Adam McIlwee of Tigers Jaw

I stand with Adam McIlwee in the kitchen of My Parents House, the former Spraynard residence and host to West Chester's best basement shows. The Tigers Jaw singer/guitarist takes a long pause to contemplate who his favourite character from 'The Office' is, while I nervously glance over at a hissing vat of pasta on the stove. Adam decides on intern turned failed CEO Ryan and the water starts to boil over. As we both rush over to turn the stove down, Tom May from The Menzingers and Corey Ciresi of Lee Corey Oswald enter the room. Insert 'How many band members from Scranton does it take to make spaghetti?' quip here. "Trying to steal my interview?" Adam jokes. Pat Graham of Spraynard walks in, apologizing for leaving the water on unattended and forgetting about it. Mystery solved and the interview can continue.

Take Aim Zine.: You're doing a few new solo songs tonight, what made you decide to pursue that?

Adam McIlwee: [Tigers Jaw] wanted to tour with Lee Corey Oswald, but the rest of the band couldn't do the tour, so they asked me if I'd just do it on my own and I said yes.

T.A.Z.: Did you already have songs?

A.M.: No. Well, I had some in mind and this put some pressure on me to finish them and have new stuff.

T.A.Z.: Are you recording your solo work?

A.M.: I already did. I have CDs with three songs.

T.A.Z.: I heard you're also doing a zine. Does that go along with the album?

A.M.: Well, I don't have that with me...

Pat: Ha, the way you said that sounded so sad!

A.M.: I mean, I don't have it ready for this tour. I wouldn't have been able to get it printed. It's unrelated [to the album], but it's all from me, so I guess there's something similar about everything.

T.A.Z.: Writing for one, I obviously love zines. Have you ever made one before?

A.M.: For school and stuff.

T.A.Z.: You made zines for projects? That's so cool!

A.M.: Yeah, for English class.

T.A.Z.: Tigers Jaw are working on a new album, how far into that are you guys?

A.M.: Not very. I know Ben has a song, I have one we've practiced a bit. We don't have that many songs finished and we've agreed to do a lot of other stuff, so it's going slowly.

Corey: Am I allowed to watch your interview?

T.A.Z.: Yes! You can participate if you want.

A.M.: I have to text my Mom, she sent me like four texts in a row.

Corey: I'll answer a question while he does that! Pretend I'm Adam though.

Pat: What's your favourite restaurant?

Corey: That's a good question. I'll go with Buona Pizza in downtown Scranton.

A.M.: I wouldn't say it like that... I don't get pizza there, only cheesesteaks. And hoagies.

[Note to foreign readers- A hoagie is what everyone outside of the PA/NJ/NY area calls a 'submarine sandwich.' Either way, both names are silly and they're delicious, so no arguments about it.]

T.A.Z.: Are Tigers Jaw playing Bamboozle again this year?

A.M.: *laughing* I don't think so. They haven't asked us yet and they would have by now.

T.A.Z.: I remember you saying the only other band you wanted to see that night was Das Racist and they were on at the same time as you guys.

A.M.: Yes! I was so bummed!

T.A.Z.: Did you ever get to see or talk to them?

A.M.: Nop,e, never did. I mean, I got to see a lot of other great bands, but I was looking forward to their set.

T.A.Z.: You do interviews on your blog with web comic artists and cartoonists, what are some of your favourite comics or graphic novels?

A.M.: Matt Seneca's 'Affected'... Anything by Jack Kirby. Batman.

T.A.Z.: You mention Kreayshawn on your blog a lot too.

A.M.: She's my inspiration! All the songs I'm doing tonight are because of her and her friends. I sample her in them.

T.A.Z.: Her friends? Like that other girl who just walks around and says two things in 'Gucci Gucci'?

A.M.: They just kicked her out! They're called 'The White Girl Mob' and Kreayshawn and V-Nasty kicked Li'l Debbie out!

T.A.Z.: *laughing* Her name is Li'l Debbie? I did not know that.

[note to foreign readers- Little Debbie is an American brand of pre-packaged desserts, so this is about as funny as a rapper with the nickname Tim Tam.]

