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November 28, 2009
September 23, 2009
Albums Still to Come in 2009: The Autumn of My Salvation
Yes, 2009 has been a flat-out FUGLY year for new music, blah blah blah, whine whine whine, felch felch felch. And yes, I've already belabored this point on the Best Albums of '09 So Far list I posted last month, but fear not: the last quarter of the year is about to swoop in and save all of y'all's heretofore puny Year-End lists from the shitheap. Bring it on, assholes!
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Baroness - Blue Record [due October 13th] -- Enjoyed these guys' last one (2007's Red Album was my 15th favorite record of that year) even if I wasn't terribly psyched about the vocals. And I love the live show. And once when I was at a Baroness show I saw the crowd flip a dude's wheelchair. Then, they mocked him as he struggled on the floor. Fucked up shit right there. Still not convinced as to Blue Record's amazingness? Go here to stream some new tracks, you pansy.
Lightning Bolt - Earthly Delights [due October 13th] -- These guys' first new album since 2005. Not that you asked, but I saw Lightning Bolt last month on the same day when the rest of all you dickholes were chillin' wit Jay Z and Beyonce at the Grizzly Bear thing. Admittedly, no Griz fan I, but y'all missed the fuck out.
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Atlas Sound - Logos [due October 20th] -- Truth be told, at first I didn't really much care for the first Atlas Sound album. Maybe it was the lack of cohesively strong songwriting. Maybe it was that it was just nowhere near as good as Deerhunter's formidable output. Or maybe I had simply succumbed to Bradford Cox oversaturation, who knows. Long story short, I like Let the Blind... quite a bit now as mood music in the same vein as Earth's excellent The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull.
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Pelican - What We All Come to Need (due October 27th) -- I originally ranked City of Echoes fairly high on my Best of '07 end-of-year list, but nearly two years hence I'm of the mind that City of Echoes was the best album of '07, and probably one of the top two or three albums of the aughts overall. Seriously! Which is all the more surprising considering how little I enjoyed the Ephemeral EP from earlier in '09. [In all fairness, I've totally come around on Ephemeral's title track since having written that review.] Well, their forthcoming long-player boasts guest spots from Aaron Turner of Isis, one of the dudes from SUNNO))) and other assorted luminaries. I'm really hoping for big things from this one.
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Wolfmother - Cosmic Egg [due October 27] -- I predict.... this will be the perfect soundtrack to drainin' brew-dogs and sparkin' bowls, brah. Not afraid to admit that I enjoyed the shit out of their previous one.
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Guided by Voices - Suitcase 3- Up We Go Now [due November 3rd] -- In a nutshell: loved the first Suitcase box set; was disappointed in the second. Love a lot of Uncle Bob's pre-GbV-breakup material; hate about 85% of the post-breakup stuff. Here's hoping this exercise in archive-mining is a fruitful one.
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September 12, 2009
Melvins (opening for Down) at Nokia Theater, September 11, 2009
At the current time, I'm too stoned to really accomplish much. "How stoned are you, Tuddd?" you may ask. My answer to that is that I'm just realizing that I've been listening to music by The Imagination Movers for about 15 minutes. (Highlights: "My Favorite Snack" and "I Want My Mommy," fwiw.) In fact, chances are a couple days from now I'll come across this post and wonder exactly where the fuck it came from, what with the me not remembering having written it and all. What does all of this mean? Well, primarily it's a lame excuse for me to not write full paragraphs, instead going with bullet points. To quote Dirty Harry, "choke on it."
- God Fucking Damn are the Melvins amazing. Their set lasted for about an hour, during which "asses" were "rocked."
- In fact, I enjoyed the set so much that I actually just checked to see whether or not I could still get tix for Saturday's ATP lineup, at which the Melvins will be performing. (Nope, it's too late to get tix. Bummer.)
- Buzz was wearing a big fucking wizard's robe type deal.
- The crowd was maddeningly sedate during the Melvins' set, which (natch) was pointed out by Buzz, who wondered aloud "has someone up front died or something?"
- I nearly broke my neck thrashing during "Blood Witch."
- I think they did "Anaconda">"Zodiac," which, if it actually happened, was my favorite part of the evening.
- They definitely played "Billy Fish" and "The Kicking Machine" too.
- Right behind me were some reasonably hot chicks who were rocking the fuck out. Rad.
