Monolord, Firebreather and Year of the Cobra / Cat Rose photos

Monolord: fucking heavy (All Cat Rose photos)

Another round of pummeling from Sweden's Monolord is always on the TSHIT docket and we indulged once again on March 6 at Chop Suey on Seattle's Capitol Hill.

I believe the Hill crumbled that night.

Swedish pals in all things doom and metal Firebreather were on board this time along with Seattle's own powerhouse Year of the Cobra.

Cat Rose got up close to grab these killer shots:

MONOLORD

FIREBREATHER

YEAR OF THE COBRA

Rollins digs into his hardcore past to discuss Dischord 200 box set / Interview

Henry Garfield (later Rollins) rages with SOA on the cover of their EP.

By Andy

My brother Ed and I asked Henry Rollins heaps of questions when we visited with him at the SST Records office on Phelan Avenue in Redondo Beach, California, in 1982.

He reached into his box of tapes and played us demos and live sets from the hot DC hardcore bands that we knew of and regaled us with stories of his time on the DC scene before packing up his belongings and his razor-sharp voice and joining Black Flag.

Rollins was our personal DJ during those trips to SST, which we skateboarded to from our nearby home in Redondo. And we soaked up every second of it. 

The names of the bands on the tapes were written in black marker, but they might as well have been scrawled in heavenly golden ink. Rollins took the excitement level up even further by vividly describing some of the gigs that took place in DC, all the while shaking his head and swinging his arm when a critical part of a song would arrive.

So, nearly 40 years later, here I am asking Rollins questions again -- via email this time -- about the epic Dischord Records 200 box set that features the label's crucial first six records: The Teen Idles, Rollins' band SOA, Minor Threat (x2), Government Issue and Youth Brigade.

We received most of these records in our mailbox after ordering them from Dischord back then, so it was only fitting that the box set be delivered to our front porch decades later. 

It's a very sentimental package for me. Those records were solid and blew my young mind open. Who would have thought that 40 years later, I'd still hold these in such high regard? Lyrics to these songs roll through my head on a regular basis -- kind of like life mottos in a way.

So, here's what Mr. Rollins has to say about the box set, which he, too, recently received from his pal Ian MacKaye (who sings on the Minor Threat records, and plays bass on The Teen Idles and bonus Slinkees EP with previously unreleased 1979 recordings):

** People are stoked to receive their Dischord first six records box set. With you being in the thick of the DC scene back then, what were your thoughts when you received the set? Did you guys ever fathom making a long-lasting impact like what has happened?

Rollins: I thought Ian and Dischord had outdone themselves. It took a long time and there were a lot of setbacks. I talk with Ian quite a bit and was privy to the progress. Ultimately, the sleeves came out looking great, sonically, the records are excellent and it allows people who want to hear these records as they were imagined to do so without having to pay collector prices. I don’t know if Ian would have ever thought Dischord would become such a thing. It’s not for me to say but I speculate one of the goals of Dischord would be sustainability. The ability to keep putting out records by DC area bands would be the marker of success. As far as someone looking at it from the outside, I think Dischord has had cultural impact. Other labels have formed using Dischord as a model.

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** By checking out the Slinkees EP, it appears your first lyric writing credit was on their song "Go to Alaska." What's the story behind that song?

Rollins: Ian asked me if I had any songs. The Slinkees I guess were short on lyrics? I don’t remember. It’s not like I was a member but I had written those words and showed them to Ian. He borrowed the piece of notebook paper and eventually gave it back to me. Perhaps he copied it and gave it to Mark Sullivan. I have no memory of how the lyrics got to their practice room. The idea for the song was just a rejection of what I guess you would call consumer culture. History has proved I’m not an asset to the world of lyric writing but that was something I did. I think I was seventeen when I wrote that. I’m happy to be in some way involved with Dischord 0.

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** Did you write the lyrics to all the SOA songs, and what was the impetus for penning those lyrics? They certainly cover a lot of ground -- from cops to girls to fights -- so were they autobiographical or about friends' lives?

Rollins: As I remember, there (was) at least a song or two that the band had when they were the Extorts that I sang but otherwise, I wrote the lyrics. To my memory, no one else volunteered any. All the lyrics, such as they are, were just writing about what was on my mind at the time, definitely about what was happening around me.

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** The SOA record is as stellar as they come, in my opinion. Did you think you had put something solid on wax at the time and do you think it's held up over the years?  What did you and the guys try to put across in the live setting? Were you an intense guy back then as you were later with Black Flag?

