the Mouth Boat and Slattern - December 30, 2007

Hanging out with Trish and Jesse between bands.


Slattern @ the Label Gallery in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada




Trish providing visuals for the Mouth Boat @ the Label Gallery in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Riding home from work on December 30, 2007

My Top 10 9 of 2007

In my humble opinion, there haven't been so many absolutely mindblowing releases the last few years. So many bands seem solely intent on aping old school styles and I don't hear much that has its own identity. There are a lot of great releases not included in this list but there is also a lot of stuff not included, stuff that a lot of folks hype to no end, that just bores me to death. Even though most of these releases have been out for a while (and a few aren't punk and are not exactly underground), I'll try to get around to reviewing most if not all of them in the upcoming weeks now that I have this blog off the ground.

In alphabetical order:

1. BIG BUSINESS - Here Come The Waterworks LP
2. THE BILL BONDSMEN - Young (Kinda), Loud & Shoddy 12"
3. DOUBLE NEGATIVE - The Wonderful and Frightening World of... LP
4. DRY ROT - Subordinate EP
5. GAUZE - 貧乏ゆすりのリズムに乗って CD
6. KYKLOOPPIEN SUKUPUUTTO - s/t LP
7. PISSED JEANS - Hope For Men LP
8. SNAKE APARTMENT - Paint The Walls 12"
9. WALLS - s/t LP
10. I can think of a few more great releases but nothing that I listen to as frequently.

And continuing along those lines... Not included in this list is some pretty cool stuff (ie/ garage rock) that I've been hearing from bands like HUMAN EYE, BLACK SUNDAY, KING KAHN, THE LAMPS, THE PYRAMIDS... I've been getting more and more into this stuff but just like any the other sub-genres, there's just so much shit to wade through. You know, bands who don't write songs, who just use a trashed out recording quality. Presto. Garage rock! Same goes with any other trademark element. Presto. KBD punk! Presto. ______ hardcore circa '__! Presto. Greg Ginn! Ah fuck.

Review: WALLS - s/t 7"

WALLS are a new Seattle band, formed from the ashes of COLD SWEAT. 3/4 of the band are in tact, including drummer Jensen (who's also in the sludgy guitar/drum duo IRON LUNG). Gone is Sean, who went on to sing briefly in the Austin band REPERCUSSIONS. The brute force that comes across in the recording of Jensen's drums really makes this band work. WALLS could be considered a continuation of COLD SWEAT in many ways but gone is the speed. Sounds a bit like RORSCHACH with the plodding heavy-handed rhythms that early 90's MELVINS recordings were characterized with. Apparently WALLS' singer used to be in SOCIETY OF FRIENDS. His vocals flow well with the slow tempo of their songs and add to tension and nihilism. At least one of these songs, "The Crawl", is featured on their self-titled full length, which just came out on Painkiller Records. Recommended.
(2007, Iron Lung Records)

Track Listing:
A: "Hands & Knees"
B: "The Crawl"

Review: ORDER - Saru EP

Japan's ORDER have evolved considerably since 2002's full length Taep'o-dong, which was for the most part a direct tribute to late 70's UK punk. The Japanese take on UK punk was nothing new, nor was it's perfect execution but there was no DISCHARGE or MOTORHEAD to be heard, as is often the case. Instead there was snotty, bouncy sing-along fun. But there was a side that was willing to experiment and sound different, and I'm glad that the band has decided to move forward and develop a sound all their own. Instead of rip-off camp, ORDER have exhibited tendencies that verge on being over-the-top in delivery, such as on the amazing anthem "Space Junk", on 2003's split 7" with legendary punk thrashers WARHEAD. Many Japanese bands have a unique ability to make excess work in their music. "Space Junk" came out of nowhere and stood alone as the band's greatest work. Although there isn't such excess on this two-song EP, there are hints, such as in tastefully-used vocal effects used in "Sirokiru". Their WARHEAD split doesn't seem to be a one-off or fluke; ORDER seems confident and secure in a developed sound now made all their own. All the elements of UK punk are still there but there is no longer any copying but instead a unique interpretation. Thangzaru's bass leads the way with his infectious bouncing lines that are the core of the band's sound. Kohsukezaru's vocals snarl and bark, meshing perfectly with the band. ORDER have yet another EP coming soon, titled Toyota, and I'll look forward to hearing what they'll come up with next. With all the noted enduring bands that have recently either gone on hiatus or have been brought tragically to an end, I'd dare to say that ORDER has risen to the occasion and are at the pinnacle of today's Japanese punk scene.
(2007, HG Fact - http://www.interq.or.jp/japan/hgfact)

Track Listing:
A: "Sirokiru"
B: "Zero"

Under Pressure US Tour - Day 6 - July 30, 2007

Lima, Ohio...

Woke up, checked out the Christmas decorations that filled the house, watched Joe drink a breakfast beer, then walked outside to say our farewells to John, Jim and our fellow Winnipeggers. KURSK were at the tail end of their US tour. They had been on the road, all crammed along with their gear in a tiny run-down minivan. The only way you can accomplish such a thing is with one hell of a system, and they had it down. They looked like astronauts, contorting themselves to fit just so. And up until a day or two ago, they had another passenger, photographer Jon Schledewitz. Unfortunately, he had to leave the tour early on account of a family emergency.

Back on the road in rural Ohio... We were in bible country. Billboards, murals painted on walls, stickers on the backs of vehicles... even declarations of support for the troops and war against abortion rights painted on company vehicles. America's Taliban. I'm sure they're a lot nicer than those other Taliban guys. We weren't tortured or blown up, thankfully.

It was evening when we pulled up to Now That's Class, Cleveland's punk bar. A lot of cool shows went down here and members of the local scene's bands owned and worked at the place. We loaded in, set up the merch table, then introduced ourselves to the other touring band, Sea Sick, who were just wrapping up their tour and returning to New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Eventually, it was time to start up the show. Unfortunately, there was no one at the bar. I had a sneaking suspicion that not that much promotion had been done. On the other hand, despite the abundance of wacky hell-raising punk bands that Cleveland has, not one was able to play. Actually, that probably had a lot to do with the absence of locals... and it being a Monday night. I hope QUESTION and DIAGONA had better luck with their show the day before.

Let's see... There were a couple of folks behind the bar, the janitor who also sang in OUT WITH A BANG, a guy named Charlie who worked at the local record store (and picked up some records off of us which was great), Steve from 9 SHOCKS TERROR/HOMOSTUPIDS and a few other people who paid at the door. Excluding members of the touring bands, we might have played in front of 10 people. Cleveland... rocks. Now That's Class is a great punk bar though, and maybe one day I'll be there when the locals are in. Maybe one day my band will play in front of them.

SEA SICK played straight-forward modern hardcore. All the guys in the band were really outgoing and friendly, and we looked forward to playing another show with them in a few days in their hometown.

It was our turn. Joe spazzed out, jumping off the stage and performing acrobatics while wailing on his guitar. Then we were done.

It was then time for DRY ROT to take the stage and they blew me away from the very first note. I no longer cared that Cleveland could give two shits about our bands. It sunk in that my band was going to be playing a whole bunch of shows with an incredible band. The first notes; a cover o BLUE CHEER's version of "Summer TIme Blues". That's what I was hearing in their sound; fuzzed out madness. Maybe there was something reminiscent of NO TREND as well. Drew was all over the place, climbing up on top of a speaker and violated Cam's face with a microphone. The set ended with Drew crawling all over stage and grabbing every mic, throwing them into a pile and howling into it.

I walked over to chat with Steve after the show but he and Charlie were preoccupied with recording a radio piece with DRY ROT. As the bar closed, we were given directions to the place we'd be crashing for the night. We were initially told "you'll be sleeping at a Chinese restaurant tonight". Then one of my bandmates was told that the place used to be a restaurant, and in fact was the restaurant filmed at the end of A Christmas Story... You know, the one about the kid wanting a Red Rider BB gun?

DRY ROT were crashing at Steve's place, so we drove down to the old restaurant with SEA SICK following us. It took us a while to locate the building, even with a GPS. The building was really run down and in a pretty rough-looking neighborhood. There was a parking lot to the rear that was a little closed off from the street, which was probably a good thing.

By the time we made it into the building, which seemed more like an old garage than a once-Chinese restaurant, the beds upstairs had already been taken by SEA SICK and the folks who lived there. There was a small anarchist library in the open space of the main floor that had some couches. Dan, Mike and Joe made themselves comfortable and were greated by a cat. The place had a bad smell to it, and after wondering about the black mould situation the night before in Lima, I decided that I didn't want to risk sleeping in any more places that might end up giving my respiratory problems. I'm grateful that someone offered to let us crash at their place and my standards aren't that high but I just wasn't in the mood. There was a resident cat to keep the guys company; Cam and I decided to sleep in the van outside. We were told that the occasional crackhead might wander into the parking lot but not to worry; that they were usually zombies who'd just walk around and bump into things, then wander away. We kept the windows open a crack.

"Landlocked Motherfucker" from My Poetry Is Out Of Control by Jason Penner

I'm tired
Stick to the ribs
Go for the bones
Swallow the marrow
You've taken on an allegiance
Of the unfathomable
Bake a cake
Summon the peasants
Arm them with cookbooks and rakes
Not only am I hungry
I am Saturn of Findlay


Errr...


As I was saying... John and Jim are really into collecting "African American Christmas decorations".






UNDER PRESSURE and KURSK.


George Michaels


Taking a stop while on a toll stretch of interstate. Fuck that. They have the occasional bullshit multiplex where you can stop... and do what? It's actually impossible to buy anything healthy outside of a heavily waxed apple or a bottle of orange juice.


Or fuck around with a guitar in the parking lot.


SEASICK @ Now That's Class in Cleveland, Ohio


Joe and I cool off after our set. He appeared pretty exhausted but Joe always has another wind in reserve. He's a goer.


DRY ROT @ Now That's Class in Cleveland, Ohio








Drew finds himself a blunt object.



All of Jason's photographs from Under Pressure's 2007 US tour can be found here.

Under Pressure US Tour - Day 5 - July 29, 2007

Detroit, Michigan...

As usual, my bandmates slept in, so plans of going out for breakfast were nixed. Too bad because it would have been nice to hang out with Tony some more. We had some driving to do, and with the van still overheating, we wanted to make sure that we had a bit of time on our side.

The drive wasn't long and we didn't run into any major problems so we arrived quite early. I'm telling you; one day I'm going to check out downtown Lima. The last time we played this town our show was booked at an NRA gun club located down some back road that ran off the highway. This time we played a farmhouse surrounded by cornfields. Nice place actually. The house's residents, Tommy and his wife, were there, so we unloaded and made ourselves comfortable. We'd be playing Tommy's birthday party that night.

