Manifesta: 1) Good, passionate music/art CAN save lives. 2) Everyone’s art, writing, and music deserves to be heard/seen/read at least once. 3) We have the right to be heard Fuck Censorship!! 4) We have the right to create our OWN STORY on OUR terms. 5) We refuse to accept corporate, sensationalist, exploitative BULLSHIT as music. 6) We refuse to tolerate bullshit like sexism, homophobia, prejudice, or oppression in art/music. 7) We want to be provocative, controversial, and LOUD. 8) We want autonomy over our minds, bodies, and thoughts. [Propaganda is a lie.] NO COMPROMISE. NO SURRENDER. NO FUCKING SHIT. _____________________________________________________________ Contributors to issue #1: -JENN ENDLESS: an anti-social artist/musician incapable of relating to people -ANITA STATIC: an amateur writer with an unquenchable thirst for liquor and rock n’ roll
It's all about the nostalgia. Nostalgia sells because it makes you realize that as potentially lame and awkward as you may have been growing up, it was still one of the most fun times you've ever had. Music is the easiest way to get back to those times. People get nostalgic over the Beatles, some get nostalgic over Pearl Jam, and then there are those who get nostalgic over the Psychedelic Furs. Leather, wine colored blazers, shoulder pads, teased hair, the fashion might not have been the same as when the furs first came out back in the 80's but their fan's enthusiasm are still as strong as ever today. So, I wasn't really too surprised when 5 minutes before 8, the venue was already packed. The radio station 93XRT were the host of the event, so when a representative of the station came on stage recalling the first time the furs were ever played on the radio, alongside other big bands such as New Order or Depeche Mode, everyone in the crowd went crazy. Naming old venues i've never heard of and women explaining old beauty tricks they used to keep their neon blue eyeshadow on, I was easily the youngest person there. Born in 1994, I had no fucking idea what everyone was talking about. I was just there because I loved the the furs back in high school and I use to have a thing for the lead singer Richard Butler. The awkwardness of people twice my age calling me “sweety” or saying I looked adorable in my jean jacket was thankfully interrupted by the sound of women screaming. I will say this now, the band looked great, but the moment Richard Butler took the stage and immediately dove into their first song, “Highwire Days” I became flustered. The man voice is pure sex, what can I say? And you know what, I thought it was a pretty damn good setlist. They had a bit of everything. The hits, some of their earlier stuff, and even a couple of new songs (Little Miss World shows that they're still no doubt capable of writing extremely catchy songs with substance in a now modern music industry full of shitty pop songs that rely on electronic beats to divert attention from terrible song writing.) The crowd was fully into it, I had a gay couple adopt me for the night and buy me drinks, and there stood Richard Butler a couple of inches away from me, shimmying and twilring with such grace that I found myself drooling over a man who can be my father, probably even my grandfather. However, I have no shame, so fuck it. I wish I can be much more informative with this review, but when an underage drinker such as myself is presented with free drinks all night, you take advatange of it. Depsite being a bit altered by the end of the night, I will say this: "THERE IS MORE TO THE PYSCHEDELIC FURS THAN THEIR HIT "PRETTY IN PINK." The show they played proved and as I began to nod off on the train back home I relized something important.I shouldn't have felt weird being surrounded by 80's kids. I'm sure if I was around in the 80's I wouldn't have listened to the furs. I'd probably be into heavy metal anyways, and with that I put on my head phones,politely turned down a homeless man'sale offer of cheap baby phat perfume, listened to some Mötley Crüe, and headed home.
MIX-TAPE Tranquilizer: 1990’s ALT-ROCK
1) “Drunken Butterfly” – Sonic Youth; Dirty – 1992. “Well, Kim Gordon is pretty fucking awesome.” 2) “She Don’t Use Jelly” – the Flaming Lips; Transmissions from the Satellite Heart – 1993. “The ultimate good-idea song inspired by the best acid trip ever.” 3) “Sidewinder” – Teenage Fanclub; Bandwagonesque – 1991. “The Scottish brother of My Bloody Valentine.” 4) “Sheela-Na-Gig” – PJ Harvey; Dry – 1992. “A fuming, British chick.” 5) “Crush with Eyeliner” – R.E.M.; Monster – 1994. “No mandolins needed.” 6) “Skeleton” – Helium; The Dirt of Luck – 1995. “Distortion and monotone awesomeness” 7) “On the Way” – Dinosaur Jr.; Where You Been? – 1993. “Another 90’s dude who used a Fender Jaguar/Jazzmaster.” 8) “Doe” – the Breeders; Pod – 1990. “Kim Deal didn’t want to deal with the Pixies’ shit anymore.” 9) “1979” – the Smashing Pumpkins; Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness – 1995. “Chicago legends – not grunge! Grunge is from Seattle.” 10) “Change” – Blind Melon; Blind Melon – 1992. “Wait a minute.. I though Shannon Hoon was a chick.” 11) “Only Shallow” – My Bloody Valentine; Loveless – 1991. “A two-year, trippy masterpiece.
