Shonen Knife

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It's my birthday, so I'm feeling happy. Shonen Knife reminds me of happy.
For me this is their "classic" album. It features a few of my favorite songs (Baggs, Lazybones, Diet Run) as well as a great cover of "The Luck of the Irish" featuring Redd Kross's Jeff McDonald. Another great track is the tribute to one of my favorite bands called simply "Blue Oyster Cult" that borrows ever so slightly from Agents Of Fortune's "Debbie Denise".
If a few of you are new to Shonen Knife, don't let the first song (that sounds more like Cibo Matto) scare you off. You're also better off starting with 1992's "Let's Knife", which is sort of a re-recorded compilation of earlier stuff.

After this, go listen to the Sleaze Sisters, Supersnazz and the 5,6,7,8's!

Bear Up Bison

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TSOL - Change Today?

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I first heard of T.S.O.L. in 6th grade, because for some weird reason all the 7th graders (even the preppies) somehow got into them (maybe it was the same year they played a party in the desert - a show my band mate Nick got to see - and news spread to us middle schoolers?). In any case, I'd heard them ("Code Blue" really appealed to my sense of humor at the time), and seen pictures of them when I got my "Hardcore Punk in California Book" in 8th grade, but I didn't get INTO them 'til a year later when in 9th grade (the year I really got into all the punk stuff) I bought a skate video called "Summer Sessions". the video was pretty crappy, but it was my first skate video so I watched it over and over again. Also, the entire soundtrack was nearly every song off of "Change Today?"
It was the beginning of the end for TSOL, and by the time I was a senior, my friend who was into stuff like Tesla, Skid Row and Guns 'n' Roses became a fan (always the sign of a band going "mersh"). They also, as you know had no more original members.

Anyways, at band practice the other day we all broke into an A cappella version of "How Do", and last practice I annoyed Nick trying to figure out the riff to "Red Shadows". He swears he'll never listen to this record again after that. This is for you, buddy!

p.s. For some reason I never got in to the opening track, "Black Magic" so I always start on the second song. Always. Maybe I'll give it another chance.


Heroin!

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HORNSS

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Wow, how long has it been? So yeah, I got the old '83 diesel chevy van and haven't blogged since!
Just one more thing to suck up my time, right? Also I went back home to Palm Springs for a few days (Film Noir festival and Grandma's 89th birthday!), also been working 6 days a week as usual, and band practice...and to top it off street cleaning is 7 DAYS A WEEK in my neighborhood! And they still can't get rid of the human shit that's everywhere! I mean, if you're homeless and you gotta poo, by all means take a dump on the street, I don't own the sidewalk or tarmac...just clean up as best you can, or make some kind of effort. Sheesh!

Anyways, I'm still kinda busy, but more rips are on the way! In the meantime, our new band finally has a Myspace page with a couple rough songs recorded at band practice (with overdubs and tinkering obviously)

check it out:

http://www.facebook.com/HORNSS
http://www.myspace.com/hornssf

be back soon with something good!

-Mike

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