- They closed their set with an a capella version of "The Star Spangled Banner." (Note the date of today's show if you're puzzled as to why. Yup.)
- Melvins had pretty much no merch for sale: just a couple of shirts and a band-signed hi hat, which had been marked down from $60 to $50.
- Down is a good band, but for fuck's sake having the Melvins open up for Down is like having Radiohead open up for Coldplay. Come on now, people.
- Down rocked out, and banter-wise Phil was Phil.
- Down opened their encore with a cover of "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love." Last two songs were (as expected) "Stone the Crow" and "Bury Me in Smoke."
- I had forgotten how much I like the song "Losing All."
- A shitload of weed was smoked at the show (none by me -- I partook before leaving my apartment). With the exception of the chick who was serving drinks, there was absolutely no staff monitoring the seated GA area, so folks were smoking their asses off.
That's pretty much all I've got. I'm going to bed.
September 05, 2009
August 27, 2009
Goes Cube, It's Casual and Easter at Lit, August 24th, 2009
[photo by Nuri Feder]
So I'm thinking about staying sober long enough that this isn't simply "taking a breather" but "something that, depending on my willpower, may become at least a semi-permanent thing." Which is really kind of fucked up, considering what a total drunk I've been for most of my (notionally) adult life. It's basically gotten to the point where if I'm goin' out for a tidy 10-20 drinks I absolutely know that at some point during the early A.M. I'm going to be feverishly placing a call to my coke dealer, which is no goodo. But it's nights like tonight -- going to see an awesome band, might as well have 3-6 beers -- that make me realize that, yeah, not getting shitfaced is going to blow, but fine live music stands on its own, booze or not. Makes y' feel all warm n' cuddly. (Also, thank god for weed.)
After somehow managing to get off the wrong stop on the F (RETARD!), I rolled up on Lit a hair before 9 PM, so no harm/no foul. Thinking back, I'm pretty sure the last time I was at this venue was to see a Goes Cube show last summer... and scanning Muddd archives confirms this (it was last September, and for some reason I skipped Wet Nurse's set). Walked in and shot the shit with the Cubesters (?!) pre-show, receiving some good-natured ribbing due to my newfound sobriety. (NOTE: I originally/accidentally typed that as "good-natured rimming." I wish!) Since I was out of town in early June and missed Goes Cube's triumphant post-tour return to NYC, this would be the first time I've seen the band with their new bassist, Matt, who runs the no-introduction-necessary Earfarm website. My pal and fellow loud music enthusiast Nuri showed up shortly thereafter and let me tell you we did some serious damage to the bar's Diet Pepsi reserves, hoo mama.
First band was a post-punky/post-hardcorey guitar/drums duo apparently called It's Casual, all the way from Los Angeles. Their songs were built around odd, constantly shifting time signatures, grungy guitar and shouted vocals. Liked these guys okay but I would have liked them better if Henry Bogdan was in the band. [NOTE: this can be said about most bands.]
After the 15 minute changeover, Goes Cube took the stage, ripping straight into an ass-kicking new instrumental, and segueing seamlessly into "Blue Sky," the lead track from their totally fucking awesome Another Day Has Passed album (#5 on my most recent Best Albums of '09 list). The rest of the set consisted of stellar Another Day album tracks ("Grinding the Knife Blade," "Saab Sonnet"), new unrecorded tracks ("Property," "Small Pond, Small Fish") and personal fave "Goes Cube Song 57" as the ol' chestnut "for the real fans." Some of the newer songs definitely showcased a bit of a stoner rock vibe, which is a bit of a different (and welcome) direction for these guys to take. Sick set, mang.
After another brief setbreak (which included the DJ playing some Austerity Program -- w00t!), Easter took the stage, all pugnacious and aggressive-like. Of course, their name renders them virtually un-Googleable (seriously, try it!) so if anyone has any further info about these guys send that shit along. I liked their sound, which was equal parts old-school SST hardcore, AmRep-tastic spitefulness, and grimy early '90s NYC post-hardcore. I also enjoyed the vocalist's attempts at baiting the tiny crowd, which had dwindled to just a handful of hardy souls by the end of their set. Good shit though.
Postshow lent a hand to the Goes Cube gents in a time of (slight) need before headin' home to smoke a bowl (or five). Mealz: SUFFICIENTLY ROCK'D.
