Posted in Whathaveyou on January 8th, 2016 by JJ Koczan
It’s the news New England has been waiting for. New Hampshire’s Scissorfight will return in 2016 with a new singer, new drummer and new material.
I don’t know if I’d call a Scissorfight reunion inevitable, but it sure as shit is welcome. The Granite State Destroyers put word out that they have added two new members and they’ll start doing shows again this year playing old material and new.
That last part is of course of immediate intrigue. New Scissorfight? 2016 marks a decade since their last album, Jaggernaut, was released, and while I’ve no doubt the band — founding guitarist Jay Fortin and bassist Paul Jarvis plus newcomers Doug Aubin (vocals) and Rick Orcutt (drums) — can find a label to pick them up in the wake of Tortuga/Hydra Head going defunct, it’s a surprising proposition out of the gate. With the establishing of an official Facebook page for the band and an online merch store in the last couple months, their reunion isn’t exactly out of the blue, but I’m dying to hear what it sounds like.
New and old. Scissorfight 2016 — hell yes I’m curious. Might be worth a trip to New Hampshire if they’re playing out, though I don’t know if you ever saw them back in their day, but they drew a pretty raucous crowd. Angry New Englanders letting out workingman’s aggression to songs about pirates and outmotherfuckering the man, which, of course, they may yet do.
As one would have to expect, the announcement was short and bullshit-free. It follows this photo, which is old but rules nonetheless:
Hey fans of scissorfight!
Please be aware that scissorfight is coming back with two new members! Doug on vocals, Rick on drums. We will be playing live shows. We will be paying homage to the classic songs of the past and we will be presenting new material for your thrashing pleasure!
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 20th, 2015 by JJ Koczan
Further proof of how ahead of their time New Hampshire’s Scissorfight were: They’ve been gone for the better part of a decade and they still earn enough devotion to have their own beer. Presented by Smuttlabs, which seems to be a division or somehow otherwise in league with Smuttynose Brewing perhaps in a sudsy R&D kind of way, the Granite State Destroyer Imperial Corn Lager will be officially released on March 28 at the Smuttynose brewery in Hampton, NH.
Technically speaking, this is the first Scissorfight release since their 2006 swansong, Jaggernaut (“don’t you ever stop?”), though of course I’ve taken it mostly as a sign of how badly that band needs to do a reunion, preferably at a festival put together by me at a date and time yet undecided — also yet un-conceived, so don’t start asking about it. You get the point. Scissorfight fucking kill. Easily worth a beer in tribute.
Here’s the info from the Thee Facebooks event page for the release and a killer video posted by guitarist James Jay Fortin under an official Scissorfight YouTube account:
Hampton, NH – Smuttlabs and Scissorfight Present: Granite State Destroyer
Come nab a bottle of the latest Smuttlabs offering, Granite State Destroyer! For years, we’ve been wanting to work with the legendary underground metal band, Scissorfight. Hailing from the Seacoast of New Hampshire, these fellas tore up stages across the country from the mid-90s to the mid-00s. Beer-fueled rock and roll at its grimiest and heaviest. When we approached them, they, of course, were all about it and it seemed only natural that we brew an imperial corn lager and package it in 32 oz. bottles. Deceitfully drinkable, we used 100% Saphir hops for a lovely nose and fruity hop character. And, of course, that kick of corn sweetness let’s you know what you’re getting yourself into. We have a pretty good supply of bottles but we suspect this one will move fast so get yours while you can. See you at Towle Farm!
Scissorfight, Mantrapping for Sport and Profit (2001)
13 years ago, Scissorfight drew a line in the sand. On one side, horseshit. On the other, Mantrapping for Sport and Profit. It’s a triumph the New Hampshire H-E-A-V-Y rockers would proclaim some four years later with the Victory over Horseshit EP, but I don’t think there’s anyone around who’d argue that the prior 2001 full-length wasn’t the decisive battle. Fronted by Christopher “Ironlung” Shurtleff, whose beard was no less ahead of its time than the rest of the band, Scissorfight were a force of fuckall domination, each riff that Jay Fortin (now of Supermachine and White Dynomite) threw into this record a hook unto itself. Made winter-thick by bassist Paul Jarvis (also Supermachine) and set to march by drummer Kevin Shurtleff (who played as Kevin J. Strongbow), Mantrapping remains a balls-out classic that earned its burl every step of the way. You know all those records where the dude does the hey-whoa-mama “whiskey soaked” vocal thing? Yeah. Scissorfight ate those bands and shit out better songs.