A.M.: And V-Nasty just released an album with Gucci Mane.

T.A.Z.: Have you seen the fish taco parody of 'Gucci Gucci'? It's like the story of my life.

A.M.: No, I haven't. I'll have to look that up.

T.A.Z.: The girl in it looks exactly like her. So, do Tigers Jaw have any overseas tours planned for 2012?

A.M.: We want to do a million things, like go back to the U.K. and eventually get to California.

T.A.Z.: Australia?

A.M.: Oh yeah! Australia and Japan are my top two.

At this point, I asked a question about movies that somehow veered into everyone in the kitchen nerding out about MTV's 'True Life.' Fun fact: Corey almost had his own episode about being in a long-distance relationship.

T.A.Z.: What was your favourite piece of news in 2011?

A.M.: That Li'l Debbie got kicked out of Kreayshawn's crew. *laughs*

T.A.Z.: You should contact her and do an album together!

A.M.: I actually tried to get in touch with her on Twitter.

T.A.Z.: We'll send her this interview and make it happen!

A.M.: Yes!

So, if any of you out there personally know Li'l Debbie, get this to her ASAP. If you don't know her, Twitter link the crap out of this article to her. If you live in the US, be sure to make it out to Tigers Jaw's upcoming tour with Captain We're Sinking! and (on the second half of the tour) Balance & Composure. If you don't live in the US, buy Tigers Jaw's self titled album!

The Static Jacks interview

Right before Halloween, I had a chat over the phone with The Static Jacks' guitarist, Henry Kaye before he played a sold-out show at Johnny Brendas opening for The Wombats. The New Jersey band recently released their debut album, If You're Young on Fearless Records; for a taste of their music, check out the new video for "Into the Sun" above!

Take Aim Zine: How was CMJ?

Henry Kaye: It was good, though pretty brief because we had to leave right away to start the tour we're on now with The Wombats. We played two shows, both went really well.

T.A.Z.: One was with We Are Scientists, right?

H.K.: Yeah, that was a really good one! It was a party for our management company, all these incredible bands. Quite the show to end on before starting this tour.

T.A.Z.: I know it's only a day in, but how is the tour going?

H.K.: Incredible! Last night we played in D.C. at the 9:30 Club. It's a pretty funny story, it was an early show, our start time was at 5:30, so the morning we left Jersey for D.C. we had van trouble and couldn't leave until the afternoon. After flooring it down to the show, we pulled up to the venue at 5:32, two minutes into our set, ran onstage and immediately started playing. The place was already packed with loads of people, we played a great show and everyone loved it. It was a crazy, whirlwind day. An interesting start, but so far, so good!

T.A.Z.: Oh phew, glad you guys made it! So, you guys are signed to Fearless and have a very different sound than other bands on the label.

H.K.: Oh, definitely.

T.A.Z.: What was the reaction when people found out you signed with them?

H.K.: I think Fearless fans don't mind. So far they seem to be into it, because we pull from early punk influences that a lot of these kids seem to like... We've gotten a number of new, younger fans at shows that treat us really well, give us candy bars and stuff. *laughs*

T.A.Z.: Had you heard of Fearless or were familiar with any of their bands before you signed to them?

H.K.: I never really listened to any of their current bands, but I love their earlier bands like At the Drive In. That had an impact on me. Oh, and Eve 6, who I really liked when I was younger.

T.A.Z.: Fearless is pretty famous for their 'Pop Goes...' series, would you ever do a cover for one of those in the future?

H.K.: Oh wow, I never really thought about that... It would be fun, but we never talked about it.

T.A.Z.: One of The Static Jacks' t-shirt designs is a play on The Misfits skull logo, are you big Misfits fans?

H.K.: They're one of our favourites, especially since they're from New Jersey as well. Ian, our singer, his voice always gets compared to Glenn Danzig's vocals and it's the greatest compliment ever.

T.A.Z.: Heck yeah, New Jersey! Is that how all of you met, in high school there?

H.K.: Myself, Nick (our drummer), and Ian are from Westfield, New Jersey. We started playing music together when we were 14, Freshman year of high school... Then after we graduated high school, we brought on Mike, our bass player who grew up a town over from us. So we're all from the same county in New Jersey.

