hozac blackout fest 2014 preview

HOLY SHIT...it's time for HOZAC RECORDS annual festival of debauchery and noise, BLACKOUT FEST!!!!!!!  it's all happening this weekend in chicago at the empty bottle and this year's lineup is just as killer as you'd expect....... with seldom seen bands like THE DICTATORS and THE BOYS appearing along with tiny groove's faves like COUNTER INTUITS, NONES and a slew of other face melting bands!!!!!!!  so don't fucking miss out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

more deets on the poster to yer left......

and some songs to jam out below just in case you need some convincing!!!!!!!!!!!!

ticket info can be found here or here.

electric eels - jaguar ride 7in

HOLY FUCKING SHIT, HOZAC RECORDS HAS DONE THE IMPOSSIBLE AND PRESSED UP TWO KILLER LOST TRACKS FROM OHIO'S PROTO PUNK NOISE MONGERING LEGENDS,  ELECTRIC EELS, ONTO ONE BRAND NEW FUCKING EAR SPLITTING 7 INCH ENTITLED JAGUAR RIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hey man all caps doesn't convey how fucking exited i am that this day has finally come, you can go to yer local record shop and BUY A ELECTRIC EELS SINGLE!!!!!!!!!!   i never thought it would happen......  so forget all those boring ass punk bands that keep getting reissued and check out the REAL DEAL DAMAGED ROCK MADNESS OF THE ELECTRIC EELS NOW.......  (read on here for further details about the band and what i've said before about the eels).....

JUST KNOW THIS SINGLE COMES WITH THE HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION POSSIBLE AND IF YOU READ THIS BLOG, YOU FUCKING NEED TO HAVE IT ON YER TURNTABLE ASAP!!!!!!!!!!

LISTEN TO BOTH JAGUAR RIDE AND SPLITTERTY SPLAT BELOW!!!!!!
   and grab as many copies as you can from HOZAC RECORDS here !!!!!!

video - (join the) hatewave 7in

TIME TO GET ROWDY cuz TOTAL PUNK RECORDS has a new single out....this time from austin's VIDEO, titled (JOIN THE) HATEWAVE!!!!!!!!!!!

after destroying minds with their debut album LEATHER LEATHER on PLAY PINBALL in 2011 (which i couldn't say enough nice things about) and subsequently terrorizing the nation on tour, VIDEO is back with another snotty punch in the face....and they are anthemic, addicting and nasty as ever.....  it doesn't get any better (or more RnR) than HATEWAVE.....  A THREE MINUTE BLAST OF LOUD UNRULY MEAN PUNK ROCK THAT'LL GET THE KIDS RIOTING INSTANTLY!!!!!!!   and you might not even get to the B SIDE, CAPTIVITY, after you REPEAT REPEAT REPEAT AND REPEAT AGAIN side one of this new single........  

holy shit if you haven't checked out VIDEO yet, NOW IS THE FUCKING TIME......  one of the best bands kicking around these days.......  

RECOMMENDED FOR EVERYONE!!!!!!

listen to the A SIDE of the new single below and GET IT NOW VIA TOTAL PUNK - 



and watch VIDEO live below -



and STAY TUNED FOR ANOTHER FINE VIDEO SINGLE OUT ON HOZAC RECORDS LATER THIS YEAR!!!!! YES I CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF THESE GUYS!!!!!!!!!

bare mutants - the affliction

chicago's BARE MUTANTS just released their debut album on IN THE RED entitled THE
AFFLICTION and it's one enveloping dose of post-punk infected, melancholy garage rock...sure seep into yer skull the second the needle hits the wax.....

THE AFFLICTION is full of fuzzed out guitars, and cough syrupy sweet slacker punk melodies informed by the VELVETS and JAMC, just as you'd expect from from a band that's risen out of the PONYS and carries on their good work....