Rollins: I remember listening to the cassette of the songs when we were done. I played it once and put it away. I listened to the test pressing once when I got it but never played it again. I think at shows, we were just trying to get through the songs as best we could. The set was like twelve minutes. The shows were more like prolonged convulsions. I’ve always been an intense person I guess. Being in Black Flag allowed me to focus that. Greg Ginn and Chuck Dukowski wrote some songs you could sink your teeth into.

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** What are your thoughts on the other records in the box? All six are stunners, for sure, and received copious spins on our stereo. Would you rank them high on your favorites list?

Rollins: They’re all good records. It’s difficult for me to talk about anything I’m involved with. The bright light in SOA was obviously Michael Hampton. He has a thing that is completely his own and it’s really good. You can hear it from Faith to Fake Names. I think the Minor Threat records would be my favorites in that batch but they all hold their own quite well.

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** You're looking enthused on the back of the Teen Idles record in that group shot. What do you remember about that photo and the people in the shot? 

Rollins: That was 10-31-80. The people in the photo were some of the ones you always saw at shows. Some of them are gone now. There are members of Teen Idles, Minor Threat and others. I have a copy of that photo framed. I’ve looked at it many times over the decades. Those were great shows. I feel extremely lucky to have seen the shows I did. I tried to go to as many shows as I could, we all did. They were great nights of your life. One thing I remember was that at the time, it occurred to me that these were going to be times I was going to remember for the rest of my life. It was never a casual experience.

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** Then, you're on the left in the box set booklet photo of when the Teen Idles' trekked by Greyhound bus to play in Los Angeles and San Francisco. What was that trip like? 

Rollins: Going out to California with the Teen Idles was a great adventure. All that way to play two small club shows, it might seem like a long way to go but it was completely worth it. We saw some great bands and the Teen Idles played really well. We went out there on a Greyhound bus, which turns into an intense experience by day two. To be in this very different part of the country with the band, getting to see the Los Angeles and San Francisco scenes as we did was a cultural knock out. There wasn’t a lot of sleep and some stressful moments but when we had gotten back to DC, we knew we had been on an amazing journey that we were lucky to complete. I’ve been very fortunate to have been Ian’s friend for so long and to watch Dischord grow and evolve over the years.

Henry on the far left.

Chelsea's October and Austin dig into 'Meanwhile Gardens,' 'Evacuate (Revisited)'

From left, Steve Grainger - drums, Nic Austin - guitar, Gene October - vocals, Mat Sargent - bass and Rob Miller - lead guitar. Photographer - Hayley Jupp.

By Andy 

 Gene October gripped the microphone so tightly it was as if he would snap the helpless but crucial object into bits. With beads of sweat dripping down his scowling face, the gutsy Chelsea frontman spit out his lyrics as if they were written specifically for the fans raging in front of him. 

 As the vocalist leaned into the crowd at Seattle's DV8 in the summer of 1999 on the Social Chaos tour, we were hanging onto every word that shot forth from his mouth -- and his soul. The songs that once blasted through my bedroom speakers in the early 1980s were finally searing through my ears in a live setting. The 15-year-old punk inside of me was bursting through my now adult body. It was fucking worth the wait. 

 Leaping into the present -- but also giving a major nod to the band's past -- October and his mates have a stellar 2021 album, "Meanwhile Gardens," on their hands and have dug back into their vault and are primed to unleash a new in-studio live recording of the classic album, "Evacuate," that first stoked us in 1982. We're on fire all over again. 

 In separate phoners with October and guitarist Nic Austin earlier this month, the duo spoke from England about the two albums, the band's longevity and life during the pandemic. 

 Starting with "Meanwhile Gardens," October -- who formed the band in 1976 in London -- said they wrote and recorded the 13 tracks during the COVID-19 lockdown. There were no gigs to play because venues were shuttered, so the lads found windows of opportunity to enter the studio and bring October's dream of days past to life. 

 Austin -- who joined the band in 1982 -- said they had luck on their side while working diligently during difficult circumstances, and it was a minor miracle they pulled it off during lockdowns. The Kickstarter album features some longtime supporters singing backup vocals and was a trip down memory lane for all involved. Austin has received favorable feedback from those he's spoken to about the album and is thrilled that people remain interested in what they're bringing to the punk table. In the writing realm, Austin penned three tracks, October wrote three, bassist Mat Sargent wrote one, and Austin and Sargent paired up on six.

