Tag Archives: The Butthole Surfers

The Expendables Releasing New Album, Tour in Early 2015

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expendcover-300x300

Santa Cruz, CA reggae/rock/metal outfit The Expendables is releasing their sixth full length album Sand In The Sky via Stoopid Records on January 13, 2015, and then hitting the road on their “Winter Blackout Tour.” Sand In the Sky was mixed by Paul Leary (Butthole Surfers guitarist and producer for Sublime, Slightly Stoopid, U2 and Weezer) and co-produced by the band and Gordon Brislawn. Download “Starry Night” here and watch the video here.

SAND IN THE SKY tracklisting:
Starry Night
Music Move Me
Anti Social
We Are the Fire
Up All Night
That Spark
Weather Man
Take Me
Zombies In America
Nothing I Wouldn’t Do
Black Heart
Stereo

sand in the sky

The Expendables Live Dates:
Dec 31: Saint Rocke – Hermosa Beach, CA

Winter Blackout 2015 w/ Ballyhoo! (select dates), Fortunate Youth (select dates) & Katastro (all dates)
Jan 23: Majestic Ventura Theater – Ventura, CA (with Fortunate Youth
Jan 24: House of Blues Sunset Strip – West Hollywood, CA (with Fortunate Youth
Jan 25: SLO Brewing Co. – San Luis Obispo, CA (with Fortunate Youth
Jan 27: Ace of Spades – Sacramento, CA (with Fortunate Youth
Jan 28: The Senator Theatre – Chico, CA (with Fortunate Youth
Jan 29: Wonder Ballroom – Portland, OR (with Ballyhoo!
Jan 30: Neptune Theater – Seattle, WA (with Ballyhoo!
Jan 31: WOW Hall – Eugene, OR (with Ballyhoo!
Feb 03: Park City Live – Park City, UT (with Ballyhoo!
Feb 04: Belly Up Tavern – Aspen, CO (with Ballyhoo!
Feb 05: Aggie Theatre – Fort Collins, CO (with Ballyhoo!
Feb 06: Gothic Theatre – Englewood, CO (with Ballyhoo!
Feb 07: The Waiting Room Lounge – Omaha, NE (with Ballyhoo!
Feb 08: The Granada – Lawrence, KS (with Ballyhoo!
Feb 10: Mill City Nights – Minneapolis, MN (with Ballyhoo!
Feb 11: Majestic Theatre – Madison, WI (with Ballyhoo!
Feb 12: Deluxe – Indianapolis, IN (with Ballyhoo!
Feb 13: Bottom Lounge – Chicago, IL (with Ballyhoo!
Feb 14: The Grog Shop – Cleveland, OH (with Ballyhoo!
Feb 15: Trocadero Lounge – Philadelphia, PA (with Ballyhoo!
Feb 17: Higher Ground – South Burlington, VT (with Ballyhoo!
Feb 18: Port City Music Hall – Portland, ME (with Ballyhoo!
Feb 19: Highline Ballroom – New York, NY (with Ballyhoo!
Feb 20: Stone Pony – Asbury Park, NJ (with Ballyhoo!
Feb 21: The Fillmore – Silver Spring, MD (with Ballyhoo!
Feb 22: Paradise Rock Club – Boston, MA (with Ballyhoo!
Feb 24: Masquerade – Atlanta, GA (with Ballyhoo!
Feb 25: Freebird Live – Jacksonville Beach, FL (with Ballyhoo!
Feb 26: Jannus Landing – St. Petersburg, FL (with Ballyhoo!
Feb 27: House of Blues Orlando – Lake Buena Vista, FL (with Ballyhoo!
Feb 28: Revolution – Fort Lauderdale, FL (with Ballyhoo!
Mar 01: High Dive Bar & Venue – Gainesville, FL (with Ballyhoo!
Mar 03: The Varsity Theatre – Baton Rouge, LA (with Ballyhoo!
Mar 04: House of Rock – Corpus Christi, TX (with Ballyhoo!
May 05: Emo’s – Austin, TX (with Ballyhoo!)
May 06: House of Blues – Houston, TX (with Ballyhoo!)
May 07: House of Blues – Dallas, TX (with Ballyhoo!)
May 12: The Fillmore – San Francisco, CA (with Fortunate Youth)
May 13: The Observatory – Santa Ana, CA (with Fortunate Youth)
May 14: Tempe Beach Park – Tempe, AZ (Pot of Gold Fest)
May 15: House of Blues – San Diego, CA (with Fortunate Youth)

expendables tour poster


The Melvins – Hold It In

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the melvins hold it in cover

 

The Melvins new album starts off with a rather ominous question: “What was that shit you sold me?”, from the song the ‘Bride of Crankenstein’. Indeed, it is the question every fan of the long running act can ask freely. Those who love their music heavy, heady, obtuse and downright confounding for over over 30 years can attest that every new album from this band brings different flavors to table. They have never made the same album, or song twice. Buzz Osborne and his first officer on the Federation Starship Melvins NCC 1701-X, Dale Crover have influenced many more bands than admit it. They have evolved from the creative outliers of a budding scene (Seattle, in the 80s), into the elder statesmen of sorts for bands of their ilk. No wonder Hold It In comes from Ipecac Records, a label full of like-minded, talented crazies. Joining Buzz and Dale for this outing are Paul Leary and JD Pinkus from Butthole Surfers. The pairs of musicians are a match in every conceivable way chemistry-wise, creating some unsettling and special tunes.

