Showing posts with label The Ramones. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Ramones. Show all posts

Nov 5, 2018

No Sleep Roundup: The Ramones, High on Fire, RHCP, etc.



by Robert Dean

Hey kids, let’s Round-Up!

If there was an award for burnout, I think I’d be at least in strong contention to win Burner of The Year. I’ve been writing a lot of stuff lately, and there’s no end in sight. 

I typically work on the weekends, playing catch up on writing I owe, but this weekend, I’m seeing Joshua Hedley AND Lucero. I will likely need an IV by Sunday. (No one sees Lucero sober.)

Pray for me. 

This past weekend was the Texas Book Fair, and in my adventures visiting my friends @ Clash Books, I stumbled on Why The Ramones Matter, and I’m psyched on this book. It’s a collection of stories, anecdotes, and observations on why our world is still impacted by these four guys from Queens who were all taken way too soon. 

Todd Burge, singer-songwriter dude from West Virginia has two records dropping at the same time, with each being recorded 32 years apart. The earlier of the two is straight up garage rock in the style of the Stooges, while the newer record is stripped down Americana ballads. I’m a first record kinda guy, but both are easily able to stoke a fire for plenty of Y'all. 

Hardcore/metal legends, Integrity covered Ozzy’s Bark at The Moon for Halloween. It’s fun and weird. 


Slipknot has a new song called “All Out Life” which sounds A LOT like their first record. 

High on Fire canceled their US tour because Matt Pike lost his big toe. Is it me or does this make him way more metal?

The Red Hot Chili Peppers played a few tunes at Chad Smith’s kid’s high school on Halloween, but it prompts me to ask a more significant, more depressing question: do these kids even know who the Chili Peppers are? 

Kids today like music that sounds like Pepsi commercials made by shitheads with face tattoos. I’m no Chili Peppers fan, but I wonder if they primarily played for all of the middle-aged teachers like me vs. the demographic who buys those $40 tee shirts. 

Laura Jane Grace listened to Deftones White Pony for the first time with Noisey, and it’s as pretentious and exhausting as it sounds. 

Converge mastermind Kurt Ballou offered gives a tour of his God City Studio aka the place where all of the best records are made. 


Ashrr is a David Bowie meets Stranger Things theme song band that’s pretty sweet if you’re into dark synth-y stuff. NPR’s All Songs Considered even featured it. 

That’s all I got. Stay weird. 


Nov 23, 2016

Blast from the past you need to know: Midwest punk legends, Boris The Sprinkler

by Robert Dean

If you’ve got a hankering for something truly strange – there’s a blast from the past you need to get your brain around.  Boris The Sprinkler was an oddball, eclectic pack of weirdoes from Green Bay, Wisconsin, and boy were they a deliciously strange mix of everything meth-fueled nightmares were constructed of.

Take parts Mr. Bungle, The Ramones, the Reverend Horton Heat, and maybe Frank Sinatra’s sleazy cousin, and maybe some string cheese. Throw in some rubber chickens, maybe a tranny hooker or two and you’ll get near what these left of center Wisconsin punk rock pranksters were up to.

On their debut, 8-Testicled Pogo Machine, Boris The Sprinkler full tongue French kissed their way into the Chicago, Milwaukee, and Green Bay punk scene. The songs feel like wild parties and are a pure portrait of an era of punk when bands still drew up those great flyers with magic markers and maybe some basic computer skills.

Boris The Sprinkler has some moments that harken to sweaty bars, and bad nights on cheap booze. The songs are irreverent and even better after all of these years. One of the best things about Boris The Sprinkler is the sheer easiness of the songs – not by a technical standard, but by which they stand. I have such warm memories of this era of punk, maybe because it’s mine, but more because it’s the era that slithered in just after when everyone was so severe. The songs are catchy and without any preaching of idealism, and in many ways, that’s refreshing on so many levels. There can only be one Clash, and the world has enough carbon copies of Joe Strummer.

But no Boris The Sprinkler – I doubt these guys cared who came off the spaceship unless they promised Transformers comic books and some YooHoo. But, that’s what made them great, it wasn’t about the music, the scene or the songs, it was simply about existing in your skin and having some fun in the process.

 If you’re looking to dive into something odd, and just ridiculously entertaining, pull Boris The Sprinkler up on YouTube, and buy some records if you’re into it. Fifteen year old you really wants you to.

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails