GOING NOWHERE

Cosmic Jackhammer

2009-12-15T14:54:00.001-08:00

so after the last OZ post I decided (well actually a friend decided for me) that we should continue in that vein and put up a demo of the band Mike gray would join after Opinion Zero.....COSMIC JACKHAMMER

this was recorded in 1990 or 1991 and they started as a band in 1988 I believe. Besides Mike you also had
Ethan Houser, also on guitar, who previously had been in FUCT
Bob Martin on bass, who previously had been in HC (from west PHX - litchfield park)
Sonny Lamotte on drums, who's sister Roni also played drums in local yokels Haus
and Jerry Disaster aka Abel Ferraira the man responsible for Driller Killer and Bad Lieutenant....just kidding he had been in a band with Sam Preston of OZ called Butchers for Peace, and was a beautiful mess.

Later on after this tape had been recorded Jason Musfelt of Civil Order/Ice Nine would replace Bob Martin when Bob joined up with Greg Sage to tour Europe as the Greg Sage Experience, and John Scharf of math wizardry, bong rips, and pizza eating (later to be in the Lovers and CRUD as well) would replace Sonny on the drums.
Also there was a long line of guitarists that took over Ethan's place such as Detroit Johnny (or John John) and others my feeble old brain can't recall.

One particular show he was eating Cheetos (the puffy kind) while singing and near the end of the set decided to cut his head open with a Swiss Army knife. He made a pass once and nothing. Tried it again and again NOTHING! Someone from the audience notices he has been attempting this with the dull edge so they smartly tell him to turn the blade around. He does so and tries it again only with the same force that hes been attemnpting with the dull edge. ALA GRAND CANYON FULL OF RASPBERRY SYRUP TO GO WITH YOUR PEANUT BUTTER SANDWICHES! He got a little white in the face but finished out the set. The singer in the next band, however, had a mic that looked like a bloodstained basketball to contend with.

the name Cosmic Jackhammer alluded to GOD's male appendage. BFP had a song called Buttfucked By God and so Abels next band;s name was kind of a nod towards that

this demo is an amalgamation of one recording that just was finally released on cd this year and some songs that were on another tape i found in the junkpiles in my house

COSMIC JACKHAMMER demo

BRAVE NEW WORLD

2009-12-13T11:05:00.000-08:00

Back with a Bang now...so I'm going to start this bitch back up and use it to get all the lost Tucson recordings out there into the vast reaches of space. Most punk/hc bands from Tucson never really put stuff out. UPS, one of the bigger bands, didnt put there 7" out till 6 years after they started. Hell, most bands never even got beyond a crappy boom box practice tape and if they did put out a demo it was in an edition of maybe 50 tops. Whether this was due to something in the water, being from TOO STONED, or just realizing the audience was slim and let's concentrate on getting thru this life and having fun (which means more live shows and less sitting around your house folding j-cards and labeling tapes) might never be answered. This is the reason though that more people know about bands from Phoenix, and less people know about the superior Tucson bands.

You scoff now, but I'm a show you

so first band on deck
OPINION ZERO

OZ was born from the ashes of WSB, which will definitely be talked about later, as John Henkel played guitar in WSB and would take over the bass duties in OZ. Mike Gray would be slinging the axe, freshly moved from El Paso where he had played in Friday the 13th, and another band I am brainfarting on. Sam Preston would be the singer, and he did guest vocals on two other bands recordings as well...Blood Spasm and Civil Order, as well as having some of the only 3-D tattoos I can recall. A guy named Rambo started on the drums and would later be replaced by Dean who would later move to Portland and join Alcoholics Unanimous. When Dean split Dugga Doug (from Civil Order) took over on the throne, and then much later Dirty Birt would man the drums when they had a reunion of sorts and local record store/label Toxic Shock would release a song, "Words" from this recording, on their Noise from Nowhere series.

