Did you need any further proof that the Growlers are the greatest band in the world? Can you imagine these ridiculous dudes cruising around the USA in this van? Holy shit.
Also, I have 0 proof that this is their tour van, as they only posted a photo on facebook, but I’d like to think they are cruising around town in this.
Download -> The Growlers – Underneath Our Palms Blues
HOLY SHIT Y’ALL! Look at them Growlers! They look stunning in this performance. I can’t wait for them to go on their US tour and show the entire country what we in LA have been taking for graned far too long! If this little performance is any indication, the Growlers are going to continue to grow and take their ridiculousness and perfect live show to a whole new level and I can’t wait to see them do it. I have so much invested personally in this band – I saw them like 9 times last year! God damn! But, please, I beg of you – go see them…. They have NEVER disappointed live, not once. They are worth every dollar you need to pay to see them, you will get it back in dividends, I promise. GO. GO. GO.
CHECK OUT THE GROWLERS ON TOUR!!!!!!!
Jan 21 2010 8:00P The boat haus w/ Tomorrows Tulips! and movie screening costa mesa, California
Jan 23 2010 8:00P Bunkhouse Las Vegas, Nevada
Jan 27 2010 9:00P Revolution Hall – Dr Dog with The Growlers Troy, New York
Jan 28 2010 9:00P Higher Ground – Dr Dog with The Growlers Burlington, Vermont
Jan 29 2010 8:00P Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel – Dr Dog w. The Growlers Providence, Rhode Island
Jan 30 2010 8:00P Wescott Theatre – Dr Dog w. The Growlers Syracuse, New York
Feb 1 2010 9:00P Mohawk Place – Dr Dog with The Growlers Buffalo, New York
Feb 3 2010 8:00P The Crofoot (Pike Room) – Dr Dog with The Growlers Pontiac, Michigan
Feb 4 2010 8:00P Turner Hall Ballroom – Dr Dog with The Growlers Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Feb 5 2010 8:00P High Noon Saloon – Dr Dog with The Growlers Madison, Wisconsin
Feb 6 2010 9:00P The Mill – Dr Dog with The Growlers Iowa City, Iowa
Feb 8 2010 9:00P The Waiting Room – Dr Dog Omaha, Nebraska
Feb 9 2010 8:00P Rock Island Brewing Co. – Dr Dog Rock Island, Illinois
Feb 10 2010 8:00P The Spot-Case Western Res.Univ – Dr Dog with The Growlers Cleveland, Ohio
Feb 11 2010 9:00P Video Saloon – Dr Dog with The Growlers Bloomington, Indiana
Feb 12 2010 8:00P Newport Music Hall – Dr Dog with The Growlers Columbus, Ohio
Feb 13 2010 8:00P State Theatre – Dr Dog with The Growlers State College, Pennsylvania
Feb 14 2010 8:00P Union Pool – Valentine’s Day Show Brooklyn, New York
Feb 16 2010 8:00P TT The Bears – The Growlers Cambridge, Massachusetts
Feb 17 2010 8:00P Black Cat – The Growlers Washington, Washington DC
Feb 18 2010 8:00P PIANOS ney york, New York
Feb 20 2010 8:00P RONY’S BAR chicago, Illinois
Feb 22 2010 8:00P Hi Dive – The Growlers Denver, Colorado
Feb 23 2010 8:00P Belly Up Aspen, Colorado
Feb 26 2010 8:00P Noise Pop at Café Dunord San Francisco, California
Mar 27 2010 8:00P East of Eden Monterey, California
DOWNLOAD -> The Growlers – Kick The Habit of Dredd
I don’t know if this is news to anyone, but Cole Alexander aka Old King Cole Younger has started contributing to Bradford Cox’s blog over @ Deerhunter Blog. His entries so far are nothing short of spectacular, solely because apparently the man has learned how to use the internet. This is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. I’m not mocking him because I am mean, but because last year at SXSW, I saw him struggling to use a cell phone. Struggling so much that Ian had to step in and help, so him using the internet is nothing short of miraculous. However, he has been posting some weird videos but ALSO! Some mp3s!
