The Orange Noise

You know Hank Von Hell as the former front man of Norwegian death-punk outfit Turbonegro.  This wild sonofabitch is currently lighting up stages across the country with his boozey brand of hard-driving rock absurdity... and he's going to be at the The Tiger Room on 9.11.19. You know BAD WIRES as the loud-as-hell locals who melt faces with giant amplifiers, and have a guitarist with a wider than average hair-whip zone.  They're currently pounding out mixes for an upcoming release, booking gigs, and rolling out new material... and they're going to be greasing up the stage for Hank at The Tiger Room on 9.11.19. Pre-sale tix are only $12 and also include sets by Overdose , Scrooge Mandella , and Creeps, Inc . For you geometry whizzes out there, that's only $2.40 per band.  Honestly, we should all be paying more for this kind of lineup. Louisville Locals: message The Orange Noise , or Bad Wires on Instagram to get that discounted pre-sale hookup!    ...

8.31  // Pentagram + Ohlm + Batwizard + Bastard Sons of a Judas Goat /// The Tiger Room 8.31  // Sour Milk Sea All Star Band + Pleasure Boys + Wiirmz /// Kaiju 8.31  // The Mighty Ohio + Next Attempt + Wasted Planet + Super Low /// Mag Bar 8.31  // Belushi Speed Ball + Guerrilla Warfare + Godawfuls + Isolator /// Mag Bar

This track name deserves a post first and listen later scenario. Could be a terrible recording.  Doubt it tho.  If you've ever caught a Shi - 死 set out, you know that their infectious brand of stoner/doom  metal locks you in like a woven indica straight jacket.  I don't expect any less from this self recorded track from their 2018 release, Cellar 2. Pass it to the left, crank it up, and nod your head to this one.  Big Fucking Space Dragon by Shi - 死 . Cellar 2 by Shi - 死 *Shi - 死is a playing in Louisville tonight, 8.30.19 w/ Stormtoker + Bastard Sons of a Judas Goat @ Mag Bar

Over-caffeinated per usual, with my pulse pounding in my ears.  Am I energized, aroused, or about to have a coronary? Hard to tell. Guess I'll ride it out and stick with the synth action from yesterday. **swigs a triple shot mocha** I missed FOTOCRIME 's set at the By The Grace OF God -  Above Fear album release at Headliner's last year. But soon after, a friend and label owner who arrived on time, handed me the 12" vinyl of their Principle of Pain album, saying it was one of the best rock releases that he had recently put his ears on. Today it spins.    Principle Of Pain by FOTOCRIME

My ears have been going hard for a few weeks now.  This was the break I needed.  Not that it doesn't go hard...in it's own way.  Not that I don't find it dark or intriguing.  Not that it's synths don't pull me in with nostalgia. It doesn't do any of that...I mean, it does all that.  I mean... I mean it was the break I needed.  Icarus by Scary Black. Released June 6, 2019 Written, Recorded, Mixed, Mastered, Produced by Scary Black Icarus by SCARY BLACK

Plains of Despair BAND: Volcandra GENRE:  black metal, death metal, thrash SOUNDS LIKE:  a bucket of gravel dumped over an inclined harp FEELS LIKE:  lava flow road rash LOOKS LIKE:  if a mortuary had an embalming-while-you-wait crew  SMELLS LIKE: burnt cedar, pocket change, reptile breath TASTES LIKE:  tequila, robitussin, rib meat LAST RELEASE:   Plains of Despair (2019)  NEXT GIG:  w/ Ohlm + Blind Scryer - Babes of Metal III - An Evening of Macabre Music and Brutal Burlesque /// 21st Amendment Tavern (L'ville) Plains of Despair by Volcandra *The cover art for "Plains of Despair" is the sickest metal imagery I've come across recently! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I asked BAD WIRES and Stagecoach Inferno guitarist and hair-slinger, Conner Gray Johnson, to give me a few words on his well publicized outing with his cactus friend. He returned a haiku. I couldn't have asked for more. The metal maniac was also gracious enough to return his responses to my 13 Questions with BAD WIRES interview. Head to the link to read about his biggest musical influences, how he handles headbanging in the studio, and how he'd take care of that hamster situation. "Is Little Richard an influence of mine? Not really. And Lemmy totally is.  But there is a far more direct answer to the question." I've been looking forward to this one.

