The Cat's In The Bag...

Ask any Mike Patton fanatic what the most consistently solid post-Faith No More project is and I'd assure you that over 90% of those folks will tell you it's Tomahawk.

That's because it is.

Three albums. All unfuckwithable. Well maybe Anonymous was "unique" in ways the first two weren't, but when a band writes songs like "101 North", "Point & Click", "Birdsong", etc...they can do pretty much whatever they want.

So, about six months ago, I had this crazy idea. I wanted to have the three Tomahawk records on vinyl. That first record was BUILT for turntables the world over. I have a working relationship with Ipecac Recordings, so I laid out a concept:

- Tomahawk box set for Record Store Day 2012
- All three albums on vinyl for the very first time
- House that shit in a box that leaves room for the fourth Tomahawk album, coming out in Summer/Fall 2012
- Keep it affordable, but limit it, so once they're gone, they're fucking gone

Patton and the lovely folks at Ipecac dug it. We made it. It's available Saturday.

To say I'm beyond proud of this project is quite the understatement. Faith No More is my favorite band and has been since 1989. I'm also a die hard Helmet fan, so getting to curate this project, involving musicians from bands that formed my musical palate and to this day, are STILL my favorite bands, is an actual dream come true.

Please go out and support your local indie record stores and buy a bunch of records on Saturday. Unload thy wallets.

Thank you to Mike, Shawn and Greg at Ipecac for having an open mind and taking my crazy idea and making it a reality. And to Mackie Osbourne (Buzzo's wife and Melvins album art guru), for making the box look proper.

"Birdsong" Live (2003). The fucking jam.

Lord Helmet

While I do love me some Spaceballs, I'm referring to guitar legend Page Hamilton. Helmet has been one of the most influential bands in my life, as both a drummer and as a songwriter. Page has this amazing was of making something sound so easy, but you actually couldn't play it worth a shit. Now in their 19th year (well Page is anyway), Helmet is still kicking much ass, albeit touring less and selling less records these days. 

I remember 1993's "Unsung" and its video on Headbanger's Ball AND 120 Minutes and thinking how awesome it was that this dude was playing so powerfully and singing so passionately, without a great voice and in a rockin' army haircut. Oh, how metal! It wasn't until I bought me their CD (Meantime, in it's wonderful longbox) that I realized how heavy and groovy this band was. "In The Meantime" is still the heaviest shit I own. Heavier that one thousand death metal bands. Just fucking fierce. 

A lot of people disliked 1994's Betty, claiming it was too jazzy, but I love that record. Still listen to it all the time. Although not my favorite Helmet LP, it's definitely the most-listened to. Tracks such as "Clean", "Speechless" and "Tic" were downtuned bliss, but so crisp in both production and skill. Bogdan and Stanier are still the closest thing to Jones and Bonham, period. I'm convinced that John Bonham's right foot has been stitched up to John Stanier's right leg. He's that fucking good.

My personal favorite Helmet LP is 1997's criminally underrated Aftertaste. Recorded as a trio and full of aggression (add in Orange 9mm's Chris Traynor as a live second guitarist), this record is sick. Just sick. "Pure" is "In The Meantime Pt.2". One note brutality. Other standouts  are "Crisis King", "Like I Care" and the minor hit, "Exactly What You Wanted", which I bought for $1.99 on The Box and recorded it on one of  my trusty VHS tapes. Yeah!

Unfortunately, Helmet split in 1998 (just like Faith No More and just mere months after Soundgarden)...Yeah, not a good year for me or anyone who had to deal with me. Henry Bogdan went to Hawaii to jam out slide guitar awesomeness, John Stanier mixed it up (and still does) with Mike Patton and Duane Denison in the amazing Tomahawk and Page did some score work, play with David Bowie (the Hours record, tour  and SNL performance) and start a new band called Gandhi. I was lucky enough to see them at the anus that is The Saint in Asbury Park, NJ in 2003. Page has assembled a killer band and the new tracks were slightly different but still undeniably Helmet-like. In fact, almost all the songs from those shows/sessions morphed into future Helmet songs on their most recent two releases.