COURTNEY KILLED KURT. There, it's been mentioned. If your here to read about a conspiracy theory, sorry to disappoint you sweeties. Turn the page, burn the article, burn the zine. I don't give a shit about any of that. I'm just an amateur fiction writer turned journalist for a day who's here to give you a measly little concert review. To me, what makes a good show is the obvious factors. Showmanship, sleazy energy, a good setlist, and so on. However, another important thing is a good crowd. I like passionate people. I've always have. I like people who drunkenly scream along to a song, or people who like to talk with their hands as they tell you the time they saw so and so back in the day. Point is, I love a good vibe, and this show definitely had it. The opening act Starred, front by Courtney Love doppelgänger Liz Thorn, was dark and melodic. Sort of like eerie elevator music. A lot of distortion, a lot of muffled moaning, and no obvious pauses between songs. When did one song end and another start? Who fucking knows, but I've got to give it to Ms. Thorn, with her long dirty blonde hair and intensity that would quickly shift to borderline anger, she had a pretty strong presence. Drunk or not, she was interesting. I personally couldn't get into the music though. I like my music to have a bit of violence, if you know what I mean. Let's skip the in between chaos that ensued with all the drunk cougars in the crowd between the sets and let me just go right into talking about the show. Courtney can be defined as a lot of things. Grunge goddess, manipulative “groupie”, fashion icon, whore. Whatever your stance is about her, there's one thing that everyone can agree on. She's a crowd pleaser. She defiantly walked on to the stage, put her foot on the monitor and went straight into “Miss World.” She knew everyone would be expecting the hits, and she delivered them. She performed “Jennifer's Body”, “Violet”, “Plump”, “Malibu”. You get the point. She even strayed from her own set-list to do her cover of Fleetwood Mac's “Gold Dust Woman”. However, not wanting to be stuck in the past, she also performed from her 2010 album, Nobody's Daughter. You would expect the most memorable performance of the night would come from her playing one of her old 90's hits, but to me, she really proved how much she had progressed and grown as both an artist and person when she performed her song “Honey”, a track she herself has confessed to being “the widow song she never wanted to record” about Kurt Cobain. Although strained from years of screaming and abuse, her vocals were on point, the emotion was there and so were the tears. Your probably thinking,”Yeah, that's cute and all but is she still batshit crazy like we all remember her?” Yes and no. She interacted with the crowd in typical Courtney Love style. Dark humor and sarcasm. She challenged the crowd to throw panties on stage (much to her amusement, she was excited by the fact that she got her first pair of male underwear of the night). She received dozens of roses and shared them with the crowd by ripping the petals and throwing them to the air, she jokingly cursed her band members for making her perform Doll Parts during her encore and she did all this while holding a cigarette between her fingers. She was entertaining like always. All of it was light hearted and that's what makes this performance different than a performance she would of done back in the 90's. Her antics weren't anger driven. They weren't done as part of her self destructiveness. She ended the set by teasing the crowd and pretending she was getting ready to stage dive, but with that signature smirk of hers, she ran to the microphone and sweetly gave everyone a “Thank you” and gave her audience a final bow. She walked off stage, the lights went on, and almost immediately the fans around me began to fight amongst themselves for the setlist that was taped on the stage floor. The queen of grunge had left everyone wanting more and had proven that despite being a tabloid darling she still had the talent to move a crowd. It's obvious she still has a tight grip around the music industry's throat, and she isn't going to let go any time soon.
MUDHONEY @ MAYNE STAGE, MORSE STREET – 31 AUGUST The red line “L” train is an exceptionally slow-moving train - especially when I’m late for a concert. The damn trained needed to move faster because one of my favorite bands, Mudhoney, was in concert at the Mayne Stage. The venue is only a half-block from the Morse street red line stop, and I’d forgotten the primary rule of rock concerts – bands never start on time – so when me and a friend finally arrived, the second opener hadn’t even started their set. During the opener’s set, I scoped out the stage, and I tried to figure the best way to get to the front of the stage. Under the twinkling, pink, green, and blue lights, the words “Mayne Stage” glittered on the black curtain. Getting to the front seemed like hopeless cause. Another hour later, Mudhoney finally took the stage [after roadies had set up their equipment]. Mark Arm, the vocalist and rhythm guitarist, picked up his guitar and adjusted microphone. The presence of four people, who have been so influential in rock history, was a little intimidating. With the exception of the bassist, Guy Maddison, who replaced original bassist, Matt Lukin, the early 2000’s, Mark Arm [vox and rhythm guitar], Steve Turner [lead guitar], and Dan Peters [drums], had all been with the band since its inception in the late 1980’s. These guys had shared a stage with Nirvana in 1990’s Seattle, but more importantly, they were innovators of an entire musical movement that dominated MTV and auditoriums during the first half of the 1990’s.
