Judge one of my favorite bands ever!

Count agranoff's Best Mosh parts ever!

In honor of my 18th Vegan anniversary I give you my favorite Mosh parts of all time…

I love going off at shows…these are my favorite songs to go crazy to…

Earth Crisis: Born from Pain



Every second of this song makes me want to go crazy, the music, the lyrics, the speed, every thing. I can’t point to a moment. They first time I saw Earth Crisis after years of being broke up in Seattle they opened with this song. I thought I was going to go crazy but by the end of the song I was covered in blood, sweat and felt like I was going to have a heart attack. I was so happy to be alive and be me.


Abnegation: Hopes for Harmony



One of my favorite songs of all time, this song is nuts. You got to forgive the recording Abnegation never had money or got a good recording. The snare has a crazy snap, but this song has amazing energy. If you watch the video of three songs from 1996 Cleveland fest you can see the amazing energy they had live. At 1:02 seconds the song breaks down into a killer mosh. I can’t even tell you how crazy I went singing along in the pit to this song.


Another Victim: Martyr



Late 90’s in Syracuse AV shows were like mini-prison riots. Hatebreed was really the first 100% mosh band, and by that I mean it’s dance music like techno – there is little point to hatebreed except a soundtrack for a violent mosh pit. Another Victim to me had the same crazy mosh but had lyrics about Veganism, straight edge and in this song anti-Pornography. It always cracked me up seeing tough guys lose their shit to a song that was anti- porn. :55 seconds…my favorite mosh part of all time.

Race Traitor: Curse



Ironically another feminist mosh anthem. I believe this song is about the cycle of domestic violence. Chicago’s Race Traitor. Andy (Fallout Boy) Hurley kills it on this song. This song brings the Mosh in 11 seconds in with a killer breakdown. But this song has three levels of mosh. :35 seconds in we get an even heavier mosh part. After the speed picks up to explode with the emotions of the lyrics “How could you fuckin touch him!” and breaks it down one last time. In a 1:40 seconds RT produced an epic of mosh brutality.


Undying: teratisms



I could only find a live version to share, I saw them the night before this show at the Che and you can bet I was wind willing and going crazy at 1:07 into this song. Undying has tons of amazing mosh parts, Jimmi is a Vegan mosh master. The chorus of this song is a genius mosh that is played at to slightly different speeds and fits in the song so amazingly. Love it.

Day of Suffering: Eternal Jihad



Might be my favorite record of the 90’s. Brought death metal into vegan hardcore, and the lyric “Tormented by the legions of evil and their infernal hatred of life” makes me feel better every time I hear it on a bad day.

Book Review: Burning Fight 90's hardcore book by Brian Peterson

Burning Fight: The Nineties Hardcore Revolution in Ethics, Politics, Spirit, and Sound. by Brian Peterson


Punk and Hardcore music is impossible to explain to someone who has never been apart of it. I thought about it a couple years ago when I saw a Vegan straight edge band from Southern California playing in Portland. I had friends around me that grew up in California, New York, Oregon and Indiana counting myself. We all grew up in different states but we all got into this loud music with similar ethics.

Hardcore to the outsider is loud aggressive music that sounds like screaming. During the 90’s hardcore peaked with a vital age. Peterson has taken on the nearly impossible task on documenting 90’s hardcore music scene. This is harder to do than a music scene that is all over TV and covered in mainstream magazines.

Hardcore is small, personal and often regional. The fans and bands are interchangeable, the fans make the records, put out the zines and perform in their own bands. To say this is an important book is a massive understatement.

Broken in four chapters that address the major issues addressed by the bands in lyrics like Straight edge, Animal rights and Spirituality. Next Peterson interviewed many of the major hardcore bands of the 90’s. Highlights include several interviews with Rob Fish and his bands, Earth Crisis, Downcast, Trial and Vegan Reich. Several of the interviews like Undertow and threadbare highlight how local hardcore is.

I have little nitpicks why interview Texas is the reason (not hardcore) and Cave-in (Ok, they were good but what impact), while amazing bands like Day of Suffering, morning Again, Birthright and Undying didn’t get entire chapters devoted to them.

I first got into hardcore music and straight edge in 1989, I was the only kid in my town who was straight edge and there were less than a dozen who were fans of or ever heard of New York Hardcore bands like Agnostic Front and sick of it all. When I got involved hardcore was different.

We didn’t have an internet DJ Rose of Path of Resistance always said we were like Gypsy tribes. In the 90’s hardcore exploded and it did so in many ways. It is hardcore to think back to a scene that existed where no one had ever heard the song Firestorm or Shelter was some weird new band by Ray of Today.

Burning Fight might also serve as tool for us weird hardcore kids to explain to friends and family what we gave up our lives for in the 90’s. Why did we drive all over the country for shows, why we did bands, why we got into all these radical new ideas. This book only Sctraches the surface. You had to be there but you know this as close as you are going to get.