Even before you get to the bizarre lyrical brilliance of a song like “Deliver the Yankee Coffin,” to have an album that delivers the one-two punch of “Acid for Blood” and “New Hampshire’s All Right if You Like Fighting” (a German-language version of which would also turn up on 2002’s als0-essential Potential New Agent for Unconventional WarfareEP) just makes it an immediate win. And even when there’s some measure of letup, on “Hazard to Navigation,” for example, there’s no real letup. Bruiser grooves the whole way through and no dip in quality when you get deeper into tracks like “Mantrap,” “Candy Clark” and “Go Cave.” It’s been over a decade and I still get these songs stuck in my head out of nowhere. Earlier Scissorfight was undeniably meaner, the vocals harsher over crunchier riffing, and I don’t want to take anything away from the badassery of 1996’s Guaranteed Killdebut, 1998’s Balls Deep, 2000’s New Hampshire, 2006’s cleaner swansong Jaggernautor any of the other EPs, comps, splits, etc., they issued in their time, but everything seemed to come into balance on Mantrapping for Sport and Profit, and it still sounds like a steel-toed boot up the ass 13 years later.
It was the album that boldly proclaimed, “Get the fuck off my car, creep.” The record that warned of blizzards, buzzards and bastards. The record that was the most dangerous animal and the record that put the hammer down.
Enjoy.
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Photos have been popping up in my Thee Facebooks feed for the better part of the day from the London and Berlin Desertfests, and I’ll admit I’m pretty jealous. I’ve had a good day and a lovely evening — this afternoon I interviewed Scott Hill from Fu Manchu and that went really well (look for it next week) and tonight The Patient Mrs. and I made baked potatoes and watched the Yankees get thoroughly demolished before switching to Star Trek: The Next Generation. And I expect the rest of the weekend will follow suit in its pleasantness, so I’m not saying I’m hard up, but seeing a shot of Gozu on stage in Berlin or Borracho in London, Spirit Caravan rocking out, I’d be lying if there wasn’t a part of me going, “Ah dude.” Next year. Should probably get a job first. Ha.
I should have the aforementioned Fu Manchu interview up before Wednesday. Their tour starts the same day as Floor‘s. Wow that interview fell flat this week. I thought it was really cool, was all stoked on it, and just zero response. Seemed especially cool after having talked to Anthony Vialon four years ago when they first picked back up, but so it goes. Maybe someone’ll notice it sooner or later. Once it’s posted it’s there forever. You’d be surprised at what gets noticed years after the fact.
Last week I had mentioned doing a Jeremy Irons and the Ratgang Malibus audio premiere. It got pushed back to next Monday, so look for it then. There’s a video to go with it as well, so even if you don’t want to commit to checking out the whole album, there will be a sample to start with. That’s a record worth hearing. Going to try to get reviews up of Comet Control, Bigelf and Electric Citizen too, so plenty of good stuff to come, as always.
Next weekend is The Eye of the Stoned Goat 4 as well, so I’ve got that to look forward to. Not sure how I’m going to handle the coverage yet, whether I’ll do it there or afterwards, but I’ll figure something out. I haven’t been to Ralph’s Rock Diner in Worcester yet, so I don’t really know the lay of the land, but we’ll see how it goes when I get there. There are a ton of shows the week after too, so it’ll be good to get back out to some regular, non-fest gigs too.
I hope you have a great and safe weekend, I hope Scissorfight do a reunion show and I hope I’m the one who puts it together, and I hope you check out the forum and the back-to-fully-functional radio stream. See you back here Monday.
Posted in Features on November 13th, 2013 by JJ Koczan
Over the last couple weeks, we’ve started to see word come down of releases coming in the early part of the New Year. Standard stuff — it’s only about seven weeks away. But it’s got me thinking that in addition to the records that we know are coming in 2014, there are a whole lot more I’d like to see.
This list isn’t every band I’d like to have put something out in 2014, but it’s bands who’d have to reunite to do it.
Think of some of the reunions we’ve seen over the last few years — Sleep, Saint Vitus, Kyuss (kinda), Pentagram — amazing, legendary bands who’ve come back together for shows and/or albums. All day the PR wire sends along word of upcoming output. I’ve got no inside track on any of these, so don’t quote me on what’s just good-time speculation, but here are a few on my wishlist, just for fun:
1. Sleep
Yeah, this was a no-brainer. I said the same thing back at the end of 2012 — that Sleep should get on putting out a new album. Well, it didn’t happen this year, and I don’t think they played more than a couple shows as High on Fire and Om continued their successful runs in support of 2012 outings, but Sleep have songs like “Antarticans Thawed” and “Sonic Titan” that have never had studio recordings, and golly, it sure would be nice. It’d just about make my damn day. Also year.