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Before the concert was half-way done, the stench of sweat and spilled beer pervaded the mosh pit at the front of the stage, and my toes were sore because almost everyone had stepped on my foot at least once. A groupie holding a mixed drink moved through the crowd with ease, and she didn’t spill a drop of the precious contents of her glass. She’d obviously learned the finer points of “most-pit survival” years ago. I was two rows behind the stage, fighting the thrashing bodies attempting to steal the less-than-ideal space I currently occupied. Suddenly, the groupie grabbed my arm, with a smile, forced her way to the front of the stage, and deposited me front and center stage. My sides hurt from being fiercely slammed against the stage, and it was awesome. At some point in the show, Mark Arm and Steve Turner took a break to hook arms and share a glass of wine. Mark drank red wine and Steve drank white. During the songs Mark Arm performed without his guitar, he moved around the stage in way that is reminiscent of Iggy Pop. While playing guitar, he swayed back and forth gently to the rhythm, but without a guitar he transformed into a feral beast that rocked, jumped, and leaped into the crowed with a poignant ferocity. Subconsciously inspired by his energy, I jumped onto the stage, attempted to crawl over the monitors in the front, and grasped at the typed-written set list for the show, while simultaneously fighting off other people in the audience, who had the same idea, and the bouncer pulling me off the stage out of concern for the venue’s equipment. Some asshole ripped the set list, and I left the show without a momento, but at least the band played a long, raucous encore. The band’s set list returned to their early career. Songs like “Touch Me I’m Sick [Superfuzz Bigmuff], “You Got It”, “This Gift”, “Here Comes Sickness” [Mudhoney], and “Let it Slide” [EGBDF], were most popular with the crowd; everyone, including me, knew almost every single word. “Suck You Dry” [Piece of Cake] was the most raucous most pit song. That first riff is the perfect anthem to incite savage slamming into the bodies of fellow concert goers. The majority of the crowd also knew the lyrics to Mudhoney’s new album, Vanishing Point, by heart. The band played several songs from the new album including “What to do with the Neutral” and “I don’t remember you,” but I most enjoyed “I like it small,” which I first saw on a late night talk show. After years of experimentation, Mudhoney was returning to their original, raw sound.
Jennifer Finch Photography Most people know Jennifer Finch as the bassist who, with Courtney Love and Kat Bjelland, formed the short-lived band, Sugar Baby Doll in the late 1980’s, and whom was later a member of L7. During her time being in a rock band, she documented the drug use, heartbreak, and rock n’ roll triumphs of the rock scenes in 1980’s and 1990’s Los Angeles. A saga in rock n’ roll history. Finch had been shooting since she was 13 years old, but recently began to unearth the thousands of negatives she had hidden away in her garage. The photos feature some of the most renowned musicians from the 1980’s and 1990’s; among her subjects are Kurt Cobain, Eric Erlandson, Drew Barrymore, James Iha, Kiss, Henry Rollins, and Dave Grohl. She captured such moments as the infamous image of Courtney Love’s first heroin usage to the tender moments between Courtney Love and Billy Corgan before Love even knew that Kurt Cobain existed. Finch says of her own work, “I never shot with a specific theme in mind other than to document my life.” Most of her photos are black and white, and the lighting is dark and dingy. They’re pictures that capture the emotions and realities of Los Angeles musicians and artists in the moments before the show and the moments on stage. The photos are intimate; they show sensitive issues, like drug use and romance, and the disquieted emotions of the people within the frames. Some of the subjects reward Finch by flipping the bird, perhaps in annoyance at being photographed. “The camera has always given me a way to hide while observing,” says Finch. *photos by Jennifer Finch [www.jenniferfinchphoto.com]
MIX-TAPE “Get Bent Dickhead.” I’m gonna get Juiced to some New Wave!
