It happens maybe once, maybe twice a year that a video will come along and some switch will flip in my sillybrain and I’ll put it on the tv to enjoy in its entirety. You see where this is going, of course. It’s been a crappy morning, and you should note that I say “morning” at like 1:30 in the afternoon. Yeah, I’ve done some laundry and wrote a review, got the kid out to school and this and that, but productivity on all fronts has been like pulling teeth and I’ve got way more to do at this point than I have time to do it. Sad to say the difference is today I answered email.

Anyhow, the point. With overwhelm looming, a full 40-minute Stinking Lizaveta concert set — captured at Milkboy in the long-running instrumentalist trio’s Philadelphia hometown and set to release on SRA Records as a live album on March 7 along with a host of catalog reissues — is a welcome excuse for escape. I’m not gonna pretend this is a review of the live album or anything more than me sitting in front of my tv enjoying Stinking Lizaveta instead of being stressed out about not getting shit done I was hoping to. Cheshire getting on mic after “The Heart” tells me I was right.

And as regards heart, there’s plenty of it there and in the subsequent “Sherman’s March,” which Yanni shouts out in the memory of Dave Sherman — a labelmate to Stinking Lizaveta when Spirit Caravan released their first album through Tolotta Records — to go along with the charm and chicanery that begins the set in “Serpent Underfoot” and “Electric Future,” a joy no less resonant than the wistful soloing of “Sherman’s March,” with Alexei’s bass locked in step with the drums for the sans-vocal chorus that follows.

Oh man, that sounds an awful lot like a review.

I’ll allow for the fact that if Stinking Lizaveta are inspiring, it’s not the first time. This clip landed in my email (also my DMs, also my social timelines, etc.) at a particularly welcome moment. I’ll get the laundry changed over. I’ll get the rest of the day done. And maybe tomorrow will be easier for the time I took to share the obvious delight Stinking Lizaveta bring to the breakdown in “L.B.J.” — Yanni laughing before they start about how it’s the “extended version” — with Alexei free-jazzing it on the electric standup; a definition of cool that didn’t exist until he made it — and a bit of freakout to boot before they charge, stop, goof off for a minute and then make a rocking return. Fucking hell this is a great band.

The latest-I’ve-seen confirmations for Stinking Lizaveta‘s upcoming European tour with Darsombra are included with the video info and live-album/reissues preorder link below, and if that all seems like a lot and you just want to put on the video and chill out for a little bit with it, I can tell you it definitely worked for making my day better.

Please enjoy:

Stinking Lizaveta, Live 2023 concert video

Stinking Lizaveta “Live 2023” full concert movie streaming now

Limited vinyl available in the pre-order packages for the Stinking Lizaveta reissues

Preorder the super limited SRArecords.com exclusive vinyl here at SRA Records: https://srarecords.com/shop/sra/stinking-lizaveta-reissues1/

Tracklisting:
1. Serpent Underfoot
2. Electric Future
3. Daily Madness
4. Nomen Est Omen
5. Shock
6. The Heart
7. Sherman’s March
8. L.B.J.
9. Let Live

Recorded August 31st 2023 at Milkboy in Philadelphia
Live sound by Mike Moffitt
Recording by Joe Smiley
Mixed and Mastered at Red Planet by Joe Smiley
Video by Mark ‪@trimungus8653‬
Thanks Dysrythmia and Countdown From Ten

STINKING LIZAVETA / DARSOMBRA SUMMER EU TOUR 2025
updates here: DARSOMBRA.COM
23 – 24 May – GERMANY/CZECH REPUBLIC/POLAND
25 May – Berlin GERMANY @ Desertfest Berlin CONFIRMED
*26 – 27 May – CZECH REPUBLIC/POLAND/GERMANY
28 May – Warsaw POLAND @ Mlodsza Siostra CONFIRMED
29 May – Wroclaw POLAND @ Kalambur CONFIRMED
30 May – Krakow POLAND CONFIRMED
31 May – Kosice SLOVAKIA @ Collosseum CONFIRMED
1 June – Budapest HUNGARY @ Auróra CONFIRMED
*2 June – SLOVAKIA/HUNGARY
3 June – Vienna AUSTRIA @ Arena CONFIRMED
4 June – Linz AUSTRIA @ Kapu CONFIRMED
5 June – Nuremberg GERMANY @ Kunstverein Hintere Cramergasse e.V. CONFIRMED
6 June – Potsdam GERMANY @ Archiv CONFIRMED
7 June – Dresden GERMANY @ Veränderbar CONFIRMED
*8 June – CZECH REPUBLIC/GERMANY
9 June – Prague CZECH REPUBLIC @ Eternia CONFIRMED
*10 June – CZECH REPUBLIC
11 June – Brno CZECH REPUBLIC @ Kabinet Muz CONFIRMED
12 June – Berlin GERMANY @ Schokoladen CONFIRMED
13 June – Brandenburg GERMANY CONFIRMED
*14 – 19 June – WEST GERMANY/BELGIUM/NETHERLANDS
20 June – Herzberg GERMANY CONFIRMED
*21- 24 June – GERMANY/DENMARK/BELGIUM/NETHERLANDS
25-29 June – Lärz GERMANY CONFIRMED
*to be confirmed

Stinking Lizaveta is Yanni Papadopoulos on guitar, Alexi Papadopoulos on upright electric bass, and Cheshire Agusta on drums.

