Sunday, May 5, 2024

ROHIT - Trick (2013)


Last month -- in the evening, on Thursday, April 11 -- my friend Danny died. He had made plans with his girlfriend to go out, and he was supposed to meet her outside his apartment, but when she got there, he wasn't outside. Eventually, after not hearing from him, she went into his apartment and found him dead on the couch. He had one shoe on.

No one knows for sure what happened. One can certainly make assumptions or inferences, but his cause of death is still unknown, and depending on what his family chooses to do with the autopsy results, it might stay that way. The only thing I feel safe saying is that, whatever it was, it was sudden, and it was unintentional. He was putting his shoes on, getting ready to go out with his girlfriend. He had texted her half an hour before she found him. Danny didn't want to die.

The night of his memorial, I had a dream that I was driving to drop off this bag full of old 4-track recordings of his that he left at my house sometime during early Covid (that part is real). Just before I pulled up to his house I realized that I'd driven to the wrong house: I was at the first house where I had lived with him, way back in 2007-2008. So I think, "Wait a second, Danny doesn't live here. Where the fuck does Danny live?" And I'm all confused. Then, the thought hits me as I wake up with a stone in my throat: "Oh, that's right. Danny doesn't live anywhere anymore."

Danny and I were in a few bands together over the years, and ROHIT was where we really bonded. I had started it as a solo project, but midway through recording the first demo, I knew I had to bring him into it. I just knew he would get it. So I played it for him, and he loved it. ROHIT was now a two-piece. We used to play shows for largely indifferent crowds, and we'd walk away like, "holy shit, dude, we just fucking crushed it, we're so fucking good." We truly didn't care if other people liked it -- we were doing exactly what we wanted to. And he boosted me like no other bandmate ever had or has -- I have never felt as seen or respected, creatively, as I did working with Danny in those early years.

After a while, we decided we weren't heavy enough and we needed a bassist so we invited Ana, who was fresh off the boat from Sweden, to join. She was into it, and we immediately became the best version of ourselves. That's the version of the band that recorded Trick, which I still consider our definitive recording. We had zeroed in on what we were best at, which was an extremely minimal synthesis of Ildjarn, Eyehategod, and Swans. It's not for everyone, and it's really not the point of this post. Check it out if you like.

Over the first couple of weeks after Danny died, it felt I had something dead attached to me, like a phantom limb or a tumor or some kind of cold, gnawing growth. And I knew that I had to let it go or it would spread to the rest of my body, but I couldn't bring myself to, because that thing was Danny. And letting it go meant letting Danny die, and I wanted to hold onto him as hard as I could. Keep him from that void into which so many beautiful souls have already disappeared. Pull him back through the veil, downwards with the rain, through an open window into his living room. Safe again, on his couch, sliding that second shoe on.

We kinda grew apart over the years. We texted a lot, and I always figured we'd grow back together again some day. Start another band. Watch more horror movies and It's Always Sunny. Drink beers on the porch and argue about Neurosis. Listen to Bill Fay and watch the sun turn red and disappear behind the trees. There were times when we'd go months without seeing each other, and more than once, when we finally did hang out, he told me that he'd been reading my blog -- this stupid fucking blog -- because that way he could see that, even though we weren't together, I was still me, I was still funny, I was ok.

Maybe writing this, I'm hoping that he can still read it somehow. I love you, Danny. I'll miss you forever.




Friday, March 22, 2024

Suicidal Tendencies - Suicidal for Life (1994)


Plenty of people consider Suicidal for Life the worst Suicidal album. Which is fair. But first of all, those people are wrong because Still Cyco After All These Years exists. Second: it's not on streaming so it's my responsibility as a shitty blogger to keep it in digital circulation.

Third: I want to paint you a picture. Close your eyes. Wait, shit, you can't read like that. Open your eyes. Imagine it's the mid-90s, and you're a suburban kid in your early adolescence with pretty much the exact same taste in music as Beavis & Butthead, and you think "The Goat" is comedy's greatest achievement. Yesterday was your birthday and you got a nice little stack of CDs. You pop on the S.F.W. soundtrack, which you asked for because it features Marilyn Manson, Hole, and GWAR. Aside from the Pretty Mary Sunshine track, every track is hitting. But then, a massively overdriven groove metal riff swings its dick at you and some cool dude starts shout-rap-singing the following lyrics:

"You talk your shit but I ain't listenin' / And I don't do no ass-kissin' / Now here's the point that you've been missin' / No fuckin' problem at all"

And all of a sudden you are absolutely losing your shit, throwing yourself into walls, moshing with your pillows, and you need more Suicidal. So you track down the CD with this song on it, see that tracks 2-6 are called "Don't Give a Fuck", "No Fuck'n Problem", "Suicyco Muthafucka", "Fucked Up Just Right", and "No Bullshit", and you start levitating. You plop down the money, fire up the Discman, and following a terrible, cringe-inducing intro track that your dumb-ass thinks is hilarious, the album proper kicks off with:

"I don't give a shit / I don't give a fuck / Your opinion don't mean shit to me and your shit's about to fall"

Nothing could be better. You play it for all your dumb suburban adolescent friends and everyone agrees that it's the absolute shit, and all is well. Then one fine Friday at the youth fitness center, your fitness instructor hears you talking to your friend about this album, tells you how dumb you are, and lends you his copy of the self-titled, an absolute peerless 10/10 classic. Of course, it completely knocks your socks off. Plus you just so happen to be in the middle of deciding to be punk now so it works for your new personal brand. Pretty soon you're renouncing your love for Suicidal for Life, White Zombie, Metallica, Guns 'n' Roses, soccer and all the rest, and committing yourself to a life of NOFX, Crass, Op Ivy, and Dead Kennedys.

