On September 5 at The Royal Oaks, Boston Street Punk outfit, Kermit’s Finger will took the stage with New Castle P.A Punks, The Dead City Dealers. Kermit’s Finger includes Ed Charbonnier, aka. Evil Ed C. on bass, Pete Cooke (aka “Pete Pasted”) on Guitar, and Ross Fujita (aka “Ross Clot”) on Drums. In the DIY Punk tradition, everyone in the band has a try at vocals. The band plays a friendly brand of Boston Hardcore in the tradition of 80s Hardcore icons, Gang Green, The Meatmen, Adrenalin OD and Bad Religion. Kermits Finger formed in 1992, in Bangor, Maine, after Charbonnier finished school in Boston. Charbonnier adds, “It was pretty boring around there. Some of the people I started the band with came and went, but a couple stuck around long enough for us to decide it was time to move to Boston, which was in 1994.” 1994 was the time their Boston contemporaries, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones were being drooled over by the major labels. According to Charbonnier, the band relocated to Boston, Massachusetts exactly at the perfect time, where they caught the attention of Ron Lacer, who ran the acclaimed New England Punk Label, Fan Attic Records. Lacer is noted for his Punk compilation series called Runt Of The Litter. Lacer was releasing a series of cassette compilations at the time and asked Kermit’s Finger to be on the compilation series. Charbonnier adds, “We played at a lot of places in those days like the Rat in Boston and CBGB’s in New York.
District 9 is the best film of the Summer…I used to think it was Star Trek, but it has been beaten in every way by a superior science fiction film that cost far less to make and has a longer lasting emotional impact. It might be premature to make that statement though…we’ll have to see if Inglorious Basterds is as great as everyone that has seen it has said it is. Back to District 9: What made the film so special is that going into it, most people only knew that there were going to be aliens and some explosions. The fact that a story was to be had in this film wasn’t really known at all due to an amazing viral marketing campaign by the film studio. The movie is based on District Six. An inner-city residential area in Cape Town, South Africa that was declared “whites only” in 1966. The population of the area: 60,000 was forced to move 25 kilometers to Cape Flats during the Apartheid movement.
Every time I hear Posture Coach I could just see Britain’s acclaimed radio host John Peel smiling from heaven. Posture Coach embody the best of the best with their full-length debut, Give Them Excess. The bands debut is reminiscent of the guitar driven indie bands of the mid 80s who were not afraid to experiment with 60s acid rock howls and shrieks. Posture Coach could have easily fit comfortably in the Twin/Tone Records and The Shimmy Boot records rosters
New York duo The Ropes delve into the perfect combination of musical medium. They venture into dark No-wave noisey breakdowns with a gentle touch of French Pop Harmonies. The Ropes discography includes: Clubs In Europe Forever (CD), Cry To The Beat EP, What They Do Fore Fun ( full length CD) and the Kill Her Off 7” vinyl (single) The anthemic pop gem “I Don’t Like To Get Dirty,” and “Flimsy” displays more of the quirkier late 80s Brit pop-esque ryhthm and edge of the band. While “Heaven On Stilts” bares closeness to the industrial club noise of New York’s Girls Against Boys. Sharon Shy’s vocals are reminiscent of a younger version of the late Velvet Underground/acclaimed German female songwriter, Nico and this quality really shines on the closing track of What They Do For Fun, “After Today Before Tomorrow.” Altogether the lyrical quality and the songwritng is “intelligently caustic” and very moving.
This evening featured one of the most theatrical sides of the indie universe. The Sewing Machine War opened with their shimmering Sunny Day Real Estate-eque
nu-gaze guitar landscapes followed by the Post-rock bliss of The Receivers. Columbus, Ohio’s Church of The Red Museum closed the evening with their cabaret style brand of proto-psychedelic storytelling. Church of The Red Museum has the potential to draw a diverse fanbase of fans of Cop Shoot Cop, The Birthday Party/Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds , Sub Pop-era Modest Mouse, Killdozer, The Murder City Devils and Beehive and The Barracudas. An immense sphere of influences.
Imagine if Faster Pussycat and Motorhead hosted a banquet and invited The Replacements, New Bomb Turks, The Weaklings, Electric Frankenstein and Husker Du. Thats the sound and work ethic of Bj Lisko’s latest project, Turbo Lovers That evening I was sitting on my couch watching the famous Gus Van Sant film “Last Days” starring Sonic Youth’s bassist Kim Gordon playing Kurt Cobain’s therapist. Suddenly I was awaken with a revelation to see Youngstown’s one and only Punk’n‘Roll Apocalypse dudes, The Turbo Lovers. I counted my lucky stars for being a Rock ‘n’ Roll Kamikaze that evening braving out the soggy weather to check this show out. Every Turbo Lovers show is a must see from the legendary Nyabinghi, to The Columbiana Legion, To The Royal Oaks & Cedars and fast forward to Indie Wax Records. The Turbo Lovers repetoire of songs brings back memories that harken back to the early to mid 90s when Glam Punk/Garage/Surf Punk bands on labels such as Get Hip, Junk Records, Gearhead and Sympathy For The Records Industry ruled the club circuits across the states. The band has released three acclaimed albums “No Longer Attractive,” “Cock of The Walk,” and The Danko Jones inspired, “Outstanding” All are available from Mr. Mike Destiny’s label, Cracked Piston Recordings.
On Saturday, August 1st, Dave Grohl was given a hero’s welcome by rock fans of all ages when he arrived in Warren, Ohio for the dedication of David Grohl Alley. The drummer for Nirvana/singer and guitarist for The Foo Fighters (he also has worked with other bands and solo artists such as: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Paul McCartney, David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails, Queens of the Stone Age and Tenacious D) was born in Warren, Ohio and moved away when he was a young child. He told those in attendance at Courthouse Square that he often came back to Trumbull County (where Warren is) on vacation.
