Mount Carmel "Real Women" LP

     One theory is that this Ohio trio discovered their dad's record collection AND weed stash on the same day. Being at the guitar player and bassist are brothers that is believable.
     Another more convoluted, but more awesome theory is that they frozen in blocks of bongwater ice since 1972 strict instructions for be thawed out later when boogie based blues rock, after being flogged endlessly by fakers, old farts and dinks who will engage in conversations about "the blues" with you as long as it's only about Clapton and SRV (because, well, everything else was just a lead up to their "innovations and greatness"), needed good swift kick in the ass and proper resuscitation.

     The problem was though the directions of when to defrost them were written down wrong and the band stayed in their icy tomb for much too long and the aforementioned fakers, old farts and dinks seem to think they have won decimating any thick and greasy mashed potato and gravy comfort food groove (thank you Mr. Rick Hall for initially making that observation) thought they won the battle.
     You know the types. The ones that will tell you that "Guys like Robert Johnson and Son House were cool but they played out of tune" and "Sure, the James Gang were ok but it's the triple guitar attack in 'Hotel California' where Joe Walsh really shined."
     It's also likely that those types are the ones responsible for when someone mentions "blues rock" to pals who's taste they respect and they will turn up their nose, give you a sideways glance and want to change the subject to something a bit more obscure.
     Mount Carmel are here to here to bring the music back to the partiers, the weirdoes, the stoners and those who like to sway their hips. Back the types that know it's about having fun-not being told or asked they are from the guy on the mic, not worrying about stage lights and hoping they are people with the 8 grand they have tied up into their guitar, amp and pedals (because we all know the first thing people think of when they they think "Blues Rock" as an effect rack of digital effects, right? How else can you get that authentic sound"?) on stage more than the music itself.
     Pare the songs down to their bare essentials. Trim the fat such as the drum solos and the "We are just more than blues-check out this acoustic part my guitar teacher taught me when I told him when I wanted to learn some classical piece" fruity frills. Keep the songs straight, greasy, to the point and NONE of them over the 5 minute mark.
     From the backyard filled with the smells of burgers cooking on a charcoal fire and MaryJane smoke of the opener "Swaggs", the Bad Company if their bar rock didn't get them signed to Led Zep's label and the "C'mon maybe I know you wanna get get naked cuz you like the way I smell all sweaty" vibe of "Lullaby" Mount Carmel should be blasting out of every restored Monte' Carlo, Cutlass and Riviera, stuffing their pants with 20 dollar bills and having the Black Crowes get those pot leaf embroidered leather pants alternated and bowing to them on stage as the hand them over the crown.
http://www.siltbreeze.com/mtcarmel.htm
     

Short's Pontius Road Pilsner

     With it being as sweltering, nasty, sticky hot as it has been this Michigan summer the idea of a beer filled with sticky hops or just a general thickness have not been on the top of my sipping list.
     Wanting something a bit light and refresh BUT with flavor after the tastebuds have been attuned to many complexities has lead to a lot of trial, error and disappointments. I knew there was a pilsner out there that would hit the spot though so I kept searching.
      The look of this matched the bright, sunshiny days we've had around here with it's clear, bubbly golden color. It's head small and gone within seconds.
     The aroma is was faint but refreshing with notes of just mowed lawn and lemon slices. Earthy and fizzy. Yep, Smells like a summer day. So far so good.
     The flavor is reminiscent of your standard classic old guy pilsner but a bit more crispness and much more less carbonated corn syrup characteristics. The pilsner malts really stand out in a fresh baked wheat bread kind of way in the front. That's followed by a light but noticeable hop that brings out a white pepper and some bitters in toward the end. That lingers a bit on the finish but doesn't stick around too much to wear out it's welcome on a 97°F day.
     To say that this is the one of the most amazing pilsners I have ever tried with be stretching it a way bit but it is pretty good and worked well with what I was looking for after a day at work then going home to do work in the yard.
http://www.shortsbrewing.com/ 

The BILL BONDSMEN "Smashin' Transistors Classic Interview"

     I remember a time when a band was considered HARDCORE it meant something way different than what it does now. It didn't mean a billion palm mutes then a mosh part, it didn't mean Warped or Ozfest tours, inventive facial hair and faux leather fashion endorsements.

