REVIEW: JUVENILE HALL

JUVENILE HALL Magazine Collage - Dental Records

Beat Cop #1: “OK Fred, whaddya have on these scrappy sirens? We’ve been staking out their lair for months now, there’s gotta be somethin’ we can pin on ‘em?”

Beat Cop #2; “Well Mike, they’ve got two priors, both self-released and what they call “punk” music, but the last time they Got Caught we had to let ‘em go due to lack of evidence.”

Beat Cop #1: “You don’t say? I call this music garbage…didn’t we bust a girl gang like them last month? What were they called?”

WHO GOT TOONED?

TALK - ACTION = 0.

Joe Keithley of Vancouver’s DOA bids farewell to three (plus) decades of a punk career. With a January 2013 farewell concert booked and 2012 springtime news of leap into the political ring, campaigning would be a natural choice for an individual with a longtime involvement in activism.

 Illustrator Dan Harbord steers his pen in the direction of a fitting portrait.

JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION, QUASI

The Biltmore Cabaret - Wednesday November 14 2012

Was it the tequila or is the new stripped down and revved up JSBX just that good? The bombast and relentless chest-beating are gone. Only the heavy groove and the manic fury remain. Jon looks a little gaunt, older and wiser, like his band and his sound all the chrome removed to make it lean and mean.  The Biltmore was the perfect hideaway for this sweaty rebirth, low and dark; RL Burnside would have felt at home with his ass pocket of whisky (not a bad idea at those prices).

HIGH ON FIRE

T.Couture photo

Third Eye Awaken

2012 has been a busy year for Matt Pike and the road-worn battle-metallers of High On Fire.  April saw the band release their sixth record, De Vermis Mysteriis, to much head-banged acclaim. A trippy, Bakshi-esque animated video for “Fertile Green” followed in August. Summer would have also seen the band take the main stage at the Rockstar Mayhem Festival, but Pike pulled out of the tour to spend some time in alcohol rehabilitation for a few months. Now living alcohol-free and freshly back on the road, he’s noticed a little difference in playing sober.

“Last night’s show in San Antonio would have been gig number five for me since rehab,” says Pike. Sobriety brings a new set of challenges to playing live.

SPRËADEAGLE

rolls in the heavy
by More Betty

A RNR banger with Vancouver heavyweights, SprëadEagle and they are back for a one-time New Years Eve party at The Rickshaw!

“It’s the end of the world and beginning of a new one according to the Mayans, so bring it,” exclaims Nothing Is Heavy organizer, Chris Dyck, who booked the show along with No Sinner, Black Wizard, Three Wolf Moon, and If We Are Machines. “Total fuckin’ bro show!” he adds, “so three drummers, Thin Lizzy, maybe Slayer and maybe some Turbonegro, sound cool?”

It just made sense to do this one-off show right now. “All of the members’ current bands are home, no tours and we are all really good friends still,” says Dyck. “We have had a ton of jams already and it’s sounding pretty fucking heavy.”

With Chris Dyck, Matt Dyck, Kenny Cook, Aaron “Boon” Gustafson, Telford Germyn, Jason Dana, Mario Nieva and Eugene “Russia” Parkomenko, in the band, just the original bassist, would be away. “Boon’s got this though, all good,” laughs Dyck. “Our first drummer, Oke Chornick, she may play a tune or two.”

Band members have gone on to form and play in: Bend Sinister, Anciients, Black Wizard, the Hookers, Random Dander, Duffy and the Doubters, Men at Adventure, Mystery Machine and Darkest of the Hillside Thickets.

SprëadEagle spanned a great period of about nine years between Vancouver's heyday of garage, punk ‘n’ roll and some really great loud party rock.

“Yeah it was a killer time, I think we lasted because we kicked ass live and were heavy enough to play with some metal bands and rockin’ enough to play with garage rock bands and fit into the punk scenes also,” recalls Dyck. “Spitfires were our fave of that era for sure and loved playing with them.”

There were choice stage moments for SprëadEagle. “Playing with Nashville Pussy was a highlight back in the day, so was our first shows ever with the Misfits and I think our very first show was with Speedealer at the Starfish Room,” recalls Dyck. This band has managed to stay together for such a long time. The whole point was to have fun. “Not too much thinking and crushing volume!” he adds.

