Stout - Mind In The Gutter CD (1999 Ashwa Records)

 Another band that there is nothing out there on. Sad, cuz I like this. I was not expecting much based on the cover, but it's got a pretty cool power-pop vibe at times. I'm not saying I've unearthed some unknown classic, it's not that good, I'm just saying this is too good for there to be literally nothing online. I'm gonna guess they are from San Diego. If anyone knows anything, lemme know. 

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YTM

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OSW

Swiftkick - Don't Pass Out With Your Shoes On CD (2002 Self-released)

 

Don't know a thing about this. Was recorded in Riverside, CA, so I'm assuming they were from somewhere in the Inland Empire. SoCal 90's epifattish skate punk. Early NUFAN is probably the best comp, but I hear some slight Good Riddance and Strung Out elements at times. 

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Natural Fonzie & Spoto – Alive! CD [1996 Rodent Records]

 

Hi, how have you been? 

Couple of 90's San Francisco bands doing a kinda fuzzy-garage-maybe-hard-rock-with-a-sense-of-humor thing. 

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Oscars 2026: Best Movie

 Just finished watching all of them. Here's my rankings:

1. One Battle After Another. Actually lives up to the hype. PTA isn't always on, but when he's on, he's ON. Great movie. 
2. The Secret Agent. I thought OBAA would be a shoo in for my favorite until I saw this. It really does give OBAA a run for it's money. Fantastic, and I wouldn't be surprised if it pulls an upset. 
3. Marty Supreme. Went in skeptical, came out loving it. Propulsive, anxiety inducing, but in a less nauseous way than Uncut Gems. 
4. Bugonia. Very good. Nice twist at the end, even if you could see it coming a mile away. 
5. Sinners. It was good. It wasn't that good, and I don't think I'm ever going to understand the hype. 
6. Frankenstein. This is where the drop off begins. It was okay. But for a Guillermo Del Toro movie to have CGI this bad is inexcusable. 
7. Hamnet. Jesse Buckley's performance is amazing. The rest, eh. Like really, she had no idea her husband was kind of a big deal? The babe in the woods act, I mean come on. 
8. Sentimental Value. Great acting, a little up it's own ass. 
9. Train Dreams. Beautiful to look at. But narrative was annoying, and the story was not at all compelling to me. I'm sure the novella was great. 
10.  F1. A complete insult that it was nominated. Just complete garbage and a reminder why I don't go see "blockbusters". Weapons was 10x better than this. 

Sinister Sam - Catfish Gumbo CS [1991 Self-released]

 

This is a pretty rare cassette that screams 1991. I originally bought this tape at a show in Fresno. I don't remember the details very well, but I wanna say it was a really weird bill at Warnor's Theater with Sinister Sam, The Crucified, and Circus Bogus (btw The Crucified was the weird part. Fucking love that band, The Pillars Of Humanity is one of the best thrash albums of the 90's IMO. But they are a Christian band, and Circus Bogus, well, ain't). If there's anyone who can corroborate this, let me know. I could have this completely wrong. 

This was their only release, from when Thrash Funk was briefly a thing (don't get me started on how much I loved Mordred for about two weeks). I think they were from San Jose. At least that's what I always surmised from the lyrics to Fresno: "101 South to 1-5-2". I used to think this was really funny. Oh, the 90's. 

Yes, I'm selling the tape for $100. A cool-ass kid wanted to buy it, but couldn't. So I'm posting it here. She's here, if anyone wants to be the dopest person ever and by it for her. I am not that dope. Or charitable. Don't be me.

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Arliss - S/T CDr [2004]

Perusing local thrift stores, you come across a lot of local stuff that no one really knows about. I'm not talking about Everready or The Neighbors. More obscure. And a lot of the times you throw it on Discogs and it sells immediately for a ton of money, often from buyers overseas, and you're like whoa, what was that all about? It's happened many times to me. Userfriendly and Skipjack are two that come to mind. I don't know if this is more true in Southern California than other places, but it does seem to be a thing. 

