Posted in audiObelisk on November 6th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
San Francisco classic hard punkers Very Paranoia officially released their debut seven-inch single Make Me / Out of Touch earlier this week through Who Can You Trust? Records, but the small-plate will make its first appearance on the merch table this weekend at a gig at the Ivy Room in Albany, CA. I didn’t even know there was an Albany, CA. It’s north of Berkeley, and Very Paranoia will share the stage there with Public Enema and Clean Room. Tickets are $8, so yeah, you can probably hack it if you’re in the area.
The concept behind the single, which follows a four-song demo posted last November ahead of the band’s first live show this past January. A four-piece comprising dudes from Lecherous Gaze, Annihilation Time and Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound, their demo wasn’t much lower-fi than the new two-songer, but the point is to get the point across either way and they do that plainly enough, tapping into the California early punk tradition. “Make Me” reminds of Keith Morris singing about his nervous breakdown to the point that one only hopes Very Paranoia eventually put out a collection of material from their “first four years.” They may or may not get there — they could always just put out a 19-minute album and be just fine instead — but in “Make Me” and “Out of Touch” alike, they ride a direct line to their roots. Frankly, given what those roots are, they wouldn’t be able to get there any other way.
“Out of Touch” isn’t streaming anywhere else, so you can check it out here exclusively if you can spare a whopping two-friggin’-minutes out of your otherwise busy day. I think you can.
More live dates, pedigree confirmation, the video they did for “Make Me” and links and other whatnot follow, courtesy of Who Can You Trust? Records, whose trustworthiness continues to prove consistent.
Enjoy:
Taken from the VERY PARANOIA – “Make Me / Out Of Touch” 7-inch | WHO-41
Edition of 200 copies on black vinyl.
Very Paranoia is a crude San Francisco unit operated by four veterans of the Psychic Wars. Founded by members of Lecherous Gaze, Annihilation Time, Hot Lunch, and Assemble Head, the band spews raw mechanical violence alternately described as “aggro-hooch metal,” “amphetamine pub rock,” and “scuzz-crud boogie.” Classifications aside, Very Paranoia’s sound is shaped by the cult-artists and underground characters found in multiple sub-genres throughout the twisted history of rock ‘n’ roll.
Very Paranoia live: Nov 08 Ivy Room Albany, CA Nov 23 Che’s Lounge Tucson, AZ Nov 24 The Lunchbox Phoenix, AZ Dec 14 Bender’s San Francisco, CA
Posted in audiObelisk on March 11th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
Oakland, California, doesn’t quite have the tech-industry gloss of its across-the-Bay kin city of San Francisco, but even that wouldn’t account for rambling sunset serenity of Sweet Chariot‘s second record, Lean into the Breeze. The album, which is due out April 15 through Who Can You Trust? Records and available to preorder now, comes across with a vibe extracted from the smoother end of the heavy ’70s as shades of Southern rock are held over from the band’s 2014 self-released, self-titled debut in cuts like “Wicked Night” and the later, well-harmonized “Over and Over,” the affect bringing to my East Coast ears an echo of a decidedly more Californian, less regretful, The Brought Low, similarly unafraid to touch on twang when so inclined, as on “Let it Start” or “My Front Pages,” but less strictly heavy rock even in the decidedly guitar-led “Miles Away” or “Can’t You See the Wind.” Vocals are shared between guitarists Eric Shea (also Hot Lunch) and Chris Guthridge (Ride the Blinds) while the rhythm section of bassist Doran Shelley (Nik Turner’s Hawkwind) and drummer Chris Labreche (Planes of Satori) provide the fluidity of groove to match the shifts of mood along the way, from “Billy Bliss” working on its night moves to the melancholic closing pair of “Night Light” and “Nothing Seems to Matter,” which touches on some of that wistful Southern nostalgia without going the full-Skynyrd. Something there seems to cry out for a grand piano, but the vocal arrangement is right on and Guthridge‘s winding lead lines certainly get the point across.
