been really digging the whole DIY vibe of an online live music performance series called BRIDGE CITY SESSIONS that i came across recently on YOUTUBE.  based out of PORTLAND, OREGON, the sessions is basically a showcasing platform for small bands and labels to promote themselves.  this series feels similar to what DEER GOD was attempting to pursue a number of years ago with our KREISCHER MANSION SESSIONS: that is, showcasing upcoming talent with expertly-mixed and engineered video content.

the common thread with these bands is just how hungry and determined they sound.  the mixes are incredible and the bands themselves are often provocative if not transgressive.  feels like they really had something great going on with this project.  i hope it comes back when the pandemic subsides a bit.

BRIDGE CITY SESSIONS is definitely worth checking out.

along with THE OFFSPRING and NO DOUBT, GREEN DAY was the soundtrack to my post-NIRVANA youth, especially once my family moved to NIGERIA from SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA in the mid 1990s.  obviously DOOKIE (REPRISE, 1994) was a landmark record not just for popularizing POP PUNK (and defanging the self-destructive aspects of SEATTLE-based ALTERNATIVE ROCK), but also for just being a great pop record.

in a sense, the follow-up INSOMNIAC (REPRISE, 1995) proved that such success was not a fluke and proved the genre itself viable for all that would follow suit (i.e. BLINK-182, FALL OUT BOY, NEW FOUND GLORY, SUM 41, PARAMORE, A DAY TO REMEMBER).  technically not a sophomore album, as the band had made several records for indie label LOOKOUT! RECORDS, INSOMNIAC was a major label follow-up that basically double-down on the formula of simplified riffage, rolling kinetic drumming and memorable bass-lines that made GREEN DAY such a powerful power trio to begin with.  in many ways i always associated the band sonically more with POWER POP and BRITISH INVASION bands than PUNK ROCK in general.  GREEN DAY in my mind was always a GARAGE band with really great songs, with the PUNK thing being more of an aesthetic based on their EAST BAY roots.  in fact the feverishly independent GILMAN STREET scene out of BERKELEY was surprisingly open-minded in terms of musical styles supported (this despite their reputation for having ideological opposition to anything and all things corporate), which included SKA hybrid bands like OPERATION IVY and proto-ART METAL like NEUROSIS in the mix.

this predilection for simplified yet effective songwriting would flourish on WARNING (REPRISE, 2000) years later, but i see it in an embryonic stage on INSOMNIAC in songs like "GEEK STINK BREATH," "BRAIN STEW/JADED" and my favorite song off the record, "WALKING CONTRADICTION."  other standout tracks like "86," "ARMATAGE SHANKS" and "STUCK WITH ME" are raging, start-stop, barn-burners that come off like vintage GREEN DAY.  today i feel that BILLIE JOE ARMSTRONG could write songs like this in his sleep, but here they are in full display.  perhaps to get it out of his system or maybe not to risk alienating DOOKIE fans.  im glad they transitioned out of this phase and took the real risks tha today they are known for.

who knew a rock opera was in their future.  or a giant middle finger to the government when others cowered and shrank.  now that is PUNK.

SCREAMING FEMALES is just a great ROCK AND ROLL band.  end stop.

ok and theyre from NEW JERSEY.  and they developed from the arts scene around my alma mater RUTGERS UNIVERSITY during the same period i attended.  so there is my bias right upfront.

in the current musical climate where bands feel the pressure or need to "modernize" their sound with AMBIENT / POST ROCK / HIP HOP / PROG / EDM elements, there is almost something revolutionary about a gorup that just does straight down-the-middle, impassioned  ROCK AND ROLL really well.  within seconds of hearing the voice of front-woman (and RUTGERS alumna) MARISSA PATERNOSTER you are aware of being in the presence of a musician. 

and that is beauty of ROCK AND ROLL to me.  everyone is aware of the formula, yet it still has the power to blow you away.  and SCREAMING FEMALES have been that kind of force on record for over a decade now and counting.

so yeah, just want to draw attention their way.  they deserve it.

its funny that one of the worst sounding rooms in live television (STUDIO 8H) is also arguably one of its most enduringly iconic stages.  one of those truly odd paradoxes.

i often wonder what affect on the culture a SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE appearance has in modern culture, similar to that of a ROLLING STONE cover.  maybe it is just an anachronism of a cultural moment that has long since passed us by when we have a never ending feed of audio-visual content available on command from devices in our pockets.

not to sound too nostalgic, but i do remember a time during the 1990s and early 2000s when there was a sense of a shared experience each week when you stayed up to watch SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE and see who was hosting and playing that night.  it was exciting. 

nowadays not so much.  why is that?