T.A.Z.: Did you come to Philly a lot or were you more the New York type?

H.K.: We got our start playing in New York, but we went to Philly plenty of times. We're at Johnny Brendas now, we've also played World Cafe Live a few times. New York City is closer to us, but Philly is still only an hour and a half away.

T.A.Z.: You said on your Twitter that you're a big fan of Halloween, what are some of your favourite scary movies?

H.K.: It's not a movie, but I just downloaded all the Simpsons 'Treehouse of Horror' episodes.

T.A.Z.: Oh man, those are the best!

H.K: Yeah! I just like all those cartoon Halloween specials from the 90s. And the 'Boy Meets World' Halloween episode, you know, where it's a 'Scream' parody.

T.A.Z.: Yes! The one kid's name is Kenny and he gets killed with a pencil through the head!

H.K.: "They killed Kenny!"

T.A.Z.: The best line in the whole episode is where Corey points at the mark the pencil left behind and says, "We'll always remember he was this tall!"

H.K.: Classic television.

T.A.Z.: In one of your music videos, it shows you busking on the street, do you do that a lot?

H.K.: It's been a while, but there was a year or year and a half period where we would busk at Union Square in New York on a regular basis, like a few times a week. We just thought it was a really good way to get the word out and have people exposed to our in a different way from usual.

T.A.Z.: It is a pretty unique way of being heard.

H.K.: It's a great community and we got good responses. We did it when we were down at SXSW and in Montreal, we try to do it as much as we can.

T.A.Z.: I read a while back that The Static Jacks did a Daytrotter session, but I can't find it. Did they have to scrap it? What happened with that?

H.K.: *laughing* What happened was we got there to do it and unfortunately, after three hours of set-up and whatever, the engineer spilled coffee all over the mixing board, ruining all the tracking and everything we'd worked on.

T.A.Z.: Oh no!

H.K.: I can say though, that on Halloween we're doing another one in Austin, where they set up a new studio. So we're going back to do another one that will hopefully not have any problems and that will be online shortly.

T.A.Z.: Are you doing a show that night too?

H.K.: Sadly, no. We tried to get a Halloween show.... We're playing VooDoo Fest in New Orleans, so we're going to celebrate that weekend.

T.A.Z.: Are you working on any new material?

H.K.: Right after we made the album, we recorded an EP together, so it was around the same time of the creation of If You're Young.... I'm not even sure what the plan is for putting that out, but I imagine it'll be in a number of months and that'll be our follow-up. We're already prepared and one step ahead.

T.A.Z.: Another thing I saw on your Twitter is that you guys went to Marvel Comics headquarters. I'm super jealous! How'd you manage to get in there?

H.K.: Their website director, the editor for Marvel.com, he got our CD somehow and Tweeted about it as a thank you. We just got to talking and our publicist put us in touch, so we got to go to the headquarters and hang out for the day. Ian and I went over and did a short interview with them, got to meet the staff, and got a lot of free comics. It was one of the best days of my life.

T.A.Z.: Who's your favourite Marvel character or what's your favourite series?

H.K.: I have to say I like Spiderman best. There's one volume called 'Spiderman Blue' by Tim Sale, that's the best. And the early stuff with Gwen Stacy that Stan Lee wrote. So, I'm excited about the new movie coming out.

T.A.Z.: Oh yeah, because she's in it. Have you seen the preview for 'The Avengers?'

H.K.: Yes I have, they showed it to us when we were at the headquarters that day, before they prepared the world for that.

T.A.Z.: Wow, before anyone else! Well, that's about all the questions I have for today, thanks for talking with me and have a great show!

H.K.: Thanks, take care!

Back from the Morgue - Mad Sin in Australia

This week Mad Sin kicks off their long awaited Australian tour with their first show in Brisbane on Thursday night featuring Casino Rumbles, Mouthguard and The Vampers. The German psychobilly legends are playing six shows across Australia which are sure to be wild and with a possibility of pyrotechnics. I spoke to singer Koefte de Ville about 'Burn and Rise', Psychobilly and Adam Ant.

