THE BASTARDS OF FATE: VAMPIRES ARE REAL AND PALPABLE

A thin line exists between nightmares and memories in the swamp of interpretation. If you can picture the hangouts that you loved as a teenager and the bars that solidified your psyche in your 20s, stand back, and absorb all of it in. Was it that good or was it that bad. Now envision a spiked wrecking ball tearing through those mental sights with violent sound and you will be arriving at a destination called Vampires are Real and Palpable, the latest musical deconstruction by Roanoke Virginia’s Bastards of Fate.

An uncut and unstable substance that sucked the usable blood from Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music, The Remains, and The Faint. The finished product is a cacophony of an apathetic concerto that mocks the world falling down around it while getting high from the fumes of the ensuing debris. The lead track “Winter of our Discontent” is a maniacal revision of rock music that blends crooning, noise damage, and anthemic phrasing into a twisted guide for the senses.

“Chromosome I” and “Go No Further” add another element to this lethal dose with bizarre and catchy renderings of LCD Soundsystem and Oingo Boingo, at the height of their experimental phases. Unlike others attempting to sail the turbulent seas of experimentation, the hooks are still firmly in place, just not where you’re used to finding them. A map of a brilliant schizophrenic’s mind replaces antiquated songwriting formats that numb us in car commercials, grocery store Muzak, and superficial brain-dead television shows.

“One True Love” displays severe psychedelic corrosion with almost angelic harmonies swirling above deranged balladry. This track along with “Identity Theft” are my picks for playlist inclusion, if not the whole album. A unique catchiness and addictive fever bleeds off these tracks.

Manson Family (the real one) choirs and electro machinery drilling pulverize your cerebellum on “Own It” and “Ultimate Death”. The Bowie-esque pop snarl of “Credit” seriously kicks my ass every time I hear it, the beauty of the line “Did you figure out the answer, oh no…did you figure out the cure for cancer?” gives a glimpse into the soul of a generation left with nothing, and they don’t care.

Coming near the closing, “Copilot” shakes up the feeling in your bones of being so far away from home, only nostalgia makes you miss it. Even though the home you had, was never a good one and long since disappeared into the void. The rock crumbling uproar of the melodic middle-section is a true moment of rock n roll grandeur.

The downward spiral of jangled honky-tonk cacophony in “Optometrist” will ensure your head is spinning when the bomb drops on your neighborhood. After this, imminent extinction of all you know will arrive in a form no one has witnessed before.
FIVE STARS… - Kevin McGovern

LISTEN TO "GO NO FURTHER" HERE...

THE BASTARDS OF FATE

FEAR AND LOATHING LB OFFICIAL SITE

COSINES: COMMUTER LOVE 7"

Missed opportunity, waiting in line, and life brutally speeding by while you lie awake disheveled in the middle of the night. Minutes and hours lost to minutia. I don’t know what to say. What will she say? I just can’t speak the language and I don’t know the “code”. The fevered feelings of frustration and trepidation are running rampant on the new 7” by Cosines. A sophisticated silver bullet constructed of clever and devious musical hooks that cling to you, like a pair of Calvins on Brooke Shields. A two-song affair highlighting the different dimensions of composition that breathe within these new-wave art rockers.

“Commuter Love” is a full-bodied buzz of glam with a punky pulse. The lead track revs itself with a Bolanesque riff that rides slightly off the rails with a sparse synth accompaniment. The sleek repetitions of melody and chord crunch accentuate the painful parting of one’s nightlife for the responsibilities of day-job survival. The drag of growing old never grows old. A totally worthy A-Side that has enough angst, musical muscle, and self-awareness to give modern indie-rock bands a run for their money.

The follow up track “Disclosed Stories” sounds like a psychedelic melding of Pete Shelley and The Lightning Seeds. Pop with just enough bite to keep the grooves surfy and the undercurrent raw. A pining for something more out of a relationship that never lends itself to more than just intimate conversation. Conundrums and uncertainty provide guaranteed anxiety in our daily lives. Unfortunately, glib solutions and psychobabble never provide us with insight or resolution. This nice slice of British Invasion tainted pop does what a great song should do, it offers a realistic observation. As a whole, this nice shot in the arm of edgy pop reminds me of those cool gems you would hear on the early Enigma Variations compilations. This single comes courtesy of the UK’s Fika Recordings label, which I might add, takes 7” artwork to a completely new level. -Kevin McGovern

COSINES

FIKA Recordings

FEAR AND LOATHING IN LONG BEACH OFFICIAL SITE

BURGER RECORDS: THE CASSETTE REVOLUTION

The cassette revolution of Burger Records continues as it has become a major force in developing new bands and reissuing long lost classics of underground music infamy. This is an interview I did with Sean Bohrman, one of the label's key members. Definitely a unique success story in the world of music where boundaries between fan, band, and label no longer exist. It seems like we live in a time where the glass ceiling is on the first floor, but I think that's a matter of perspective and how far you are willing to go in order to live the life you want. -KPM

Which came first: Thee Makeout Party, Burger Records Label, or the Burger Records store?