L.A. WOMAN (ELEKTRA, 1971) by THE DOORS is one of those quintessential albums that in essence culturally defines the complex seductive allure and devastating depravity that is the city of angels in the hearts and minds of many.    the two standout tracks in that regard are the title track "L.A. WOMAN" and "RIDERS ON THE STORM."

the beauty of "L.A. WOMAN" is how JIM MORRISON personifies the city in that of a young female.  there has always been this duality about living in LOS ANGELES whereby you are confronted with the end result of the hopes and dreams of people seeking to make it in the entertainment industry are met with the reality of failure.  the optimism and delusional thinking of the daytime and the cruel, stark reality of lonely night-time reflection has been a trope utilized since noir films of the 1940s and 1950s to describe LOS ANGELES, and MORRISON does the same here in "L.A. WOMAN" when he asks "are you a lucky little lady in the city of light, Or just another lost angel, city of night."  in MORRISON's hands, LOS ANGELES as a woman is fundamentally a false hope as her optimism and future hope leads to "motel money murder madness, Let's change the mood from glad to sadness."  for me, that strange duality of hope and delusion, allure and depravity, camaraderie and jealousy is something that is intrinsically LOS ANGELES and very clearly showcased in this song specifically.

"RIDERS ON THE STORM" and its existential tale of a murder in the desert find THE DOORS at their experimental peak in terms of sonic and lyrical exploration.  slow and prodding, it feels like a lonely car ride through a  desert with a sublime storm on the horizon making one reconsider their life's path with existential dread.  is the storm coming to wash away the world or its sins.  hard to tell.  again for me this song is also very much about LOS ANGELES, especially the experience of driving through the desert towards neighboring NEVADA or ARIZONA where it feels like civilization has been pulled back leaving you with a raw, harsh, almost elemental landscape devoid of people or responsibility, bother personal and moral.  driving there is almost like being in a state of moral flux, where the rules dont matter.  its a great metaphor for the city itself, which seems to thrive on an OUROBOROS-like ability to auto-cannibalize on itself, eating its inhabitants, spitting them out on its streets as disfigured and degraded versions of themselves.  only to be met with new faces on a daily basis.  the family murder on the road in "RIDERS ON THE STORM" always felt to me evocative of the then-recent TATE-LABIANCA murders by CHARLES MANSON and his followers, turning the idea of spiritual connection, hope and shared familiar affection on its head.  what was beautiful about AMERICAN optimism (perennially evoked in the cultural image of LOS ANGELES) was now baseless physical cruelty and moral degradation.  its a great song.

i have long been a fan of those two songs, which make L.A. WOMAN well worth revisiting and checking out again.

film and released in part as a celebration of their 25th anniversary as a PUNK ROCK record label, A FAT WRECK: A PUNK-U-MENTARY (OPEN ENDED FILMS, 2016) is a documentary about the bands, employees and greater community that make up FAT WRECK CHORDS.  prominent interviews include members of bands ranging from NOFX, LAGWAGON, GOOD RIDDANCE, BAD RELIGION, STRUNG OUT, GET DEAD, THE BOMBPOPS, NO USE FOR A NAME, PROPAGANDHI, RISE AGAINST, WIZO, ANTI-FLAG, THE LOVED ONES, BAD COP/BAD COP and AGAINST ME! among others,  as well as the label heads of ASIAN MAN RECORDS and SIDEONEDUMMY RECORDS and, of course, FAT WRECK CHORDS founder/president (and NOFX frontman) FAT MIKE and his ex-wife, vice president ERIN BURKETT.