OZ was of the crossover scene I guess, but they really sounded like their own beast. They were more a hardcore band that wasn't afraid to show people they liked Thin Lizzy, and less a metal band that was just discovering GBH and Black Flag. Some of the members were also in Five Prong Stud Assault, the premiere Tucson house party band at the time. Oh those Robo nights!

This tape was recorded at a place called the Sound Factory, I believe, in 1987. It was the studio for all the metal bands and tv and radio jingles at the time ie PRO studio.

They went on a tour up the west coast around the same time that they recorded this and played in the Bay area at the Farm. UPS might have been touring with them as well, Coming back after playing San Diego the van threw a rod that narrowly missed the occupants of the vehicle.

Sadly, Sam Preston would die in the latter part of 1996, at his mother's house.

John Henkel would later play in the Blink Dogs and Prosthetic Head.
Mike Gray would later be in Cosmic Jackhammer and Cancer Brides.

The cover of this tape (which I no longer have) was a drawing of an alien (much like kali) playing the guitar, the bass, the drums, and singing. A pattern that would be repeated by the band the Weird Lovemakers sort of with their t shirt that showed the amalgamation of the band members as superheroes. I wish I had that shirt as well.

One last thing...in the movie Frankenhooker there's a scene in a bathroom with a couple prostitutes and one of them looks like she has the OZ logo (a sort of chaos symbol with a 0 in the middle) on her arm...just another case for Robert Anton Wilson I guess.

Opinion Zero - Storm and Stress

BACK FROM THE DEAD AND HUNGRY FOR BRAINS

2009-06-05T21:43:00.000-07:00

Francis Harold and the Holograms

"It's a mixture of Flipper and Brainbombs, but with a stronger hatred for your eardrums."

ULTRAMAROON

PIJIN RILIJIN

here's some mp3s for download
Francis Harold and the Holograms

ROLL OUT THE BARRELS

2008-09-08T16:31:00.000-07:00

so we got redtagged Saturday night....long story short, a tenant moved in at the beginning of august who was not told about the fact that bands use the space to practice in and she's sandwiched in between Blues and Chango Malo. She wasn't happy and that is understandable BUT a reasoned response would be for her to say to the property manager "i was not informed of this, am not happy, and am now breaking my lease because or this"

she is not reasonable however. So her plan is to make it horrible for everyone else and make them leave, first bailers: us. This is what went down

had a show last night with the Intelligence, RCougar, and the Subway Vandals...it was a small fun show. No debauchery, No hijinx. Parents were there to see their son's band play (multiples as in more than one set...plus cousins and siblings).
Well right before the last band played, the unhappy neighbor came up to me and basically asked to speak to the lease holder...who was not there but she has his number, of which I informed her of...to which she said "I know I called him"...well what do you want me to do then...since conversation is hard for this woman (she mostly is that type of person who is good at talking but not very good at listening... wait that's wrong she's not good at understanding...she's good at overhearing conversations though) her husband(I guess) basically informed me that he would appreciate it if we kept people away from their storefront(that they live in). I said I would and no one from our deal had been hanging out there anyways...to wit he proclaimed "Well our light (one that comes on when motion is detected) has come on a bunch of times" to which I replied "well this is a busy street and I really don't have control over who walks down it or passes by your place" to which he started getting vexed and screamy and I maintained composure and let him know I would be making sure no one would bother them. End of story right?

nope...so they're hanging out in front of their place making sure that no undesirables are loitering around their end of the building. Someone comes up to me and asks what their deal is and I explain and say basically I don't have control over who wanders around this neighborhood (which is right across from the biggest homeless park in our fair city). Well ol big ears and small brain hears this and wanders up to me (with hubby in tow) to say "I overheard your conversation and just wanted to object to what you said" I really didn't understand what I had said that she might object to (i made sure not to call anyone names, or be disrespectful at all in my speech on this night...I think it was the hangover) anyways I asked her what she objected to and she began to tell me "You have to have control over these people! You have to have control over what you're doing here!" I attempted to explain she misunderstood and that I had control over the situation I was creating, but not over just random people walking by. This only made her and her husband scream even louder about Control like they were some Tribute duo to Janet Jackson. I informed them that I wasn't about to engage them in conversation if they couldn't act civilly and basically quit talking to them and went about my business. Well what would you expect them to do...they called the cops and complained about noise.Why noise all of a sudden.... because if they would have complained about what they complained to me about, the cops would have laughed at them.