As you would imagine when these guys get together to create, things get weird, and in a good way. Odd riffs, whimsical songcraft and brave arrangements dot the tracks. From the dismal heaviness and driving riffage of ‘Bride…’, to the bright garage pop of ‘You Can Make Me Wait’, the trippy-proggy ‘Barcelonian Horseshoe Pit’, to the twangy stomp of ‘I Get Along (Hollow Moon)’; the inventiveness of each band is heard. It is definitely a sound and a feel of a Melvins album, with contributions from Paul and JD. You can discern a “Paul riff” here and “a Buzz lick” there and imagine the energy in the room when these four came together. Some of the touchstones here are sick amounts of feed-backing amp fuzz, phantom interludes, a few amazeballs solos traded, Floyd-ian space-rock tone-poems, and a rhythm section like a terrifying monstrous beast at times. All the propensity for weird-assed lyrics, and bizarro vocal deliveries (including ungodly shrieks from JD) all come to the fore as well. A little bit of something for everyone.

When it aims to be heavy, this is one of the heavier albums the band has put out of late, which says a lot considering the Big Business collaborations. ‘Onions Make The Milk Taste Bad’ and ‘Sesame Street Meat’ (two of the better titles this year) are gnarly as hell; true rockers. Another great cut, ‘Piss Pistoferson’ reeks of glam rock greatness, way down to the production value. They are getting their classic Kiss jones out, and frankly a Kiss song hasn’t been this good since 1991 anyway. The angular album closer ‘House of Gasoline’ sounds like it was more fun than should be legally allowed to have when it was birthed. A jam among jams.

The only shame is Leary’s distaste for the road means this lineup will only tour as a trio with Buzz, Dale and JD. Still, in reference to the opening line of the album, whatever shit they were sold, I want to buy some right now and I suspect you will too.

 

9.0/10

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KEITH CHACHKES


Melvins Announce New Album, Working With The Butthole Surfers

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The Melvins fall 2014

 

The Melvins have announced their new album Hold It In, to be released this fall on Ipecac. The first new album from the group since 2010’s The Bride Screams Murder features a new configuration of the band. Buzz Osborne and Dale Crover are joined now by famed Butthole Surfers Paul Leary and JD Pinkus. Hold it in was recorded between Los Angeles, where Buzz resides and Austin TX.

 

In an upcoming recent interview conducted with Ghost Cult, Buzz remarked that the yet to be announced Melvins project would be “like nothing anyone has ever heard from us”.

 

 

In a further quote from the press release Buzz chimes in further:

“Hold It In is a refreshing piece of fiction in a boring world of fact and bullsh*t,” said Osborne. “Paul is one of the best guitar players I have ever heard and Pinkus has an outside the box type of approach to both guitar and bass that you just have to let it ride. I can’t believe this actually happened. I’m thrilled.”

 

“It’s very rare you get a chance to work with three folks from the ‘Break A Wish’ foundation, all at the same time,” said Pinkus. “I believe they’ll remember their experience with me forever (or until they finally all lose their fight with S.I.D.S).”

The Melvins kick off a round of U.S. tour dates on Oct. 15 in Sacramento at Assembly, which also includes a performance at this year’s Voodoo Experience in New Orleans. Osborne, Crover and Pinkus will be the touring roster for this run of dates.

Tour dates:

October 15 Sacramento, CA Assembly

October 17 Bellingham, WA Wild Buffalo House of Music

October 18 Seattle, WA The Showbox

October 19 Portland, OR Roseland Theater

October 21 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall

October 22 San Luis Obispo, CA SLO Brewing

October 23 Los Angeles, CA The Troubadour

October 24 San Diego, CA The Casbah

October 25 Phoenix, AZ The Crescent Ballroom

October 26 Albuquerque, NM The Launchpad

October 28 Dallas, TX Trees

October 29 Austin, TX Mohawk

October 30 Houston, TX Warehouse Live – Studio

October 31 New Orleans, LA Voodoo Fest

November 1 Pensacola, FL Vinyl Music Hall

November 2 Gainesville, FL The Wooly

November 3 Jacksonville, FL Jack Rabbit’s

November 4 Orlando, FL The Social

November 5 Ft. Lauderdale, FL The Culture Room

November 6 Tampa, FL Orpheum Theater

November 8 Atlanta, GA The Loft at Center Stage

November 9 Birmingham, AL Zydeco

Tickets are on sale this Friday, Aug. 1 at 10 am local time.

Osborne is currently touring in support of his debut acoustic album, This Machine Kills Artists, performing shows this week in Tucson (July 30 at Club Congress) and Palm Springs (July 31 at Pappy & Harriet’s) before heading to Australia and Europe for an additional six weeks of dates. Crover temporarily joins OFF! for the band’s August tour.

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