So we leaned back against some tree trunks and enjoyed shade, peace and quiet for an hour or two. Then some folks started arriving. John and Jim pulled in; they're the guys who hooked us up with our Lima shows. We've known both for a few years now. We met John during our old band's (GUNS, LIQUOR & WHORES) first and only US tour. He set up a house show in Detroit for us. I knew John from BRODY'S MILITIA; he used to play guitar for them. Another familiar character made an appearance as well; our good friend Henry (BRODY's MILITIA) drove out from Cincinnati with a few friends. And then fellow Winnipeggers KURSK gave us a call for directions to the venue. It took a while but they eventually found their way. Not that many people were expected to be at the show--we were essentially playing a punk birthday party--but I was looking forward to having a great time with friends.

John cooked up a huge pot of spaghetti for everyone and we dug in but when I went to pour myself a glass of water I was warned not to. Someone had gone to refill the water softener in the basement a few days ago and emptied not a bag of water softener but a bag of cat shit. Ha! Bottled water it was.

RAW RATS, Jim's new band, played first and lived up to their name. Jim told us he hadn't fronted a band before but had no shortage of smart-assed remarks behind the microphone. They played 15 minutes of raw, thrashy hardcore.

KURSK were up next and were easily the best I'd ever seen them. It in part probably had to do with the basement; I'd previously seen them play most of their shows in bars. But they also had better equipment that they had rented for tour, and were just totally on the ball. I mentioned in an earlier entry that I am pretty burned out on grindcore but one thing I still love is really fast, chaotic, deranged hardcore. Something that doesn't follow such a formula and have so much metal influence. Their drummer Brad used to play drums in another Winnipeg band called HEAD HITS CONCRETE before moving on to form KURSK with vocalist Sarah, bassist Andrea and guitarist Morgan, and the two bands share a similar approach towards their sound.

I thought we played great. Tommy set up a bonfire in the back field after the show for folks to sit around. I really liked the chill atmosphere of this small gathering. It went a little weird weird though when my bandmates walked up to inform me that we were going to head over to John and Jim's place because they thought an orgy was going to break out. I didn't take them seriously but they were straight-faced and I had no objection to leaving. It was getting late.

So we packed up and made ready to leave. Then this drunk girl named Erin insisted in guiding us, so she squeezed into the bench seat with Cam, Dan and Joe. This proved to be a mistake. Her and Mike quickly decided to become enemies and unleash all sorts of verbal abuse on each other. I ended up driving aimlessly around Lima while Mike pushed her buttons and she continued to threaten to kick his ass. I attempted to mediate and not crash into drunk drivers at the same time. Unfortunately Erin was drunk and only intent on tearing Mike a new asshole. In all fairness, Mike was only intent on seeing how much further he could push her. I continued to politely request directions but Erin was no longer just distracted and agitated, she was irate. She demanded that Mike show us how to get to the house if he was so fucking smart. So Mike gave me directions; turn right here, turn left over there. He made comments that suggested he was familiar with the area and knew what he was doing. All with this big grin on his face, making things up as he went along. I guess you would have had to have been there but it was pretty hilarious, and Erin only became more hysterical, and annoying. I thought they should have just pulled over and fucked on the side of the road, got it over with. Why would these exchanges be continuing and escalating if not for sexual tension? Erin eventually caved in and resumed giving me directions. She also insisted that we meet her dad, so she had us pull into a convenience store.

Erin boasted that her dad was awesome and looked like Jerry Garcia. I know what Jerry Garcia looks like and this guy wasn't him, but let's say if I didn't know any better, I would think that Jerry Garcia looked like a miserable asshole working a convenience store at 2 AM in the middle of a rural Ohio meth-head battleground. Erin excitedly ran up to her dad and told him to see her friends, that they had traveled from far away and were French Canadian. A wave of disgust reverberated through his flab, eventually reaching his face as he silently took us all in. He grunted, then asked us if we spoke Spanish.

We stopped at a grocery store for some junk food, then finally arrived at John and Jim's. KURSK were there setting up a tent in the backyard. I ended up fading pretty quickly, so I threw a couple of chairs together in the living room for a makeshift bed and tried to get some sleep. The place was a mess and I recalled an earlier conversation that Jim had. He was speaking to a girl, telling her that she was now welcome to visit the house because he was able to get rid of the black mold. I guess she had been pregnant. I wasn't so sure the black mold was gone. I don't think anything had been done to the house as far as cleaning since we last played the place two years ago.

I was woken up in the middle of the night. Two people were arguing in the living room. Their voices weren't raised but they weren't whispering either. I tried going back to sleep but had no such fortune. So the girl wanted to fuck on the toilet. The guy wanted to fuck outside. He said it would be nice. Having seen the toilet, I thought it would have been a no-brainer. But then again, if privacy is of the highest order, maybe a little piss is nothing to be afraid of. And then again, there was that huge stash of Playboys. If things go soft, you can always jazz things up with a spread or two. But then again it was cool outside. I continued to ponder this but ended up falling asleep before the three of us could make up our minds.