Analog production, sometimes used as an excuse for crappy sound, becomes part of the character throughout Lean into the Breeze. The breeze, by the way, is warm. And so are the melodies. There’s a switch in who’s singing lead between “Wicked Night” and “My Front Pages,” which follow opener “Best I Had” — notice the use of past tense; immediate call to something bygone and remembered fondly — that expands the scope of the album as a whole and brings a via-’90s-college-rock vibe to the established classic pattern, but the songs are and remain central as the 10-track/36-minute long-player stretches out into the start-stop swag of “Miles Away” and the genuinely sweet melodies of “Billy Bliss” and “Let it Start,” the move from side A to side B flowing easily like, well, the warm breeze, I guess. Organ shows up and finds welcome on “Can’t You See the Wind,” and “Over and Over” pushes into a more complex arrangement of vocals to preface the closer still to come, but before they get there, Sweet Chariot dip into the three-minute “Night Light,” ahead of “Nothing Seems to Matter,” pulling back on the (relatively) grander feel of the tracks surrounding for a stretch of minimalist sentimentality no less effectively conveyed than anything in either “Over and Over” or the closer still to come. They end with the line “Nothing seems to matter anymore,” which taken in kind with “Best I Had” gives a decent impression of the point of view from which at least a good portion of Lean into the Breeze is working.
Sentiment suits Sweet Chariot, however, and with Shea and Guthridge sharing vocals, the band are that much more able to bring forward a classic but not necessarily backward or reactionary feel. Ahead of the release, I’m happy to be able to host “Miles Away” as a track premiere, and you’ll find it on the player below, followed by the vinyl info from the label.
Please enjoy:
Taken from the SWEET CHARIOT – Lean Into The Breeze LP | WHO-38
Release Date: April 15th (** Pre-orders shipping two weeks earlier **)
Edition of 500 copies on black vinyl. (The first 100 copies include a free Sweet Chariot logo sticker!)
Sweet Chariot comprises singer/guitarist Eric Shea (Hot Lunch, Mover) and Planes Of Satori drummer Chris Labreche – both from the bygone band Parchman Farm. They also landed bass player Doran Shelley, a former member of The Cramps and Nik Turner’s Hawkwind. Ride The Blinds’ frontman Chris Guthridge completes the band with shared singing duties and top-shelf lead guitar playing.
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 4th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
There’s still a bit of slide to be had on songs like “Billy Bliss” and the organ in closer “Nothing Seems to Matter” definitely gives a sense of revival, but it’s more of the Creedence Clearwater-type than anything in danger of being preachy, unless you count warm vintage tones and classic-styled rock and roll as proselytizing. Arguments to be made either way, I suppose, but Sweet Chariot make a convincing case for the glories of melodies past with their second album, Lean into the Breeze. Due out April 15 through Who Can You Trust? Records, which continues to know a thing or 10 about what to look for in vintage-minded acts, the 10-track/36-minute offering is a wholesome, grand funky good time, less about who can sound more like it’s 1972 than who can remember what made those bands want to sound like that in the first place. It’s a vibe you can’t screw with and one you probably won’t want to.
One track posted from it so far, and it’s streaming at the bottom of this post, so you might get some sense of where they’re coming from with it, so have fun. I hear they might have more audio coming next Monday. Swing low.
Info from the PR wire:
SWEET CHARIOT – Lean Into The Breeze LP (Out April 15th / 2019)
Sweet Chariot is a San Francisco and Oakland based band with members who prefer old gear and cold beer. Their timeless rock ‘n’ roll is a blend of pickled pub rock and greasy biker boogie trimmed in the smoky tones of West Coast canyon-twang.
Lean Into The Breeze is the band’s second album, but it’s their first for Who Can You Trust? Records. These songs were tracked and mixed on a vintage Tascam 388 analog eight track by producer and recording artist Walker Phillips. Though the band’s eponymous debut flirted with ‘70s inspired California country rock, this album finds the foursome dialing down the Gram Parsons and turning up Graham Parker. Lean Into The Breeze is still rooted in rustic tones, but the songwriting comes from a more modern take on British pub rock, jangly guitar pop and hard throttled boogie jams.
Influenced by such bygone bands as Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Grease Band, The Byrds and Big Star, Sweet Chariot also found themselves inspired by Teenage Fanclub, GospelbeacH, Shannon And The Clams, Endless Boogie, and Chris Robinson, who along with Isaiah Mitchell, jumped up onstage with the band last year. Sweet Chariot has also shared stages with NRBQ, Mother Hips, The Flamin’ Groovies, New Riders Of The Purple Sage, Jesse Dayton, Beachwood Sparks, Allah-Las and the late, great Pegi Young.
