CORROSION OF CONFORMITY -"Tarquinius Superbus" [Lyric Video]

It's another slow day at the office and the D.C. Sniper Team is passing the time with texts about C.O.C. and their new album. And whether or not they could possibly put out anything that will hold a candle to their early material. Their first three albums are just full of hits, there's no denying that. Eye For An Eye, Technocracy and Animosity are just all around greats. But then the 90's and beyond brought us Blind, Deliverance, Wiseblood and some others. None of those did anything for us and then we just forgot about them still being around.

Then, from out of nowhere, they announced that they were going to be doing a tour playing Animosity as the three piece that recorded it. We would've liked to have seen that tour since neither one of us has ever gotten to see them, but we missed out. I would be curious to hear how those shows went.

Now, I'm seeing that they have released a new album called IX and I had to satisfy my curiosity. Maybe I've been missing out this whole time? In any case, I'm going to give this new album a chance. They have a video for a song called "Tarqinius Superbus" and my first impression of this song is that
it's not bad. Pretty solid rock song, BUT it's about three minutes too long. The whole jam session that is going on in the song bored me. On the bright side, I'm happy to see that Mike Dean is singing for the band again. In my opinion, he should've always been the vocalist for the band. He just sounds awesome. Then I heard some more songs on this album and got bummed...




Again, I haven't heard anything by them in years, so maybe this nothing new for the band. But the first two songs on here sound weird to me. I mean, he's actually "singing". I thought that it was someone else for a second, but no. Sure enough, it's him. If someone had played me the songs from this album and said, guess who this is? I would never, in a million YEARS, guess that it was C.O.C. Anyway, there are a couple of hard hitting songs on here, but for the most part, it's these bluesy rock songs that are not what I'd expect from the band that brought us songs like "Mad World", "Technocracy" and "Indifferent".

Overall, I am not a fan of this record. There are a couple of songs that I can hang with like "Denmark Vesey", "The Nectar" and "Tarquinius Superbus" but for the most part, it's just not my thing. Maybe it will grow on me? In the mean time, I'm gonna go listen to Eye For An Eye, Six Songs With Mike Singing, Technocracy and Animosity. In that order.

D.C.S.

D.C. Sniper Team takes in a show

This past Sunday, I got a call from Adult Crash saying that he would be able to go to Baltimore to check out Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine. But he had to take care of some parental duties first. I arrive in time to tag along to a t-ball game, get some home made pasta and to give out high fives to the kids. They love their Uncle Malvo. Yes, I tell the kids to call me that. (Adult Crash does not see the humor in that. Probably because his wife would be less than amused.) After all that, away we go!

The show was at the Ottobar with Negative Approach and a local band called War on Women. We arrive in time to check out War on Women and the place is already packed. Not crazy packed, but definitely a lot of people. War on Women aren't bad. Didn't know what to expect from them, but they were pretty good. Solid punk rock-ish kind of band. Never heard of them, but they got a great response from the crowd. Maybe they've been around a while? In any case, I would check them out again.

Next up was Negative Approach and since Adult Crash didn't see them at Damaged City Fest last year, he was curious. I'll have him take over this part of the review. - I know what Malvo said about the show last year and I wanted to see it for myself. First off, the band sounds great! But the guitar player was not facing the crowd at all during their set. This is a pet peeve of mine. I know there was a steel beam in front of him, but he could've stood on either side of it and faced the crowd. It irked me to no end. Then Brannon...well, it wasn't so bad. He seemed to be singing the songs just fine towards the end of their set, but for most of it, he was definitely just growling one word for a whole line in the song. The crowd was a weird one too. I don't know if it's because of the "No stage diving" policy, but the crowd was emotionless during the entire set. Well, except when "Ready To Fight" was played. Don't know how I would feel about that if I was in the band. One song made people move and the rest was met with head bobbing and stares. My opinion, they should give it up.

