Giant Robot Store and GR2 News

I’ve had a chance to do some pretty rad things in 2012. In addition to getting to share awesome stuff that my friends do via this Giant Robot blog, I was able to have my filmmaker friends show their skate shorts in Chicago, Honolulu, and Hawaii. That was really cool. Now my friend Brad (from Flattbush) has asked me to  help to put together a show at Alex’s Bar. And why not get some of my friends’ awesome bands to play one of my favorite venues? It’s coming together at the last minute but it’s also a very cool lineup, and I hope that a lot you will make it. Here’s what the lineup looks like: IT’S CASUAL – The SST-informed metal duo has been on a huge roll in 2012, first releasing the ripping  split 7″ with Early Man and then a bitchin’ new LP, The New Los Angeles II. They recently packed The Troubadour, so I am really honored that Eddie would take his ear-crushing act back to the dive bar where I first saw him opening for Negative Approach. You’ve seen Rick Kosick’s amazing video for “The Red Line,” right? BONGOLOIDZ – I’ve seen Fredo Ortiz play in a variety of combos with the likes of Money Mark, Tommy Guerrero, and Ray Barbee at places likethe HUF warehouse and the Giant Robot Biennale 3. I’ve also seen him at the Beastie Boys, Los Lobos, and The Bronx shows, and he’s probably played in a bunch of other bands that you love. I’m stoked to hear him play his own songs, perhaps giving a preview of the album successfully funded by a recent Kickstarter campaign that I backed. SANDY YANG – Hardcore Giant Robot readers will know that Sandy Yang and I  go way back, and that she has actually appeared in the pages of Giant Robot magazine 10 and 12. But she has also contributed to a number of arty and noisy groups, the biggest being The Red Krayola. Although she has written solo material all along, she has just begun to start playing it out and getting a recording together. Her show at The Smell was great, and I’m stoked that the guys in HowardAmb will be backing her up once more. See you in front!
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