotspot)
5. Empty Records Sampler
This compilation from Empty Records features some great bands
from the Pacific NW like Gas Huffer, Crackerbash and my
personal faves, Girl Trouble. If you like your music on the garagey
side, then check out the Empty Records crew. Besides, the label's
main CheezDog Blake is a good friend of Snowboarder/Punk-
Rocker/Heckler Columnist Arlie John Carstens.
6. Sheryl Crow Tuesday Night Music Club A & M
You've probably already heard I Just Wanna Have Fun and Leaving Las
Vegas and if you like those, you'll like the rest of this record.
Sheryl Crow sounds an awful lot like Ricki Lee Jones, but I can't
hold it against her because she also writes great songs that come
off like short stories that feel like Hemingway with a hangover.
There are two songs I always skip, but the rest of the record is
great and is really well produced with a very live and organic feel
which is both surprising and encouraging since this record was made
in Hollywood by seasoned studio musicians.
7. Frente! Marvin The Album Mammoth/Atlantic
You've doubtlessly heard Labour Of Love, and their cover of New
Order's Bizzare Love Triangle is beautifully stunning in a quiet
way and one of the best singles of the year. Face it, you can't always
listen to Helmet. To quote Frente's vocalist Angie Hart, "It's kind
of an anti-rock thing. We think rock 'n' roll has lost some of it's
power, and volumes become boring. We're not big on solos, and as for
lyrics, I'm not big on dicking around with them. Once you've said
something, you've said it. Things start to lose impact if you
elaborate too much"
8. Yo La Tengo May I Sing With Me Alias Records
As I mentioned last issue, I found Yo La Tengo's acoustic set to be
stunning, but their full band seemed noisy and unfocused. This record
seems similar to the noisy live set I saw at the Cattle Club, so If
you like long noisy songs with lot's of solos and feedback you'll dig
it. I just keep playing the second track Upside Down (2:34 and an
incredibly beautiful, quirky and hooky pop tune) over and over and if
it was a 7" single, I'd buy 40 copies and give it to all of my friends.
9. Engines Of Aggression Inhuman Nature Priority
10. Pop Will Eat Itself Dos Dedos Mis Amigo Interscope
Two more bands doing the industrial meets hard rock meets hip hop
thing. They both do it pretty well, if you like that kind of thing
which I do when it's not a complete rip-off of someone else. PWEI
leans a little more toward the hip hop feel while EOA leans a little
more towards the hard rock thing. PWEI working in similar vein as
Consolidated who would definitely be in my Top 10, but they were
already interviewed in this issue so I didn't have to plug 'em, but I
cheated and did it sneaky-like any way just now.
11. The Freddy Comeaux Trio
Copyright Trunk Records
1 Coriander Ct. Sacto, CA 95831
Oops, this is eleven huh. Actually I'm cheating, I wrote the rest of
these reviews a week ago but I just got this record 3 days ago and it
hasn't left my CD player since. Led by Frank Mouton, the FCT's
debut disk is one of the best debuts I've heard in a long time, and is
certainly one of the best records to come out of Sacramento since I
have lived here. Frank's excellent songwriting is clean quirky pop
with a slightly jazzy funky feel to it and his voice has a smoothness
and cool vibe that is reminiscent of Sadé. Further comparisons
could be made to the Police, early Aztec Camera and Prefab
Sprout. Guitarist/Chef Extraordinaire Kurt Spataro gives the FCT
an almost Cocteau Twins meets Andy Summers feel and in my 13
years of working in a recording studio, is one of the best guitarists
I've ever seen. This is a confident and mature record with well
written and clever songs with lines like "I want my own brand of
Pasta, I want to wash with holy soap on a rope, I want to have dinner
with Sinatra, I want to be the Pope," and "My television is my best
friend, I love REM and CNN." This record is not cool or hip and will
be bound to disappoint indie-rock and grunge fans, but if you like
more than one kind of music than you'll probably like this.
-John Baccigaluppi is the layout artist for Heckler.