    Detroit's Bill Bondsmen take me back to a simpler time (High School) when it was called Hardcore PUNK.  Pumped with anger, packed with contempt and sloshing in beer they do the full on rage with a dark sense of humor thing the way I remember it. Here's band's mouth piece Tony "Gabby" 4TG and I yakking for a while about a bunch of shit.

-interview by Dale

 

Okay-Both of us grew up in greater southeastern Michigan so we were raised on Bill Bonds logic but we have an international audience here...So before we go any farther could you explain to the fine readers who Bill Bonds is.

I'm sure all over the world there's a guy like him in each town. He used to read the news here on TV but he now does ads on TV for furniture. He challenged the equally crazy ex mayor of Detroit, Coleman A. Young, to a boxing match on TV. If you wanna see him check out "Escape From The Planet Of The Apes" where he plays a newscaster.

What about Detroit's current mayor Kwame Kilpatrick? Does he think he's Puff Daddy or some shit?

Well, since I didn't get an invite to the mansion I'll say asshole. He's kind of an unfunny Coleman Young. He's about as ghetto as Coleman but I don't think Bill Bonds will challenge him to a boxing match any time soon. I'm waiting for him to answer a question at a press conference with "Yo mama!"

When did hardcore get all fucked up and take a turn for the worse?

Ahh there's 100 reasons for that. Part of it is that a lot of hardcore bands seem to only listen to hardcore which makes them really derivitive. Like why listen to a band who sound like whatever band sounded like Youth Of Today who sounded like SS Decontrol and DYS when you could just listen to SSD and DYS? This really applies to any genre. Not only that but when metal came in around 86 it opened the floodgates for the jocks you see that act like the people that kicked people like us' asses in high school. I actually ran into a dude who beat me up in high school for being a "punk rock fag" at a bar a few years back and he was suddenly my old friend. Fuck that! Like Cider said "You're not a part of us! You never fucking were!"

 

How do you react when some moron says that they are "totally into hardcore-y'know like Korn and Hatebreed"?

Well, I'm tempted to go on a loooonng rant. I guess if they're dumb enough to like that crap they kind of already said it all didn't they? Personally I'm trying to bring back "hardcore punk" to differentiate between that crap and what bands I like do. Personally, i'd rather talk about the article I read in the van about the guy from Korn that found god cuz now you can say that "god gets Head". HAHAHAHAHA.

Do you ever wanna walk up to those type of kids and rip their piercing out of there faces and when their crying in pain you can say "What the fuck dude. I thought you were all tough and street and shit."?

Well, I don't really see those kids anymore. I'd rather take some of the gangsta hawdcaw kids and drop em off in a non rebuilt part of Detroit and watch them piss themselves. I'd also like to ask some of these kids who all look the same if they genuinely feel they're any different than the 100 kids just like em. I guess I miss the days where you couldn't go to Hot Topic to buy a wardrobe so we all did stupid shit like draw on our pants or screen your own shirts etc. Back when you spiked your own belt.

What's your opinion on songs that have classical guitar type intros ?

Well, Poison Idea had a lot of neo classical moments ("Plastic Bomb") but those were mostly with pianos. I suppose if done right. The intro to "No God" by the Germs sounds pretty classical but I doubt Pat Smear actually played that. Hmmm... I'll take "Sucks" for 100 Alex?

How heavily were you into Metallica in your younger days. They had classical guitar intros. When did you realize they sucked?

Well, I make it no secret that as a kid (like early grade school) I was really into NWOBHM/thrash metal stuff until about 5th grade when I finally heard punk rock. I used to be waaaaaay into Metallica amongst other thrash bands because they were cooler, back then, than most of the stuff you could find at a record store for the most part. I realized they sucked when I heard "And Justice For All" back in 1988. It was so slow and long and boring that it had no exciting aspects. I recall buying it thinking it had to be cool because Pushead did art for it. Boy, was I wrong. I hadn't felt so let down since I first heard "Join The Army" by Suicidal Tendencies...