How likely is it?
Could go either way, really. Matt Pike, Al Cisneros and Jason Roeder seem to enjoy doing live shows as Sleep. Whether that translates to studio productivity and songwriting is an entirely different matter.
2. Spirit Caravan
This one’s been talked about for a couple years now. In 2010, former Spirit Caravan bassist and current Earthride/Weed is Weed frontman Dave Sherman said in an interview here it was a go, and it never materialized. Rumors have started to come around again, and the fact that Sherman and former Spirit Caravan drummer Gary Isom are working together in Weed is Weed bodes well, but guitarist/vocalist Scott “Wino” Weinrich is plenty busy these days, with the ongoing Saint Vitus and The Obsessed reunions. Maybe he’s all reunioned out.
How likely is it?
Not very, at least for the time being. That both The Obsessed and Vitus have gotten back together means never say never, but unless there’s a big sudden hole in Wino‘s schedule, I wouldn’t count on it.
3. Goatsnake
I still haven’t forgiven that Icelandic volcano for forcing me to miss Goatsnake at Roadburn in 2010. Some might think it’s silly to hold a grudge against a geological formation, but I say it’s animosity well earned. Goatsnake have done intermittent shows the last several years — less even than Sleep — as guitarist Greg Anderson continues to explore various forms of heavy with his label, Southern Lord Recordings, and contribute guitar to other projects along the way. While we’re fantasizing, though, let’s get Scott Reeder in on bass again.
How likely is it?
Given Southern Lord’s current hardcore fetish and having shirked off most of its riff-heavy acts over the last couple years, interest is probably pretty low on their part. Too bad. At this point, I’d even take a new SunnO))).
4. Scissorfight
Fucking hell. I haven’t been able to go a day since I moved to New England — more than three months ago now — without thinking about New Hampshire’s proudest sons, Scissorfight. If they came out today, they’d be huge. As it was, they were about six years ahead of their time, and while I’m glad I got to see them play more than once, it would be amazing to have them stomp their way back and get the recognition they deserve. To put all the old albums back out on vinyl and top it off with a new one would most certainly be putting the fucking hammer down.
How likely is it?
Guitarist Jay Fortin (also an insanely talented photographer) and bassist Paul Jarvis can currently be found grooving in Supermachine. Scissorfight digitally released a greatest hits collection in 2012 though, so you never know.
5. Lowrider
The Swedish stoner pioneers started playing shows again this year, so the reunion is fresh. Why not strike while that iron is hot, get in the studio and surprise everyone with the first Lowrider album since 2000’s land-fucking-mark Ode to Io? I don’t have an answer to that question, because from where I sit and from what I saw at Desertfest in London earlier this year, Lowrider are a vital act who hardly seemed like they were gonna one-and-done it on getting back together. I’ve got my fingers crossed and until I get a reason to uncross them, they’re going to stay that way. It makes typing uncomfortable.
How likely is it?
Actually, of all the reunions on this list that have and haven’t happened, a new Lowrider record in 2014 seems to be the likeliest possibility. If it’s any kind of tell, the photo above was taken recently.
6. Nebula
When was the last time you heard from Nebula? Was it the band “taking a break” and canceling their appearances at SXSW in 2010? Yeah, me too. Bummer, since their last album, 2009’s Heavy Psych(review here), was so chock full of vigor. That record boasted a new Nebula lineup around guitarist/vocalist Eddie Glass, and with Tee Pee behind them, it seemed like they were full speed ahead. Obviously it didn’t pan out that way or they wouldn’t be on this list. What would a new album bring? Hopefully a shit-ton of wah. Beyond that, wherever they wanted to go is fine by me.
How likely is it?
Doesn’t seem unreasonable to think Glass would get Nebula going again eventually, though with bassist Tom Davies currently in The Freeks and drummer Rob Oswald apparently living on the East Coast, it might require yet another lineup.
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Such as it is, honorable mention goes to Dozer (who I didn’t include here because I’m so hopeful it’ll happen I’ve convinced myself it’s already in progress), Eyehategod (who’ve toured new material for years and will probably have an album out eventually), Sungrazer (yeah, I know they just broke up, but I’m still bummed about it) and Bongzilla (which would be cool, but I think I’d almost rather a debut Aquilonian LP), Norrsken (imagine Graveyard and Witchcraft members reclaiming the retro rock throne!) and probably 10 or 12 others.
