This past weekend

As many of you may know, I am in a folk band called Trunks and Tales, and this weekend we played two shows and did a lot of traveling.

On Friday we played at the Fire in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. The Fire is a small venue near Fishtown, and is half venue half bar. The turnout was pretty good, and we played with some very good bands.
Immediately after our band came a band called the Powderkegs. The Powderkegs played a brand of mellow, mostly keys driven indie music that didn't quite seem to find it's home among the more punk rock and folk oriented listeners in attendance that night. Regardless, the trio played a tight set, and the singer flowed back and forth between playing bass and keys.
Following the Powderkegs was Robert Sarazin Blake. Blake is a singer/songwriter from Bellingham, Washington, who often tours with his drummer Jordan Rain. Blake plays traditionally influenced folk music, but plays it in a spastic, spontaneous was that is not easily categorized. The singer slips between side banter and lyrics flawlessly, often inserting stories or anecdotes into the middle of his songs. He played for about an hour before the evening's headliner, Mischief Brew, took the stage.
Philadelphia's Mischief Brew needs no introduction in their hometown. The band is led by songwriter Erik Petersen, who also has a habit of playing solo acoustic shows. The full band experience is a folk/punk fireball, and the usually inebriated band rockets through their songs at warped speed, usually playing forty five minute sets jam packed with songs. This night ended in a memorable way, with Erik grabbing his acoustic guitar while the drummer grabbed a pot and advancing into the crowd to incite an acoustic sing along song to end the night.


Our Saturday was mainly filled with driving, but some history was stumbled upon. This past weekend marked the 39th anniversary of the Kent State Shootings, when four students were killed while protesting the United States Occupation of Cambodia. We were able to visit Kent State University, and the whole experience (mixed with the virtual police state that the town had entered) was pretty surreal. We stayed with some awesome people in Kent, and made some new friends in the Lansing chapter of Bash Back! a radical GLBT organization.

Sunday was the big day of our weekend, as we proceeded to Toledo, Ohio to play the Grand Opening of the Black Cherry Infoshop. This space is something that Toledo activists have been working on for two years, and their dreams have finally come to glorious fruition. The space is huge- the ground level is an info shop with books and dvds, and a kitchen is in the process of being built for a donation based cafe. The top floor is occupied by several apartments, which some members of the collective will be moving into. The basement of the space is a huge open room that is going to be used for the venue portion of the space. This particular night somewhere between 150 and 200 people of all ages and backgrounds filled the space for a potluck and a show with eight bands. The primary draw for the night was in the form of former Ohio natives Defiance, Ohio.

Defiance, Ohio is one of the more popular bands to emerge from the working class radical folk punk genre. The sextet is known for its energetic live shows and radical lyrics and agenda. Sunday May 3rd the band rolled through a set of songs from all of their albums, spanning the over five years that they have been a band. All of the concert attendees stuck around for them, and the crowd came alive as soon as the first chord was struck. The band put a good cap on a night of hope and celebration.

Boards and Forums

Hey everyone, if you're interested in pretty much anything regarding the music industry/scene, you should head on over to the OSH Radio forums and message boards! Crazy John Kerecz and myself have a number of threads and topics started, rant away!
www.oshradio.proboards.com

Also, be sure to check out a blog I read frequently if you're interested in folk/alt country type stuff, he posts streams and downloads almost everyday!
www.ninebullets.net

Propagandhi - Supporting Caste

“See, many of you think I’m a vegan. I’m here to tell you that that is no longer true. I now believe in eating free range human beings.”
There are only a few places that this statement would elicit applause and cheers of approval, one of which being the Trocadero Theatre in Philadelphia Pennsylvania, where a few weeks ago Chris Hannah stirred the crowd into an uproar with one of his only bits of between song banter. He had a lot to live up to, after all, as Propagandhi’s avid willingness to spread their radical rhetoric had earned them a bit of notoriety; not to mention that they had not been to the east coast in nearly eight years.
“Yeah, I believe that the way humans live is the most humane method of raising edible livestock.”
This tongue in cheek aside led the band into their newest testament of veganism, “Human(e) Meat”. The cut was one of the handful the band played off of their newest full-length, Supporting Caste, which Hannah also managed to comment on. “We have a new record out, and I can tell by the drooling faces during the new songs that you don’t all have it yet.”
The band’s history is a long and progressive one, beginning with 1993’s How To Clean Everything. While the band’s politics and belief systems that have remained unchanged throughout its career, the sonic aesthetic is something that followers of the band’s entire catalogue will find suddenly veers. How To Clean Everything and its follow-up Less Talk, More Rock were politically confrontational while being aggressive, though in a more standard, less technical way than later records would soon unveil. After the departure of bassist John K. Samson a new era of Propagandhi was ushered in, seemingly with the addition of secondary vocalist and songwriter Todd Kowalski, and the three albums that followed have confirmed Propagandhi as both one of the world’s most talented and politically involved bands.

Supporting Caste the band’s fifth proper studio album, falling conveniently into place within the second era of the band that was begun with 2001’s Today’s Empires, Tomorrow’s Ashes and continued in 2005 with Potemkin City Limits.
The album begins in pummeling fashion, with pinpoint rhythms and dense riffs, added to by the band’s newest addition, second guitar player David “The Beaver” Guillas. Kowalski’s lyrics reference a friend working the night shift on a dangerous side of town, and Hannah’s flair for short arpeggiated guitar leads shines through.
The album’s title track begins the intense political metaphor and imagery for which the band is known, aligning the end of the world with the rolling credits of a terrible film, citing the way that the only way one will be featured would be to have been a “shepherd king, a virgin birth, a resurrection, a messianic prince or some such childish thing.” Hannah’s lyrics read like a well informed rant written in prose, creating readable paragraphs within the songs that twist and bend to rhyme and fill in the holes between elaborate musical passages.
“Dear Coach’s Corner” finds the band in top melodic form while relating the still scathing commentary of the lyrics to something as simple and seemingly politically neutral as hockey. Hannah spends the song questioning the need and purpose of pre game rituals that he compares to the rallies at Nuremburg. “Specifically the function the ritual serves in conjunction with what everybody knows is in the end a kid’s game. I’m just appealing to your sense of fair play when I say she’s puzzled by the incessant pressure for her to not defy the collective will, and yellow ribboned lapels, as the soldiers inexplicably rappel down from the arena rafters.”
The introduction of the song is a blazing mix of quick chord changes and a nicely placed lead, all dissolving into a single strummed clean guitar pattern while Hannah’s lyrics take center stage.

The album’s crowning gem, however, is the aforementioned “Human(e) Meat”, which piles every element that Propagandhi has become known for into one solid rager that details the way in which the band would dissect and consume cook book author and chef Sandor Katz. “With gratitude and tenderness I singed every single hair from his body, gently placed his decapitated head in a stock pot, boiled off his flesh and made a spread-able head cheese”. The band’s passion for animal activism shines through in stunning light on this track, mocking those who claim to gain some sort of pseudo spiritual connection through meat. “Because I believe that one can only relate with another living creature by completely destroying it”.

Though Propagandhi have long stood for a strict rhetoric of political beliefs the same can not always be said for their fans, as can be attested to by recent tour-mate Andy Nelson, bassist for Philadelphia’s Paint It Black. “It's been eye opening to tour with Propagandhi [just to see] how many people aren't politically conscious, and that's not a knock on the band, its just a testament to the fact that they put out pop punk records on Fat [Wreck Chords] in the 90's”.
This does not seem to deplete the band’s impact in Nelson’s eyes, however. “We [Paint It Black] don't take the stand that political punk can change the world in and of itself, but it definitely changed me as a person, and it changed a lot of people. Certainly people make a difference in the world. Propagandhi was a band I'm sure a lot of people see as a band that shapes the way that we think and the way we view the world”.

Gun For Hire's "Saving the Protagonist"

This is a review of an album put out by a handful of dudes that I go to school with. Solid dudes, solid music. I secretly hope that they got their name from the chorus of Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark", but somehow I doubt it.

"A burning flame. Yeah buddy."

