Life In A Bungalo

Shelter
“Eternal”
Good Life

Krishna-core pioneers Shelter (or some semblance of the band) have returned from dormancy with a pop-punk record that rocks but never pick up enough steam to kick ass.

The best song on “Eternal” is another retread of the Shelter classic “In Defense of Reality.” The rest of the songs chug along and a tired pace, never reaching the aggression of the now classic “Mantra,” of the more hardcore-leaning earlier records. Singer Ray Cappo seems to have dumped all his passion into his agro-core project Better Than A Thousand and left the syrupy higher power tunes for Shelter. It makes sense, but damn does the record slow to a halt about halfway through. Read more »

Arriving at the Warsaw in Greenpoint, Brooklyn it was easy to see that it was going to a wild night. The streets were teeming with excited people and the line to actually gain access to the venue stretched around the block. Kaiju Big Battle’s triumphant return to NYC was about to be underway and you could smell the blood lust in the air. Read more »

Dan Wavedog Fenelon’s show at ArtIsZen has been extended another two weeks. The artist will also be featured in the Pick of the Harvest show at Thinkspace in LA.

The Soft Serve Tour arrives at Ãœberbot this Saturday, Aug. 5! Witness live art installations from west coast graffiti superstar Buff Monster along with Came Crashing and Freegums and music provided by Dim Mak & Hydrahead! The evening will also feature a video game tournament of ‘Rockstar Games Presents: Table Tennis.’

Sonic Youth
“Rather Ripped”
Geffen

Sonic Youth’s first album since their New York-themed trilogy also is their most digestible. With most songs coming in at just shy of the four minute mark, and almost all of them are noisy indie tunes, it’s hard to argue that Sonic Youth have given their fans a break from the barrage of overwrought, complicated songscapes that they have produced for the last ten years.

“Sleepin’ Around” is the first track to really smoke. Distortion starts tearing the song at the seams at the halfway mark. The groove chugs like a Stooges track, while proto-punk legend Thurston Moore proclaims that “Nothing you do is right.” Indie-rock starlet Kim Gordon takes the mic for the upbeat “What A Waste,” which features some trippy synth work throughout. Read more »

A few week’s ago artist Drilone dropped a handmade series of Dunnys that were so sick that we had to drop him a line and find out what’s up with the design. Here’s what he had to say.

Why did you decide to make a series of dead Dunnys (Labbits)? Inspiration?
Well it all started when my killer black pug attacked a defenseless series 2 Dunny. She bit it’s ear off. So iI decided to remove the ears and tried to fill the ears after sanding and filling and it didnt work. so I got the idea of the Dunny being dead, so I gave it a second life and created the R.I.P. Dunny. Read more »