Angie Hurlock

Released in 2010, 'Burn and Rise' is the eleventh album from Germany's Mad Sin. With an aim to return to more of a rockabilly sound with this latest album, the songs 'Nine Lives' and 'Sex, Love, Blood'n'Death' firmly cement the rockabilly roots of Mad Sin. “We started working on it [Burn and Rise] and it was our plan to get back to our roots which are more rockabilly and early punk stuff. The album we did before we went a little too far with the sound and it was too fast.” During the writing of the album, Mad Sin suffered the loss friends which affected the album making it very autobiographical and influencing the title. “A lot of shit happened to us, a lot of people died, shit happened in our private lives when we were in the process of writing the songs. We didn't want to do a dark album with depressive sort of stuff. We thought the people that we lost wouldn't want that, they would want us to have a big fucking party. So we came up with the idea of calling 'Burn and Rise', burn the old shit and rise up again”.

Despite most songs on the album being written in English, there are a handful of songs in Koefte's native tongue, German. Mostly Mad Sin songs are in English to reach a larger audience however, with the emotive nature of 'Burn and Rise', Koefte found the words for some songs felt more organic in German. “There is one song, 'Für Immer' which is really a love song. I split up with my girlfriend when all that shit was happening and I wrote the song in German because it came from my heart, it came naturally. Geisterfahrer, I always wanted to do that song because we just love that title. Geisterfahrer, which is the word for the guys that drive on the wrong side of the road, its kinda a metaphoric song and it kinda had to be in German. I think on the next album there will be some more songs in German, because people enjoy it here”.

This year marks the 25^th anniversary of Mad Sin and their influence on modern psychobilly, but the scene was almost non existent in the early 80s when Koefte first became interested in the rockabilly scene. “ I started when psychobilly wasn't even there, as a rockabilly teddy boy. That was like 1981 and in Germany there were no psychobilly bands. I was listening to a lot of old rockabilly stuff, I was eleven years old when I started and I had no money. From there on it kinda evolved, it was like Psychobilly was the new thing with rockabilly an old style and there was new rockabilly, those cat kinda bands which were a little more soft. But then the Meteors came with their very first album. We started to be at first very rockabilly and psychobilly came later. We changed our clothes from traditional teddy boy gear to jeans and boots and stud belts and stuff like this and we had the flat tops, you know stuff like that. Berlin was a big underground scene at the time, a lot of street fights between the gangs, but everyone was into music”. On the 20 years of Sin album Mad Sin cover Adam Ant's 1985 hit, “Vive Le Rock”. Despite Koefte finding Adam Ant a little too mainstream during the 80's, it was a song they had wanted to cover for a while. “I always liked some [Adam Ant] songs, I like when he was still with the Ants, 'Stand and Deliver' and 'Goody two shoes', the early stuff that was more new wave punk. But the 'Vive Le Rock' album we always liked because it had that certain rockabilly influence. You know more of the songs sounded a mix between old rockabilly and T. Rex or something like that. We just covered it and it turned out great. We just did it and we never released it really, it was just for us and somehow it never seemed to fit on anything. But we thought with the 20 years thing we could put it on there because it had never been released”.

This November hails the first time that Mad Sin have come to Australia and they're looking forward to putting on some great shows to some wild audiences. “It's kinda surreal for us to go to Australia. We started here in Berlin and now we've evolved and seen half of the world, but we never expected Australia so that's a very big thing for us in a way for making it with the music. Also we like a lot of Australian people we've met here in Europe, America and Japan and we're friends with The Fireballs and Zombie Ghost Train. They [Zombie Ghost Train] are good friends of ours, we've known them a long time. When they first came over here I tried to get them a record deal when they only had the demo tape going on and it kinda worked out. So you know all those people we've met from Australia are really cool, so we're really looking forward to partying after the shows. We will have some days off and we definitely want to see the beach and all that and also the nature there”. Australian audiences can also expect an amazing live show from Mad Sin with each show different to the last. “What we give is what we feel and what we are. Unfortunately I think we cannot do our fire show cos we have some things going on where we set fire to the bass at certain parts of the show, but I don't think we are allowed to do this in the venues over there as far as I know. We're going to try to do it. But anyway its going to be very wild and spontaneous and different. We're not one of those bands where the audience expects the same things at each show. So you better come to all the shows. If you want to see the whole picture you have to come to all the shows”.