Somewhere, Adam Sandler sheds a single tear.

Then like 30 years later you randomly decide to put it on while you're doing pushups and you're like, "hey, if you ignore how terrible it is, it's actually pretty good!" You finish your pushups, sit on the couch listening to "Benediction" trail off for the first time since you shared bedroom walls with your sister and your parents, and you realize that finally, after all these years, you truly don't give a fuck again. And all is well.

Track listing:
1. Invocation
2. Don't Give a Fuck
3. No Fuck'n Problem
4. Suicyco Muthafucka
5. Fucked Up Just Right
6. No Bullshit
7. What Else Could I Do?
8. What You Need's a Friend
9. I Wouldn't Mind
10. Depression and Anguish
11. Evil
12. Love vs. Loneliness
13. Benediction


More dubious adolescent favorites:

Saturday, February 17, 2024

Kliché - Supertanker (1980)


Synth-heavy Danish punk/new wave excellence. First found via the Pære Punk comp -- truly one of the best punk comps in existence -- where Kliché stood out for their more melodic, pop-y sound. What I really love about this band is what I hear as not-so-subtle krautrock influences, which are most pronounced on instrumental intro track "Igen Og Igen" and the endless, euphoric repetition of 10-minute album closer "Masselinjen".

Track listing:
1. Igen Og Igen
2. Havets Ble
3. Hetz
4. Militskvinder
5. Panorama
6. Aldrig Mere
7. Stjernerne I Deres Ojne
8. Bodygaurds
9. Maselinjen


Also listen to:

Saturday, January 27, 2024

Sean Deason - Allegory & Metaphor (2000)


Detroit ambient techno bliss. I got a bunch of shit done earlier, had a workout, then met my buddy for a couple beers, and now I am laying on my couch, petting my cat, and listening to this record. At some point, this became my idea of a perfect Saturday.

Track listing:
1. Creation
2. Phunk
3. Allegory & Metaphor
4. 2030 AD
5. Ambience
6. Interlude
7. Zig
8. Psybadek One
9. My World
10. Hiphoptrak
11. Another Interlude
12. Allegory & Metaphor (Revisited)


Also listen to:

Saturday, January 20, 2024

Honey Is Cool - Early Morning Are You Working? (1999)


The second and final full-length from Honey Is Cool, a Gothenburg indie rock band that ultimately served as a springboard for the career of Karin Dreijer, aka Fever Ray. Dreijer's powerful, distinctive vocals are very much the focal point here, but here it's in service of dark-tinted, dynamic, muscular indie rock. I forget how I first found this band but I know it was via some ass-backwards-internet-music-nerd means, as I had no idea Dreijer was in the band when I first put them on, and it slowly dawned on me as her voice soared over the opening whirlwind of the title track.

Track listing:
1. Early Morning Are You Working?
2. Bolero
3. Great and Smaller Things
4. There's No Difference
5. Summer of Men
6. I Surprise
7. Waiting for a Friend
8. My Love Is a Bell
9. Lead but Low
10. Something Above the Mountains
11. The Giraffe


You should also hear:

Thursday, January 18, 2024

Percy Jones Ensemble - Propeller Music (1990)


Previously on OPIUM HUM:

Drum machine, noodling fretless bass, synthetic-ass-all-hell keyboards, fragmented guitars -- generally woozy, slightly unsettling, 100% nerdy fusion. Midway through, vocals enter the mix, and the album morphs into a mid-era Gary Numan record. I listen to this by myself on headphones, and I think, "damn, this is so fucking rad, I wish all music was this weird;" I put this on a stereo with someone else in the room, I feel like a degenerate and a pervert.

Track listing:
1. $10,000 Bookshelf
2. Heidelberg Switch
3. Barrio
4. Panic - Disorder
5. Count the Ways
6. Turn Around
7. Slick
8. Slack
9. All for a Better Way
10. Looking for a Sign of New Life
11. Razorville
12. K2


If you like this, you should hear:

Tuesday, January 16, 2024

Todtgelichter - Schemen (2007)

 


Epic German black metal with an expansive, organic, Pagan-esque sound and a tendency towards the melodic and the sorrowful. The occasional appearances of unorthodox instrumentation -- the saxophone on "Aschentraum", the didgeridoo drone lurking throughout "Segen", the clean vocals on "Beginn des Endes" -- are both inspired and surprisingly tasteful in their delivery. 

Track listing:
1. Impuls
2. Larva
3. Segen
4. Blutstern
5. Für Immer Schweigen
6. Aschentraum
7. Hammer
8. Beginn des Endes

Ein Punkt nur ist es, kaum ein Schmerz,

More German greatness:

Saturday, January 6, 2024

Griftegård - Solemn • Sacred • Severe (2009)


Swedish epic doom exploring the holy horror of Christian dogma. FFO: Candlemass, Warning, and Mansion. Thanks to everyone for sticking around, and sorry to the many, many people with re-up requests that I haven't gotten to.

Track listing:
1. Charles Taze Russell
2. Punishment & Ordeal
3. I Refuse These Ashes!
4. Noah's Hands
5. The Mire
6. Drunk with Wormwood


Also listen to: