The Magical P.O. Box

No one really seems to use the mail anymore.  I suppose we've known this for years, but we're stubborn.  And "old school".  So we have decided not to renew the ol' magical PO Box.

The Beercan Records P.O. Box will fight no more forever.

However, you can still get ahold of us at beercanrecords at gmail dot com.

Reviews - 11/4/2012

Wide Angles - Boxcutter - Another rock solid 4 songs from Wide Angles put out, um, last May on No Breaks Records.  Much like on their debut 7", Wide Angles show and prove that they are pros at crafting gritty-yet-melodic, tough-yet-emotional mid-tempo ponk ruck music.  It's tempting to describe them as "no-frills" too, but after listening to these tunes a couple of times, some rather intricate guitar-work and layering becomes apparent.

Only minor quibble here is when the singer reaches a little too far.  The guy's got a great voice for this band, but you've to know your limits a little bit too, you know?  But honestly, that is a very minor quibble.  This is excellent stuff.  (http://wideangles.bandcamp.com)

Reviews - 10/30/2012

While we're on the task of clearing out the backlogged review pile, let's hop into a stack of vinyl from, appropriately enough, Vinyl Junkie Records.  Estan de Espana.

Mark and the Spies - Find Yourself a Way 7" - Let's be brief here.  Toothless garage-styled pop.  Next.  (http://us.myspace.com/markandthespies)

Los Derrumbes - Hacen Cantar a Sus Amigos 7" - Oh boy, not much better.  A pretty much straightforward interpretation of 50's-style rock and roll.  For example, an incredibly tepid cover of "Rockin' Robin" shows up on side 1.  I was going to go into some bullshit about how the only way I could see these tunes working was in some campy European movie where a peripheral character was really into American rock and roll and these songs were playing in the background of a scene, but then quickly realized that was some bullshit.  (www.losderrumbes.com/)

De Keefmen - Cryin' at my Door 7" - Things took a turn for the better with this one and I'm not just saying that to be nice.  De Keefmen offer up 2 pretty hornery rockers that both feature some skronky guitar solos that you, yes you, will enjoy.

So enjoy.

Finally, one must wonder, nay HOPE, that their band name came about after imagining a veritable army of Keith Richards.  As in, "oh lord, a brigand of De Keefmen approach!"  Right?  RIGHT?!  (http://www.facebook.com/pages/De-Keefmen/113374322013364)

Reviews - 10/29/12

Kobanes - Demo - Unabashed Ramones worshipping is often a razor's edge.  On one side, bands have made a career out of it or at least kick-started a career (read: the Queers, the Donnas, the Riverdales, etc).  On the other perilous side, if done incorrectly, you can get some of the most basic, unimaginitive boring bullshit you've ever heard.  Fortunately, the Kobanes fall into the former category.  That's not to say that we're guaranteeing that they'll actually make a career out of their music, but they clearly have figured out that while that Ramones-y formula may seem seductively simple, you still have to write good songs, know how to play, keep it supa-tight and all that good stuff.

Look, you won't be surprised by what you get from the Kobanes.  1,2,3,4's, whoa-oh's, love songs, hate songs and songs with "I Don't Wanna" in the lyrics but they throw in enough of their own little twists and sense of humor to make it work.  Plus, mechanically-speaking, I've always felt that the most important thing for a band playing this style of music is for the guitars and the bass to be in absolute lock-step in order to create that buzzing, relentless drive.  If it gets sloppy, then the whole things falls apart and the Kobanes don't allow that to happen.

I think the CD they sent in had a few tracks from each of their 3 albums so check out the link below and dig them for yourself.  (http://kobanes.bandcamp.com)

Reviews - 10/13/2012

Part III of our Cut Throat Records appreciation post and the hits keep coming.

Gun Crazy/Teen Cool Split 7" - This is going to be a little backwards as the Teen Cool side got the first listen.  Looks like Teen Cool was around from 1993 to 2003 which is an impressive run for a band and, holy shit, Toby Marsh of Motards relative-fame was in the line-up for these guys.  Fuck, how did I miss out on all these bands?  Anyway, more really good stuff and for the entirety of the first track, "Crash and Burn Kids", I was trying to place which British singer the Teen Cool singer sounded like.  Anyway, when the opening riff of track 2, "Dilemna Doll", kicked in, it all started to make sense.  That opening riff is really similar to the main riff in "Art School" by the Jam and that kick-started by slow, slow brain into realizing that the singer's voice sounds a lot like Paul Weller, also of the Jam.  Soooooo, Teen Cool kind of sounds like a bit-faster, bit-more-reckless version of the Jam.  Which is good.

As for Gun Crazy, more good stuff dealing with things that a lot of good punk rock songs deal with.  In particular, factory lines in the song entitled "Factory Line" and interacting with bad news chicks named Jane in the song entitled "Talk to Jane".

Libertine - Guttersnipe Glamour 7" - This one wasn't quite as cool.  Kind of reminded me of another TX-based band from around the same era (that being the late 90's/early 00's) called the Dead End Cruisers.  Saw them open for Pegboy in Austin many moons ago, bought their CD, listened to it once or twice and eventually sold it on Ebay.  How's that for an obscure reference?  Anyway, pretty standard sleazy rock 'n' roll and the last track on this little EP is indeed a stab at a reggae-ish song.  And as discussed elsewhere on this blog, lots of bands of this era tried to pull this off and it never really worked.  And sure enough, this tune isn't so good either.

The Stupor Stars - Poison Arrows 7" - Great name for a band, first off.  More importantly, this little sampler platter serves up 3 delectablely catchy morsels.  The title track has that melancholy-yet-boundlessly-enthusiastic mix that makes music beautiful and makes you, the listener, play it over and over.  Things get a little more mean-spirited with "Don't Fight Us" but it's still catchy as all get-out.  Wrapping up the 7" is another willy of a dilly of a ditty called "Hey Maita" about a beautiful black-haired girl.  And goddamn, is there anything finer than a beautiful black-haired girl?  Both songs feature one of this reviewer's favorite, but difficult to describe, things in punk rock tunes.  That being that millisecond pause between a verse or chorus ending and a really solid guitar solo starting up.  Like, not a full breakdown, but just a split-second pause where everything drops out and then, "SKRUUUUAAAAHWAAAAHWWEEE" or however one might put a solo into the written word.

Anyway, you and I...we together...should find out if these guys and 1 gal put out any other records because these 3 songs are great.

The Monocles - Out of Your Mind 7" - And finally, the Monocles.  Pretty strong stuff and the first track "Out of Yr Mind" kind of reminds one of the Spits in that it's catchy punk rock and roll stuff with kind of weird sounding distorted vocals.  The second track is a bit of a groaner, but the 7" rebounds quite nicely on track 3, "Darken Your Door".  Yes it does.

Reviews - 9/25/12

This is "Part II" of the Cut Throat Records appreciation post from a few days ago.  And there will be a "Part III" eventually too.  They sent us a lot of good stuff.

Born Liars - Go Back One Day 7" - 3 tracks that reflect everything we wrote about this band here.

Born Liars - Ragged Island - 11 tracks that also reflect everything we wrote about this band here.

Pat Todd and the Rank Outsiders - Don't Worry 'bout Me Baby 7" - Holy shit, how did we not get to this stack of vinyl earlier?  It really doesn't pay to be lazy.  Pat Todd is, of course, of Lazy Cowgirls fame and is thereby quite rulin'.  I've heard it said (or maybe read it written) that Paul Westerberg is the Bruce Springsteen of underground rock 'n' roll but honestly, I like Paul Westerberg's music better than the Big Boss Man (what a hip stand to take) so in my mind's eye, that statement just means he's less well known.  Along those lines, you could probably make the argument that Pat Todd is the Paul Westerberg of...of...undergrounder rock 'n' roll?

Maybe that was a little forced, but the point is that the title track served up on this little platter is what you'd expect from Mr. Todd...and what you'd expect is primo, ripsnot rock.  The second track, "Idle Time" slows it down a little bit, goes acoustic and laments about time well-wasted.  Listening to this track though is certainly not time wasted.

So, this is good shit.  As a quick market research project of the vast readership of this blog, whose music do you like best - Bruce Springsteen's, Paul Westerberg's or Pat Todd's?

Reviews - 9/11/12

Jack Scratch - Jack Scratch 2012 - Doing a little research on Jack Scratch learned me that they were a bit of a local breakout band here in the greater Chicago metropolitan area back in the late 80's-early 90's.  A touch before this reviewer's time so they were totally new to me although the pictures of ticket stubs and fliers on the CD tray reference bands and venues that kicked up those weird types of quasi-memories that make you think, "oh man, those were heady times" but then you're like, "you know, I wasn't even actually there but I do remember meeting slightly older kids who seemed incredibly worldly who were probably there."  Then, as you start to form your own bands and experiences and memories and "scenes", you realize that yes, those times you quasi-remembered-but-weren't-actually-there-for were probably pretty great, but also full of the same bullshit and down-times that anyone else goes through.  In other words there's some idealization and nostalgia sprinkled in there too.  But again, not to say that there weren't elements of greatness.  Or maybe this is all just cynical ramblings on the part of this reviewer...so let's move on.

As an example of the aforementioned ticket stubs, there's one where Jack Scratch opened for Jane's Addiction at the Metro in 1988 and keeping in mind that this was not only about 2 decades before Illinois' smoking ban kicked in, but also the tail end of the 80's and ALSO Jane's Addiction being involved, I can't even begin to imagine the quantity and variety of things that were smoked and/or inhaled at that particular show be it in onstage, backstage, in the audience or in the bathrooms.  Seriously, the mind boggles.

But anyway, it was probably grand times for the fellows in Jack Scratch and god bless 'em for deciding to get together years later and start playing shows again.  Looks like some of the tracks are new originals while others are retreads from their past.  It's all good stuff and they know what they're doing.  Solid rhythm section, sharp guitarwork and some Dave Vanian-ish rough rock crooning.  I'd say the standout tracks are the opener "Broken Dreams" and well, one near the end.  Maybe it was "See Saw".  We weren't blown but aren't about to knock anything either.

Oh, except these couple things which just kind of cracked me up but make 100% sense since this a band that crested at the advent of CD's and is making another run as CD's are going the way of the Dodo bird.  1.) There is a "secret bonus track" that is not listed (unless I miscounted, which is possible but if I didn't miscount, this is an incredibly 90's thing to do) and 2.) the bonus track in question is a tepid, tuneless reggae style tune the likes of which was HUGE back in the early 90's by alternative-type bands.  No shit.  Tons of bands did this even it wasn't their usual style and it almost never worked.  Actually, no, it never worked.