In 2003, a new track surfaced on the Underworld Soundtrack called "Throwing Punches", an unbelievably heavy cut that was billed as played by Page Hamilton. After an Interscope-released Best Of soon after, it was revealed that this track was actually by a new version of Helmet: Page, Chris Traynor, John Tempesta (on drums: White Zombie, Rob Zombie, Testament, etc) and Frank Bello (Anthrax). After Interscope would only release Page's new music if he called it Helmet, the band released Size Matters in 2004. It really picks up right where Aftertaste left off. It was as if 7 years was actually 7 months. "Crashing Foreign Cars" "See You Dead", "Smart" and many more solidified the band, as did tons of touring. 

Unfortunately, yet again, this lineup didn't stick around too long. Traynor went over to Institute with Gavin Rossdale (with Page co-writing and producing), Tempesta went back to Testament briefly I think...Who knows, and Bello went back to Anthrax so they could do so money-grubbing 1987 reunion lineup. Fuck them. 

So Page parted with Interscope and signed with indie Warcon. Big fish, little pond. Smart move. He assembled a killer band yest again (now featuring Jeremy from old rivals Handsome...One of the best records EVER) and a killer drummer named Mike Jost. Monochrome was released in 2006 and was recorded, produced and mixed in Analog, with the same dude that produced Meantime 13 years prior. While the album caught a lot of slack, I love it. Love it. "Swallowing Everything" is probably the best Helmet song of all time. Other tracks like "On The Way Down" and "Bury Me" came at you with the aggression and energy of Strap It On & Meantime, but flaunt some incredible time signature changes and incredibly mature song structure. Page openly said that he'd never be able to write something as good as "Swallowing Everything" a few years ago. 

And as I go on and on, the bottom line is that Helmet were and are originators and the landscape of hard rock (for good or bad) wouldn't be nearly the same without them. 

A live performance of "Swallowing Everything" from 2007. Damn kids didn't even know what the fuck hit them. 

 

OG...

Born In The U.S.S.A.

No, this isn't about Bruce, nor is this a story based in the bowels of Asbury Park, New Jersey. This is U.S.S.A., a fantastic new band that will soon see fit to kick in your eardrums. Featuring Paul Barker (ex-Ministry, from when they were awesome) and Duane Denison (ex-Jesus Lizard, Tomahawk), what you get is pure brilliance. With no records out just yet and a handful of killer tracks lining their MySpace page (www.myspace.com/ussaband), late 2007 and early 2008 are looking promising, with TWO full-length releases coming!

If you like JL or Tomahawk, or even bands like Helmet, The Melvins, Unsane and Quicksand, you NEED to check this out. You can also go the their official site at www.fuzz.com and look up the guys. You can even purchase a few new MP3's over there from their upcoming first LP, coming out sometime in September.

Can't wait for their first NYC show on 9/30...Gonna be awesome.

Tomahawk Is Losing It

When Faith No More called it quits and blamed it on Puffy back in 1998, I wept like a little girl. When Patton started Fantomas in 1999, I didn't enjoy it. Then Tomahawk arose, featuring John from Helmet (one of my favorite drummers. Still a toss up who's actualy the better Bonham impersonator...him or JP from Clutch), Duane from the Jesus Lizard and Kevin from The Melvins. Their self-titled debut is still in my top 25 favorite records ever. Just a sick record. Later came their follow-up, the superb Mit Gas. Both were strong from start to finish. All good rock, no weirdo crap like Patton playng his own ribs through a wastepaper basket attached to a keytar here.

So last week, a friend of mine got me an advance of their upcoming thrid LP, Anonymous...Music taken from the 19th Century Native Americans. It's called Anonymous because most of the music these people wrote was never credited to them. So Duane Denison takes a year studying the people, culture, music. He calls John Stanier and they record their parts. For some reason, Kevin Rutmanis left both The Melvins and Tomahawk. So now as a three piece and with Patton's vocals recorded in Frisco, they finish their third LP.

I listened to it from start to finish twice, no interruptions. It gives what it promises: All tribal music, full with chanting, Native percussion and other knick knacks. The bottom line is that it's not that good. I hate when people say "You need to listen to it multiple times to soak it in"...BlahBlahBlah. That's what a reviewer told me about Van Halen 3. Sorry Gary Cherone. I see what Tomahawk is trying to do and they pull it off, but this was the one Patton-fronted band that didn't reqiure honking or playing a sax without a mouthpiece (As of right now, Peeping Tom and Lovage don't count since they only have one record each).

Maybe my opinion will change. Maybe it wont. Once street date hits, I'll post clips for you to check out. Whatever. Waiting for Lovage 2...