A REALLY BIG SHOE

plus Japanese Monsters (from Phoenix) and Standard Deviance
first band starts no later than 8:30pm
$7
all ages
and it's all gonna be done by 10:30pm

here's an extra special video just for you for reading this crap

THE FUTURE AND THE PAST

DIGITAL LEATHER


"Digital Leather’s dreary ostinatos echo a time that has come to pass where synth-driven music has grown out of it’s Gary Numan cheesiness and into the futuristic context it was meant to conjure. As the 80s rolled in and Post-Punk, Goth and synth-styled bands like Devo and LA’s legendary The Screamers laid the groundwork by presenting songs that had a pedestrian take on a futuristic theme and painted a world that presently exists. Now that we are truly living in a “Wiggly World” where it is increasingly harder to wiggle to the top and the “Last 4 Digits” of our social security numbers are as important as The Screamers predicted, we have entered an interesting time. In the 90s we had bands like The Piranhas who took the modern/futurist angle and slapped it down to a crumbling future-primitive knuckle-dragging robotic slur with screaming vocals and keyboards pounded to rubble, leaving us back before square one, when the wheel was some brainiac caveman’s dream.
Then enter Arizona’s Digital Leather. Sean Foree’s one-man crepuscular nightmare of introspection and self-deprecation has more of a new–romantic slant. His deeply dark vocals lay over a stratum of grainy drum machines and a terrain of ill-produced synthesizer to create a mood that is joyously depressing."
from www.victimoftime.com

BLACK CAMARO

plus
ULTRAMAROON
and
THE HANG LOOSE BOYS
two ten year olds and a dog sing for this new band
you heard that right
TWO Ten Year olds AND A DOG!!!!
this Saturday 8:30pm $6 all ages
1250 s 4th ave #138

and here's some photos of the show from Tuesday Jun 24th
if you weren't there you completely missed out

TUESDAY JUNE 24th

RED DONS

http://www.myspace.com/reddons

"I've always been a sucker for a particular sound-- frantic and melodic surf-influenced rock and roll in the tradition of late '70s West coast punk rock-- and it's in the Red Dons favour that they play pretty much that. But what's important about the Red Dons is that despite playing a style that's arguably of one time and one place, they make the music immediate. You don't stand in the crowd and watch them play-- you feel what they're playing, and Burns goads spectators into response with intense eye contact, constant motion, and a long microphone cord that allows him to wander far from the stage and engage people in the back (or, in some cases, wrap around and tie them up in groups). 30 years past punk rock's year zero, none of this behaviour is novel, and I've seen bands turn the same thing into uninspired schtick, yet coming from Doug Burns, against the able backing of his band-- particularly the fierce rhythm section-- it's electrifying. The Red Dons, like the Observers before them, actually encourage a feeling of breakdown between the audience and "the show," leaving everyone in the crowd feeling like a participant. That feeling is the aspiration of many second-rate punk bands, but the rarity of its achievement in spite of so many lame attempts makes the Red Dons genuinely special."
http://querenciazine.blogspot.com/2007/04/red-dons-clorox-girls-aversions-bar.html

THE ESTRANGED
like Wire meets the Wipers or Mission Of Burma meets early TSOL(not the GNR rock shite)

and LOS RUDOS
starts at 7pm

here's some artwork on our walls

Hello kiddies....

I'm gonna blather quickly about the last Grumpus show...then move on to something more fun to write about...namely...ME! and FOOD! aaaaaaaaaaaaand how its 1000 degrees outside..like the surface of the planey mercury...without the groovy veiw.

anyway yeah...june 15th. Sunday.This was the bill and this is my in depth anal-isis:

first band up....

Fucked Up Krew-
looked very punk but actually live it and mean it..... it worked! It worked well! They had a Brit-punk thing goin...like a mix of vintage U.K. SUBS and DISCHARGE.....and a dash of CHAOS U.K.
I'm certain no one sounds remotely like them in Tucson...so they have their own territory and That is always bueno. REALLY nice people too...much more fun then anybody in CALEXICO(the band...not the scary little bordertown to Mexicali...I'll shut up now.