Download -> Black Lips – Feels Funny After (Leroy Faster Demo)
Download -> Black Lips – Leroy Faster (Bad Kids 7″)
Not music related, whatever, but this is NRBW’s official stand on this important issue that is currently plaguing the nation.
And to make this, well, a little relevant to this blog, I share with you The Case for Conan: 8 Essential Musical Performances. A great read.
Hey there – So, we have a record coming out February 2nd and to celebrate we want to throw a show at YOUR house. We’re not out to thrash your place or anything – we’d come, play, hang out and have a couple of beers. All your friends plus a few of ours = guaranteed good times. If you’re interested, just respond here in 50 words or less and let us know why we should play your house! Ideally, your house will be in the Los Angeles area, anywhere between Long Beach to Downtown LA to Santa Monica.
Hit them up @ MYSPACE if you wish to have them over… I mean who wouldn’t want them to play? Look at those little faces!
Damn, wasn’t 2009 amazing? At least music-wise, if nothing else. There is so much to look forward to in the new year/new DECADE and I absolutely can’t wait for it to start.
Thanks for reading and supporting, or reading and leaving nasty comments (LOVE US OR HATE US WE STILL GET THE PAGE HITS BITCHESSSSS), and have a really fun and safe night tonight. Get into trouble, but don’t get yourself killed because we want to see you alive in the new decade! Dance, drink lots of champagne (or gin), kiss somebody cute at midnight, and let’s all start 2010 right–with great music, positivity and friends. It’s the year of the tiger! We can’t go wrong!
And of course, if you’re in Los Angeles we hope we’ll see you at The Echo tonight because that is OBVIOUSLY the place to be!
Happy New Years, we love you!!
Colette
Y’know how sometimes I like to go on about how this is a comedy blog, too? Well, this was just pure gold, I got it from the Guardian site where they asked people what was the last lie they told….
Peter Doherty, musician
‘The last time I told a lie was ‘not guilty”
(The real question is: are you talking about the lie you told at court, or the lie you told after court when you were arrested?)
Muses come in unlikely forms sometimes. Ever since producer Jona Bechtolt split to focus on YACHT, the Portland art-pop act the Blow has been Khaela Maricich’s one-woman project, and Maricich has been pretty quiet. But this weekend, Maricich played a show at Miami’s Pulse Art Fair, and the whole thing turned out to be a sort of performance art spectacle inspired by forever troubled ex-star Lindsay Lohan.
The Miami New Times reviewed the show. According to the paper, Maricich started the show by claiming that she’d been working with Lohan on Lohan’s new album. She changed into a glammed-out outfit and sang tracks that, supposedly, are going to show up on this new Lohan album. She also read aloud a bunch of voicemail messages, supposedly from Lohan, and set a couple of them to song.
Maricich reportedly finished up the show by saying, “Could you imagine Lindsay actually performing that? Could you get an idea? Now take that image and subtract it from what I just did. The sum of that is the difference between a girl like me and a girl like Lindsay.” OK!
DOWNLOAD -> BABAY (EAT A CRITTER, FEEL IT’S WRATH) by THE BLOW
Under normal circumstances, I’d never in a million years make a Grammy post. Why? Because the Grammys suck fucking ass. They’re about as original as um, say, The Black Eyed Peas. Who incidentally are nominated one too many times (well, one is too many times). Beyonce, too! And Lady Gaga. Because they’re making relevant, boundary pushing music. Oh, wait. However, the Grammys sometimes accidentally get things right. And this post is going to highlight their accidental nominations of one key member of Nu Rave Brain Wave team. You’ll see.
Category 15: Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance
(For a solo vocal performance. Singles or Tracks only.)
Beyond Here Lies Nothin’ – Bob Dylan
Change In The Weather – John Fogerty
Dreamer – Prince
Working On A Dream – Bruce Springsteen
Fork In The Road – Neil Young
Category 64: Best Americana Album
(Vocal or Instrumental.)