"It's Going To Be Madness" from My Poetry Is Out Of Control by Jason Penner

Weathering lights and anything
That reflects or can glow in the dark
A spoon isn't enough
A bowl isn't enough
A pot isn't enough
A spoon is all I'll get
Just dose me
Just 30 minutes
And I'll be running with the wildlife
The dose absorbs into blood
I'm camoflaged
No cramps
No second wind
Just running
Wildlife


Porno sprang up after fueling up at a truck stop. And the next thing you know...






Just plain wrong.


Hanging out with our friends in Kursk just outside of Lima, Ohio.


Henry (BRODY'S MILITIA) and Jim (ex-BRODY'S MILITIA, now in RAW RATS); two righteous dudes. Jim gets bonus points for the Bob & Doug McKenzie t-shirt.


Mike, Cam and Henry giving the Gotti turds a run for their douchetardeness.


KURSK tearing the basement a new arsehole.

All of Jason's photographs from Under Pressure's 2007 US tour can be found here.

MP3 blog coming soon...

Thanks to one of these, I'll be posting vinyl reviews with MP3 downloads shortly.

Under Pressure US Tour - Day 4 - July 28, 2007

Chicago, Illinois...

Our stay was quite relaxing. I recall staying up really late to watch a serial killer movie. I think it was Ed Gein. I'll tell you, Bryan and Sarah have by far the most beautiful character apartment I've ever seen. Hardwoods and absolutely gorgeous trim on all the baseboards, windows and ceilings. There's a front veranda and also a back fire escape that also effectively serves as a deck. It's incredible how much light the corner suite had, and it breathed really well. Sarah cooked the band some vegan biscuits and gravy and we ate them up, then made a run for it.

We didn't end up making very good time on our drive to Detroit. The van was still overheating and we had to stop to let it cool down again. We still didn't know what was wrong or how this might end up affecting our tour. It was 11 PM by the time we pulled up to the 2500 Club. The bar is located in central detroit. Pretty creepy location; it was surrounded by grown-in vacant lots and industrial waste. We were told that it was a rough neighborhood.

I can't imagine going out to have fun at the local punk show and having to navigate violence and possible death. I suppose that we all do that in reality, just not to such a degree where you are forced to acknowledge, the odds of you getting fucked make every drop of paranoia rational and entirely palpable.

Even so, we were returning to catch up with our friend Tony and THE BILL BONDSMEN. In my opinion, one of the US's best current hardcore punk bands. And it's not like the local bar isn't going to take care of our security. built around the bar's "parking lot" and patio was a high chainlink fence. We were guided in and the gates closed behind us. Sitting at a table on the deck, you could glimpse through the fence covering and see weeds growing through empty property, and street lights further off, then buildings just beyond them.

Tony was already there. It was nice to see him again. We loaded in and set up our merch, then looked through some bins that other folks had brought to the show. Music played loud over the PA and some androgynous dudes dressed in some pretty sassy clubwear were gyrating on the dance floor. Sometime later DRY ROT pulled into the compound and unloaded.

It was a month or two before the tour that the inevitable happened; tour overlap. I try to book our tours as early as possible so that I don't have to be the one cut out of playing shows or having to rush to juggle dates around another band's schedule. In reality though, this still happens, even if you're the early bird, although I supposed it's lessoned. I believe it was the promoter handling our Pittsburgh notified me of DRY ROT's tour. When I looked through DRY ROT's schedule I saw several dates that were overlapping or only a day off. I didn't know anything about the band. I assumed they would be a grind band judging from their name. I stumbled upon some MP3s online and was pleasantly surprised. To me they sounded like a cross between VOID and BLACK FLAG, with something else thrown in. I tracked down their singer Drew's e-mail to see if we could rework our schedules to mutual benefit. Maybe UNDER PRESSURE would be touring with another band. Well, Drew and I hit it off well through correspondence and our bands were soon scheduled to play 10 shows together.

I don't recall saying much to the band before the live music started up. My subconscious intentions were probably to take in all the music, then start up a conversation after things had calmed down. After all, I had some investigating to do, right? No, not really. I grew up in a city where homophobic, pro-life Christian metalcore was not just big, it was huge. Victory Records circa mid-90's huge. Hundreds of kids at shows huge. I really hated everything Christian. But I've since realized that not everything Christian is tied to the wrongdoings of the Catholic Church or the retardation of evangelicals. I don't really understand why progressive minds would choose religion but some do and they're good people. So, there are Christians who I should have no reason to tell to fuck off and I wasn't really that motivated to part ways with DRY ROT on the basis that someone told me they were Christian, or even if they were Christian. Nothing in their music evoked religious overtones so unless something horrific was encountered, I decided to deem this a non-issue.

DEATHSKIN RAZORS were on first. They were a young band and their sound was a bit all over the place, at least rooted within the genre of hardcore punk. They were a bit new-school-ish sounding, perhaps on account of the metal tendencies that I recall hearing creep up in their songs. Not really my thing but I'd be curious to hear them again should they stick around and dial in their sound more.

DRY ROT followed and I waited up front anxious with anticipation. Jordan, their guitarist, set up a full stack and an array of effect pedal oddities in front of him. Cam, their bassist, reminded me of Jason Lee. I think it even went beyond the moustache. As soon as they launched into their first song, Drew transformed with mic in hand. He slithered, lurched and contorted himself all over the stage, completely irate. I loved the dynamic on stage. Drew flew into Jordan, knocking him momentarily off of his playing. In return, Jordan pushed Drew and kicked at him, all while Cam took pause, perched upon his bass amp, eating jelly beans and offering some to the audience. I loved it.