Stinking Lizaveta, Live 2023 (2025)

Stinking Lizaveta on Facebook

Stinking Lizaveta on Instagram

Stinking Lizaveta website

Stinking Lizaveta on Bandcamp

SRA Records on Facebook

SRA Records on Instagram

SRA Records on Bandcamp

SRA Records website

In troubling times, Stinking Lizaveta are a reminder of the good humans can do. As they close in on the 30th anniversary of their first album, 1996’s Hopelessness and Shame, the venerable Philadelphia-based instrumental doomjazz innovators will undertake an even more massive European tour in 2025 than they did in 2024, again keeping company with Maryland-based experimentalists Darsombra — a damn good pairing — and embark on a no less sprawling reissue campaign with SRA Records, the same label that put out their latest album, Anthems and Phantoms (review here), in 2023.

To commence said campaign, SRA will stand behind new editions of the aforementioned Hopelessness and Shame and its 1997 follow-up, Slaughterhouse, as well as two new outings, a live record, Live 2023, captured at Milkboy in their hometown fresh off tour, and 1994 Steve Albini Demo, which was cut prior to recording the first record, also with the legendary producer at the helm. That’s not new music, being 31 years old, but it’s apparently never been released. Oh, and the second record was tracked by Steve Austin from Today is the Day. What is it with artsy noise dudes named Steve?

Anyhow, there’s a ton of information here, but since it’s Stinking Lizaveta, I expect all details to be fully memorized, preorders to be deployed, and so on and so forth. Stinking Lizaveta remain a band to tell your friends about, so here’s me telling you. The PR wire backs me up:

On March 7th, Philadelphia Legends Stinking Lizaveta & SRA Records Kick Off Massive Reissue Project With Debut, Sophomore Album, & More

Legendary Philadelphia Instrumental Rock Trio Stinking Lizaveta Kicks Off Massive Reissue Project with Steve Albini–Recorded Debut, Hopelessness and Shame, Second Record, Slaughterhouse, Recorded with Steve Austin (Today Is the Day), Plus Early Albini Demo and 2023 Live Record — All Available on Vinyl for the First Time

• Albini recorded debut and demo is an essential document for Stinking Lizaveta fans and Albini enthusiasts

• Massive 2025 European Tour

• Pre-orders available now at http://srarecords.com

Three decades ago, a thunderous roar emerged from the West Philadelphia punk underground. Stinking Lizaveta assembled, a rock ‘n’ roll powerhouse fronted by the ferocious screaming of guitarist Yanni Papadopoulos’ black Les Paul and propelled by the growling electric upright bass of his brother, Alexi, and the pummeling assault of drummer Cheshire Agusta. Rocking with extreme abandon, they were iconoclasts, delivering instrumental music that matched the intensity of their hardcore forebears.

The band followed the template provided by Greg Ginn’s Gone—as well as the guitarist’s vocal-less explorations within Black Flag (The Process of Weeding Out and Family Man)—a rare precedent for instrumental guitar-driven rock in the heavy music scene. “We were just trying to find our place on the shoulders of giants,” recalls Yanni. “I was copying the previous generation, as was Greg—he was copying Mahavishnu Orchestra and other stuff from the ’70s that he dug.” The guitarist cites other influences, notably stoner-rock stalwarts The Obsessed and the Bad Brains’ I Against I. “That’s stuff you can’t escape that influenced the whole generation,” the guitarist says. “Anyone who started playing guitar in the ’80s, you just hear [Bad Brains guitarist] Dr. Know in there. Is it metal? Is it punk?” The same questions would apply to Stinking Liz.

“We had two identities as a band at the time,” says Papadopoulos, recalling Stinking Lizaveta’s early days. “We had this overdriven guitar identity and this cleaner guitar identity. We used all the overdriven stuff for the first record and put the cleaner stuff on the shelf.” While on tour supporting their debut, they spent a night at Steve Austin’s house, who invited them to take advantage of his home studio. “We just recorded a bunch of stuff, and he’s such a creative person, he was able to capture this vibe in one night of unexpected recording.”

Austin’s recordings make more than half of their sophomore release, Slaughterhouse. These moody, bluesy excursions capture the late-night atmosphere. Effectively pre-dating the prevalent doomy jazz of Bohren & Der Club of Gore, or the proliferation of the slow-as-an-aesthetic guitar riffage in the hands of Earth, Slaugherhouse adds a new dimension to the band’s sound and reputation. On the record, the Austin recordings are mixed and matched with material recorded along the way at other sessions, which show the band’s rock focus was still firmly intact.

