Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Zombie Con 2009

An upcoming Milwaukee horror convention, Zombie Con will focus on the zombie side specifically! It's going to take place at the Wyndham Milwaukee Airport Hotel & Convention Center on October 10th and 11th. So far the lineup could be better in my opinion. Big name and excellent actor Sid Haig will be in attendance and it's almost worth the $35 ticket price just to see him alone. The couple other people I would be at all excited to meet are the woman who played the zombie girl in the original Night of the Living Dead and the man who played the first Jason in Friday the 13th. I'm hoping more guests will be announced in the coming months to make the event more exciting and worthwhile. I'm also looking forward to seeing what other events will be confirmed. Tattoo contests, costume contests and film screenings are always fun. I'll update again when more information comes out.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Album Review- Psycho Ward Vol. 2

This is one of my absolute favorite albums at the moment for several reasons, not the least of which is that it features a great song by one of my favorite bands at the moment, Goddamn Gallows. I saw them last year and have been hooked ever since. The song, Everybody Dies, is constantly stuck in my head. The entire cd is great though, and a very good mix of Rockabilly and Psychobilly. Other really standout tracks to me are Alcohol King by the Starlight Wranglers, Til Death Do Us Part by Sik Luv, Sniffin' Glue by Twistin Tarantulas and Bloodfeast by Pickled Punx. There is very little filler and I was happy to see that most of this compilation featured less well-known bands. Most people into the music would probably already have songs by the better known bands on some album at home so I really appreciated that there were very few of the bigger name bands on this disk at all. Of course I couldn't complain that Phenomenauts, Phantom Rockers and Rocketz and Calavera were featured. I highly recommend getting this disk. It hasn't left my player in a few weeks.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Koffin Kats Tour Dates

The Koffin Kats have announced the tour dates for their upcoming US tour. They are as follows:

Aug 29 2009 8:00P
Smalls (All Ages) WAYNOPALOOZA V Hamtramck, Michigan

Sep 12 2009 3:00P
Amity Lanes/ North East Psychobilly Showdown Woodbridge, Connecticut

Sep 17 2009 8:00P
Mac’s Bar Lansing, Michigan

Sep 20 2009 8:00P
Beachland Ballroom (tavern)- ALL AGES Cleveland, Ohio

Sep 25 2009 8:00P
Central Space (ES Jungle) Indianapolis, Indiana

Sep 27 2009 8:00P
Reggie’s Rock Club Chicago, Illinois

Sep 29 2009 9:00P
The Annex- 18+ Madison, Wisconsin

Oct 3 2009 8:00P
The Firebird St. Louis, Missouri

Oct 4 2009 8:00P
Jerry’s Bait Shop Kansas City, Kansas

Oct 10 2009 8:00P
The Grail Couer d’ Alene, Idaho

Oct 17 2009 8:00P
Arcata Theatre Arcata, California

Oct 17 2009 8:00P
Studio 7 Seattle, Washington

Oct 18 2009 8:00P
Fire Escape (ALL AGES) Citrus Heights, California

Oct 19 2009 8:00P
The Blue Lagoon Santa Cruz, California

Oct 31 2009 8:00P
TBA Las Vegas, Nevada

Nov 5 2009 8:00P
Club Vegas Salt Lake City, Utah

Nov 7 2009 8:00P
The Juggernaut Gallup, New Mexico

Nov 10 2009 8:00P
No man’s Land El Paso, Texas

Nov 11 2009 8:00P
White Rabbit (ALL AGES) San Antonio, Texas

Nov 12 2009 8:00P
Metropolis Mc Allen, Texas

Nov 13 2009 8:00P
House of Rock Corpus Christie, Texas

Nov 14 2009 8:00P
Walter’s on Washington Houston, Texas

Nov 18 2009 8:00P
Side Stage Tulsa, Oklahoma

Nov 22 2009 8:00P
The Muse Nashville, Tennessee

Nov 23 2009 8:00P
Atomic Rocket Lounge Columbia, Tennessee

Nov 25 2009 8:00P
The Nick Birmingham, Alabama

Nov 26 2009 8:00P
Sluggo’s Pensacola, Florida

Nov 27 2009 8:00P
Churchills Miami, Florida

Nov 28 2009 8:00P
Pastimes Pub (TBC) Sarasota, Florida

Nov 29 2009 8:00P
Odins Den (TBC) Orlando, Florida

Nov 30 2009 8:00P
Jackrabbits Jacksonville, Florida

More will likely be announced later.

Book Review- Deathrow

This book is awesome for fans of psychobilly. It's a great read all the way through as well as being easy to pick up, flip to a page and skim through it.
The book isn't a traditional book but a compilation of issues of a psychobilly fanzine. It was actually compiled by Alan Wilson of the Sharks, who ran the original fanzine, Deathrow.
The book has a little of everything- interviews with bands and band members, rumors, show and album reviews, amusing anecdotes and much more. There are many pictures, unfortunately they have the quality of a photocopied fanzine.
Read straight through some of the reviews get tedious after a while but it is an extremely enjoyable, interesting and informative book about psychobilly.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Album Review- Dying Breath by Coffin Draggers

I know this is an older album (2007) but since it never really leaves my head I felt the need to review it. The entire album is really good, with the tracks Voodoo Doll and the hidden track really standing out to me. For fans of Rockabilly and Psychobilly I would definitely recommend checking it out. I don't run into many people who have this album or even know of the band which is a shame. The album does have some goth influence which I usually try to keep out of my psychobilly but the Coffin Draggers pull it off really well and created a memorable album.

Album Review- 21st Century Breakdown

I'll start by saying that Green Day can pretty much do no wrong in my book. Not all albums are equal, but I've found something to like in all of them so far. 21st Century Breakdown was no different, offering a variety of tracks that mainly reminded me of American Idiot. While there were only a couple tracks that really stood out to me as memorable, the entire album was pretty good and at least definitely worth adding to your collection.

Show Review- Choptops

Another great rockabilly band plays Chicago! The Choptops played the Bottom Lounge on June 25th to a pretty full room. They played with Tracer Bullets, one of the highlights of the evening, The Gravetones and The Strikers.
This was the second time I'd seen Tracer Bullets and both times I was really impressed with their musical ability, especially the saxophone which really added to the band significantly. I definitely recommend seeing them.
I'm not as impressed with the Gravetones as most others, local band or not. I can't get into their music, the lyrics don't amuse me and I spent most of their set hanging out in the bar area with friends.
The Strikers were good but didn't really stand out as anything special, despite some obvious musical ability.
Finally, the Choptops did not disappoint. The crowd could have been more involved but it was a great show, they played fast and hard and put on a good show. The only thing I really took some objection to was the preaching. I defintely get their message and why they said the things they said, but it came off as somewhat hypocritical. They can't say that it is all about the music and not about the fashion when they are wearing what could be a standard rockabilly/psychobilly uniform. I do appreciate their telling the crowd not to judge others on looks, I'm just not sure what makes them the authority.
But I was very impressed by their music, which, after all, was what I went there for.