I just sound like a dick at this point, so I'll stop.  But overall, this is quality stuff and if you dug you some Jack Scratch in yesteryear, this will do the trick I bet.  (www.jackscratchband.com)

Reviews - 8/29/12

Once again, you can file this post under "hundreds of days late and thousands of dollars short", but we felt this needed to be done.  Travel back, way back, back into time with us for a moment, won't you?

There used to be this magical website called "MySpace" (don't look for it, it's not there anymore) that all the kids were using and more importantly, all the kids' bands were using.  As a "record label", we'd get all sorts of "friend requests" from aspiring and unsigned bands or other fledgling labels trying to get a deal, promote a show or just network.  I'm not computer and marketing-savvy enough to tell you why or when things started to go south with MySpace but honestly, it was pretty great there for a while.  We here at the Beercan offices (ahem) would honestly listen to every band that bothered to click a mouse button and request our virtual friendship.  Sure, a lot of it was utter garbage, but some of the bands were promising, some just seemed like cool folks and occasionally a band would really blow your mind...man.

Anyway, a few years back, some dude from Cutthroat Records (ancient MySpace link is http://www.myspace.com/cutthroatrecs) based out of Houston, TX dropped us a line and asked if we wanted to trade releases.  We said, "sure" and dropped some stuff from our extensive catalog (ahem) in the mail.  Never got anything in return, but hey, no big deal.  People's lives get busy, shit happens, the Post Office is basically bankrupt and may have messed up, who knows.  But then months and months later, some other guy from the label writes me back apologizing for the mix-up and says that he'll drop some stuff in the mail right away.  And he did, which was very cool.  And here are our thoughts, well after the fact, ranging from "well, that's not all that bad" up to "holy shit, that's a great band!  I hope they're still around, but I doubt it.  But even if they aren't people should track down their music to enhance their life!"

And away we go...

The Delayed - Losing My Mind - Not all that bad, but probably not something that I'll  go out of my way to listen to ever again.  5 tracks of Hellacopters-inspired guitar hot-shottery.  This came out in 2003 and sounds like it.  That's not an insult, but you know, time marches on.  Not that music has improved necessarily in 2012, but again, this sounds a little derivative of the Hellacopters and they aren't around anymore so, in a sense, it is a time-capsule.  I warned you that we were going back, way back, back into time.

Pretty rad band logo though.  I kind of hope that someone out there has a Delayed tattoo...that they mildly regret.  Or wildly regret.

The Urgencies - the Urgencies Present Their Manifesto - Yes, the Urgencies appear to have given up the ghost around 2009 and this release is from 2006, but they had a little something going here.  Now, keep in mind that I listened to this about 2 years ago in my car which, by the way, is the preferred review mode of the Beercan staff just so ya'll know.  This was some pretty cool mid-tempo punk-rock in the vein of the Clash, I suppose.

Fine, you've pegged me.  I don't really remember specifics.  But I do remember liking it.  Somewhat.  Fuck you.  Go to their site.  Listen to the songs.  Decide for yourself.  Be somebody!

After all, this is all a preamble to the Born Liars review.  (See Below!(http://www.myspace.com/theurgencies))

Born Liars - Exit Smiling - Now THIS...this is the main reason we wanted to put finger to key to write this post.

We dug this shit immediamente, but as a little non-chronological background, this reviewer (we have a staff of 7) had just read "Hammer of the Gods" for the first time.  You know, the biography of Led Zeppelin that you may have read in high school and that the intelligent degenerate that was smoking cigarettes behind the gym DEFINITELY read in high school.  It's a great, and pretty hilarious, book whether you like Zeppelin or not and you should read it.  But anyway, it got me to thinking about the fact that all these British bands of that era like Zeppelin, the Stones, Yardbirds (I'd mention the Beatles, but I don't really like the Beatles) took a lot of black American music, ran it through their own personal filters and ultimately turned into some of the hugest, or most influential, or both, bands of all time.  Now, I'm not going to go into some screed about how these old original blues musicians were screwed over by the record industry (which surely most of them were) but it is kind of weird how the American contemporaries of these British bands were basically light years behind their limey brethren.  In other words, who wins a 6-band tag championship match between Zeppelin, Stones, Yardbirds in one corner and Bad Company, Grand Funk Railroad and, I don't know, Alice Cooper in the other?  It's not even a question in my mind and for the record, early Grand Funk Railroad is great, but c'mon.

But, at some point over the last 20 years or so, that trend has slowly faded away.  I'm not flag-waving and claiming this as a "victory" for America.  I mean, maybe British musicians have just moved on to different things or are so far ahead of Yankee dubstep DJ's (or whatever) that I'd be shocked if I happened to run in those circles.  However, we at Beercan typically run in rock and roll circles and a band like the Born Liars is such a perfect example of U.S. rock and roll, that it's magical.  In running this label and in listening to hundreds of band submissions, we've heard hardcore from Eastern Europe, rockabilly from Germany, garage rock from France, indie-type stuff from Japan and on and on and on.  And again, some of it's great, some of it's shit and most falls somewhere inbetween but more often than not, it is an approximation of stuff that is deeply rooted in American rock and roll history.  The Born Liars, from Houston, Texas, write (or I suppose wrote) such uniquely American, straight-forward punk-infused rock and roll that the music makes you want to bury it in a time capsule with a note saying something like, "This is what American rock and roll sounded like when it was done really fucking well.  No, this band wasn't hugely popular, but this is the real issue.  No shit!" 