With the Marshalls, Ampeg and Soldano fired up, this plans to go late into the A.M. “We will most likely go on around 12:30-ish for like at least an hour and then we party!” says Dyck. “This is the cheapest and most gnarly New Year party in town, if you are a rocker or a metaller, this is all you brah!”

Bring on 2013 with SprëadEagle, No Sinner, Black Wizard, Three Wolf Moon, and If We Are Machines at The Rickshaw Theatre December 31.

HOLE IN MY HEAD

hit the spot

More Betty

How does this alt-punk pair manage to play in two bands together, share vocals, live in the same house and remain best friends? 

This destined collaboration of drummer Al Mackinnon and bass player Karmin Poirier is an equal hub of both punk party and productivity. Playing steadily on punk bills from grindcore to power-pop, they just recorded a new full length called “2^nd Place” with Mike Gittens (Tobeatic) at The Hive. Expect teasers in early December. The party favourite, “Noodles and Chips” is also on the Sizzle Teen cassette comp and they just played the recent showcase at Zoo Zhop for the new local label. Anticipate some CITR radio play on Matt G’s Friday evening show “Stranded”.

“It was band at first sight!” laughs Karmin. They always thought it would be a three piece.

“We found some really awesome people, but we found we had really good chemistry,” says Karmin. 

“We have this ability to just write like crazy with each other,” she says.

“Yeah,” agrees Al.

“It’s like finishing each other’s sentences,” adds Karmin.

“It’s pretty easy,” Al responds. 

Karmin comes from a band called Scumbelly and Al hails from a doom band called Blood. It all began in rehearsal space called BROhemian Grove and a ten-minute conversation on first meeting. That very night Karmin revealed that they would be a band together. “Al did not know that, yet!” she laughs. “We started by partying and then jamming in the small rehearsal space for hours…. sometimes we’d write four songs in a night,” explains Karmin with Al nodding in agreement.

They write incredibly catchy numbers, but also serious content like “To The Street” relating to the marginalized existence of living in poverty. There are songs from their first recording done at Little Red Sounds with Felix Fung on the 2011 Blood Klub III vinyl compilation. Their cassette demo called First Fuck was recorded at 6th Ave. Records with the Squamish crew. Al and Karmin also play together in pop-punk band called, Pro-Teens.

The vinyl will be out in the new year, but digital downloads as early as December on their Hole in My Head Bandcamp with songs like “Semen Seagall”, “Fightin’ Crime”, “Bike Snob”, “No Sleep” and “Fear Of Aging.” Also “Beers for Fears” but, that’s a long story. “There was some record smashing,” says Al. “There is a piece of the record still stuck in the wall,” adds Karmin and motions to a sharp fragment sticking out of the window frame and remaining pieces hanging over the exit.

Hole In my Head play Interurban Gallery, December 8 with Nu Sensae, the Jolts and Real Problems.

DIECEMBER FEST IV

draws attention

by Jason Kolins and More Betty

Diecember Fest 2012 returns for two uncompromising days of the loudest and most diverse local lineup of subgenres: punk, metal, thrash, noise, hardcore, sludge, grind, and doom.

“I wanted to start a festival that showcased some of Vancouver’s aggressive underground scene,” says local metal musician and ANION front man, Johnny Matter. In 2010 he had just started a new band, about the same time a slew of recent ones were also forming from the ashes of previous groups. Thoroughly impressed with this influx, he came up with an idea to give these new bands some exposure. Rather than looking out of the city at larger headliners, festival organizer Matter draws his attention to our own rich talent. "I'd like to keep Diecember Fest always local. To support the local scene and shine some light on new bands generating in Vancouver," says Matter.

Year one started with four hard-hitting bands playing their first show. “The first Diecember Fest was almost too big for Pat’s Pub. The place was packed and the sound system limited,” explains Matter. “I'd needed a larger venue. I got hold of my good friend Denyss McKnight at the Rickshaw and with his help we made it happen. The growth came naturally with adding more bands, which in turn brought more people out to the show.”

Anion, Burning Ghats and Galgamex return to the fest along with newcomers Abriosis, Mendozza, Life Against Death, and featuring the first shows from both Ancients and the Villain Avian Symphony. The third year moved to the Biltmore Cabaret with a substantial jump in attendance plus lineup additions of Cathar, Memorial, Silverback Gorilla, Sabrael along with alumni.

"All my fests, I try and have some what of a theme or do something a little different,” explains Matter. “I think the possibilities are endless. I just try to be creative about it and give people another reason to come out to the shows."