Oasis
Definitely Mabye
Creation/Epic
Oasis are BIG in England. They get more press than aliens landing in
Hyde park would. They have a deserved reputation as exciting
performers. Somewhat pretentious and definitely not under control.
If you get a chance to see them, go. Definitely Mabye has basically
(but not boringly) one sound; wall of distortion pop. 2000 light years
from home guitars, a strong backbeat, intelligible, melodic vocals
with a few tasty licks thrown in for good measure. Swirly and
rhythmic, a good combination, (uncheesy Stones for the 90's?). I
don't think they're as mind blowing as they've been made out to be. I
doubt anyone could live up to that hype level. They are worth a (high
volume) listen. Definitely.
-Ed Slack Phd plays in the band Quiet Earth.

Verve
A Storm in Heaven
VC Records/Capitol
Another British darling of the (general) press. However, Verve does
not live up to the hype. Not even close. I wanted to like 'em but
couldn't muster up that level of denial.A Storm in Heaven is an album
for insomniac's. Sleepy melodies presented on a plate of
listlessness. A white noise trip to the blissed out zone
farm...........bled dry of emotion, relevance and humanity. The Spruce
Goose of noise pop. This is a "save your money" review. Get Ride -
Smile, Chapterhouse -Pearl, Mercury Rev -Boces or Rollerskate
Skinney -Shoulder Voices, if noise pop is your thing. If you can't get
to sleep try Verve and sleep........sleep........sleep.
-ES

Guided by Voice's
bee thousand
Scat/Matador
Guided by Voices sounded like an interesting project. Some guys out
of Dayton, Ohio who've been fiercely independent for over a decade,
putting out music they think is important, damn the public. Bee
thousand is the culmination of their story, put out by Scat Records
because of a chance meeting in a record store. I was totally seduced
by this romantic hype and had to hear this recording.
I slapped that tape into my player and within 10 seconds my brain
screamed, "I paid $10 for this shit !!!!!!! Goddamnit I can't even return
it !!!!!!! The story gets no better.
This tape is a demo complete with terrible recording values, awful
mixing, sophomoric wit and out of tune crooning that would make
Tiny Tim sound good. Beatlesque song structure and (gad!) Billy
Joel like vocal melodies, UGH! This is a hard job. The drumming was
repetitive and boring. Some of the guitar sounded OK, (though not
much), and the sad warbling drowned that out. Welcome to the
difficult listening hour. Tonights special; Lowfi Punishment.
20 songs and not a good one in the bunch. They don't all sound the
same. Variety is good. They all made me twitch for the eject button.
Not good. This one's not ready to come out of the oven yet.
Hell would be being strapped to a chair and made to listen to this
tape twice in a row.
-ES

The Tiki Men
Cattle Prod w/ Surfin' Senorita
Hillsdale Records HR-08 POB 641592- S.F., CA. 94164
I heard that this band was heavily into surf music and being the
"older" dude that I am, ( I got Dick Dale's autograph on my 45' of
"Miserlou" back in the third grade) I gladly agreed to give this one
my two-cents. The Tiki Men are not so much "surf" as they are
steeped in the heady days of late-50's/early 60's instrumental rock.
In fact, their self-penned "Cattle Prod" borrows its vibe most
generously from Link Wray. Wray, the Godfather of grunge/twang cut
some of the most unearthly, snarling guitar instrumental mayhem
the world has ever seen. Legend has it that during one of his seminal
recording sessions he deliberately ripped-up one of the speakers in
his amp just to push the dirty tone mojo one step beyond. The
curious should check out his early recordings (1958-60) that have
been reissued. In fact, one listen to his '58 hit "Rumble" and you'll
hear where the Tiki Men got their inspiration. These guys have the
sound and the attitude that would make ol' Link proud. My only
misgiving is that I hope they turn up the heat a bit next time out and
work on some really memorable guitar riffs to carry them to the
next level. I should also mention that as a nod toward authenticity,
or perhaps a circumstance of poverty, this 45' sounds like it was
recorded in the early 50's. It sounds like the Tiki Men may have even
forsaken 4-track cassette and recorded this on a discarded mono
reel-to-reel they unearthed at the Deseret Thrift store. It was
probably manufactured by Webcor or Crown and came complete with
its own microphone and a disintegrating roll of tape that had last
been used to record a LDS wedding ceremony in 1965.
In this case, it works for them.
Rich Hardesty has released two albums on Still Sane Records.