Together Through Life – Bob Dylan
Electric Dirt – Levon Helm
Willie And The Wheel – Willie Nelson & Asleep At The Wheel
Wilco (The Album) – Wilco
Little Honey -Lucinda Williams
YOU GO, BOB! Two for you and none for The xx HAHAHA
The singer, who is no stranger to controversy, was hauled off stage by organisers of the on3 festival in Munich after playing Deutschland, Deutschland ueber alles.
Festival-goers reportedly booed and shouted at Doherty but he kept on singing until he was eventually removed from the stage.
“We decided to stop Peter Doherty’s appearance on stage as quickly as possible,” organisers Bayerischer Rundfunk said in a statement.
“The live radio broadcast was cut immediately,” they added.
Doherty sang lines from the first verse of the Song of Germany, which was used as the national anthem under the Nazis. After World War II, Germany adopted the third stanza as its national anthem and the first verse was abandoned.
If you, for some reason, need more information on who Pete Doherty is… feel free to go to SKY NEWS and control-f Kate Moss.
Today I was perusing some top albums of the decade and top albums of the year lists and well, I wasn’t too impressed by a website called the Daily Californian. I mean, it just doesn’t have the same kind of ring that, say, a ‘Nu Rave Brain Wave’ has. But then again, I should’ve given it some credit being that California is the best place on the planet. Anywho, I was ready to mock and shame these sad music ‘writers’ by their lists surely dominated by M.I.A and Radiohead. THEN! Shock of all shocks, I saw a great list. Let me show you this list.
1. Is This It by the Strokes
2. Good Bad Not Evil by the Black Lips
3. White Blood Cells by the White Stripes
4. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!
5. Up The Bracket by the Libertines
6. Veni Vidi Vicious by the Hives
7. Fever To Tell by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
8. Thunder, Lightning, Strike by the Go! Team
9. We Are Electrocution by Le Shok
10. Bad Dudes by Bad Dudes
11. C.Y.S.L.A.B.F. by Mika Miko
12. The Life Aquatic Soundtrack by Various Artists
13. Supreme Clientele by Ghostface Killah
14. Weirdo Rippers by No Age
15. Love Visions by Nobunny
16. Let It Bloom by the Black Lips
17. Stankonia by OutKast
18. Person Pitch by Panda Bear
19. Album by Girls
20. Boy In Da Corner by Dizzee Rascal
21. Turn On The Bright Lights by Interpol
22. The Bake Sale by the Cool Kids
23. Rockin’ The Suburbs by Ben Folds
24. Pet Sounds In The Key of Dee by Bullion
25. Myths of the Near Future by Klaxons
My god! Someone else on the planet will have Black Lips in their top albums of the Decade! With a capital D! Bryan Gerhart, get in contact, you have great taste. Read his wonderful review of the Lips’ newest album 200 Million Thousand.
5. Outkast – Hey Ya!
4. MIA – Paper Planes
3. The Strokes – Hard To Explain
2. MGMT – Time To Pretend
1. Beyonce & Jay Z – Crazy In Love
You have GOT to be fucking kidding me. I’m perfectly aware how hard it is to choose top tunes or albums of the year, let alone the decade. I really get it! But! I refuse to believe that I am remotely connected to any kind of music scene that would spawn a magazine who would, 50ish years down the road, name a fucking BEYONCE song the #1 song of the decade. It fucking makes me sick. What does ‘Crazy In Love’ have to say for itself? What does it have to say about the state of people, or an individual, or a collective society? FUCKING NOTHING. God damn. That’s all.
“Their songs sound like the ’singer’ has mumbled the melody before he’s written the words so he could remember it but then not bothered to write any words and left the guide vocal in.”
Just a tiny bit of clarification, there wasn’t enough light to take photographs last night, so this is an old photo from the last night of their Echo residency in August of 2009, just FYI.
Having to come home under unfortunate circumstances was one thing, but finding out the Growlers were playing a Halloween set on the Friday before I left (I am typing this from LAX, spending all Halloween night on a plane) was just the pick me up I needed. Everyone who reads this blog semi-regularly knows that the Growlers are Nu Rave Brain Wave’s #1 favorite band in Los Angeles, for both Colette and I. I hope I’m not speaking out of turn saying that but I wrote about them & took pictures of them at so, so, so many gigs this summer. But this gig just blew my mind.
