Fight Amp, Bitches

If you don't like The Melvins or the Jesus Lizard, stop reading. If you do, you're about to have a new favorite band. Fight Amp (formerly Fight Amputation) takes everything you should love about crust punk and makes it both grittier and more streamlined, at the exact same time. Every song has structure, but always gives way to an organized chaos of feedback and orderly disorder.

I dug their 2008 release "Hungry For Nothing", but was absolutely blown away by their recently released "Manners & Praise". No filler. No let-up. Riff after riff. Never too smart for it's own good, yet never dulled down for casual listens. You can't just have this record on. It needs, no, requires one's full attention...And repeated listens.

I went back and found some of their out of print demos and 7"s when they were still known as Fight Amputation and I eagerly await their arrival.

This is a top ten record of 2009 for sure.

"Lungs" (live):

Testicular Tuesday Is Above You

If you are a fan of all things Cave In, then Adam McGrath's Clouds needs no introduction. They are a fucking brilliant Boston group that combines elements of Black Flag, The Melvins and gritty rock n' roll and makes many an ass shake. Two records in (plus a killer little EP with a Guided By Voices cover) and a pending 12" (in the form of a bonus LP with the vinyl release of Clouds album #2, "We Are Above You")of b-sides coming, Clouds is now more than a mere side-project.

I had the luck and priviledge to see Clouds in front of 12 people a few weeks ago in Berkeley and they blew my fucking mind. It's always the most impressive thing to see a band play their hearts out for a limited few, as if they were playing a sold out Wembley Stadium. Super-nice dudes too.

So do the band, me and yourself a favor and support these guys...We need more balls-out rock bands out there. Also check out Zozobra, Young Widows, Coliseum, The Bronx, Fight Amp. It would be a wise decision.

"Empires In Basements/Guardian's Eyes" (Live at Newbury Comics):

Totimoshi is Good

I've been listening to the new Totimoshi CD, Milagrosa, for a few months now and I've come to the detailed scientific conclusion that it is indeed awesome. I mean, super-fun-happy-time Japanese game show on speed awesome. It's just so crisp and fresh and completely off the map. They've always paved their own road and made their fans one at a time the old fashioned way...By killing it live and never making shit records. Having Page Hamilton behind the boards doesn't hurt either.

Milagrosa is light years beyond their three previous releases, which is no knock at those albums. 2006's Ladron is a serious kick in the nuts and features one of my favorite songs of the last few years, the skull-crushing "In Virgo". The addition of their new drummer Chris has really solidified their sound and upped their proficiency. Plus the dude is super nice.

Tracks like the opener "Sound The Horn" and the acoustic "Milagroso" show the exciting growth the band is showing, while "Gnat" will reel order fans in whilist kicking their asses in the process.

Buy this record and support a great local Bay Area band that is grouped in with greats such as The Melvins and the Jesus Lizard but have yet to receive the accolades they truly deserve. This is an easy contender for album of the year. Period.

"Gnat"
"In Virgo"
"Miligrosa" (live/acoustic)