Some Saturday nights you have no idea what you’re going to get into, and the next thing you know you’re in a house full of crust and mall punks drinking 40s, waiting to see NYC’s Star Fucking Hipsters. I headed down to South Philly’s Ava House at the very last minute on a whim, took some allergy medicine to deal with the smoke (up the Allegra punks!) and wound up making it just in time as Star Fucking Hipsters were setting up.

I’ve never seen the Ava House so packed before, and the crowd had a lot of young ‘uns in it (which is something I hear people bitch about, but in all honesty, I was listening to punk at 14 years old, and isn’t it better to have the kids these days listening to a band such as Star Fucking Hipsters instead of Kayne or Brokencyde or whatever the fuck is cool these days?)

As far as Scott Sturgeon goes, let me just say that he is one classy man. Before the show began and he was setting up, he demanded a bottle from the crowd, as he needed to take a piss, nevermind the fact that there was a bathroom in the back of the room… but the crowd obliged, and SFH started their set by Scott peeing in a bottle. Stay classy.

The band played a good mix of older material off of “Until We’re Dead” and their newer album released in October “Never Rest In Peace”. Unfortunately, the band’s lead guitarist was running late and didn’t show up until the last damn song, so that took away some of the energy of the performance, but otherwise, the band played a solid set that had a lot in the crowd moving and crowd surfing… although as Star Fucking Hipsters set went on, the crowd slowed down and thinned out as well (probably because it was a younger crowd and they needed to be picked up by the parental units early).

Stza gave some hilarious stage banter, talking about how Leftover Crack is just him, Frank, and 2 Australian dudes (aka no more as Ezra left the band), and made sure to shit talk Ezra as well “If you go to C Squat with a $10 bag of dope, Ezra will take you into his room and give you a Morning Glory show. Just kidding, Ezra’s not a heroin addict, he’s just REALLY always tired.”

Some highlights from the show include:
-Zombie Christ
-Until We’re Dead
-Immigrants and Hypocrites
-Two Cups Of Tea
-This Wal-Mart Life

MP3:
Star Fucking Hipsters – Two Cups of Tea
Star Fucking Hipsters – Immigrants and Hypocrites

Star Fucking Articles
Star Fucking Hipsters – Until We’re Dead
INDK – Kill Whitey
Morning Glory
No Cash (For fans of Leftover Crack, Choking Victim)

Buy:
Star Fucking Hipsters Old Shit
Star Fucking Hipsters New Shit

Last night, even though all cards were apparently pointed against me, I headed out to the First Unitarian Church to catch my favorite rapper, mc chris. I was running late, as I had a kickball game (a humiliating defeat by the way) and so I missed all the opening bands, and then when I got to the door, they didn’t have my will call, so I had to go to a Fed Ex and print out my confirmation email (turns out ticketweb mailed it, but I never got it, those bastards).

But alas, I made it in, just as mc chris was about to take the stage. Being the 3rd time seeing mc chris, I was a bit surprised that the venue wasn’t more packed, as his shows usually sell out completely. As usual, mc chris killed it, even though the crowd was incredibly dead (mc chris put it best: “you need to behave at an mc chris show, lot of nerds here, it’s their first time being outside!”) , so I eventually moved off to the side to dance.

Anyone’s who’s ever been to an mc chris show knows that half of it is the music, and the other half is stand up comedy. mc chris kept with this tradition, cracking the crowd up with his observations on “emo bitches who come to shows and don’t sing along”, “obama is a superhero”, and many other rants.

Many of his songs that he played seemed to have been remixed to a different beat, and I was surprised he didn’t play more songs off his Part 6 series. He also must have been in a good mood, as he didn’t go all Ian Mackaye on anyone and kick them out of the show (only sent them to the back of the room).

If the crowds at mc chris shows danced, it could definitely be a high energy show, but it’s hard enough to get them to put their hands in the air. Sadly, this takes away from the experience, and I feel like it’s not the crazy party it should be, as the man deserves it (then again, I think he hates dancing as well).