i think given the fact that this documentary was concerned primarily with the celebration of a community, it made the film a bit meandering and long-winded at times.  but in a good way, because although FAT MIKE and BURKETT act as a narrative through-line for the film, what transpires is a seemingly kaleidoscopic perspective on what the record label means to a lot of people.  and i thought that that sense of purpose was powerful and vastly made up for the films structural weaknesses.

so a few things that i thought were interesting:

i thought it was awesome that they totally got into the whole PROPAGANDHI making fun of FAT MIKE's PUNKVOTER campaign on one of their records.  just goes to show the commitment of the label, and FAT MIKE specifically, to fight for his bands' creative freedom, even when such is at his own expense.

there is a line FAT MIKE makes about how for him business is personal.  the whole "it's no personal, it's business" mantra of modern corporate culture is anathema to him.  for him, the fairness and reliability of his record label is an extension of himself and his love for his chosen PUNK ROCK community.  i thought that was quite touching and powerful.  and it made business sense.
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whats crazy is how much the world changed in 2016 with election of DONALD TRUMP.  i would kill to know what FAT MIKE's take on that debacle was but this film came out right before the shit hit the fan.  i guess since im on the topic, itd also be interesting to see how PROPAGANDHI may try to conflate TRUMP with CLINTON just like they did in this film with KERRY and BUSH.  i get it that they are a legendary stridently progressive political PUNK ROCK band and all, but seems to me BUSH was way way worse than KERRY.  seemed kind of a no-brainer even back then so im a little confused on where they were coming from with that.  their take seemed pretty naive.  then again, im not CANADIAN.

regardless, i really enjoyed this documentary and suggest anyone watch it that is interested in the history of modern PUNK ROCK, HARDCORE, POP PUNK or POST HARDCORE.  that or anyone interested in the power of music to bridge together communities.  sounds trite but this whole film is a full-throated testament to that.

there was a brief few-month period in-between teaching gigs more than a decade ago when i was temping as a paralegal for a law firm two blocks north of the NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE.  i remember at the time there was a BORDERS bookstore (remember those?) around the corner that i would take my lunch break at, usually reading and drinking coffee.  because this was the WALL STREET location, there were usually book signings fairly regularly and one day i remember the line stretching around two corners.  which was absurd.  the line was filled with men and women, young and old.  it was for TERA PATRICK, the porn star.  i just remember being amazed by it all.  how mainstream and just out in the daylight that whole industry was becoming.

probably the woman to thank/blame for that mainstreaming of adult films is JENNA MASSOLI, a.k.a. JENNA JAMESON who in her autobiography HOW TO MAKE LOVE LIKE A PORN STAR: A CAUTIONARY TALE (HARPERCOLLINS, 2004), co-written with NEIL STRAUSS (co-author of other books by MÖTLEY CRÜE,  DAVE NAVARRO, MARILYN MANSON, etc.) recalls  her life trajectory from a LAS VEGAS misfit to taboo mainstream SEX SYMBOL.

JAMESON really goes out of her way to educate the reader about the ins and outs of the industry, often dispelling misinformation regarding safety and abuse while not shying away from the permanent consequences of being filmed having sex for money.  she must know that her book, much like her career, is providing access to a taboo subject and mainstreaming information.  i really give her credit for not glamorizing the industry but rather being clear-headed and transparent about its perks and pitfalls.

all that being said, this idea of self-exploiting one's SEXUALITY for financial gain is hard to stomach and you get the feeling that the subplot of this book, her drive to find connection (both EMOTIONAL and PHYSICAL), made her vulnerable for this career path.  having no nurturing, maternal force growing up (her mother passing away when she was an infant) and a father that was largely distant and unavailable found her searching for a community that saw her making poor choices (by her own judgement) again and again as her family continually moved during her formative years.  having dealt with other traumas (both of CHEMICAL and SEXUAL in nature) you really get the sense that JAMESON is at her core a survivor who does't look back to make and most definitely does not make excuse for her actions.  she makes us aware of her past as a means of transparency, but you definitely get the sense that she doesn't want to be defined by such.  she owns her choices.