Sweet Chariot comprises singer/guitarist Eric Shea (Hot Lunch, Mover) and Planes Of Satori drummer Chris Labreche – both from the bygone band Parchman Farm. They also landed bass player Doran Shelley, a former member of The Cramps and Nik Turner’s Hawkwind. Ride The Blinds’ frontman Chris Guthridge completes the band with shared singing duties and top-shelf lead guitar playing.
Oakland rockers Dealer have called it quits, but their final recordings surface in the form of the single End Breed / Gemini, issued as a seven-inch platter through Who Can You Trust? Records in an edition of just 100 copies as part of something the label is calling the “From WCYT? With Love” series. I don’t know what else is in the series or what might be coming, but Who Can You Trust? is streaming the Dealer track “End Breed” now and I’ve been given permission to premiere “Gemini” and it’s a three-minute banger with no time to screw around, as though the band was like, “Okay let’s finish these songs so we can stop being a band already,” and though the imprint continues to ask the question in its name, they’ve proven more than trustworthy in the past, particularly when it comes to mining obscure studio sessions for 7″ releases like this one. And they’re not half bad at series either, as the Sweet Times split singles — in which Dealer took part — also showed.
Dealer‘s lone full-length was released in 2016, and though I haven’t seen a reason for their disbanding, they leave a striking bit of potential behind in doing so. You can stream the premiere of “Gemini” and the A side “End Breed” at the bottom of this post.
From the PR wire:
Dealer – End Breed / Gemini
“Dealer rips” should be a familiar adage to anyone in the Bay Area who has given a damn about rock and roll through the past few years, and the band’s final recordings—“End Breed” b/w “Gemini”—hammer in that sentiment like a nail in a coffin. There’s very little beauty in this music. The songs are ugly and mean, way too fast and a little out of tune, everything competing and melding together in some vain, chaotic display of ignorant bravado. You might even call it Dealer at their finest.
1. End Breed 2. Gemini
Edition of 100 copies on black vinyl, housed in a hand-stamped recycled cardstock sleeve.
Part of the “FROM WCYT? WITH LOVE..” series.
The exact moment of Dealer’s formation is almost impossible to pin down. Lost in a fug of thick smoke, alcohol and noise; somewhere and someplace out of time and mind.
Tentatively starting out life as Sexless – featuring founding member Kevin Klausen on guitar/vocals and fellow Los Angelean Samantha Mancino on drums – the duo would make a habit of throwing open jam sessions to anyone in earshot. Years prior and by his own admission, Klausen had lost heart after numerous false starts attempting to form his own band and gave up on making music to assume the mantle of tour manager for close friends, The Shrine. Helping the band across Europe and struck by their professionalism, after years on the road he returned in the Spring of 2013 with a handful of songs and a newfound focus.
Relocating to Oakland, Sexless performed a first few shows with whatever bassist could be landed until the night the band met Aaron Cundy of local outfit Easy Living. Followed soon after by the conscription of John Zamora on drums after the departure of Mancino they soon hit upon the sound they were seeking. Sorely shredding their way through discordant moments of pre-punk history – often in a crazed reverie of hard rock solos and cocksure hellfire – they stalked the grooves of Black Flag’s “Slip It In” and the riffs of Voivod’s “Killing Technology.” All the while, sporting the sharpest Canadian tuxedos they could find.
When Zamora eventually chose to leave the band in May 2015, Klausen and Cundy sought total reformation. Drafting in new drummer Darien McKinney for shows, they performed their final gig as Sexless on the 4th of June 2016 before entering Earhammer Studios to record a debut album with producer Greg Wilkinson (Iron Lung, Graves at Sea, Lecherous Gaze) just two days later.
A proposed “cocktail of heavy metal, punk, grunge and rock and roll,” the trio emerged with “Billionaire Boys Club” in hand as Dealer. With the journey at its end, the album is now available worldwide through the band’s own imprint, Wicked World Records.