Sean--- I met Lee at show in high school in 1998, I was a junior, and he was a freshman. We became friends; started band called the Noise and created a zine together called the Newsletter. We hung out, smoked weed, played around with music, and I went away to College. Lee started a band called Thee Makeout Party and I joined when I came back four years later. Things started happening and we were constantly touring. We released the first Makeout Party 7” and started Burger Records, we did an LP and it went from there. In 2009 we were going to go on tour again but I was working as the art director for a boating & fishing magazine. They didn’t let me go so I cashed out my 401k, quit, and started a record store with my friend Ryan, who ran Third Eye Records. He had tons of records sitting around his parents’ house so I said, “Hey, let’s start a store” and that was it.

How did your own experience as a “musician” influence your approach to running the Burger label?

I know how I would want to be treated, and how important it is to have your own music released and heard. We all the importance and time spent making these things is. The blood, sweat, tears, and respect needed to give the attention and love music deserves. It’s what we’re all about, and I think it’s what musicians want. I think musicians want someone like me or Lee to be like Hey this album is amazing! That’s what we do.


Vinyl has been making a comeback for some time and now it seems like the cassette is too. Why do you think the cassette is catching on in such a big way?

Who knows? We were first putting just CD and Vinyl and then we released Apache, The GO, and Traditional Fools on cassette and were like, WOW, we’re selling cassettes now! And now, we have put out over 500 bands on cassette and sold close to 200,000 in the last 6 years. It’s bigger than any of us could’ve possibly imagined it would be.

With this resurgence now taking place, do you think it’s the death of the MP3 or is the digital-online format more of a portal to check out bands & labels?

Oh yeah, but I think record labels nowadays have to use every social media outlet at their disposal(Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr) to get their music heard. It’s also awesome for bands to have 300 copies of their music on cassette to take on tour and sell for extra money people to collect. Most are listening to our music online, we’re getting around 5,000 listens a day on Soundcloud. I doubt there are that many listening to cassettes every day but who knows? I think it’s a matter of ease of use with online music. You’re on your job all day on the computer or your phone and you can listen right then and there. But it goes hand in hand with being successful with putting out cassettes and bringing attention to them.
People think it’s a dead format, but most who are listening were born in the 90s and not around when cassettes were popular. They’re driving their parent’s cars with cassette player and don’t have any cassettes to play in their cars. No one else was making tape cassettes.


The label covers all genres of garage for lack of a better term, anywhere from hardcore punk to indie power pop and psychedelic freak-outs. Do you base your releases on quality of songs or just gut instinct?

Sometimes they’re friends and there’s always a number of reasons why we put things out, but most of the time it’s because we like it. We listen to tons of demos every day and I’ve always loved discovering new bands and their music. I did it before we started Burger and still do because it’s what I love to do.

How integral are the constant live shows Burger supports and is there a Burger records culture that is important to its existence?

Yeah, we have the Burger Revolution tour where we did shows all across the world from Tel Aviv to Glasgow to London. We currently have the Burger-rama tour in Santa Ana and shows all across the U.S, Canada, and Australia. It all started with us sitting around bullshitting and saying, “Wouldn’t it be cool to just start doing shows everywhere”. We just sent out a massive emailing telling people what we were doing and to let them know they can put on show themselves too, it doesn’t have to be a Burger related show to make it happen.

What advice do you have to anyone who wants to pursue their passion as a way of life, instead of joining corporate culture?

You have to work really hard and take that leap of faith. There’s been times when I would think about the years I had to work to get good health insurance and now I was throwing it away. It’s definitely scary. We work harder now than before Burger, from the time I wake up at 11 a.m. to 3 or 4 in the morning I’m working. I’m working constantly and I’ve been on that schedule for almost two years now. That’s our way of life. We work Burger all the time, non-stop. There’s never time to relax but I’m never bored and it’s worth it to be your own boss. There’s times I just want to chill and I have 500 bands to think about. At the same time, I realize what we’re doing is actually changing something that keeps me going. It takes a lot of sacrifice and dedication to become and stay independent. I was never really into partying, I don’t always have the time to check out shows or a party. Weed is about it. I just enjoy being at home and working on stuff all the time. Just watching bands grow and get bigger, it’s cool.


FEAR AND LOATHING IN LONG BEACH

RECKLESS SUMMER: NEW ONLINE EDITION OF THE DIGITAL ZINE

Another crazy day in the LB, so I decided to make my way into LA today and attempt to get this new issue up and running. I like going mobile and keeping the DEVO turned up to ten the entire time. The flesh is willing and the mind is weak, that's a good thing. It's always fascinating how a live show never never takes the place of the personal attachment we make to music or an image. We connect with what is going on internally and externally when that sounds hits us and the first thing we see in the moment burns itself permanently into our memory. Thanks for tuning in and more to come very soon.

SCRAPER: THIS MUSIC KILLS

Have you ever had a nurse slam you in the arm with a shot of morphine in her bedroom? When you were babbling in the middle of an anxiety attack and she just wanted you to shut up? This happened to me. I remember waking up in a comfortable daze, frozen on the carpet next to the bed. The sounds of Ave Maria were reverberating through the air and I could hear her in the next room. I was never bothered or asked to wake up. Conniving indifference in effect... or a nice alternative to the “chained in a freezer” ambiance of an emergency room. Occasionally, music hits you in the back and you wake up feeling like a neon megapixel in a fragmented city of day, night, and ugliness.