i was taken aback by how familiar this narrative is to other books i've read over the years related to musicians and actors.  this need to connect and affect others.  it just so happens that her vehicle was PORNOGRAPHY and that she was the avatar that brought such to bear during the beginnings of the digital age, which we are currently in and dealing with the consequences of.  i can't imagine the hardships she went through, just on a societal level where women's SEXUALITY is something to be tamed and compartmentalized.  given that she started her own production company, hers is a story about power and her ability to grab it in the most male-dominated of industries.

i'm not passing judgement on her choices or the industry itself.  i just think its a fascinating subject and i'm glad she decided to speak her truth.  definitely a book worth reading if you are interested in sexual politics and representation(s) of femininity in the media.

side bar:
this book was published in 2004 in the ensuing decade-and-a-half JAMESON has transformed into a twice divorced mother of three who has adopted staunchly ultra far-right conservative views.  she is a stridently vocal supporter of former POTUS DONALD TRUMP and his regressive agenda regarding immigration, guns, abortion, etc.  in my opinion, THAT TRANSFORMATION is far more interesting than anything found in her autobiography, arguably released at the height of her fame.  what would make someone who arguably broadened the parameters of free speech and mainstream discussions surrounding sex, and even profited off it handsomely, choose to dive deep into reactionary rightwing politics.  seems to be a trend of that with the similar likes TILA TEQUILA (alt-right nazism) & JENNY MCCARTHY (vaccine denial) utilizing their public personas to misguide the public.  again, i am not passing judgement here, but THAT is the book i'd like to read from JAMESON.

join us TONIGHT at 8PM EST for an all new episode of DEER GOD RADIO on MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC with a playlist celebrating the multi-media METAL madness of ROB ZOMBIE and his transcendent work in WHITE ZOMBIE.
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past episodes of DEER GOD RADIO are available here at the DEER GOD website as well as in the MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC archives.

and if you haven't done so already, make sure and download the FREE PHONE APP for IOS/ANDROID and enjoy listening to MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC 24/7 at your convenience!

join us TONIGHT at 10PM EST for an all new episode of DEER GOD RADIO on MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC with a playlist celebrating the eclectic BROOKLYN independent label FOOL'S GOLD RECORDS!
​
past episodes of DEER GOD RADIO are available here at the DEER GOD website as well as in the MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC archives.

and if you haven't done so already, make sure and download the FREE PHONE APP for IOS/ANDROID and enjoy listening to MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC 24/7 at your convenience!

RED HOT + BLUE: A TRIBUTE TO COLE PORTER (CHRYSALIS, 1990) was a compilation album spearheaded by the RED HOT ORGANIZATION that raised funds for worldwide AIDS research, relief and awareness efforts.

and im not gonna lie, the reason this compilation stands out to me almost 30 years after its release is DAVID BYRNE's cover of "DON'T FENCE ME IN."  growing up in SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, my early musical memories revolve around car rides with my father in which he would play MORRISSEY / THE SMITHS, THE KINKS, THE STRANGLERS, THE BEATLES and TALKING HEADS.  DAVID BYRNE's former band is most definitely a formative influence for me and this rendition of the COLE PORTER standard with its heavily syncopated LATIN (BRAZILIAN?) rhythms was another example of BYRNE's ability to organically utilize textures from global traditions without sounding paternalistic or hokey (like say PAUL SIMON).

i was in KINDERGARTEN when this compilation came out and it was my introduction to the idea of AIDS, and really just the concept of disease in general.  i remember my parents explaining to me how it was raising money to help people for a disease with no cure, which was pretty heavy for a little kid.

going back and revisiting the compilation there are several standout performances from the likes of KIRSTY MACCOLL with THE POGUES as well as NENEH CHERRY, DEBBIE HARRY with IGGY POP, U2, TOM WAITS, k.d. lang, and the JUNGLE BROTHERS(!).  its hard to imagine now how talking about AIDS was at one point taboo, but it was.  and its pretty amazing that these artists, all pretty seminal in their own right, took a stand for an underserved community that was suffering and in need of help and destigmatization.

if you havent already, RED HOT + BLUE: A TRIBUTE TO COLE PORTER is definitely worth revisiting.  just goes to show the quality of the songwriting of COLE PORTER, which really is a surprise to no one.  there is a reason he is so celebrated among musicians of all genres.

