Adding To The Nails In Your Coffin

CT's finest purveyors of crushing sideways mutation rock, Brava Spectre, released their "Cuss Tongue" 7-inch on One Hundred Year Media earlier this month. Besides being Brava's first-ever vinyl release, it's hand-numbered and hand silkscreened inside and out (remember, hand silkscreened = not ugly), and the b-side ends on a locked groove (shit yeah). You can buy a copy of the vinyl here, or you can download both of the songs at Brava Spectre's bandcamp page here. Or, you can check out my own vinyl rip of the a-side down below.




Brava Spectre -

"Cuss Tongue"









photos: Jason Malouf

Screaming Like The Horse Had A Gun

Brava Spectre has a new album coming out at the end of November, called "The Hands, The Water, The Hands That Occupy The Water". I really like the recordings they've made this time; there's a lot of extra noisy stuff going on, especially with the vocals, and the drums and bass have been pushed forward more. I've got folders on my computer of Brava Spectre songs going back 4 years or more, and the new versions of these songs just kill the older ones.

It's been over five months since the last time I saw Brava Spectre, which is too long, though they happen to be playing a Halloween show at the Oasis that has Fatal Film playing as the Misfits (even though they don't have any hair) and Brava Spectre playing as Fatal Film. Picture that one in your head for a minute.

Anyway, here's a track from the new album:


Brava Spectre -

(this file is now listen-only)

"Octobird, The Winged Mistress"

So Maybe I'll Stop Calling The Advocate A Shitrag For The Next Week Or So

Just to show how easily manipulated I am (that's a joke, son), I'm gonna mention how the New Haven Advocate used one of my photos again a few issues back, and this time they even contacted me beforehand and gave me credit for it (you can read the whole thing here, at least while the link is still good). Okay, I know it's not really all that interesting, plus it's not as if I rank with the print media alongside the likes of The Needle Drop-- really, who does?-- but as long as my scanner is the only thing that's still working around here, I might as well get some use out of it. Plus it's about Kevin from Brava Spectre, who, as I've witnessed firsthand, is not a very careful skateboarder.


Here's another one where I'm not sure how it slipped by, either: an item in the Hartford Advocate from a week ago-- directly above a mis-spelled listing for Tony Harrington, who used to sing the national anthem at Wolf Pack games, no less-- for a basement show at The Whitney House (what, no ink for Misathropic Noise?). Kinda weird, I thought, especially since basement shows sorta operate outside the boundaries of the local authorities, if you catch my drift.

Anyway, Brava Spectre has a new full-length recorded, and they were even giving away free sampler CDs of the album at their show last weekend (which I didn't go to). Here's something from their earlier EP-- January '09, maybe? I could be wrong-- which I haven't posted anything from yet, so please click away.





Brava Spectre -

"The Village Daughters"

(this file is now listen-only)

All Our Friends Are Hipster Fags

If I thought the Oasis Pub stage was problematic, then seeing bands set up on the lip of a half pipe at the Academy Skate Park last night was definitely an odd proposition, though the bands on the bill seemed to thrive on the challenge. Not that the occasional flying missle-like skateboard was the main issue-- more like equipment accidently falling downwards, though when Josh from Brava Spectre threw his bass over the edge in the middle of a song and then slid down after it, I'm pretty sure it was intentional. The mic stand that fell during Fatal Film's set was more of an accident, though who knows; it actually sounded kinda decent, the way it dragged itself back and forth a few times across the hardwood.




The stage set-up limited the physicality of Brava Spectre's set somewhat, as well as the sound bouncing off the metal walls from the corner they were pressed into, but when I walked outside the building for a bit and heard them from a distance, they sounded pretty damn good. Not that Brava Spectre didn't rock, anyway, as did Fatal Film, who I actually think pulled off the better set. Matt Potter's usual constant bobbing up and down during their set left him pretty close to hitting the speaker/heating duct-type thing that hung within inches of his head, but other than that (and the mic mishap), things went pretty smooth. Fatal Film's set last night was definitely one of my favorite sets that I've seen all year, and I can say that they were really crankin' it, even if they thought that no one was really paying attention.