I won't even get into specifics of particular tracks because every single track smokes quite nicely.  The only knock is that it's sometimes so spot-on but with no frills, that you almost want to frill it up yourself.  Like, you find yourself humming sax backing or adding backing vocals that aren't there.  And that's not even really a knock.  Again, I hope this isn't all coming off like I feel that the Born Liars are the Toby Keith of underground music and the rest of the world should fuck off.  Far from it.  But it sounds like the slightly countrified, blues-based rock that these cats slung, which was after-all born in this country, was just burned into their blood.  They're not aping a style.  They're not trying to be anything that they aren't.  They're just cranking out who they are via the magic of music...which sounds simple, but is very, very rare.

So, I don't know if these guys even exist anymore as a band, but it seems like their old label still does so do yourself a favor, and retroactively do them a favor, and go buy their stuff.

Of course, now we'll probably get an email from the bass player saying, "dude, we all actually moved here from Belgium in the early 90's" or some shit. (http://www.myspace.com/thebornliars)

Reviews - 4/10/12

The Larroquettes - Quartet Loser - Even in our somewhat extended hibernation and overall malaise as an actual functioning record label, we couldn't help but notice that the Larroquettes seem to be getting a good deal of "pub" and/or "buzz" as of late in the Chicago area.  And considering they were nice enough to send us this CD almost a year ago, we thought we'd chime in on the love parade since it is pretty damn good.

These Larroquettes sound like a stripped-down progression of lead guitarist Paul Downs previous project, the Plastik Explosives (truth be told, there may have been couple of sonic stops before this band, but let's not split hairs).  And by "stripped-down", that's not meant to imply simpler or more boring, but rather more focused and kinda angrier.  Still the rock'n'roll based skronk and guitar hot-shottery you'd expect from Mr. Downs, but not all at breakneck speed.

As for particulars, "Dr. Teacher" has a bass line that is every bit as swaggeringly sinister as it's title would suggest.  Or maybe that's just me.  I mean, for some reason, "Dr. Teacher" as a song title kind of creeps me right the fuck out.  But regardless of whether or not that juxtaposition of words, creeps YOU out, the song has a killer bass line.  "You Must Fight to Live On the Planet of the Apes" is an appropriately primitive sounding rocker and "You Gotta Believe in Something" ups the tempo a little bit and caps the disc off right by letting all the Larroquettes shake their proverbial things.

All in all, a damn fine introduction to the band that makes you want to hear more.  And according to their website, more you shall hear as they may be in the studio AS I TYPE THIS!  Oh, and bonus points for a movie-clip lead-in before one of the songs where the term "jerk-off" is used as an adjective and a noun about 5 times in rapid succession, but interestingly, not as a verb.  (www.thelarroquettes.com)

Reviews - 12/28/11

The Demerits - A.P.B. Demo - Somewhere along some cultural spectrum that includes the Son of Svengoolie, the Stooges and the 3 Stooges lies Darrick Elia.  At this point, I would go so far as to refer to him as a hidden Chicago treasure.  Tracing back to my first introduction to the guy, his erstwhile band Bondo was a horn-and-beer-fueled rock 'n' rollibido machine.  Thanks to this strange world's burgeoning media tools, their hilarious ode to drankin', "Fuck You, I'm Drunk", has gone somewhat "viral", as the kids (or annoying marketing people) would say.  So much so that I've seen speculation from online know-it-alls who are 100% sure that the Dropkick Murphy's wrote the tune...or was it Flogging Molly?  Nope, it was Bondo and that wasn't their only great tune.

But enough about Bondo.  This 1-track little demo is a very groovy, mellow little guitar, drum and keyboard number.  Not really fleshed out enough to change your life or anything, but a cool little tune for sure and a nice introduction to the new band.  The Demerits are playing around the Chicago area pretty regularly as of this writing, so check 'em out.

Also recommended in the Darrick Elia ouevre is his other project, the Hamburglars.  If you've got a sense of humor at all, go see them too.  Just trust me on this please.  (http://www.thedemerits.com)

Reviews - 7/16/11

The Breathing Light - Demo - According to their myspace page this band hails (hailed?) from "America's Ass, Alabama".  Like many demos, the recording quality really varies from track to track, some songs sound more complete than others, etc.  And these guys could, and probably will, get better at playing their respective instruments.  But I'll be horn-swaggled if there wasn't a definite mood conveyed on this little 4-track demo.  Kind of melancholy, slightly disturbing at times, coaxing the listener into a bit of a trance.  It's like there is a definite artistic voice here but the Breathing Light just needs some time, confidence and practice to catch up.

File this under backhanded compliments, I guess, but I liked this.  No idea if these guys are still playing though as I rarely make it to America's Ass, Alabama these days.  (www.myspace.com/thebreathinglight)

Norwood Park All-Stars - Norcore - Well, you can learn something everyday.  After searching for some info on these guys, it turns out that they're basically a tribute band to the little regional scene that they grew up with on the NW side of Chicago.  From their website - "The Norcore Scene happened during the mid to late 80’s on the north side of Chicago and near north suburbs. The epicenter of the scene was a neighborhood called Norwood Park.  Norcore was a fusion of different styles and musicians. It was mostly punk, but with a strong glam rock and big guitar / big vocal influence. Occasionally some ska and rockabilly would be thrown into a set with mixed results.  The Norcore scene was tight, but diverse. Musicians ranged from teenagers in garages to middle-aged instructors with an appreciation for new music, and every kind of rock-star wannabe in between.  Bands played at old northside clubs like The Envoy, The Lift Off and the Montrose Ave. Slot Car Lanes. Many all ages shows happened at the Courtside Racket Club."