[Click play above to stream the premiere of ‘Blacktop’ by Pushy. Their debut album, Hard Wish, ships in July from Who Can You Trust? Records and is available to preorder now.]
Classic heavy rock played with conviction, heart and an obvious appreciation for the finer things in life when it comes to riffs — there’s a lot to like immediately about Pushy‘s debut album, Hard Wish. Delivered like their prior split 12″ with Ragged Barracudas (review here) through Who Can You Trust? Records, the awaited release from the Portland, Oregon, outfit conjures a fuzzy vision of ’70s heavy that does more than just boogie, though of course there’s plenty of that as well. From earliest AC/DC to Thin Lizzy, to ZZ TOP, to King Crimson, to a sudden turn from stripped-down KISS strut into an atmospheric prog-out on “If I Cry,” it’s record that makes a point of going where and doing what it damn well pleases, and it even manages to include a wah-drenched revamp of their catchy original demo, “El Hongo” (discussed here) and its eight-track/40-minute run makes for an engaging, organic, live-sounding listen that makes the advice “take it easy” seem like time-honored wisdom.
Comprised of guitarist/vocalist Adam Burke (formerly of Fellwoods), who’s also responsible for the paintings on the front and back of the LP, as well as having done art for this site and a universe of others, Crag Dweller‘s Travis Clow, Neal Munson of Billions and Billions and Ron Wesley of Hosmanek, the four-piece set an easygoing vibe from the very first crashes and shuffling grooves of opener “Fanny’s,” and while they might careen from one influence to the next and offer a bit of zleaze (yup, spelled with two ‘z’s) here and there, it’s all in good fun and Hard Wish succeeds in casting its own identity from the varied elements that make it up, whether that’s the gallop of “Nasty Bag” or the arena-rock grandiosity in the beginning of “If I Cry.”
And there’s a flow at work. Wrapping up side A after “Fanny’s” and second cut “Nasty Bag,” with its nyah-nyah-nyah opening and street-rocking swing, “Blacktop” offers a first glimpse of Pushy‘s progressive side, digging back to the first King Crimson record like it ain’t no thing and pairing that with a proto-burl riff that in most hands would be repelled from the prior stretch like magnets refusing to touch but is absolutely made to work here. By the time they’re rushing through delivering the title-line, Pushy have expanded the context of “Blacktop” an album’s worth, and the fuzzy nod that emerges from there and turns back to the central riff is pure gravy. Only then does “If I Cry” build on the prog edge of “Blacktop” with its own relatively patient beginning and midsection break, the guitars leading the way through about a minute of instrumental exploration that gives way to silence before a volume-swelling solo emerges to wind the way back to the central rhythm, which gets topped with its own victory-lap of a lead before they noodle their way to the end. From that somewhat hypnotic finish, “El Hongo” eases its way in to start off side B with room for a bit of its own psychedelic meandering amid a landmark-feeling hook that’s a standout from the album as a whole.
The boogie is writ large over the secondary leadoff, but at five minutes, it’s not necessarily a mirror of “Fanny’s” at the start of the record, which had a shorter clocktime and more straightforward structure without the midsection departure that some of the longer songs make. In that regard, “If I Cry” is something of a foreshadow for the 10-minute closer “Lay of the Land” that follows “El Hongo,” “Lonesome Entry,” and “I’ll Be Gentle,” the latter two of which are also of the shorter variety. No doubt that vinyl considerations came into play when putting together the tracklisting with four songs per side, getting the runtimes close, and so on, but it’s worth pointing out that it works exceedingly well in terms of the front-to-back, with “Fanny’s” setting the tone literally and figuratively while smoothing the way into “Nasty Bag” and the three tracks that follow before “Lonesome Entry,” which is the shortest of the bunch at 2:27, ignites a speedy Cactus-style brashness with Burke‘s vocals hitting a higher register to match the more frenetic pacing of the verses.
Naturally, those are offset by more midpaced transitional sections and though it’s the shortest inclusion at 2:27, Pushy still squeeze in those tempo shifts before the before the cold ending brings on “I’ll Be Gentle” brings forth more boogie vibes and hooks in both its verse and chorus. There’s a tongue-in-cheek aspect to the lyrics — if I’m not mistaken there’s a reference to a “velvet hand” — but the classic feel of the songwriting and the live-style vibe of the recording come through just the same as on “Lonesome Entry” and really everything else before it. And it’s fitting that the two shorter cuts should give way to “Lay of the Land” at the end of the record, which not only makes the most of its two guitars but brings the rhythm section as well to some of its finest moments.