He runs Apocalypse Sunrise Productions and does two festivals per year: Diecember Fest in the winter and co-produces the well-liked summertime bash, Burgerfest along with Scott Bart.

Last July, with a bit of help this full time chef-musician turned promoter made 400 beef and vegan burgers from scratch for the event. When asked what he likes most about doing Diecember Fest every year, “for me it’s about helping out the bands and to try and get everyone out for a good time,” he answers. “I keep the ticket prices low enough,” says Matter. “After costs, I give all the money to the bands…. it’s a labour of love for me.”

In 2012, the popular festival is expanding once again. “I’m doing two nights at the Rickshaw, 10 bands a night,” says Matter, who hopes to see another hundred new supporters.

“We will also be accepting non-perishable food items for a local food bank this year in exchange for five dollars off the already affordable door price,” says Matter, encouraging everyone coming to bring something in. The festival will showcase returning artists: Abriosis, Burning Ghats, Galgamex, Life Against Death, Memorial, Cathar and first timers: are Mete Pills (punk alternative), NEEDS (post punk noise rock), Harvest the Infection (tech death metal), Elevator Compactor (experimental noise), Astrakhan (progressive rock metal), The Nautilus (progressive metal) Anchoress (hardcore melodic punk), WTCHDR (hardcore grind), Aquanaut (ambient doom), Excruciating Pain (death metal thrash), Dig Your Graves (hardcore metal), Bear Mace (stoner metal hardcore), Night Mother (ambient noise), Dungeons (doomy metal). “I like to try and mix up the shows I put on,” says Matter, and he’s done just that. Head down with your food-bank donation for two days of 20 heavy bands. You can’t lose!

DIECEMBER FEST 2012 is December 6 and 7 at the Rickshaw Theatre

FALL DOWN/GET DOWN 2012

FALL DOWN/GET DOWN FESTIVAL - NOVEMBER 1st to 3rd

The Fall Down/Get Down weekender owned up as triathlon of music and revelry. A frenzied relay with incredible legends passing on the sonic torch. Tim Kerr’s primitive and inspiration driven artwork line the walls of Antisocial Skate Shop marking the start. A relatively new Nervous Talk gets the go ahead from the audience. Nardwuar pulls out all the stops with the seasoned Evaporators as they work the skate shop into furious sweat.

While Friday sports dinner sets at LanaLous, Sex Church and Fist City hold down the house at the Rickshaw Theatre with Memphis TN, Tiger High, a who’s who of Goner Records’ roster readying stage for the revered protopunks. Detroit’s Death, flew in just for this event. By the second number you knew this was incredibly special.

TERRIBLE FEELINGS, TRANZMITORS, THE B-LINES, VAPID

Terrible Feeling - Sean Law photos

The Zoo Zhop - Monday November 19, 2012

A power pop fiesta inside the Zoo Zhop was a complete contrast to the chilly Monday evening down on Main Street. Three local favourites and Malmo, Sweden's Terrible Feelings heated up the record shop!

REAL PROBLEMS

Curious Feast - Not Your Buddy Records

So Real Problems recorded a scrappy new album and it's everything that makes these guys good fun, from froth mouthed rage at society's bullshit alongside equal parts humor, irritability and a piss poor attitude.

“The Thing on the Fourble Board” rips open this package of punk and though it isn't as haunting as the old radio thriller with the same name, it will punch you in the face and that's kind of scary I suppose.

FACEFEST 17

Fierce Creep at FACEFEST 17 - photo by Linda Stang

Sat. Nov 24, 2012 at Chapel Arts, Dunlevy St.

Six nights rolled into one.  It’s a great way to describe the 30 plus band fundraising festival, Facefest, put on by local East Van rehearsal studio, Faceplant.

Now in it’s 17th year of showcasing local, independent bands, Facefest, in the past, had problems finding a venue that could have all the bands (and egos) in one night.  But this year, an old funeral parlour turned art/performance space, the Chapel Arts went beyond everyone’s expectations. With two floors with bars, art, projected visuals, and live bands that night was definitely one of the best festivals of 2012. If you missed it, there is always next year. Below is an overview of the one of the best underground festivals of  2012 by a few of the sober Skinny writers that night and a highlight of bands to watch out for in 2013. (Keep in mind that all thirty bands had only 15 minutes to impress us.)