They played with Pocahaunted (not my thing) at the Bootleg Theatre. Have you ever been to the Bootleg Theatre? No? Oh, well it’s a box made out of wood with a shitty little wooden stage and a bar made out of wood and a really cool little outdoor smoking area complete with basketball court. Yeah, tis quaint, but it’s a fucking bootleg. Anyway, so the doors opened at 10:30 and my little body on English time was weeping and Pocahaunted went on around 11:30 and then finally, finally the Growlers went on around 12:20. Shit, that was late. Only 8:20am by my body’s clock.
So like I said, it was a Halloween party basically and we knew ahead of time that the Growlers’ costumes would probably blow away anyone else’s costumes. I was right. Brooks Nielsen, vocals, had the most confusing costume. He was wearing a purple “skirt” that he hiked up, plus a weird t-shirt with an American flag tied on the back, a hat with nasty white trash hair fixed in, zombie makeup and a sign that said, “I’ll Suck Yer Dick”. Guitarist, Matt Taylor, was wearing a Pippie Longstocking costume; wig included, with a very short skirt and some cute cowboy boots. Scott Montoya, bass, was in KISS attire, complete with full face-paint. The drummer, Brian Steward, was wearing this fantastic (and I know how wrong this is) wizard/KKK robe with an old white face sewed on the neck – it sounds weird, but it was pretty amazing. Now, for a little confusion. The normal key/organ guy who plays guitar was mysteriously absent onstage, in fact, he was in the crowd, just not playing. And the guy who was filling in wasn’t wearing a very obvious costume. CONFUSING.
But regardless of costumes, this was all about the music. So the Growlers take the stage around 12:20 like I mentioned previously and just tore the teeny little flimsy wooden box down to the floor. Yes, I have been touting the Growlers as the best band on the planet for a couple of months now, but Colette, Mia and I are not the only ones who think so as Devendra Barnhart and Fab Moretti were there to support them, which I thought was sweet. Neither wore costumes, though.
It struck me, during this gig, that the Growlers are kind of like a dichotomy of The Snake Charmer vs. The Snake vs. A Mongoose. I can never pin point whether the instrumentation follows the words and vocals, as if the music is the Snake and Brooks Nielsen himself is the charmer. And that would make sense because he moves like a charmer, I say that regardless of his beauty, because while that factors in, he’s got that it-factor; he sings and moves in a way that compels other people to move, and on-stage he swaggers like some kind of hip-hop MC of psychedelic proportions. That interpretation of the Snake Charmer vs. The Snake would make sense because that’s what is mostly expected – a band who is great, but is led by the singer of the band. Totally normal. But that’s what’s great about the Growlers, they’re not normal. They’re mentally insane. And it’s 100% plausible that Brooks is actually the Snake and his band are the Charmers. On the 30th of October, they were as tight as I have ever seen them. Montoya’s bass was heavier than I’ve ever heard it in a mix, and it really led the music forward, a kind of blitzkrieg charge. And Matt Taylor, the soul of the band, just has endless composure and cool. He churns out the riffs like a sidewinder but effortlessly so, even while wearing a Pippie Longstocking costume and cowboy boots manages to just look like the picture of Southern California beach chill. So it was easy for me to switch my metaphor and say that the instrumentation, the music, is what drives Brooks. And he’s, in turn, the snake, writhing and dancing. So, which is right? Both. All. None? Well, the relationship that snakes (badabing!) between the band, the instrumentation, and Brooks, the vocals and the words is what makes the Growlers so special. In some cases, one charms, one leads, and the other dances, follows; and vice versa. It’s what makes their live shows so entertaining, so consistent and magical.
But who is the Mongoose, you may ask? Well, that’s the crowd. It’s like the crowd are fighting the band, or more realistically, fighting each other. They, too, move like charmed snakes, but they also push and ram and dance and groove. It’s all part of what makes each Growlers concert such an incredible experience. And that’s what this October 30th/Halloweenie show was, an incredible experience. The Growlers played a lot of the material on their record, Are You In or Out?, but did like a greatest hits (not as in their album, Greatest Hits) performance from their 8 Volumes of ‘Couples’. The highlight of the gig for me, personally, was ‘Underneath Our Palm Blues’ which might be one of the best romantic songs I’ve ever heard in my entire lifetime.
