POLLUTED BITCH-HOUND-HUNGRY DEMO

So I decided to plug the new band I am in before the year is out. I spent all day yesterday recording and mixing this demo. I came out very well and I am happy with it. My new band is called Polluted Bitch-Hound. We play riffy psychedelic/hard rock stuff, I guess somewhere in the ballpark of Sabbath, Flag, Deep Purple, Blue Cheer, Bl'ast, etc. We have played some shows and done some basement demos, but this was done in a studio with nice mics and such. Anyway, please give it a listen!

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HAPPY HOLIDAYS//HEAVY 101

I doubt I'll be posting on here again before the New Year, so I thought I'd end the first full year of Girth Crisis, one of few posts, with a special Holiday treat. I believe I've used ELECTRIC WIZARD as a reference point when describing various bands on here, but have failed to post anything by the good Wizard itself. Well, a little background, then I'll make with the links.

I'd heard Electric Wizard was mind-blowing from some pretty respectable sources, but it took me a while to check them out. For whatever reason, the concept of slow, heavy, weed-reeking, disgusting vibes had limited appeal for me, so I kept listening to Pg.99 and really didn't budge on the issue. One day, on a whim during a particularly depressing day or evening in my old dorm room, I read one last time that Dopethrone was a bona fide classic, making every other "heavy" band look like lightweights.

In retrospect, it was a great idea to start there. Dopethrone begins with what probably is the Wizard's most accessible song, "Vinum Sabbathi," a three-minutes-and-change introduction to what instantly became one of my favorite bands. Calling Dopethrone "heavy" is like saying that Rush are "good musicians" or George Carlin was a "funny guy." The record flat-out crushes, every riff sounds like something Master of Reality-era Sabbath wrote, forgot about, handed off to Jus Oborn, and asked for it to be tuned down like five steps, the drummer, Mark Greening, hits the drums harder than anyone I've ever heard, with the possible exception of Bill Ward himself, and Tim Bagshaw's bass just adds to the heaviness. Jus' vocals are distorted, low in the mix, and pure hate, spewing some of the coolest lyrics I've ever heard. Dopethrone is a modern-day classic.

From there I went to Come My Fanatics..., Dopethrone's full-length predecessor, which is a tad less heavy and hateful (but only a tad), but about 99% the classic Dopethrone is. "Return Trip" and "Wizard in Black" are both up there with the Wizard's best songs, and I count them among my favorites. No song on the album proper clocks in at under 6:42, making this record a slightly more challenging listen, which is probably the only thing keeping it from reaching the heights of Dopethrone. The first record, the self-titled, doesn't quite run with those two, but still shows a band reigning far above most any other band daring to play heavy and slow. The two EPs I'm putting up, Supercoven and Chrono.Naut, only add to the madness, and "Supercoven" is a particularly great track.

Alas, all was not all in the Wizard camp. After the somewhat-disappointing follow-up to Dopethrone, Let Us Prey, Bagshaw and Greening left to form the great Ramesses, whose EP was covered in a recent post. Electric Wizard Mk. II soon emerged with 2004's We Live, which was an improvement over its predecessor but failed to reach the heights of vintage Wizard. 2007's Witchcult Today was a much more solid effort, and though I did not include it here, it is thoroughly worth checking out. Anyway, you probably want me to shut up and post the links:

Dopethrone: buy/download
Supercoven: buy/download
Chrono.Naut: download
Come My Fanatics... (Incl. bonus tracks): buy/download
Electric Wizard: buy/download

MIDNIGHT-FAREWELL TO HELL; TURBOSLUT-ORDER OF THE TURBOSLUT; BLUE CHEER-OUTSIDEINSIDE

MIDNIGHT-FAREWELL TO HELL

This is definitely one of those bands that formed to do exactly what its collective members like about music: balls-out fucking rock. Hailing from the once-great rock 'n' roll city of Cleveland, these guys put on grim reaper hoods and do their best to reclaim the throne. I came across their myspace because they're tight with some other great bands and was blown away by the whole spectacle. Awesome.

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TURBOSLUT-ORDER OF THE TURBOSLUT

I really can't decide whether I'm more bummed about Turboslut's breakup or Annihilation Time's. I'm actually going to go with Turboslut because I've seen AT and those dudes got to release three sweet full-lengths before calling it quits. Turboslut only did this and the Pygmy Lush split covered earlier (you find it) and I missed the boat on them. Whatever, I can't even describe how blown away I was the first time I heard "Speed" off the Pygmy Lush split and that release is the superior of the two, but Order of the Turboslut offers more Turboslut songs, so what the fuck. Miserable, pissed, dark, and grungy, this band hits a spot for me that nobody else really can come close to. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't an uncomfortable spot, but I will continue to defend my love of this band. Contains my second-favorite Turboslut song, "Running in the Family." Check it out.