SUBCULTURE DECEMBER

SO IN HONOR OF MY COLUMN HERE, AND MY DESIRE TO BRING THE ART SIDE OF MY CHARACTER BACK INTO MY LIFE, I'VE BEEN PRODUCING A SERIES OF ART SHOWS AT FUNKYS OVER THE LAST FEW MONTHS NAMED SUBCULTURE...

 I GATHER A COUPLE OF DOZEN ARTISTS EACH TIME TO DISPLAY THEIR HANGING WORK AND ALSO INVITE OTHER DISCIPLINES TO DISPLAY ON THE TABLES...

JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION

Still number one, but never still

One of the hardest working bands in rock n roll get down to the bare knuckles of business with this current tour. Guitarist Judah Bauer, drummer Russell Simins, front man and guitarist Jon Spencer, have recorded a primal, chunk of music aptly titled, Meat And Bone. Mid sound check in Motor City, Michigan, Jon Spencer sheds some light on the arrangements.

It may have been eight years since last album Damaged but this three piece have not slowed down. Touring that last album took them up to 2005 and by then Spencer began work with Matt Verta-Ray on a new band called Heavy Trash. This collaboration and an interest in doing different kinds of music resulted in several albums and tours around the world. Meanwhile Bauer was working with Cat Power and Russell Simins was working with a whole list of folks, most recently, singer-song writer Joseph Arthur. In 2010 Spencer began the immense task of compiling the Blues Explosion, Matador reissues which included: Extra Width, Orange, Now I Got Worry and as of late music from the influential band Pussy Galore. The momentum and energy of this process cleared a path for Meat and Bone, which escalated to recording at Sly Stone’s “Riot” Flickinger console at the renowned Michigan, Key Club Recording Studio.



The latest project takes influence from the past and the “last twenty years of experience” does come out, but it is a very “modern album” that could “only be written by Blues Explosion today,” says Spencer. This project was self-financed and done on their own terms. There were no contractual obligations. “It was kind of like when the band first started,” he explains and once recorded, “is when we started talking to record labels.” There wasn’t a rush or anything to prove.

Both video and album artwork share a similar aesthetic, but were created independently of each other. European filmmaker Toon Aerts put together the “Black Mold” video and brilliantly incorporated Spencer’s love of science fiction and horror movies. The album packaging for Meat and Bone revisited photographer Micheal Lavine, who shot the very first Blues Explosion photos. The initial idea was to have a band photo for the cover, “but I couldn’t find the right one” says Spencer. Lavine showed him a photograph from a session a few years ago, one that was never used. It was a piece of meat on hooks. Spencer liked this strong image. “Not only does it tie together in a very literal way, the title of the album… but it’s a very raw sounding record, a rough record, very in your face,” he says, and “I think what the Blues Explosion has always done, has been very physical, it’s hard work…. our music is totally tied up with our body, our muscles,” explains Spencer and this representation works with the album lyrics. “It’s about the passage of time, growing older, aging gracefully,” he says, “but at the same time your body is slowly falling apart and decaying.”

Vancouver will experience, the last of the west coast dates. “We have had a lot of really great shows out here” recalls Spencer and “we have a really cool band on the bill called Quasi, one of my favorite bands right now!” Who picked the band? “This is punk rock, we do it all ourselves” responded Spencer, “we choose the bands, where… what kind of touring we are going to do…. we produce the kind of record we want to produce [and] I designed the record jackets, the t-shirts, it’s all in-house!” However, this is just one short leg of a much longer tour. Japan is next, followed by Europe and the hardest working band will continue up to March of next year.

Jon Spencer Blues Explosion plays the Biltmore Cabaret November 14

- More Betty

NAPALM DEATH

A course of actions

by More Betty

 “After twenty years together, I don’t think of Napalm Death as just a band anymore,” says Mark Greenway, vocalist for Napalm Death since joining the band in the late 80’s. Well, this “family” returns to Vancouver on Nov 9th in support of their new album, Utilitarian. Produced by Russ Russell, credited for work with the Exploited, New Model Army and Wildhearts. Utilitarian is their fifteenth studio album to date. Mark ‘Barney’ Greenway, known for his provocative outspoken lyrics, called us from the UK.

