Government Warning

Its been a few years since I first heard this Richmond, Virginia band on a recommendation from a friend. From the moment I put their LP “No Moderation” on, I realized that I was listening to a very special band, the kind of band that only comes along once in a generation. As much as this band holds a special place among my favorite bands, it is rather unfortunate that I have only seen this band play live three times, once on a west coast tour and then twice at the two following No Way Fests the following two years in Virginia.

As an avid music listener, I find myself to be very critical of bands and don’t find myself easily excited by music that I feel lacks talent or thought. If it wasn’t apparent before, Government Warning proved that there is still heart in the punk music that is being written today. That is not to say that Government Warning is the final word when it comes to new hardcore punk rock, but they are definitely leaders in the direction that this genre of punk rock music needs to be going in.


Government Warning at No Way Fest in Richmond, VA June 2009

As far as their sound goes, Government Warning can best be described as a band that would have existed and thrived 25 years ago, much like the Adolescents, who many people draw comparisons to. Fortunately we are lucky enough to have this band for ourselves without the older generation having bragging rights to say that they got to see them back in the 80s. Give this band a listen, pick up “No Moderation” and work your way up from there. If you are anything like me their records will spend more time on the record player then in their sleeves.

This summer Government Warning released a new LP as well as an EP on No Way/Grave Mistake Records.

1. Rot and Decay
2. Nowhere to Go
3. Urban Warfield
4. Endless Slaughter
5. Stop Again
6. Revolving Door
7. Blurred Yellow Line
8. Disengage
9. Hour After Hour
10. Glued
11. Factory Line
12. Shot Full of Holes
13. Global Warming
14. Paranoid Mess
15. Enough is Enough

Band MySpace: www.myspace.com/governmentwarningrva



 

Krum Bums – Same Old Story

If you have followed the Krum Bums for any amount of time you know that they are a pretty hard edged street Punk band. This group of five malcontents have just put out another record that will blow you away! This record unlike their two previous releases, "As The Tide Turns" and "The Sound" takes a bit of a surprising turn. The CD kicks off with the track, Split Tongue that as it starts up was reminiscent of the song Battery by Metalica with a slow, instrumental build up, which then breaks into some top notch guitar work. No long you still get the full force of vocalist Dave’s sand blaster vocals that fans of this band can never get enough of, all backed up by a band that has honed their musical chops. For anyone that picks up this record they will appreciate the musicianship that this band has evolved to, without sacrificing the sound and irreverence that it a Krum Bums trademark.

Krum Bums have certainly out did themselves with this record, it is very well produced. The biggest criticism of this record is driven more from a selfish desire to have more than 6 songs of this latest advancement of the bands collective talents. Existing fans are certainly gonna be stoked on this latest release from TKO Records. Likewise new fans of the band will find this to be a great record to cut their teeth on, which will lead you to want to get all of this band’s previous releases.

Band MySpace: www.myspace.com/krumbums

 

-R. Dunn-
Big Wheel Online Magazine

 You can find this record HERE

 

                                           Go HERE to see all the latest record reviews reviews

 

 

 

 

People are being sued for what they post sites such as Twitter

 As technology evolves at breakneck speed, thorny legal issues are emerging, experts say. People are being sued for what they post on social-networking sites such as Twitter. Some of the legal issues involve privacy, defamation and content ownership. The law is "at least five years behind technology as it is developing," legal expert says. Here is an interesting piece from CNN that takes you though the pit falls if you are an internet blowhard, in some circles known as a troll (Did that one hit home for YOU - you know exactly who you are).

Mission of Burma – at The Echo – Los Angeles, CA – November 15, 2009

Mission of Burma was one of the great underground inspirations for many great mainstream bands such as REM, Nirvana, The Pixies, Sonic Youth, and many more. With that being said, it was not surprising to see a packed house last Sunday at The Echo in LA.




The Henry Clay People opened the show and set a great mood for the performance to proceed them.

They put on a pretty good show. They played with vibrancy and toward the end of their set really kicked it up and got the crowd going with a catchy number called "Working Part Time". They kind of reminded me of Modest Mouse a little bit, with more keyboard, I really enjoyed their sound. If you get a chance, you can check out their music at: www.myspace.com/thehenryclaypeople.         

After a short intermission and a few beers later, Mission of Burma was up to rock the house. From the beginning  I could tell I was experiencing something great. Mission of Burma has a feel of something old but progressive at the same time. Their songs would range from slow and melodic and then right back into a hard Punk rock, in your face sound. To imagine this music being released in the early 80's, it blows my mind! Some bands were so ahead of their time, it's amazing.

Mission of Burma was known for being a great recording band in their early days, thanks to contributions from Martin Swope, who would do sound manipulation with tape that can easily be done digitally these days, but was visionary in the 80's. While their live performances were known for being notoriously a hit or miss, I have to say that Sundays performance was definitely a hit for the crowd of fans that gathered at The Echo. I am truly a more enlightened lover of music after seeing Mission of Burma!      
 

