señor taco’s travels

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Well, as much as I love title="Hepcat">Hepcat I had never seen them play. So, last night Dode,
Ann Dial, and I went to Slim’s in San Francisco and saw them on their very
small reunion tour (I think it’s only a few dates). They were really good, but
seemed like they hadn’t played together in a while, still good though.

The crowd was definitely much older than the normal shows I see at Slim’s,
which was neither good nor bad, but just was. They played a good selection of
tunes from all their albums and even a new song. It was good to see Alex up
on stage, he had taken a brake from the band for a while in pursuing his acting
career (he was the blind vendor on the CBS show Becker, I’m not sure if
that’s even still on). At any rate, having both singers makes for a great
show.

Last night at Slim’s was
yet another in the current series of Excellent Punk Rock
Shows. This time around there were 4 bands (in playing order): Vision,
Strike Anywhere, Tsunami Bomb, and The Bouncing Souls.

Vision kicked off the show. This was my first time to see them and while they
rocked I felt their set was too short for me to really get into them much.
Next Strike Anywhere took the stage. They were loud, full of energy, and on
target through the entire set. They mostly played songs off of Change Is A
Sound with one from earlier demos and a couple off of the new album,
Exit English. I really kind of wish they had gone on after
Tsunami Bomb. While TB was good and ever so poppy and hooky in that TB way,
I just wasn’t into them. I could have used a shorter set from them and a
longer one from Strike Anywhere.

The Bouncing Souls were amazing. I had never seen them either and let me tell
you, they put on an energetic show for sure. They played a good mix of songs
from their albums with a good focus on the current stuff. I will see them
again for sure. Too bad I was so tired by the end of it all.

Once again my little friends, it is new music roundup time. This episode is a
little delayed because it took me a while to find the one new album I really
wanted. Six stores and two days, and even then it wasn’t on the rack but
rather in the “to be filed” bin. Sheesh, new music comes out on Tuesday folks.

• 
  Strike Anywhere - Exit English
  This was one of my most eagerly awaited albums of 2003. Now that it’s
  here it is definitely not a let down. With Change is a Sound
  Strike Anywhere blew me away. With Exit English they pick right
  back up where they left off. Angry, timely, and melodic (more so than
  CiaS even). It also takes about one commute time to listen to
  so bonus points there.

• 
  The Lawrence Arms - The Greatest Story Ever Told
  Hmmm, I’m not sure about this album. I love the Larry Arms, in fact
  their last album, Apathy and Exhaustion, is one of my favorite
  albums. Unfortunately Greatest Story just didn’t grab me right
  off so I’m going to have to listen a bunch more and render full judgment
  then.

• 
  Paint It Black - CVA
  There once was a band, Kid Dynamite (more on them in a minute), that came
  onto the scene and rocked it so hard that many were blown away. Then the
  members decided to call it quits because some of them wanted to do other
  things. I think they broke up way too early, there was still much more
  rocking for them to do. That leads us to Paint It Black, one of the bands
  to come out of Kid Dynamite (the other being href="http://danimal.org/SenorTaco/2003/06/11#rawk-00">None More
  Black …what’s with the black theme?). These guys rock way out. They
  have definitely picked up the torch left burning by Kid Dynamite. I can’t
  believe how good it is. A bit short, but every song blasts to you with a
  ferocious intensity that is very welcomed.

• Kid Dynamite - Cheap Shots, Youth Anthems
  As I mentioned above, Kid Dynamite is no more. This makes me bummed every
  time I think about it. Over the short but fantastic history of Kid
  Dynamite there were many splits, covers, singles (like on comps) and demos
  that have now been collected into Cheap Shots, Youth Anthems. For
  the casual listener there is nothing really new (except maybe the covers)
  on this disc, but to the rabbid Kid Dynamite fan this disc is just as big
  a part of the Kid Dynamite collection as the other two albums. There is
  also a DVD in the package. On it are a few live performances, a preview
  of an upcoming full-length DVD for Kid Dynamite!, and a snippet
  of an interview at a benefit show that KD reunited for. Good stuff all
  around. I’m very happy to have this.

Thanks for tuning in. Go forth and rock!

Sometimes while working I just have to have music. I guess a little background
is in order. I work in a big open area at an animation studio. No cube, no
office, just my desk (which is a whole other story) in it’s location and lots
of other desks around me. It’s not so bad, but sometimes an office or even
private-ish cube would be nicer (and we can’t all work in the perfection of
title="FogCreek Offices">the new FogCreek Software Office).

So, to escape all the conversation around me I put on the headphones, put the
iPod on shuffle by song and then randomly pick one song from all that I have
on the unit. This brings us to the meat of the title (mmmm, meat, *drool*).

Many times I’ll get a new album and I put it on my playlist titled a
rock-n-roll lesson (named that way so it’s the first playlist on the iPod
and the Playlists are the first menu entry so it’s easy to go straight into
it and get playing). I listen to it for a while (and don’t forget, I have a
commute so I get a chance to rock out to it in the car too) but after a while I
always seem to gravitate to the shuffle songs thing. I just let
the iPod play and play and play. There are 5324 songs currently on the iPod (named Bluntman btw). Sometimes
it just what i want, a nice mix and it seems to get about the mood I’m in
(however that is probably just a coincidence of what exactly is on the iPod).
One thing I do find annoying occasionally is that the shuffles seems to get
stuck on one artist. I’ll get 3 or 4 of the same artist in the same or
different albums. That always gets on my nerves. The greatest thing about
shuffling like this is you get a chance to listen to stuff you like but haven’t
listened to in a long while.