Interview: Clark Giles Vocalist of the Dream is Dead and hardcore kid Political Scientist

Clark and I have never been close friends, but growing up in the Indiana hardcore scene you get to know people and see faces at shows a million times over. Hardcore kids may know Clark as the vocalist of the band “The Dream is Dead” or as the person behind the record label “Happy Couples Never Last.” Alot of my interaction with Clark has been on the internet various message boards, the Indianapolis Hardcore Boards, and now on Facebook. What I like most about Clark is that even though I disagree with him intensely sometimes, other times I think damn what a smart dude. He has very conservative and radical progressive views at same time. I may not always agree but I respect Clark deeply. Amazing how you can disagree and respect at the same time some people don't realize that is possible.
Clark has interesting non-party line view on political issues, as a Political Science teacher and punk rocker I thought he would be a great interview. Many of my friends (who are fans of his band) outside of Indianapolis would be shocked to know that Clark often votes republican, that being said he has read many of dead Russian anarchists and is very committed to bring back the hardcore scene he grew up in. Anyways I'll let Clark speak for himself. We'll start with showing how little I know about Indianapolis hardcore, growing up an hour away and dropping in to see shows there most of my life...


Talk about growing up on the west side of Indianapolis. Most Indy hardcore kids from back in the day came from the northside, a few southsiders but west was rare too how did you discover hardcore music pre-internet?

Well, I have to respectfully disagree. Most of the straight-edge kids maybe came from the northside but almost every hardcore kid I knew growing up was from either the west side or the east side. This might sound like a little bit of inside baseball talk here but if you'll indulge me for a second. The hardcore scene in general would have been pretty much non-existent from 1992-2000 if it weren't for the west side of Indianapolis. The India Community Center (located on the west side) started to have shows because some kids from Pike High School worked it out with the owners. After the Sitcom (the main DIY show space in Indianapolis during the Nineties) moved downstairs into its longest running incarnation, the core group of kids who actually ran the place were all west side kids (Brett, Jackie, Katie, Bridget, Britts, Me, etc.) This isn't to say that northside bands like Birthright didn't play there or that some great kids didn't come to the monthly meetings and help out from all over the city because they did but I am talking about the people who were in the trenches and working the door nightly and dealing with all the b.s., they were pretty much all west side kids. The greatest Indianapolis hardcore band ever IMHO, Ice Nine, was almost exclusively west siders. And if you look at what is going on today and the metal/hardcore bands that are still around with 30-35 year old+ members who are putting out records on national labels or enjoying a lot of success within the scene, it is those same west side dudes: Apostle of Solitude is ex-Merrick, The Gates of Slumber are ex-Merrick/Burn It Down/The Dream is Dead (though they probably don't want me to point that out...haha), Coffinworm is ex-Emotion Zero, The Dream is Dead is ex-Ice Nine, Burn It Down, ad nauseam. Finally, the main collective space in town right now (The Dojo) was initially organized by ALL west side transplants with the exception of Todd (who moved here from Arizona so we just like to think of him as EXTREME west side). So anyway, this is probably boring to anyone not from Indianapolis so I'll stop being nit-picky, I'm just overly sensitive being a west side kid. ;)

As far as how it was growing up, I think I had the typical west side kid life. Broken home, questionable step-dad, a latchkey kid existence, and really not much to do at night except drive west until you could find a corn field to pull into and get drunk. I actually think I discovered punk from a combination of the movie Repo Man. I remember watching Repo Man with my dad and during the party scene thinking "this is the kind of music that I like" when Black Flag was blasting in the background. I didn't eat lunch for a week in junior high and instead saved up all the money to buy Dead Kennedys "In God We Trust, Inc." and I was hooked. Then I think I pretty much exclusively based my musical purchases based on the shirts that I'd see older punk rock guys wearing who I'd skate with who also wore Dead Kennedys shirts. I always liked the more cerebral hardcore punk though: Bad Religion, DK, etc. so I think that kind of just naturally led me into the hardcore scene once it started to diverge from more traditional punk. I'm glad the internet wasn't around in those days though. I think I have a much deeper and more diverse set of friends now because I didn't have such social network that would have basically let me select my friends through some process of categorical reduction. I see kids doing that now and I'm not sure it is the healthiest way to form long lasting relationships.

Your last band the Dream is dead had a following in the radical hardcore scene, i have alot of anarchist friends who were into your band but your views were a little different can you explain what difference there is?

I would always describe our band in interviews and such as an "anti-authoritarian" band because anarchism comes with so much historical baggage nor do I really agree with most of the popular anarchist narratives that currently dominate the diy punk/hardcore music scene which I think run the gamut from reactionary to utopian to outright parasitism. I was an angry kid in my college years just like everyone else but I have never been able to escape what I would call the gravitational pull of pragmatism. I think a lot of punk/hardcore bands were ok with calling themselves "anarchists" and are perfectly content just putting that in a box and pretending to live in the "idea" of being an anarchist essentially declaring their allegiance to an abstraction knowing that almost everyone will participate in the collective conspiratorial act of never asking each other what the ramification of that action truly means. After all, if one were truly an anarchist in a manifested form here in the real world, you'd be living with survivorman up in the hills, eating berries, and waging war against the government. If we were different as a band in any way (and I don't think one could say all of us in the band would agree on anything necessarily when you talk specifics), it is that I hope we never presented ourselves as anything more than four dudes who tried to do their best to bite the hand that feeds without trying to present this narrative that we were somehow fighting the 21st century version of the Spanish Civil War. The bottom line is that I inherently mistrust all hierarchical systems. I don't know if we are at a point in history yet where they could all be eliminated but I think it is healthy that we as a society or a collective whole agitate for changes to disperses power when it is concentrated and minimizes hierarchy if not eliminating it outright where and when we can.

How did you come to a pro-capitalist libratarian stance in the hardcore scene?