....and while it's true that BARE MUTANTS may be a little more than transfixed by certain of their woozy, reverbed musical idols, they craft hauntingly electric downer punk anthems about heartbreak, drinking, growing up and sucking at life quite unlike anyone else.....certainly more poignant than a long list of other like-minded bands that just go through the motions aping lou reed, the cure and spacemen 3......

file BARE MUTANTS' unique combo of garage, noise pop and post punk desperation near your CRYSTAL SLILTS, DISAPPEARS, WAX IDOLS, HEAVY TIMES and TERRY MALTS lps......
that is near the lps you listen to all the time!!!!!

i might still be disappointed the PONYS are no more, but the BARE MUTANTS' debut more than fills their shoes in the chicago scene, and with AFFLICTION more than the windy city will introduce themselves to BARE MUTANTS....... they needn't be our secret any longer.......

so listen to a select few songs off THE AFFLICTION below.....
   and grab a copy from IN THE RED now!!!






watch BARE MUTANTS live below -

heavy times - fix it alone

get ready cuz HEAVY TIMES is back and in yer face!!!!!  their long awaited follow up to 2011's JACKER is fianlly here....the new album is called FIX IT ALONE, their second via HOZAC RECORDS, and it finds chicago fuzz punks HEAVY TIMES dialed the fuck in.......  machine gunning 18 melodic scuzz pop jams deep into yer brain, FIX IT ALONE is gonna stay right next to my turntable all summer long........

full of viral hooks and layers of feedbacking guitars, HEAVY TIMES fucking rocket you through a set of blazing loud scuzz pop anthems sure to be the soundtrack to those party til sunrise nights ahead, if not yer life........   just don't call this garage, cuz FIX IT ALONE is full on ground-breaking contagious punk rock fury.........

HEAVY TIMES might be informed by GBV, the WIPERS, HUSKER DU, SUPERCHUNK, GAUNT or MISSION OF BURMA, but just know you haven't heard a modern punk record this hard hitting and addicting as this!!!!!!!!!  a new classic? maybe....but a repeat listen for sure.

SUPER RECOMMENDED.
grab one from HOZAC here.
and rumor has it they'll be coming to a town near you this fall.....
don't miss out!!!!!

LISTEN TO A FEW TRACK OFF FIX IT ALONE -




AND WATCH HEAVY TIMES PLAY THEIR LP RELEASE PARTY
AT EMPTY BOTTLE EARLIER THIS MONTH -

radar eyes - dreaming of giants (RSD flexi single)

i've been waiting for a follow up to RADAR EYES' killer feedback-drenched garage-rockin' self titled debut lp on HOZAC records since last year when it dropped.....and thankfully now the wait is finally over, NOTES AND BOLTS released a one song flexi single DREAMING OF GIANTS by RADAR EYES for RECORD STORE DAY this year, and it picks up just where they left off........ full of dark walls of psych damaged shoegazing eeriness, RADAR EYES concoct a stormy brew of garage rock all their own....... fans of fellow chicagoans DISAPPEARS and BARE MUTANTS will definitely need this next round from RADAR EYES, but so will LOOP, SPACEMEN 3 and TELESCOPES junkies like me.........  i hope this is just a teaser for a new album in the works, cuz RADAR EYES blend of garage, noise pop, spaced out psych and post punk is highly addicting......and i need more.......

STREAM DREAMING OF GIANTS BELOW
   and pick up yr copy from NOTES AND BOLTS here
  it's limited to 150 copies, so don't fall asleep.

and watch RADAR EYES live at PERMANENT RECORDS -

peoples temple - more for the masses

after pressing plant delays and a long anxious wait, we finally get to throw a new PEOPLES TEMPLE lp on the turntable....and i couldn't be more excited........the new album, titled MORE FOR THE MASSES, is brought to us once again by the fine folks at HOZAC RECORDS and is chock full of psych bent hazy garage rockers that'll get you higher and higher........

these lansing, michigan kids killed it with 2011's SONS OF STONE and MORE FOR THE MASSES is, if possible, even better yet........ something must be in the dirty water of michigan, cuz everyone from there seems to be a natural at this kinda of all out garage burning rock n roll.......