See some of the two hour-long setlist that I can remember below:
Acid Rain
Something Someone Jr.
Underneath Out Palm Blues
Red Tide
Barnacle Beat
Mean People Suck
Met You In The Past
Tijuana
Kick The Habit of Dredd
Sea Lion Goth Blues
& many, many, many more.
The amalgamation of my favorite band + two of my other two favorite people/bands (ie: Black Lips, King Khan & BBQ/Mark Sultan) have been playing some small shows here and there inbetween their respectively crazy touring schedules. They did a show at CMJ and Brooklyn Vegan put up a nice review that I felt like sharing with you, with photos added. Then maybe some amazing videos that are killing me, and then maybe, possibly some of my thoughts on their album:
While the previous two bands might have strived to achieve an organic quality to their electronic landscapes, The Almighty Defenders had enough of it to start a West Village co-op. Perhaps a little too much; at times their choir-robe sporting performance came off as mildly contrived attempts at irreverently performed traditional gospel-tinged rock sprouting out of the soil. Their dynamism as performers couldn’t be discounted however, as they stirred the crowd into a frenzy with a nearly hour long drunken sermon of soulful garage bliss.
This indie “supergroup” has stumbled on a unique dynamic; coupling the best elements of the ultimate divisiveness that is the Black Lips’ style – an undying energy and a solid rhythm section – with the grandiose stage presence and musical abilities of King Khan and his long time partner Marc Sultan (BBQ Show). To all that add the Kentucky-fried-church sing-a-long, ebulliently spilling from the stage. Songs full of cheering, Bible-quoting, and plucky reverb-heavy guitar lines with lots of claps and tambourine sparkle defined their whole performance for the most part. Not that the crowd at Roots Studios seemed to mind; if anything, they might have seen the light.
The baptismal experience was nearly complete with the addition of a “communion ceremony,” where guzzles from a Jameson whiskey bottle were administered to parishioners, that is audience members in the front row, poured with a steadfast hand by Black Lips member Cole Alexander.
It provided a fitting image for a show that might have sparked the first born-again revival in Williamsburg’s ever-growing cultural history. Praise the lord and pass the ammunition.
I’m Coming Home
Bow Down & Die
The Almighty Defenders – Self Titled Debut
So the very premise of The Almighty Defenders in all likelihood is going to split the world’s constituents into two categories. The first will probably be pissing themselves thinking the amount of talent contained in the members: King Khan himself, the BBQ aka Mark Sultan, and the entirety of the Black Lips. It’s like a match made in a disgusting Berlin garage. Oh wait… The second group will probably be rolling their eyes in disgust that the kings of the current garage revival all got together after the purported international incident where Black Lips got kicked out of India and recorded and album. I happen to be of the first persuasion. By that I mean, I was waiting on the edge of my seat until this album got released, and finally it’s here.
So the story goes that Black Lips went to India, got their cocks out and got kicked out of the country under threat of jail time. They were not heard from for a few days until “word” got back to Vice that they were holed up with King Khan and BBQ in a studio in Berlin, where Khan lives with the Shrines. Whether or not that whole incident was a plea for more publicity matters not, for the Almighty Defenders came out of it – a pairing which was made in Heaven (yes, the nightclub in London) and which many people were clamoring for long before Black Lips had even made a name for themselves. So it is with great pleasure and a fair amount of liquor, weed, and dirt under their fingernails that King Khan, BBQ and the Black Lips bring to you the Almighty Defenders debut.