These five words open Gun For Hire's debut EP Saving the Protagonist, and vocalist Andy Leonard could not have screamed a more perfect description of the group as a whole. Though the lyrics go on to somewhat cryptically describe a topic more intense than the drive and intent of a band, the spark is there.

The brainchild of music school students, Gun For Hire's instrumentation packs intensity and brutality alongside precision musicianship. The opening track "Brotherhood: Bloodline" sets the tone for the rest of the recording, opening with heavy, (what I can assume are) open, palm muted chords complimented by Leonard's growl.

Throughout the seven tracks on Protagonist Gun For Hire very rarely drops the intensity, flowing somewhat flawlessly between keys and time signatures. Guitarist Scott Hoon's elaborate riffs are rarely repeated, solidly drifting atop a consistently heavy rhythm section. Hoon does not completely disregard flare, throwing solos into instrumental breaks and filling dead stop pauses with quick leads.

Leonard's vocals primarily growl through his imagery filled lyrics, though he occasionally slips into melodic singing, mostly escapoing the genre trappings that haunt users of the same vocal device.

Saving the Protagonist provides an introduction to a talented band pushing toward a larger goal. While remaining solid overall, the EP lacks a certain sense of cohesiveness, a small improvement that has the potential to be corrected on a full length or second EP.

-Justin Lutz

Updates, expectations, works in progress

Ok, so much time has passed with little updates, John and I have both been busy running here, running there, writing this, writing that. Here's a smattering of updates regarding what we've been doing.

- A few weeks ago I cruised over to the Chameleon Club in Lancaster to check out a show with Murder by Death, Builders and the Butchers, Fake Problems, and Perkasie. Perkasie are local favorites, and I have never been dissappointed by a live show from this Lancaster sextet. They manage to mix the best parts of folk, ragtime, swagger, and punk energy to form a wonderful ball of harmony. At the show I managed to scuttle backstage and interview MBD frontman Adam Turla, and a proper article regarding the band is coming soon.

- Weeks before the MBD show I was fortunate enough to see a childhood favorite - Powerman 5000- at the same club in Lancaster. The show review and resulting journey and experiences are coming soon as well.

- Just recently John and I both managed to frequent the 13th annual Millenium Music Conference at the Radisson Hotel in Harrisburg. I typed up a log of my travels, and the article should be appearing in the next issue of Shinbone Magazine, so keep an eye out for that.

- Upcoming projects include interviews with Winnipeg's Propagandhi (hopefully!), NJ's Bouncing Souls, and MN's Dillinger Four. Keep your fingers crossed for a Paint it Black interview as well. That's all I have for the moment, in the meantime check out these links and really awesome bands!

http://www.ninebullets.net/

http://www.punknews.org/

www.myspace.com/pedalsonourpirateships

-awesome pirate folk band from Richmond, VA

www.myspace.com/thegaslightanthem

-NJ Springsteen revivalists, top of my 2008 list!

Let Me Run Won't Be Meeting Anyone at the Bottom Just Yet

When Travis Omilian shouts "We can carry the weight of this town on our backs tonight", few things have sounded more urgent or more sincere, and he erases any possibility of corny lyrical cliches when he sings "I wear my shoes down to the skins from stomping the ground to the rhythm of my sins".

These lyrical bombshells are both included in the opening song on Let Me Run's Meet Me At The Bottom, a song that sets the tone for the remainder of the album. Lyrically, topics run from the love of music and being young ("Bastard Sons of Mayhem") to being there for your friends ("Shane") and having drinking problems ("Like a Fish").

Omilian's words ring with a passion members of the punk rock community are hard pressed to find. the "I'll be there for you" vibe of "Shane" succeeds in being sincere while not inciting drunken bro-hugs in the bar, as Omilian sings "You can bend and break on me, I can break and bend on you, you can meet me at the bottom when you have to."

Even when covering something as fundamental as drinking problems Omilian delivers lines dripping with imagery and soaked in metapho. ("I sing the selfish songs of the sea, I'm like a fish ... I'm barely sober, but I'm starting over").

Musically Meet Me At The Bottom doesn't dazzle, because it doesn't need to. Solid melodic guitar parts give weight to Omilian's lyrics, while guitar player Corey Perez accentuates instrumental sections with simple leads that smoothly cruise rather than soar.