LOS KITSCH is just an infectious GARAGE ROCK band out of BOGOTA, COLOMBIA with catchy melodies and a propulsive, kinetic energy that is beyond contagious.  this feels like rock music that doesnt get bogged down in having a message per se, instead more concerned with providing a sense of  unadulterated joy and emotional/spiritual release.

definitely worth checking out.

theres a fine line between art and advertisement, and guitar pedal manufacturer WALRUS AUDIO walks it here with its discontinued SONGS AT THE SHOP series of live performances from its YOUTUBE channel.  it finds established and up-and-coming talent of varying genres (INDIE ROCK, POST HARDCORE, POST ROCK) playing at their headquarters in OKLAHOMA.

what might at first glance appear like a ploy for absolutely shameless product placement instead puts the focus on the artist (where it should) and gives you a sense of how these products enable musicians.  the fact that the talent straddles so many different genres only furthers that point.  its an interesting concept that has been utilized and co-opted now by bigger companies like ERNIE BALL and GIBSON with more established legacy artists, which is fine but there appears to be a purity here with these performances.  a symbiosis between the product and the art.

definitely check out some these performances.

in my mind RIDE THE LIGHTNING (MEGAFORCE, 1984) by METALLICA is the best THRASH METAL record of all time (sorry SLAYER).  it may even be the best METAL record as well.  the jump in technical proficiency and song-craft from the KILL 'EM ALL album released just a year earlier is quite remarkable.

for me it is all about "FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE," "RIDE THE LIGHTNING" and "CREEPING DEATH" which are virtuosic exemplars of brutality, musicianship and song-craft without losing a sense of urgency and focus that happens when technically gifted musicians seek to show off their proficiency.  it really hones in on the intention and drive of HARDCORE with the next level savage riffage and aggression of NWOBHM in a hybrid that has been copied but not matched (again, in my estimation) since.  these three songs also tackle disparate subject matter regarding the likes of NUCLEAR WARFARE, CAPITAL PUNISHMENT and the BOOK OF EXODUS which showcases a progression in broader interests beyond that displayed on KILL 'EM ALL, which was a METAL record largely about, well, playing METAL.

RIDE THE LIGHTNING is also the first METALLICA record where the band consciously sought to throw a curveball at its audience by including, gasp, a ballad.  albeit it is a ballad about suicide.  "FADE TO BLACK" is a now a long-running staple of their live shows that foreshadowed similar fare like "WELCOME HOME (SANITARUIUM)" off of MASTER OF PUPPETS and "ONE" off ....AND JUST FOR ALL which similarly utilize a sophisticated sense of extreme song dynamics to carry a narrative.  fairly or unfairly, i identity this fearlessness to buck listener expectation with CLIFF BURTON, whose musical lexicon and appreciation far exceeded the METAL genre.  the dynamism of "FADE TO BLACK" and the instrumental "THE CALL OF KTULU" are a testament to such.

my middle school band in NIGERIA also covered the ERNEST HEMINGWAY-referencing "FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS" so that opening dual guitar-line will always have a special place in my heart.  at the time the lyrics that dealt with complicated themes regarding organized violence and state motivations for war were beyond me, but those riffs were not.  viscerally i cant still visualize playing this song publicly and getting a reaction from the crowd in the cramped gym.  so yeah, im a bit biased.

one other thing i want to mention is the classical influence on RIDE THE LIGHTNING.  when i first heard this record in the mid 1990s that sense of sophistication in the arrangements and even orchestration of parts sonically differentiated this record.  when "FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE" kicks in it really punches because of how its unrepentant aggression contrasts with the opening orchestrated prelude.  that trick will be repeated to similar effect with "BATTERY" and "DAMAGE INC" off of MASTER OF PUPPETS.  that classical influence gave this record, as well as the aforementioned  follow-up MASTER OF PUPPETS, a distinct feel and sophistication that resulted in the pronounced aggression and heightened lyrical themes hitting that much harder.

i cannot recommend this record highly enough.  easily one of my favorite METAL records of all-time. ​if only they left off "ESCAPE."​

i was most definitely not raised on COMICS. as a young child i read CALVIN & HOBBES but that was about it.  in fact, its only been in the past few years since returning stateside that ive really dived in headfirst into the weirder world of the genre and all roads seemed to point at SCOTTISH writer GRANT MORRISON.  specifically his more personal work in THE INVISIBLES, ANIMAL MAN and DOOM PATROL series. 