 Political lyrics were an important part of the band’s initial writing, although it hasn’t exclusively been the case over the years, it was never abandoned. “It’s not always political; it goes beyond that. Let’s be honest; politics, if you take the main definition, is fucking worthless. Mainstream politics is very self-serving, satisfies a few people and then after that it’s kind of meaningless,” says Greenway. “The thing that underpins the ethos of the band is the humanitarianism, a respect and understanding for sentient beings, for humans and animals… that is the starting point. The world right now is a very inhumane place. People will do anything, anything whatsoever to get to get ahead … and it’s been a problem for a hundreds and thousands of years.”



Napalm Death has been around since the 1980’s so one could credit them for being key players in the architecture of the grindcore genre. “There are references to Napalm, but Napalm came from somewhere,” says Greenway. He describes Napalm’s influences to come from American, European and Japanese hardcore and death metal but also says there is an ambient influence from bands such as Swans, Joy Division and My Bloody Valentine. What he is listening to lately happens to be the most ‘ungrindcore’ of things: Swans, their new album and Kraftwerk. “Kraftwerk is so appealing because it’s so ludicrous,” says Greenway and others such as re-master of first Crass album, “the lyrics and the whole thing is still captivating, they’re genius.” On the topic of lyrics, he mentions Jello Biafra. “If I can write lyrics of that kind of quality, I would be extremely happy.”

Longevity and perseverance is about working through the challenges. “There were times when we could have given up, like the mid to late ‘90s but part of our ethos is to keep going,” says Greenway. “We are not doing it because we want to be multimillion album sellers, we are doing it for other reasons and we owe it to ourselves to give it the very best shot.” And what would you do with such a lengthy history? “Stopping is unthinkable unless something dramatic happens. The time to stop would be when it doesn’t feel as vibrant, as fresh and chaotic perhaps, musically speaking.” But the band has an unspoken something that seems to work and people tell Greenway that no two albums sound the same.

Upcoming projects involve a Napalm Death split with the Melvins covering a UK band called the Cardiacs from the 1980s. “Sparks, Devo, Toy Dolls but heavier, you talk about original heavier music, this is very original!”

Napalm Death plays the Rickshaw Theatre November 9

LA CHINGA

The unexplainable

 by More Betty



Summon the virtues of a 1970’s blues-rock supernatural. La Chinga debut a weighty self recorded-produced album with members: Carl Spackler on bass/vox, Jay Solyom on drums/vox and Ben Yardley on guitar/vox/theremin. This is “live off the floor, guitar leads and all, no trickery, what you hear live is what your gonna hear on the record” says Spackler. Their handle, La Chinga, essentially means heavy duty. “I had heard it only used a few times in my life, but every time someone dropped it, it was a very heavy, magic moment. So it stuck with me,” he says.

A combined history of bands: Spitfires, Lifetakers, Captain Dust, Midnite Dragon, Chinatown and John Ford, the trio possess an aptitude that could have gone in any direction. Somehow destined to unite, “I had a kool gig booked and the guys who were supposed to do it couldn't, so I asked these two hombres who I had crossed paths with before and, whoosh! Sparks! Electricity Mama!” he explains. Why the 1970 groove? “It is a natural thing, no pre meditation, no thinking, no stinking. As stoopid as that sounds, this is what happens when we jam.” To add, the idiosyncratic theremin resonance merely extends the very lore as “Yardley gets to use his arcane black magic hands of sorcery to wield and deliver the spirits to your ears.”



Big hitters like Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, MC5, Johnny Winter and Mountain come to mind. Instead, consider the obscure: St. Anthony's Fyre, Iron Claw, Bang, Leafhound and Sir Lord Baltimore. “I think we were more inspired by the bands from that era that made great music but never went anywhere,” he says and “there are a million of them greasy long haired knuckle draggin’ bands ... I love the kids who make their art cuz they got to, no hope in hell they are goin’ to the top, but fuck it. Go down swingin’, my old man always said!”

Ingredients like Evel Knievel and drive-in movies influence songs as much as ‘70s funk, black rock, old country, old blues and “anything real, raw, primal” he says. “We are fans of the sounds and flavours of the South” including other things like “burritos [and] surfing. I have written a lot of tunes while out in the ocean; you get the mind open out there. Harder to do in the big shitty” explains Spackler. As for the live show, what’s up with the blankets on stage keeping those big amps warm? “Mexican blankets affect the polarity of the amp tubes and create a spicy tone. It's an old mariachi trick … good vibes ... can any one get enough?”

La Chinga plays Nov 24th at the The Railway Club and Dec 14th at the Fairview Pub