THIS WEEK ON THE ORANGE LIST 8.26  // StormToker + Bastard Son of a Judas Goat /// Metal Monday @ Tap Room 8.26  // A Pale Horse Named Death + Sounds Like A Lawsuit + Tetrasteede + 3DR /// The Tiger Room 8.26  // More Than Skies + Libby Decamp + Silver Spoons + Yellow Cellophane /// Mag Bar 8.27  // Midnight Channels / In Angles / Spectator /// Tap Room 8.28 // War On TV + Villa Mure + Voodoo Economics /// The Care Less Lounge 8.28 // Swamp Rats + April Lee Fields /// Mag Bar 8.29 // Midmourner + The Racks + HANNAN + Neon Casino /// Mag Bar 8.30 // Satellite Twin + Daughters Of St.Crispin + Ritual/Error + Shedding /// Kaiju 8.30 // JCM + 40rty + Erik McMyermick and Hannah Aldridge + Stormtoker + Shi + Bastard Sons of a Judas Goat /// Mag Bar 8.31 // Pentagram + Ohlm + Batwizard + Bastard Sons of a Judas Goat /// The Tiger Room 8.31 // Sour Milk Sea All Star Band + Pleasure Boys + Wiirmz /// Kaiju 8.31 // The Mighty Ohio  + W...

The Corrupting Sea I used to have a reoccurring dream of clutching the top of a flagpole that had the elasticity of a glow stick.  A strong wind would build and the flagpole would bow tremendously, lowering me to within feet of the ground but never allowing me time to dismount before rebounding and repeatedly rushing me back to the top of the arc. The sway of the pole had a predictable and terrifying tempo. My parents live in the country. The road to their house intersects a large electrical utility right-of-way that spans a miles-wide valley. When passing under it, above the noise of the wind and wheels, cicadas and mowers, is a crackling hum. It's static tide, suspended hundreds of feet in the air, slices through the landscape like roughly sheared sheet metal through a Bob Ross canvas. Jason Lamoreaux, recording and performing as The Corrupting Sea , provides eerily appropriate soundtracks for these scenarios. His compositions leave one questioning whether the signals be...

BAND: Blind Scryer GENRE:  stoner rock, doom metal, metal SOUNDS LIKE:  what everyone would hope they sound like singing in the shower while running an alcohol fueled weedeater. FEELS LIKE:  surfing while wearing a static-charged wool suit. LOOKS LIKE:  back of the class desk carvers SMELLS LIKE:  bong water, asphalt, beef ramen TASTES LIKE:  atomic fireballs, black coffee, pork'n'beans, weed LAST RELEASE:   Blind Scryer (eponymous, 2019)  NEXT GIG:  8.29 @ Blind Bob's (Dayton, OH) Blind Scryer by Blind Scryer Blind Scryer on tour NOW! 8.29 w/ Dirtbag + Marijuana Johnson /// Blind Bob's Bar (Dayton, OH) 8.30 w/ Ghost:Hello + Dirtbag + Paper Thin /// Jupiter Studios (Alliance, OH) 8.31 w/ Dirtbag + Bava Choco /// Dirty Dungarees Laundromat (Columbus, OH) BACK HOME!  *** 9.1 w/ Dirtbag /// Metal Monday @ Highlands Taproom (L'ville, KY) ***

BAND: Belushi Speed Ball GENRE: crossover thrash, metal, hardcore, nintendo core SOUNDS LIKE: Your older brother yelling at you for smoking his weed, while Saturday-morning cereal and action figure commercials blast on a cathode-ray tv with a broken volume knob.   FEELS LIKE: a ball pit full of half-empty PBR cans and beach balls LOOKS LIKE: A pop culture fever dream SMELLS LIKE: comic book pages, shoe rubber, pizza, weed TASTES LIKE: Sour Patch Kids, Jagermeister, cigarette butts LAST RELEASE: Prepare For Trouble (2019)  NEXT GIG:  8.31 w/ Guerrilla Warfare + Godawfuls + Isolator @  Mag Bar Prepare for Trouble by Belushi Speed Ball

Maybe it was memories of melodies that my brain came up with while I was driving to work.  Maybe it was guitar riffs and gear tests that were fleeting in the moment, but had logged some harmonic importance in my brain bank.   Maybe it was playing in the background of a movie that I wasn't really watching.... but I'm pretty sure I took a nap on a Tuesday and when I woke up droneroom was on my musical radar like it had always been there. Blake Conley makes music maybe you've never heard, but you're happy to hear again. The new droneroom album, I'll make it up to you, I Swear  , is available for pre-order CD and digital d'load from Somewherecold Records . Maybe more machine than man. Maybe more breath than song.  Maybe more circular than linear. Many maybes lead to many questions. Luckily I had those ready to go.... 13 Questions with droneroom. 1.What's the story with your band/stage name? BC: Well, like all project names, it’s rooted in somet...

