Long before Thrall made “Mother” a rock radio hit, and long before some random fat dude knocked Glenn Danzig out on youtube, I thought Danzig’s self-titled release was the greatest thing in rock music. From 1988 to 1994 they could do no wrong as far as I was concerned. Right around 1994/1995 Chuck Biscuits (drums), Eerie Von (bass) and John Christ (guitar) all left the band (or got fired) and, in turn, my interest waned and I have not heard anything Glenn has done since. However, for those formative years of 15 to 21 the band takes up an enormous portion of my soundtrack. Though I had not listened to any Danzig in years, I found myself thinking about all of this the other day holding a used copy of the self-titled disc in my hands at my local record store. I decided to pick it up for at least one listen, if nothing else. The second the opening riffs of “Twist of Cain” started, I was right back in my teens. Windows down. Stereo cranked. Devil Fists in the air and a ‘fuck you I’m evil‘ look for the old lady beside me in traffic. I do not care what sort of a caricature Danzig has become over the years. For my youth, Danzig was dangerous and that made him cool.

Danzig - Twist of Cain (from Danzig I)
Danzig - Mother (from Danzig I)
Danzig - Long Way Back From Hell (from Danzig II: Lucifuge)
Danzig - I’m the One (from Danzig II: Lucifuge)
Danzig - Heart of the Devil (from Danzig III: How the Gods Kill)
Danzig - How the Gods Kill (from Danzig III: How the Gods Kill)
Danzig - cantspeak (from Danzig IV)
Danzig - I Don’t Mind the Pain (from Danzig IV)

The Legendary Shackshakers are one of my favorite bands, so every time they come to town I start to get nervous and excitable a week in advance. In the days leading up to the show, everyone from my cubicle neighbor to the toll booth operator on the Skyway knows the whens, wheres, how muches of the show and an entire list of reasons why they should go. This time through was no different. I even guaranteed a great show on ninebullets.net. I was not wrong…

Due to the rarest of rare events here in Tampa (show starting on time) I missed each and every opening act and walked in just as the Shackshakers were finishing their first song.

The scene was familiar. Newbies to LSS standing up front. Veterans of Shaker shows standing out of range of snot rockets and the occasional pubic hair tossing, but with their hand covering the top of their cups just in case they underestimated J.D.’s snot launching and pube tossing prowess. The bean pole that is J.D. Wilkes preaching to the crowd with a fire and brimstone to rival any Penecostal preacher, sometimes using old-fashioned microphones or a harmonica, all with a frenzy that surprising everyone, rookie and vets alike. All being backed by his choir, featuring the ever popular David Lee (guitarist), Mark Robertson (bass) and the new guy on drums banging out a gothic-rockabilly-polka version of southern rock/punk.

They played the crowd favorites such as Agony Wagon, Blood on the Bluegrass, CB Song and Pinetree Boogie. However, this time through they also played a couple of new songs that, at least live, were a lot heavier than most previous material.

Look, have you ever tried to tell someone a really funny story and when you were finished they just looked at you, so you drop the “you had to be there” gimmick? That’s what trying to explain a Shackshaker show is like. You should have been there. An LSS show is part rock show, part circus side show and part tent revival and, for those lucky enough to witness them, they are never forgotten. This show was no different.

Next time, be there.

Legendary Shack*Shakers - All My Life To Kill
Legendary Shack*Shakers - Something in the Water
Legendary Shack*Shakers - Blood on the Bluegrass

PICTURES FROM THE SHOW ARE AVAILABLE HERE

—-

A few days prior to the LSS show the wife and I went down to Jannus to see Two Gallants open for Les Claypool. A pairing I found odd prior to the show only got odder when we showed up. Most of the crowd had obviously never heard of Two Gallants and really had no interest in getting to know them either, which really was a shame because the band kicked ass. I decided I was gonna look at this show as a study of how a shit crowd can turn a good show into an “ehhh” show. The Two Gallants put on a fantastic show but I had no passion for it because the crowd was totally unreceptive and crap. One thing is for sure though; I can not wait for Two Gallants to come to town by themselves.

Two Gallants - Steady Rollin’

Some people are of the belief that a band’s best song should be the third track on the cd, since that is the make or break track for most people. By some people, I mean one of my friends that I had this very conversation with recently. Personally, since I hear so damn much music you better catch me quick, and then you better hold me or I’ll forget about you. An awesome first track will not hurt your efforts. North Twin opens with a scorching rock and roll track that grabbed me by the back of the head. It had my attention. Could it hold it?