On a side note, my kids do like Malvo a lot. My old lady sent me a text during the show saying our kids wouldn't stop talking about him after we left. I'm beginning to think that he's giving my kids candy when I'm not looking. Anyway, I'll let Malvo entertain you with his man-crush of Jello Biafra. If you heard a girl shrieking on Sunday night around 11:15pm, it was probably him. Anyway, I will say that they sounded great and I'm looking forward to seeing them again. I guess I'll go ahead and use that download code he gave me a few months ago...

Photo by: Jeff Terranova

Photo by: Jeff Terranova

Photo by: Jeff Terranova

 

I hardly have a man-crush on Jello. But he is awesome in my book. Anyway, they come out and killed it! They sounded awesome. They played a nice mix of stuff from all of their records including a few Dead Kennedy's songs. The crowd gave them lot's of love no matter what they played. But, they definitely got more of a reaction when they played Dead Kennedy's songs. My favorite moment from the show was Jello asking the crowd if they had friends or family members that were into the Tea Party / Fox News. Then asking how they talked to them when it came to particular issues and then launching into "Nazi Punks, Fuck Off!" I almost threw myself from the balcony onto the crowd during that song. Place went bananas! The show went on pretty long with some encores, but I loved every minute of it. Everybody that was there definitely got their money's worth. I think they were on stage for about an hour and a half. Probably the longest show I've seen in a long time. But I'm not complaining.

UPDATE: After we posted this entry, we came across some photos by Jeff Terranova of Jello and the gang from their show in NY. Thank you to Jeff for allowing us to use a few of his photos to make our little blog look a lot cooler.

D.C.S.

Chain Of Strength return to Washington, D.C.

This past weekend Chain Of Strength made their way back to Washington, D.C. for the first time in a very long time. They played at St. Stephen's in Columbia Heights (aka hipster central) along with Red Death, Public Suicide, Praise, Mindset and Turnstile. Mindset was the only band that we had seen before. So we were curious about the other bands.

First up, Red Death - I heard about this band a couple of weeks ago and got to hear a song from their demo. Call me crazy, but as far as I'm concerned, anything NickTape is a part of is solid gold. That guy sings for Coke Bust, Sectarian Violence and is now playing bass for Red Death and I was totally digging their sound. Going to be downloading that demo from Bandcamp asap.

Public Suicide was up next annnnnnd we missed them. Why you ask? I'll tell you why...because it was hot as fuck inside of that place. I kid you not, I had to walk about 4 blocks to a CVS so I could buy some Goldbond because of the chaffing going on between my thighs. That's right. Chaffing. Too much info? I don't care. That shit sucked. Adult Crash thought it was hilarious. (He has this thing about enjoying my pain. He's also a bastard.) Needless to say, I had a cool relief going between my legs after that purchase. Back to the show we go.

While waiting for Praise to get set up, we notice the fiasco behind us at the merch tables. Specifically, the line for the Chain Of Strength merch looked like it was a mile long. After closer inspection, we could see that they had a shitload of stuff to sell. Shirts, posters, stickers, hoodies and watches. You name it, they had it. Well except for those iPhone 5 cases...Bummer.

Anyway, Praise comes on and they were okay. Not exactly our cup of tea. Not bad, but not exactly blowing us away. We both agreed that we will give one of their recording's a chance before we pass final judgement. They sort of reminded me of Give, but not quite.

Next up was Mindset and the place went nuts for them. If you like youth crew hardcore full of straight edge goodness, then this band is right up your alley. Adult Crash isn't much of a fan, but I dig them. I love the energy of their shows and they kind of remind me of Count Me Out. Highlight/Non-highlight of the show was the singer falling and getting back up with a nice stream of blood going down the side of his head and down his neck. I don't know what happened to that guy, but he was a trooper and finished their set. In retrospect, maybe he shouldn't have finished their set, because we heard people talking outside after the show saying something to the effect of him having to go to the hospital. Hope that guy is okay.

Turnstile was up next and holy shit, it was like a flashback to 1993 in New Yawk City. That band is just like all the bands that we hated from the early to mid 90's. Holy chugga chugga crap. We both looked at each other and cringed. I literally heard a guy in between songs tell his buddy that Turnstile was a band you could "groove to". Barf....Adult Crash suggested we build a time machine so that we could send them back to 1993, but it's not really necessary since a lot of bands from New York are still going with this horrible sound. Having said all this...people were losing their god damn minds over them. Clearly, we were in the minority with our opinions. 