San Francisco’s SCRAPER self-titled LP oozes an electro-shock sincerity in its short. sharp, and winding delivery. If the MC5 were handing out bad acid at a double bill with Warsaw and DNA, it might sound something like this. The guttural and grisly poetic melodies crawl through the cracks of the hyper-distorted tidal waves. If your overplayed records of The Reatards and Spits weren’t giving you enough uplifting negativity, this 9 track LP and digital release will set your misanthropic libido on fire. Their cover of the Dick’s “Kill from the Heart” reconstructs the original into a new menacing life form. Disorienting anthems such as “Landslide”, “I’m in the way”, and “Razor” will knock you down for the count. I hope that you’ll land on a soft surface in a mind numbing fever or you might just break your neck on the hard concrete of frustration, overwhelmed with a nasty concussion. Get hip, get infected, and feel the jolt of rock n roll’s black wave, known as SCRAPER. -KPM


SCRAPER

New issue is coming sooner than later, in the meantime visit and leave a message...
FEAR AND LOATHING IN LONG BEACH DIGITAL ZINE

THE NEO KALASHNIKOVS - Turn the Tables/Gorgeous Baby (Studio/Live)

While absorbing the hotness of California’s burning air and beautiful disasters during the past week, I let the latest release by The Neo Kalashnikovs infiltrate the solitude of my compact car getaways. Imagine a very chic Chrissie Hynde collaborating with GVSB to re-write Raw Power for the unsettling and uproarious year of 2014. This seven track EP definitely makes an instant impression. The use of single-noted minimalist riffs creates large distorted space for the angelic growl of Volita Bioletti. This exceptional antidote, courtesy of New Zealand, pretty much blew me away the first time I heard Gorgeous Baby. The catchiness of Turn the Tables, Diamonds, and Rock n Roll Friend pierces like a fish hook through your mouth after a triple dosage of Novocain. High-grade potency mixed with chaotic precision.

If you’re a fan of edgy rock/pop masterpieces like Live Through This, Trompe le Monde, and Eat to the Beat, you’ll be obsessed with this release. Four studio cuts with three live tracks are featured. The live tracks are especially interesting as the sound quality is quite good. Many bands in the live environment cannot replicate their studio output, but in this case, the songs are just racier and rawer versions with stellar vocals that do not lose momentum. The backing band is solid with fitting dynamics and an obvious education in the basics of rock n roll.

The British press was in an uproar over the band’s decision to use starlet Helen Flanagan for their Gorgeous Baby video. A cinematic ode to classy subversion. It looks like the times are rearranging and painting an unmarked landscape. Intelligent is the new sexy. Success is “doing your own thing”. The playing field for rock n roll is a little more even; a world no longer crowded by major labels and cable networks shoving unwanted and lousy music down your throat. We have a really great interview with the band coming up in our next issue in a few weeks, definitely worth a read. Until next time….
-KPM
Fear and Loathing in Long Beach

THE LUXEMBOURG SIGNAL: DISTANT DRIVE

My head is usually swarming with too many disconnected thoughts towards the end of the day. Where am I really going? What am I really doing? I usually have no idea most of the time. When the final curtain comes down on the sun, I usually retreat to my rooftop, take one or two of those blue pills, and light up a smoke for the perfect rest stop between up and down. I let my mind lose itself as I stare loosely at the tapestry of skylines, electrical wires, and cable dishes. I like to drift into the world of blurred lines while an anarchy of sound sparks in the background. Detachment is pleasure at the right moments. Luxembourg Signal’s debut single “Distant Drive” is the prescription for your surreal fever.

“Distant Drive” is like a cosmic clash of Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Blake Babies. Beth Arzy’s meditative and whispery voice gels perfectly with the psychedelic-surf riffs and edgy acoustic strumming of Johnny Joyner. The interjection of Tubeway Army drum dynamics gives this deserving single an epic sound, reminiscent of “Reel Ten” by the Plugz on the Repo Man soundtrack. A lighthearted tease with heavy intentions is the atmosphere on this very cool dream-pop single. On this distant drive, life is better, at least for a little while. Where we end up… doesn’t really matter.

The band turns down the lights and provides a more complex slice of contemplation with “Wishing Pool”. This track sounds like a lost gem from the Psychedelic Furs “Mirror Moves” album. A blend of post-punk guitar jangle with a smoldering melody that keeps itself in a straight-ahead rock groove. A short but sweet follow-up track. The more I check out the B side of this single, I realize it’s just as addictive as the lead track. I always dig a band showing its versatility on a single without having to include filler. Jump on this quick, it’s a limited 7” pressing of 300 brought to you by Portland Oregon’s Shelflife Records. The band is also the latest project by members of acclaimed indie acts, Aberdeen and Trembling Blue Stars. Check it out for yourself and see what you think. -KPM


The Luxembourg Signal
Fear and Loathing in Long Beach Digital Zine