Setlist: (Not in order, but pretty complete)
-White Kids Love Hip Hop
-006
-Pizza Butt
-Neville
-Tractorbeam
-Evergreen
-hoodie ninja
-Wiid
-geek
-The Tussin
-nrrrd grrrl
-mc chris is dead
-OMC
-Fett’s Vett
-Hijack

Mp3:
MC Chris – The Tussin
mc chris – Neville

mc chris ownz, I wanna go to an mc chris show:
mc chris – Part Six Part Three
mc chris – Part Six Part Two
mc chris – Part Six Part One
mc chris is dead

Buy:
mc chris

Cocaine addicted clowns and songs about a holiday to celebrate addiction… sounds like your typical NOFX release. When I heard that NOFX was going to release “Cokie The Clown EP”, featuring 5 unreleased songs that was recorded during the “Coaster” sessions, I got to admit, I was pretty stoked. I actually liked “Coaster”, and think it may have been the best NOFX release since “So Long And Thanks For All The Shoes”.

From the moody title track (possibly a metaphor for any drug addicted entertainer?) that features Melvin singing a decent amount, to the high energy Fermented and Flailing, I was actually really surprised by how solid Cokie The Clown is, and am wondering why these songs didn’t make the “Coaster” cut.

The only song on here I’m not a big fan of is the acoustic version of My Orphan Year. Anyone familiar with Coaster will remember one of the most heartfelt yet depressing songs that NOFX has ever written. The acoustic version lacks the same energy and thoughtfulness, as Fat Mike’s voice is much more tailored for emotional yells as opposed to subdued singing, and the moodiness of the electric guitars surpass the almost upbeat acoustic.

So is Cokie The Clown Worth it for the other four tracks? Damn straight it is. One of my favorite EPs released this year.

MP3:
NOFX – Cokie The Clown

Possibly Some Effects:
Nofx – Coaster
NOFX – So Long And Thanks For All The Shoes
NOFX – War On Errorism

Buy:
Fat Wreck

click picture to enlarge

Two years ago, I asked trusty BOTMH readers to help translate a Melt Banana setlist, and you guys showed me why the Internet is so fucking awesome. Can you guys and gals help me again to translate the setlist for the Melt Banana show I went to last night? I will love you forever if you could post it in the comment section!

So last night I headed out to the First Unitarian Church to see one of my favorite bands around, Melt Banana. I wasn’t really digging the opening bands much, so I’ll just concentrate on MB’s set.

Melt Banana shows always draw quite an interesting bunch. You’ve got a handful of punk rock fans such as myself, mixed in with prog rockers, noise fans, and those oh so enlightened avante garde Mike Patton fans. One thing I got to say about the band is that you never know what the hell to expect at their live show, regardless of how many times you’ve seen them.

Case in point: Melt Banana took the stage of the basement church, and had all the lights out so it was completely pitch black… except for some flashlights attached to their heads. For the next ten or fifteen minutes, we were given a light show while they played some of their more experimental songs, such as Phantasmagoria, T is for Tone, and Dog Song. A pit broke out and didn’t let up for the rest of the night. This opening was all fine and dandy, but I was a bit worried I wouldn’t hear the more punk influenced songs of Melt Banana.

Finally, the lights went back on and Melt Banana busted into their more accessible (I use that term loosely) songs. The entire front of the audience was pretty much a frenzied pit, and I was going to attempt to stage dive, but the band had way too many pedals/drum machines up there and I didn’t feel like being that asshole who breaks something (guess I’ll just keep that for the hardcore shows). After blasting through favorites such as Spider Snipe, the band left, only to be called back on stage to play the best encore I’ve ever seen (two of my favorite Melt Banana songs): Monkey Man and Lost Parts Stinging Me So Cold.

MP3:
Melt Banana – Lost Parts Stinging Me So Cold
Melt Banana – Blank Page of the Blind

Melt Banana Will Melt Your Face:
Bambi’s Dilemma (Best album of 2007)
Melt Banana Live 11/13/07

Buy:
Official Site

On Wed night, I headed down to South Philly’s Ava House to see Bomb The Music Industry on their “Bring Your Own Band” tour. On this tour, Jeff reverted back to BTMI olden days, where he would go on tour with just an MP3 player, and anybody who wanted to play along could bring their instruments. Unfortunately I did not have a kazoo or a triangle to play along.

Curtis Irie

When I walked in, Curtis Irie had already taken the floor, and was playing their slightly psychedelic reggae/dub. The band consisted of only a guitarist and a drummer, but somehow, they made their sound bigger than they actually were. Having a sound and voice that reminded me of Slightly Stoopid or Pepper, they actually played pretty tight, even though the smoke detector was going off for the majority of their set.