Now, neither one of us has seen Chain Of Strength before. But we had to check them out in 2014. And thank god we did! Man, they sounded great and had lot's of energy. They played everything from both 7"s and Impact. Wish they could've played longer, but as you know, there's no other material. With as much love as they have for so many D.C. bands, I had hoped to hear a cover, but no dice.




People watching: Well, if you watched the clip above, then you probably already know what we're going to say. Camera guys on stage...Something has to be done about this, but what? What are the promoter's going to do, ban them? Not likely. Heard somebody bitching about the guy in the baby blue Bold shirt being in their way as they walked out of the show. I think it went something like "I didn't realize that I'd paid for an ass to be in my face too." Haha

All in all, it was another kick ass show put on by the Damaged City guys. Can't thank these guys enough for putting together all these shows. If not for them, then there may not even be any good shows coming into D.C. All you kids out there need to be counting your lucky stars that they bust their asses to put on shows.

D.C.S.

12"s that should be 7"s

It's good to be back! I see that Adult Crash has been sharing his thoughts with you all about Beyond (yawn) at BNB and his disdain for hardcore clothes on your kiddies. (I gotta agree with him on that.) But, I'm back to shoot my mouth off on stuff that came to mind while I was away. 

Case in point, while I was soaking up some rays on the beach with my lady friend, my iTunes "accidentally" started playing some D.Y.S. Now, this album is considered to be a hardcore classic. But I've always been of the opinion that it could be cut down to a 7". I mean, you could 86 "City to City", "The Girl's Got Limits", "Escape" and "Wolfpack". That's right. I said it. "Wolfpack" can go!

Humor me for a second before you dismiss me as somebody that has just gone off the deep end. Imagine how crucial of a 7" that Brotherhood could be with songs like "Open Up", "More Than Fashion", "Circle Storm", "Brotherhood", "Yellow", "Stand Proud" and "Insurance Risk"! Not only would the record have a fantastic record cover, but it would be loaded with seven amazing songs!

Instead, we're stuck with a 12" that features absolute garbage-songs like "City To City", "The Girl's Got Limits" and "Escape". I could see "Wolfpack" as a single or as something featured on a compilation. But I could easily wipe my ass with those other three pieces of shit.  As far as I'm concerned, those three songs were just a prelude to the absolute shit show that they had become after putting out Brotherhood.

D.C.S.

Children and hardcore gear.

Adult Crash here again, Malvo is on vacation this week or as he put it "spring break bitches!" So I figure I would talk about something that has been bugging me for quite some time. Fellow core-men with children that dress their kids to look like themselves. Specifically, wearing straight edge shirts, Youth of Today zip-ups or whatever the hell else is out there. Call me crazy, but I think it's tacky. Me and my old lady have got a bit of a baby factory going on over here, but there has never been a day when I told her something like "hey baby, I just got this Negative Approach t-shirt for Nancy. Or, hey honey, is Jason a size 4Y? Because I wanna get him this Gorilla Biscuits hoody." If you're going to dress your kid up like you, why not go all the way with the "hardcore reality" and give him or her some sweet "straight edge" tattoo's? Maybe slap some Bridge 9 stickers all over their big wheel. Oh, I know, how about teaching them how to properly vandalize their school bathrooms with their mom and dad's favorite bands!

 

Seriously, your kid is into Gorilla Biscuits and Judge? Really?

Now, I'm not trying to pick on Revelation Records because they're only feeding the demand that's out there. And they're hardly the only ones making these sort of things for kids. I'm looking at all you guys and gals that want to make your "mini-me's" look exactly like you. Yeah, it's cute and yeah, it's your right to dress your kids any way you want. But at the end of the day, your 12 year old looks like a bit of a poser.

D.C.S. 