Well, first, I have to define what I mean by "capitalism". When I say that I'm a capitalist, I mean that I believe in the right to private property and the free exchange of goods and services between willing participants. It does not mean that I support what are essentially abstractions such as "corporate personhood" that have been dreamed up by the rich to concentrate wealth and power in the hands of the few. So my pro-capitalist stance is essentially a philosophical one but it is probably too nuanced to discuss here at length. I support capitalism/free markets because I think a capitalistic society is ultimately the only society that could allow for alternative economies to exist within the larger framework while still maintaining person freedoms. For example, I think in an anti-authoritarian capitalist society, you could still have communes or alternative communities/collectives that bore none of the earmarks or characteristics of what we would think of as capitalist society (e.g. property could be collectively owned, etc.) But in a collectivist macrosociety, there is not room for dissent. By necessity, everyone must conform. So in this sense, capitalism maximizes freedom. Additionally, I think quantitatively, capitalism has had net benefits for human society in terms of almost any measurable standard (lifespan, standard of living, technology, etc.) It is a difficult issue to talk about however because I don't really consider there to be any free markets in the world right now, at best, we practice a perverted form of quasi-capitalism mixed with corporatism. I'm not even sure if capitalism can exist simultaneously within the context of the State because the State is inherently force and coercion reified. So to that end, I'm a (small "l") libertarian because I find myself agreeing with many of the early American thinkers in this tradition. As far as the capital "L" libertarian party goes, I maintain a cautious and respectable distance.

Can you tell me about your record label Happy couples never last? what did you want to bring to forefront with it?

The label actually started as a joke. I had saved up some money to take a trip with a girlfriend, we broke up, so I decided to do the logical thing and blow the money putting out some of my friends' bands. I was never trying to start a label or a "business venture". I basically picked a label name out a hat and slapped it on the records. Lo and behold, my first couple of releases actually sold pretty well so I just kept it rolling. Long story short, I put out 49 releases, made a bunch of friends, toured the whole country over four times and put the whole thing to bed a few years ago when I started my Phd program and my distributor went belly up. I'm still going to put out one final release someday just to end everything at a well-rounded 50 releases but it will just be something small and local.


What types of bands did you put out?

I basically just put out bands that I liked ranging from indie rock to punk to hardcore. I did try to make every other release to be from a band in Indiana to try to keep it real and support the home team. I did try to keep an overall DIY ethic to everything I did however, I wasn't looking to deal with rock star attitudes or to even make money for that matter. When a band got too big for the label, I would try to help them get on a bigger one. Basically, I was a farm team but I was totally okay with that...


What was the idea behind the Dream is Dead?

I started The Dream is Dead with Jason McCash (Burn It Down/The Gates of Slumber) because we basically felt like hardcore was dead in the year 2000. All the bands that were popular then were basically glorified cock-rock bands with some "jump the fuck up, I said, jump the fuck up" slam riffs. I found the sexism and homophobia to be disgusting. I could see the worst qualities of the metal scene (materialism, nihilism, apolitical douchebaggery) creeping into a music scene that held a lot of good memories for me and that I identified with closely. I think we just wanted to make a final statement with the band that the direction the scene was going was not a healthy one and to call some people on the carpet for participating in its decline.

In the 90's Indy had an awesome somewhat collective show space called the sitcom. What are your favorite sitcom memories?

My favorite sitcom show was MK Ultra and Los Crudos. That show simply blew my mind. I could try to put it into words but I don't think I could really do it justice. It was one of those rare moments that most people can count on one hand where they feel truly alive.

You helped start a new show space called the Dojo what is different about the way you folks are doing it this time?

The Dojo is a little more legit. The core group involved is still a lot of the same people involved with the Sitcom in its later incarnations but we all have jobs now and have learned to navigate the legal system somewhat. We actually have permits and adhere to fire codes and we are working to build a ramp to make the space easily handicap-accessible. We are trying to run a tight ship and keep an eye on making the place as sustainable as possible. Ideally, we want the Dojo to be around for a long time. Long after I have moved out of Indianapolis. I want to come back and visit in ten years and go to a show at a place that I help start after no one remembers me and just stay totally anonymous. I want all the kids there to wonder who the random old dude is that just showed up to see some of the local kids bang through their first 20 min set. Then I want to never say a word and just melt back into the night. :)

What would my readers find surprising about Clark Giles?

Ironically, I'm a former(?) anarchist that teaches American Politics at a local university. I am considered the "Republican" by most of my colleagues and I let them think that because I find it amusing. I have worked on several political campaigns (more Republicans than Democrats actually), I own a huge pickup truck but I try to ride my bicycle everywhere as much as possible, I practice Buddhist meditation and I have a lifetime concealed carry permit for my handgun, I am a study in contrasts. I think the political stances that I make confuse the hell out of most of my friends but they all seem perfectly consistent to me.


Some of us left indiana, you talked about a few times but your still duking it out, what keeps you in Indiana?

School and school alone. I have two years left until I have my doctorate and my second master's degree done then I am out of here. Ideally, I'm headed your way or to South America so watch out!

final comments?

I think this is a really cool idea for your facebook page. I really like to read about all of your other friends who I don't know. Thanks for doing this...

Amazing Snapcase video in Syracuse summer of 94

I was doing an internship with Farm Sanctuary the summer this show happened three hours from Syracuse. This show was Strife, Snapcase and Chorus of disapproval. The ADL kids tried to get me to the show but it didn't work out. Damn I forgot how good Snapcase were during that time.When the core was good.

Book Review: North American Primates

North American Primates by Shane Durgee
Red Weaver books 211 pages


In the interest of being truthful with my blog readers I should note that Shane Durgee is an old friend. He also did the amazing painting on the cover of my recently released short story collection. I hope he will do more covers for me in the future. In the region where Shane grew up his amazing talent is well known. As painter, writer, and vocalist for several hardcore and post hardcore bands that were practically a farm team for the hardcore legends Earth Crisis. NAP is the latest novel to be released by hardcore “kids” that also includes Duncan Barlow(Endpoint/ Guilt) and well myself.
Shane's atypical melodic vocals evoked an emotional edge that many bands in the genre ignored for screams and growls. That is not to say that the music of early Durgee fronted bands didn't rip the records of oversight and Framework still raged. I was very excited when this book arrived in my mailbox because I wanted to see Shane's voice extend itself over 200 pages and tell me a story.
North American Primates will appeal most to the crowd of true believers who reject the notion that everything in our world can be explained by science. The coasties, no not the coast guard but the people who stay up late into the night to listen to Coast to Coast AM. It is the story of Clay Sturgeon a central New York misfit who does quite fit in with his community. Clay's life is turned upside down during a camping trip when he encounters what he believes is bigfoot.
We join Clay on journey to discover the secret of the man in the woods and along the way we discover not just about the creature but the people and motivations of those who are seeking to find it. From the skeptical scientists to Clay's new age hippie lover. One of the strengths of the narrative is the unique and brutally honest voice Durgee has given Clay in the first person narrative. Clay is a deeply flawed and lost hero who is seeking a deeper truth not just a primate living in the north woods.
While the work of Daniel Quinn(Ishmael) is an obvious influence, Durgee includes quotes and a reference within the story. This book doesn't slap you in the face with a message. That is not to say that their isn't a message, several infact just woven into the narrative with subtle strokes. Subtle suggestions of animal rights, and less subtle is the idea of open minded-ness towards the unexplained. For me North American primates told me a fun story and reminded me at the same time that I am not anymore special and unique to this planet as any other creature. Is he real or in our imagination? That doesn't matter monsters effect us either way.
This was a passion project for Durgee who clearly researched bigfoot and culture that has grown out of a believe in the creature. I think you'll enjoy the book and I hope Shane is already at work on his follow-up. I'll be first in line.

For more details and to read the first chapter go to the Red Weaver site:
www.redweaverbooks.com/

Miracle small world-ness....

Amazing thing happened last night!

So Sarah one of my roomates from the hardline house in Syracuse recently moved to Portland for her job. It has been awesome hangin out with an old friend, still vegan and generally an amazing person. The last time we lived in the same town was '99 when she was going to school near ithaca and I was spending my last months in upstate NY. Long story short I decided to move back to indiana for a summer with the intention of moving to D.C. In the fall.
I put all my stuff in storage in NY, but left my record collection with my roommate at the time. I feared they would melt in storage. In the fall my buddy Ryan Downey and I drove in a my junky pick-up truck to Syracuse. Spent the night hanging with Red Ranger and Talked Star Wars with DJ before heading down for Breakfast at harvest deli and to pick up my stuff. I didn't have a cell phone and everytime I saw a pay phone that day I called my old roommate. No answer.
After several hours of packing the truck, with a 12 hour drive facing us I gave up. We drove home. A week later I called about my records. No answer. I hear rumors from friends that He had put the records up on E-bay. I looked and saw records I knew were mine up. Sent an e-mail begging him not to sell them and never heard back. I had a few really valuable records including rare bad religion, misfits and tons of straight edge hardcore 7-inches I spent years collecting.
I never started buying music again because my heart was broken on it. How could I ever replace some of those records. I couldn't. Every time I would leaf through someones old records it broke my heart again, this was my youth spent collecting gone. Each record had a story of the show I bought the records at or the record store I found them at.
So last night Sarah is showing us around her place and and tells me, she has a present for me. I open this box and there, completely and 100% intact after 10 years is my record collection. My old roommate quit hardcore, he apparently didn't sell the records, he gave them to Sarah. Who last night in an act of friendship I'll never be able to repay returned them to me. She had not known they were mine, thinking they were my old roommate's records. It wasn't until we were sitting at Vegan prom and she asked me if I still talked to that dude. So I told her about my records. Sarah wisely let it be a surprise at crew dinner. Wow so in the post below are some picture of my favorite records and the some of my favorite gems. Check it!

Highlights from my record collection

One I am super proud of Advance who dares to dream 7-inch – the first Catalyst record numbered 1/50. That's right the very first catalyst record ever! Proudly Kurt's first customer. (Keepin it real fuckers!)

Vegan mosh 7-inches: Green Rage Reflection records 1st press and the Very distro first press. Earth Crisis all out war first black vinal press (with a never re-printed essay about Sexism, racism and how it connects Veganism), All three first editions of the Hardline records 7-inches sold to by Indianapolis Hardline, 1st press of Falling down(pre-Day of suffering), Framework 1st press on red vinal. And more...

Rev 7-inches: Chain of strength what holds us apart 1st press on clear vinal, Burn 7-inch on bubble gum vinal, three judge 7-inches and a live bootleg, Gorilla biscuits 7-inch on green, GB live bootleg, and more....

Midwest hardcore: Endpoint/sunspring split on yellow vinal, Crazy old Majority of One records (including the one where they were all dressed like skinheads), Endpoint in time of hate 1st press on vinal, Transcend on gold vinal, Face Value coming of age 2nd press on clear vinal, Both With Authority 7-inches on colored first press( which only Bloomington kids care about) and much more...