The 8-song CD itself starts out showcasing that glam-rock angle with "Coulda Woulda Shoulda" which is a cool New York Dolls-ish rollicker.  Some competent rockers fill up the middle and the disc wraps up with "The Same" which is one man's reflection on the emotions one might feel while going down on a lady and, likewise, being gone down upon.  But not so much in a 69 way.  More of a "your turn, my turn" way.  But I digress.

Anyway, the tunes here aren't going to change your life or anything, but they're a great reminder of how important a scene can be to a group of bands, or more importantly, the kids in those bands.  Forging memories and friendships and loves and losses and triumphs and all that.  So before this gets too sappy, if you're reading this and thinking of starting a band, let this be your sign from the universe that you should go ahead and do it.  And kudos to you, oh Norwood Park All-Stars!  (www.norcore.us)

Reviews - 6/10/11

I should be drinking wine right now.  Scratch that...I AM drinking wine right now, but I should be drinking really good wine right now.  But that is none of your concern.  This, on the other hand, is!

Los Readymade - Demo - In the words of the great Murphy's Law, "yahooooooooooooooo!!!!".  I don't know where the fuck these guys are from because all the songs are either in Spanish or heavily-accented English, but their names are listed as Kevin, Michael, Frank and fucking Dallas.  Those names are the antithesis of Latino to my mind's ears.

Doesn't matter.  Maybe it's a great rib pulled on the Beercan staff to make Los Readymade appear more eccentric than they are (because being from a country foreign to the US automatically makes you eccentric...of course).  The important thing is that this is rip-roarin' garage punk, or whatever the fuck you want to call it.

Yes, this type of stuff has been done to death.  Yes, there are a couple covers on top of that fact.  But when it's done with this much intensity and recklessness, you get a pass from us 10 times out of 10.  Keep on keepin' on you Los Readymade weirdos.  By the way, they sound nothing like Murphy's Law, but kind of the same attitude and, after all, punk rock is more about attitude.  Good times attitude, you fucks.

And finally, that is some top-notch EP artwork.  ART!!!  (http://www.facebook.com/pages/LOs-READYMade/219622613582)

Reviews - 5/14/2011

False Alarm/Youth Gone Mad - Fuck 'Em All We've All Ready (Now) Won!/S/T (Featuring Dee Dee Ramone) - This one is a double album and, quite frankly, the whole thing is really quite confusing.  A little research tells us that this was released at least 5 years ago, but showed up in the magical PO Box (PO Box 457, LaGrange, IL, 60525) a few months ago.  The return address was in Indiana (our neighbor to the east), but looks like both albums were produced in California (our distant neighbors to the west).  Both bands have a shared member named Paul who plays rhythm guitar on the False Alarm album and, well, just about everything on the Youth Gone Mad side.  Then, there are two band photos, a picture of Cheetah Chrome, a picture of a guy who looks like the Winters Brothers long-lost brother, and a picture of a lady in a hat.  There's a song on the False Alarm side called "Youth Gone Mad" and there a song on the Youth Gone Mad side called "False Alarm".  Finally, read the album title for the False Alarm side again.  Go ahead, I'll give you 5 minutes to figure it out...

...yeah, I don't get it either.  Maybe I'm an idiot.

Anyway, you, the reader, at this point are probably thinking, "well, enough about the shit you noticed in the liner notes you fucking nerd.  What about the music?"  Good point.  It's pretty good.  The False Alarm side (featuring Cheetah Chrome on a few tracks) sounds kind of like the Dead Boys and the Youth Gone Mad side (featuring Dee Dee Ramone on a few tracks) sounds kind of like the Ramones.  Knock yourself out if you're a Dead Boys or Ramones completist.  (http://www.myspace.com/falsealarmrecords)

Reviews - 4/30/2011

Modern Convenience - Demo - Ummmm, there's something here, but it might be a little too artsy for our staff's tastes.  Or too deconstructed.  Or something.

Truth be told, this was another example of a couple songs sounding really good over tinny little computer speakers via a myspace page.  Then the CD came in and well, it didn't sound quite as good.

Maybe it would sound great to you though.  Who can say, really?  This guy is from Memphis so next time you're there, check out a show for yourself.  (www.myspace.com/modernconvenienceu)

Modern Day Rippers - Demo 2010 - We got this demo last year from the MDR fellas and I believe this evolved into their debut full-length, "Rip It Up in a Modern Way" on Machete Records.  This is one of those bands whose tunes give you the impression that while they talk it, they do indeed walk it as well.  Although "walking it" in this case leads you to write songs like "I Belive in Pills", "Liquor Store Blues" and "Abortion (I'm a)".  (As a parenthetical aside, that parenthetical aside of (I'm a) really cracks me up).

This is bad news rock and roll for bad news times.  But sometimes, that feels so right, doesn't it?  Go check these wastoids out live.  Only, for goodness sake, go straight home after the show.