Beyond at Black N' Blue Bowl 2014

Sr. Adult Crash Correspondent here, and I'm taking the lead on this entry since the other half has no interest in Beyond. (He clearly has no taste.) I like Beyond, their demo was great and the LP was pretty good. With exception of the singer, all the members went onto bigger things. Though, not necessarily better things in my opinion. They played at the Black N' Blue bowl this past weekend and it looked like 45 people cared. I expected a better response than what I saw in this video. But to be fair, one song does not accurately represent the reaction that they got during the whole show. See the video for yourself.

Oh and if you haven't heard already, Revelation Records is putting out their discography in the near future. Here's to hoping it comes out looking good.

D.C.S.

Favorite frontmen

It's Friday and five o'clock can't get here fast enough. So to pass the time, we are talking about our favorite front men and why? I chose Jello because I love his on stage performance, banter and his lyrics speak to me. I don't agree with everything he has to say, but he knows how to paint a picture with his words. Quite frankly, I think he is the total package when it comes to being a front man.

But if I were to just choose one guy to watch and lose my shit to? It would be H.R. before he lost his marbles. That guy could make me lose my marbles with his performance. He was fucking awesome!

SR. Adult Crash Correspondent: Kevin Seconds has always been one of the best performers on stage, no matter how old he is. He always works the crowd masterfully.

Richie Birkenhead has always been a favorite of mine too. Not for the same reason though. I just always liked his intensity and confidence while singing.

D.C.S.

Parris Mayhew Interview on Noisey

The soap opera that is the Cro-Mags just got new life with an interview with Parris Mayhew. It is definitely a good read for any fan of the band. If you haven't seen the story on your social media, then here ya go. Enjoy.

D.C.S.

Parris Mayhew Interview

First listen to Screeching Weasel.

This morning I received a text from SR. Adult Crash Correspondent asking me if I've ever checked out Screeching Weasel. I've heard of them, but never bothered to check them out. They are just one of those bands that slipped through the cracks for me. He describes them as a "fun 90's punk band. Ramones-ish." He says that "Anthem for a New Tomorrow" is a good place to start. Let's see what he's talking about here.

The first song on here is called "I'm Gonna Strangle You Tonight". Lyrics are okay, the song title made me laugh, but it's pretty catchy. I'm up to what appears to be an instrumental called "Talk To Me Summer" and I'm digging these songs so far. Not exactly what I expected to hear, but pretty good. I decide to look up some more tunes by them and come across a song that caught my attention right away. The song is called "I Wanna Be A Homosexual" and It's from an album called "Kill The Musicians". I immediately look up the lyrics and play the song and I'm dying laughing. I immediately text the other half of the team and it went something like this.

Me: Oh my god, I'm listening to a good dong (you read that right, auto-correct failed me again) called "I Wanna Be A Homosexual". NO WAY these lyrics could fly today.

Him: Ha. Nope. And I always knew you loved a good dong.

Me: Curse you!

Him: Curse your fat fingered typing, dong lover.

Anyway, these lyrics are on par with the song "Homosexual" by Angry Samoans. VERY politically incorrect. But the song is damn good. Give them a chance if you want to hear something new/old. I know I will.

D.C.S.

Growing Stronger 2014 demo

It's a slow day at the office and I'm bored. SR Adult Crash Correspondent and I are debating on whether or not Green Day is a good band. I, for one, don't care about them. I think they're overrated and I usually change the channel if they come on the radio. He, on the hand, thinks they're really good and is rocking out to them on Pandora as we speak. Ugh I'd rather listen to New Jersey's own Intensity!

Anyway, I've been browsing Instagram during our silly texts and came across a band by the name of Growing Stronger. React! Records is promoting a 2014 demo and I decided to check them out. Man o man this is good! This is our kind of hardcore! Short, sweet and to the point. We've been coming across too many bands that just sound like they're from New York and have that bad metal sound. Sorry guys, but even I can't get behind a lot of these bands.

Can't really tell you shit about Growing Stronger except that you can get their 6 song demo on Bandcamp now. For all I know, these guys are a bunch of eskimo's that love the Growing Stronger comp and wanted to start up a band that could've been featured on that record. Based on these 6 songs, I would've put them on there.

D.C.S.