It hasn't happened regarding Arliss, but it might. I put a YouTube videos up a while back, and immediately got requests to upload the whole EP. I never did, thinking it might discourage someone from buying this very, very rare EP. I would direct them to the Discogs page.  But years later, I still have it, so here's the whole thing. 

Arliss was North County MySpacecore. I thought I just made that term up, but google says not so! I don't know what its supposed to mean, but for me it means 2000's garage emo / post-hardcore bands. And by garage, I don't mean scrappy DIYers. I mean garage as in, while they probably had visions of being the next big thing, they never quite made it out of the garage. Sounds like that's a slight. I don't mean it to be. But it's not like you've ever heard of Arliss (shitty HBO shows excluded), right? 

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Against Your Will - Drunken Daze CD [2005 Smelvis Records]

 

Epi-Fat type punk. I think they were from San Pedro, CA, but I couldn't tell you anything else about them, bro. 

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Towncraft: Music And Words From Little Rock, Arkansas Comp LP [1992 File 13 +]

There was a 2007 doc about the Little Rock scene that was (likely) based on this, and added newer (at the time) bands. This is the real deal founding document though, and has mostly different songs than appeared in the doc soundtrack. 

Bands here are: 

The bands featured are:

• Chalk
• 12 Ft. 6
• Entrance
• Drain
• Substance
• Chino Horde
• Outlet
• 5-0
• G
• Sint

My rip is pretty noisy at times. 

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Viva La Vinyl Vol. # 2 Comp LP [1996 Dead Beat Records]

 

I've posted the original and volume 4 before. Nothing is going to touch the original, but this one ain't bad.  I mean it has Hickey, although not one of their best. The Gain track is excellent, but that's to be expected. The band that surprised me the most on here is The Choice. I really know nothing about them, but they contribute a great song. 

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Music 2025

It's stupid for me to write about 2025 releases. Even though every single year I make a resolution to listen to more new music, I never do. 

I could not get into a lot of the hyped stuff. It may me just my jaded nature to be over critical of stuff that's being sold to me as the greatest thing going. So I'll keep it short. 

My favorite album in 2025 was McLusky - The World Is Still Here And So Are We. Holy shit. Not just comeback album of the year. Album of the year. 

There was other stuff I liked, Home Front, PUP, Testament. There was stuff I didn't care for - Propagandhi (I know!), Turnstile (definitively NOT hardcore), Scowl, etc. 

The most disappointing album for me was The Dirty Nil's The Lash. I love this band, but didn't love this record. I merely liked it. But I was dying to love it. 

There's a lot of bands I see mentioned that I never did listen to - Wet Leg, Scarab, Water From Your Eyes, Wednesday

And then there was... Geese. I've been hearing a LOT about Geese's Getting Killed  from culture podcasts and critics. Everything I've heard has been passionate, generally positive, but sometimes negative, citing the vocals. 

So I decided to gave it a listen and it's.... pretty good? I mean I absolutely do not get the hype, but it's not bad. And about the vocals. A lot of people have issues with the vocals. But if you're an actual fan of rock music, you've heard vocals like this a million times and probably prefer a little weirdness. If you like Neutral Milk Hotel, Meat Puppets, Car Seat Headrest, or Daniel Johnston, then this is really not a big deal and not worth even discussing.  My favorite song on the album is probably the opener, Trinidad, which kinda feels like a throwaway opener, but does some strange percussive things that remind me of Faith No More at their weirdest. 

Here's my problem with the album, and it's actually a problem with critics, not the band. I keep hearing Geese referred to as the savior of rock music. But, that's a loaded phrase. I don't think this is what most people have in mind when they hear the words "rock music". This is indie rock. There's no real rock 'n roll swagger here. I like the album. It has a good vibe and quirky lyrics and themes. But what's lacking are any memorable hooks. Nothing get's stuck in your head. You won't be humming any of this, which is the ultimate test for me.  

The question is why would you go to Geese as the rock savior when McLusky is RIGHT THERE? If I didn't know any better, I might suspect that NYC indie rock bands get a disproportionate amount of attention and love. But that's not true, right?