Random: Dischord 7-inches and random nemesis records live comps

Everything is there even my strange misfits, and specials bootlegs. The only thing missing are odd enough the Iceburn and Insight 7-inches. Both old SLC bands on victory. I swear I had those records. I have a lot more I still need flip through. Thanks again Sarah!

Stand Alone: My old Skinhead hardcore band.

18 years ago I was in a skinhead hardcore band called Stand Alone. For four teenagers in Indiana who loved Sick of it all and Agnostic Front we were not too bad. Anyways here is a scan of an “article” in Filling the void. FTV was a sXe zine from Lafayette Indiana in 1990. The kids from the band Advance did one issue of it. Some how I still have a copy. Check it will make you laugh.
My old Skinhead hardcore band.

The one of just me is from the show we played with Advance in Lafayette. The one of the whole band was a basement show in Carbondale Illinois. That show was with the bloomington band With Authority.

In the article it says I was replaced. I had gone away for school and Luther Blanton took over and they changed drummers. The band became Dead Center. They did a demo, which is not too bad for what it was. The funny part is Luther and I a few years later would start a Vegan straight edge band Warcry. I sang for Warcry at the first couple practices but when I sarted getting into hardline the band decided to kick me out. no hard feelings. Luther when on to replace me again on vocals.

Jack joined the marines and according to a myspace search I did he is still a skin and played guitar in american Oi band Patriot. Huh. Ryan the drummer moved Jamica last I heard and I have no Idea what happened to Nate. He was really into snowboarding.

Earth Crisis signs to century media!

Karl promised us a few things when they played the northwest last year, were off to good start because the first promise of no victory has been fulfilled. Can't wait. This is gonna rule.

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=104442

One of the most anticipated and talked about reunions was without a doubt the reformation of EARTH CRISIS, which was followed by a massive North American tour as well as a number of European shows mounting in a truly triumphant return. The pioneers of the hardcore, straightedge movement have now officially made the decision to carry on with the band fulltime and have announced a new worldwide deal with Century Media Records.

EARTH CRISIS has crafted the most angst-ridden and unrelenting offering of its career and this effort is going to serve as a much-needed wake-up call to the masses. The group will self-produce the album and is set to begin tracking next month. Acclaimed producer Tue Madsen (SICK OF IT ALL, DARK TRANQUILLITY, THE HAUNTED) will handle mixing and mastering duties.

Guitarist Scott Crouse comments: "We are very excited to begin tracking our new record and even more excited that it will be released by Century Media. We have been working hard over the last year preparing new material and are scheduled to enter the studio in October. We will be producing this one ourselves and are extremely excited to have Tue Madsen mixing! The new songs are brutal and Century Media is the perfect label to handle them."

EARTH CRISIS' chugging riffs and barked declarations served as the mouthpiece of the militant vegan, straight-edge movement throughout the '90s, detailing the ideas of animal and human liberation, drug-free living, and personal empowerment through hardcore song. This movement spawned activists who took the law into their own hands, burning down fur farms and freeing animals directly. Their vicious debut EP, "Firestorm", was a landmark release for the hardcore scene that combined staccato, solo-free metal with barking, political, and militant vocals. The lyrics centered around the dangers of drug abuse and bringing "violence against violence" to drug dealers and those who would abuse animals: "a firestorm to purify."

Major media outlets such as CNN, CBS and MTV soon started covering EARTH CRISIS and vegan, straight-edge in general. In 1996, the band released its second full-length album, "Gomorrah's Season Ends", a polished and decidedly more metallic affair that produced even more anthems that became singalong worthy staples of their live performances. This exposed the band to a whole new mainstream audience.

Book Review: Super Cell Anemia

Super Cell Anemia
By duncan b. barlow
Afterbirth books
226 pages.

This is a debut novel, but I’ve been following the work of Duncan Barlow the artist for many years. My senior year of high school I would travel all over the Midwest to watch him play guitar in the legendary Louisville hardcore band Endpoint. On the surface Endpoint was just another hardcore act but their emotional shows and genre bending records played with convention. Barlow himself has said it seems like another lifetime. Duncan also played in bands such as the Lull Account, Step Down, By the Grace of God, Dbiddle and my favorite Guilt.

The most important thing for those of you unfamiliar with Duncan’s musical work is that it was always powerful, original and deeply creative. So the when the news came that one of my favorite presses was set to release barlow’s first novel I was excited. The novel Super Cell Anemia proves in the medium of prose that Duncan Barlow is an artist that values creative expression.

SCA is about Giles a germ-a-phobe who is so electrified that he relies on an experimental treatment (involving biting copper) to deal with his rare illness. Giles has moved to Cincinnati to continue this treatment and be close to his doctor. As you read the book you begin to wonder how much you can trust the journal entries that often competes with the present tense narrative.

There are two great strengths to this book. The first is the subtle nature of Barlow’s take on the absurd. I enjoy the over the top whacky-ness of some Bizarro authors like Bradley Sands (also an afterbirth author) and D.Harlan Wilson Especially but this book has different take. Like a slow burn gothic horror novel the moments of the absurd are peppered brilliantly through the first hundred pages. From there the strangeness of the book expands like lungs sucking in a deep breath.
The second strength is the structure. Giles neighbors get stranger, his doctor goes off on convincing pseudo scientific monologues and most unsettling is the half man calico cat Giles knows is stalking him.