 'MEANWHILE GARDENS' 

 We'll let October kick things off with his description of "Meanwhile Gardens": 

 "I had this idea of going back to Meanwhile Gardens. In my sleep, I had a dream about it. It's an area off Portobello Road in west London, a community area where there was a stage and people just used to turn up, plug in and go for it. You never knew who was gonna play and you used to go, 'Who's that band?' or whatever," he said while taking the first steps on his journey back in time. "We're looking at say '75, '76, '77 era, where you'd get all kinds of bands. You'd get the Here and Now, the Gong, sort of like a lot of reggae acts 'cause there was a lot of dread guys in that area. You'd get the 101'ers, pre-Clash. The Boys. Everybody just turning up, just trying their stuff out, all rehearsing their band for free. A space where they could do a gig or just have a go. On a Saturday afternoon, it was where everybody hung out anyway, Portobello Road. It was a very bohemian atmosphere, sort of like Greenwich Village in New York, where loads of artists, musicians and all kinds of people went down there, it was very popular. Lot of bars down there where you could just start at one end of the road (chuckles) and then down the other end of the road 10 bars later... and end up at Meanwhile Gardens with a couple of cans in your hand and just sit there." 

 Chelsea never played the gardens, but October became acquainted with his early band members Tony James and Billy Idol there. It was the place to be if you were into the music scene. 

 "That area was where music people liked to hang around, and if they looked good, you used to stop them and go, 'Hey, can you play?' And then you were lucky enough to, 'Yeah, I'm a bass player' or whatever. There were a lot of people in them days wanted to do it, so they couldn't really play, but they said, 'Yeah.' And they played later (laughs)," October added. 

 October feels the catchy title track would find a home on American college radio stations. On the whole, the stellar album features two songs, "World Wide Domination" and "Here and Now," that namecheck bands from his Meanwhile Gardens days, and "Ladbroke Grove" is a street where he resided on for seven years. Along with soaking up the tunes, October reminisced about bumping into Joe Strummer or Paul Simonon in a Portobello Road bar playing pool or downing some drinks during those halcyon Saturdays. 

 It's Austin's turn to dig into the latest album in Chelsea's treasure chest of punk gems: 

 "The song 'Meanwhile Gardens' is just about sort of going somewhere where you feel like you belong," he began. 

 "The idea was that it was gonna be our last studio album as such. So we went to a lot of time and trouble kind of writing all the material. I think we're all very pleased with how it came out. It just sort of tells a bit of a story about the times and just the energy and how everyone felt at the time. It's sort of a romantic kind of look back at the times, 'cause times have changed dramatically now and the line in 'Meanwhile Gardens,' 'Take me back to Meanwhile Gardens,' it's sort of take me back to where it all made sense (laughs)." 

 The album was recorded during chaotic, uncertain times, and Chelsea was trying to deliver something positive out of the situation. "I think it helped us and hopefully everyone that hears it might help them a bit," Austin added. 

 'EVACUATE (REVISITED)' 

 Let's move over to the "Evacuate (Revisited)" album, a brilliant 10-song set that has certainly stood the test of time and still resonates lyrics-wise to this day. You can't help but sing along and raise your fist -- and a pint -- while giving your mind and body a workout to this platter. 

 Chelsea recorded the revisitation in December of 2021 and it will hit the proverbial streets this April, a month during which they have gigs in London and Brighton on the docket. Later to come will be the Undercover and Rebellion festivals. Fingers crossed. 

 So the burning question is why bring "Evacuate" back to life? 

 "I think it was quite important to remind people what a great album that was: A. And B: There's some very important messages on it, I think, which relate to today. You know, the general atmosphere of today, what people are going through. It was worth going back on that again and reminding people," said October, noting that the title track and "Last Drink" especially resonate with listeners in modern times. 

 Like the pro he is, October nailed the vocals on the first take and evidence exists on the band's Facebook page. 

 "Yeah, what's wrong with that? Aren't you supposed to do that?" he said with pride. "Well, A, we ain't got the money, right? Studio time, it's not cheap. And, B, it's kind of taught me to get the job done in one, if you can. To save costs. We've always had that kind of discipline anyway because anything we do album-wise we've had to finish a whole album in four or five days. Backing tracks, vocals -- the lot."

 Austin penned five songs, including the infectious title track, October brought forth two (one with Stephen Corfield) and Austin and October tag-teamed on two tunes. "Looks Right" and "War Across the Nation" are especially stunning anthems. 

 The guitarist noted that they recorded the album mostly live in the studio with next to no overdubs.