(As a final parenthetical aside, the lead singer kind of looks like Konnan from WCW, Lucha Libre, etc.)  (www.myspace.com/moderndayrippers)

The Negligents - Good Advice - This is a beautiful, yet practically heartbreaking, album.  The Negligents bounced around Chicago for years playing tons of shows with tons of bands.  Then, they put out this debut full-length and subsequently shut down operations.  And if you listen to this album you can certainly hear why.  Songs like "Friends of Friends", "Good Advice", "Down Here in Scenetown", "Turn Up the Suck Knob", etc. are just dripping with the frustration, sarcasm, angst, and disappointment that only a band that HAS put in time and effort in ANY scene can know.  Yes, being in a band, playing shows and writing music can be truly great, but unfortunately, there comes a time in every band's life span when things start to unravel for any number of reasons.

I have no idea of the specifics of why these guys broke up as a band, but I do know that they managed to crank out a great piece of art before they left which uncannily captured the whole range of thoughts and emotions that go along with shitty gigs, broken gear, dealing with phonies, getting frowned-upon by "tastemakers", crumbling relationships, losing money, aging, et al.

Yes, I realize that this review is making this album sound like a real fucking drag.  And if it weren't so well done, the whole thing could have easily descended into a full-on bitch-fest.  Instead, the Negligents rail against all the aforementioned bullshit in an honest and unflinching way and deliver a pretty thrilling "Fuck you" to it all before striding off into the sunset.

Seriously, pick this up at http://www.creapo.com/ and give them some good vibes after the fact.

Reviews - 1/3/10

One of our many New Year's resolutions that we probably won't follow through on, is to stay more up to date on reviews, etc.  So on that note, here is a great fucking demo tape (yes, tape) that we got over a year ago!

Lord Green - Last Demo - Hailing from the Quad Cities on the Illinois/Iowa border, Lord Green dropped this green cassette on our ears over a year ago, as mentioned above.  Some quick research shows that they're still playing and actually have a bunch of shows lined up for this month in various locales throughout the Midwest that you'd usually associate with farming and not mind-numbing, heavy, HEAVY rock such as this.

We stop short of saying "heavy metal", because while there are certainly elements of that genre on display here, we wouldn't want to give the impression of nu-metal or black-metal or death-metal or anything like that.  There's too much of a groove involved in these Lord Green tunes for that type of railroading.

Whether they're taking it speedy ("Losing the Race") or sloooowly (opening track "Fly"), everything is very heavy and very groovy but NOT groovy in a polyester-pants kind-of-way.  Groovy in a 7,000 foot deep crevace kind-of-way.  Combine that with some paranoid, anti-media-type sound clips in between songs and these cats will get your attention.

So very heavy.  So very enveloped in clouds of smoke.  So very great.  It's always great to be reminded that weird shit like this is lurking in practice spaces, basements, garages, what-have-you in the vast expanses of country's breadbasket.  (www.myspace.com/lordgreen420)

Mushuganas "Lows in the Mid 90's" on iTunes

If you're lazy and unfeeling and don't care to embrace the full artistic presentation of the Mushuganas' "Lows in the Mid 90's" CD, well, we'll still take your money via iTunes and some other online mp3 stores, or whatever they're called.

Here's the link for the Mushuganas release (and iTunes links for other albums we've put out can be found along the right side of the page here just below the Paypal links for each respective album):



All tunes are also available on EMusic, Zune, Rhapsody, Napster, IMVU and LaLa but honestly, we have no idea how any of those services work which probably means that we should keep quiet about the fact that the tunes can also be found on those sites as they probably have some weird pricing scheme where 10,000 people have to download first before we see a penny.  Or, it means that we're paying extra money every year to have Beercan releases housed on those sites but no one ever uses them at all.  Either way, we're probably not being very business-saavy, but we've never profited a dime from this Beercan Records endeavor, so why start now, right?

Our goal is to bring the music to the people...man.

Reviews - 10/14/10

Whelp, after the excitement of the Mushuganas CD release, we've come to the realization that we haven't done shit around the Beercan HQ in months.  MONTHS!  So what better way to resolve that than to talk shit about/be middle of the road about/extoll the virtues of a bunch of bands that we don't know much about and will probably never see live.

Let's get the creative juices flowing shall we?

Brosided - Okeanas - Let us start by saying that this band may not even exist anymore as a functioning unit.  Again, we are behind on the reviews.  Let us follow up by assuming that their band name is an unfortunate translation issue.  These cats are from Lithuania and most Lithuanian Americans I've ever met are pretty cool so we're just going to assume that "Brosided" means something important in their native tongue as opposed to how it sounds in English...which is, of course, like something a frat guy would say to describe a secret handshake.  "Hey man, he's cool.  He brosided me.  Give him a beer."

This didn't do too much for the Beercan ears.  Not bad by any means.  They can play and "Alternative Amends" was actually a bit of a scorcher, but the whole thing is a little generic.  Maybe I've just surpassed my hardcore listening quotient, but I think it's more harbored in that these European bands should sing in, and put song titles in, their native language.  It's got to sound better than a song title called "Still Hardcore" or "Gap of Life".  Imagine an OK American punk band trying to shoehorn their lyrics into a Lithuanian dialect.  Why force it, right?  (www.myspace.com/brosided)

The Commies - Preemptive Strike - Let us start by saying that this band may not even exist anymore as a functioning unit.  Again, we are behind on the reviews.  Let us follow up by reiterating that we here at Beercan must insist that bands send us an actual CD or tape or record to listen to.  This is a cautionary tale of what happens when our occasionally self-important review staff shuffles through myspace requests listening through tiny, tinny speakers after having 5 to 7 too many beers.  Said reviewer might fire off an email saying something like, "fiucking cool tumes.  Send us a CF and whe'll reveir that shit."  Then, under more stable states, whilst listening on a proper sound system, the same reviewer might think, "Fuck, I kind of jocked these guys and it turns out it's some ska-punk stuff that doesn't really turn my crank, if I know what I mean."

