From the Hard Times! Sethifus writed something!

I wrote a satirical article and the Hard Times published it!

You can and should read it here!



I was surprised they chose my article and published it. It's more of a gentle humor than their other articles.

But I'm still damn proud of it.




Please read it and share it with others who might like such things.

Oh, and if you like punk rock and the Onion subscribe to the Hard Times!

If they ever pick another of my articles, I'll let ya know!

Day 87 - MXPX PXPX - 3/27/2015

Today's Thing-a-Day Thing is a Bad MS Paint rendering of the Pokinatcha Punk from Mxpx.

Mxpx is one of my favorite bands.

I'm a few MXPX albums behind. Wanna help me catch up?

Vaginas are weird.

I have taken to catching a lot of local concerts in the past few months.  This last weekend, I went to the Melody Inn for punk rock night, which featured a killer line-up.  Now let me preface this by saying that the line up was of four bands, but I will only be writing about three here.  The Enders were an enjoyable act, but they did not fit the overarching theme, and through no fault of their own, I simply did not care for them as much as the other acts.  That being said, the remaining bands on the docket were The Panty Liners, Mr. Clit and the Pink Cigarettes, and The Bloody Muffs.


 First on the stage were The Panty Liners.  They are a four member punk group with a nerdy mentality to them.  I picked up their album, FTW  which has eleven tracks.  "Superhero Tango in G or Caped Crusaders in Heat" is  a song suggesting sex might be a proper way to thank a hero that has gone out of his way to save your life.  "Pokemon of Disease" is a cautionary tale comparing venereal diseases to the popular children's show.  Then there is "Boomstick" which pays homage to one of my favorite films of all time, The Army of Darkness.  Their sounds is a very fast and distorted punk.  The songs are humorous and well written.  Ultimately they put on a lively and entertaining show, and the album is worth buying.

The Panty Liners

Next up we have Mr. Clit and the Pink Cigarettes.  I love this band.  They were the reason I came to the show.  I was lucky enough to be at one of their shows last October, and have been a fan ever since.  Their sound is hard to describe, but my best attempt is to say that it is a what you would get if Grunge and Punk had a baby and then raised it at a circus run by Pennywise(the clown from It).  The band members usually dress like slightly twisted versions of characters out of Leave it to Beaver,  and always put on a fun show.  They have two albums available, Cancer Tastes Great and Haircuts, with 17 tracks between them and a handful of yet to be released tracks. A few favorites of mine are "Lets Kiss," "Mother Might Be Wrong," and "Wham Bam Thank You Spaceman."  They make great music, put on a great show, and are awesome people in general.

Mr Clit and the Pink Cigarettes

The last band of the evening was The Bloody Muffs, a group from New York City.  They have the same basic line up as Mr. Clit, with a male lead, and females on the bass and drums(though they had a sub in for the drummer this time).  They have three major albums Blue Waffle Breakfast, Heavy Flow, and Sloppy Seconds.  More than any of the other bands I've mentioned, The Bloody Muffs have a pretty clean and straightforward punk sound.  They remind me slightly of the Ramones(again, I said slightly).  Where they really pop is the songs themselves.  Every song is very musically sound, and at worst enjoyable.  Most however, are quite clever, and downright catchy.  Some of my favorites are "Love Me Like a Drug,"  "Let's Get Drunk and Fuck," and "Who I Am."  If it is not completely obvious by the fact that I have favorite songs, The Bloody Muffs blew me away.  I saw them less than a week ago, but they've officially gained a fan.  The albums are all fairly solid, which by my definition means that you don't have to skip any tracks.  They were awesome live as well.

The Bloody Muffs

Overall it was an awesome night. I know I may seem overly positive in my reviews, but this was just an amazing lineup.  Usually these local shows involve a lot of me being bored and falling asleep waiting for the groups I actually came to see.  If you get a chance, I would highly recommend seeing all of these bands.


A quick post script:  I want to be sure and credit Alan Armstrong with the photos for the Bloody Muffs, and The Panty Liners.  My camera was dead that night, else I would have my own.  I took these from the punk rock night page.

For more info:
The Panty Liners
Mr. Clit and the Pink Cigarettes
The Bloody Muffs

One Fierce Beer Coaster

 
If you were a pseudo-rebellious youth in the late 90's, like myself, there are probably certain things you remember.  Backwards ball caps; Actually Thinking Limp Bizkit was cool; Watching Beavis and Butt-head.  One of the most prolific things I recall from that era was "Fire Water Burn," by the Bloodhound Gang.  My introduction to this song was likely similar to that of many of you,  the censored radio version that used this amazing Donkey bray to cover the word 'motherfucker.'  It was such an entertaining edit that when I finally got my hands on the album I was almost disappointed by the unedited cut.

In 1996 the Bloodhound Gang put out their sophomore effort, One Fierce Beer Coaster.  Despite being their second offering, this album was the one that saw Bloodhound Gang to widespread fame.  As mentioned above, "Fire Water Burn" became a pop culture phenomenon, but the album also produced the radio singles "I wish I was Queer So I Could Get Chicks" and "Why's Everybody Always Picking on Me?"  The Album also features a remake of Run DMCs "It's Tricky" and a collaboration track with Rob Van Winkle, better known as Vanilla Ice, called "Boom."


I am well aware that this album is 16 years old, and may have reached the entirety of its popularity at this point.  That being said, I love this album front to back.  It holds up to this day.  The songs are energetic, funny, and altogether enjoyable.  The Bloodhound Gang are really ahead of the game here mixing elements of Hip Hop, Punk, and even hints techno.  They were blurring the lines between genres before the practice became popular and common place.  I also would make an argument that they were early pioneers of the nerdcore subgenre, with songs about Mr. Rogers, Homer Simpson impressions and countless references to Star Trek, Mash, and other pop culture staples.

I cannot recommend this album strongly enough.  The offensive low esteem fueled lyrics teach a lesson that I have taken to heart, which is that if you accept that there are horrible things in this world, and learn how to laugh at them, you may just make it though this life in one piece.  To quote the group themselves, "There's no reason to live, but we like it that way."

3 Batteries?