This is an unsettling debut in all the right ways. Effectively organized through journal entries, narratives from shifting perspectives, and chapters focused on the various rooms and neighbors in Giles building are an inventive touch that relates to the character nicely. My favorite was room 104 where Giles obsesses over the sound of his neighbors late night pisses.

Super Cell Anemia is a doozy of a character based Bizzaro novel. Excellently written and everything I hoped for when I started it. Duncan Barlow has transcended my perceptions of him as an artist. He is a great novelist who happens to also be a pretty good musician. If you like a strange read this book needs to be on your TBR pile.

Old hardcore post #1

Another Victim second show Syracuse 1995
I took this picture.

New Talisman song online!

Photo is of me singing for my old band Stand Alone in 1990.

Talisman is a death metal project I did with my friend Rat. Vegan Straight Edge death metal in the vein of Day of suffering. We did one song in the mid 90's with some friends in Syracuse. Rat and I decided recently to keep the spirit alive. Check out.

http://www.myspace.com/talismanvsxe

VEGAN POWER!

Earth Crisis Firestorm fest Review

Seattle XXX Portland XXX
March 9-10 2008

It is Crazy to think that the first time I saw Earth Crisis was January 1993. A lot has changed in the world but this band still lives and promotes Vegan Straight Edge That in it’s self is amazing and unequaled event in the history of hardcore music. When the band broke up in 2001 it was wasn’t the bands best moment.

Unlike the end of other straight edge bands they were going out with their ethics intact but on the heels of two releases that left fans worried. Slither was a bold attempt expanding their horizon musically it was not well received. As huge an Earth Crisis fan as I am I can only get behind about half the album and of course it doesn’t compare to the power of early efforts. The cover album calmed my fears some producing one new original (Panic Floods) that I thought rocked, but the band was tired and they called it quits.

This has been a good year for reunions. Look at Stallone! Rocky V was a bad movie, and lets it face Rambo III was a blatant desecration of a sacred vow. After two nights of watching Earth Crisis on this recent tour and talking to Karl about Rambo IV it is clear that EXC and Stallone had the same realization.

Go back to your roots, and your roots are hardcore.

The two shows I saw were slightly different, both were well attended with perhaps a few more people in Seattle as to be expected since they have a bigger and more active hardcore scene. Some people have complained that more kids were there to see Terror. I don’t think that was a bad thing for Earth crisis or unexpected. Terror has spent the last 7 years building a fan base while Earth crisis has become a legend.

I think the Terror fans of the world need to hear Earth Crisis and certainly Terror front man Scott Vogel made this clear. The members of Terror were going off singing along both nights and that was nice to see.

Some non-Earth crisis fans complained early in the tour that EXC played to long but they had cut four songs off there set list by Seattle. They cut songs Randall and I wanted see including ‘Cease to exist’, ‘Eden’s demise’ and most painfully ‘the order’. This also points an unspoken fact that the type of hardcore that Terror plays is perfect for hardcore kids with short attention spans. Short songs, mosh parts and simple lyrical topics. Earth Crisis on the other hand plays a style of music that is heavier, more complex and lyrics challenge the listener to think and act on what they learn.

It has been a long time since a hardcore band with this kind of audience has been on tour speaking the truth like this.

The set opened with a sample of the gears fromk between the tracks on the Destroy the machines album. As it faded out and the lights went the voice of Travis Bickle(from the movie Taxi Driver) was heard over the appaulse. Karl and the boys took the stage. The gears stopped “Some day a real rain will come and wash all the filth off the streets.”

The lights came on and Earth crisis exploded into the DTM track ‘Born from Pain’ Both nights the crowd went crazy. In Seattle It became clear I had not drank enough water and was killing my self by the time the started the second song ‘Stand by’. That song was always a favorite mine but the fact that it was in the set list was great sign remember they didn’t play that song from ’94 until the last show in 2001.

In Seattle they played ¾ of firestorm, ¾ of all out war, 4 songs off of destroy the machines and one song off breed, Gamarroh’s, slither. Portland missed out on Unseen holocaust and End begins. True scholars of all things earth crisis would notice a few surprises for one was the return of Scott playing the clean guitar intro to All out war( not heard since ’94 at least) which sounded great with Eric doing feedback into the heavy part that never sounded so brutal.

Seattle had no fights, Portland only came close once. Karl pointed to the guy starting the fight and said this:

“I don’t care if your in a hardcore costume, a metal costume or a eastern bunny costume, were all here together and were all one tribe.”

Over all I was happy with the reaction both nights, I’m glad I got the chance to see them again and think it is wonderful thing they are back. They live in three states, across thousands of miles they are working hard to make the band still happen. It’s not hobby, their certainly are easier ways to do a band, so what feels great to me is just how committed they are to making the legends continue.

New Earth Crisis Album!

Crack open the sparkling apple cider time to celebrate! (Live pic is Path)



MTV.com's "Metal File" recently spoke with EARTH CRISIS frontman Karl Buechner on the band's upcoming reunion tour with SWORN ENEMY, SHAI HULUD, TERROR, DOWN TO NOTHING and RECON, and he said the straightedge metalcore outfit will be recording new material. "We do plan on putting out a record," he confirmed. "We've got six songs so far, and hopefully, we'll record them this year. Hopefully, we'll be playing some of these news songs we've written [on the upcoming tour]." So how does the new stuff sound? "The best way to describe it is it's a mixture between [1995's] 'Destroying the Machines' and [1998's] 'Breed the Killers'," he said. "Stylistically, it's most like songs from those albums."