 

-J. Moncrief-
Big Wheel Music Scene Reporter

 

More photos of the show can be seen HERE

 
                                          Go HERE to see all the latest show reviews
 

 

 

 

Music play list for the week ending November 15, 2009

Top 25  - In no particular order -

MDC - I Remember
Mischief Brew - Citizens Drive
Cat Party - Jigsaw Thoughts
Blitz - New Age
Nills - Daylight
Ramones - Animal Boy
D.O.A. - The Prisoner
Radiohead - Karma Police
Bad Reaction - Hate My Job
Living End - Witch Doctor
The Crowd - Living in Madrid
AFI - Days of the Phoenix
Rabies - Southside Brigade
Oxymoron - R.I.P.
Bad Antics - On my way down
Circle Jerks - Back Against the Wall
Stellastarr - Stay Entertained
Black Randy - Trouble at the Cup
The Dils - Mr. Big
Billie Holiday - Strange Fruit
David Bowie - Time
Ventures - Hawaiian Surfing
Blind Melon - No Rain
Camper Van Beethoven - Take the Skinheads Bowling
Weezer - In the Garage

The above list are some of the top played songs amongst our staff this week.

Get the albums that these songs are on HERE

Message of the week:
Nothing comes from comfort but the fear of losing it,
and that's exactly where my generation made it's big mistake.
-From the book Banned For Life

 

Cat Party – Tragic Ends – Roofie and The Nightstalkers – No Spectators – Joe’s Garage – at the Unity Church basement – Long Beach, CA

I was looking forward to going to this show: touring bands, new venue and lots of friends. Sounds like a good time, right? It was my first time going to the Unity Church, so i was pretty excited about seeing and feeling the vibe. I had heard it was a pretty bad-ass place. So after a nice cruise down to the LBC (Broadway and 4th street), we come to find that parking is a absolute nightmare. There was no pubic parking to speak of and your only chance is finding a spot on the street a mile away. So here, a bit of advice, get to the show early Way early. Its going to take you a good half hour to an hour of driving around to find a spot that isnt two miles away, or that isn't in a tow away zone. You could car pool, or make your friend's mom drive around for hours while you enjoy the show, that works too.

After hanging around out front for awhile and seeing the wiener mobile make a pit stop for some gas, everyone filed in to see the first band. The bands just ended up setting up on the dance floor, pretty cool. There was small delay to find a PA, so they ended up plugging in to a guitar amp and it seemed to work just fine. The first band, Tragic Ends, started their set, they are a touring band from San Francisco with an ultra heavy sound and hardcore roots that got kids movin'. It was hard to make out the vocals with the makeshift Pa and the mic ended up breaking after a few songs. So, instead of ending their set way early, they just yelled as loud as they could. Their best song was their last and it was a good way to end their energetic set.

So, with the broken mic I was wondering how Joe's Garage would play their set. But one of my friends had a mic that worked like a charm. So Joes Garage started their set sporting a fill-in drummer, Jeff (from The Rip Offs and PSA) he's the regular fill-in when the normal drummer can't make it. They start out with "Kid" and Jeff is pretty spot-on. Their set was going pretty well with kids pitting to every song. Then, right before their last two songs, the mic dies. So, mic-less, they end their set with "Zombie Attack" and a G.G. Allin cover "Bite It You Scum". You could hear the crowd singing along which was pretty darn awesome. They ended their set with everyone satisfied.

With another broken mic and another delay, someone shows up with a small PA that looks like it was going to to get the job done. So the other touring band from San Francisco, Roofie and The Nightstalker, was next up. They are a female-fronted band that was a pinch of rock n roll and punk rock. They had a very fresh sound and everyone was into them, pitting and dancing. They gave away Cd's after their set, I was not lucky enough to snag one but i will definitely be getting it from someone who has it.

Cat Party was next, they have a mellow indie sound and they played a pretty mellow set that got heads bobbing. Nice way to calm down some of the more roudy kids. The last band is up next.

Last, but definitely not least, No Spectators is up. After the first or second song, the kids that were hanging around outside came in and got the pit going. They played a new song that I enjoyed a whole lot and then covered Cock Sparrer's "Take 'em All" that fit Ditch's voice pretty well. A Negative Approach song closed out the night with plenty of speed and energy to end their set.

Everyone filed out and went home shortly after. I decided that the Unity Church was one of the better, little underground places I've been to, and its got some great local shows coming up. So go out and check it out its worth it. Check out their myspace for show listings and such.

 

 

-Matt C. / Dead Man Photo-
Big Wheel photographer / Music Scene Reporter

 

More photos of the show can be seen HERE

 
                                          Go HERE to see all the latest show reviews
 

 

 

 

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