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Not too many interesting shows coming up over the next few days, although I'll probably wind up at the Lightning Bolt show in Bushwick this weekend rather than the Grizzly Bear/Beach House Pool Party. Also, the new Pissed Jeans record is pretty great, Antlers, White Denim, Red Fang and Jay Reatard are all at least "good," and the Julian Plenti and Fever Ray albums have their moments. Over the next few days I'll have a "Best Albums of '09 That Haven't Been Released Yet" list or something like that. Yeah.
August 21, 2009
THANKZ TWELTZ!
"Maybe Joleisa..."
August 01, 2009
Electric Carmdawg and I Just Made This Cookie Monster Cake
YAYYYYYYYYY!!!!!
July 28, 2009
The Best (and worst) Albums of 2009 (so far)
Let's not gild the lily-- if these reviews seem bitchier than usual, it's for the simple reason that this has been an historically atrocious year for new music. Here's hoping the next few months improve matters since there's all kinds of potentially great shit poised to drop before the year's up. Fortunately I have a pretty significant backlog of albums I've hoarded over the last several years, and this year's shortage of good new shit has just meant I've been able to delve into the collected works of bands that y'all probably already know and love.
As usual, the rules for this list remain the same: this is newly-released full-lengths only, so there are no singles, reissues, or greatest hits comps on here. And these are all albums that I personally either bought myself or paid to download (except one which shall go nameless, and the Moby record which I streamed at NPR). So it's not like I stole this shit just so I could write snarky reviews. Enjoy! (or don't.)
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1.) Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz -- I was absolutely in love with the noisy direction the Yeah Yeah Yeahs had taken on 2007's awesome Is Is EP, so naturally I cringed when I heard the new one would feature an entirely new stylistic twist n' turn into disco-ish territory. To me, this foretold of a streamlining/mainstreaming of their sound, and I wasn't the hugest fan of their previous attempt at conventionality on Show Your Bones, because I kinda always felt the YYY's material is at its best with plenty of roughness around the edges. But f all that; simply put, Blitz contains their strongest songwriting ever, framed by absolutely letter-perfect production. From rave-ups to poppy shit to straight-up dance rock and even earnest ballads (?!) this album proves that the YYYs are good enough to be able to put gimmickry aside and churn out an album full of amazing songs.
2.) The Crocodiles - Summer of Hate -- I've had this on heavy rotation since I caught them at Union Pool last month. The recipe is simple: snotty vocals, analog synth, blazing guitar tone, drum machine. Imagine, say, a bratty Suicide mixed with J&MC's noisy melodicism. No less than 3 positively stellar competitors for the title of best-song-of-the-year: the title track, "I Wanna Kill" (what a fucking triumphant chorus!!) and "Sleeping With the Lord." [Interestingly, the singer is apparently a substitute teacher at a special ed school. I had several similar jobs years ago so I think think is awesome.]
3.) Crippled Black Phoenix - The Resurrectionists/Night Raider -- Sprawling double-album companion piece to 2007's pretty good A Love of Shared Disasters, this surpasses Disasters in every way that matters. Several distinct styles are explored, from galloping, Floydish numbers ("Rise Up and Fight") to more traditional post-rock ("Burnt Reynolds") to folk (um, lots of 'em), with cleverly varied instrumentation. The real improvement is in the haunting melodies, which creep their way into your mind -- have fun trying to get the accordion riff from "200 Tons of Bad Luck" out of your head. Is there a significant amount of filler? Yes, and some of the songs seem to take forever to get where they're going (the payoff is worth it more often than not, however). Although the pervasive mood can be characterized as "morose" or "downcast," there's more than enough light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel hopefulness to transcend mere mopiness. Yes, this album is uplifting enough to beat the misery of an hour on the 4 train. Several days a week.
4.) The Dead Weather - Horehound -- Man, I hated the first single ("Hang You From the Heavens") when I first heard it, but consider me totally 180'd on that one... as it turns out it's actually one of the year's finest songs thus far. In many ways, this album is the exact sum of it's parts: there's a definite old-school Kills sound on most of the songs, some bluesy crunch courtesy QOTSA, plenty of the White Stripes' minimalism and quiet/loud dynamic, as well as some vintage Raconteurs-style blandness. Probably Alison Mosshart's most soulful vocals ever, too, which says quite a bit.