Let's move on since "said reviewer" is me and I feel like a dick for inadvertantly misleading these guys.  (www.myspace.com/attackofthecommies)

The Coltranes - Demo - Let us start by saying...no wait, these guys are definitely still playing.  And a lot by the looks of it.  This CD that they forwarded to the magical PO Box just had like 4 or 5 songs on it and "the Coltranes" in some sloppy Sharpie handwriting.  And that's great.  Somebody in this band can fucking belt it out on the vocals and while a couple of the songs aren't completely fleshed out, in our humble opinion, there is some very, very good shit going on.  And it looks like they have a full-length CD out since they sent this demo in called "Chrisbenoit".  Creepy!

Look, I just got back from my 7th or 8th visit to California (these guys are from Temecula) and I usually end up leaving that state thinking, "man, those people are boring fucking assholes."  Maybe I'm just visiting the wrong places, but this is the type of weird shit that my uninformed brain used to conjure up about what was going in in California before the reality of my real-life experiences punctured that mind-thought-balloon.

Check these cats out and help me prove my quasi-fact-based prejudices about Californians wrong.  (http://www.myspace.com/thecoltranes)

The Peelers, "Let's Detonate", Re-detonated on ITunes and places like that...

Ever since this wonderful album by Chicago's now-defunct Peelers became available in e-stores (ugh, it pained me to type that) back in 2006, the track listing, order and actual songs were all kinds of screwed up.  In a nutshell, the 6 second intro track was posted in stores twice while the smoldering danger of "Dig Me" was omitted completely.  So unless you bought the actual CD when the Peelers raced through your town, you probably weren't getting the full experience of this gem.

FORTUNATELY, we here at Beercan finally ponied up and had the old album taken down from stores like ITunes, Amazon, Amie Street (whatever the fuck that is), etc.  The album is now correctly and fully available in all it's glory, including "Dig Me".

If there was a way for us to automatically send a file of "Dig Me", to all those who have bought an electronic version of the album since its release about 4 years ago, we would.  But as far as we know, there isn't.  So go plunk down $.99 at your favorite "virtual" store (is that term even used anymore?) and enjoy what you've been missing.

And while you're at it, check out some of the off-shoot projects that various Peelers ended up in after the explosion of this record, and ultimately their band.

Witness...

-The psychedelic garage-ish stylings of THE MEDIUMS - http://www.myspace.com/mediumcooldarkenergy

-The psycho-sexual kanoodlings of HOT AS HELL - http://www.myspace.com/hotashell1

-The I'm-not-really-sure-cuz-I-haven't-heard-them-yet-but-think-its-dark-and-heavy grindings of WITCHBANGER - http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Witchbanger/117648348257637?ref=ts

the Mushuganas "Lows in the Mid 90's" CD release show THIS WEEKEND - 5/29

This Saturday night (May 29th) at Subterranean in Chicago, not only are the Mushuganas playing their 43rd reunion show since 2002, but Beercan Records is officially rolling out the long-awaited, often-delayed and wonderfully good-looking Mushuganas career retrospective CD "Lows in the Mid 90's".  Also on the bill are the Mushuganas contemporaries Winepress and Lynyrd's Innards who are great bands in their own right.  Joining in the fun are The Slow Death and The Reaganomics who, frankly, I know nothing about but let's just assume they're great too.  Rounding out the bill is an acoustic set by Kepi Ghoulie of the Groovie Ghoulies.  Yes, an acoustic set sharing the bill with the Mushuganas CD release show.  But hey, I dig the Groovie Ghoulies and I once saw the Mushuganas play BEFORE a magician, so again, let's just assume the best.

Subterranean is located at 2011 North Avenue in Chicago and tickets for the show are available at http://www.subt.net/.  Doors are at 8:30, show starts at 9:00.  This show is part of the Windy City Sound Clash which runs from Friday through Sunday and weekend passes are also available so get you some.

Needless to say, we here at Beercan are very excited about this show and the CD itself.  It was 75% labor of love, 25% pain in the ass, but it's here, it'll be $10 at the show, it'll be for sale here and other places after the show and here is the track listing.  See you Saturday...

1 - You Really Can Never Tell
2 - Theme From Mushugana
3 - Dropout Girl
4 - Renaissance
5 - Mistreated
6 - Spoonfed
7 - Downfall
8 - Disappointed
9 - Breaking With Tradition
10 - Handsome and Beautiful
11 - When I'm Here With You
12 - You Hate Me, I Hate You (Live)
13 - Iowa
14 - We're the Mushuganas and This is Rock and Roll
15 - Aimed Wrong
16 - Strawberry Shortcake
17 - Summer Shoes
18 - WHPK Freakout
19 - Some Wings (Live)
20 - Last Night on Earth
21 - Uriah Heep Records
22 - Heartbreak '98
23 - The Vine
24 - The Deacon
25 - Long Good Time
26 - Her Boyfriend
27 - Paul Deluxe
28 - Attention
29 - Anyone Here Like Bad Religion?
30 - Everyone
31 - Ass Kissers
32 - It's Raining

Reviews - 5/12/10

Another Let's Pretend Records (http://www.letspretendrecords.com/) bonanza compliments of the Complete Pete.  These records have been out for something like 8 years at this point, but hey maybe you haven't listened to them yet and are waiting for our opinion first?

