Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
I only know seven Bloodthirsty Butchers songs: one from the split 7″ with fellow Japanese band named after a horror movie Copass Grinderz, three from the double 7″ from with Rocket From The Crypt, and three more from the split EP with +/- (all pictured below). But damn, those songs are great and so is the quality of pairings. And what about the top-notch labels (K Records, Bacteria Sour, Teen Beat) and even artists (Tae Won Yu, Pushead, Yoshitomo Nara) they’ve worked with? With so much quality and so little quantity of information about the band from Sapporo, I was stoked to see the documentary about them directed by Jun Kawaguchi.
It turns out the Butchers’ story resembles that of many bands. They came from a small town and moved to the big city to grow their local success. After 20 years of playing medium paced and ultra melodic but gritty punk rock with everyman vocals, they are grouped with Husking Bee, Eastern Youth, and other heavyweights of Japanese punk yet struggle to survive. The members have to deal with singer Hideki Yoshimura’s controlling attitude and rude demeanor and will most likely never break through, but keep plowing on because the music is all that they have going for them at this point in their lives.
Dad by the I-5 in Buttonwillow
When I was young and unattached, it didn’t take much to get me to visit the Bay Area. Punk rock shows at Gilman, film festivals at the AMC, zine and comic conventions, friends and burrito joints all over the place–Oakland, Berkeley, and San Francisco were frequent destinations. Of course, that’s no longer the case. So when it was announced that my cousin would be throwing a first birthday party for his daughter I arranged a family vacation to the Bay Area, but this time on the coast. Above, my dad outside a pupuseria in Buttonwillow on the drive up. It took forever to get served but the food wasn’t bad and Mexican Coke is always awesome.
Mack's first birthday bash
We stayed in a Santa Cruz guest house big enough to fit my parents, siblings, and all of our families. It was perfect for the girls to run around and play between excursions–equidistant to Monterey and Los Altos. The latter is where the celebration took place. Mack’s parents grew up in Hawaii, so there was a ton of local food (including poke), a shave ice stand (quite good), and hula dancing (above). It also happened to be their tenth wedding anniversary. Congrats, Scott and Angie!
Coliseum at Twin Infinities art show
On Friday night, I went with my old friend/ass-kicker/artist/zine maker/GR crew for life Kiyoshi Nakazawa to the NOMAD gallery in Frogtown to catch a fine display of the art of rocking and art about rock. Above: The mighty Coliseum made a stop on their California Obliteration tour. Yes!
Rich Jacobs
Co-curated by Rich Jacobs (above) and Sam James Velde (Night Horse), the show had too many contributors to list, but I happen to be a friend or fan of many.
Ben Clark
I never get sick of seeing my pal/GR crew Ben Clark’s work, especially when it’s printed. Up on top you can see THE picture of Justin fronting Unwound at Jabberjaw. What a rad show. Damn. I’m pretty sure I was at that Rocket From The Crypt gig pictured in front, as well, not to mention the Fugazi show at the Palace on the bottom left. Ben actually made me print of the latter, and it’s one of my prized possessions.
Rick Froberg
Art by some of my musical heroes: Rick Froberg from Pitchfork, Drive Like Jehu, Hot Snakes, and Obits (above). David Pajo from Slint, Tortoise, Papa M, and a ton of others (below). Our mutual friend Sooyoung Park introduced me to Pajo at a BBQ in Chicago, but I doubt if he remembers me.
David Pajo
Megan March + Johnny Geek = Street Eaters
After being impressed by the Street Eaters’ opening set for forgetters at the Echo earlier this year, I began corresponding with the guitarist and scored some of the duo’s vinyl output. I found the records to be honest, touching, and punk as hell–worth hearing in a non-blown-out, moderately engineered setting. The powerful give-and-take between Megan March and Johnny Geek’s ruthless drums, catchy guitars, and vocals serve as a potent reminder that all you need is two people to form a gang, start a fight, or make rad music, and the new album, Rusty Eyes and Hydrocarbons, cranks it up yet another notch. The band is touring in support of it, so I had to hit them up on the road.
The LP and CD come in different colors!
MW: Coming off 7″ singles, split singles, and an EP, what was your approach to recording your first full-length album?
JG: We liked the idea of building into a debut full-length gradually, and we really tightened up our whole ship to make the album as great as possible. We had the split with White Night first, and then the We See Monsters EP. Around a year later, we put out the split with Severance Package and the “Ashby and Shattuck” 7″ picture disc. The whole time, we were writing, recording, and editing the stuff that would eventually end up on the album. It was all a very deliberate process of building up to a killer full-length.
MM: We recorded the record in several chunks so we could step back, view it, and envision what songs should be written and recorded to make it more complete.
MW: Is “Two Heads” about the movie The Thing with Two Heads, your band, or something else altogether?
MM: You’d probably have to ask Grace Slick. “Two Heads” is a Jefferson Airplane cover. But we interpret it to be a pro-feminist, anti-religious fundamentalist song. We also like it because it is weird.