“Falling Apart” is Seattle based North Twin’s debut cd. It is a rock and roll record. Some mention their country roots and they have certainly opened for some of the alt.country scene heavyweights, but for my money I’m gonna call them a rock and roll band. A rock and roll band much like Two Cow Garage. All the proper nods to the dot country/roots scene, but in the end…all rock and roll. Does that sound good to you? ‘Cause it damn sure did to me. In the end, “Falling Apart” has held my attention and managed a two week stint in the car cd player before it got switched out. Essential Listening for sure.

For inquiring minds though, the third track, Falling Apart, is a power acoustic number that does not shame the band one bit.

North Twin - The Good Guy
North Twin - Carole Ann
North Twin - Halloween in Houston

North Twin’s Official Site, North Twin on Myspace, Buy Falling Apart

The greatness that is Slim Cessna’s Auto Club has put 3 tracks from their upcoming cd on their myspace site. Go there. Learn them. Love them. The cd is scheduled for a Fall of 2007 release. I have heard nothing more of it than these three tracks but I can tell you this. It comes from Denver’s greatest export: Slim Cessna’s Auto Club and that virtually guarantees greatness if you ask me.

As a side note: I just noticed I have never written about SCAC on ninebullets. This is an utter disgrace and I assure you this will be amended in the coming weeks.

Okay. This thing has been on the internets for over a month. Admittedly, I am really slow on all things Ryan Adams and generally when another blog makes mention of Ryan I just scan down to the next entry. However, I heard about an awesome cover of Alice in Chains, Down in a Hole floating around and decided to check it out. In my opinion Down in a Hole was the best song Alice in Chains ever did.

I found an entry about it on You Ain’t No Picasso but it’s link was not working for me so I followed that to An Aquarium Drunkard’s post from a month ago about it. Again, dead link. I was beginning to give up but Aquarium Drunkard had a link to Who’s Driving the Bus and I finally got to hear it.

Autopsy Report: Fucking wonderful. Make’s me wonder if I should rethink my whole Ryan Adam’s indifference.

Here is the back story per Who’s Driving the Bus:

“Ryan Adams played a few shows last week to promote the upcoming release of his new album, “Easy Tiger”. These shows saw Ryan confined to playing only the piano and singing after suffering from an undisclosed injury….”

The cover was the show’s encore. You can check out the whole show over at the Ryan Adams Archive.

Ryan Adams - Down in a Hole
Alice In Chains - Down in a Hole (from the album Dirt)
Alice In Chains - Down in a Hole (from MTV Unplugged)

I was gonna write a piece on The Avett Brothers. It has been on my “to write” document for months I just never got around to it. I like The Avett Brothers just fine and have spent a good amount of time listening to their music but for some reason I have not been able to summon up any passion for writing a piece on them. Enter my former neighbor and friend Libby. Now, she has a passion for The Avett Brothers. Well, I bumped into her a little while ago at the Two Gallants show and it was decided that if she wrote it then I would post it. So, here you go. The Avett Brother’s experience per my friend Libby:

I first saw The Avett Brothers play at Skippers Smokehouse in 2003. I wasn’t even supposed to be at the show, but a friend at our local radio station was short of raffle ticket sellers, so I dragged my friend Jeremy out. I had no interest in the headliner, some old dude playing music that sounded like a lame mix of classic rock and blues. It wasn’t music that made you sit up and pay attention.

When the Avetts took the stage, it was hard not to pay attention. The band consists of three guys, and they were all dressed like 18^th century western gentlemen: pinstriped slacks, collared button-up shirts, vests, and thin ties. I had recently begun to appreciate bluegrass music, so the fast banjo playing of Scott Avett caught my attention first, and the steady beat provided by Bob Crawford on the stand-up bass was a perfect accompaniment. The clincher, though, that caused me to drop my raffle tickets, kick off my shoes, and run out on the dance floor, was the harmonizing of Scott and Seth Avett and the screams that Seth Avett worked into many of the songs. I danced hard for the whole set, swirling and stomping on the eroding wood of Skipper’s dance floor. I ran to the table in back to buy a CD, and Jeremy and I bought one of each CD they had for sale. I walked home that night with A Carolina Jubilee, which remains my favorite Avett Brothers CD to date. Jeremy was observant enough to notice Scott Avett at the bar, and prodded me to ask him to sign my CD. He seemed a bit surprised by the request, but was nice enough to do so and even invited me backstage so the rest of the band could sign it too. After they were finished signing, Seth Avett called me darlin’, which made my knees weak and I floated out of there and for the rest of the week. I had to wait three long years to see the band play again.