‘Bow Down and Die’, although one of the first tracks released to promote this album, never gets old. It’s straight up hand clapping gospel Sunday morning tune with Cole’s dirty vocals and enough “harmonizing” to make it seem like a cat dying, this tune is grade A. But more importantly, I love how each song in its own way showcases the amazing things about each member of the band – things that may not necessarily get such a showcasing whilst they play in their day job bands. ‘Cone of Light’ showcases the elements that BBQ (Mark Sultan), Joe (Black Lips), and Ian (Black Lips) do quite well respectively: BBQ belts it out, making him currently the only singer in garage rock who can actually fucking sing; Joe is a machine behind the drums, urgent as ever; and Ian is rock solid on guitar, sneaking up on you making you think he’s a messy guitarist but actually working some type of magic. The Ghost With The Most is swampy sounding, with Jared getting to show his vocal muscles with a fair amount of reverb, “It takes a wicked man to blindly lead the blind”, sounds most like a Black Lips song probably due to Ian’s most underappreciated guitar line taking the back seat to Jared’s wailing. I’m Coming Home unites all their talents into a ‘love tune’ about a man coming home from war, syrupy bass line drives the tune forward with Cole, Joe, King Khan and BBQ taking scratchy vocal duties over a fairly blues guitar line. Gospel is not forgotten with everyone shouting, “I’m coming home, oh yeah!”
But make no mistake, this record is not polished. It’s cohesive in its almost otherworldly, saintly in a dirty way, gospel garage heavenly feel, but it’s still a product of those who make up the band. And what I mean by that is that these men are ridiculous, crazy, and like to fuck around and this record does have a few WTFuck moments, as we all knew it would. ‘Death Cult Soup ‘N Salad’ consists solely of weird noises (most I’m assuming made by Cole and Joe) over some pretty heavy, and by heavy I mean distorted and rudimentary, riffing that together make up this delectably titled song. ‘The Great Defender’…. All I can assume about this song is that crack was a main component in it’s creation.
So what remains to be seen is whether or not the material will play out live. The group has played less than a handful of shows, including the Sell Out Festival, oh excuse me, Scion Garage Fest in Portland. But with the busy touring schedule each band keeps, with Khan and BBQ touring America in the fall, Black Lips touring the world for ever and ever, Mark Sultan coming out with a new album and the Shrines supposedly coming out with a new album soon – it doesn’t look good for the Defenders live show, but performances like the aforementioned CMJ prove that I may not know what the fuck I’m talking about. ‘Mon the Almighty Defenders world tour of 2010.
8/10
Please click on the photo to see the exact wording, but the Black Lips, or someone acting on their behalf put up a bulletin about how they were playing Carson Daly. I could honestly stop there. Why would a great band like the Lips lower themselves to play such a non-event show that has to pay people to come be in the audience. Pathetic. But moreover, they’re quoted as saying, “We know some of you have bedtimes, but now’s the time to sneak around those parental units and check out the show.” Did I leave the country for 5 minutes and Black Lips fans suddenly become Bon Iver fans? HELP.
+Wavves [Part 3 of 3] from Ray Concepcioñ on Vimeo.
Recognize that first song? If you’re reading this, most likely you know its my favorite cocksuckers, THE BLACK LIPS. I dunno when or where or why this video was made, but whoever made it cracked me the fuck up.
Everyone’s favorite fat fuck to hate, Perez Hilton, has officially jumped on the bandwagon of the amazing LA collective, FOOLS GOLD. He posted a video of Surprise Hotel on his site a few days ago, and it’s totally WTF How did he find that? But at least, props to FG for getting out there…. Their debut album is out now on IAMSOUND and I hope we can expect not to have them on the next Perez Hilton presents tour opening up for like, Ladyhawke at the Avalon. FG @ the Echo, forever!!!!
LOL. That’s all. LOL.
Gay Reatard,
Let me being by asking you a simple question. Have I ever been anything but a perfect gentleman to you? Think for a moment, and forget your other associations and interpersonal relationships. Have I ever done anything–ANYTHING–do earn your disrespect? I think we both know the answer… I like you,Gay Retard. I’ve liked you since the day I met you. You remind me very much of someone who was quite special to me–the nicest, most honest and righteous woman I’ve ever known. I don’t know you as well as I knew her, but I’ve wanted to. I’ve wanted to know someone truly good.