Newly remastered by Dave Eck, this reissue reconstitutes these tracks into a more cohesive-sounding form than ever before, delivering this necessary document in its highest fidelity. Along with Slaughterhouse—which will be pressed on gold vinyl—the first 100 copies purchased directly from SRA Records will include a copy of Live 2023, an all-new exclusive live recording of the trio performing a set of material culled from 2023’s Anthems and Phantoms at the height of their powers, fresh off a tour with Telekinetic Yeti, where they shared a bill with fellow instrumental underground rock legends and longtime compatriots Dysrhythmia at Philadelphia’s Milkboy.

Stinking Lizaveta’s trajectory is notably long and varied, but Live 2023 offers somewhat of a full-circle experience. Papadopoulos points out that much of the formula remains the same: Not only are they the same lineup, but they’re essentially all using the same tools—the guitarist has burned through a trio of Les Pauls but has not ventured from the model, and his brother continues on with the same electric upright. Yanni has gone through phases of heavier pedal exploration in his guitar sound but is back once again to using an elemental direct-into-the-amp approach as is heard on the first two records.

Following the band’s earliest demo recordings, capturing their sound in its infancy, to the big bang of their debut, through the sonic explorations of Slaughterhouse, hearing Live 2023 continues to deliver the same vitality and thrill that Stinking Lizaveta have become known for.

STINKING LIZAVETA / DARSOMBRA SUMMER EU TOUR 2025
updates here: DARSOMBRA.COM
23 – 24 May – GERMANY/CZECH REPUBLIC/POLAND
25 May – Berlin GERMANY @ Desertfest Berlin CONFIRMED
*26 – 27 May – CZECH REPUBLIC/POLAND/GERMANY
28 May – Warsaw POLAND @ Mlodsza Siostra CONFIRMED
29 May – Wroclaw POLAND @ Kalambur CONFIRMED
30 May – Krakow POLAND CONFIRMED
31 May – Kosice SLOVAKIA @ Collosseum CONFIRMED
1 June – Budapest HUNGARY @ Auróra CONFIRMED
*2 June – SLOVAKIA/HUNGARY
3 June – Vienna AUSTRIA @ Arena CONFIRMED
4 June – Linz AUSTRIA @ Kapu CONFIRMED
5 June – Nuremberg GERMANY @ Kunstverein Hintere Cramergasse e.V. CONFIRMED
6 June – Potsdam GERMANY @ Archiv CONFIRMED
7 June – Dresden GERMANY @ Veränderbar CONFIRMED
*8 June – CZECH REPUBLIC/GERMANY
9 June – Prague CZECH REPUBLIC @ Eternia CONFIRMED
*10 June – CZECH REPUBLIC
11 June – Brno CZECH REPUBLIC @ Kabinet Muz CONFIRMED
12 June – Berlin GERMANY @ Schokoladen CONFIRMED
13 June – Brandenburg GERMANY CONFIRMED
*14 – 19 June – WEST GERMANY/BELGIUM/NETHERLANDS
20 June – Herzberg GERMANY CONFIRMED
*21- 24 June – GERMANY/DENMARK/BELGIUM/NETHERLANDS
25-29 June – Lärz GERMANY CONFIRMED
*to be confirmed

HOPELESSNESS AND SHAME
Stinking Lizaveta’s 1996 debut album
First time on vinyl
Recorded by Steve Albini
Mastered from original analog master reels by James Plotkin
Red vinyl
Yellow vinyl

SLAUGHTERHOUSE
Stinking Lizaveta’s 1997 second album
First time on vinyl
Recorded by Steve Austin, Les Lentz and Aaron Levinson
Remastered by Dave Eck at Lucky Mastering
Gold vinyl

1994 STEVE ALBINI DEMO
SRA Records Exclusive – only available here!
First time available
Recorded by Steve Albini
Limited to 100 copies
Remastered from the master reels
Black vinyl

LIVE 2023
SRA Records Exclusive – only available here!
Stinking Lizaveta’s first live album
Recorded live in Philadelphia after returning from a US tour
Multitrack recording done by Joe Smiley
Mixed at Red Planet
Limited to 100 copies
Black vinyl

Stinking Lizaveta is Yanni Papadopoulos on guitar, Alexi Papadopoulos on upright electric bass, and Cheshire Agusta on drums.

https://www.facebook.com/Stinking-Lizaveta-175571942466657/
https://www.instagram.com/stinking_lizaveta/
http://www.stinkinglizaveta.com/
https://stinkinglizaveta.bandcamp.com

https://www.facebook.com/SRArecords
https://www.instagram.com/srarecords/
https://srarecords.bandcamp.com/
https://srarecords.com/

Stinking Lizaveta, Hopelessness and Shame (1996)

Stinking Lizaveta, Slaughterhouse (1997)

Stinking Lizaveta, 1994 Steve Albini Demo (2025)

Stinking Lizaveta, Live 2023 (2025)