Bi-Furious/Vacation Bible School - Split 7" - The Bi-Furious side is comprised of 7 songs in under 5 minutes.  Supa-tight bullpower with sssssscreamed, and we mean screamed, indecipherable lyrics.  Though as with their debut "full-length" there's something about Bi-Furious that separates their sound from cookie-cutter hardcore stuff.  Maybe it's the guitar tone.  Maybe it's knowing when to hold a guitar note just a half a second longer to induce a chuckle in the listener.  Really, I don't know what "it" is, but they've got "it" and they couldn't lose "it" if they tried...to paraphrase Martin Short in "The Three Amigos".  Best song title on their side - "Give Pizza Chance".  Drummer whom a song is dedicated to - Vacation Bible School's Sean Leonard. (www.myspace.com/mybifurious)

The VBS side is comprised of 5 songs in under 4 minutes.  Supa-tight bullpower with slightly-less screamed, and we mean slightly-less, somewhat more decipherable lyrics.  A couple of these numbers, while bullet-train fast, are downright poppy.  Well, as "poppy" as a sub-30 second song can be, I suppose.  In particular, I'm citing "Inavidadagadda" which comes in second to "Shopaholacaust" for best song title on their side.  Drummer whom a song is dedicated to - Bi-Furious' Jimmy Adamson.  And what a dedication!  Apparently, Jimmy will "kick your fucking ass", "fuck your fucking face" AND "fuck your fucking ass".

Now if he can do all those things at the same time, I'd be really impressed.  (www.myspace.com/vacationbibleschool)

Brokedowns/Sass Dragons - Split 7" - Burly punk rock from these Brokedown lads.  Although, not lummoxy and stupid.  They throw in some timing changes and guitar chicanery that let you, the record nerd, know that these guys know what they're doing, aren't just burly lummoxes, and are crafting some ver ver cool, heartfelt tunes.  First two songs are originals and apparently the last song, "Full On Idle", is a Breeders song which, admittedly, this reviewer was not familiar with and consequently leads this reviewer to think that he should listen to more Breeders.

On second thought, maybe it makes more sense to listen to more Brokedowns because this version is one of those tunes you immediately skip back and listen to again.  Which I just did and may do again after finishing this sentence.  Goddamn!!  (http://www.thebrokedowns.com/)

Wow, the Sass Dragons have a lot of records out don't they?  And honestly, the first of the three tracks on this little slab left this reviewer thinking, "uh-oh, they've got more requests to crank out albums and 7's than they have decent songs for."  Fortunately, that first song is like 40 seconds long and the second 2 are scorchers.  We here at Beercan have jocked these guys over and over and over again so there's no need to really do it again.  Just go out and pick up anything by them and then lovingly whisper into your own ears, "I really think you're going to like this."  (http://www.sassdragons.com/)

Das Kapital - Punk House Heaven 7" - On track one, "That's Career Suicide!!", and in one of the classic punk-rock traditions, Das Kapital wrestles with the question of whether it's worth it to grind away at some staid and safe job in exchange for a little bit of security or do you go out on a limb and really "live", by gawd!!  Who knows?  Get a job, hippie.  Fucking sell-out.  You're a bum!  You're a bore!  Grass is greener and back and forth and forth and back round and round and round it goes...and probably always will. 

"Punk House Heaven" is a throwaway song if I've ever heard one, however "I Like It", if based in actual autobiographical fact, is a pretty brave, soul-baring piece of art and I'm not being sarcastic.

Musically, we weren't over the moon about this one, but I can't knock it...except for that "Punk House Heaven" tune.  (www.myspace.com/thedaskapital)

Full of Fancy/Screaming Females - Split 7" - So, the needle hit the record and I got about half-way through a big eye roll during which time I was rushing to judgement thinking, "What is this? Some fucking outtake from the 'Juno' soundtrack?"  But then just as quickly, the drums and bass kicked in and my rush to judgement took a sudden 180 and I was charmed and enthralled by the wide-eyed optimism tempered with a dash of "cram-it" on display here.  Track 2, "Notebook" offered up more of the same goodness and I'm left wanting to hear more.  As a point of reference, I could see Full of Fancy and perhaps Walker sharing a bill nicely together.

No, not the TV-show, Walker.  The 90's band from NW Indiana.  Does anyone even get that reference?  If you don't you should, 'cause Walker was good.  And so is Full of Fancy.  (www.myspace.com/fulloffancy)

Screaming Females offer up 2 solid tunes on their side of this split.  "No Being Disgusting" sounds reminiscent of the Minutemen but with female vocals.  And when that solo hits near the end, you, the listener, will think, "hey is that guitar on some kind of jazz setting?"  But it works!  At least it did for us.

Song #2, "Pretty OK" is a little more straightforward.  Less angular sounding.  And that weird guitar tone is still floating around.

Pick this one up.  Wethinks both of these bands are dern good. (http://www.screamingfemales.com/)