Mad Sin are doing six dates on this Australian tour heading down the east coast and even making it to Perth, so make sure get a long to at least one to experience and celebrate the legendary psychobilly of Mad Sin. “I just want to say after 25 years we are ready to go over and if you're into this type of music, we hope to see you there and I would appreciate to see you there. Offer us some drinks after the show, if we're not too tired, we're going to be there and will party with you guys”.

3rd November | Hi-Fi Bar, BRISBANE 18+
4th November | Shed 5, GOLD COAST All Ages
5th November | Annandale Hotel, SYDNEY 18+
6th November | Cambridge Hotel, NEWCASTLE 18+
11th November | Hi-Fi Bar, MELBOURNE 18+
12th November | Rosemount Hotel, PERTH 18+

Spraynard at LAVA Space

Alas, none of my photos turned out well due to me being short and pinned up against some amps the whole set. So, the very cool Mary Jane Jacobs allowed me to use her pictures from the show, please visit her tumblr blog for more fantastic shots.

I've talked with a number of bands for Take Aim and various other publications, but I only recently realized I've never interviewed a Pennsylvania band and sought to correct it by having a chat with one of my local favourites, Spraynard from West Chester. Two weeks ago, they played a show with fellow PA group Algernon Cadwallader at LAVA Space, a radical non-profit community building that supports charities like Project SAFE (which the concert benefited) and protests such as the Occupy Wall Street Movement. Spraynard gave a short, high-energy show where they were almost engulfed by the crowd who pushed forward to passionately sing along. Despite the excitement, everyone respected the venue and gave cheers for random nostalgia when the band asked whether people remembered the '90s sitcom Hangin' with Mr Cooper.

Known for being a great band comprised of even greater dudes, Spraynard started out with friends who turned into fans and now they befriend most of their fans. "Our main goal is to meet as many people as we can," explains Pat. I talked with the two Pats (Pat Graham, the singer/guitarist and Pat Ware, the drummer also known as Dos) at the end of the night while bassist Mark Dickinson finished loading out. Harris from opening band Sundials was jokingly brought over to be "Mark" until the real one came back. They all pondered my decidedly difficult opening question about their favourite Pokémon (Dos said Snorlax, Pat claimed Ditto and Harris admitted "Pikachu is the only one I know"), followed by the even tougher task of describing what it was like to be hand picked by Kid Dynamite to support them at their recent reunion show.

Pat- "Kid Dynamite is like THE perfect band, that's the safe thing to say. We all met because we liked Kid Dynamite in high school, so to play that show and hear that Dan Yemin likes our band is indescribable."

Dos- "He [Dan Yemin] came up to me and talked about Spraynard for ten minutes and I just thought, 'What are you doing? Your band is all I care about, don't talk to me about my band."

Pat- "I think that show will be the most important one we ever play."

The real Mark finally joins in, laughing as we recall what Harris had answered on his behalf ("I play as Pikachu in 'Super Smash Brothers,' so that works," he says). We exchange more Dan Yemin stories (I saw him in Trader Joes once, that's all I had to contribute) and talk about the First Unitarian Church, home to the infamous Jimmy. "Just playing there was huge..." Pat smiles, "It's our old stomping grounds." Playing FU Church is a big deal, especially for local bands, but Spraynard prefer places like LAVA Space.

Pat- "I love it here... It has so much cool information."

Mark- "Yeah, there's an educational part to it too."

Dos- "A lot of times at shows now, you forget about what we're actually here for. We're not just here to jump around and drink... You gotta be doing something productive."

My first Spraynard gig was several years ago in a mutual friend's garage next to a small chicken coop, a quintessentially Pennsylvania type of show. For Spraynard, it's the bigger shows they find unusual.

Mark- "Any situation we manage to get stuck in is always very humorous to us..."