Remember those parents who came...well one of them as she was leaving (with her two daughters or one daughter and her friend) was basically shaken down by the neighbor lady. This woman (who was there for the show) was older than the neighbor lady and doing nothing but walking to her car which was parked within 20 feet of the battleaxe's door. That's the mentality we're dealing with here people...oh yeah this was around 10:30pm as well.

So the cops came and told me we had to stop cause they got noise complaints and they weren't going to leave till we did. I told them I would go inside after the song that was playing was over and inform the band of this. Song ended, I opened the door, and the band said "Thanks, that's all... we were the Intelligence" I look at the cops and they shrug...you could tell they weren't interested in being there. The cop that seemed in charge went to talk to the neighbors while the other one stayed by our space. Everybody filed out and began leaving or getting ready to leave. The main cop comes back and basically tells me that the neighbor lady is demanding we get a ticket and since this is the second time in a month (she's who called the cops on us for a show in mid August) their hands are tied. But they also tell us that we should fight it and it'll pretty much get tossed out. Which we plan on doing but here's the problem....until our court date if we make noise of any kind, and she decides to call the cops, we get fined. This is a spot we moved into for band practice and that is what it even says on our lease. The redtag officially kills that until we have the court date (which I won't even know when it is until after I enter my plea on Monday). You see how this notion doesn't, as Manowar said, make us "wet like a young girl in her prime"

so we're bailing.... all touring bands that we had scheduled to play here we will try our damnedest to get you shows other places and will be in touch with news...any all local shows we had booked (basically sept 12th and the 19th) we ain't doing those now, SORRY!

we might get another spot in the future but really I don't see a need for it...the all ages thing is cute but since most of the kids would rather go to where their peers do (living room or dry river) it's not really needed...and there's plenty of bars where all these bands can play too...what tucson really needs is a scaling back of venues and bands cause the crowd there is for this is slim

sorry to be such a downer

adios
mark beef

THE MAN CAN'T BUST OUR MUSIC

2008-08-24T19:45:00.000-07:00

This Wednesday

and a late show friday

LAST DANCE>>>LAST CHANCE?

2008-08-20T14:56:00.000-07:00

come on out tonight and see if the cops and the new tenant (who doesn't even live by us) are gonna shut er down!!!!!!!!!!!

ah remember when the man really couldn't bust our music?

8pm
$5
FULL BLOWN AIDS and MURDER PRACTICE
chow yun fat chumped out

TYPICAL!!!!!

TONIGHT TOONEYETAH TWOKNIGHT

2008-08-11T15:52:00.000-07:00

WHO CALLS SO LOUD(ex funeral diner)
http://www.myspace.com/whocallssoloud

STANDARD DEVIANCE
http://www.myspace.com/lookforpunx

GUILTY FACE(connecticut)
from Bleeding Edges.net
Guilty Faces (tape)
Some good old sounding punk with ex- Ratbyte members. This has a more mid-paced sound kinda like the Adolescents or the Faction. The singer, Tommy's voice is really raspy, which gives it an added edge. There are a lot of cool guitar leads, which is pretty cool. Kinda similar to the Bad Advice demo, someone do a split 7".