GRANT MORRISON: TALKING WITH GODS (RESPECT FILMS, 2010) is essentially a documentary made up of several sit-down interviews with the writer discussing his upbringing and influences.  essentially he was raised as a child of the cold war with palpable fears of nuclear annihilation that COMICS helped him escape from, specifically those with super powers that had the capacity to neutralize such massive threats.  his father was an political agitator who was very much against SCOTLAND's role in NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION and its harboring of the TRIDENT MISSILE DEFENSE SYSTEM.  so that sense of existential dread and loss of agency was part of his nascent sense of identity.  fast forward to attending a GLASWEGIAN all-boys school for his teen years and his sense of isolation only furthered his relationship with reading and creating his own narratives in regular school published COMIC STRIPS.

what interested me about his life's narrative is after he became established with the BATMAN vehicle ARKHAN ASYLUM, which allowed him the economic freedom to eventually pursue his THE INVISIBLES series.  in essence, once he was financially independent he decided to travel and experience as much as possible.  those excursions abroad allowed him to experience various modes of existence in terms of chemical, spiritual and gender manipulations that were beyond what his SCOTTISH identity would allow back home.  it is that exploration that he threw into his work.  as someone who spent the better part of a decade living abroad on five continents, i understand completely the sense of not being able to escape yourself and the sense of being connected to many, but essentially alone.  i get understand that intimately and that sentiment very much resonated with me.  i find it interesting that upon meeting his partner he now resides and works comfortably back in SCOTLAND.  that sense of leaving only to return but with a new appreciation.

what i found less interesting was all the talk of magical thinking from MORRISON himself as well as those of his numerous peers that are interviewed in the film.  MORRISON is not the first or the last person to sprinkle in autobiographical nuggets into his elaborate fictional worlds.  maybe the everything ALEISTER CROWLEY and MAGIK related is a BRITISH obsession that doesnt translate to an AMERICAN audience.  it just came off like tedious nonsense, like running into "ghost hunters" from STATEN ISLAND.  you just nod and keep walking, preferably fast.

i thoroughly recommend this documentary to anyone interested in TRANSGRESSIVE and thought-provoking art or literature.  MORRISON is most definitely worth the effort of further investigation, especially THE INVISIBLES which is a personal favorite of mine.  no wonder THE MATRIX ripped it off.

at this point there is a whole cottage industry of DAVE GROHL-directed media products, from documentaries (SOUND CITY, WHAT DRIVES US) to tv shows (SONIC HIGHWAYS, FROM CRADLE TO STAGE) to his recent memoir THE STORYTELLER: TALES OF LIFE AND MUSIC (DEY STREET, 2021).  oh yeah, and he makes music.

GROHL obviously has one of the most storied careers of any modern musician, having cut his teeth as a teen with the 1980s DC HARDCORE stalwarts SCREAM before serendipitously joining the legendary 1990s ALTERNATIVE ROCK group NIRVANA and then forming his own band, FOO FIGHTERS, after their demise.  he's collaborated with everyone from LEMMY KILMISTER and TRENT REZNOR to CAT POWER and JOHN PAUL JONES.  his side projects include PROBOT, THEM CROOKED VULTURES and a brief stint in QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE.  but most music fans are familiar with his biography.