In that time, I listened to both A Carolina Jubilee and Mignonette, the CD Jeremy had bought, and about wore the CDs out in the process. In 2006, I was finally able to see the Avetts play again. This time, they were headlining at Skippers, and the crowds were out! No chance of seeing any band members at the bar that night, but the band was so, so on. The energy they throw into their shows astounds me. Everybody in the crowd was feeding off that energy, digesting it, and projecting it right back at the band. The floor was crowded with dancers stomping to the beat of the kick drum Scott Avett played while his fingers went to town on the banjo. Meanwhile, Seth played guitar, the high hat, and sang his heart out. Many times that night, I saw people in the audience laugh out loud to lyrics such as “When I drink, I hear things that aren’t really there, have fist fights with the air,” and “I killed Sally’s lover, now listen close to me, a bleedin’ heart is better than the pentitentiary!” And just like I did at home listening to the CD, I choked up when the brothers sang “I’ve known others, and I’ve loved others too, but I loved them ‘cause they were stepping stones on a staircase to you.”

The Avett Brothers have quickly become my favorite band, and I mean “favorite” on a level I haven’t felt towards a band since my angsty years in high school. A song by them will bring you laughter, heartache, love, and rage. They’ve named their latest CD Emotionalism, and I can’t think of a better name to sum up the poetry they pour into their lyrics. Their music is very difficult to classify into a genre. There’s definitely a bluegrass sound in there, although the brothers used to sing in a punk band before Scott began playing around with a banjo, and the punk edge lives on through Seth’s screams. I was tickled when Paste Magazine put out a list of Rock’s 15 best screams and Seth Avett got picked for number 15.

The Avett Brothers have been touring practically non-stop for years now, and the energy they bring to their shows has infected almost all who hear them. A group of die hard fans has thus been built up nationwide, and it seems that the mainstream music industry is beginning to take notice. Their release of Emotionalism was accompanied by sold out shows around the country, an article in The New Yorker, and an appearance on The Conan O’Brian Show!

If you haven’t yet had the pleasure to hear these boys, Check out their Myspace page, by all means, but for the best experience, be sure to catch them live when they roll through your town.

The Avett Brothers - Colorshow
The Avett Brothers - Pretty Girl From Raleigh
The Avett Brothers - Sanguine
The Avett Brothers - Swept Away

Buy Avett Brothers cds here

Normally, this would be where I post about this weekends events in the Tampa/St. Pete area but this weekend there is nothing going on in my world for a number of reasons:

1. Last Sunday I tried to rip my arm off in a mountain biking accident and recovery has been a slow process. Wednesday night at the Shack*Shaker show it was killing me despite very little movement so I am gonna lay low in hopes it gets better.
2. Also, ninebullets.net is getting a laptop upgrade! While I sit at home and self-medicate my arm I will begin the process of moving everything from one laptop to the other.

Crap reasons, I know. FWIW: I am going fishing tomorrow.

Okay, enough livejournal.

Yesterday I posted about the new Cake cd and included their cover War Pigs with the post. Which created an itch to hear the Faith No More version of the song. So I decided today would be a War Pigs day. Enjoy.

War Pigs - Black Sabbath
War Pigs - Cake
War Pigs - Faith No More
War Pigs - Hayseed Dixie
War Pigs - Sacred Reich
War Pigs - Tesla

That Tesla version is from the bonus disc of their new cd, Reel to Reel. It also contains a new acoustic version of Paradise. So, to get a little Flashback Friday on y’alls asses:

When I was a teenager my friend’s cousin or aunt or something (i do not remember the relation) came down from New York to visit. Holy crap, I fell head over freakin’ heels for her. I was in full-blown infatuation. When she was leaving I made her a mix tape and Paradise (Five Man Acoustical Jam version) was my big finale of the tape. For months after she left I pined over her and playing Paradise more times than anyone ever should…

Tesla - Paradise (Reel to Reel Bonus disc version)
Tesla - Paradise (Five Man/Autopsy’s Grand Finale version)

And for no reason other than a burning desire to close the post on a more butch note:

Butthole Surfers - Sweat Loaf

I am a fringe Cake fan. I like their hits well enough and even know all the words to more than two of them. With that said, I do not own nor have I ever owned a single cd…..Until now.

Who knows, maybe the Cake purists will think B-Sides and Rarities is crap, or perhaps it is a collection of stuff that a true Cake fan already has but I found the cd to be brilliant. From the opening cover of Black Sabbath’s War Pigs to the Cakeified version of Barry White’s Never Gonna Give You Up this album is a whimsical romp (albeit Cake-style) through various covers. Plus they cover Kenny Rogers’ Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love To Town (I always thought it’s title was just “Ruby”) and hey…..anytime a Kenny Rogers cover shows up on something it gets a +2 on the cool scale from me. There are 2 versions of War Pigs on the cd….one studio and one live featuring Steven Drozd of The Flaming Lips and did I mention the Kenny Rogers cover?