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BLUE CHEER-OUTSIDEINSIDE

Apparently this beast was recorded both in and out of doors, hence the title. These dudes were serious hippies. Whatever, this is my favorite Cheer record, which I don't think is a hugely controversial claim to make- they were still a young band, but their jamming is tighter and even trippier than it was on Vincebus Eruptum. This one has my favorite Cheer song, the just-plain-heavy "Just a Little Bit," which boasts an absolutely great riff and one of Dickie's best vocal performances. They also do a great version of "I Can't Get No Satisfaction" and a mix of other great covers and originals in the way that only they could. Dickie just died and you should feel bad. Worship.

buy
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SOURVEIN- S/T; RAMESSES- BAPTISM OF THE WALKING DEAD; ENTOMBED- WOLVERINE BLUES

Sup internet?! I've just been chilling and going to school and shit. Daniel and Mike have been doing the same I guess. I just got internet at my haus and it's pretty fast so I decided to do a post. I was going to upload a rip of the Fin cassette by Divisions, which is some of the most ripping shit ever, so I forgot and instead just uploaded some of the other music I've been digging lately. Some new, some not. Enjoy.

Sourvein- s/t

Sourvein represent a good deal of what I've been listening to these days: slow, sludgy, riff-driven, fucking loud. This band is very bluesy and my closest approximation of their sound is a slightly less abrasive Eyehategod. The vocals are pretty sweet and this is overall a very good release by a very good band. I think they may have broken up, because one of their guitarists married Jus Oborn and now plays in Electric Wizard mk. II. I considered putting Dopethrone up in this post, but if you don't already have that you have little business checking out a Sourvein record.

OUT OF PRINT
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Ramesses- Baptism of the Walking Dead EP

Continuing the trend of bands featuring sometime members of Electric Wizard, Ramesses features 2/3 of the "classic" EW lineup, the one that cut fucking Come My Fanatics..., Supercoven, and Dopethrone and therefore have earned themselves a lifetime of doom cred. I honestly like Ramesses slightly more than the Wizard's Witchcult Today. There's some sonic similarity between the two, but Ramesses does have a distinct black metal influence, most obviously in the vocals. At first I couldn't get into this but holy shit, this crushes. I guess these three songs are going to be rerecorded for their new album, so get stoked.

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Entombed- Wolverine Blues

I find the direction this band took hilarious, even if I do love this shit, in all seriousness. Entombed cut two seriously legit death metal albums (I mean, they did that shit as well as anyone), then I guess decided that they wanted to have verses, choruses, and solos in their songs; thus, death 'n' roll was born. I feel ridiculous when I listen to Wolverine Blues, but I just can't resist.

UPDATE: I'm an idiot and forgot to post the link.
HERE

SCUD MOUNTAIN BOYS

Daniel was in San Diego recently and picked up a cassette by a band called Scud Mountain Boys, for some reason. Anyway, turns out they're great. Joe Pernice, later of the Pernice Brothers, was in this band, which may or may not be of interest to you. Daniel and I have been fucking huge on Pygmy Lush for a while, and I covered Red House Painters in an earlier post so this is a welcome precursor to that: a little more country, a little less folk, and just as depressed, which is awesome. I uploaded two full-lengths, Dance the Night Away and Pine Box, and they're both excellent. I find that Pine Box is of slightly higher quality, but they share a sound and are entirely worth having.

buy them both!
download Dance the Night Away
download Pine Box

STABYOUINTHEHEADANDEATYOURFACEOFF

Herbs Get Wet

This release is the longer and better of the two. I think they released this after they got back together, and the production and songwriting are generally better than on Killin Toys. The drummer definitely took the snare off, so it kind of reminds me of St. Anger- era Metallica, except good and not "thrash metal" or whatever you want to call that one. Ehh whatever, it's good, get it if you want it.

buy
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Killin Toys

ALMOST AS GOOD.

buy
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Oh right, background: xStabYouInTheHeadAndEatYourFaceOffx is a hardcore band from Connecticut. They kind of remind me of Dangers and that school of hardcore, only with some Boston HC influence. They do the guitar-drums-vocals thing, and their guitar work is pretty impressive considering. I like this band.

MOUTHBREATHER- THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE; PITCHFORK- EUCALYPTUS + SATURN OUTHOUSE; BONGRIPPER- HATE ASHBURY

Mouthbreather- Thank You For Your Patience

Wow, Owls! was, for a moment, one of the best bands out there. I bought their split with The Set-Up around the time that came out, and both sides ruled. I think The Set-Up broke up first, but fortunately, when Wow, Owls! broke up, members of the two bands decided to join forces and form Mouthbreather, which sounds like a logical progression for both bands. I dig it, and so should you.

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Pitchfork- Eucalyptus + Saturn Outhouse

This release compiles the album and EP released by Pitchfork, the first band featuring John Reis and Rick Froberg, who would go on to form the incredible Drive Like Jehu (covered earlier). Reis would also form Rocket from the Crypt, who I don't really like, and then Reis and Froberg would get back together to form Hot Snakes, who I love. Anyway, this sounds like a more melodic, less technical version of Jehu. Froberg's vocals aren't quite as rough, and only Reis played guitar here, so there's none of the awesome interplay that made Jehu stand out so much, but there are some real winners here.

buy
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Bongripper- Hate Ashbury

Something about this album leads me to believe that these guys like weed. Maybe it's just me, though.

buy
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