Greek Favourites

Punk hardcore in the veins of Outclassed, The Greek Favourites put on a hell of a show. Poppy punk guitar undertones with heavy screaming over it all, The Greek Favourites definitely had a bit of a following, which broke out into a pit throughout their set (hell, I joined). Definitely catch them if they come around your area.

1994

Now I know I’ve said some mean things about Lancaster in the past, but finally, something decent coming out of that god foresaken town. The band 1994 plays (for lack of a better term) post-punk, sounding a bit like bands such as Transit. Having a very midwestern punk influence to them, 1994 played a solid set with a few dedicated followers. They had to keep taking a break after each song, and at one point, I was semi-worried their drummer was actually going to die (I don’t know if he was playing really intensely or just simply out of shape).

Definitely interesting, and not usually my style of music, I actually dug 1994, and plan on checking out some of their recorded work.

Bomb The Music Industry

The reaon I came out in the first place. I wasn’t sure how the show was going to pan out with just Jeff, an ipod, and random people who brought their instruments, as I’ve seen them before with this setup, and while fun, it was a total shitfest. This time however, the one bassist and Jeff played a surprisingly tight set, full with constant pile ons and pits.

Jeff opened the show tuning his guitar to some rap song since he forgot an actual tuner on the tour (“Tuners are for wimps. Actually, Agnostic Front probably uses tuners. If anyone here is in Agnostic Front, I don’t mean you, you could probably kick my ass”). Playing a collection of songs from all of his albums, I seriously thought Jeff was going to knock a tooth out with the way the crowd was rushing him and the mic (I am also guilty of this).

I heard a lot of songs that I don’t usually hear them do live, including “Syke! Like Is Awesome”, and “I’m a Panic Bomb, Baby”. It was a fun show, even with me landing head first during crowd surfing (oh the dangers of shows).

Setlist (not complete or in order):
-493 Ruth
-Blow Your Brains Out On Live TV!!!
-It Shits
-Fresh Attitude, Young Body
-Can I Pay My Rent In Fun
-Showerbeers
-25!
-I’m a Panic Bomb, Baby
-Syke! Life Is Awesome!

Mp3:
Bomb The Music Industry- I’m a Panic Bomb, Baby!

Wed. Night Drinkball:
Bomb the Music Industry – Scrambles
Mustard Plug – In Black and White
Mustard Plug Interview

Buy:
Quote Unquote Records

Taken By Dimitri Torterat from this site

Here’s a random collection of songs for you to jam out to today, because why not?

Mp3:
Bouncing Souls – Sing Along Forever
Blanks 77 – Long Paper
Bedouin Soundclash – Gunships
Embrace – Money
Anti-Pasti – Six Guns
The Faction – Lets Go Get Cokes
Teenage Bottlerocket – Bottlerocket

More Mixes For The Hell Of It:
Songs to Piss Off The Personal Fitness Trainer Below Me Mix
Drunken Yuppies Breaking Into My House Mix

Buy:
Interpunk

On Friday night, I headed out to Philly’s Starlight Ballroom in order to catch the Ska Is Dead Tour (a tour that I have caught practically every year it came around since their first one). After getting rained on in line, I got in free because some nice dude had an extra ticket and just gave it to me, makes up for the $20 I lost at that venue!

Most people there seemed to be there for locals Last Martyrs of a Lost Cause, who announced that this would be their final show. They had a fill-in lead singer who seemed to do pretty solid, but I never really liked this band’s music, so I can’t give a fair recap.

Deals Gone Bad

Chicago ska-reggae. I’ve never heard DGB before, but I was impressed with their energetic, fun set. They seemed to have some problems during the sound check, but you definitely couldn’t tell once they started playing. Their music reminded me of The Slackers or Ruder Than You. Definitely check them out if they come around your area.

Voodoo Glow Skulls

These ska core veterans have been at it for a while, and after seeing their set on Friday night, these So-Cal dudes definitely still have it. The space cleared for a skank pit once the band started, and while it seemed many in the crowd didn’t really know their music, the few dedicated who did kept things moving (ok, at times, I was the only one moving… but I was going nuts). The band played a collection of songs, including Fat Randy and Charlie Brown. One of my favorite live bands, Voodoo always is high energy.

Mustard Plug

Christ, I’ve been listening to these mo-fos for ever now, and was stoked to finally get to see them for the first time since last year’s Ska is Dead tour. When they first started, their sound levels seemed to be off, and the band seemed to be lacking their normal energy, but within 3 songs, they were back to their normal high energy show. Playing a solid setlist (although again, they refuse to play anything off of Yellow #5).