NOISE OF THE NIGHT! Found this murky, static-filled arrangement of Neil Young's Southern Man while cruising the Orange List for upcoming shows.  This 2017 release by Louisville fuzzsters, Los Dolores was recorded by Josh Hawkins and Spencer Gardiner, and mastered by Jamie Innis at Deadbird Studios in Louisville.  I think it's a great re-imagining of a rock classic, with enough grit to be a genuine nod to it's writer, and enough originality to keep me engaged. Check it out. You can catch them on 8.23 @ Mag Bar with Droneroom , Fauvely, and Woods at Night. Southern Man by Los Dolores

Mike Watt's Bass will be at Zanzabar on 10.19.19 featuring Mike Watt and The Missingmen . He'll be showing the kids how to do it right, and how longevity, more than anything, makes you a bad motherfucker.  If YOU want to do it right,  you should start stretching now, watch this video, and maybe make a batch of salmon and eggs.  Mike Watt.  Real Deal. >>> FB EVENT PAGE

photo via LEO Weekly Photos from GRLwood's album release show - LEO Weekly :  Hazelfire , Mike Bandanna, Belushi Speed Ball , Wombo and GRLwood   @ Headliners Music Hall.

Bad Wires had me hooked from the time I walked into their set in a notoriously terrible sounding room.  I'd soon realize that their sound and their amplifiers were so big that it wasn't going to matter if the house PA could handle it. Vocals were mic'd and that was enough.  A true power trio, they plowed through an all original set like a speeding rat rod through a post apocalyptic casino town.  Backed by hard-driving intelligent bass lines, and a machine gun of a drummer; a noisy, psychedelic, beautiful-schizophrenic-roller-coaster of guitar riff lay waste to what was left of the sound stage.  The vocals were mic'd...I think.  It was loud.  It had intent.  It sounded old and new at the same time.  BAD WIRES worked for me and I stayed for the rest of the ruckus.    I usually don't care to hang around and engage artists after their sets, and rarely hang out long enough to catch them after they cool down, but i needed to let these ...

Ocifer Ocifer has been in my top 5 of Louisville bands for years now, originally catching them at late night, open house style sets at Migo .  Their quirky Zappa-meets-Misfits sound is unique in the Louisville music community, and shows are as much performance art and poetry as they are rock'n'roll.  Lines are crossed, genres are bent, and you can only hope for the kazoo to keep you grounded.  Their outings are rare, as are their "official" music releases.  If you got your hands on one of the slap bracelet albums.... well, congrats. All this being said, I know you can definitely catch them at 5 pm 9.6.19  @  PeteFest 2019 .  This multi-day lineup raises money and spreads awareness for mental health.  That's pretty fucking important, and PeteFest is doing a great job as an advocate for a cause that helps us all.

***LOUD ROOM ALERT!*** Head to Kaiju on Sat August 24th to catch edge-of-indie rockers Memory Gloss heat things up for Lexington's Sweet Country Meat Boys .  Also on the bill are "ambient doom gaze" outfit, Star Guided Vessel .

Punk-Country, boots and tatts ass kickers  Call Me Bronco have dropped a split 12" vinyl with Six Speed Kill on Raleigh, NC based label, Rusty Knuckles .  It's refreshing to catch a studio release from an outfit whose live shows, while energetic and more than engaging, happen in rooms where tonal clarity is often fleeting.  The vinyl is well recorded and mastered, and a steal at $15. Pick it up!    Drug Songs For The Addicted by Call Me Bronco

Clip of  Shi - 死 doomin' out at Louisville Is Dead 2019 .  Catch them at Mag Bar's FULL SPEED FRIDAY  8.30.19!   I've caught these sludgy riff wizards a few times and they've made my short list of acts to look out for.  They always seem to have a hell of a good time on stage.... in a low, slow, understated way of course.  Check 'em out!