You Don't Want to Bite the Hand That Feeds You

Where to even begin? January 2nd was the last show at Birmingham's original Cave9, one of the only all ages DIY punk venues left in the US. The club is continuing in a new spot and I'm not upset about it because I think it will flourish, but it was kind of an emotional night for all of us that sort of considered it moving out of our childhood home. I wasn't happy about the fact that the line-up that night included only two local bands (Ex Members of the Holy Trinity and Legion) and then something like 8 completely over rated touring "hardcore" bands that couldn't give a shit about the scene here and weren't anywhere nearly as good as what's coming out of this city right now. It just felt like the last night was so irrelevent and got over run by all these outsiders who don't ever support shit that came out and talked about how important that club had always been to them even though they were probably only there like twice a year.



Friday night we practiced in Tuscaloosa and I ended up staying in town because we needed to practice again Saturday (we hadn't done anything over the holidays we've got shows with Lewd Acts and Agnostic Front this month) so I wound up at Egan's for the show that night. Silky Snowflake was fun to watch/hear, and the Necronomikids put on a great set of well crafted neo-surf that is definitely worth the time to check out. The guys are/were in a bunch of bands like Green Beret, The Hell, and Model Citizen. Buy their demo and rejoice.



Kings of Nuthin'-Old Habits Die Hard

I don't even know if this has been released yet. I guess this was recorded in '07 and was supposed to have come out that year but kept getting delayed. Maybe it's already out in Europe and just not the US, I don't know. If not, someone needs to release it because it rules. There are two songs with guest vocals and I fucking hate them, but other than that, it's great (and it's 18 songs so 2 duds are forgivable). Great lyrics, great songs, great band. Why aren't they climbing the charts? Via PunkRockOi.

Future Myth

2008 is over. Everyone has been posting their "best of" lists for the year, and I don't see the point in even trying. There are so many records I haven't even heard yet and I can't imagine trying to order the records I have heard just so someone will think I'm cool. I'm sure there were a lot of records that went completely unnoticed that are way better than most of the stuff topping the lists this year. Maybe I'm jaded, but I can't get into a band like Torche, whose Meanderthal LP is a huge deal to everybody else. I will admit that there were aspects of the record that I like, but putting it on such a pedestal is kind of ridiculous, which the same way I feel about The Chemistry of Common Life. I appreciate the album (and the aesthetics of the band), but to say it's that much better than anything else this year is kind of short sighted.



On a personal level, 2008 was total bullshit for me. On the upside, I haven't had a cigarette in over a week, so maybe this time I can finally quit smoking for good. I doubt it, though. The problem is that everyone I know smokes, and the people I know who didn't used to smoke have spent so much time around me that they invariably start smoking. And the cycle continues.

Happy New Year, assholes:
Infest-No Man's Slave
Akron/Family & Angels of Light-Akron/Family & Angels of Light
Charles Mingus-Mingus Ah Um
David Sedaris-Live at Carnegie Hall