Life In A Bungalo

Last Year’s Model is a trio of sonic terrorists determined to eradicate lame music from the face of the world. Their style is bombastic, borrowing the herky jerky, manic song structure of The Locust and marrying it to the danceable groove of The Faint. Truth be told, their sound is loud, fractured, and little difficult to listen to at first, but after a handful of tunes, you can’t stop rocking to them. At a recent show at 200 Orchard Street in downtown Manhattan, LYM packed the back room with fans and onlookers who wanted nothing more than to have their ears molested by something other than the crappy indie rock that permeates most of the New York music scene. The band obliged, pumping out half an hour of dance tunes in near darkness, tearing up the room in distortion and deafening noise. Are Last Year’s Model an acquired taste? Perhaps, but judging by the buzz these guys are generating, the acquisition is coming fast, and resistance is futile. Photolog after the break. Read more »

Bitch all you want about how The White Stripes sold out—Jack White could still wipe the floor with all your asses. Check out an early release of their latest video, “Icky Thump.”

Corey Helford Gallery is pleased to present Happy Squirter, an exhibition of new works by Los Angeles street artist Buff Monster. Buff Monster is known for changing the landscapes of Los Angeles, Tokyo, and Barcelona with his iconic Buff Monster character - described by The New York Times as a “devilish scrubbing bubble gone bad.” He will unleash his talent onto the walls of Corey Helford for his fi rst solo show with the gallery. Buff Monster’s series of acrylic on wood and metal paintings, collages, and wall paintings will transform the space into a visual candyland. An opulent display of more than seven hundred custom printed balloons will intermingle with the show’s centerpiece, a squirting boob fountain. Read more »

They Might Be Giants @ Joe’s Pub: May 16, 2007
Perennial indie favorites, They Might Be Giants punctuated their record release with two sets at Joe’s Pub, a tiny, swank venue near St. Mark’s place, and rocked their fans for nearly an hour and a half. The Johns, backed by a few Dans, peppered their new tunes with fan favorites such as “Ana NG” and “Birdhouse in your Soul” to the squeals of middle-age fans and young hipsters alike. While not the greatest show in the world (due in part to the tiny stage), the band put on one helluva a live set, blasting softer songs with massive solos (even a few dueling leads), and beckoning the crowd to sing along. The band eschewed their hokier songs for their straight forward rocking numbers, but made sure the fans had fun the whole time. The event ended with “Fingertips,” their four and a half minute opus that features nearly every style of TMBG ever put on record. I have no idea how they remember every part in this tune, but they pulled if off stunningly. Below is a photolog of the event. Read more »

Turbonegro
“Retox”
Sonet/Universal/Edel

And so cometh the Lord to give us back the rock, and his name is Turbonegro. Be prepared to have your asses handed to you humans, Turbonegro is back sans the pop songs, and with twice the testicular fortitude.

“Retox” is everything that the band’s last record, “Party Animals” wasn’t: no drawn out pop-punk songs, no moratorium on swearing to sell more records, no lack of double entendres. Nothing but full-blown, balls-to-the-wall death punk by the apocalypse dudes that created the genre.

The record kicks off “We’re Gonna Drop The Atom Bomb” a bombastic ode to insanity, bullet pointed with Euro Boy’s trademark searing leads, and a sing-along chorus that begs for death and destruction. “Welcome to the Garbage Dump” is a mile-a-minute romp that just gets faster and faster as the tune rambles on. “We can go left, we can go right, or you can go down on me,” Hank Von Helvete brings the laughs on almost every song. “Everyone Loves a Chubby Dude” is the best song that Tenacious D never wrote. “Feed me, Feed me, cause everybody loves a chubby dude,” Hank sings over and over again.

On the final track, Turbonegro finally answer the age-old question: What is Rock? The answer? My a favorite is “Choking on your own vomit in the back of a rapist’s van.” Though, “Backwards messages to boys and girls to bring machine guns to school” is as good a definition as any for rock ‘n’ roll.

With “Retox,” Turbonegro aren’t hiding what’s on their mind. Everything is laid out on the table, and this record is as crude as anything off of “Ass Cobra.” The production is a notch lower than the last record. But come on, “Party Animal” was so spit polished you could see your face in the shit. This is a record for Turbonegro fans, no more, or less. And fans are going to go ape shit for it. “We saved rock n’ roll with our bare hands/we saved that goddamn rock ‘n’ roll/Where’s the cash/The money, the money, the money, money, money.”

Doesn’t Rock l Kinda Rocks l Rocks l Really Rocks

Michael Motorcycle is posting these two bad boys up for sale Wednesday the 23rd sometime after noon. They will be available as a set and individually. The prints are both 7 colors on 150 lb. manila 18 x 24″ paper. There are 25 blue Nick Cave variants without the text and 25 purple Blonde Redhead variants without the text. No word on price yet, but expect them to run for more than $150.

Shagmart will unveil the latest Shag print on Wednesday, May 23. Titled “The Thinking Has Been Done,” from his Shag After Dark show, the print will cost $250 and will be limited to a run of 250. The print measures 22 X 26″.

The New York stop of the Bicycle Film Festival is almost over, but you still have a day or so to get down to 33 West 17th Street and check out “Joy Ride,” a gallery show featuring different artists’ take on bike culture. The opening night was nuts, with hundreds of cyclists, bike messengers, joy riders, and artists packed into a pretty massive makeshift exhibit hall. My favorite photo series was by Jason Goods, featuring different shots of girls and their bikes, every picture was packed with emotion, and every girl looked like they really loved their bike. The show itself was hot, smelly, and weed was flowing, but the atmosphere was great and the art was stunning. I wish I could have seen some of the films, but I was stuck in Jersey all weekend. There’s still a few more films showing tonight, Sunday, May 20, so check out the site for more info.

For more photos, check out my photolog at Juxtapoz.com.