It’s an unenviable task to summarize what Hard Wish has thus far brought forth in its scope of formative heavy, but most if it appears within the more extended finale, from the patient and progressive opening to the subdued verses and the greater build and release that happens later on. Some parts seem to be begging for organ accompaniment, but I guess one has to leave some ground to cover on a sophomore outing, and as their debut, Hard Wish basks in its inspirations without falling into boogie rock cliché — except where it wants to, as on “I’ll Be Gentle” — and sets up a balance of straight-ahead and more exploratory movements to be toyed with from here on out. It’s a sound that, should Pushy be interested in such things, they can keep growing and expanding, since as we know the realm of classic heavy rock is by no means relegated to the past, and the chemistry between players on display throughout Hard Wish is of the sort that can’t be faked, least of all in such a stage-born-sounding context. From a Pacific Northwest so bent on partying, Pushy bring just a touch of class to the proceedings and remind that not all good times need to be overblown to be memorable.
Chances are you never thought ‘spatula of Satan’ was the kind of hook that you’d have stuck in your head. Well, Bay Area heavy skate rockers Hot Lunch will see their new single, Haul of Meat ship out July 16 via Who Can You Trust? Records, and in the span of 3:41, it just might have you rethinking your position on the matter. The single, which comes accompanied on its B-side by “Pot of Gold,” which is a title one might read in any number of ways depending on how clever one is feeling, marks Hot Lunch‘s first outing since 2015’s Slappy Sunday EP (review here) — issued by the now-defunct Scion A/V — and if you’re wondering what the four-piece have been doing with the time in between, uh, I don’t know. Probably hanging out. Skating. Maybe having jobs. You know, life stuff.
With the arrival of Haul of Meat, however, their return to activity comes caked in classic heavy fuzz, the warm and buzzing guitar of Aaron Nudelman holding ’70s-style sway over the shuffle-into-proto-thrash-into-Captain–Beyond-prog-at-the-last-minute groove of bassist Charlie Karr and drummer Rob Alper while vocalist Eric Shea spins the tale of skin-meets-sidewalk woe — the perils of skateboarding providing the fodder for the lyrics, “Hit the ground/Quarter pound/Spatula of Satan,” etc. Obviously the vibe is lighthearted despite any and all scars accrued, and with a live sound and flourish of tambourine and the aforementioned out-of-nowhere turn to prog-circa’72 at the finish, there’s a residual sense of weirdness that only makes it an even better time. Shea ends with a multi-layered “Get behind me, Satan,” as if to underscore the purely West Coast vibe throughout. That sense of, “yeah man we’re just screwing around,” while also kicking serious ass in the process.
As for what Hot Lunch have planned after Haul of Meat, I haven’t the foggiest. New album? Maybe. They’re due, if you believe in “due.” Leading up to the release of the two-songer, they’ll be on the road in Europe, starting June 29 in Switzerland and hitting a good swath of shows over the course of the two weeks-plus following in Germany and Italy, finishing the Heavy Psych Sounds-presented run — more than a jaunt, less than a temporary residence, but definitely a tour — at the respected Stoned from the Underground fest in Germany alongside Nebula, Orchid, Sons of Otis, and of course many others. What comes next, we’ll have to wait and see.
And before I give you over to the stream, you should know that I’m not just running this so I can re-post the band’s quote about scabs turning into cheeseburgers for Satan. That rules, make no mistake, but so does the song.
Tour dates and that badass commentary follows the song on the player below, courtesy of the PR wire.
Please enjoy:
Taken from the HOT LUNCH – “Haul Of Meat / Pot Of Gold” 7-inch | WHO-35
Hot Lunch are not ambassadors of skateboarding. They are harbingers of hamburgers. “Haul of Meat” is a skatanic and cautionary canticle that rolls like an avalanche of high-voltage, overdriven fuzz across rumbling rhythms birthed by broken tectonic plates beneath Earthquake City. When asked to explain the caustic lyrics of this urethane-and-wood musing, the band replied, “You know when sometimes you slam so hard that your scabs become cheeseburgers for Satan and the tail of your deck turns into the devil’s spatula?” When further pressed to clarify, they added, “We have a holographic memory. Satan!”
