There's Something Hard in There: January 2019

Friday, January 25, 2019

Nasalrod, Victims Family and Nudity invade McCoy's in Olympia

Nasalrod. (All Cat Rose photos)

By Andy

Get in there just far enough to feel it, but stand back a hair if you want to keep your teeth intact.

When Portland’s Nasalrod revved up its noisy and riveting, all-genres-on-board tunes for the people at McCoy’s Tavern in Olympia on Jan. 19, you had to keep your eyes peeled for the leaping and leg-swinging Chairman on vocals. That guy’s ready to unload some mayhem at any second… on second thought, maybe it would be good to get a kick to the face -- just enough to prove you were there and snag a souvenir bruise for the road. Take one for the fucking team, dammit.

So, yeah, Nasalrod tore it up with Mustin Douch on guitar, Spit Stix of FEAR on drums and Mandy Morgan on bass. Get a piece of this crew in the live setting if you can. Hopefully you can survive to tell about it.

And how about Santa Rosa, CA instrument-gougers from long ago, Victims Family? Yes, they are back on the rampage and made some ears bleed in Olympia as well. Not sure what they have planned in the near future, but they should be seen if you want to have your head spun to their “jazzcore” beat. They pummeled through 18 tunes, including "Devon Drool," "Naive Children," "Sir Onslaught," "Asshole with a Microphone," "Mousetrap" and "Nirvana."

Local openers Nudity began the buzz for the evening and got the TSHIT staff set for a solid trifecta. We were already well primed after checking in at our hotel following our trek from Seattle and visiting a few Oly hotspots -- like The Brotherhood Lounge -- en route to the gig.

Here’s some Cat Rose photos from the night:

NASALROD

VICTIMS FAMILY

NUDITY

Thursday, January 17, 2019

It’s been 30-plus years: Original X lineup hits the studio

Exene Cervenka performs with X in 2013 in Redmond, WA. (Cat Rose photo)

X marks the spot in a Los Angeles recording studio.

The original lineup of Exene Cervenka, John Doe, DJ Bonebrake and Billy Zoom recently gathered in a studio for the first time since “Ain’t Love Grand” in 1985 to put some new tunes to tape (do they still say that?), according to a Variety article.

“It was great fun being in the studio recording,” Cervenka said in the article. “I’m so happy and excited that we did it, because it’s something I’ve personally wanted for a long time, and I know our followers, our friends and our family all do too. It just got started because the time was right.”

X recorded the five songs with producer Rob Schnapf.

After Zoom recorded with the band from 1978-85, Tony Gilkyson manned the guitar on 1987’s “See How We Are” (along with Dave Alvin) and 1993’s “hey Zeus!”

Lorna Doom, Bass Player for the Germs, has Left the Stage

Lorna Doom of the Germs. (Photo by Elise Thompson)

This article was originally posted in the Los Angeles Beat on Jan. 16.

By Elise Thompson

On Jan. 16, it was announced on several Facebook posts, including that of Germs drummer Don Bolles, that Germs bassist Lorna Doom, 60, “left this mortal coil today around 1.” Born Teresa Ryan in 1958, Doom passed away after a short illness. Out of all of the women I have ever known, there was none punker than Lorna. The Germs formed in 1976, and although they had a relatively short run they left their mark as one of the very first punk bands in LA. It’s hard to believe she was only seven years older than I am. That seven years meant everything when it comes to punk rock. The Germs were the vanguard.

The band was featured heavily in the “Decline of Western Civilization,” and a biographical film came out in 2007, “What we do is Secret,” starring Shane West. They reformed the Germs for a short time with Shane West singing. I attended their movie-opening after party where the re-formed Germs first played, and Lorna was as punk as ever. I couldn’t handle the intense slam pit and climbed onto the corner of the stage to shoot. As I was busy taking pictures, I felt a nudge. Then another nudge. There was definitely a toe poking me in the behind. I looked up to see Lorna smiling at me charmingly. She gently kicked me again, still smiling. It was very clear that she didn’t care who I was or what I was doing there. I needed to get my ass off her stage and back into the pit where I belonged.