What do you consider good metal?

I actually listen to a lot of old metal still to this day. Stuff like Venom, Celtic Frost/Hellhammer, etc still get listened to quite a bit. I still dig it because it's essentially punk if you can get past the solos. I wouldn't call Motorhead metal but I guess some people do. I listen to them all the time. I also like a lot of Japanese stuff that's pretty metal like Assault...

Ron Reagan inspired a shit load of bands in the 80's with their rage...Do you think Bush Jr is making the same mark?

Not that I'm aware of. We have a tune kind of about him but not as much. The real difference is that back when Ronnie was prez there was less access to information so when he was caught in some shit it was a big surprise. Now, we're so skeptical and have access to everything the bastard does that I think we're just lulled into being too relaxed about it because it's no shock. "Oh! He lied again... What's on channel 62?" or "Oh! He mispronounced another word..." 

I honestly think we kind of deserve him. After all, is he any dumber, ill mannered, or ill informed than 75% of the people you run into on a daily basis? I honestly don't think so.Today alone I had to listen to some guy at a bar tell me that the Middle Eastern people just want to be left alone but that Kwame is a"nigger" and if we had a white Republican in the mayor's office blah blah blah. A co worker told me that "if you don't believe in Jesus i've got some work to do" and then tried to sell me on evangelical Christianity (ie the words of the bible literally translated to their suiting. These are the fuckers to be scared of... Reagan and both Bush's believe in the same thing. Anyone who has actually read the bible... Look at what's happening in the Middle East, specifically Israel. These whackos are trying to make "Revelations" happen today... Remember Reagan saying that the Anti Christ was here today? Bush has said similar things about Sadaam and the Palestinians... I could go on and on on this topic...). 

Regardless, everyone is insane around us and most of us with two brain cells to rub together are asleep at the wheel because, much like watching your best friend get killed, we're all desensitized and numb...Besides, the focus has changed in punk rock... It's no longer a baby. No more thoughts of "this could change the world". It's more like "this could change me" or "there's nothing I can do so let's just party!" The only people still clinging to the idea of "Anarchy In (insert region)" are nothing but dogmatic bible thumpers with too much time on their hands...

What up with all the cracks you make about the Kinks?

I will go on record and say that I LOVE THE FUCKING KINKS! All the way up to "Destroyer" which is usually way past most people's cut off points. But! If I hear one more band buttfuck "You Really Got Me" or anything by The Sonics I will fucking puke! It's worse than when ska was big. You worked at a record store so you've had the misfortune of seeing the waves of generic clones for every good idea. If people would take more from the music and do something like The Maharajas from Sweden have done it would be way cooler than rehashed bullshit. Anyone can take any genre and mimic it perfectly but the best bands always add something to it or turn it inside out.

How much fast food and convenience store snacks can a body take?

Well, that's a good question. I can eat burgers like it's goin out of style and my dentist can attest to all the candy i've eaten thru the years. I would have to say that 3 rolls of Sweetarts plus a Jolt and two McDonalds double cheeseburgers is probably the max i've eaten in one day without puking. I don't really eat healthy so i'm probably the wrong guy to ask when too much is enough.

What's your ideal "Power Breakfast".

4 to 5 cigarettes, a diet Mountain Dew (can't handle regular pop unless it's fountain and then I still 50/50 it), and a Starbucks "Double Shot" on a weekday. Maybe a sausage, onion, and cheese omelette slathered in enough hot sauce to kill a cat. That usually puts me in shape to face the world. On a weekend, 1 diet Pepsi, 1 cold beer, 4 to 5 smokes, and whatever I can round up food wise. Usually chips or toast or something lame. Usually while listening to something decidedly "un punk". As of late that means The Faces...

Okay Tony, time for some word association...

-Japan

Musical heaven for me. I will go there soon enough. Too bad about thier porn though...

-Mexican Food

Zumba in Royal Oak.

-Cigarettes

I love you. Now if only my love wasn't killing me at $10 a day.