We were on next and I thought we played a decent set. Some neighborhood crackheads wandered into the bar while we played and walked up to shake our hands upon our conclusion. Then it time for locals THE BILL BONDSMEN. Fantastic. Tight, pissed off, exhibiting exquisite taste in influences while completely locked in its own identity. A band that is rare to be found nowadays. Someone brought a wheelchair in and before you knew it people were taking turns slinging each other around and eventually destroying the piece of equipment.

After pulling out my earplugs I got to socializing with Tony and the guys in DRY ROT. Everyone seemed really excited about the music that they had taken in that night. We organized a convoy and made our way to Tony's new suburban home. We needed not worry about getting shot anymore. We pulled into a welcoming secluded neighborhood. With a cool breeze washing through the lush foliage of tress that towered above houses, we contemplated just laying in the front yard. We ended up eating some spaghetti, then DRY ROT went to another house to get some sleep while we went into Tony's music room where we spun vinyl into the night. He played us a lot of great old rock'n'roll, some weirdo obscurities. I decided to make myself comfortable and laid down on the carpet floor while everyone around me continued talking music. I recall listening to Bob Seger's early recordings and "That Smell" by Lynyrd Skynyrd while I drifted off. A great night, just as I had anticipated.

"Elect Stone" from My Poetry Is Out Of Control by Jason Penner

Smack dab in the middle of it all
Crackers
Try one and you'll know
Elect Stone


Cam and Sarah chatting over breakfast.


Bryan and the family dog.


While fueling up on rock fuel at a grocery store, I instructed Joe to jump into a nearby shopping cart and work his magic. He sang to the sun as if he were howling at the moon.


Upon settling in at the 2500 Club, Joe requested that I take a photo of his jungle rot guitar in the bar's fecal playground.


DRY ROT @ the 2500 Club in Detroit, Michigan (Note the bottle of bleach by the drum kit. This will become an important detail at a later date.)




THE BILL BONDSMEN @ the 2500 Club in Detroit, Michigan (I was still getting used to shooting digital and was using existing light beyond the camera/lens's abilities but the shots aren't all that bad. Well, perhaps not all that great either.)



All of Jason's photographs from Under Pressure's 2007 US tour can be found here.

Under Pressure US Tour - Day 3 - July 27, 2007

Madison, Wisconsin...

After crashing at Ariel's place we packed up and went down to Earwax, the local punk record store. Rob, one of the folks who runs the shop, bought some records off of us. We then said our goodbyes to Ariel and made our way towards Chicago.

The van was still overheating. We stopped using the air conditioning (which didn't really do much anyhow) and that seemed to help curb the problem a little. It was time to get a mechanic to take a look at the vehicle. And what better place to do it than Rockford, Illinois.

The guy working the desk at the garage chain told us it would be a few hours so we walked across the road to a shitty mall that only seemed to be selling cellular phones. The oil was changed and they ran some diagnostics but couldn't find anything wrong with the van. (In the end, this assessment will prove the most accurate one given to us by a mechanic on tour.)

We made it to Chicago with time to spare. The venue had changed several times in the last few weeks. Brian/CHRONIC SEIZURE was originally supposed to set up the show but he moved into an apartment with his wife Sarah and the house venue he had lived in was no more. The show was handed off to Benny/NO SLOGAN but his venue fell through as well, so we were added to another house show that we didn't know existed. It turned out to be a good one, despite providing us with the second time experience of a basement show featuring a backed-up sewer.

Although Benny didn't show up, No SLOGAN guitarist Christ showed up with his distro. He also played guitar in the opening band of the evening. BARREN kind of reminded me of an early Lookout Records band for some reason. Perhaps it was a bit in part to the female vocals.

They were followed up by a band I didn't catch the name of. They played fast crusty hardcore. Their singer laid out some paint and a bed sheet before their set and finished off a painting within minutes. I found this entertaining but I don't think he has anything on John Kilduff. It also would have been cool if the message would have read... say something along the lines of "tits suck dicks rule" instead of something political. I'm no anti-PC fascist but I guess I'm just too burnt out on "fight the power" slogans. It's got to be really good to get me into John Lennon & Yoko Ono mode. I'm more into honking these days.

DISROBE were the highlight of the night for me. Really manic pissed off hardcore punk that had everyone in the basement bouncing off the concrete walls. It's a shame that they never get the chance to tour; they've been around for a while now and largely remain an unknown. If you like bands like DOUBLE NEGATIVE, check these guys out if you have the chance.

Two touring bands from Minneapolis played after; grind band DIAGONA and QUESTION. DIAGONA weren't really my thing but I'm completely burned out on grindcore (fuck, that's two things I realized I was burned out on in one night!) so it's hard for me to be objective. I enjoyed chatting with locals like Jake (ex-FOURTH ROTOR, currently in CANADIAN RIFLE, awesome guy) but regret hanging out in the back yard during QUESTION's set. QUESTION is fronted by Sairah (ex-DETESTATION) and play thrashy punk. Fortunately I would be able to take them in at a later show on the tour.

UNDER PRESSURE played last and a lot of people had cleared out by that time, either tending to the BBQ going on in the backyard or gone home. After our set I chilled out for a while, cooling off in a quiet corner of the yard, then brought the van around and slowly began to load out.