You know what’s almost as cool as the Kenny Rogers cover? The cd cover art…can you say scratch and sniff? Oh yeah, available in a enough colors and smells to keep the completest in the record stores for weeks they include red/fresh cut roses, yellow/banana, brown/leather, green/fresh cut grass, and purple/grape.

If all of that wasn’t enough, the band also plan to release a live album titled Live at the Crystal Palace later this year and are currently in the studio finishing their sixth studio record, tentatively out early next year.

And did I mention the Kenny Rogers cover?

B-Sides and Rarities is available August 14 but if you just have to have it you can head over to the band’s website, cakemusic.com, and pre-order the CD now.

B-sides and Rarities tracklisting:

1. “War Pigs” (Sabbath)
2. “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town” (Kenny Rogers)
3. “Mahna Mahna”
4. “Excuse Me, I think I’ve Got a Heartache” (Buck Owens)
5. “Conroy”
6. “Strangers in the Night” (Frank Sinatra)
7. “Subtract One Love (Multiply the Heartaches)” (George Jones)
8. “Never Never Gonna Give You Up” (Barry White)
9. “Thrills”
10. “Short Skirt, Long Jacket”
11. “It’s Coming Down”

From the Official Scatterbrain Myspace page:

Scatterbrain was a band that defied labeling. Rock? Hardcore? Metal? Thrash? Rap? Yeah, all that and more. Scatterbrain wrote, recorded, and toured from 1989 - 1994. For many, they were known for their minor hit, “Dont Call Me Dude,” which received regular rotation on MTV’s “Headbangers Ball,” and was a top-ten pop single in Australia. For others though, these guys were about much more than one song or video. Real Scatterbrain fans knew the band as tight, talented, diverse, funny, heavy, clever, and kick-ass.

“Don’t Call Me Dude” was my introduction to Scatterbrain. They started getting heavy rotation on the local rock station’s late night “heavy” show. They released three albums over the years, 1990’s Here Comes Trouble and 1991’s Scamboogery were recorded with the original lineup, and 1994’s Modus Intellectus was recorded sans Guitarist Glen Cummings. Though they were generally viewed as a gimmick band due to their humor and mixtures of style, it is unfair to question their talent. Songs such as Sonata #3 and Sonata #11 show that they had raw talent and probably could have gone a lot farther had they just gone the straight metal route. I guess what I am saying is, don’t go comparing these guys to Ugly Kid Joe. They were fun, and at the time I thought they were just plum awesome.

So what spurred this post? Admittedly, I had not thought about Scatterbrain in years, but a few weeks back I saw a post that they had reunited for a few shows in NYC. Now, I know they ain’t coming to Florida, but it did not stop me from reaching out to them and putting the bug in their ear, after which I fired up the trusty p2p and to my surprise found a few Scatterbrain tracks out there.

Enjoy.

Scatterbrain - Don’t Call Me Dude
Scatterbrain - Taste’s Just Like Chicken
Scatterbrain - Logic
Scatterbrain - Sonata #3
Scatterbrain - Sonata #11

Remember Cheech and Chong’s Up In Smoke? Well, here is a cover of Earache My Eye:

Scatterbrain - Earache My Eye

A buddy jumps into my car the other night on the way to a show over in Tampa. He immediately starts fiddling with my radio….I hate when people mess with my radio.

“what the fuck are you doing?”
“i want you to hear this cd on the way”
“fuck you and leave the radio alone. why didn’t you just burn me a copy anyway?”
“cause it would get lost in this mess you call a car. just shut the fuck up and listen”

He had me there, and as he turned up the volume, the opening guitars of “Where I Live” drowned out any possible rebuttal I could have offered up. As the song continued, it began to tell a story of a town really reminiscent of where I grew up, except that my town was named after a vegetable instead of a woman’s name, and by the time Depression River began, I turned up the radio a little more.

Leeroy Stagger is a 23 year old Canadian. Depression River (released in Sept. 2006), his fourth cd in as many years, was produced by John Ellis (Be Good Tanyas). It is a pretty straightforward bar room country-infused rock and roll album….or rock-infused country….definitely one of the two. Think one of Ryan Adams’ rock personalities or Neil Young/Springsteen type stuff and you are heading in the right direction. Or you could just check out these mp3’s I ripped from my friend’s cd, which I stole from his drunk ass later that night.

Oh yeah. I roll like that…

Leeroy Stagger - Where I Live
Leeroy Stagger - Depression River
Leeroy Stagger - One of the Lucky Ones

Leeroy Stagger’s Official Site, Leeroy Stagger on myspace, Buy Depression River