5.) Goes Cube - Another Day Has Passed -- I've liked every one of these guys' self-released EPs, but this one is the first that actually approaches the furious intensity of Goes Cube's thrash-tastic live show. Highly fucking recommended.
6.) The Thermals - Now We Can See -- No, this doesn't come anywhere close to matching '06's landmark The Body, The Blood, The Machine, but if you pick this one apart (say, like an orange) there's still several good songs for all your mix-tapin' needs. The rave-ups and more solemn songs are fine, but at times the sappiest of this bunch manage to plumb the sickeningly sweet depths of '02's smarmy-as-all-get-out Hutch and Kathy project. Just skip those ones, though.
7.) Children - Hard Times Hanging at the End of the World -- Rockin', technically precise thrash that's fun as hell. The video for their lead single shows that these guys have a sense of humor to match their formidable chops. Great, great listen.
8.) Kylesa - Static Tensions -- 3 bona fide sludge classics on here ("Scapegoat," "Unknown Awareness," "To Walk Alone") framed by some lesser-but-still-pretty-darn-good stoner jams.
9.) Heartless Bastards - The Mountain -- The bluegrassy shit is terribly boring but the 3-chord grunge jams are emotive, soulful and rockin'. Employ your skip button judiciously.
10.) Dead Mellotron - Ghost Light Constellation EP -- How rare is it that a random band you've never heard of friends you on MySpace and it turns out their music is actually really good? Several lo-fi, hazy, shoegazy gems on this one, and you can download it for free here.
11.) Dan Deacon - Bromst -- Easily Dan Deacon's best songwriting ever, and the first thing I've heard by him that displays any real heart to speak of. But fans of his spazzier stuff can rejoice: plenty of wackiness (notably the goofy sound effects and pitch-shifted vocals) remains.
12.) Hull - Sole Lord -- Let me start by saying that 2007's Viking Funeral is one of the most aggressive, arresting metal epics I've ever heard, and for anyone who's had the pleasure of seeing Hull perform it live, you have to think "man, they're going to have to tone down the next thing they do a coupl'a notches if they're going avoid burning themselves out." That being said, I was a little disappointed with this album's subdued, at times even new-agey feel. Don't get me wrong, there are still several great bonecrushing moments on this record, but nothing here matches Viking Funeral's singular awesomeness.
13.) Death - ...For the Whole World to See -- A few people have hailed this as an "unearthed classic" or whatever which isn't exactly the case -- the material's good overall, but not great. Although there are only two truly great songs here ("Keep on Knocking," "Politicians in My Eyes,"), understanding the context in which it was written, recorded, and ultimately forgotten for a quarter century is pretty neat.
14.) Big Business - Mind the Drift -- The bass should be louder, the vocals should be turned down, and the guitar parts should just be fucking erased. Seriously, with Big Business, the sludgier the better, and here the head-scratchingly awful production choices almost -- almost, mind you -- ruin it. "The Drift" is one of the year's best songs, though.
15.) These Arms Are Snakes - Tail Swallower and Dove -- Several killer, bone-crushing grooves on this one ("Ethric Double," for one, is undeniably great), although at times it degenerates into what comes across as mathed-up emo.
16.) Black Math Horseman - Wylt -- Typically serviceable stoner metal. Yes, it's plodding and monotonous, but either way, it's still better than that Black Mountain "light bright light bright light bright" horsecrap.
17.) Dinosaur Jr. - Farm -- I had really high hopes for this one after the awesomeness of 2007's triumphant comeback Beyond, but the second half of this record really drags. On the positive tip, they did drastically improve the mix in comparison to Beyond: rather than placing the vocals front and center, the grunginess and fuzz really suit these guys. (Think You're Living All Over Me.) Also, I should mention that Farm does not lack for stellar guitar solos, if you're into that sort of thing.
18.) Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown -- At nearly 70 minutes this bad boy is overstuffed to the point of being comically bloated. Tough to get through in one sitting, although there are some decent tunes on here (I'm partial to the title track).
19.) LiveFastDie - Bandana Thrash Record -- Potty-mouthed gutterpunk by these drunken louts who (presumably) named their band after one of GG Allin's tats (peep his left tit). Very fun at times, but sometimes too retarded for their own good. Plus, "Fat Guy with an iPod" hits a bit too close to home *SNIFFLE*
20.) Dex Romweber Duo - Ruins of Berlin -- Somewhat of a disappointment after seeing their garage-filthy live show. Some tepid guest spots (Cat Power, Neko Case) take the music in the wrong direction: in a sane world this would be presented as distorted, raucous fare, not mild-mannered imitation bar-band averageness. Dex's amazing voice (part Roy Orbison, part Jerry Lee Lewis) saves this one.