Then...as if by some satanic magic the Grumpus staff(hahahahaha...oooooohhhK) was conned and cajoled into letting a brand new band make their 10 minnit debut right after FUK. Forgive me if I get it wrong but were they called JESUS CHRIST and the MORNING AFTER PILLS?(ed note...actually it was Sweet Jesus and the Morning After Pills)

second band up...

SWEET JESUS and the MORNING AFTER PILLS-

Four songs...bassist was working so no bass. Very classic HC. I liked them. I'll write more when I see them at full strength...which I hope is soon.

Then...

BAD BLOOD (from BROOKLYN)
Wow...like a swirling churning snarling mix of classic BORN AGAINST and something midwest on the TOUCH n GO label...say...1989? Seriously a killer sheet of noise and tension and bubbling subsonic melody. I recommend them..they were excellent! Kudos to the crowd for paying at the door and being a nice wall of warm bodies to represent Tucson. I'm thinking they left with a good impression.

Then last...STANDARD DEVIANCE.

Holly the bassist drank something day-glo green and was...um...drunk and still played fine.
Bere the guitarist wailed like Zakk Wilde and the drummer looked and played like the geriatric poop-log he is. A good 17 minute set.

There you have it...a sunday nite at the bellydancing capital of southern arizona...TUCSON.

More importantly...FOOD! My recommendation today to the bands coming is to hit

EL TORERO...two blocks from Grumpus on 231 E 26th St and 4th ave

that is their Topopo salad....mmmmmmmmm

And if you are wondering what the grumpus looks like inside...thats coming soon...


buhbye

YOU SAY YOU LIKE ROCK AND ROLL

then come on down

STATIC STATIC

are to Los Angeles what a snow shovel is to Florida: out of place, but still sharp and heavy enough to fracture your skull if provoked, and full of enough angular and bent noise to cave in your prettiest features before you know what's happened. Once a two piece living room-punk glue wave machine, now a three-piece live unit with a real drummer (Leslie from the Red Aunts), Static Static cull all the most wretched scraps of electronic noise and set them up to a hypnotic beat that is somehow completely great and shirks any annoying predispositions. The combination of real drums and drum machines working together is quite a sound to behold and really works wonders when aligned with their gnashing and convulsing songs engineered to lay your mind to waste. Taking equal parts of VOLT and Spider and molding it into a whole new spectrum of sonance, Static Static have remained in the shadows long enough, and it's time Los Angeles realized what a great resource they have lurking around in it's dark corners.

THE BLIND SHAKE




from Aversion.com "The best thing about having a full menu of vices before you is that, once you get over your puritanical squeamishness and decide to become a libertine, you can open up a world of mix'n'match distractions that can keep you busy for years to come. Tired of getting drunk? Try throwing in a bowl and hooking up with your latest fling. Straight sex can get a little dull, and when it does, any combination of drugs, violence and perversion can spice it up. Heck, even when your beloved music collection isn't doing it for you like it used to, a trip to the pharmacy can change that up in a hurry.

Music's a lot like that, too. With so many styles, sub-genres and movements floating around in its history, it shouldn't take more than a little ingenuity to keep things fresh for us. And, we'll admit, that genre-blurring thing can lead to some abominations (see: rap-metal and jazz fusion), but it's still got some surprises in store for us. The Blind Shake make good on the potential of mix'n'match rock'n'roll vices, as its sophomore effort, Carmel, forces a little bit of psychedelia onto its punk. Or maybe it's the other way around. Either way, it doesn't matter: Carmel is a double-dose of amphetamine jitters and lysergic freakouts. Better yet, it's a good combination of its various vices.

The Blind Shake makes Carmel look so easy, you'll wonder why more punks hadn't hit on the notion to spin off into worlds of psychedelia. If the Jimi Hendrix experience found punk rock and began jamming after Hendrix drowned in his own puke instead of throwing in the towel, it might have sounded a lot like Carmel. "Midnight Scream" and "Peach Lines" borrow the sludgy guitar tones of The Jefferson Airplane or Iron Butterfly, but run them through the paces with the fury of Black Flag. "Been Young" merges the band's acid-eating guitar tones with clockwork-like arrangements and wiry lead guitars that show more than a passing resemblance to a young Fugazi, while "Wool Jacket" musters the noisome fury of a basement-punk outfit on full destructor mode. "St. Paul Creamery" and "Broken Down Stairs" sound more like a psychedelic rock revival outfit going off the deep end than a punk band meddling with LSD in the practice space.