video of their old band ratbyte

ADOBE HOMES(new mexico)
http://www.myspace.com/adobehomes666

GOD OF THE SEA

7PM SHARP!!!! (seriously...show's gonna be over by 10:30pm)
$7
1250 s 4th ave
#138

all ages at all times

TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT WHOA OH

2008-08-08T14:32:00.000-07:00

2008-07-28T19:52:00.000-07:00

FRIDAY AUGUST 1ST

WEEKEND NACHOS from Chicago

PARASITES GO! from N. California

SLOW THOUGHT

THE FISTERS

THEN ON THURSDAY AUG 7th and FRIDAY AUG 8th
IT'S THE FIRST EVER GO NOWHERE FEST

DAY ONE (aug 7th)
THIS RUNS ON BLOOD from Flagstaff, AZ

VANISH TWIN

TRANSIENT from Portland, Oregon

LIMBLESS TORSO

and then DAY TWO (aug 8th)
NOBUNNY RETURNS

JANIS JOPLIN CRAP N VOMIT from PHX

YUMA TERRITORIAL PRISON GUARDS

BECKY LEE AND DRUNKFOOT

LOS RUDOS from Nogales

FRIDAY JULY 25th

2008-07-23T19:40:00.000-07:00

STARTS AT 9PM not 8(but we'll be there by 8 and you can come round and shoot the breeze as you will)

THE VENERABLE MONTH OF REAPING AND THE SICKLE

2008-07-16T13:25:00.000-07:00

August 1st
Parasites Go!
http://www.myspace.com/parasitesgo
Weekend Nachos
http://www.myspace.com/weekendnachos
The Fisters
http://www.myspace.com/pityfister
Slow Thought
http://www.myspace.com/slowthought

Aug 7th
GOING NOWHERE FEST 1 DAY ONE
THIS RUNS ON BLOOD
http://www.myspace.com/thisrunsonblood
VANISH TWIN
TRANSIENT
http://www.myspace.com/transientbrutality
LIMBLESS TORSO
http://tammies.com/profiles/blog/show?id=1973216%3ABlogPost%3A6321

Aug 8th
GOING NOWHERE FEST 1 DAY TWO
NOBUNNY
http://www.myspace.com/nobunnylovesyou
LOS RUDOS
more tba

Aug 12th
STANDARD DEVIANCE
http://www.myspace.com/lookforpunx
GUILTY FACE
GOD OF THE SEA

Aug 20th
CHOW YUN FAT
MURDER PRACTICE
http://www.myspace.com/murderpractice
FULL BLOWN AIDS

Aug 27th
WITCH HATS
http://www.myspace.com/witchhats
ULTRAMAROON
http://www.myspace.com/mikeanddick
MC TRACHIOTOMY
http://www.myspace.com/mctrachiotomy

Aug 29th
DEVON DISASTER
http://www.myspace.com/devonandthedisaster
THE SHUDDERS
http://www.myspace.com/theshudders
WINELORD
http://www.myspace.com/winelord

here's a video of our friends in Flagstaff

NEXT COUPLE OF SHOWS

2008-07-14T15:59:00.000-07:00

THURSDAY JULY 17TH
ULTRAMAROON

THE CHEATfrom Knoxville, Tennessee

from metropulse.com
You Can Quote me on That...
The Cheat is better than ever, again
By Kevin Crowe
Wednesday, November 22, 2006

“Memphis was kick-ass,” says Julia Hungerford, the drummer for local sultans of misplaced surf rock, The Cheat.

It was October, Friday the 13th. “Everyone was drunk and rowdy,” says muscleman/guitarist Fletcher Stewart, a guy who’s not shy about going shirtless for a photo op in the brisk November air. “A guy lost his grill,” Stewart goes on. “His grill got George Formaned.”

In the corner, some toasted kid was snorting his own loogie, a weird attempt to impress the ladies. It failed, but the kid was nothing if not persistent. And he kept on snorting. The Cheat, impressed by the fetid offering, gave him a free T-shirt.