American Music Club
San Francisco
Reprise/Warner Bros.
Poor, poor Mark Eitzel. He must be the most chronically depressed
fella in music next to Leonard Cohen. Talk about morose- as lead
man in AMC, Eitzel continues to plumb the depths of personal despair
and loss that has been the focus of his musical output over at least
five or six albums so far. But this is not a condemnation however,
but a clue as to what you can expect from AMC on this latest go-
round. I really liked their last indie record, Everclear. Eitzel
always sings with a distinctive and emotive voice that perfectly
matches his lyrical musings of one more relationship gone to hell.
Whereas on Everclear the production was a lush backwash with
beautiful pedal steel and B-3 fills peeking through clouds of reverb,
San Francisco seems to be a more direct, unfiltered look inside
AMC's musical heart. This works quite well this time out; especially
given the fact that there are more faster tempo cuts on this one that
actually speak more of angry menace than of self pity. Instead of
consigning the often brilliant work of his band-mates to the rear,
"Mix Master" Bob Clearmountain wisely brought Eitzel's crew to
the forefront and let us hear them with little adornment. At times
they whip up a swirling display of virtuosity that conjures up fond
memories of the earlier records of Roxy Music. I don't know if San
Francisco is going to win any new fans for AMC, but they clearly
have done their best work to date on this one.
-RH

Horsey/Glazed Baby
Split 7 inch
Get Off My Wagon
The side with Horsey was recorded live in San Francisco. The song is
called Forever Jorge White with a nice low end boost (as the sleeve
says). This sounds spooky, demented and cool. Just right for
Halloween! The Glazed Baby side features a song named Ace Frehley
(One of the raddest guitar players ever, his guitar had smoke coming
out of the pickups, remember). This song is the ultimate damaged
sounding piece of music I’ve heard in a while. Kind of reminiscent of
The Dead Kennedys. It grows on you fast, I think I’ll listen again.
Sounds nothin’ like Ace, so don’t expect it to.
-Chris Carnel is the Chief Photographer for Heckler.

Stone Temple Pilots
Purple
Atlantic
The sequel to Core, which I thought was stock, is rad. I don't get off
on STP, but I have to profess that Purple is a good collection of
tunes. Yes, they wear their influences on their sleeves and they are
the definition of "bought". They're pretty boring live and critics love
to habitually bag this band, but I must say that Purple is a cool
album. Some tasty riffs and hella smooth vocal melodies. It's not as
monotonous as their first effort and I must confess, Purple packs a
little heart. So if you're one of those people who is so alternative
that you're too cool for STP, pull back your disheveled bob hair cut,
turn your baseball cap around, unlace your new Doc's, put away the
new Kill Rock Stars release and at least listen to Purple once
before you gurn it. File my thumbs up review next to Guccione's
lonely thumbs up review in October's Spin Magazine. Music critics
can lick my scrotum from the backside because I think this album is
cool.
-Sonny Mayugba is the publisher of Heckler.

KaiKln
Vigoda
Insert This Way Records
This album has more heart than the cowardly lion at the end of The
Wizard of Oz and drives my head and soul like a speedboat going
over 100 miles per hour on smooth glass-like water. Vigoda does
this non-stop for three songs, then Gene Smith (vocals, guitar)
does Bridge of Sky; a song in the league of Led Zeppelin's Battle of
Evermore. Again three more numbers send your head bobbing in a
hypnotic stoned state. Gene is a bad-ass. Neil Franklin (drums) hits
snappy, hard and flowing; with so much taste, reminiscent of Mitch
Mitchell. Sherman Loper (guitar) adds ornamental depth that
would otherwise be unreachable. Gene still uses the word "doobie",
and that's class. Finally, after nine songs of mind-exploding music,
track 10, #19 is the ultimate KaiKln experience. When #19 sets in,
Scotty Anderson goes off harder on bass than anyone. His flavorful
licks and heavy riffs intertwined in this song make #19 the hardest
flowing composition on the album. This is how we feel about these
songs on CD; live is a hundred times better. For those unaware,
KaiKln started in Sacto around 1988 and just played their final show
in December of 1994. No, you cannot see them live, but you should
get some of their music for the home collection. Vigoda and Rhythm
of Strange , their first album, are both available on CD. Get KaiKln.
Guaranteed to rock your world, honey. To order KaiKln CD's cheap, or
to just contact the members, call Neil 916-339-1836, or write:
KaiKln/Billy Gartusi P.O. Box 214594 Sac, CA 95821- 0594.
-Jeff Azevedo & Sonny.

