post 301. a night in chicago, 8.16

post 300. the reality of my surroundings.

from allmusic.com:

When Fishbone's The Reality of My Surroundings was released in 1991, several critics went as far as comparing its all-encompassing brilliance to that of Sgt. Pepper's. While it may have been too high of a praise, Fishbone's third full-length album is indeed exceptional. Their preceding album, Truth and Soul, had been straightforward in its approach. In contrast, Reality is more unpredictable and off-the-wall, but just as gripping. While not all of the selections exactly hit the spot (the pointless four-part "If I Were a...I'd," "Naz-Tee May'en," and "Babyhead"), its many bright spots outshine the misfires. Fishbone continue to explore their hard rock side on such standouts as "Fight the Youth," "Behavior Control Technician," "Those Days Are Gone," and the crushing album closer, "Sunless Saturday." But as on their older releases, other music styles are digested and spit out -- the wonderful tribute to Sly & the Family Stone, "Everyday Sunshine," the reggae-tinged "Pray to the Junkiemaker," the explosive punk rocker "Pressure," and the humorous funk of "Housework." The Reality of My Surroundings would prove to be Fishbone's last great album, unfortunately.

post 299. violent femmes in buffalo.

last night i had the fortune of seeing, in my opinion, the angriest, most teen-angst-iest band ever, violent femmes. the fortunato's brought me along to buffalo for this free show. although the band is a lot older and a little paunchier than they were in their heyday, it was great to see them perform some of my favorite songs. "you can not fuck with this band." i actually had no idea they were even still together, which means an opportunity like this couldn't be passed up.

how can i say these guys are the angriest band? here's my thinking: sure, you can listen to nine inch nails and let out some of your aggression through their music; i'm not discounting mr. reznor's anger. but everything that ministry, metallica, nine inch nails, and scores of other bands do with volume and effects and growling and f-bombs the violent femmes take care of with simplicity (a guitar, a tiny drum kit and a bass), true grit, and lyrics that cut right to the chase.

where most "angry" bands rant and complain about bowing down to faceless evildoers, mr. gano's warbly and nearly-breaking voice packs so much hate and frustration into just asking dad for the car, or telling the listener that no one will go to the prom with him, that it's a wonder how violent femmes didn't get any bigger. although i'm glad they didn't, or they might have made a turn down the alley of the moxy fruvous, or some other like-minded idiocy; if they could bottle what mr. gano possesses, rivers cuomo would be buying it in bulk.

and a nice touch: instead of letting the song define them, they unassumingly played "blister in the sun" like, fifth, or somewhere thereabouts. for the casual listener of this band, there's sooo much more down below.

fuddrucker's afterwards. one of the best hamburgers ever.

post 298. liam's last night in town.

mr. tim ryan, before winning everyone's money in poker.

neil reflects on the majoris.

a drink to the opaque posse.

post 297. at the archive.

post 296. rizmo's visit.

at the whispering pines mini-golf.

riz, me, johnny, and matt after the show.

johnny hickman, wednesday night.

david lowery of cracker, wednesday night at water street.

post 295. mr big pants videos.

our first attempt at making a "commercial" for our mr. big pants show on july 25th at boulder coffee co. (8:00 pm, free.)



...and a video kevin leas took of our last show:

post 294. my new place, as shown by hannah.

post 293. fourth in churchville.

karen and pat had me over for a fourth of july that had it all. all, i tells you.

karen in the kitchen.

dr. mclaren, before his miraculous come-from-behind jarts victory with pete.

trying to hit the stop sign.

jarts, the outlawed game!

like a captain on the deck of his ship - mr. baitchman.

dr. baitchman.

lucy relaxes.

pat and brandi prepare for the day.

post 292. fourteen years after 2/2 manny on the dark side.

2/2 and i were in two creative writing classes together in high school. it's actually pretty rad getting to a point in your life when you can say, "i haven't seen you in 14 years." ran into him at richmond's.