and i believe he knows that, which is why his memoir is not a straight chronological telling of his personal narrative, but rather notable moments or vignettes told in sequential order.  structurally it was very reminiscent of A HOUSE ON MANGO STREET.  and i think such was a smart idea because it freed him to really dive into the meaning of certain rights of passage of his youth and that of his family without having to worry about how they fit into a broader context.  again, most of these stories are familiar to anyone who has watched or read his interviews over the years or even read former KERRANG! editor PAUL BRANNIGAN's laboriously compiled biography THIS IS A CALL: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF DAVE GROHL (review linked HERE).  what THE STORYTELLER provides is a perspective of a ROCK AND ROLL life rooted in family.  GROHL goes to great lengths to show that his love of music was almost a manifestation of his unconditional love for his mother, who supported and sacrificed tirelessly on his behalf (a contrast to that of his father).  but beyond his mother, his love of music connected him to an ever widening mandala of similarly minded friends that includes both the famous and the obscure; and they are both written about with equal wit and empathy.  his childhood friend JIMMY SWANSON is as much a part of his personal narrative (perhaps more so) as that of KURT COBAIN, which is very endearing.  given his public profile and immense cultural influence, it was likewise heartwarming to see GROHL give respect to his predecessors and influences: from NEIL PEART, PAUL MCCARTNEY and JOHN BONHAM, to LITTLE RICHARD, JOHN FOGERTY, AC/DC and JOAN JETT.  even numerous obscure HARDCORE bands from his youth.  THE STORYTELLER is in essence a vehicle for shining a light on the connective, reinvigorating force that is music, which is a common returning theme in all of his film and tv projects.  by extension music makes everyone kin.  everyone is connected on the same wavelength.

aside from its focus on musicians, the core of what i found engaging about THE STORYTELLER is how music connects him with his children. how he takes inspiration from their courage to perform publicly in front of their school peers during their elementary years or how they relate to it on the same emotional wavelength that he does.  this made me think about how i have that same musical relationship with my dad and how for GROHL and his children THE BEATLES are that connection point, THE STRANGLERS and THE SMITHS are the same with my father.  i havent read about that intergenerational connection in any previous rock memoir, maybe with the exception of KEITH RICHARDS and his mother in LIFE (review linked HERE).  i should point out that i found it odd that GROHL mentions his wife in passing (unlike his mother and daughters).  it was an interesting omission.

i thoroughly enjoyed this book and its focus on family and the nature of human connection through music or more elementally, love.  i know most readers just want to hear COBAIN stories, but i thought he walked that line of audience expectation adroitly and with much care and empathy.  THE STORYTELLER is well worth reading and i look forward to future non-musical efforts by GROHL and his ever expanding army of collaborators.

i am a fan of online series of live performance by bands.  i make no secret that we here at DEER GOD made a few of our own at various NYC locations in pre-pandemic times.  BLIND BLIND TIGER SPEAKEASY from what i could gather is a downtown LOS ANGELES bar where some genius filmed and recorded upcoming area bands in front of a green screen.  i just love the creative anarchy and bold weirdness of these performances and their presentation.

lord knows if id seen this when it was still happening years ago, i'd have thought long and hard about following suit and experimenting with different FX elements.  maybe once (or if) everything goes back to normal that could be a possibility.

either way, these videos from BLIND BLIND TIGER SPEAKEASY are just fun to watch.  enjoy.

HELMET to me equals riffs.  those precisely jagged, start-stop verse riffs that juxtaposed with ringing open chords create an aural sense of space not to dissimilar to a FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT structure.  WRIGHT loved having tight, claustrophobic hallways that led to grand high-ceilinged parlors and family rooms.  it was part of his artistic lexicon. 

i feel that PAGE HAMILTON has a similar songwriting aesthetic when crafting his songs, especially those on MEANTIME (INTERSCOPE, 1992).  his ability to mine contrast in his songs, through abrupt tempo and time-signature shifts is progressive without sacrificing aggression and intention.  when i listen to songs like "UNSUNG," "BETTER," and "IN THE MEANTIME" there is a cathartic sense of push and pull, catch and release that is sonically very satisfying on a compositional level.  in a sense his songs almost feel like JAZZ music or CLASSICAL MUSIC in that there is a definite form and structure that creates tension and then resolves itself, almost like a SONATA.  in a SONATA you start in one key, go to another, maybe another, and then return to the original key.  like a sunday drive through the countryside.  HELMET's music is anything but an evening stroll, but it works on the same level in that no matter how exotic or unforeseen the sonic texture or tempo shifts are, they do ultimately resolve themselves in a thoroughly satisfying way.  the other band for whom this is a trademark in my opinion is TOOL.  but they are way further on the progressive rock side of the coin,  HELMET is like a PROGRESSIVE ROCK version of HARDCORE.