Ten Foot Pole
Rev
Epitaph
Listening to this record brings back a lot of memories for me.
Memories of skating pools with friends I haven't spoken to in six or
seven years. Listening to bands like JFA, The Faction, Ill Repute,
Aggression, Stalag 13, and Scared Straight, which is the
former name of these "Nardcore" (Oxnard, the bands longtime home,
plus Hardcore) luminaries who now call themselves Ten Foot Pole.
It's been a while since I've heard anything from these guys and it's
good to see that they're still kicking around, playing the same
energetic hardcore that made those days of yore so memorable. Rev
is old school without sounding dated and new school enough to
please those unfamiliar with Ten Foot Poles' former peers.
-Sean Schroeder is the music editor for Heckler and also runs
Rusty Nail Records and plays guitar in 99 Tales.

Heatmiser
Cop and Speeder
Frontier
Heatmiser is one of my new favorite bands and I was stoked to get
my hands on a copy the bands' latest. Even better than 1992's Dead
Air. It's the same rockin' style but the songs on Cop and Speeder
seem to flow better with more of a concentration on setting a mood
rather than straight up rockin'. I don't expect these Portland, OR boys
will have any problem avoiding a sophomore slump with this release.
-SS

Wreck
El Mundo de Los Ninos
C/Z
About six months ago, I wandered into Sacto's coolest bar/club, Old
Ironsides, at the urging of C/Z Record's Jennifer Fisher, to check
out one of the labels' more recent signings, Wreck. I hadn't the
slightest idea what to expect, only the fact that I haven't heard a
C/Z record I haven't liked yet. I wasn't disappointed, only surprised.
Surprised because the band has been around since 88', released a
couple of singles, two e.p.'s, and a full length (They actually
recorded another but it was never released), and I still hadn't heard
of em'. A band this good doesn't usually take that long to reach these
ears. Wreck's set ruled and so does El Mundo de Los Ninos. Thirteen
songs I'll never get sick of hearing.
-SS

Bureau of the Glorious
Miss G.7" b/w Steam First & Cush
Eating Blur
Hear it and weep, motherfuckers. The Bureau is one of the few local
bands that never ceases to amaze me. Everything I've heard by this
band has completely blown me away. From Shannon Savages'
Natalie Merchant-esque vocals to the bands' Girls Against Boys
meets Drive Like Jehu's grooves and dissonance, The Bureau has
got something goin' on that is sure to propel them to upper indy rock
status and beyond.
-SS

Chavez
Repeat the Ending b/w Hack the Sides Away
Matador
Just when I think I've heard it all, I stumble onto this debut single
by New Yorks' Chavez and realize I aint heard nothin' yet. Chavez has
heard it all and knows exactly what they don't want to do. Both of
these songs scrape along with just the right amount of wacked-out
guitar parts to make it interesting, and the right amount of melody
to make it lovable. Chavez would go great on a bill with Jehu and The
Bureau. When does the full-length come out?
-SS

Come
Don't Ask, Don't Tell
Matador
Bob Mould of Sugar calls Come "A rarity among guitar bands these
days". Jon Weiderhorn of Alternative Press describes them as
"The blues for people who hate the blues but like to feel low". I call
them one of the brighter moments of my life, despite their
inclination to drive me into my room to lay on the floor in the dark.
Come evokes feeling, Come evokes emotion, something few bands of
the day can boast of. One listen to the words of singer/guitarist
Thalia Zedek in Finish Line, and you'll know when she sings
"Everyone's got that evil thing, that's why they can understand" that
she's hit the nail on the head. Don't Ask, Don't Tell is reason enough
to get out of bed on cold,rainy days even if all you do is get back in
and lie there.
-SS

Carlos
Corinder Salamander
Switchtrack
In spite of what great things people have said about the Bay Area
music scene, I can only think of a few bands I've seen from there
that are worth writing about. Carlos is one of them. Funny thing is, I
didn't know about them until they came to Sac. to play the Old
Ironsides. And that's a drag considering all the times I've spent
hanging out in clubs down there over the past six months. Carlos
writes cool, quirky little pop songs. They don't lose focus of the
song, unlike many a band that attempts to do things slightly skewed.
Nor do they sound wimpy. Coriander Salamander is a collection of
songs Carlos has recorded over the last few years that is a good
representation of what the band is all about live. Loose and raw, but
definitely not lo-fi. Check out one of the few good things the bay has
to offer in unsigned bands.
-SS