 "Chelsea have always had a reputation of being sort of a great live band and so we wanted to try and get that across with this new sort of live recording, if you like," Austin said. "To get away from the layering of upon tracks and things and just have it raw, and the two guitars, bass, drums and vocals. It's basically how we see the 'Evacuate' album now. It's been very strange with the 'Evacuate' album, obviously 40 years ago when we did it-- it was just what we did at the time. With time passing and hearing what people say, it's been regarded as a bit of a punk classic." 

 It's been an interesting and fun experience for Austin, who has not played some of the songs for 40 years. 

 "It's just been quite surreal, actually, just revisiting the whole thing, and you can't help thinking to yourself, 'Blimey! 40 years? All've gone quick," he said with a laugh. 

 Austin echoed October's sentiments that the lyrical themes still ring true in 2022. "The world has moved so far away from making any sense whatsoever, and it's like, sort of those early punk days and things, everyone was trying to change the things that were wrong, but it all felt achievable back then," he said. "It feels like sort of resurrecting something that had hope in it." 

 Austin elaborated on those thoughts: "It's been nice for the band to kind of go through all the stuff and bring back a lot of memories, but it also sort of fires you up and gives you a little bit of enthusiasm for the fight now." All the while, bringing fans along for the ride and hopefully lifting their spirits and getting them out to gigs again. 

 'IT'S JUST GOOD FOR THE SOUL' 

 October's been roaring into a microphone for 46 years now and he's just doing his thing like he always has without thinking about how the years have rolled by. 

 Longevity isn't a word that exists in his lexicon. 

 "I never really thought of it in that respect. You remind me and a lot of people remind me. I kind of just think, 'Oh, all right, we've got some gigs booked here in two months time,' and I just think, 'Right, get them gigs done,'" he said. "I don't really think of it in the long term. I never thought way back I'd be doing it long term -- just did it there and then, it's just ended up going on and on and on and on. And I've enjoyed it. If I didn't enjoy it, I wouldn't do it." 

 When asked his age, October quipped: "25 next week...I'm not a youngster, I'm 68. I just get on with it. I don't bother with birthdays, I never have. Who wants to be reminded they're another year older?" 

 With heaps of thoughtful, corking songs and attitude under its belt, Chelsea has played its own game and never became involved with major labels. October encourages people to write truthfully and about things around them. And stay cool, of course. 

 October would like Chelsea to be remembered as: "A band that tried, a band that cared, a band that spoke for the people and a band respected for staying the way they wanna think. Doing it their way."

 And he's already had a dream about where he wants the next Chelsea album to go. Songs are in the works, he says, but he's not giving away any clues yet. 

 As for Austin, he's sitting at the age 60 mark and has never stopped writing songs. He's plugging away on Gibson SGs these days and helping create the best Chelsea sound possible alongside October, Sargent, lead guitarist Rob Miller and drummer Steve Grainger. 

 They don't gig as much as they used to, but they're making every one count, he said. Same goes for the precious time in the studio. 

 Austin notes: "It's really good to get together and play, especially 'cause we've had little windows in the lockdowns and things where we could do stuff. Apart from anything else, it's just good for the soul doing something, innit? Having human contact."

Cat Rose's Lucky 13 photos from 2021

The Scoffs

Agent Orange

Brain Cell Genocide

Deathchant

Dreadful Children

The Bobby Lees

The Convictions

The Shaking Fists

The Sinister Six

Thee Deception

Usnea

Vitriol

WORWS

 

TSHIT's Quotes of Note for 2021

Bruce Stuckey.

By Andy

As There's Something Hard in There rolled into its 11th year in 2021, we eased up on the gas pedal a bit due to time constraints and COVID limiting our show intake. It's been a long ride for us in the blog realm and we're fortunate to have produced copious photos and interviews of and with some of our favorite musicians from the past and present. 

Running this blog has solidified our affinity for music and taken it further than we ever dreamed. We're still as passionate about music -- seeing a band tear the roof off the place or having an inspiring chat with an artist -- as we always have been, beginning a multitude of years ago. 

We're in this for the long haul and will keep TSHIT going until the fucking wheels fall off.

Here's some quotes of note from a handful of interviews we conducted this year. Thanks for reading and Happy New Year!

BRUCE STUCKEY (TOXIC REASONS)

"I've got at least two albums of material I've written over the last seven years. At least," said Stuckey, who notes that the Toxic Reasons records hanging on his wall each represent a different period of his life. There's eight studio albums and a batch of singles and EPs that fired out of the band's cannon.

"Honestly, I am happy with what I've done in the past. I would actually, honestly, like to make one more fucking record. I don't care if anybody gives a fuck, if they like it or not. As long as I like it and put it out, and actually tour it again. Maybe not the way we used to. I honestly don't think I could take that," he said with a laugh.