After we had almost finished packing up the promoter, a guy named Carlos, walked up and thanked us for playing, then apologized for not being able to pay us anything. I replied with something along the lines of "huh?" Carlos went on to tell us that Benny had given him assurances that we didn't want any money. I told him that we had said no such thing but that if that's how it was, then so be it. Carlos walked away and then I began to get mad.

If we had at least been told earlier in the evening we could have mentioned at the beginning of our set that we were not getting paid and could use donations for gas money. And although it was hardly "our" show (it was a show for the QUESTION/DIAGONA tour), there were people who told me that they came and paid just to see us. I realized that we became involved in this show at the last minute but... any decent promoter would have scrounged up a few dollars for gas, or passed around a hat... and any somewhat less than decent but still not awful promoter would have at least made it clearly known that we weren't getting paid anything the moment we pulled up to the venue. I don't think I'm being too harsh with this assessment because I'm a promoter and I always make sure that bands are taken care of.

I had Cam bring Bryan over and I told him about the situation. He took it upon himself to talk to Carlos and ended up getting some gas money out of him. That was very decent of him. Bryan then hopped into the van with us and we drove to his apartment, where Andy/Fashionable Idiots and his girlfriend were also going to stay after coming out for the show.

"Very Suggestive" from My Poetry Is Out Of Control by Jason Penner

Lecture me from your deepfried fortress
On wheels
There are deals for every make-up,
Every cosmologist
Don't interrupt those descending
Astro-naughts, holy beings and meteorites
Living, mystical and material beings
All descending
For every cosmologist
A taxidermy
Then a hanging


Rockford wasn't very rocking, but that didn't stop us!




BARREN @ a house venue in Chicago, Illinois


Hanging out with Andy at the merch table in the back yard of the venue.




Unknown band. Before playing, their singer painted a slogan on a bed sheet and hung it up on a wall in the basement.


DISROBE @ a house venue in Chicago, Illinois

All of Jason's photographs from Under Pressure's 2007 US tour can ben found here.

Under Pressure US Tour - Day 2 - July 26, 2007

Minneapolis, Minnesota...

Through the course of the previous evening I discovered that two boxes of Come Clean jackets were missing. I did a complete inventory, then another, then we searched all over Andy and Eric's place, I called UPS... I thought it was happening all over again. The last time I manufactured a record a couple of boxes went missing while being delivered and it took me 6 months to get reimbursed. I was starting to get really pissed off at my misfortune when we came up with possibility that our boxes were successfully delivered to the Extreme Noise music store in the city and that Andy and Eric overlooked them when the parcels were picked up. We drove down to the store and sure enough, two beat-up boxes addressed to Primitive Air-Raid were sitting on the floor right in front of the cash register. What a relief.

We then drove northwest of the city to the small town called Hanover, Minnesota. There was a customized vans dealer there that were able to install seatbelts in the bench seat of the van. We considered it a worthy investment.

It was late afternoon by the time we were ready to roll again. We had show in Milwaukee to play that night. It was originally supposed to be with some punk bands at the Koolaid house but unfortunately the place was busted and shut down by the police because roommates partied outside the previous night. We were then added to a bar show.

As mid-evening arrived, so did our first major setback. We were already deep inside Wisconsin and making decent time. A storm was rolling towards us from the Great Lakes. Visibility on the road was reduced and I almost drove into an 18-wheeler while merging back onto the interstate thanks to those small, distorted, taped-on mirrors. Pretty nerve-wracking to say the least.

Then I noticed that the van was overheating. Badly. We took the next exit, just outside Delton, Wisconsin. We popped the hood and radiator fluid sprayed all over the engine and ground. Not good. Cam got on the phone with his dad for advice while I took some from an elderly woman who came over to investigate. She figured it was either the water pump or the thermostat.

We ended up waiting for about 30 minutes for the van to cool down, then topped off the radiator with water and pulled back onto the interstate. The van overheated again about 30 minutes later and we were forced to pull off into another station. The storm intensified, whipping down sheets of rain and lighting up the surrounding forest. We gave Dave, the promoter, a call at 11 PM. It didn't look like we were going to make it. Our first canceled show of the tour and only on our second day.

Dave did a very kind thing and gave us the address of a friend's place in nearby Madison. We limped our way into town and made our way to Ariel's downtown apartment. We were really thankful for her giving us a place to crash for the night and ended up having a good time, staying up late visiting. It made up for not being able to play.

"Purple Cravings" from My Poetry Is Out Of Control by Jason Penner

I am your travesty
I am your majesty
Uncrowned royalty who wiped
With your fancy tapestry
Oops
There it is
Rolling down the mountain top
Ricochet of the hidden valley
Sinking its teeth
Setting its jaw
Locking you into economy for the night
No shirt, no shoes, I'll fuck your ass
And make you humble
P-I-E





All of Jason's photographs from Under Pressure's 2007 US tour can ben found here.

Under Pressure US Tour - Day 1 - July 25, 2007

Winnipeg, Manitoba...

Six months of planning. Always the last minute shake-up; shows falling through, logistics short-circuiting, my multitasking capabilities being overtaxed. It's that time again, and what better time than late July through to the end of August? I mean, I love temperate climates; why not bake myself in a tin can on wheels for a month? Sure, I recently bought my first house and found no limit to the delights of air-conditioning. Fuck that. I'll roast myself alive in a tin can on wheels and baste my flesh in the collective sweat of the band.

