more pictures from the cool party after the cut… NSFW
(more…)

thursday’s show was fun but, let’s face facts, i didn’t finish a cd. i was recording it in the basement the few days beforehand, and i was going a little crazy doing it, and so i decided to just TMT (take my time) and get it done when possible, and treat myself good, and eat some nice items.

anyway, the show was good- i played some of the new songs, but i forgot a bunch because immediately before playing i lost my “list of songs i know i know how to play”, necessary because, you know sometimes i can’t think straight. opposites day did a good job, styk was great (and the cd rules!!) and yoni and the goods were superb. at one point in the middle of a guitar solo, yoni handed the guitar to joanne and made her finish- she was freaked out, it ruled.

then what? then i stayed in worcester a day, mooching around my old house making people drink coffee with me, and me and purtle went to see passion of the christ at the film class our friend michael teaches. back in PVD a few days later, the tsarlos-curated horror-movie meltdown, 9pm to 7am: the black cat, 2000 maniacs, from beyond, halloween 3, the nest. in between the movies were performances by solid susan, shampoo (aka pak), and ISO smoking woman (ali [aka SHV] dressed as wonder woman, leading everyone in a traditional aerobic workout at 1am). also, everyone was in costume, but mostly “costume” = “a bunch of weird shit”. super fun! it’s good to watch scary movies with people that like to get scared / freaked out, and are able to tap into that awe and reverence for the fucked up and mezzonatural.

earlier in the summer my neighbor alee peoples made a 12 minute movie and put me in it. the movie is called “the boys of summer” and it is now showing in providence at “the gelman gallery at the chace center”, which is at RISD, which is in providence, which is in rhode island, which is cold right now, not nice and summery. the movie is also online here. you can see me in my summer uniform- purtle’s shoes, work pants, a blue oxford shirt, a coffee cup, a “i’m serious” face.

WARNING! the camera loves me.

in an effort to give more of an effort, i’ve begun segmenting my week into actionable projects. tuesday is money day, the day i figure out how money happens. wednesday i draw. thursday is music day. friday (today) is publishing day. saturday is free, sunday is documentation. monday i watch movies and do errands. i’m allowed to do the other things on the other days, but i HAVE to do A GOOD AMOUNT of the stated project on the proper day; every day i draw for an hour, drawing day i draw for 3 hours. yesterday i sat in the coffee shop writing songs and came up with some workable structures that may or may not get recorded (next thursday).

the next tape (actually, probably a cd for ease of manufacture) is going to be a continuation from “crypt of everything“, following a similar form- in two equal parts, with a travelogue, an advertisement, a pome, a mantra, a section of an interview (of someone else), a noise piece of variable length, a cover. to be completed by october 22nd and, as stated, available in person, at select shoppppppes, or through the mail exclusively in exchange for jack kirby comics.

picture above by crystal region.

lately i’ve been really enjoying this picture of harvey pekar by r sikoryak.

the terribles are back from tour and they had a nice time, and against all odds, had this 7″ done in time! having been a band for 12 years, this is their first actual record. it actually sounds totally good! features the songs “drugs for algernon” and “do not funeral”. bone zone side has “stoned businessman”, “cop heaven”, and “spooky balls”. terribles did a good job with nice full production and seemingly not a ton of overdubbed guitar solos. bone zone side is recorded live in studio, with lots of talking before and in between, which rules. both sides keep it progressive (aka interesting) and both sides have “whoooaaaa oh oh!” parts. i don’t know how you get this record- i saw jamie and got one, and three more to bring to armageddon shoppe, so try there if you’re in providence later today / tomorrow.

with tour comes a new tour language– sitting in a car for hours on end with the same people, and experiencing all the same things, and what’s more playing music together: all these things contribute to the whole van giggling and talking like twins in weird code, and being so on the same page that you can’t shake each other off the meaning-scent no matter how way out you go. plus you’re constantly buffeted with strangers who can’t /totally/ grasp what you’re saying, which only reinforces this insular gobbledygook. since terribles already use this toddlerish mindset as bread and butter, the added confines of tour really lead to some heavy “how is that a joke?”. jamie told me “you missed it! we have a bunch of new games now:

there was another one but i can’t remember it, it was too nothing.

UPDATE there are some records at armageddon. jamie i owe you $6.

UPDATE jamie remembers the third game, obv.

y’all know caroline? not caroLYNN, who, we, me and mike, WISHED was a caroLINE when we met her, so we could be like “caroline, no…”. god bless and keep our beloved carolynn, but the singing part didn’t work out. but this caroline came already a caroline, and already good friends with good friends of ours, and it also didn’t work out, the singing part, we never did it. she lived here (providence) for a while, now she lives in new york city, where she is in the new supergroup with the guy from jawbreaker, and the first drummer from against me. yikes!!!!!!!!! anyway they came through on tour the other day, that’s what this post is about, that show.

the crowd was solidly 30s. some were younger, this was the minority. the mix was really good, with vocals up front and understandable, but not like, raw powered, and everything like, at a reasonable volume. the songs were good, expectable for the team, with a few whangy, far-out solos, lyrics with a few good zings in them. everyone there was amped the entire time, with coz & them dancing like fools, and baby bear yelling his style of bleary-eyed scatter gun positivity, but everyone else paying ATTENTION. even me! even i focused my attention on actually hearing all available music– “the next audible line could be as crushing as ’someone said your name / i thought of you alone / i was just the same / 20 blocks away’.”. mmmn, that didn’t happen, but no complaints!

what were the songs about? one of the songs was about brooklyn, it was called “this is not a track bike”. it was… embarassing? other entries in the field: scott joplin “cut off your foolish handlebar mustaches rag”; bee gees “sell your rollerskates”; devo “Q: are hacky sacks a good way to improve hand-eye coordination? A: no”. what were the other songs about? i don’t know- war and stuff?

other bands that played were EXUSAMWA (which is not, as i thought, “ex-usaisamonster”, but is pronounced “excusez-moi” and is ex-fat day (doug)) and another band that i missed because i was at a going away party, and IDIOT VEHICLE, which is gus (playing bass), john kenny (drums, with madonna mic), and james day (guitar), and its good.

will– sorry, i guess i have nothing really interesting to say about this show!

ok, this: everyone was there in the attitude of “i don’t know exactly what’s going to happen, but this is not going to let me down, this is going to rule, and nothing can spoil it”. this is rare, no?