The new EARTH CRISIS effort will be in stores early next year, he added.

EARTH CRISIS is a straight-edge, vegan hardcore band from Syracuse, New York that recorded and performed from 1992 until 2001. EARTH CRISIS is famous for supporting animal rights (and the Animal Liberation Front) and promoting a healthy lifestyle, including a strict vegan diet and abstinence from alcohol and other stimulant substances. Their lyrics are full of strong statements of conviction against animal abuse and political issues. The band's message was to show an alternative way of life for a younger generation.

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=90827

Earth Crisis Trivia

E-mail me or post answers. The winner gets a prize in the mail from Food Fight!

When Karl started this Incarnation* of EXC in 1991 He asked the members of Syracuse's first vegan straight edge band if they would play on demo for him. What was the name of this band?

Who did Earth Crisis open for on the american leg of the GSE and Breed the killers tours? (2 points each)

Who sang the "fuck you" in the song all out war? (5 points)

Karl did guest on three albums for oter artists that I know of name the artists?
(2 point each)


Who was the first singer of Earth Crisis? (20 points)
The above question is not as hard as people might think. however the challenge is that Karl and the boys acknowledge that era exists but never talk about it.

What did Karl play in the first incarnation of Earth Crisis? (10 points)

Karl wrote all the music and lyrics for one song before the line-up was formed. Which song?
(10 points)

In What state was the show where a man stage diving in a fur coat dragged out of the club? ( 10 points) This information is online.

Name three EXC side projects or joke bands? (1 point each)

Name of the studio where all out war, G Season ends, Green rage and Day of suffering recorded at in Syracuse? (5 points)

What food was Scott Crouse arrested for shoplifting on the all out war tour? (5 points) I'm pretty sure this information is on the DVD.

Bulldog was too young and his parents wouldn't let him do the first tour. Who played bass on the all out war tour? Hint he is in a still operating vegan straight edge band. (10 points)

Which song on GSE was written in the studio? (EASY point)

Who painted the cover of Destroy the machines? (1 point)

Which member of the band wrote the essays inside the GSE and BTK albums? (5 points)

How many verisons of Ecocide did EXC record? (5 points live counts)

Which EXC record had a song recorded for it that they left off at the last minute(for political reasons) and the name of the song? (1 point for the name of the record 10 for the title of the song)

Favorite Earth Crisis moments!

Earth Crisis was and I hope I can revise that to IS an amazing band. They have written some of my favorite songs ever recorded and the effect they have had on me is hard to measure. Here are some of my favorite moments from the songs and the live shows.

Favorite Live moments

1. playing Stand by - 1993 Dayton Ohio more than music fest singing along getting crushed. Never forget it. So many people were on the stage everything went out except the drums. Only fifty of us(outside of Syracuse) in the world knew the lyrics and when we were all singing the lyrics with out music it was powerful as hell. It made me love that song. Syracuse kids were in ski masks in the pit…no one had ever done that before. It looked awesome.

Scarred PC kids were screaming at them. It was too late hardcore changed forever that night.

2. The last official show at hellfest 2001 The last song the “I am straight edge” sing along. I’ve never heard so many voices screaming like that. I get chills everytime I hear it on the DVD. I didn’t have the money to go, so a roommate and I made greyhound bus passes at kinkos and somehow made it from Indiana to Syracuse. Punk fucking rock.

3. CNN show at the lost in Syracuse 1996. CNN was filming a special about straight edge and they played an ADL benefit show. The night before the ALF blew the shit out of six sausage trucks at a near by slaughterplant. The ATF was swirling outside the show and Karl was on fire. The best set I ever saw. First time they played the order in forever.

4. Oath that keeps me free show. Somehow during the live set firestorm recording got messed up. Everyone had left and they had about 15 of us come back inside and they played firestorm again to re-record it. Also that night the show was around the corner from a MacDonald’s. Hundreds of kids were there.

Adam Weisman from NY ADL was in town for a court date. He didn’t understand hardcore, when we told many of the hundreds of kids at the show were vegan he decided to harness the rage that EXc had whipped up into a silly but scary looking protest outside the random unsuspecting MacDonald’s. As kids left sweaty and angry from the EXC set Adman was standing alone yelling at the golden arches.

I admit I told him it was stupid, pointless protest but he insisted that it might teach them the power of protest. Next thing you know Adam has sixty kids sitting down blocking the doors to the restaurant. V.O.D. one of the other bands pulled up their van and their bass player stared in wonder. “Dude I think the vegan revolution just started.” I heard him say as they drove away. I didn’t see the end as I went to sing along for firestorm part deux.

The songs:

Eden’s Demise: This song from the firestorm EP had my favorite lyric "Don't let your outrage at injustice end where your selfishness begins." This is perhaps the most brilliant lyric written expressing a political message I have ever heard. It can also be applied way beyond just animal rights. I once talked about with Karl about his lyrics. He used work on every song for hours and hours. (Which doesn't explain the title of and super corny sing along of ultra-militance - an otherwise brilliant song).

Eden’s demise also has the sing along “A peaceful world can evolve after animal liberation.” This lyric contains an important distinction. A peaceful world will never happen, until Animal Liberation happens first. I agree.

