IMPETIGO.

If you enjoy grind-gore infused w/ a heaping spade-full of old school death metal, then Bloomington, Ilinois' Impetigo is what you're looking for.

Great snuff samples interweaving throughout; some excellent throat-gurgling groans /blood-curdling screams that sound completely inhuman in a way that hasn't been done before. The guitars are groovy-but-heavy in the riff department, not always blasting away at top speed, but plenty of down-tuned chug to set the stark atmosphere, and although this release is more death-than-grind, it completely shreds - not a bad song the album, if you ask me.

A unique record - a classic, actually - in the gore-grind/death genre.



Impetigo - Horror of the Zombies

Link removed due to bot leeches at punks and skins dot com - MOTHERFUCKERS FOR SURE.

CAPTAIN BEEFHEART & THE MAGIC BAND.

It's been a long, slow, grueling week - always is right before Xmess, ain't it - and after a long Friday at work getting drunk on the clock and then coming home for an hour or two, then going back out for a nice dinner & cocktails at three different bars, I return to find out one of my musical mentors has passed on from from this mortal coil - this after spending the evening drinking w/ a friend whose brother died recently & I hadn't seen since that happened - R.I.P. WISP.

There will be a million posts on "The Good Captain" on many a blog worth its weight, and you either loved him or "just didn't get it", but for me as a young impressionable open-minded teen, his bag of tricks always mesmerized the fuck out of me - not an easy listen by any means - but to me he was sort of the "White James Brown" in many ways.

When I think of Death Valley I will always think him. Never mind - if you don't know by now, here's a shot at (your) redemption...

Rest In Peace, Don Van Vliet - and thank you for helping me along on my way to wherever the fuck it is that I'm headed - For reals.



Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band - Doc at the Radar Station

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RICK SHAPIRO.

This is easily one of the greatest "comedy" records I have ever heard.

Rick Shapiro is seriously amazing when it comes to painting a picture with his voice / expressions / mannerisms - they call that "improvisation" I suppose- but Rick transcends all that.

If you don't know who he is, Google around a bit - do your homework - because he's been around for years, & under-appreciated for most of his career.
A checkered past? Rick? FUCK YES! I would expect no less from a man who truly knows what the fuck he is doing when he takes the mic.
As far as the world of "stand-up" goes, Shapiro & Stanhope are "on the real tip" - sadly, Hedberg bit it a few years ago, and Geraldo? Well, I wanted to dig that dude, but his schtick gave me a rash more than anything else. Enough about those other dudes - Rick Shapiro is a fucking madman who is completely on-point; his material ain't "material" - it just IS...



Rick Shapiro - Unconditional Love

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BULGE.

Here's a wonderfully dingy, obnoxiously abrasive, & poignantly juvenile record from one of my favorite Boston HC bands ever, Bulge, née, Psycho.

I used to write to Charlie Infection way back when I was a shit-kid skaterat back in the mid-Eighties in mid-Michigan, and he would send me tons of flyers, homemade stickers, cassette comps, etc.
I am sure I wasn't the only one he wrote back to; I gotta say that all the cool stuff that he sent me over the years warped my young & impressionable weed-addled-sponge-of-a-mind by helping me to realize that you really could do whatever the fuck you wanted with your life if you really wanted to, and gnarly-ass hardcore, skateboarding, tattoos, a broke(n) family, & a small midwestern hick-town upbringing/existence just helped to stir the pot for what came next in (my) life.

Anyways, I'm rambling on about the path I took, but for what it's worth, Charlie Infection is 52, still jams with Psycho, puts out (aXctio) Records, etc. - what do you think you'll be up to when you're 52? You gotta make it there first, son.

(By the way, Bulge was the pseudonym that Psycho used when they backed GG Allin on his classic LP, "Freaks, Faggots, Drunks and Junkies" ).



Bulge - Penis Rising

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EXODUS.

The only Exodus vocalist that matters for me was Paul Baloff.

While the rest of the band has continued on and made great music, what is missing for me is that frayed edge, the unknowing - that feeling you get the moment before unforeseen tragedy strikes.

That's what Paul Baloff brought to the fold.

While he may not have been the prettiest, or best singer in the Bay Area Thrash Scene of the Eighties, Baloff was "the cold, hard & grim reality" screaming maniacally in your face.

To me, he was perfect for what a real thrash band was about.

Sadly, he ain't with us any more, but this here is a choice collection of material spanning the infamous "Studio 54 gig", some early demos, & a few live cuts featuring (the future / other guitar player from Metallica - the one who ISN'T gay), Kirk Hammett.

A nice addition for any TRUE "Poser Killer" like yourself.



Exodus - Bonded by Baloff

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HELLSHOCK.

More than just another "denim-cut covered-in-spikes band", Portland's Hellshock surpass the masses of D-beat / Crustcore clone bands by bringing this thing called "HEAVY" to the plate.

No "one-trick pony" here, folks - these guys lay it down fast & furious, yet are also fully capable of bludgeoning you with the doom-laden breakdown & a tight solo if need be.

PDX - for some odd reason - has always been a hotbed for killer crust bands, but these guys easily wear the crown for "superior rock power" in their neck of the Pacific Northwest.



They Wait for You

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