“He was trying to get more free stuff out of it,” says Harold Heffner (guitar, keys and vox). That same night, in a whiskey-soaked agreement, Ian Lawrence (bass and keys), bought a bass guitar for $20 bucks off of some snot-nose band.

“Rocktober,” Lawrence says. “Don’t quote me on that. It’s like something you’d see on one of those cheesy mail-order guitar companies. ‘Rocktober savings!’”

You’ll hear similar stories about most cities The Cheat visited that week. Lexington ruled. Louisville was cool. Same for Anytown, U.S.A. When this quartet is on stage, crowds are usually rowdy. You already know this if you were at Host Clothing in the Old City on Nov. 3, when a beery crowd turned Bedlam. Beer foam flew threw the air. Stewart’s guitar got drenched. Overhead, a platter of carrots, cauliflower and other freshly cut vegetables spiraled off a giant plastic saucer, thrown like a Frisbee.

“Everything is more better,” Stewart says. “The lyrics aren’t just love-song shit anymore.”

“We all get along better,” Hungerford says, “and that makes it easier. We get along more better.”

“More better again!” Stewart goes on. “I can see the headline now, 'The Cheat are more better—dot, dot, dot—again.'” He pauses, in intense contemplation, then asks: “How come the Metro Pulse never runs transcripted interviews? You’d win the Pulitzer. Think of how much of a better read it would be if it was just a straight-up transcript, instead of The Cheat are a band from Knoxville, Tennessee, who used to be called The Cuts.”

We’re sharing some beers, not really talking music anymore. Just killing time, basically. I’ve learned that their sound has, in fact, matured since the band's early days back in 2003. There’s a new album coming out, sometime before their next tour in March. They’ll be playing with the Black Lips and Cheap Time this Friday, both crazy bands that’ll potentially tear the Grotto apart. So, let’s talk. What’s it like being on tour?

“It’s basically living homeless,” Hungerford says.

“You realize how much the same everywhere is,” Lawrence adds.

“You can go places,” comes Heffner, “and see weird parallels of your friends.”

And, if you’re really lucky, Lawrence will try to piss in a water bottle. “I don’t understand why this is such an unnatural thing,” Lawrence says. Hungerford rejoins: “There’s gonna be dribble!”

“I’m not peeing on you for sexual fulfillment,” Lawrence continues. “I mean, what’s the trouble?”

Best interview yet, going straight into the gutter where we’re all more comfortable. There’s still some lingering talk about the tour in March, which is going to be huge, if things go according to plan. On the other side of the room Stewart and Heffner are playing with a plastic orca and a couple of Mexican wrestling masks.

“I already got four shows booked,” Hungerford says, “and this is for March. It’s only November…. Up the West coast, play a few shows, ’cause I think we can get all the way to San Fran.”

“I think we can get to Seattle, too,” Lawrence adds. “Fuck it.”

Then Stewart jumps in, going off on a tangent: “We recorded on the machine that ‘Back in Black’ was recorded on.” Oh yeah? Really? “Then the idiot at the fucking soundboard erased it,” Lawrence says.

But that doesn’t matter, because there’s still a bright light, a reason The Cheat is so eager to get back on the road and head west. In L.A. there’s another group called The Cheat. “We’re going to L.A. specifically to beat them up,” Lawrence confesses. “You can quote me on that—” It’s all theater:

Stewart: “To take what’s rightfully ours.”

Heffner: “Have you been threatening them online yet?”

Hungerford: “No, we need to get on that.”

Heffner: “If they didn’t suck so bad, there wouldn’t be a problem.”

Hungerford: “If it was our bad, and we were like, ‘Hey, we didn’t know you guys were that cool,’ then we might be dignified and back down.”

Lawrence: “Actually, fuck dignity. You can quote me on that.”