Allow me to tell you, briefly, the story of my life. Once, I was young. When I was young, I was beautiful. I was also strange. I was strange because I was intelligent–and, to most people, an intelligent person is the strangest thing imaginable. While I was young, and strange, and beautiful, I was hated and blamed for everything that went wrong around me–whether I was actually involved or not. As you can imagine, this kind of persecution tends to set up a vicious cycle of reprisal and confrontation. If I have done something wrong, I am perfectly willing to admit it. However, if I have done no wrong, then I feel justifiably insulted. Few who have insulted me in this way have not lived to regret it. Tonight, I feel that we were all lucky, in a way, that my respect for you, Gay Reatard, outweighed my anger at Jay (for being his usual annoying/harmless self).
I’ve known Jay far longer than you have. He’s always been an annoying idiot. I hear he’s even made a career out of it. Many hard fists have kissed Jay’s sweet lips in appreciation of his natural gifts. Before, I only watched. Tonight I sincerely felt compelled to contribute to his growing facial deformity.
I’m not particularly upset that Jay was acting like an asshole–we’re all pretty well used to that by now. What upset me was that he invoked your authority to do so. You being someone I respect and admire, I found this to be quite hurtful. Especially as you refused to acknowledge your granting Jay this authority. It was as if you were trying to avoid a confrontation, but, instead of asking Jay to leave or calm down (which was the obvious course of action, considering the fact that HE was the one being confrontational), you asked me, or asked him to ask me (even worse), because you considered my friendship less important. Perhaps you’ve benefited greatly from your time with Jay and this seemed like the appropriate course of action. I can assure you, however, that you have harshly misjudged my own value as a friend. I was indeed perfectly devoted to you before tonight… Now I have my doubts. I’m sure your feelings must be conflicted on the matter, but, please allow me to say that I believe you made the wrong choice; in a confrontation between the rational and the irrational, to support the irrational is to invite the wrath of justice. I cannot afford to help, love, and protect my enemies; and, by supporting my enemy, you elect to become him.
Tell me,Gay Reatard will you hate me because I’m strange? Will you stand up in front of our mutual friends, people who know me well and know what kind of man I really am, and call me a malignance? If not, then you will make life very awkward for us both–and very satisfying for Jay Reatard, who seems to thrive on such smoldering conflict.
Can you honestly think of anything I did to hurt you? I’m not the one who burned your neighbor’s lattice. All that I did to offend was tell Jay to calm down when he started kicking at the fire–spreading it all over your backyard and spewing sparks in my eyes. Does that make me a creep? How about if I were two and a half feet shorter, had long feminine hair, an aura of self-important incompetence, a leather jacket I didn’t even need because I don’t ride a motorcycle (i.e. if I was Jay Reatard)? Would I still be a creep then? Seriously. Think about it. Don’t you feel at least a little silly now for taking his side?
I don’t ever WANT to lose a friend, Gay Reatard, but, unless you’re willing to offer me some explanation or apology, I’m afraid I’m going to have to write you off for lack of integrity.
Yours Truly, Baldy
Apparently, Wavves and Jared got into it. Here’s Wavve’s statement. What he needs to know is JAREDS MARRIED HOMIE, rock ‘n roll.
“Talking shit about me on the Internet is one thing, I can handle that all day but when some dude is just looking for a fight at 4 in the morning talking shit to my face and his girlfriend is spitting in the face of all my friends it’s a whole different story. I have no problem wih black lips or anybody else that i havent met but jared has been at me every chance he had. I just want to play music and have fun. It was unfortunate that it escalated to that point but he got what was coming to him.”- Nathan Williams (WAVVES)
Wavves, I love you, but don’t fight Jared. See his statement to Buddyhead below:
“First of all, I just wanna say that Wavves was NOT involved in that fight. That faggot didn’t even touch me.
I’ve never “come after” that kid, it wasn’t four a.m., that wasn’t my girlfriend, no one was spitting, and I didn’t attack him. I don’t give a shit about that kid and his music.
What happened was, after we finished our set I went to Daddy’s with some friends and saw that faggot from Wavves talking to a photographer friend of mine. The only thing I did was walk up to him and say “You’re that faggot from Wavves and I don’t like you”. He smiled a bit but didn’t say anything.