DAVEY GUNNER (END OF HOPE)

The former Kraut vocalist's reaction after guitarist Ken Wohlrob told him the moniker, End of Hope, whose music is an amalgamation of Black Flag meets Motorhead: "I guess, because in a lot of ways, I'm a pessimist. You know, gloom and doom sort of, I guess gives me my fuel. So I heard that, I was like, 'That just nails it, you know?' But in the same sense, you got to have hope -- that's the one thing that keeps you going."

JEFF PEZZATI (NAKED RAYGUN)

"I think as long as we have good new songs, it gets me excited again," said the vocalist/songwriter regarding the band's recent solid album, "Over the Overlords."

Former Naked Raygun bassist Pierre Kezdy, who passed away from cancer in 2020, wrote some songs and played on the album. Pezzati noted: "He told us before he passed it was important that we get it out and we're doing our best to get it out. And the fact that he wrote a couple of songs for it is really great because he was such a great songwriter. He wrote 'Vanilla Blue' and he wrote 'Treason' by himself and he wrote 'Home' and some really great songs along the way."

FRANK AGNEW (GREG ANTISTA AND THE LONELY STREETS)

The former Adolescents guitar slinger's feelings about the Antista songs on the stellar album "Under the Neon Heat": "There's two things I liked about them immediately: they were simple (and) these are really catchy, good songs. They're sing-along songs. I thought the lyrics were really strong. The overall feel of the songs is upbeat, which I thought, 'Wow, we could all really use this right now.' Because everything had been kind of dark and stuff. And then, of course, the pandemic hit. I also liked it because it allowed me to kind of do a lot of different guitar stuff on it that I normally wouldn't be able to do, but those songs kind of left it wide open for that."

Ready to stage dive into The Punk Rock Museum

The Punk Rock Museum intro fanzine featuring Milo of the Descendents in 1983. Photo by Kevin Salk

By Andy 

While we were raging the night away by wedging our way up front at raucous, sweat-soaked and mind-blowing gigs beginning some four decades ago, it never crossed our minds that these unhinged, tempestuous activities transpiring in front of us would be remembered copious years into the future. 

We were often ridiculed and given the stink eye nearly everywhere we roamed back then for walking the jagged punk rock path. We loved it and didn't give a shit what anyone thought.

We'd hop into cars and drive to the Whisky, Florentine Gardens or the Palladium in Hollywood. There was Godzilla's in the armpit of the San Fernando Valley. Dancing Waters was the spot for your punk pleasure in San Pedro. The Barn at Alpine Village in Torrance hosted some of the best shows of that era, notably a Dead Kennedys, Minor Threat, MDC, Zero Boys and Detonators stunner.

Sometimes, things got gnarly like when the owners at Bob's Place in Watts made us all stay inside because some locals were looking for punk blood outside after a Misfits, Necros, Social Distortion, SVDB gig. 

We straddled the line between euphoria and danger on some nights. It was our time — and we made the most of it.

But clearly, and thankfully, a multitude of punks wouldn't let it die, and here we are in 2021 talking about The Punk Rock Museum, which is slated to open next year in Las Vegas. According to an old-school fanzine-type-thing I just received in the (actual) mail, the museum will be located at 1422 Western Ave. and will contain punk artifacts and paraphernalia from all over the globe, including Darby Crash's record collection, and heaps of other punks' photos, flyers, fashion, set lists, instruments and more. It's a fucking gold mine!

Hell, you can get married at the museum, and afterwards you can play Fletcher Dragge's guitar or Fat Mike's bass through their own amps that blasted out Pennywise and NOFX tuneage. Want a tattoo? The museum's your spot. They'll probably even allow stage diving and some creepy crawling in the pit.

Speaking of Fat Mike (Burkett), he's the founder, and Dragge is one of the operators. Now, there's no way those guys saw this coming 40 years ago, right? I used to attend gigs with Dragge back in the day, and all we were concerned about was guzzling some beers before TSOL or the Stains tore it up and left us in tatters. Speaking of getting in on the action and fully embracing the moment (seen in the top photo), check out my pal John singing away with Milo during a stellar Descendents set at Mi Casita in Torrance in 1983.

Also on board the museum's team are Lisa Brownlee (general manager and lead curation supervisor), Melanie Coffee (museum director), Alison Braun and Lisa Johnson (both punk photo historians and photo curators), Colin Robert Smith (CEO) and many more.

For more information, visit www.thepunkrockmuseum.com.