Edition of 500 copies on black vinyl. Free ‘Sacrificial Blood’ sticker included with a limited number of copies! (Only 100 made… Choose your path, but do it wisely!)
HOT LUNCH European Summer Tour 2018: 29.06.2018 CH Frauenfeld-Kaff 30.06.2018 DE Siegen-Vortex 01.07.2018 DE Augsburg-City Club 02.07.2018 DE Mannheim-7er 03.07.2018 DE Leipzig-So&So 04.07.2018 DE Berlin-Urban Spree 05.07.2018 DE Dresden-Chemiefabrik 06.07.2018 CH Olten-Coq D’ Or 07.07.2018 IT Bozen-Mountain Sessions 08.07.2018 IT Sabbioneta-Sabbio Summer Fest 09.07.2018 IT Zerobranco-Altroquando 10.07.2018 IT Torino-Blah Blah 11.07.2018 IT Bologna-Mikasa 12.07.2018 DE Stuttgart-Keller Klub 13.07.2018 CH St Gallen-Rumpeltum 14.07.2018 DE Stoned from the Underground – Festival
HOT LUNCH are Eric Shea – Vocals Aaron Nudelman – Guitars Rob Alper – Drums Charlie Karr – Bass
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 31st, 2018 by JJ Koczan
With a July 16 ship date, preorders are up for the awaited full-length debut from Portland, Oregon, classic heavy rockers Pushy. Dubbed Hard Wish in apparent homage to just how much I’d like my seven-month-old son to take his morning nap right now, the album follows a 2016 split with Germany’s Ragged Barracudas (review here), as well as an earlier 2015 two-songer, If I Cried, named in apparent — and prescient! — homage to that same seven-month-old’s question that if he just screams for 45 solid minutes, will it be enough to make me go upstairs and end his apparent torture. In answer: no.
Anyhoozle, I’ve been waiting for Pushy‘s debut since I heard their demo (discussed here) in 2014, and the group sound like they’ve got their boogie in fine working order on the first public audio to come from Hard Wish, which is second track “Nasty Bag,” which you’ll find streaming at the bottom of this post, along with the preorder link preceded by a snazzy bio.
From the PR wire:
Pushy – Hard Wish
Have you ever watched the 1977 video of Ram Jam playing “Black Betty” in somebody’s front yard and asked yourself, “Why don’t we have bands who party like that anymore?” And after the very first time you witnessed a young bellbottomed James Gang set up their gear in the Mexicali desert and riff through “Laguna Salada” during the opening credits to the 1971 film Zachariah, did you ask yourself, “Are there even any bands this good today?” Or what about that time you laid virgin eyes upon the gatefold to ZZ Top’s Tres Hombres and took in a panoramic photograph that could only be described as a taqueria orgy? Did you ask, “Why can’t a newer style band make me feel this special?”
The answer to all these questions lives and pulses within the four musicians who comprise the Portland, Oregon based hard rock quartet, Pushy. If your ears have yet to be seduced by the God-hammered choogle of Pushy, it’s not too late for you. Their debut album Hard Wish has been captured in the band’s natural element and then released into the wild by the good people of Who Can You Trust? Records – a label that knows how and where to mine the rich ore of timeless rock ‘n’ roll. If the hot buttered distortion of the opening song “Fanny’s” (with its saucy boogie and howling guitar leads) doesn’t put an electric strut in your butt, there’s a pretty good chance that rock ‘n’ roll may be none of your business.
John Fogerty once sang that the people on the river are happy to give. But if you listen closely to the hard and heavy stomp of “Nasty Bag,” it sounds like the people on the river are waiting to kill you. Pushy have the power of rock surging through their veins and sometimes this power channels stories and spirits to help move you into parallel dimensions. Take “El Hongo” for instance – between Ron Wesley coaxing a gold top Les Paul to scream and wail through a tweed Victoria Bassman, and Adam Burke crooning for us to take it easy and close our eyes, there could never exist a reason why we would ever want to not keep on chooglin’. And when Travis Clow and Neal Munson kick off the album’s bookend jam “Lay of the Land” with their callused hands working a well-oiled rhythm section, you can almost smell the grease burning on the gears as the bass and drums pump out a loose and juicy groove that’s just begging for the guitars to rain riffs like there’s a storm in hell and we’re all invited to hang out and drink their beer.”