The whole record is held in a simple yet beautiful jacket depicting all facets of a grandfather clock. The only confusion with the album arises from how the artwork coincides with the title of the record or the lyrical content. However, judging from the way Let Me Run carry themselves in all other musical facets, the artwork was not chosen lightly.

Though many listeners may stumble across Let Me Run through former label mates The Gaslight Anthem, the inclusion of the latter's Brian Fallon as a guest vocalist should be recognized as a collaboration between friends rather than a desperate grabe for coattails. Homestate and label are the only two similarities the bands share, and with Meet Me At The Bottom Let Me Run has solidified their spot on a list of quality New Jersey bands able to stand on their own feet.

~Justin

Springsteen's 'Dream' Could Still Use Some Work

Whether he knew it or not, Bruce Springsteen ushered in a new era of his career with the release of 2002's The Rising, an era that has continued through 2007's Magic, and an era that has waited in anticipation for this year's Working on a Dream. If Working serves as any milestone in Springsteen's three decade career, it acts as a stamp on a second era, indicating the end of a musical peak initiated with The Rising.
The album's opener, "Outlaw Pete", is an eight minute epic complete with soaring synth-strings and heavy vocal reverb. This ambitious leading track is a contender for the best on the album, dripping with the gruff passion and spot-on songwriting that fans have come to expect from Springsteen. The echoing chorus of "Can you hear me?" is haunting and powerful, the cornerstone of a song that would not have been out of place on We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions or even The Rising.
Unfortunately, the majority of Working on a Dream fails to hit the mark set by "Outlaw Pete". The album's title track is slightly bouncier and more melodic, reminding the listener of some of the more likeable songs on Magic. "Working on a Dream", however, is soaked in lyrical cliche, and over half of the lyrics consist of the line "I'm working on a dream".
The lyrical quality continues to slide downhill in the album's deadweight track "Queen of the Supermarket". This song joins a long list of love songs written to nameless grocery store girls, only to fall short of all others that come to mind. The music's synth soaked 80's feel channels Meatloaf style frills, with Patti Scialfa sealing the comparison by crooning the song's title behind Bruce.
The next track, "What Love Can Do", is an acoustic guitar driven pop tune suitable for Top 40 radio. The song almost acts as a fulcrum, tipping the album into mediocrity by the end of its last organ tinged chorus. The half of the album that follows is largely forgettable, punctuated by a few gems along the way. "Tomorrow Never Knows" sounds like a We Shall Overcome outtake, with Bruce's vocals sounding the most honest since "Outlaw Pete". "Surprise Surprise" tries hard to be more lackluster than "Queen of the Supermarket", and only falls short by inches. Its lyrics act as reminders of why listeners skip half of the tracks on Magic.
"The Last Carnival" is the last proper album track, and is a fitting closer. Bruce growls end-of-the-day-is-coming lyrics over a sparse arrangement, using a powerful tune to seal the deal on a somwhat lacking collection of songs.
The real gem lies in The Boss's contribution to the movie The Wrestler. A somber acoustic tune tacked onto the end as a bonus track, the song is reminiscient of Devils and Dust, which served as a direction changing record for Springsteen.
Bruce Springsteen has built an undeniable legacy, and while Working on a Dream is certainly no Born To Run, it serves as the fourth in a series of albums that act as a document of the second coming of his career. If "The Wrestler" is any indication, another Devils and Dust is just around the corner.

~Justin

Welcome, first post!

Hello all, this is the first post of what will inevitably grow to be a valuable companion to the print version of the Ragazine. This blog will feature interviews, reviews, articles, and rants from Crazy John Kerecz and myself. The emphasis will be put on the greater Harrisburg and central Pennsylvania areas, and the objective will be to cover and promote independent, underground, grassroots, and unsigned artists and bands in an attempt to strengthen the community that music creates and allow us to share ideas and new bands.
I hope you all find the content here stimulating and useful in your travels and pursuit of independent music! I'm sure John will also type an introductory post, so be ready!

Justin Lutz
jll006@lvc.edu