Far
7"
Pazzafist
This Sacramento 4-piece returns with another strong new release.
This time around on a 7" piece of wax. Far has matured over the past
year and both songs on this single are a sign of that. The band blends
heavy guitars and melodies better than most bands around these
days. Boring and In the Aisle are both great songs driven by the
band's energy and emotion. If you haven't checked these guys out yet,
you will probably want to pick this little vinyl disk up.
-Brent Spain plays drums in 5" 10".

Corrosion of Conformity
Deliverance
Columbia
Those boys from North Carolina known as C.O.C. are back and have
made the jump to a major label for their fourth full length studio
album. The album marks the return of C.O.C.'s original bassist, Mike
Dean. Guitarist Pepper Keenan also takes over vocal duties on the
new record. Some of you may remember his vocals from the song,
Vote with a Bullet, on the band's last album, Blind. However,
Corrosion of Conformity seems to fall a little short on delivering
the goods this time around. The Sabbath influence is once again
present, which is not so bad, but there also is a slight southern rock
tinge in some songs which does not seem to work that well. The
vocal effects are also overused this time around. It seems in a way
that C.O.C. wants to reach another level, whatever that may be. With
all the talk of this album being so heavy and intense...I remain
disappointed.
-BS

Farside
Rigged
Revelation
This Southern California 4-piece returns with a pretty darn solid
second album. The production this time around seems more straight
forward than the last album which adds to this release. Farside
plays strong melodic upbeat songs that range from being slower
paced, Page and Someday Too Soon to the faster paced, Square 1
and Gesture. Overall, it makes for a good combination. Rigged is
definitely Farside's most solid release to date. You might want to
look into picking this one up if you are into the melodic pop/hardcore
stuff.
-BS

Neil Young
Sleeps With Angels
Warner/Reprise
This is one of those ‘important’ records that really is important.
This is one of those records that fucks you up in the best way,
actually makes you feel something physically. Lots of things. Sell
your Offspring CD, buy this. The Offspring are like bell-bottoms,
Neil is like jeans.
-Jonah Matranga

Various Artists
Melrose Place-The Music
Giant/Warner Bros.
This CD (which we just got in the mail as we go to press) is one of
the best arguments I've seen recently as to why a band should not
sign to a major label: Lamely conceived ‘crossover’ marketing
gimmicks that make your band look really cheesy. 11 artists that
have almost nothing in common except their appearance on this
record: Aimee Mann, Urge Overkill, Sam Phillips, Dinosaur
Jr., Frente!, Annie Lennox, Divinyls, Seed, Letters To Cleo,
James and Paul Westerberg. Buy this CD if you want 10 nice color
photos of the models/actors on Melrose Place.
-John Baccigaluppi

Get Off My Wagon
PO Box 16041
Oakland, CA 94610-6041

Get Off My Wagon is a very cool mag. It's put together in a neat 7"
square format, and it comes with a 7" single by Horsey and Glazed
Baby too. The focus is music and art. There's some cartoons, poetry
and assorted cool artwork pages. The copy I saw had feature stories
on Transition (Sonny's favorite band) and The Fluid. There were
also about 20 or so record reviews. I think that one of the reasons
that I like this mag so much is because the layout is extremely well
done. The pages are clean but interesting and striking without being
cluttered. Highly recommended.
-JB

Enema
516 Ryland Street
Reno, NV 89502
me...@cs.unr.edu

Enema has been “Cleansing the anus of society since 1994.” That's
what it says on the cover of issue #2. It's a large format newspaper
(like a daily paper) that's free in Reno and 25 cents elsewhere. This
is a punk zine in the spirit of Maximum Rock & Roll but with more
variety. Issue #2 has features on the music biz (“Bands that are
waiting to get signed deserve a blindfold and a cigarette”), the
cartoon ‘Punk Rock Test,’ stories about Spitboy & Los Crudos and
story called Hell Ride To Tahoe wherein the editors ride their
mountain bikes from Reno To Tahoe. Enema is published by Pete
Menchetti a/k/a the infamous Sticker Guy. Check this zine out if
you're into punk rock.
-JB

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