There were skaters on the half pipe the whole time all three bands were playing, which made the whole show a real blast, plus a few band members even brought their skateboards with them for the little mini-quarter pipe that was behind the main half pipe. I'm not saying they were experts, but Dave from Fatal Film and Josh from Brava Spectre actually know enough to pull off tail drops and kick flips, which impressed me at least. Others weren't so lucky, but cheap beer was definitely a factor so I'll leave it at that.

The Weird Beards also played, and I'll admit that kept my interest even though I had to skip out after the first couple songs of their set. They reminded me somewhat of the Chuck Hestons minus the noisier parts, and I think I'll be checking them out with a bit more dilligence if I get the chance to see them again.

Fatal Film -

"Sick as a Dog"

Brava Spectre -

"Octobird, The Winged Mistress"

(these files are now listen-only)






















Potter for the win

It Never Gets Old It Just Gets Cleaner

I'm not always good at hints or keeping promises, but as I mentioned about a month ago, last Saturday was gonna be my first chance at checking out Bedroom Rehab Corporation (after nine months of wanting), at the Hygienic Art festival in New London. A bunch of other bands played that night, too, including Brava Spectre, who pretty much played the best set any Ct. band's ever played and totally destroyed traditional rock n roll for me forever, or for the rest of the weekend at least.

Hygienic Art is an outsider art festival that began thirty years ago, at the Hygienic Restaurant in New London, CT (hence the name). Hygienic Art is modeled after a pre-Impressionist art protest from the 1800's, when a bunch of crazy French fuckers went nuts, foregoing galleries and going direct to the public by hanging their stuff in various cafes around Paris. The Hygienic Art festival includes poetry, music, film, and theater, all spread out over a two-week period, and the show that I went to on Saturday night was just one of about 20 different events. I don't really know all of this by heart, I just read it in the booklet.




Anyway, so Bedroom Rehab Corporation were the deal, and while they didn't exactly blow the roof off the place (Meghan was fighting a flu or something), they were still pretty awesome. Meghan's a great drummer, Adam makes cool Godzilla noises on his bass, and while I was watching them I was thinking that Bedroom Rehab sound almost like a guitarless version of Murdervan, if that helps you at all. The five or six older songs that they played were good, but the one new song killed all of them, and their Black Sabbath cover ("Paranoid", I think it was, though just about of 'em will do)... needs more practice. No doubt about it, though, Bedroom Rehab are BAD ASS, and I'll keep saying that until someone makes it into a t-shirt or something.

Brava Spectre's show-ending set practically crushed the known universe; every so often they'd drop it down to do their semi-beatnik thing with the acapella chants and stuff (which is pretty cool), but other than that, they were noise-metal bebop, total fucking Void/"Get It Away" at 120rpm, or Thin Lizzy/Deep Purple at mutilation speed, depending upon which channel you were watching. No one in the room dares to look away even for a little bit while Brava Spectre are playing. It's like one of those video clips of huge trains that keep crashing into things - destroyed in seconds!! How Brava Spectre are able to be so physically reckless while they're playing and still keep it tight is something I haven't figured out yet, although I think it's their drummer. At one point I was watching his kick pedal foot moving faster than I can even drum roll, and this was while his hands were doing something completely different. Dude's a monster.

You can download Brava Spectre's newest EP for free at their MySpace page (myspace.com/bravaspectre), although the version of "Lioness Eye" that I've posted below is an earlier one that I've posted before (I'm giving everyone a second chance). Also, the Bedroom Rehab song is a demo that I swiped from their MySpace, so hopefully they won't mind their unfinished goods being passed around.




Chasing Trinity went on right before Brava Spectre, and were pretty good. I'd never seen them before, but they were almost exactly what I expected based on their split CD with Hand Grenade Serenade... meaning they not only brought the rock but they were funny as well, but in a cool, flippant, punk kind of way instead of a pseudo-ironic Dan Barry will love us, he's from the Advocate kind of way.