As much of a novelty as genre-mixing acts can be, Carmel shows The Blind Shake is the real deal. With enough firepower and vision to cram its unlikely punk-adelic crossover to the brim with fire, Caramel isn't just a workable fusion of styles, but a glimpse at a lot of untapped potential. Let's hope The Blind Shake's able to make good with it.

..> ..> - Matt Schild"

with local support from
AWESTRICH
and
THE COMPLAINIACS
from Phoenix

all ages/ 9pm

Fuck yaaaah...Old pueblo dirt and grit and punk rok shit

So yes...

Thank you to all of ya that paid to support last nites 12 step meeting/fun as hell show
with BOATS!, SLOW THOUGHT, TICS and STANDARD DEVIANCE.

We showed BOATS a fun time...got them some gas $ and continued the rehabilitation
of the tarnished Tucson rep of being a "Bar rock" town.

Fact is...aside from GNARWHAL HOUSE, occasional DRY RIVER shows,occasional LIVING ROOM shows, VAUDEVILLE and GRUMPUS!...it truly is.

But WE make the difference...apathy and inertia kill the soul and mush up the brain and talking about talking about doing a vague "something" about it put this fucking city in a coma.

Sleepytime is over...and everybody gets to now step up (i.e...SHOW up) or shut the fuck up.

That means you...old whiny scenester and you..."punk" rocker that wants to see out of state bands without paying at the door. YOU are the reason a scene falls apart. YOU cant find it in yourselves to support art, music and expression. YOU are old before your time. YOU can still make a mark and back up the principals you espouse.

That said...GRUMPUS ROOM is legendary already. As it should be. A stinky classic hole-in the wall- punk rock dump. RUN BY PUNKS....not hippies.. Just like the kind you read about in those old zines and saw on those old videos. Diff is...ITS NOW.

Be part of NOW....!

Next show is this Friday...June 13th...

Show starts at 9 .

ALL MONEY goes to the out of state(and country Polka Madre is from Mexico City) bands...Help make Tucson the coolest place to play in AZ and I'll see you this Friday.

JUNE SHOWS

here's all the flyers we have for the next group of shows...the only one missing is the one for Sun June 15th cause I'm not sure there is one yet...anyways that is gonna be
Standard Deviance
Bad Blood (from Brooklyn, NY)
and F.U.K. starts at 7pm








plus on the 19th SKARP
is playing the anarchist mickey mouse club Dry River with I think Limbless Torso
and some other bands and then Yuma Territorial Prison Guards and Becky Lee and Drunk Foot are playing Vaudeville later that night with Ultramaroon and Uncle Fister.

and yeah that last flyer is for a show July 1st...it's the Potential Johns
who are 1/2 The Marked Men plus one of the Riverboat Gamblers. There'll be a shitload of people at Vaudeville July 5th for the Riverboat Gamblers but I'm telling you the Marked Men and Potential Johns are just as good if not better; but for some reason the greaser rockabilly dorks in this town have no clue.

also

Friday June 27th Tour kickoff at the Bay Horse Tavern!
Grant & Treat, Tucson, Arizona 85716
Cost : $5

Sabertooth Snatch, Ultramaroon,and Vanish Twin, plus R.I.F.F are coming down from Flagstaff.

Introduce Ourselves

HERE IS THE ILLUSTRIOUS GRUMPUS ROOM(and other good stuff happening around this desert hellhole we call Tucson) NEWSLETTER.

Where you'll learn all about the who's, why's, where's, when's, and whatfor's of whatever the hell we (hopefully this will be a we and not just a me...as I get bored easily and prefer groups of people causing action instead of the ennui that sets in from one man going it alone) feel like hepping you to. Maybe it'll be a show, maybe it'll be a taco truck, or maybe it'll be a wash where a dead vagrant lies. It'll always be something good however. My name's Mark Beef, the others who hopefully will join me are Donn and Betty. It's easy to get caught up in "there's nothing to do in this dumb town"itis and even easier to find ten years have come and gone and you don't have anything to show for it, except whatever fun (and I do mean fun) memories you can actually still squeeze from your addled brain. We are your guides in this self exiled purgatory. Come with us. Oh the sights we have to show you