Underground Music in Rain City

Color Magazine had sponsored a party at the Waldorf featuring none other than LA's Trash Talk, and that's a band I definitely couldn't miss because they shred. Showed up late, same old story, missed the first band, they were called Needs. They were in needs of a later time slot. Depressing was number two on the bill and they threw down so hard. I talked to my friend about them afterwards and he said something along the lines of it sounding like Nirvana driving down the street drinking whiskey and listening to Motorhead. That made me laugh. There is definitely some tone comparisons that could be made to those bands, as it seems Depressing like it dirty, but they are angrier than the former and darker than the latter. Depressing features the singer of Baptists, but here he is rocking a guitar and doing a nice job of it. Depressing also features the singer of Burning Ghats, but here he is rocking a bass and supplying the bulk of vocals. Andrew is no slouch in that department...

In my quest for an interview with the band Real Problems I found myself embarking on a journey to East Vancouver, leading me to a three level house that would be hosting a keg party with bands playing on the bottom level. When I talked to the band it happened on the top level, and at one point during the evening, when the party was in full swing, I followed a hot girl into the middle level. She turned around and told me to stop following her but that is neither here nor there. Real Problems have been around for 2 solid years, and when asked how the band began Den-M (bass) told me, “I had been singing in Jones Bones forever and they were getting super flakey and not fulfilling any of my musical needs, so I said; fuck it I’m going to teach myself how to play the bass and start my own band. I was real shit at first, with the only lesson under my belt being a couple games of guitar hero, but I rounded up Cam (guitar/vocals) and he was real patient with me. I didn’t think that it was goi...

Punk News #2 Van Halen released their first new single in years onto the internet to the opposite of rave reviews. The song's unfavourable reviews came on because the bulk of their fanbase is unable to work the internet. Another source has said that the negative feedback was mainly due to the song sucking. Mtl's Tightrope and Ont's Brutal Youth have released a 10" split, and I've already listened to it. Why? Because it is posted right here, and it rocks.  http://myfingersmybrainrecords.bandcamp.com/album/tightrope-brutal-youth-split In other news apparently emo kids are still crying about Thursday's break up back in November. Some one told them to shut up because The Suicide Machines were booking gigs again. Somehow I doubt they'll head west, but man do I ever love The Suicide Machines. VANCOUVER NEWS AND UPCOMING GIGS Vancouver indie punk act Carpenter have announced that they are writing a new album. And to this I say announce when it is done. O...

Last month I hit the most views ever on my blog, by double, and then this month I ran out of ideas. Then I came up with the idea of bringing back the Punk News thing that I was doing for The Skinny Magazine cause it was a fun format, and kept things recent. Going weekly? That's what I've spelled out in the title, ok, let's see if I can stick to that. #1 Punk News! An article where I spell out some good punk (and what not) type gigs in the city, along with band news and views in the world of good music. With an exclamation point on local, but sometimes stretching out into news of the more mainstream variety. Always easier to make fun of that crap. And might as well start with that right now. The At The Drive-In reunion from this morning was upstaged by the Refused reunion from this afternoon. Looks as if someone uploaded the first look at bands playing the Coachella festival this year. Wait, did I say bands? I meant reunion acts and DJs. First Black Sabbath announce ...

The time of year is upon us where you're supposed to look back and reflect upon the year that was. End of year, it is here, again. So I've decided to run down some of my favourite bands in this city that begin with the letter B. That makes sense right? Baptists - Badass hardcore with a live show that's not to be fucked with. Bison BC - Big time bangers bust out burly bovine music. Black Wizard - More bangers bash out some sick stoner groove metal with riffs for miles. Black Amps - Balls out and beefy rock n roll soup. Bring some bread for dipping. Black Mountain - What would a Vancouver best of list be without Black Mountain? Blacked Out - Originally from Banff these boozers booze it up with their brand of skate punk. B-Lines - Bus riding, upbeat, fast tempo garage rock with a singer who does not give a flying fuck. Burning Ghats - Brutal death metal that will beat your skull in while reaching break neck speeds. Blondewich - Babes playing beach music. Bone Daddie...

It had come to my attention that I hadn't posted anything in this blog for a long while. Strangely enough I've still been averaging over 200 views a month, so thank you to anyone who is reading my blog. After I realized people were still reading I decided it was high time to post some more stuff in here, and keep it recent. There are so many great and talented bands in this city that I can't even keep up. However one thing I know for sure is that Baptists and Congress are two of my favourites and this show was not to be missed. Osk opened up the evening, and if I knew then that I was going to be blogging about the show I would have done a better job of checking them out. Instead I sat at the bar catching up with an old friend that I hadn't seen in months. We had a lot to talk about, but I'll save you the grisly details. However from what I heard of Osk they were great. Crazy, fast tempo short songs. And towards the end when they slowed it down I was banging my...

It’s been over a year since the last installment of EarGoggles was released and creator, director, writer, editor and all around good guy Clayton Holmes has pulled out all the stops for the latest and sixth issue.  dm: Give me all the background info on EarGoggles. Clay: EarGoggles is more or less an excuse to play with my editing equipment and promote all the bands that I like. It was filmed at the Cobalt from June 2008 until the demise of the Cobalt in October of 2009. Since then, I’ve filmed at select shows and shot a few music videos. Paul Tryl, the singer for the Fight United, does all the cover art and there is usually a skateboarding segment, short film, photography profile and music video on each issue. dm: What are some of the hilights that people can look forward to seeing on EarGoggles 6? Clay: There are some pretty amazing bands on this issue. Bands people have actually heard of. I love OFF!, Toxic Holocaust, Fire Next ...