Dos- "Because we're best friends, no matter what the circumstance or how weird it is, we'd all rather be playing in a basement with friends in front of us."

Pat- "We're all on the same page all the time, which is rare for a lot of bands. Or for a lot of people in general. We don't mind playing bigger shows with a lot of people, it's a cool experience, but we're more comfortable at shows like this. At the end of the day, we just try to be real, to not get ahead of ourselves and forget that we're kids having fun playing shitty pop-punk songs."

One such big festival Spraynard have coming up is the Fest in Gainesville, Florida. The guys agree it's sure to be a good time where they can see a lot of bands they've toured with before in one place, but it's also bound to be a Bro Fest with lots of drinking. Not big on partying (Pat and Mark don't drink, Dos only has the occasional beer), Spraynard are all about having a good time by simply enjoying the company of friends and maybe a copy of 'Mallrats.' The only dangerous incident on tour they can think of was a few days earlier when Mark had to go to the ER because he drank too much soda.

Dos- "One of our first shows, there was a huge fight that broke out and we all ran and went 'AAAAH!' *laughs* We don't have any interest in fighting."

Pat- "You always hear about bands that are like, 'Oh, we jumped off this cliff and went into a dumpster and got food!' We're like, 'We sat in our van, hung out, and talked about movies.'"

At this point, we start discussing our friend Ed, who I know from high school and they currently live with. They insist I include a story where their smoke alarm went off for no reason in the middle of the night and Ed punched it repeatedly, yelling "I was snoozing so hard!" Classic Ed. It's always funny to see how many people you know are inter-connected in the Philadelphia/Philly suburb communities, especially now that Pennsylvania bands like The Wonder Years, Title Fight, and many others are becoming known around the world. Is the Pennsylvania scene going to be the 2010s equivalent of the influence New Jersey's scene had on music in the 2000s?

Mark- "It piggybacks off itself, if you have a bunch of bands, one of them will start a label and eventually that will inspire other bands... Philly and the surrounding area has been swelling for a while."

Pat- "It also helps that Philly is a hub for a lot of places. Scranton had an exodus here... So, you got The Menzingers. Then the Tigers Jaw kids. People just want to be in a city and with all their friends."

Dos- "The coolest part of the PA scene is all the bands are friends. The Menzingers are totally going to be famous, but us and Algernon are never going to be that, we'll be underground. Please mark us down as saying that The Menzingers will be in a movie."

Pat- *laughing* "A World War Two movie!"

Dos- "We didn't grow up here [in Philly], but all our friends moved here... We used to be a bit bitter towards the city, but it's more about the people.The actual town [of West Chester] kind of sucks... but our friends, those 30 or 40 kids we know are what make it special."

Pat- "The atmosphere is unmatched. Philly has so many kids..."

Mark- "Tonight there were four or five shows going on [in Philly], it makes you feel small."

Other than their current tour and The Fest, Spraynard have a lot of plans for the rest of the year and 2012.

Dos- "In January to August, we're going to try to do a month in Europe and the UK. We have a few other festivals, the Stay Sweet Fest in Richmond, which we were just confirmed for. A few on the East Coast, maybe West Coast, we're going to see how far we can go. Any time we're not on tour, we're bummed out and wish we were on tour."

Mark- "We wanna be Black Flag really bad. *laughs* Long hair Henry Rollins era Black Flag."

The Casualties are coming to Australia... finally!

Forming on the streets of the Lower East side of New York around 1990, The Casualties have since become a synonymous with punk.  Their brand of fast, angry, hardcore punk often attracts kids in their formative punk years and The Casualties become staple listening for many young punks.   ‘It feels great and very odd at times.  I never thought when I joined this band that I would be influencing so many younger punks to pick up an instrument and start whaling away”.  After the shows were intially postponed, The Casualties are heading to Australia for the first time and kicking off the tour in Melbourne on the 10^th November. 

I recently got the chance to speak to Marc ‘Meggers’ about The Casualties and the upcoming Australian tour.