1) Talking Heads: “Psycho Killer” Talking Heads 77 (1977) 2) Joy Division: (1978)
“She’s Lost Control” Unknown Pleasures
3) Siouxie and the Banshees: “Christine” Kaleidoscope (1980) 4) Echo & The Bunnymen: “The Killing Moon” Ocean Rain (1984) 5) New Order: “Blue Monday” Substance (1987) 6) The Go Go’s: “We Got the Beat” Beauty and the Beat (1980) 7) Blondie: “Dreaming” Eat to the Beat (1979) 8) The Psychedelic Furs: “Heartbreak Beat” Midnight to Midnight (1987) 9) Public Image Ltd: “Rise” Album (1986) 10) Simple Minds: “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” The Breakfast Club Soundtrack (1985) 11) Joy Division: “Love Will Tear Us Apart” Single (1980)
Let me just give you a bit of background on what the culture of Lolita is all about before I have you read this incredibly informative interview I had with Sara Volk, a Lolita feminist in her own right who has been active in the scene for three years. Lolita fashion is a fashion subculture originating from Japan that is based on Victorian-era clothing and was initially created as a reaction against the growing exposure of the body and skin that has become the norm within the fashion world in modern society. Lolitas like the idea of fighting it with modesty, and presenting themselves as "cute" or "elegant" rather than "sexy" or "hot". The fashion has evolved into several different sub styles and the subculture as a whole has found itself becoming much more present in many parts of the world. The fashions boasts extreme femininity with the amount of accessories, ruffles, cute prints, and floral that can be incorporated into one outfit. So, how can a fashion statement such as Lolita which gives off the vibe of "pure innocence" or, to those who may have never seen the fashion before, "submissive baby doll" have anything to do with our preconceived notions of what feminism is all about? I invite you to remind yourself that feminism isn't about attempting to gain respect as a woman by acting like a man. We all know you don't have to be some dyke to be a feminist, so don't be so quick to dismiss the power this subculture has to fuck with your aesthetics. They're cute looking, but that doesn't mean they're vapid. For now, I'll let Sarah do the talking. 1) How were you first introduced to the Lolita culture and what about the scene initially sparked your interest to become part of it yourself? Sara Volk: I was first introduced to Lolita clothing when I was about thirteen or fourteen years old. I stumbled across the now-closed American brand In The Starlight, and it sparked something in me. The lacy, frilly dresses were really beautiful—something ornate and detailed, like something a doll would wear. I think it was the elegant nature of it. I really only wear Gothic Lolita where the emphasis tends to be less on the “cute” factor and more on the “elegance”. I love having it as a creative outlet. 2) What was the reaction to those around you when you first began to step out in full Lolita attire? Has the reaction changed over time? SV: You know—I get that question a lot from my friends, too. But the thing is, reactions are so mixed, I can’t really give just one answer. In my home town, there was a lot of mixed reactions. Little old ladies usually love it. They see me walking around in something that reminds them of fashion from the 50s and they remember wearing it when they were my age, and it makes them happy. People in more “creative” job outlets tend to enjoy it, as well (in this case, my art teacher and fabric store workers come to mind). But I would receive a few odd
looks, and occasionally a small thrown insult. It depends on how complex and intricate the outfit is. I think my favorite reaction I’ve ever had was when I had dressed up to go shopping when I still lived with my host family in Rome; I hadn’t worn Lolita in front of them before, and was just stopping by the main room we lived in to tell them I was going out. Their 4-year-old son adored it and began gushing about how I was a princess from his story books. He was so excited, he hardly wanted to let me go, and made me promise I would come and read to him that afternoon while dressed like that. 3) Why do you personally believe the movement has found itself seeping into other outside cultures and societies other than Japan? What makes it so attractive to others outside of Japanese society? SV:I think it’s not so much a “Japanese vs. outsiders” thing as much as it might appear to be. To me, I think the connection with the movement people has is a very personal thing. They found something that they adored in it. It’s something that makes them happy. The girls who wear Lolita often have the same exact reasons for wearing it, whether they live in Japan or in the Netherlands or in America. I’ve see dozens of interviews with international Lolita, including those from Japan, and almost all of them say that they wear the clothes because it makes them feel cute or pretty or even beautiful, or because it gives them a confidence boost, or simply because they like it. 4) You consider yourself to be both a Lolita and a feminist. Those who aren't even aware of the existence of this subculture would probably fail to understand the connection between a term that has been both popularized and romanticized by the famous novel Lolita by Vladimir Vladimir Nabokov for fetishizing the concept of the 'sexually attractive yet innocent young girl' with the concept of feminism, that initially disagrees with the idea of women being seen as a sexual object . What do you believe the link between the Lolita subculture and feminism is? SV:Before getting into this question, I need to make something absolutely clear. Lolita fashion has absolutely nothing to do with Vladimir Nabokov’s novel Lolita. The name for the fashion is, from what most Lolita can tell, was simply chosen because the name sounded “cute” in Japan, and the association with the book wasn’t really known. The basis for the fashion is not fetish-based, nor are we trying to look like “innocent young girls”. It’s a common misunderstanding, but if you want to offend a girl wearing Lolita, this is pretty much the sure-fire way to do it. (Not to rain down on Nabokov’s novel at all—on the contrary, I find it to be a classic that just about everyone should read, if they’re mature enough to handle the subject matter.) In terms of what the link between the two is,