After that, I went outside and saw their tour manager hanging around with some guys. They started getting all chuckles with me and so I told them I wasn’t gonna have it. After that, Wavves tour manager hit me square in the face with a bottle. Blood started pouring out and six dudes fucking started kicking me until I blacked out.
All I remember is getting hit with the bottle and my friends dragging me to another bar. They wrapped my head up until I looked like a Confederate soldier.
So yeah, I lost the fight.
I also missed three flights. I’ve been in the airport all day having stewardesses cleaning my head because it kept cracking open. You can’t go on board if you’re bleeding.
Bottom line is that faggot from Wavves didn’t even hit me. Never touched me. And he should’ve, cuz he had a free shot.
He’s coming to Atlanta October 3rd and we’re gonna get ugly on him. We’re gonna destroy their van, we’re gonna destroy their faces, we’re gonna get crazy on em’. Nasty style.”
If I learned anything, it’s dont fucking mess with Black Lips. Cole got beaten up at a Modest Mouse gig…. That’s practically impossible. GO BLACK LIPS.
Moz says, ‘I am forced to defend myself – again – from a comment made by Andy Rourke last week on the Eyeweekly website. It is a recurring comment whereby Andy confirms that his dismissal from the Smiths was made via a handwritten postcard from me telling Andy “you have left the Smiths”. I would like to state to anyone interested in the truth of this matter that no such postcard was ever written by me, and no dismissal postcard was ever placed on Andy’s car with my knowledge or consent, and I am naturally irked that such an alleged deed has gone down in the fairy tale footnotes of Smiths lore. If such a postcard ever existed, it is likely that an unfunny stunt was played on Andy by someone attempting Morrissey scrawl – easily done. Secondly, Andy’s “dismissal” from the Smiths would not be a decision solely made by me, and would not be announced by me on a note bearing only my name, and it would also not be executed by a handwritten note carelessly thrown onto the hood of a car (or window-wipers, as has often been reported). Doesn’t anyone have the wit to work this one out?’
Woah this bitch looks good. Almost as good as:
Deborah Kee Higgins (ATP organizer) to the Village Voice: We have a “No Assholes” policy. You can play once because we don’t know you’re an asshole, but you can’t play twice.
Barry Hogan (ATP organizer): Killing Joke and the Butthole Surfers will never play ATP again, and they can both suck my balls. And you can put that in print. The Black Lips will never play again–they’re assholes. They broke into a chalet and started stealing stuff.
Higgins: Liquor.
But guess what? We here at NRBW … DONT GIVE A FUCK!!!! BLACK LIPS FOREVER! I hope they had fun at Fucked Up at the Smell last night and that they TEAR THE SHIT out of FYF (aka WTF) Fest today. Here is my response to the above:
This has probably been circulated around your social networking site of choice by now, but I just stumbled upon it (thanks Matt Hollywood) and it made me laugh…oh…uproariously? after a really tough week.
Just so you know, I see that fat little body and go ‘Oh must be Har Mar’ and before I even see the credits rolling it’s like “HAR MAR SUPERSTAR” Hahahah, I am a winner.
WOOOOOOOAH THERE WE GO AMY, THERE WE GO
Pete Doherty has confirmed his plan to reform The Libertines to play UK festivals in 2010.
The Babyshambles frontman told NME.COM that he had already convinced former bandmates John Hassall [bass] and Gary Powell [drums] to reunite for gigs, and that as soon as Carl Barat agreed, dates would be finalised.
Barat had previously told NME.COM that he and Doherty had “left it as next year” in terms of Libertines plans.
“It’s going to happen [The Libertines playing festivals], you know,” Doherty said. “I spoke to John Hassall, he’s well up for it.” Referring to Powell, he added, “He said he would [play the shows].”
Doherty went on to joke that he was so desperate to play the festival shows he would even consider hiring a Carl Barat lookalike to stand in if the real one wouldn’t sign up.
“Maybe I could reform The Libertines without him, like he did without me [Barat played Libertines shows without him in 2004 when Doherty was kicked out of the band for drug use],” he said. “I’ll put an advert in NME: ‘Carlos lookalike required’.”
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