-Matt Coppens

All around good guy. Looking forward to playing with his crappy band Glorified Trash (Ladies, contain yourselves) in beautiful....(bonus part;) Grand Rapids : Shit hole. Makes Detroit seem stable. Nah, we've had bad luck but there's some cool stuff that goes on there.

-Henry Rollins

"He's not gay. He just does a lot of gay things like weightlifting and poetry." - the only good quote to come from Steven Blush.

-Ace Frehley

The only rock n roll part of KISS. Without him whadda ya got? A snake oil salesman, a sissy who sings nothing but love songs, and a coked out guido who thinks he's Otis Redding.

Vodka or Gin?

NEITHER! Last time I drank vodka I got thrown out of my own show and almost got arrested by the Brooklyn PD. Ended the night passed out in front of some bar. This is after my last vodka moments that ended in me passing out on New Years at 10 pm (smashed my head into the toilet) and the time I threw up at the bar and had to be carried out of the Magic Stick by bouncers and driven home by some girl from another state. Did it all on feeling.... ("You're going the wrong way!") Last time I drank gin I was 15 and I threw up on some christian's birthday cake and passed out on their lawn. I only drink beer now and that's about it.

Can you speculate how Bill Bonds would've handled a Bud Dwyer type situation?

Well, if he was covering it he probably would have just called Bud a pussy and offered to kick his ass despite him being dead. You are talking about the city of Detroit in human form after all. The man is hard as nails! He's our version of Bill Brasky.Speaking of Bill... If anyone has any footage of him, especially his post 9/11 "I'll kick your ass, Osama!" rant, send it this way! I'm also looking for the "groin terrorist" rant about AIDS.

Who's a greater American? Hugh Hefner or John Brannon?

Well, i've never hung around Hef but i'm thinking it's Hef. Isn't the American dream to do nothing yet get rich and have fun doing it? The man could literally glide across a floor of silicone tits any day he wants. He does hang out with some tools but those early Playboys up to the 70's had some style to em. Brannon can sing better but he doesn't have 4 or more hot girls that willingly act as a harem for him does he? The ultimate indicator is who would you rather be? I think we know the answer...

BLACK TIME "Smashin' Transistors Classic Interview"

Feral! That's a good one word description when trying to explain England's BLACK TIME. Hissing! Clawing itself free and scratching out eyes. Like getting whacked upside the head with a garbage can by a gang of rats the size of a surly bouncer at a dingy bar who's jukebox is stacked with nothing but Link Wray, the Fall, Swell Maps and those who follow them like a cult and all the partons chain smoke and wear dark glasses

-interview by Dale

Band history to start...Isn't there a Hot Wires and/or an Action Time connection to the Black Time?

Lemmy Caution: Yeah, the Action Time was my youthful attempt at mod-punk/girl group stylings – I was listening to a lot of motown and English punk rock in the ATV/Subway Sect/Pop Rivets vein.. I didn’t really have the know-how at the time to get the right sound for the vision and most of the records are watered-down versions of what it was supposed to be. The Hotwires was my last attempt at a band in the romantic sense of the word and totally fucking wasted about 3 years of my life as a result.

What do you recommend for getting blood stains off a carpet?

Janie Too Bad: Red carpets.

Mister Stix: What do you wanna take it off the carpet for?

LC: Scrape it off with over-priced bootleg of obscure euro-punk.

Speaking of "collector" records-Did ya wonder what the hell Peter P.Trash was talking about when he

said he'd have artwork silkscreened onto the vinyl itself?

LC: I didn't have a clue what the fuck he was on about!  I thought maybe something was getting lost in the german/english translation - "I'm going to silkscreen the vinyl!!"

    "You mean the labels?"

    "No, the vinyl!!!"

    "Er, yeah OK mate..."

    The only thing I could imagine it was going to be like was one of those Def Leppard type picture discs. I was really bowled over with the results when I finally got the records in the post - even MORE beautiful than a Def Leppard picture disc - though obviously we're gonna have to work on the songs and Stix might have to lose an arm.

What's your take on all that collector type stuff? Do you have a bunch of stuff like that (completist/comic

book geek type stuff) or do you just buy one copy to rock out too?