I’m going to say that it’s strongly based on my view of why I wear Lolita. I wear Lolita for myself. I’m not dressing this way for a man (especially one who wants to sexualize me because I wear it, because my sex life and my life as a Lolita are entirely separate). When I wear Lolita, I’m able to feel beautiful because this is what I want to wear—not because a man is telling me I look “sexy” or “hot”. Dates have told me that I look “beautiful” and “pretty” when I wear Lolita, and that’s empowering to me. I received those compliments without having to show off my body; without having to sexualize myself with a shorter, flirtier skirt or a lower-cut blouse. To me, there’s no greater compliment than being complimented when you feel comfortable. There’s also a bit of a reclamation factor, at least for me. Symbols of what used to be oppression and designed around what the male gaze found aesthetically pleasing are being brought back and worn by girls even outside of Lolita as something of a power symbol. Things like corsets come to mind for this. They used to be more or less mandatory, and they were worn for the sake of pleasing the male eye. Now, they’re uncommon, and women are taking them back because they want to—rather than because they have to. I wear corsets under many of my clothes because I find their function to be useful and pleasing to my eye. A male friend asked me how I could possibly feel “comfortable” in my full Lolita attire while he was helping me lace up my corset. He said that he thought I would be more comfortable in jeans and a T-shirt and while physically this might be true—I think that my Lolita gives me a confidence boost. I feel beautiful; and my corset helps me maintain a straight posture. It’s amazing what just posture can do for you. It makes you feel like you can take on the world. Even outside of Lolita, that posture trick does a lot of wonders. The next time you feel nervous about something, try sitting up straight, shoulders back. Imagine a straight line that goes from the top of your head, through your shoulders, and down to your hips. It boosts confidence like no other, and it’s something I never would have learned without Lolita. 5) What do you think the Lolita scene can teach individuals about feminism? What ideas has it presented or contributed to the world of feminism that might not have necessarily been there before? SV:I think by and large the biggest lesson I’ve learned from Lolita is to dress for myself, rather than for societal (male) expectations. I’ve never felt comfortable exposing my body to others. I’ve always kept my body covered. I have all the respect in the world for women who want to wear shorter skirts and lower tops—all the more power to them, and I think that they can look stunning. But to me, being able to go against what’s expected to be sexually/aesthetically/etc. attractive to a male gaze gives me almost a sense of rebellion.
I feel that Lolita pulls in very different guys, as well. After you sort through the less-than-ideal men who see it as more of an age-play fetish than anything else, you often find very sweet men who are more focused on the girl in the dress than how she dresses.Attractiveness, to me, should come from how comfortable a person feels in their own skin, and how they feel. It should not be dictated on how much skin they do or do not show. 6) When it comes to the actual fashion, despite it being gothic Lolita, classical Lolita, ama/kote Lolita, shiro Lolita and so on, it seems like the trend for every one of these is modesty. Is there a reasoning behind it or is it simply because the fashion is derived from the Victorian era? SV:There is something of a “war” about modesty in the Lolita subculture, actually. In certain terms, some Lolitas are guilty of “slutshaming” (i.e. saying something along the lines of “at least you can’t see everything”, “at least my blouse covers my chest”, etc.). This is often done as a way to defend their fashion choices. Lolitas are given a lot of flak for not “showing off” their bodies, as sexual attractiveness today seems to deem proper. We constantly hear lines from significant others saying we would look “more attractive” in dresses that are shorter, with lower necklines, etc. And while some girls who wear Lolita are also comfortable in clothes like that—we are also rather offended when the suggestion is made. We put a lot of work and thought into our outfits, and we’re suddenly told that a simple dress and flats would be “more attractive” to someone. It makes it seem like all the work we did was for nothing. And lots of times, this ends up with a resentment towards that kind of dress—and the girls who wear it. Going the opposite way, Lolitas are often called “prudes” and the like. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been called something similar to “prude”, or worse (a scenario comes to mind when I turned down a sales associate’s suggestion of a low-cut blouse and shorter skirt ensemble when I was shopping for a “date” outfit). No matter what fashion you’re in, there will always be a war on that. Girls who wear too long of a skirt are a prude; too short, a whore. And everyone’s interpretation of this line is different. 7) What do you believe to be the biggest misconception that has been made about the lolita culture? SV:I would have to say the biggest misconception would be that it’s either related to Nabokov’s novel, or something closely related—that we’re looking to do this as a fetish. Asking a Lolita if she’s into “Daddy Play” is the same thing as asking a random Goth if they’re into S&M just because they happen to be wearing a leather corset that day, or if a Punk is a sub in a BDSM relationship because they’re wearing a collar.