THE BASEMENT APARTMENTS

new band made up of some people from Invisible City, the Pajamas nad others...good stuff...they open so get there in time
7:30pm all ages $5
1250 s 4th ave #138

then Friday July 25th

SHARK PANTS

CANADIAN RIFLE from Chicago

from Razorcake

CANADIAN RIFLE:
Self-titled: 7” EP
A bit of a surprise here, as nothing about the simple packaging or the lyrics hints at how fuggin’ good this is. At turns deceptively intimate in sound and anthemic without going out of the way to sound as such, all four tracks on here are top notch—mid-tempo, gruff-yet-sung vocals and just sick with hooks, landing them somewhere in the gray area between the Effigies and Naked Raygun. I can easily see these kids blowing up huge in short order. –Jimmy Alvarado (Criminal IQ)

SOLID DECLINE from Germany

Solid Decline (EX Y members) blend a modern hardcore sound with a harsh style and feel like that of Die Kreuzen or CCM. Each track punishes with little time to think or react with amazingly violent vocals that makes Solid Decline one of the best bands to come from Germany in recent memory.

Maximum RocknRoll zine review:
"Obliterating speedfest. Ten tracks of hyper-pitched hardcore from Germany, fueled with inventive guitar leads and marked with DEFORMED CONSCIENCE-styled ram-charging harshness and similar growl-grunt blunt vocals. More precise than their debut, catching you off guard with stop-on-a-dime delivery and curious breaks -- akin to members' previous band Y, but never reaching Y's extreme blast-beat pitch. 750 copies in a silk screened sleeve. Ace." (MRR No. 280)

Suburban Voice Review:
10 songs spread over two 7”s and packaged in a triple panel foldout for this German band’s latest release. Three of the guys from Solid Decline used to be in Y and I like this band a lot more. The band’s speed is better controlled and there are some killer melodic guitar lines to go along with the burn. The 80s-era German band Inferno used to do something similar—aggression but also managing to add, for want of a better term, a tuneful sting. In any case, it’s impressive.

from goodbadmusic.com
I was fairly surprised when I put on SOLID DECLINE! The band was formerly known as Y and was quite a steamroller in its early days and the band’s first 7″ is definitely worth a listen. «Besides diverse other sources they´re paying homage to 80ies American HC, but not necessarily to the early Boston, DC or LA scenes that have become revivaled to death these days. It´s rather bands like early Hüsker Dü, Christ On Parade, Die Kreuzen etc. whose legacy you can sense when you listen with an open mind», is what the label has to say about SOLID DECLINE. Apart from the obvious influences such as INFEST or RORSCHACH, SOLID DECLINE make me think of the way Italian HC of the mid 80s had filtered the original american HC, rather than american HC itself. Songs like “Wahrheit” or “Elephant Walk” are perfect examples for this. Fucking great, metalfree post-Hardcore with enough power and aggression and a feeling of urgency you don’t hear too often anymore.

FULL BLOWN AIDS

and MARLA SINGER open
8pm all ages $6
1250 s 4th ave #138

and if you missed the show saturday night at Vaudeville you'se a big dummy

here's a sample

Scenesters

2008-07-03T05:02:00.000-07:00

So this is a new thing I'm working on, so we'll see how it works out.
At the beggining of every month I will be posting the grumpus scenester of the month. Just to show that we appreciate everyone's support towards "the scene".
Will I keep up with it every month? Probably not, so I'll probably end up calling it something else like. . .the when i get to it post about some dude/chick that I've seen hanging out a lot at the grumpus at almost every show and always pays at the door and supports the bands and we dont have to chase down or yell at because they want to get all their friends and family in the show for free, or some shit like that.
You think you got what it takes? You better be there at every show then. I already got a couple of people in mind.
I'll start next month.
Here's a pretty picture for your enjoyment.

A REALLY BIG SHOE

2008-06-30T19:35:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-26T19:24:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-23T18:00:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-17T19:21:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-17T03:52:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-11T18:31:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-10T21:20:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-10T20:23:00.000-07:00

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