LC: Well personally I'm a vinyl junkie 'cos CDs suck but not at the expense of just owning the music - I'll happily have a vinyl repress of something if it sounds decent rather than shell out £££s for the original.  Ultimately I just wanna be able to listen to the track on my fave format - I don't collect records in a completist/investment way 'cos it's not really entering into the spirit.  Records are meant to be loaned out/not returned/taken round people's house for parties/get beer split on them/frayed edges/those sexy circles you get on the sleeve when you've played it a thousand times etc...they're ultimately ephemeral objects of fun to dance, drink, fuck to etc..

    I know a lot of people were bummed about the price of the p trash 12 it was really expensive but then it cost Peter a shitload to make it - I don't think he's making loads of money out of putting out Black Time and Manikins records y'know?  I like the idea of Black Flag and Minor Threat keeping their back cat in stock for ever at a cheap price but there's nowhere that level of demand for our stuff... the fact is if we do a few hundred copies of a record almost everyone that really wants it will be able to get a copy. I think Peter's planning on doing a 'normal' press of 'new vague themes' at some point for all the non-c.scum as well.

What's the saddest song in the world?

MS: True by Spandau Ballet

JTB: The saddest song in the world is "Friends of Mine" by The Zombies. Actually even sadder than that is I Got Knocked Down (But I'll Get Up) by Joey Ramone. Now I feel awful, thanks a lot.

 LC: The theme tune to Sesame Street - they're singing about sunny days and happy days but with the kind of melancholy minor-key wistfulness that convinces you all the kids are the victims of horrible systematic abuse by their parents and teachers.

 

My 6 year old son, Nolan, makes me play the "Crawlin'" single at least once a day. He always says "This song is gonna freak out in a couple seconds." Is it okay to let him freak out when the part he is talking about starts? Can I hold you responsible for any subversion that may take place later?

MS: Blacktime accept no responsibility for kids freaking out and going retarded there's enough of us(why are we mutants?) in blacktime for starters.  I suggest for safety reasons you should get your kid into contemporary 80's jazz and teach him to gingerly tap his foot.

Do you blame that on society?

MS: Being Mutants? No I blame it on the blacktime gene pool.  Freaking out yea ADHD or whatever it is called is a crock of crap.

LC: Being English I blame it on the weather.

Bob Dylan-Genius or fool?

MS: Robert Zimmerman thats his name

JTB: Genius for pissing off hippie purists.

LC: Old people's music

What's your favorite song by the Fall.

MS: The cover of "Jerusalem" hands down for me

JTB: Totally Wired.  It's kind of an obvious choice but you can't deny how great this song is and it just makes you want to dance all over the place to show how totally wired you feel.  I'm usually more Totally Tired though, but that doesn't make such a great song.  Being from California I also relate sentimentally to anyone using the word totally repetitively. To-tal-ly.

LC: "Neighbourhood Of Infinity" - "Used to listen to Link Wray, used to play him every Saturday, god bless Saturday".  Fucking great.

Do you like the Brix era much? It's some of my favorite stuff by them but I've heard some call it their "sell out years".

LC: A lot of the Brix era is really good, especially the first few albums and singles of that phase.  Even something like "Dead Beat Descendent" which is from near the end of the Brix era - killer riff.

So In The Red is doing a CD version of "Blackout". What type of demands did you make to give Mr Hardy the honor the re-releasing it?

MS: Demands were eating an English breakfast every morning for a month explaining the offside rule in football to us and reciting who’s who in the football league

LC: Yeah Larry’s had to shell out for a triple heart bypass ‘cos of all the greasy food.  He’s doing OK I hear but he’s still got to do his major in cockney rhyming slang before we’ll let him do another record.

What should people expect with your second album?

MS: Blacktime football songs

LC: Sensitive acoustic ballads

Silk or Satin?

JTB: Silk nighties are the way to a girl's heart. Satin will also work.

LC: 10 Silk Cut behind the bike sheds.

MS: Nights in white satin sheets with silky chicks.

Ya ever slid off of a bed with satin sheets?