their new lp mixes plenty of SEEDS, LOVE, YARDBIRDS and STONES garage power with the deeper darker psych of bands like PUBLIC NUISANCE, 13th FLOOR ELEVATORS, NAZZ and LOLLIPOP SHOPPE..... yes plenty of love for the good ol' NUGGETS set of 60s bands, yet PEOPLES TEMPLE does not sound dated or retro......if anything, MORE FOR THE MASSES stands outside the race of time..... their hazy psych is indebted to shoegaze, britpop and space rock as well as those classic records, so MORE FOR THE MASSES is an epic head expanding journey of its own.......

recommended for those into NIGHT BEATS, THE OH SEES, PURLING HISS, UFO CLUB, COSMONAUTS and/or BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE.......but really anyone who needs to buy one psych record this year, ought to grab the new one from PEOPLES TEMPLE......  it's a repeat listen for sure (which is a rarer and rarer thing in our over saturated music world these days.......)

LISTEN BELOW TO MORE FROM THE MASSES....
  and pick up this highly recommended jam from PEOPLES TEMPLE via our friends at HOZAC RECORDS here......

heavy times - i'm single 7 inch

so the wait is almost over........a new HEAVY TIMES lp is just about here....... brought to us by my favorite noise mongers HOZAC RECORDS of course.......   and since they know we need a fix soon, hozac has given us junkies a little teaser in the form of a new banging 7 inch from HEAVY TIMES entitled I'M SINGLE...... both their previous albums, DEAD on ROTTED TOOTH and JACKER on HOZAC, thrashed their way into my top of the year lists, and if this single is any indication, HEAVY TIMES' forthcoming noise popped drunk punk album is gonna make that list too........

I'M SINGLE is three new tracks all worthy of the A side stamp...... what more could you ask for than a couple more fuzz coated melodies slamming into yer brain with this kinda punk rock fury????? and man oh man does HEAVY TIMES deliver.....their mix of punk, noise and post punk is so infectious that I'M SINGLE won't leave your turntable for quite some time.......

most importantly though is the fact that HEAVY TIMES keeps the unruly spirit of rock n roll alive in a time when most bands clamor to stay true to trendy subgenre labels and not much else..... 

taking their cues from the wipers, guided by voices, dead moon, supercharger and husker du, HEAVY TIMES is paving their own way and leaving in their wake some of the best noise punk anthems you can get yer hands on.....

this is seriously one of the best singles you'll come across all year long.....
so don't sleep on it, grab a copy from HOZAC now.....
it'll be out of print quick.........   

forget your times new viking and no age records....... 
HEAVY TIMES IS THE FUCKING REAL DEAL.......
   
LISTEN TO THE NEW SINGLE BELOW:

A SIDE


B SIDE

nones - shake your brain 7 inch

In '91 it seemed that everyone bought Nirvana's "Nevermind" album, but that same year another landmark LP was released, "Peacetika" by the Cows.  The trajectory of punk / post punk may have had it's pinnacle with the former's landslide into the mainstream.  But those of us who bought that preciously noisy irreverent album by the Cows know that truly great chaotic music would always be frowned by those who just don't / can't understand.   Years later it seems as if those who take noisy art rock seriously are few and far between, so it's refreshing to stumble upon release that lights your stylus on fire like the new 7 inch Shake Your Brain by Chicago's Nones.

Out on none other than Hozac Records, our favorite purveyors of everything scuzzy and loud, this three song oeuvre by Nones is next step in the line of those AMREP and SKIN GRAFT bands that nobody seems to listen to or care about anymore.  "Shake Your Brain" is vitriolic blast of Big Black / Shellac style angst that the world hasn't scene since Steve Albini stopped putting his own noises to tape.  "Defecating Grey" could be a lost Jesus Lizard or Drive Like Jehu cover song albeit in a more Puffy Areolas psychedelic hardcore way.  And the third song, "Aunt Peg" is a evil skronk of noise punk dirge that reminds me of the Slug Guts on a speed binge covering the Flying Luttenbachers.  After one quick listen its apparent that Nones would've easily shared a stage with the likes of Arab on Radar, Harry Pussy or Lake of Dracula back in the heyday of the seedy 90s rock underbelly.

