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Lakeland groovemeisters Low2theleft have been making their presence known in Pinellas County lately; the septet took second place at a Gasoline Alley Battle of the Bands a couple of weeks back. Seeded Crown (still holding first place in the Most Original Band Name category) took top honors, and Voodoo Tribe and Broken Man tied for third. L2TL is currently looking for a new bass player, as well as a little bar to buy in their hometown. This columnist humbly submits that the guys and girls should accept donations from local scenesters, and award gracious philanthropists with a bar tab equal to their offering…KymMystrY has returned from their New Orleans jaunt in one piece, or rather three pieces, it’s not like the trio went there to be conjoined, or anything. They were also in-studio guests of Hollywood and Brewski of WTAN 1340 AM last Thursday; H&B do a local music show every week from eight until midnight. KymMystrY will be at Club More tonight, July 21, supporting Gainesville’s Six Degrees, or you can catch ‘em at Gasoline Alley the following evening, along with Delusions of Grandeur. www.kimmystry.com …lots of stuff happening for Koncrete Kite. A Sony rep mentioned something about ‘catchier’ and ‘pop song’, so the band “swallowed our pride, tossed creative integrity out the window, and recorded the most commercial, god awful sweet, pop song we’ve ever written. The song, ‘Horseshoe Hand Grenade’, sounds like Everclear meets the Smurfs”. The tune should be listenable at mp3.com by the time you read this. KK is also camped out at number 6 in garageband.com’s rock chart (and #54 overall); that’s out of something like 20,000 contenders. Rumor has it Crazy Cabbie, a DJ for New York’s KROQ station, likes their last disc so much, he’s handing copies out to every industry person he runs into. The Kite will open for the world’s most underrated insurgent country act, Slobberbone, at Club More on August 5…sometimes, not even a name change can save you. The Slacker Conspiracy has dissolved, following the departure of guitarist Gary Ake. Bassist Tim Greer and vocalist Scott Winders are searching for a new project, or for a drummer interested in starting things from scratch. Intrigued? Contact ‘em at razehell@johnwill.net …Harry Dash will be playing at the Ice Palace, on the plaza, before the Santana show tonight. Star 95.7 has been giving these guys some major props; it’s great that a station will go out of its way to help out a talented local act. www.harrydash.com …hot on the heels of their Super Slumber Party benefit, or whatever they called it, Hell on Earth would very much like to invite you to celebrate Halloween In July. Date: July 29. Location: The State. Entertainment: HoE, The Quasi-Naked Contortion Show, The Human Grand Finale, spooky DJ action. The extras: Free beer and Witches’ Brew from 7:30-8:00, free Bag O’ Sweats (I’m hoping to God that’s a typo), games, costume contests, and a special appearance by the real Lobster Boy, in addition to all that usual weird Hell on Earth shit. The cost: ten advance, fifteen at the door. Bored with the usual gig? Well, here you go…
Gunburner will be rawking you at The Neptune Lounge this weekend; the problem is, their press release says Saturday, July 21, and it can’t be both those things. Give Eddie a call to find out which night, but I’m thinking July 22, myself. They’ll be bringing Gainesville’s Liquid Sky along with ‘em; LS is showcasing for MCA that night. In other GB news, they’re finally all hooked up at farmclub.com, so log on, load down and check it out. No word on when the new recorded material will be released, but it shouldn’t be too much longer. www.gunburner.com …Gardy-Loo are back for another quasi-legendary Mug show. It’ll be August 5, and at press time, support acts have not been named. This will be drummer Craig Huffman’s last gig with The Loo…Don’t forget that tomorrow night, July 22, sees the final installment of The Gita and NakedPoetry.com’s G-Spot concert series. In addition to all the Gita, erotic spoken word, hot lingerie babes and blatant sexual assertion you can handle, The Guyana Hotshots and Gringo Diablo will also play, and yes, those are just two ordinary bands that you know and love gigging under names that begin with the letter ‘G’. Expect The Gita’s live record, recorded at G-Spot 2, to become available shortly…Nutrajet, who recently received the official Marky Ramone & The Intruders Seal Of Approval after opening for ‘em at The Mug a few weeks ago, are currently making their way out to LA’s annual International Pop Overthrow festival, with gigs in Athens, St. Pete, New Orleans, Austin, and San Francisco lined up along the way. Their European tour is shaping up to be a reality as well, and is slated for October. The UK-released full-length version of their disc is as yet unavailable in Stateside stores, but you can order a copy at www.gemm.com …Future Perfect returns to the North Dale Mabry Borders tonight. The ambient/ethereal duo is working on their third CD, tentatively titled Aperture, but guitarist Dave Eichenberger’s