We love Sleezey! -- [LOCAL BAND INTERVIEW] Band:
SLEEZE
Label: Criminal Records Hometown: Roscoe, IL Vox – Isaac Hare, Lead Guitar – Micah Watz, Bass – Bruce Ecklove, Drums – Josh Huston. In 2008, raspy-voiced Isaac Hare from Machesney Park, IL didn’t have the school spirit for clubs or sports and didn’t have the grades for college, so he decided to form a rock band: 1) Biggest Influences? -- The band’s biggest influences are the greats: Black Sabbath, Pantera, Alice in Chains, Manson, Eye Hate God, the Melvins, Nirvana, Electric Wizard, Led Zeppelin.. 2) What is the band working on now? -- We recently made a deal with a Chicago-based management company, TMinus Ten, and are in the process of planning a local music festival called “Sleezefest.” We’re also planning to hop on Lollapalooza, Warped Tour, and Riot Fest, though these are not certain yet. We’re also in the process of recording our second album, and it should be out sometime in 2014! 3) Is Punk Dead? -- PUNK will never die. If you can feel the heavy riffs and get your ass out of the house to see punk bands play, then it will live in you. 4) Best Show Memory? -- One of the best memories we will never forget is the show we played with the Misfits! We had all the guys from the band in the front row watching our set. I didn’t think they knew what to expect, but they liked our set! 5) What do you guys write about? -- The topics we write about can range from a prostitute to a cockroach. --Catch Sleeze in and around Rockford, IL and Chicago -https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sleeze/194384823946780 --Check out their music! http://www.reverbnation.com/sleezey69 *photo from Sleeze’s reverbnation website.
CHIRPRadio’s 3rd annual record crawl – 28 october One Sunday morning, CHIRPRadio rented a trolley and showcased the best record stores in Chicago. Here are the highlights..
Stop 1: Laurie’s Planet of sound – Lincoln square Located in Chicago’s second coolest neighborhood and surrounded by chic restaurants and bookstores, just off the Western-Brown line CTA stop. Highlights: B-movie, horror film and rock documentary selection, 7” records, books, posters, and impressive button collection. Found Here – “Fearless Freaks” – the Flaming Lips.
Stop 2: Permanent records – West town Found in Chicago’s West Town Neighborhood, not far from The Green Zebra, which has some tasty vegetarian food, the easiest way to get here is bus #66 along Chicago Ave. Highlights: good vinyl collection and CD selection, interesting buttons Found here – PJ Harvey Dry, “Get Bent” Button
Stop 3: Reckless records – wicker park Located in a neighborhood with loads to do – Subterranean, Double Door, Speakeasy Tattoo, Myopic Books, Native Foods Café, etc., easily Chicago’s BEST record store is found off the Damen-Blue Line CTA stop. Highlights: EVERYTHING. Great CD/Vinyl collections, as well as loads of concert DVDs and films, and some cool artwork on the ceiling. Found here – Teenage Fanclub Bandwagonesque, Helium The Dirt of Luck, The Breeders Pod, Smashing Pumpkins Siamese Dream, Nirvana/The Jesus Lizard split EP Puss/Oh The Guilt
Stop 4: Logan’s Hardware – logan square The newest record shop in Chicago. You can find it near the CaliforniaBlue Line CTA stop, or via Bus 74 along Fullerton Ave. Highlights: large cassette and used video game selection, FREE ARCADE in the back [Pac Man, Pinball, you know, the classics], and knickknacks Found Here – R.E.M. Monster [cassette], plush “Toad” from Nintendo Mario
Stop 5: saki – logan square This little shop, constantly hosting live performances from local and touring artists is located in Chicago’s Logan Square; if you’re not into walking, you can find it on Fullerton Ave. via CTA bus 74. Highlights: great vinyl collection, loads of interesting books, live acts Found here – “The Indie Cred Test.”
standing in some dude’s garage, my hands shaking as I gripped my guitar. Band auditions always suck. The drummer, Cody, handed me a cigarette while we waited for the guitarist, Evan, and bassist, Nic, who were late. The nicotine buzz made the wait less stressful. I’d been playing guitar for years, but only recently summoned the courage to respond to a band mate ad online. When the two late members finally showed up, I played sloppily through the riffs of a Green Day song and a White Stripes song before I realized my nerves and obnoxious shaking hands were absurd. They invited me to return next week, an unspoken admission into a punk rock band, No Excuses.
hiatus, or had cleverly kicked me out for the moment. Eric was in, and I was suddenly replaced by a whiny elitist who [maybe] had better technical guitar skill than I. I endured a month playing guitar solo as a solitary creep before clashing ideas came to a head and the project imploded. It was the perfect formula for a band breakup, Nic’s particularity about his music and Eric’s unwillingness to be told what to do. No Excuses was back on, and Eric was having a fit about it – somewhere deep in his inferior logic, getting kicked out of the group was my fault.