All three songs on this Hozac Records Hookup Klub release are all worthy to be the A side--no sleeper songs here.  I can't wait for a full length from Nones.  It's disappointing that a small number of bands carry on that destructive unhinged tendency of aggro post punk rock , but Nones, fronted by a wild man yelping curses upon the world while playing disturbed free jazz sax backed by the most ferocious gnarly female backing band that has ever existed, carry that banner high.   Maybe if everyone bought that Cows lp way back then, Nones would be as successful as the Flaming Lips. But fuck those alternate universe theories, I'm just content to have three more songs to crank way the fuck up.

LIsten to "Defecating Grey" below, and grab a copy of this 7 inch if you dare.

and watch NONES play SHAKE YR BRAIN 

at the empty bottle below.....

puffy areolas - 1982: dishonorable discharge

PUFFY AREOLAS just dropped what might be the years most fucking intense record, 1982: DISHONORABLE DISCHARGE.......and of course the fine purveyors of noisy mayhem HOZAC RECORDS released it just in time to add a little chaos to the end of yr summer.....

PSYCHEDELIC HARDCORE might be yr best bet at describing PUFFY AREOLAS, but let's just say that not since HAWKWIND destroyed minds on a regular basis have faces been melted this thoroughly......  hardcore punk layered over free jazz skronk set to a proto punk garage blast beat in a druggy haze of psych and no wave, this is rock n roll after the apocalypse has fucking gone down........

MONOSHOCK, OBNOX, PURLING HISS, RUNNING, DEAD C, BLACK FLAG and the STOOGES mixed into one vat of pure 200 proof moonshine that might be better as a molotov cocktail than a drink......... holy shit you haven't listened to anything this fucking insane and great for years........   highly recommended.   nothing can top what PUFFY AREOLAS have done to rock n roll...........it's been thoroughly destroyed........  and that's just the record i'm talking about.....see em live and you will never be the same........

LISTEN TO TWO TRACKS OFF DISHONORABLE DISCHARGE BELOW....
   and GO BUY IT NOW FROM HOZAC....




WATCH PUFFY AREOLAS LIVE BELOW...

teledrome - double vision 7 inch

synth punk doesn't get better than TELEDROME.....

you might imagine these icy cool synths are from somewhere obnoxiously hip like brooklyn, but TELEDROME hail from calgary, alberta, one of canada's coolest and  most off the radar music scenes.....

.....if i made a mixtape of what TELEDROME sound like it would be quite the awesome cassette....included would be lost sounds, gary numan, the screamers, depeche mode, kraftwerk, epoxies, devo and suicide....... their driving mix of synth punk and power pop is piled high with super catchy melodies and crunchy eighties drum beats that'll make you instantly throw a party.....

i just can't get enough of TELEDROME..... and neither could HOZAC RECORDS, who just released their brand new 7 inch....filled to the brim with five really addicting synth crazed tracks, their new single is very highly recommended....

LISTEN TO REPLACEMENTS, LAZARUS AND DIAL TONE 
FROM THE NEW TELEDROME SINGLE BELOW.....
        and go buy their new single from HOZAC now......







watch TELEDROME live below..........

blackout fest recap - random drunk pixels

oh so many good bands and drunken hazy memories......
BLACKOUT FEST is always a great fucking time..... next year i hope to see even more of you there, it's after all one of the best festivals of the year, matched only by SXSW, Atlanta's MESS AROUND and Memphis' GONER FEST......

many thanks to the bands, HOZAC RECORDS and the EMTPY BOTTLE for one of the best weekends of the whole year......  and special thanks to TELEDROME and KETAMINES for keeping the party going all night long friday and saturday at TINY GROOVES HQ.....

here's some more random videos for the weekend, 
thanks to sadly panda as always.......

