Rotting Out – Street Prowl

Rotting Out – Street Prowl
My friend Mike was in a band called Rotting Out. He left the band last summer due to the fact he couldn’t tour full time. Their bassist took on the vocal duties and has changed the band around. This band has no ex members of any prevalent band from before. They just took over from where Mike had stopped and have dominated the Los Angeles scene. Next to Touché Amore this is one of the biggest bands in the Los Angeles hardcore punk scene.
Their debut lp, Street Prowl, is more in the vein of punker suicidal tendencies. Walter Delgado has taken over for vocal duties and his lyrics are a bit personal. In fact they might be too personal for my tastes, but live they do shred. Anytime they perform it is a stage diving frenzy. This lp is out on 6131 records. They did a nice job on the packaging, full color poster and jacket. The record release version is just blank labels numbered out of 50. I know they will be one of the bigger bands to perform at this year’s Sound and Fury. 6131 are taking preorders for this along with their side project band Minority Unit right now.

SKA SKA SKA

TWO TONE
In high school I used to hang out with a girl name Angela Mitchell. She hung with a few girls that were on the borderline of skin, Goth and punk. Every high school usually has that same group of weird alternative girls. You know the ones who wore Docs or monkey boots. Well Angela and her friends were really heavily into SKA. I think we saw the toasters, Bad Manners, Murphy’s Law and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones a handful of times. Even one of our friends started a band called the Pie tasters. So for nostalgic reasons I started picking up some Ska lps for super cheap.
I bought this Selectors lp on eBay for 9.99. I picked up the Madness lp in DC for 4 bucks and a Specials record at a local store near me for 9 bucks. I also picked up the English Beat lp at Amoeba during Peter Murphy’s live in store appearance.

The Smiths

The Smiths

I have never seen the Smiths live. I have seen Morrissey perform over a dozen times. In LA he is a god and he takes advantages of his fans. The last tour here was 95 bucks a ticket.
I have seen Mike Joyce perform with the Buzzcocks at the old 930 Club. I have seen Johnny Marr perform with Electronic, Modest Mouse and THE THE. I just saw Andy Rourke at the local Smiths convention which I got in for free thanks to my buddy Furn. So here is some recent Smiths vinyl I just picked up. If anybody has Morrissey Vauxhall and I for trade or sale hit me up.

adult crash, social distortion, raw deal and turning point

The first time I met Dave Brown was at the Safari Club in DC. He used to hang with all of the DC Skins as well as the local hardcore kids. He still runs his label Vicious Circle which still puts out releases periodically. Dave also used to work at this record store in Maryland called Vinyl Ink.
Vinyl Ink, Smash, Orpheus, Kemp Mill and Record convergence were my stomping grounds to buy anything that was remotely punk or hardcore in the DC area. Dave worked behind the counter and was always a good person to recommend up and coming bands.
When we ran the label, Dave was like a silent partner and he inputted allot of his knowledge into it. In fact majority of the test press covers for the label were made by Dave. I traded allot with Dave throughout the years. I got my Gorilla Biscuits on Purple and my Turning Point on Clear from him. Dave Brown is one of my closest friends and is someone I respect.
A few years back he released his book “Adult Crash” which showcases various photos that were taken by him at hardcore shows from 1987 to 2008. I think the book and the eps are out of print. I know for a fact he is doing another book with a few collaborators. He sent me a package which he signed to me. I nearly laughed my ass off when I read it “To Tru Enjoy the Book! … I still hate Forbes”
(Forbes was a nice kid from DC who we unfortunately picked on when we did the band BARFIGHT. Forbes was so shaken up, he got his dad from the CIA to pay Dave a visit at his work. Again sorry Forbes.)
Well not only did I get a signed book from Dave he also sent me actual prints of pictures he had taken of Raw Deal and Turning Point. I love these photos. I need to get these framed along with my Carry On artwork (see earlier entry). I know for a fact he is releasing a new book in the next year or so.
He also sent me a copy of social distortions live oop double lp. This is so good and completely out of print. I just heard the new Social Distortion on Epitaph. YUCK!
Dave still puts out records occasionally he sent me a copy of his latest release called the South Side Stranglers. A punk band from Richmond Va which has members of Government Warning. Great snotty punk and like most of Dave’s past releases will probably be out of print soon.

Youth Of Today / Mouthpiece California Weekend

Youth Of Today / Mouthpiece California Weekend

Here is what I picked up and below is what I shot on my video camera.
Oh the Chain Of Strength records are just in there cause of the cover Mouthpiece did with Curtis.

YOUTH OF TODAY @ THE GLASSHOUSE POMONA CA 6/5/2011

MOUTHPIECE @ THE GLASSHOUSE POMONA CA 6/5/2011 (CHAIN OF STRENGTH COVER)

Touché Amore – Parting the Seas between Brightness and Me

Touché Amore – Parting the Seas between Brightness and Me

Touché Amore is a band from the valley of Los Angeles. The members are a motley ensemble of dudes which actually works in their favor. They don’t seem to be up in the latest trends ie covered in tattoos, wearing bobby cupcakes street wear, Nike doinks.
In fact they remind me something out of the positive force scene in Washington DC. I felt like these were the kids that used to go to all of the Wilson Center shows. The ones you see at the local record shops that are buying the Holy Rollers and Slant 6 albums instead of picking up the Cro Mags lps. They are right now the alternative in hardcore and punk music.
The fact is this band is incredible live. Not since American Nightmare have I seen kids lose their shit. They hang on to every word their singer Jeremy Bolm is saying. And I use the word singing loosely, in fact he is screaming. His voice is cracking and in some parts it sounds like he is going horsed. They had a previous lp on 6131 records which I think is now out of print. Their new lp is entitled Parting The Sea Between Brightness And Me. This was released this week on Deathwish Inc. I picked up the clear version from their record release show in Burbank Ca at a record store called Back side. This new record destroys their last one. The production on it is top notch. The layout on it reminds me of mid 90’s Jade tree lps. In fact their guitarist Nick did the layout. He also does layouts for huge artists like Britanny Spears etc. There is a deluxe version but those still haven’t been shipped out yet. I also got my preorders in the mail today as well. The production on it is top notch. If you want to hear the opposite of what’s going on in hardcore today then I suggest picking this up. Below is the record release show which I filmed, enjoy.