multi-instrumental, largely improvisational collective Hazard Factor is still going strong; they’ve got a gig at Dunedin’s The Pharm on July 22, and will be part of the August 11 Tampa Bay Harvest Benefit, along with Natural Blend, Trippin Gerries, The Leonard Croon Band, Chucky Luv, Harvest, and The Beauvilles. Tampa Bay Harvest provides the less fortunate with sustenance, and a can of food will knock a dollar off of the five-buck cover at the door of The State. www.tampabayharvest.org …The Chase Theory, who rule, are finishing up tuneage for a six-song EP at Sarasota’s Paradox City. Several indie labels have offered to put the disc out, but a decision has not yet been made. Talk about a nice problem to have. CT will be at Light Painter Gallery on July 22 for similarly Sarasotan Midhaven’s CD release event; Super Tuesday and West Beverly will also play. On this side of the Skyway, the quartet is scheduled to appear at Megan Bella’s birthday shindig with Cocktail Honeys – that’s at Orpheum on July 28. The cover is a measly dollar, and we’ll all play kill the keg for the first hour or two…Grassroots Productions, as in promoter Rich McSherry, is pleased to bring Solo Saturday to Yeoman’s Road (on Davis Island in Tampa) on August 29. Bob Anthony, Ronny Elliott, Dave Hardin, Billy Wells (Gunburner), Will Quinlan, Aaron Lepley (November Foxtrot Whiskey), and Mike O’Neill (Nailbiters) will, in that order, strip it down to guitar and voice, proving once and for all that not everybody likes to play loud just because if disguises the fact that they suck. The cost is four bones, and things kick off at nine pm…Speaking of Mike O’Neill, the Nailbiters have officially changed their name to The Unrequited Loves. Check out their smart, moody, blaring pop at Orpheum tonight, July 21, with out-of-towners Odie and The Starts. www.facefirst.com … The Flapcats have returned to playing out after an enigmatic hiatus; catch the new material (which is reportedly “really happening”) at Spurs and The Neptune Lounge on July 28 & 29. Hangtown and Groovy Cool are on the Neptune bill, but nobody seems to know what’s up with the Spurs show. Feel free to peruse the new Flapcats website, but understand that it’s currently a work in progress. www.flapcats.com …Sarasota’s Swallowed recently took part in a benefit for Camp Fish Tales – the event raised over $17,000, ostensibly so CFT could buy more fish and pay a diver to hook them onto little kids’ lines underwater. Look for the band to make it back up this way sometime in August. www.GoddessOfCool.com …no, Rick Rose Rude didn’t OD, he’s just been busy recording some new material, and trying to find a hat-band like the one Slash has. The ten-song CD, Rebel Without Applause, will be out in September. In the meantime, will somebody please book this guy? Maybe he could do an in-store at Star Booty. http://homepages.go.com/~rickroserude/index.html …Susy Martian of Ramona Hates Pink is currently featured in tampabay.citysearch.com article about the city’s best singers, and Star 95.7 recently debuted a new solo tune by their guitarist, Surely T. Look for RHP to return to regular giggage shortly…Phoenix Four’s Justin Blair dropped us a line recently to report that they’re not dead, they’re just in Gainesville. Well, Justin and Jordan are anyway, making full-band action difficult because Mike is still in Sarasota. The band is making plans to record a second disc, possibly for internet or limited-edition release only, but a few copies of their first, Aloha Apocalypse, are still available at various indie record stores. P4 are currently working with an entertainment lawyer to solicit material, and need to know if anybody out there in undergroundland has any decent photos of ‘em kicking around, to help pad their presskit. You can contact Justin at phoenix4fans@hotmail.com …globetrotting punk-ass Dan Destructo sent in a semi-legible transmission from his current position in Los Angeles to say that the legendary No Fraud is cooking up some Bay Area shows for next month. Hopefully it’ll happen. NF is also looking at trekking out to join their exiled frontman for some LA shows. Hey, if Psycho-Tribe can reconvene…the perennially underappreciated Pseudo Heroes have scored a deal for full-length releaseage with Theologian Records, the imprint that’s putting out the often-blurbed PH/Down By Law split CD sometime before I get old and die…Local spiritual punkers Next Season have just returned from a three-week jaunt on the Caravan of Courage summer tour, which took them up to NYC and back. Their debut EP, A New Hope, is finally out; if you can’t find it at your local indie outlet, pick up a copy at the August 5 gig, with The Fizz and Snot Rags, at Mother’s Milk in Clearwater. Next up for Next Season is a new seven-inch, and a statewide tour…Our own Neurotica headed up to NYC for a showcase at Brownies; it seems some legal types were impressed enough by their Livestock appearance this year to set up a little something for a bunch of label execs. Neurotica will open for the very latest in new metal soundalikes, Union Underground, at The State on July 22. It’s a 98Rock