MS: No but once rolled over and hit my head on the wall.

When's the last time you were spotted outside wearing something that wasn't black?

LC: What do you mean go outside??!!!

 MS A few days ago a navy blue i love French girls t-shirt in French.

 JTB: I had to wear purple eyeliner at our last gig because the black one disappeared, a formal apology to the good people of Nottingham.

Nottingham? Did you run into Robin Hood?

JTB: No Robin Hood per se, however there was a drunken whimsical Robin Hood-esque character dancing like crazy during our set as the rest of the crowd quietly moved towards the back of the venue, and exited out the back door. But we're happy to please just one misguided drunkard a night because it's far more fans than we had before.

MS: Blacktime ran into a lot of feedback whilst lost and disillusion driving down Maid Marian way...no Shit.

LC: Yeah we got pulled over by the cops for unsteady driving in our fully load mini metro.  We were all bouncing along to Screamin' Jay Hawkins like in 'Stranger Than Paradise' and it must of caused some swerving.

When was the last time you got in trouble?

JTB: I tried to sneak into a Adobe Illustrator course and not pay for it, because I thought it was 120 pounds. I got caught and the man in charge escorted me out the class and demaned I paid up. I tried to escape but then he told me it was only 30 pounds and I felt really stupid. So uhhh, I am a bit of a rebel for higher learning!

LC: When we were on tour in France and Janie couldn't eat anything 'cos of a stomach ulcer, and I sat opposite during a delicious meal the promoter had cooked us and accidentally blurted out "ohmygod, this is the best meal I've ever had in my life!".  If looks could kill...  You always get really great food when you play in mainland Europe - it's like being on holiday.  I think the UK is more like what I've heard playing in the US is like - you play your set and then the promoter clips you round the ear and tells you to fuck off out of his venue.

MS: Drinking got into trouble with my liver

So, Black Time are kindred spirits with the Real Losers I hear...Ya ever had a barbeque together?

MS: We've got drunk on a boat together and discussed the importance of booger in revenge of the nerds

JTB: We have a picture with The Hand and a huge bowl of mushrooms, that kind of looks as if we were about to do some kind of barbeque. But we just were posing with some huge bowl of mushrooms for some reason.

LC: No BBQ yet, but when I first met the Real Losers they showed me their party trick, which was C-Shake dropping his trousers (sorry, that's 'pants' to you guys) and Hot Dog shoving a beer bottle up his arse (sorry, ass).  I was all downhill from there... The Real Losers are basically the greatest rocknroll band in the world right now - they just get better and better. I'm just some schmuck (hey, I'm picking up the lingo now) who works in an office and messes around with my little punk rock project when I'm not getting wasted, but the Real Losers are THEE real deal.

I'm just starting to get into french films. Can you give me a quick crash course in what I should check out?

LC: Any early Godard is good (he gets a bit more heavily into experimentation and Marxism as the 60s go on, so the later films can be quite hard work) but yeah check out A BOUT DE SOUFFLE aka BREATHLESS, ALPHAVILLE (which Bladerunner ripped quite a bit off), MASCULIN FEMININ or UNE FEMME EST UNE FEMME are all great and really watchable.  Haven't seen much Truffaut except SHOOT THE PIANIST and THE 400 BLOWS but they are both amazing.  I really like this guy Jean-Pierre Melville who isn't really part of the New Wave scene of 60s french film makers but he made loads of great moody existential crime movies like UN FLIC and La SAMOURAI - Tarantino was definitely taking notes.  There's some great films from the 40s and 50s as well like Jean Renoir's LA GRANDE ILLUSION (great dissection of war and the class divide) and 50s film noirs like LES DIABOLIQUES and RIFIFI.  I don't know that much about modern french cinema - a lot of it seems to be tastefully shot bourgeois melodrama which lives me a bit cold, but I like some of Claire Denis' stuff like BEAU TRAVAIL (anything with Denis Lavant is usually good actually) and the vampire film she did TROUBLE EVERY DAY.

Vincent Price or Christopher Lee?

LC: Christopher Lee for looking so suave and evil in 'Beat Girl'