Setlist

-You
-Go
-Hit Me Hit Me
-Mendoza
-Waiting Room (Fugazi Cover)
-Skank By Numbers
-Vodka (New Song)
-Lolita
-Rat Bastard
-Mr. Smiley
-Brain On Ska
-On and On
-Beer

The Toasters

The show was running late, and it wasn’t until a little after midnight that NYC’s The Toasters took the stage. Because of this, a lot of people cleared out of the venue, and only a few handfuls remained. Shame, because the band put on a sweet, energetic ska set. I swore to myself I wouldn’t skank anymore after Mustard Plug (because of injuries due to previous sports games) but that was thrown out the window the second they took the stage. A good set, see them if they come around.

MP3:
Mustard Plug – Go!

More Ska:
Mustard Plug – In Black and White
Mustard Plug Interview

Buy:
Interpunk
Ska Is Dead

What an eccentric collection of songs. Dead To Me’s latest album: African Elephants is one hell of a whirlwind. There’s been a lot of jib-jab in the bowels of the internet about Dead To Me being stripped down to a three piece, and how it has changed the writing style of the band. Quite honestly, I’m not familiar enough with their old releases to compare, so I’ll give an unbiased *cough* ignorant *cough* opinion on the album.

While Dead to Me definitely writes some solid songs, African Elephants lack any sort of flow as an album as a whole. While this doesn’t take away from the songs themselves, you can easily throw the “African Elephants” on random and not be able to tell the difference.

I hear traces of Jay Reatard, Bedouin Soundclash, Dillinger Four, and even the Planet Smashers on African Elephants, yet the styles aren’t mixed and the influences only stretch as far as the one track. Incredibly hit or miss musically, some songs shred (like reggae opener “X” or Good Riddance inspired “Nuthin Runnin Through My Brain”), some are completely unlistenable, particularly Nirvana wannabe “Blue”.

With such a variety of songs, you’re guaranteed to find something on here that you really like, along with something that you’ll probably hate. Check African Elephants out, but be warned that it definitely is a grower.

Mp3:
Dead To Me – X
Dead To Me – Three Chord Strut

Midwestern Elephants:
Nofx – Coaster
SNFU – In The Meantime And Between Time

Buy:
Fat Wreck

Rapper mc chris is back with his 3rd and final installment of the “mc chris goes to hell” series: “Part Six Part Three”. It seems like on every installment the cartoon rapper takes influences from a different source, and this time around he’s pulling influences from more modern rap and Atari bleeps.

While I usually hate skits on albums, the ones that have been featured in this series have actually been pretty funny, and his off-colored humor rings through on Part Six Part Three as well. From the harder “Hipster Hunter” that attacks the oh-so-trendy living in Brooklyn to the incredibly nerdy Atari love ballad of “Distant Lands”, Part Six Part Three is an enjoyable listen, although I don’t think of quite the same caliber as his previous two EPs.

MP3:
mc chris – hipster hunter

mc chris FTW:
mc chris – Part Six Part One
mc chris – Part Six Part Two
mc chris is dead

Buy:
mc chris

This past weekend, I headed down to my friend’s place in Arlington, VA, so we could head into the capital city for his birthday. Usually, I’m not a big fan of the District of Columbia with it’s confusing roads and it’s crime (although if you didn’t count the congressmen and presidents, the crime rate would probably drop significantly), but I actually had a lot of fun in DC this weekend.

The only part that really sucked was the fact that I was trying to make it back to Philly in time to see a show that featured Lighten Up, Sakes Alive, and Aneurysm Rats… but 95 North was shut down, due to an accident. A 2 and a half hour drive turned into 6, so needless to say I missed the show (and my mp3 player was dead, so no music for me that ride).

Anyway, here’s an ode to the weekend!

MP3:
Minor Threat – Think Again
Fugazi – Waiting Room
None More Black – Traffic is a Global Word
Big D And The Kids Table – In Front Of Me
Lighten Up! – Invisible Checks
Atom and His Package – Happy Birthday General
Sakes Alive!! – Image Of Modern Man
Aneurysm Rats – Left to Right

More Sweet Mixes:
Go On Strike?
I’m Not Old Yet (Homecoming 09)
Everytime it Rains, The Bus Is Late Just To Spite Me

Buy:
Interpunk
Smartpunk