show, and admission is only 98 cents. www.neurotica.net … The latest e-mailout from Ed Furniture tells of their grand exploits at this year’s DragonCon comic/music/technology convention, and gleefully trashes the (only half-true) notion that only antisocial losers, shut-ins, and Trekkies could ever enjoy such an event. Those now receiving the newsletter would be well advised to subscribe; twisted farcical genius is a hell of a lot more fun to receive every couple of weeks than, say, a plea to save little Anthony’s cancerous shrunken head. Discover that Borg cubes made from cheese are now for sale. Hear about Sir Millard Mulch’s phone conversation with ex-Veruca Salt femme fatale Nina Gordon. Order the new DEMI technology. www.edfurniture.com … finally met Greg Norris, honcho for White Devil in the Trailer Park, who might or might not be one of the bands appearing at G-Spot III under a pseudonym. Nice guy. Their bio suggests an eclecticism not seen around here since the days of, er, well, never, actually. They may best be described as “roots rock refracted through the prism of all that’s been right in American music these last forty years”; or maybe not, I don’t know, I haven’t actually seen ‘em yet. But now they’ve got a nice little quote to stick in their press kit, if they like it. WDITTP is gonna be at Tarpon Springs’ Neptune Lounge on August 5, along with Elston Gunnn and Harvest… Jack Spatafora reports that, contrary to previous assumption, The Boom will NOT be playing the upcoming Aestheticized show featuring The Mercury Program and the mighty Boats (scheduled for August 20). But don’t forget Rainer Maria, Mike Kinsella, and ’65 Filmshow at Orpheum on August 1… Remember Starliner? They’ve been in stasis due to “lack of a permanent rhythm section and current member obligations/demands”, but found the time to lay down some basic tracks for their new songs recently. No word on when the band will return to playing out; head man Nate (insert oral sex joke here) has been recording some side project material at Honeymoon Studios, and hopes to find some people to play out with, possibly under the name Pearly…young thrashers Desperate Cry, who have an astoundingly large and loyal following, are looking for a new lead ‘singer’, preferably one who can play guitar and emit the guttural bellow simultaneously. Prerequisites include youth (between 18 and 25), transportation, commitment, and a love of Satan (actually, I just made that last part up). Capable applicants can contact drummer Chris Pistillo at 727.742.3361…Ironic Daze have reputedly found themselves a killer new singer and some equally killer new material; they debuted both at a recent Gasoline Alley gig. Look for some different style in their forthcoming release…Food Not Bombs is staging a benefit show on July 22 at Mother’s Milk. They’re asking that attendees contribute a can of vegetarian food along with the four-dollar cover. The Poontang Clan, Snot Rags, and Collision of Thought will play. For more info, dial 813.447.5282…now you can log onto www.GoTo/pinellaspunk/ to find out all about local punk happenings, and subscribe to a weekly e-mailout listing all the area shows…we erroneously stated that Chumley’s Toy would be at Mother’s Milk on July 22. Obviously that’s not the case, with the Food Not Bombs show and all, but they WILL be playing there on July 29, as well as at the Fifth Annual International Tattoo Convention (in Hollywood, FL) on August 12…all-instrumental rock/funk/fusion outfit Hammerslug are hosting their own all-night siege at Tampa’s The Club (1504 West Gray Street) on July 22. We’d like to thank them for the press passes, especially since they’re advertising all-you-can-drink Heineken for a five-dollar cover. This will be their debut performance, and should be an interesting evening. Learn more about these guys at www.hammerslug.com …The Suncoast Sierra Club and Pasco County’s Citizens For Sanity will stage a benefit “to raise money to fight to protect wild places and wildlife in Pasco County and the Nature Coast” at Skipper’s Smokehouse next weekend, on July 30. Patty Sanphy, members of the Women’s Blues Review, and Shana, both as herself and as kidcentric alter-ego Shana Banana, will perform. Tickets are six in advance, eight at the door, and things kick off around four PM. Come on, do the condos really look nicer than the sea oats? Does anyone out there remember when beaches, backwoods and waterfront didn’t have to be designated as public parks, because there was actually acreage that nobody (meaning everybody) owned?
Ask, ponder, fret. Who’s being courted by Artemis/Ng Records, home to growling, groovy Canadian pedophile-bait Kittie and Todd Rundgren? Have they inked the deal, or are they waiting for the ripples to spread? Is Jeremy Thomas’ (formerly of Men From Earth) new band about the buzziest rawk thing going on around here right now? Is a gig in the works which will bring all MFE members into the same venue, precipitating a one-more-time set? Who’s putting together a sick joke of a boy band?
weakfish@compuserve.com
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