Angie Hurlock

On The Casualties longevity:

We still love what we do and thank our lucky stars that we are able to do what we love and make a living off it.  With that said, we just get by.  Nobody is getting rich off this band.  If we stop touring we will not be able to pay rent.  So many people live pay check to pay check, same thing for us.  We live from tour to tour.  Sorry, derailed there for a minute.  Is it still easy?  Sometimes it is.  When we are on stage doing our thing, giving it our all, it is the greatest feeling.  But then at certain points when I’m in the RV on an all day drive breathing Rick’s farts and Jorge’s foot odor, I miss home, my girlfriend and my bed.  We all do, but would I trade it for a 9-5 job?  No way.  This is what we do.  We live it and we love it, it’s all we know.

On Festivals:

 

We played a festival years ago in Berlin with Cocksparrer.  So amazing.  We just played a fest with Cobra in Japan.  I never thought I’d get the chance to see them, nevertheless play together.  Shared the stage a few times with The Damned, Exploited and GBH.  We have been so lucky to share the stage with so many great bands, too many to mention them all.  And even stranger, to become friends with a lot of our childhood heroes.

On the Australian Tour:

We have been wanting to come over for years, but it has never seemed to pan out.  I’m excited to play and see another part of the world.  We have been to so many places over the years it’s awesome when we hit some uncharted territory for us.  [Australian audiences] should expect high energy, high volume, fun, united shows.  Lots of slam dancing and a lot of beer flying about.  And the day after expect a headache, ringing in your ears and some bumps and bruises.

On the future:

After Australia we are headed to South East Asia which I cannot wait for.  Again it’s more new territory for the band.  Then finally take a break from our tour and start writing new songs for a new record.

Final words:

We are coming, finally.  Can’t wait to play for you lot and hope we all have a great time.  Thanks for being patient.

Make sure you check out The Casualties on one of their upcoming dates!

10th NOVEMBER | MELBOURNE | THE EAST BRUNSWICK CLUB
w/ THE WORST & NO IDEA
Tickets on sale via www.eastbrunswickclub.com and at the box office. (p. 9388 9794)

11th NOVEMBER | SYDNEY | THE MANNING BAR
w/ TOPNOVIL & THE RUMJACKS
Tickets on sale from www.manningbar.com. p. 1300 862 545, www.moshtix.com.au, 1300 GET TIX (438 849), on your mobile www.moshtix.mobi and other moshtix outlets.


13th NOVEMBER | BRISBANE | THE HIFI BAR
w/ THE SCAM & LEOPARD STREET DROOGS
Tickets from www.thehifi.com.au. p. 1300-THEHIFI (8434434), Rocking Horse Records, Butter Beats, Sunflower Pacific Fair, Disasterpiece, Mosh Pit Music, Kill The Music, Gooble Warming, Rockaway Records.

Bizoo Regional Tour!

Bizoo's Best of Retrospective Zine continues its launch throughout Queensland over the next couple of months before taking on the rest of the country next year. 
Not only is the zine getting launched, but free workshops are being held in many regional Queensland towns. 

Check out the dates below and head along!


- 8 Oct: Bizoo Book Brisbane Launch + Zine Fair + Bands @ 4ZZZfm Car park (Zine Fair 10:30am-2:30pm, Bands 3pm – 6pm)


- 20 Oct: Rockhampton - Song writing and Community workshop @ Walter Reid Centre (6-9pm)

- 22 Oct: Rockhampton – Zine Workshop @ The Regional Library (10am-1pm)

- 24 Oct: Mackay – Zine Fair @ Crossroad Arts (3:30pm-5pm)

- 27 Oct: Palm Island - Zine workshop (invite only)

- 28 Oct: Townsville - Zine workshop (invite only)

- 29 Oct: Cairns - Zine workshop @ Crate59 (10:30-1pm), Music Workshop @ MOFO 3:30-5:30pm + Gig

- 5 Nov: Townsville –Michelle and Natasha’s opening (6pm-9pm) Gig w/ (9pm-10pm) @ Artspaced/Dance North

- 6 Nov: Townsville - Zine workshop & BBQ @ Artspaced/Dance North (12 – 3pm)

- 7 Nov: Mackay – Zine meet up and Gocco printing @ Crossroad Arts (3:30-5pm)