Ultra-militance. From the Breed the Killers Album. Ok it’s a terrible title and the chorus is corny but the break down with the sing along… "Now this war has two sides," it gave me chills the first time I heard it. Amazing.

No allegiance from the All Out War E.P. "Fuck all who cheap what I am in others eyes" When ever some one sells out veganism or edge I think of this line. Because I've been edge for 20 years and that surprises people Why? Because of all the chumps who cheapen what I am by making it look like a dumb trend. Love this song.

Title track for Slither LP. I might get shit for this but one of my favorite EXC parts is on Slither. In the title track w/ the Ozzy style vocals “Ten thousand eyes that follow from above and from below…” leading in to the sing along scream of "stand up or die." Brillian,. I hate the chorus to that song but that part rocks.

Situation degenerates from Gomorrah’s season ends. Mosh Part in this song is underrated, Pete of beta minus mechanic claims he wrote this riff for his old militant vegan band gatekeeper. Kris who went on to be in EXC was in gatekeeper and "Wrote that riff," None the less it is a killer break down. Listen to it again. Do it.

Cease to exist from Gomorrah’s season ends. So underrated. Artistically speaking this is their most dynamic and powerful song. After they recorded the demo for GSE, mike Riccardi(the drummer for the first path album and all out war) and I were hanging out listening to it. He said something that made me love that song. The song is about nuclear war right. There is a chorus with no lyrics just a dirgy guitar part. He said when he heard it he saw a picture in his mind of being in a helicopter looking at a nuclear devastated earth. every time now I see that. it's a powerful thing for a song to do.

Karl's vocals on this are his most insane matching the insanity of the topic. Listen to him screaming "Awakened by sirens - the fifteen minute warning" or "All creation is in the hands of these madmen"

So see you at firestorm fest Earth crisis on tour soon!

Earth Crisis returns! A three part tribute!

Part 1 of 3

2008 marks the return of the most important band to my life. I’ve been straight edge since 1989 and vegan since 1993. Being vegan is incredibly important to me. Perhaps the biggest influence for vegan for me was the music and lyrics of Earth Crisis. I was already on my way to being vegan when I heard them, but they inspired me to take the struggle for Earth and Animal Liberation seriously. They taught me about the strength that sobriety gave me for fighting injustice. On top of that they were just an amazing band.

Musically they crushed and brought the mosh every time. In 1993 I first met the EXC guys when there fan base could fit on a school bus. I watched them play the More than Music Fest(the first ever three day hardcore fest). They changed hardcore forever that night. I have that set on video and love watching yearly. Back when the core was good. I liked EXC back then but it was moving to Syracuse in 1995 that made them my favorite band.

Earth crisis shared practice space with a band named Beta minus Mechanic (Eric now in EXC/path played guitar) Pete Speilman the Beta Minus bass player grew up with them and was one of my best friends when I lived there.

It was through Pete and Red Ranger(singer of Syracuse band Attitude) that I learned alot of Earth crisis history, it was through Pete that I got to the practice space (in a insurance office building in north Syracuse) to hear them writing songs through the walls. I had a blessed view. That being said I like EXC more because of my experience.

Most hardcore bands when you get to know them better they are not what you expect, you end up hating them. Outside of Kris Weichman(who they kicked out) they were awesome people.

We had an ADL protest once where it was my girlfriend (at the time) and myself alone for ten minutes and all five members of EXC showed up and held signs. That meant alot to me. When Nicole Rogers helped to open a struggling collective veg restaurant called mister A's in YMCA (Pete, Jonathan of Another Victim and Derick of vegan radio worked there too) they could not get customers.

Dennis and Pete brought their whole bands one day. Dennis talked to Nicole(she was also an ADL founder) for a while and promised her customers. He got the word and in couple days we had tons of kids there. It was rad.

I also got to know Karl the human being, (Who for three months a year was home not being Karl Crisis) I saw him dressed as strawberry for Halloween, I talked to him about comic books and movies, I saw him skating with his best friend.

Am I sick? Do I ike this band too much. Sure. Earth crisis means something to deeply as well politically. I weeped like a baby at the last show (hellfest) because I didn't think they would do a reunion. I should've know they would come back. they are to powerful a force to ever die.

You want proof of what this band means to our struggle. My friend in San diego has a video of shows from the Destroy the machines tour. It has shows in Germany,New jersey, Chicago, and California. I watched that tape and knew they played cities every else in between and looked the same. I saw kids in all those cities pile and sing along to songs about animal liberation,straight edge and direct action. Around the world. Don't forget they are big in Asia and south america too.

How many people you think at each show 200 or 300 how many were exposed to veganism? I think it's fair to say 10,000 or more went vegan and stayed vegan because of their influence. EXC inspired many of us to go vegan and in the end every person we inspire is still apart of EXC's influence. More direct action happened for the animals during that period than any other time in history. The animals had a voice that did not waiver and the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act can't go after lyrics.

For the record Karl did get harassed by the government in Syracuse, he never went public about it. His car was sabotaged once and the mechanic asked his wife if they had enemies. There had been several meat packing places that had been attacked in Syracuse, one went under, another moved. Karl believed it was someone connected to them. I believe it was the ATF who had threatened Karl telling not to promote Direct action. No one knows for sure

Despite the threats to his family, Karl went on America's most wanted and called the ALF heroes. That is part of what makes Karl a hero himself.

Go see Earth Crisis on tour

http://www.myspace.com/firestormfest

Part two: Favorite EXC moments.
Part Three: EXC Trivia