Anyway, it’s back to work time. I’m pleasantly blocking out the conversation
to my left and the one right in front of me. Now if only i had a second monitor
at work :)

(update Wed Sep 24 12:18:03 PDT 2003) and dammit
if the shuffle artist stick didn’t happen. Three in a row from Diesel Boy.
Now, while I don’t mind that, I don’t want that either.

Dode always comes up with great comments about the shows we see. Last night was
One Man Army at Slim’s. I went with the afore mentioned Dode and the lovely
Ann Dial. Fun was had by all even though Dode has a broken collar bone,
scapula, and ribs. I’m glad he made the effort to see the show and get out of
his house.

One Man Army were so tight and on target (as usual). Their
set was really fast, and by that I mean they played a normal set really, really
fast. It was amazing. At the end of the set they played a little Clash
mixed into one of there songs (and there was another cover bit and darn it if
I can’t remember it). At the end of the set OMA actually smashed all their
instruments. It was wonderful.

The Reducers S.F. also played. I like them and they were pretty tight, but
the singer seemed a little horse. Oh well. It was a good time.

I really wish my friends CB and Matt (no relation) could have been there, they
would have loved it.

Tuesday was another new music day.

• 
  Avenged Sevenfold - Waking the Fallen
  okay, this isn’t a new release, but it’s new to me. I like this bank a
  lot. Even though this is my first album from then I think it really
  friggin’ rocks so hard. As my friend Matt said “somebody had
  Iron Maiden albums as a kid.” The kind of remind me of href="http://www.avengedsevenfold.com/" title="Atreyu">Atreyu, but
  with a little less screaming. It’s also nice to see the band photo
  with them all in black, the alterna-goth style, href="http://www.misfits.com/" title="misfits.com">misfits belt
  buckle, AFI t-shirt,
  and black nail polish. Someone has too keep it up and I’m certainly too
  old to do it. Keep rocking boys.
• Thursday -
  War All The Time
  The boys from Brunswick, New Jersey have put out another solid album.
  With War All The Time Thursday has returned to the emo-core that
  they are known for. Not super whiney like most emo…more passionate in
  the delivery, lets call it screamo because that fits. This combined with
  the previous two albums makes for a good stream of listening. I’m not
  sure I can say more here, but I will as time goes on.

I love Johnny Cash’s music. I’m sad now that’s he’s passed on. His last
album, The Man Comes Around is
truly excellent. For a while I’ve been buying more and more of his past
catalog, realizing as I go that I really love his work. I know he had been
sick for a while and with the recent passing of his wife I can only imagine
what he was going through.

I’m going to spin some Cash on the iPod today and keep collecting his work
for the foreseeable future. He’s a talented and original artist who’s
contribution to music will not easily be forgotten.

Yesterday was new music Tuesday. My best friend Matt mentioned
that the new Bouncing Souls album was out. I had no idea so I went by and
bought it after work. I like it a lot. These guys are always solid and Anchors Aweigh doesn’t disappoint. Songs like “Simple Man” and “I’m From There” are just instant sing-alongs.

While at the store I also picked up the new Thrice album, The Artist in the Ambulance. I liked the previous two Thrice releases because they were a kind of punk/metal mix. Great all around. This new one will probably take a little longer to get used to, but I liked it the couple of times I spun it already.

I nearly forgot, yesterday when I mentioned getting the Rancid, I should have also mentioned that I picked up the Libertines album Up the Bracket. I got this on a recommendation from my friend dode and generally I trust his tastes, but when I first listened to that album I couldn’t stand it. I did however give it a few more spins and it really grew on me. It’s not my normal fare, but I like it all the same. Anyone that compares these guys to the Stroke(off)s is just plain mistaken, they are so much better.

I got the new Rancid last week. I would usually have posted on this right away, but I just didn’t feel like it. This album is fantastic. Indestructible is definitely a return to sounds from a few albums ago (like And Out Come the Wolves or Life Won’t Wait). Every song is solid and the lyrics are pure of heart.

Once again Rancid doesn’t let their fans down and has a high-quality release for young and old.

So, yesterday (Wednesday) I picked up some excellent Thai food and trucked down to dode’s place in Redwood City. The occasion? We had both gotten the One Man Army DVD, The Show Must Go Off! (from Kung-Fu Films) but had yet to watch it (we both wanted to watch it together, but it took longer than we expected to find a time to watch it).

Shot live at the Troubadour in Hollywood this is by far one of the best concert DVD’s I’ve ever had the pleasure to watch. The sound quality is unparalleled anywhere (24-track from the boards it seems) and rivals the best live recordings ever. The band cranks though all the best songs, there’s plenty to watch, and it’s cut well (with 5 cameras at the shoot they had plenty).

If you are a fan of One Man Army go out and buy this right now.