Planes, Trains & Automobiles; that's pretty much how Under Pressure converged on Minneapolis. I remember the movie being a lot more funny. Joe's parents drove the two of us down. Cam jogged across the border raising money for some sort of charity, then sucked cocks for rides. Dan had that ultralight that he had never got around to building. I forget what Mike did.

Anyhow, I really enjoyed meeting Joe's parents and visiting with them on the ride down. We made it to Fashionable Idiots headquarters (Andy and Eric's Minneapolis apartment) without incident. Cam was already there assembling records. It's kind of a miracle that both of our two new records, Come Clean and Black Bile, shipped on time.

It wasn't that much later that Dan and Mike arrived. We checked out the Fashionable Idiots tour van, sorted out our equipment, then slowly made our way down to the Cube house to officially kick off the tour. It was nice running into Steve Smiley and catching up. His band, Pandamonium, played first. I really enjoyed them; fast, ferocious female-fronted hardcore. They were followed by loose crusty-type band called Ganglion (featuring Jim from A.S.S--I really liked that band) and a hardcore band from Philadelphia called Lighten Up! I took photos of the bands but unfortunately I haven't developed the film yet so I'll have to come back and add them at some later date. Overall, an enjoyable evening in a small basement; the perfect setting for a loose, energetic Under Pressure set. I wish I could get down to Minneapolis more often these days, as I've fallen out of touch with some people I used to hang out with several times a year. Still, it was nice visiting with those who showed up.

I can't remember exactly when it was that we were listening to records at Andy's apartment. Someone threw on a DRY ROT 7". We were going to be playing several dates with them on this tour, and the southern California band had just recently played Minneapolis. When prompted on a verdict of their show, Andy told us that they were weird and that we'd either love them or hate them. He didn't seem entirely sure whether he was feeling the love. He also told us that he heard they were... Christians.

[insert knee-jerk reaction here]

What stance would UNDER PRESSURE take? Would we take action, maintain punk purity and fuck shit up? Would we confront them on thousands of years of mismanaged and squandered superpowers? Would we talk about them behind their backs and shun them from our tribe with long and awkward silences? Or would we become converts?

So I stumbled upon a little project. I was yammering to myself in the van and realized that I was honking. Honking is something that I can't really describe to you other than to say that it is something not unlike verbal diarrhea. To really know, you would need to have a conversation with me about it when I'm in the zone. Anyhow, I decided that I would immerse myself into this state of being and use this little-known and misunderstood tool to chisel out some poems; a mandate of one a day.

The tour has started. Touring is kind of like a new exercise or diet that you are forced to immerse yourself in with no reprieve. It's a daily regiment that yields results you will only realize a week or two down the road. Touring makes you dumber. It makes a lot of things really funny. It buries your grasp of time. It gives you a labido the size of the biggest dildo you've ever seen. It pulls you away from the confines of everyday life; it gives you a new perspective. It shows you just how big and incredible/shitty the world is. It lowers your standards. It raises your ambitions. It introduces you to some of the most awful/amazing people you could ever meet. Every time you step out of the van, you might wonder how much time has passed and if you will be setting yourself upon gas station attendants who are part of an advanced civilization of apes.

"Here's A Starter" from My Poetry Is Out Of Control by Jason Penner

Yeah, I've smelt the felch
Felonious decorated interior
Leaked all over my exterior
You roll over and say,
"Here's a starter."


Joe's parents drove the two of us down to Minneapolis. Two new 12" slabs of vinyl--Come Clean and Black Bile await our arrival.


The Fashionable Idiots tour van, later to be known (to me) as the Meatwave.


Cam assembling records at Andy and Eric's apartment.


Andy and Eric's cat. Handsome fella.


Mike being Mike.


Some asshole ripped the mirrors off the van while another band was on tour. I suppose this fix was better than not having any mirrors. We later found a spare mirror in the van. Turns out we didn't ever have to use it. Somehow, they stayed on throughout the entire tour.




Under Pressure has the traditional "look into the camera and smile with all of the naive optimism you can muster", which automatically sentences us to weeks of misfortune and agony.


Apparently, Joe's not with the program.

All of Jason's photographs from Under Pressure's 2007 US tour can ben found here.

No Fun - October 12, 2007

No Fun @ War On Music on October 12, 2007





More photographs here.

Born Bad, No Fun, Vile Hands* and Modern Problems* @ the Red Road Lodge on September 28, 2007


Tony Two-Fist doing what he does best (taking a fall) during No Fun's set.


Born Bad

More photographs here.

*Not photographed.

L'viv, Born Bad and Modern Problems - October 13, 2007

L'viv @ War On Music on October 13, 2007





Under Pressure*, Born Bad and Modern Problems @ the Mondragon on October 13, 2007


Born Bad

More photographs available here.

*Not photographed.

the Hot Live Guys and the Untrained Eyes - October 25, 2007

the Hot Live Guys and the Untrained Eyes @ the Cavern on October 25, 2007


the Untrained Eyes






the Hot Live Guys

More photographs here.

Velodrome and Hide Your Daughters - September 29, 2007

Hide Your Daughters, Under Pressure* and Velodrome @ the Label Gallery on September 29, 2007


Velodrome



More photographs here

*Not photographed.

the Untrained Eyes, Raiden and Ramirez - May 20, 2007

Under Pressure*, Raiden, the Untrained Eyes and Ramirez @ the Red Road Lodge on May 20, 2007.

More photographs from the show here

This was my first time using the D100 on bands. I used existing light and had graininess as a result. I still like how they turned out for the most part.





*Not photographed.

Search + Destroy, the Sinks, Born Bad and No Fun - December 21, 2007

Search & Destroy @ War On Music on December 21, 2007





More of their free set at War On Music here.

Born Bad, the Sinks (Minneapolis), No Fun, On Our Side* and Modern Problems @ the Rudolf Rocker CC on December 21, 2007


Modern Problems


No Fun


Born Bad

More photographs here.

*Not photographed.

the Agenda, Dead Dogs and Modern Problems - December 15, 2007

Under Pressure*, the Agenda (Minneapolis), Dead Dogs, Modern Problems @ the Rudolf Rocker CC on December 15, 2007.


the Agenda


(Tony Two-Fist's fly is down... and I'm not 100% sure but I think you can see part of his dick.)

More photographs here.

*Not photographed.

Radio State for Monday, December 17th, 2007

Radio State
w/ DJs Terrible & Fuck You

Monday, December 17th, 2007
9:00 PM - 12:00 midnight CST
on 101.5 UMFM Winnipeg
http://www.umfm.com

DJ Terrible's dedicating the first 2 hours of this week's show to Australia. Four decades of music will be covered; from 60's "Nuggets", to the earth shattering punk rock explosion of the 70's that reverberated on into the early 80's, before finally rolling to a stop in the 90's. And remember, DJ Fuck You will follow this up with an hour all to his own, for he is often everything that Terrible is not.

the Masters' Apprentices - "Poor Boy"
the Creatures - "Ugly Thing"
the Black Diamonds - "See The Way"
the Four Strangers - "Sad & Lonely"
Machine Gun Kelly's Rejects - "I'm Going Back"

the Missing Links - "Speak No Evil"
The Id - "Watch Out"
the Purple Hearts - "Of Hopes And Dreams And Tombstones"
Tony Worsley & the Fabulous Blue Jays - "How Can It Be"

Psycho Surgeons - "Horizontal Action"
the Primitive Calculators - "Glitter Kids"
the Victims - "I'm Flipped Out Over You"

Lipstick Killers - "Hindu Gods (Of Love"
the Leftovers - "Cigarettes & Alcohol"
the Scientists - "Be Ya Lyin'"

the Fun Things - "Savage"
the Celibate Rifles - "Gimme Gimme Gimme"
X - "Revolution"
the Saints - "No Time"

the Scientists - "Set It On Fire"
the Butcher Shop - "Hard For You"
Kim Salmon & the Surrealists - "Bad Birth"
Beasts Of Bourbon - "Chase The Dragon"
the Birthday Party - "Kiss Me Black"

Bloodloss - "Blabbermouth"
Venom P Stinger - "And Suddenly"
Feedtime - "All Down"
God - "My Pal"
The Mark Of Cain - "Lords of Summer"

Radio Birdman - "455 SD"
the Visitors - "Life Spill"
the New Christs - "No Way On Earth"

Radio State for Monday, December 3rd, 2007

Radio State
w/ DJ's Terrible & Fuck You

Monday, December 3rd, 2007
9:00 PM - 12:00 midnight CST
on 101.5 UMFM Winnipeg
http://www.umfm.com

Muuuuuuuuuuusic...

DJ Terrible's sets:

Carbonas - "Cold Waste"
Kajun SS - "Psychological Problems"
Vee Dee - "TV Police"

Clone Defects - "Rouge River Rebel"
King Kahn & His Shrines - "Fear & Love"
the Lamps - "Anvil"

the Fall - "Totally Wired"
Joy Division - "No Love Lost"
the Gordons - "Spik And Span"
Feedtime - "All Down"
Per Ubu - "Heart Of Darkness" (didn't get around to playing it last time)
Sonic Youth - "Tom Violence"

Red Dons - "Incomplete Action"
Canadian Rifle - "Health"

the Agenda - "Hunger"
the Crawlers - "Waste Of Talent"
Brain Handle - "Time Violence"
Career Suicide - "Fan The Flame"
Bill Bondsmen - "Down With The King"
Wrangler Brutes - "Erase The Faces"
Dry Rot - "Bind And Salt"

Double Negative - "Stop Growing"
Kieltolaki - "Maailma Menee Helvettiin"
Väärinkäsitys - "Kierrätystä"

On the bus...

Riding the #60 to the U of M to do the radio show.

Always on the edge

Riding the #16 home from work.

Canadian Rifle, the Gorgon and Modern Problems - November 30, 2007

Under Pressure*, Canadian Rifle, the Gorgon and Modern Problems @ the Rudolf Rocker CC on November 30, 2007

Exhausting...

I had a blast at the Canadian Rifle show, even if I didn't have much of a chance to socialize with anyone until afterward. The band came over to my place after we cleaned up and stopped by War On Music and an LC. We visited for a few hours, ate some curry and watched SCTV before turning in. I hope they'll come back again sometime soon. They're a great band and fantastic people.

This morning I had work but I was still able to go out for breakfast with the band before they left town. Craig joined us at the Falafel Place.

I'm writing this completely braindead. I'll have to make another attempt at journaling another time. Anyhow, here are some photos of the show. I really enjoyed fooling around with my external flash now that I have the cord. For my first attempt using it, I think I got decent results.


Modern Problems


Search & Destroy




the Gorgon


Canadian Rifle





More photographs here.

*Not photographed.