21.) Stinking Lizaveta - Sacrifice and Bliss -- Dexterous, proggy licks crammed together, kind of in the vein of a more stoned Fucking Champs (if the Champs had an electric stand-up bassist).
22.) Deerhunter - Rainwater Cassette Exchange EP -- I'm used to Bradford Cox putting out tossed-off sounding stuff under the Atlas Sound moniker and saving the good shit for Deerhunter records, but this one pretty much splits the difference there.
23.) Mono - Hymn to the Immortal Wind -- Not bad, but I can't understand why you'd bother with this when there's so much other great post-rockish stuff out there. Yes, the instrumentation sounds painstakingly orchestrated, but the music just isn't great enough to warrant the feeling of timelessness that they're clearly shooting for.
24.) Franz Ferdinand - Tonight! Franz Ferdinand -- Pointless beyond the first single, "Ulysses," which was actually quite good.
25.) Los Straitjackets - The Further Adventures of Los Straitjackets -- Might as well have just named this one Etc. because while it's in the same vein of their previous output, it's nowhere near as good as much of it. Remember - while these guys are probably best known for their "Wipe Out!" soundalikes and film/TV theme covers, it's on their more original-sounding compositions ("University Blvd.," "Pacifica," "Casbah," "State Fair," etc.) that they've really earned their mettle up till now. Alas, this is record is mostly uninspired rehashes.
26.) Moby - Wait for Me -- Good background music; nothing more, nothing less.
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NOTE-- albums below here are all interchangeably crappy, so I didn't bother numbering them. Why bother writing reviews for them then, you may ask? Three simple reasons: 1.) I don't have a real job; 2.) I'm bitter about having spent money on them; and perhaps most importantly, 3.) I'm fresh out of pork rinds so I'm going to need something to occupy my hands for the next hour or so. Happy?
- Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion -- I doubt I'll ever "get" these guys mainly because I'm a fan of memorable melodies. You will find none of those on this album.
- Art Brut - Art Brut vs. Satan -- Loved the first album just like everyone else, but it's time to send this one-trick pony to the glue factory already. Not even production by Frank Black can save this one from being wholly inessential.
- Boston Spaceships - Planets are Blasted -- The "Pay Bob's Mortgage You Sucker" campaign fumbles onward with this, yet another horrible album. And still, like a total fucking moron, I hold tight to the misguided notion that at some point Bob may rediscover the brilliance that made me such an eager devotee for several years. Y'know what? Fuck "brilliance." At this point I'd settle for Fiction Man II or some such. [Note: yes, I did preorder Bob's newest forthcoming solo record yesterday. I hate myself.]
- Isis - Wavering Radiant -- Another band that I'm "supposed" to love because I like Tool and I enjoy all kinds of good post-metal-ish stuff, but frankly I just don't see it. The riffs are poor-man's at best and what's worse, the sung vocals sound like Nick Hexum. Shudder.
- Mastodon - Crack the Skye -- A major turn for the worse. First off, if you're going to jack up your (crappy) vocals, you may want to think about writing a decent fucking melody first, no? Second, for a band frequently cited these days as being among The Best Metal Bands in the World, whither all the great riffs? I'll tell you exactly where: "The Czar" at about 4:00 and again in the same song at 7:40; the intro to the title track; and 8:25 or so into "The Last Baron." Seriously, that's it. Weak.
- Maximo Park - Quicken the Heart - Futureheads>Bloc Party>Young Knives>Arctic Monkeys>Maximo Park>Kaiser Chiefs. Nuff said.
- NODZZZ - NODZZZ -- Useless. For all the kids out there that think horrendous crap like Nodzzz or Wavves or Vivian Girls or The Beets perfected lo-fi, please spend some quality time with Alien Lanes and see how this shit's really supposed to be done. Thanks!
- Pelican - Ephemeral EP -- First thing by these guys I've heard that I haven't absolutely adored. These 3 songs suck ass. (Full disclosure - I think City of Echoes is one of the two finest albums of the aughts.)
- Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix - I think this is trite, and the songwriting's poor-at-best. Discuss!
- Praxis - Profanation: Preparation for a Coming Darkness -- Unfortunately, the emphasis here is not on the band (killer B's Bill Laswell, Buckethead, Bernie Worrell and Brain)'s formidable chops, but on shuffling a new, different guest vocalist in on each and every track. Does not for good listening make.
- Seventh Void - Heaven Is Gone -- Long-awaited side project from the guitarist and drummer of Type O Negative. The title track is decent, but the rest is sub-generic stoner metal crap.
- The Soft Pack - The Muslims - The Meh-slims is more like it. T'heh!
- Wavves - Wavvves -- Manages to be both overrated and underrated at the same time. No, this guy isn't the Antichrist, and no, he's also not the "savior of lo-fi" or whatever. He's just some spoiled SoCal kid with an incredible publicist and no perceptible talent.
July 27, 2009
Torche and Harvey Milk with Pollution at Music Hall of Williamsburg, July 27, 2009
TORCHE ^
HARVEY MILK ^
I've been looking forward to this show for quite awhile... it's kind of a sludge dream bill, no? During the calendar year 2009 there's no band I've listened to more (as confirmed by my iTunes play counts) than the mighty Harvey Milk, and this would be the first time I've ever seen 'em live. And although I've already seen Torche three times before, this would be the first time I've seen them as a full-fledged headliner. Love love love these bands.
Puffed a couple of bowls before heading out towards Music Hall of Williamsburg, making it past the Snoop-lookalike bouncer and inside the venue before 9. (Preshow music was Clash, I think.) The first band, the four-piece Pollution, didn't take the stage until well after 9, plying the crowd with their brand of downtuned, angst-y metal. Influence-wise, these guys seemed to draw a lot from the usual '90s NYC hardcore/metal hybrid mainstays as well as the classic AmRep sound from the same basic time period. Enjoyable.
After an excessively long setbreak (over 35 minutes, more than long enough for the in-house soundguy to play the entirety of Death From Above 1979's You're a Woman, I'm a Machine album), Harvey Milk took the stage. Vocalist/guitarist Creston Spiers looked like Hell's Own Janitor dressed in a one-piece charcoal jumpsuit, with greasy locks framing a weatherbeaten face. A wholly appropriate appearance for the man whose legendary full-throated bellow makes it sound like he's passing a kidney stone the size (and shape) of a hedgehog. Starting off with the lugubrious "I Got a Love" set the basic tone for the evening -- lumbering sludge in heaping doses -- with the tempo occasionally sped up with the inclusion of songs like 2008's single-tastic "Motown" and a trio of tracks from Pleaser ("Shame," "Misery," "Lay My Head Down") and slowed down with impossibly syncopated material like "Love Swing." Indeed, this was some bass-heavy, brutal fare which exacerbated my preexisting migraine and at times seemed to be nearly shaking my fillings loose. Kudos, gentlemen.
Up next: the evening's second power trio, Torche. As I mentioned this was the fourth time I've seen these guys, with each successive concert I've attended revealing a little something more. When I saw them opening for Mogwai in May '06, I thought, "man, they're heavy." When I saw them last July with Boris, I thought, "goddamn these guys sure have fun onstage." When I saw them opening for Dredg in April, I thought "Dredg is horrible. Torche should be headlining this." And at this show I kind of realized that these guys are absolutely one of the finest live bands currently going. Of course, for me the highlight of the set was "Across the Shields" (my third-favorite song of last year), during which vocalist/guitarist Steve Brooks blissfully hopped across the stage, performing high kicks, mugging shamelessly and generally just havin' a good ol' time. I don't know how to play guitar, but hot damn I bet that'd be a fun song to play... or maybe it's just that these guys play with such vigor, animation and pure joy, they make it seem that way.
Post-show I was disappointed to learn that the Harvey Milk merch table had sold out of Anthem DVD sets, so for a cool $5 I snagged a poster from a Denton, TX show earlier in the year instead. The poster has an image of an anvil on it, which could reference any number of things: 1.) the song "The Anvil Will Fall," one of the finest songs ever written by anybody; 2.) The song "All The Live Long Day" on which an anvil is actually used as percussion, or 3.) Anvils are fucking heavy. Harvey Milk, too, is fucking heavy. Although I'm kind of regretting not buying these, which they were also selling. Haha.