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 30th, 2018 by JJ Koczan
Whatever else happens in 2018, I’m pretty sure I’ve just encountered the best usage of the phrase ‘cheeseburgers for satan’ that I’m going to find before December 31. Kudos then, to Bay Area skate rockers Hot Lunch, whose new single, Haul of Meat, is available to preorder now with a July 16 ship date from Who Can You Trust? Records and whose summer European tour is being presented by Heavy Psych Sounds. The run starts on June 29, and I assume they’ll have Haul of Meatwith them on the road, its cautionary tale of, I guess, biting it, being spread far and wide as they make their way to the long-running Stoned from the Underground festival in Germany.
Release info and tour dates follow, both courtesy of the PR wire:
Heavy Psych Sounds Records & Booking is really stoked to announce the *** HOT LUNCH EUROPEAN SUMMER TOUR 2018 ***
Three years since their 2015 Slappy Sunday EP, Hot Lunch has returned from El Studio with a piping hot new single. Yes, “Haul of Meat” is another song inspired by skateboarding. But this isn’t a love letter. If you were expecting them to articulate how falling and getting back up is a metaphor for persistence, you’ve made a wrong turn. Go back. Rebate. And no, this is not one of those inspirational anthems about how pain is just “the feeling of fear leaving your body.” Upon close listen to “Haul Of Meat,” it sounds like the band is trying to warn you that your next case of road rash could wind up as Satan’s ground beef.
Ergo, the members of Hot Lunch are not ambassadors of skateboarding. They are harbingers of hamburgers. “Haul of Meat” is a skatanic and cautionary canticle that rolls like an avalanche of high-voltage, overdriven fuzz across rumbling rhythms birthed by broken tectonic plates beneath Earthquake City. When asked to explain the caustic lyrics of this urethane-and-wood musing, the band replied, “You know when sometimes you slam so hard that your scabs become cheeseburgers for Satan and the tail of your deck turns into the devil’s spatula?” When further pressed to clarify, they added, “We have a holographic memory. Satan!”
Edition of 500 copies on black vinyl. Free ‘Sacrificial Blood’ sticker included with a limited number of copies! (Only 100 made… Choose your path, but do it wisely!)
HOT LUNCH European Summer Tour 2018: 29.06.2018 CH Frauenfeld-Kaff 30.06.2018 DE Siegen-Vortex 01.07.2018 DE Augsburg-City Club 02.07.2018 DE Mannheim-7er 03.07.2018 DE Leipzig-So&So 04.07.2018 DE Berlin-Urban Spree 05.07.2018 DE Dresden-Chemiefabrik 06.07.2018 CH Olten-Coq D’ Or 07.07.2018 IT Bozen-Mountain Sessions 08.07.2018 IT Sabbioneta-Sabbio Summer Fest 09.07.2018 IT Zerobranco-Altroquando 10.07.2018 IT Torino-Blah Blah 11.07.2018 IT Bologna-Mikasa 12.07.2018 DE Stuttgart-Keller Klub 13.07.2018 CH St Gallen-Rumpeltum 14.07.2018 DE Stoned from the Underground – Festival
Hot Lunch is a punk ‘n’ roll band from the San Francisco/Oakland Bay Area that specializes in getting loud, getting weird and getting rad. The quartet’s unique blend of brown-acid skate-rock and wah-fuzz proto-metal was born in the bowels of skatanic rituals, biker beer busts and wizard staff meetings. With a head-bludgeoning sound that refuses to take sides (and showers), Hot Lunch are on a hell-bent mission to create the best party soundtrack in the history of all music. Their self-titled debut album was recorded by Tim Green at Louder Studios and is available on all formats by Who Can You Trust? Records (EU), Tee Pee Records and Burger Records (US).
HOT LUNCH are Eric Shea – Vocals Aaron Nudelman – Guitars Rob Alper – Drums Charlie Karr – Bass