Eric drifted away from consciousness, holed up in a dark room somewhere probably, and No Excuses returned to its schedule of weekly The first few weeks in the band were repetitive practices. It was about time to record some because I learned that Nic, the bassist and songs after all this practice, and Evan, the primary song-writer, was particular about his lead guitarist, songs. Nothing wrong with being passionate found us a sound about your art, but I had to play a while and guy. We packed fit into the rhythms of the band before I’d our shit and have the “right” to start making writing drove more than suggestions. Nic also broke his previous rule an hour to a that had held firm in other bands – no females. remote studio They can be trouble, and I get it. It took me housed in a barn about a week to break rule n°1 – don’t hook up in the middle of with band mates. Shit gets weird, especially nowhere. We got when you both come to the realization about two the first months later that you have absolutely nothing recording in common, besides being in the same band. I experience, complete with a glass panel firmly didn’t have a car at the time, so weekly rides planted between us and the sound guy. We in the drummer, Cody’s, red Pontiac meant we recorded six songs, “Figure it Out”, “PIN”, spent a fair amount of time in close proximity. “SFW 1”[Shit-Faced Wasted], “SFW 2”, “Left The highlight of the experience was our foray Out”, and “Greed Fist.” Nic was pretty anal to a local sex shop after my 18th birthday which about it, just like all musicians recording for is basically a rite of passage. When it got the first time. Nothing seems to sound right, ugly, Nic was berating Cody for fucking things and guitar tracks were recorded and reup already and begging me to show up at next recorded. I’m not even sure I’m on that record. Too bad we spent $250 to sound worse week’s practice… which was awkward. than an 8-track demo. Those creeps in their I just distracted myself by talking to the mom’s basement have more skill. Still, I band’s new spectator, Eric, who made a habit of couldn’t tell how many times we listened to visiting practice. He was the lead guitarist, that record in Nic’s car, over and over again. Evan’s, friend and also played guitar. He was pretty good with an ax and had an encyclopedic Evan left the band soon after, but no one was knowledge of punk and metal history, but he was really surprised. He had other things going a bit of an elitist. Hey, nothing wrong with on, and we knew it. I basked in my new title being passionate about your art, right? as lead guitarist because I could finally be Something attracted me about his long, dark more “important” in the band. I could give hair, bright blue eyes, jean jacket with loads more creative input and be more vocal in my of buttons and patches and cool band t-shirts. opinions. Nic, who wrote almost all the lyrics Finding out he had a girlfriend sucked. As Nic and riffs, and I spent more time together. He put it to me, in a car ride several months loved music as music. He didn’t write/play later, “you were infatuated with that man from music in order to get rich, famous or get laid the moment you saw him.” Now there were five but because, like me, it was the one way which people at the chain-smoke sessions after he could relate to other people. Music gave us practice that usually lasted longer than the courage to say the things we didn’t have practice itself. We stood outside in the cold the balls to say otherwise. until we couldn’t feel our feet anymore, just Nic and I were sitting on the hanging bench on talking. Cody’s porch, and I mentioned that I hadn’t Perhaps I kissed a dude with face piercings before [he should’ve been had snake bites], and he suggested I give it a more suspicious of another guitarist sitting try. It wasn’t that different from pierced around and jamming on guitar at our practices. dudes, to be honest. We had an incredible All of a sudden, there was talk about a doom amount in common besides just music. We liked metal project, and the drummer, Cody, was allsome of the same books, and we had come from of-a-sudden too busy with his new girlfriend to similar, gloomy childhoods. He had soft, darkeven show up to practice. All this lead brown eyes and a genuine smile that turned up inevitably to a message I received from Nic in at the dead of winter – No Excuses was on a En Concert: Nic & I at the Rigby