ive been fascinated with the riffs of HAMILTON since childhood and he has been criminally underrated for years.  i mean, if none other than DIMEBAG DARRELL of PANTERA steals your riff ("UNSUNG" riff on "RISE" from VULGAR DISPLAY OF POWER), you must be the real deal.  MEANTIME is a classic record and should be celebrated and revisited often much like those of their contemporaries from the ALTERNATIVE ROCK explosion of the 1990s.

BROOKLYN-based PUNK ROCK band SURFBORT is probably the most transgressive artist i have come across since this side of discovering the BUTTHOLE SURFERS and GG ALLIN as well as the films of JOHN WATERS and GREGG ARAKI back in the late 90s as a teen.  this band is everything i love about ROCK MUSIC: RAW, UNHINGED and UNAFRAID of crossing cultural mores dealing with sex, politics, power structures or gender.

can't wait to see how this band develops.  SURFBORT are most definitely worth checking out.

parodies by nacrowe

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i was pretty shielded from DRUG CULTURE funny enough as a kid living in SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.  that all changed in sixth grade when my family moved to NIGERIA in the mid 1990s.  NIGERIA and specifically LAGOS where i lived was a major node in the global narcotic trade.  it was also there that i was introduced to the seminal DIRT (COLUMBIA, 1992) album by SEATTLE ALTERNATIVE ROCK icons ALICE IN CHAINS through a friend a few years older than me.  this album really served as an introduction to the physical and psychic costs of ADDICTION and it still resonates as such for me all these years later.  in my mind it put context around the choices of others i was witnessing at the time, people dabbling in HEROIN and other OPIATES.

specifically i am referring to songs like "JUNKHEAD," "SICKMAN," "GOD SMACK," and "DIRT" which deal with the pain and throes of ADDICTION directly as well as "RAIN WHEN I DIE," "DOWN IN A HOLE," and "HATE TO FEEL" which get at the self-loathing and social consequences of maintaining such.  the fact that the production (courtesy of TOBY WRIGHT) is so lush and the blended vocal harmonies of LAYNE STALEY and JERRY CANTRELL so intoxicating make the bleak subject matter palatable, although i would not go so far as to say it romanticizes it.  if anything, STALEY is relaying his truth in one of the most transparent records about the damage wreaked by narcotics this side of NEIL YOUNG.

i would be doing a disservice if i didn't mention that "THEM BONES," "DAM THAT RIVER" and "WOULD?" are three of the most propulsive and catchy songs the band ever came up with.  the CANTRELL penned ode to his father's VIETNAM service in "ROOSTER" is also highly affecting and puts context to their once strained relationship with empathy and courage.  and ultimately i think that sense of empathy (towards other and themselves) is why DIRT is such a landmark record years later and doesn't fall into ROCK AND ROLL cliches regarding the subject.  there is no real message other than a presentation of their experiences and that of people close to them (MOTHER LOVE BONE's ANDY WOOD being focus of "WOULD?" being an example).  it lets the listener decide upon how to interpret and self-identify with subject matter, not the other way around.

this empathetic, humanizing approach would continue even in the years after STALEY's passing in BLACK GIVES WAY TO BLUE (VIRGIN, 2009), an ode to their lost friend and bandmate which is similarly focused on themes of loss and self-destruction as well as renewal and hope.  in my mind that record bookends DIRT.  all these years later and when i hear DIRT it still reminds me of the numbing interiority and loss of agency that comes with ADDICTIONS of any sort and makes me stop to be more empathetic to another's personal battle.  as a child it gave me context to a world i was just witnessing for the first time.  that sense of empathy for me that is the legacy of this record.​