Cosmodemonic Telegraph had a merch table set up, and so for a while I was able to bullshit with Rich Martin about his old band, Grand Passion (one of the best Ct. bands ever), until I got too annoying and Rich would start moving in the other direction whenever he'd see me walking towards him. Cosmodemonic have just now released their '09 set of "cosmosingles"-- 16 bands from the label, 16 CDs, two songs each-- which are so new that they weren't even posted on their web site yet (hozomeen.org) the last time I checked. A mere two sets had been banded together as complete sets, so I grabbed one of them, which makes me friggin' special I guess. If I find any especially awesome ones once I crack the pack open (like a T206 Honus Wagner, that'd be nice), I'll let you know about it.




Here's the other songs I was talking about. Three songs, and only one with words - what a bunch of suck. I mean, seriously.

Bedroom Rehab Corporation -

"Duel Bridges" (instrumental version)

Chasing Trinity -

"Laundromat"

Brava Spectre -

"The Lioness Eye Tamed My Open Palm"

(these files are now listen-only)

If I Knew Where I'd Die I'd Go There Every Day

Saturday night there was a big indie show in Norwich, and that in itself was kind of amazing to me, since I used to live in Norwich long ago (senior year of high school/first year of college), and it was a pretty bleak town back then. It's still a shithole now, of course, but a slightly nicer-looking shithole at least.

The show was hosted by Wonderlust at the so-called Donald Oat Theater, which is a bit less than a traditional theater but more like a loft space on the third floor of a building in what used to be the seedy welfare hotel section of downtown Norwich, but overall things were cool. Only that I forgot to bring my camera charger and so my battery crapped out before Werewolf Police played, which was kind of sucky.

Werewolf Police didn't get to play for very long anyway, going on last and getting squeezed for time because of it, but they managed to quickly rip through their 5 or 6 best songs, including a new one that practically veered into supersonic rock territory, at least for them (helped along by the second guitar player, who has really beefed up their sound). It's been a while since the last time Werewolf Police have played a show, so when they started off with "Birds" and "Silver Eagles", you almost can't imagine how good it was to hear those songs played out loud again. Their new album, "Ruin My Night", is finally out, with two variations of handmade sleeves, so check out the Goodnow web site where I'm guessing they should soon have ordering information for that.




Wonderlust were the real revelation last night; this was the first I've heard of 'em, but I can say that if you ever were a fan of any of the '90s Danbury noise pop acts like Monsterland and Her Tears, you should run to see this band the very next chance you get. I had a really brief period once where I felt that Boyracer had to be just about the best pop band ever, and this stuff tickles that exact same spot. I don't think I've ever been floored as much by an unknown-to-me Ct. band the first time seeing them them as I was by Wonderlust last night. As it happens, a total of seven bands played for nearly four hours, and Wonderlust's "Wolves" was the best song I heard all night.

If Wonderlust were from New Haven they'd have been written up more times that the Tyler Trudeau Attempt by now, but as it is they're from the New London area, which has had a solid indie scene for decades now but has never really gotten the respect it deserves. The song I'm posting below doesn't do their amazing guitar sound any justice at all, but they're working on more new stuff now, so hopefully that'll do the trick.




I'd thought Brava Spectre were more '90s emo spazzcore crossed with Lightning Bolt the first time I saw them, but last night their playing seemed a little more stretched out, into Slint/Don Cab territory. I still have no clue what any of their songs are, or even what song they're playing while I'm standing there watching them. Whatever, it was good. I don't think there are too many bands that can leave their skin on the floor and have your ears ringing like these guys can, so I'm just glad that they're from around here.

Post-Modern Sounds were about as sloppy as I've ever seen 'em, and also about as good as I've ever seen 'em, which is how that works sometimes. They were also one of only two bands last night that ended up having to use the stage, meaning bad angles so that their photos came out the crummiest (sorry about that). Book Slave had a new CD-R with them, which they had just finished putting together literally that day (bringing the fresh stuff!); I still have to listen to it a few more times, but so far it's pretty good.


Brava Spectre -

"Trust Us, We're Doctors"

Werewolf Police -

"Telescope Girl"

Wonderlust -

"Comfortable Real Estate"

Book Slave -

"The World in a Bad Mood"

Post-Modern Sounds -

"Machine Made Man"

(these files are now listen-only)