the corners. He dyed his hair all colors from pink to green and had loads of tattoos [no idea how this kid with skull tattoos and blue hair got a job as a CNA – it’s a mystery]. He actually went with me to get my first tattoo, stoned, and mocked my pained expressions the entire, uncomfortable time. We hung out at the park on swings or stretched out on a hill and watched the constellations float across the sky for hours. It didn’t feel right though – I was Nic’s date in Nic’s band; maybe I felt subordinate. Whatever with personal shit; it was summer and we were finally getting shows. Nic had spent the last month teaching a high school friend, Kye, who was a drummer, to play guitar. He was pretty determined to have a second guitarist – if he couldn’t find one, he’d make one – but I preferred the power trio sound. We never really agreed on the proper number of guitarists and why. I was networking in some nearby cities to find us some shows. Through the wonderful world of online band mate ads, I found Zack and invited him down to watch a practice. After sitting through the practice and passing around a bowl, Zack told us that the punk-house he lived at in Madison, WI, had weekly shows, and we eagerly signed up for the next show at the “Living Room.” At our first show, I was anxious as usual. Nic and I were up front with microphones in our faces and vulnerable to the fierce, hipster crowd. We shared some sort of mixed-drink – he to achieve a heightened enlightenment and I to calm the fuck down. Kye, the new guitarist, and Cody were in the back keeping watch on us and, as always, being the solid rhythm of the band. I didn’t expect the crowd to pay us much attention, but once the music started, the crowd was singing along with the lyrics of the covers. Apparently, hipsters really like poppunk. By our second show at the Living Room, some in the crowd were singing our lyrics. It meant that some of the people we were handing our demos to were actually listening to them. I bought a brand-new, black-on-black Fender Jaguar HH for the shows. A promoter for an indie label, Blank-Face, found us some shows in downtown Madison at the Rigby. He had found us at the Living Room shows. The crowd at the Rigby was decent, but they preferred to listen to music out of a crappy jukebox instead of live bands. We opened for an acoustic act, Brian & the Milk Carton Kids, and a hardcore band, Operation Stillborn. Brian’s lyrics were hilarious – “and now I’m in the bathroom getting high/because I’m shit-out-of-luck and I am on standby.” Operation Stillborn’s mascot was a sickly colored baby doll with devil horns glued on its head. We all got pretty ripped before the show to the point that I didn’t even know what part of the song I was playing. The Rigby did an awful job promoting its bands, but the experience of hauling our gear to another town was worth the sense of triumph that rarely comes from anywhere else. However, after show two we and Operation Stillborn were kicked out of the bar permanently for playing punk rock too loudly. Like seriously, what the fuck?. I
spent the next few weeks barely able to move – after hastily hauling my amp outside [before the cops showed up], I pulled every muscle possible near my ribs. Ouch. Suddenly, when we saw one another it was in the context of no shows and no new material. Seventeen, eighteen years old playing punk rock in bars, all I wanted to do was music. It was the one thing, the only thing. Nic and I talked about conquering the world, but I didn’t see it happening. Lacking songwriter ability in No Excuses, I formed a short-lived band with Zack from the Living Room on bass, and the Wiscoholic’s drummer, Dave, on drums while I assumed lead guitar and vox. During our twopractice lifespan, we rehearsed a couple songs and debated names. We narrowed the choices down to “the Abortionists” or “Thalidomide Kitten”, but the band didn’t mesh well – Dave couldn’t keep a beat, and Zack played walking bass lines 24/7. Inevitably, the third practice never happened; we didn’t have the ability to relate to each other like Nic and I in No Excuses. I joined a girl-band around Madison called Femme Fatale as the drummer, but after months the song-writer still hadn’t written much, though we had some semi-acceptable recordings. We never really got out of the practice space, save once, and once the bassist bailed, my time with the band ended after a poorly conceived show scheduled at the Frequency in Madison. We didn’t even have a bassist. Eric, the jerk who’d previously got me kicked out of the band, and I started hanging out again. Eric could be an asshole at times, but he had a recording setup. All I wanted to do was lay down some tracks. I’m guilty – he’d just broken up with his psychotic girlfriend, too. I have this problem with guys that can’t control their emotions and drink way too much. They also happen to be older than me, and this pretty much sums Eric up. I missed a Melvins concert to hang out with the guy in his bedroom, chain smoke cigarettes, and listen to Slayer, Discharge, and My Bloody Valentine records. A. FUCKING. MELVINS. CONCERT. Totally not fucking worth it. I wanted to smack the guy after he says, “your windshield is frosty,” then proceeds to smear his hand across the entire surface. By winter, the lack of progress with the band and Eric was grinding me. I left the band and the small, desolate town and jumped on a jet to Europe. Kye followed about a month later and found a band elsewhere, two hours away. No Excuses was basically defunct, and in the span of 18 months had risen, evolved, and faded away with few to remember it. *Stop sign: Graffiti Nic and I found on a walk around town one night…