BARRERACUDAS



TELEDROME



PLATEAUS



COZY



FAR OUT FANGTOOTH



WHITE MYSTERY

blackout fest recap - VIDEO

VIDEO is a band you need to know about now...
...comprised of members from various other DENTON TEXAS punk bands such as BAD SPORTS and WAX MUSEUMS, 
   VIDEO makes some of the best dirty 
fun drunken punk rock around......


they throw in a little bit of psych, garage and krautrock in to mix, and in concert, these guys are a full on riot......... 


their full length LEATHER LEATHER 
on PLAY PINBALL RECORDS was one of 
my top records of 2011, i just can't recommend them enough.......


watch their epic set from BLACKOUT FEST below.....

blackout fest recap - spider fever

SPIDER FEVER packed a wallop of good ol' blown out rock n roll friday night of BLACKOUT FEST....... one of my favorite new punk bands of 2012....these guys don't tour very often, so it was awesome to get to hear their fierce screeching punk rock in person.......... especially sandwiched between VIDEO and DAVILA 666......  what a night.......


go buy their new s/t lp out on WINDIAN RECORDS 
and watch their set at BLACKOUT FEST below..........

blackout fest recap - fungi girls

one of my favorite bands on HOZAC RECORDS right now has gotta be the FUNGI GIRLS.... fuzzed out psych / angular garage rock like none else...... they most certainly keep the 13th floor elevators / texas psych flag flying high... 


FUNGI GIRLS melted many faces at BLACKOUT FEST including mine....their set was a crowd fave for sure... i rushed in from drinking whiskey with TELEDROME and KETAMINES at their tour van so i wouldn't miss any note of their set..... so fucking awesome...... 


if you don't know FUNGI GIRLS yet, 
get to know them real well below.......(thanks to sadly panda)

blackout fest recap - ketamines

KETAMINES were a riot to hang out with and watch all weekend long, they played an in-store at PERMANENT RECORDS on friday and a set at BLACKOUT FEST saturday.....both performances were incredible psych tinged garage punk affairs...... and if you haven't checked out their new lp SPACED OUT on MAMMOTH CAVE // SOUTHPAW RECORDS, yr missing out......


KETAMINES are super recommended and their new album is sure to make my year end best of list.......

watch them here at the empty bottle....



and here at permanent records.....

blackout fest recap - homostupids

the best part of BLACKOUT FEST is seeing bands for the first time.....and let me tell you i was fuckin stoked to finally see HOMOSTUPIDS in person.....some of the most apeshit crazy garage punk you'll ever witness.....and the most noisy punk rock destruction of the whole fest..... 


i couldn't help pogoing around and sloshing beers on my friends..... these guys are highly recommended...... if you can find their lps and singles, buy them immediately........


watch HOMOSTUPIDS below and pretend you were there......




like i said before, thanks to sadly panda for filming all these bands i was too drunk to capture digitally....

blackout fest recap - gentleman jesse and his men

nothing got the kids going like the power pop bands at BLACKOUT FEST.....and GENTLEMAN JESSE is one of the best at it there is...... check out his new album LEAVING ATLANTA if you don't believe me..... 


and watch his set of pop madness at Blackout below........ 

blackout fest recap - REDD KROSS

saturday night at BLACKOUT FEST.....chicago got a full taste of classic snotty bubblegum punk rock via the legendary REDD KROSS..... 


definitely one of my favorite sets of the weekend, REDD KROSS slammed through their classic BORN INNOCENT lp as well as their s/t debut ep....... 


it was so fuckin' killer......
 i can't even say anymore, just watch below.......









thanks to sadly panda for the live footage...... he's one of the few rock n rollers that puts forth the effort to document the scene here in chicago and it makes all the difference......

blackout fest recap - estrogen highs // medication

filling out the rest of the bill on sunday at BLACKOUT FEST was ESTROGEN HIGHS, MEDICATION and BARE MUTANTS..... all three bands which are highly recommended.....

ESTROGEN HIGHS play some of the best jangly angular guitar pop songs you'll hear all year long....their new lp IRRELEVANT FUTURE out on TROUBLE IN MIND is a record i just can't get enough of...and it was great to finally get the chance to see 'em live....

MEDICATION started the night out right with their woozy psych garage jams.... their full length on HOZAC should've caught more ears when it came out, but it's still in print, so grab a copy soon....... these guys were the under the radar faves of many of my friends at the fest...including me...

watch highlights from their sets below....


ESTROGEN HIGHS


MEDICATION