- 8 Nov: Rockhampton – A venue and Bizoo presents a music networking night w/screening of ‘A Piss in the Ocean’ @ Walter Reid Centre (6-9pm)

- 11 Nov: Longreach – Music Workshop @ Youth Club (4-7pm)

- 12 Nov: Longreach – Zine Workshop @ Youth Club 12:30-3pm)

- 13 Nov: Blackall – Music/Zine workshops & BBQ @ Blackall Memorial Hall (12-5pm)

- 16 Nov: Roma – Zine workshop @ Community Hall (4-7pm)

- 17 Nov: Roma – Music workshop @ Community Hall (4-7pm)

- 19 Nov: Dalby – Zine Workshop @ Dalby Regional Gallery (10am-2pm)

Book review: 'Damned' by Chuck Palahniuk

I will always remember how I spent my last day of high school reading 'Haunted' instead of signing yearbooks and saying cheesy goodbyes to people I didn't really know or like anyway. It was my first foray into a Chuck Palahniuk novel and I soon realized this was a foolish choice for someone unaccustomed to his shocking, transgressive style of writing. When I reached the infamously disgusting chapter 'Guts' (rumored to have caused dozens of audience members to faint over the course of his book promotion tour), I screamed and threw the book across my Homeroom. As if this didn't get enough stares, seconds later I eagerly ran to pick it up and immediately continued reading, morbidly fascinated and still queasy. Thus is the addictive lure of Palahniuk gross-out scenes.

After consuming his entire body of work, I now know the rest of his novels are not as graphic, though dark veins of violence and sex acts still pop up throughout them all. For any 'Palahniuk virgins' out there, I can safely say that his latest novel, 'Damned' is an ideal place to start. When I giddily ripped open my package containing an advance copy of 'Damned' (set to go on sale October 18th), a 'letter' from heroine Madison Spencer fell out. On her pink and purple pre-teen stationary, Madison declares Palahniuk a "...Mr. Whorey McWhoreski so-called writer.... Judy Blume, he is not." Could it be that the main character is for once not a terrible person with major psychotic issues that you love to hate and instead a sassy chick-lit referencing chubby thirteen-year-old girl you can actually relate to? I'm sure some Palahniuk readers might initially be turned off by this casting, but I was excited to see how this rare functional character would handle the struggles of a Palahniuk imagined Hell.

Yes, Hell. I forgot to mention our fabulous Madison is dead and condemned because of a supposed marijuana overdose at thirteen. Like a smarter version of Georgia Nicholson, Madison (full name Madison Desert Flower Rosa Parks Coyote Trickster Spencer, thanks to her ridiculous celebrity parents) decides to make the best of her eternal time in the nether world and meet new friends, preferably becoming BFFs with Satan himself. "Are you there, Satan? It's me, Madison.... Honestly, I give up on giving up. I'm just not cut out to be some hopeless, disillusioned wretch with no aspirations for the rest of eternity, sprawled catatonic in my own feces on a stone cold floor."

Between viewings of 'The English Patient,' Hell's torturous film of choice, Madison thinks of her own favourite movie, 'The Breakfast Club' and notices the people surrounding her in perdition resemble the '80s detention room crew. Shallow Babette with obviously fake designer clothes, know-it-all geek Leonard and Patterson the high school football player are among the first citizens of Hell she encounters. Madison deems herself the Ally Sheedy character and the comparison is rounded out by Archer, a blue mohawked punk who springs the gang from their cages with the safety pin that pierces his cheek .

Hell has done it's job breaking billions of it's inhabitants, but our heroes see potential in the land of fire and decide to search for something rather than wasting away in a cell. While crossing terrain made of glass, scabs, and cockroaches, Madison can't help but reflect back on her short bittersweet life on Earth. Raised by famous parents who act like Edina from 'Ab Fab' and go through scores of adopted children faster than Madonna, it's no wonder Madison feels Hell is an improvement. Palahniuk clearly had a lot of fun researching obscure mythology, because most of Leonard's input is namedropping multitudes of ancient demons, demigods, and other deities banished to the Underworld that enjoy chowing down on the humans out of boredom. Several celebrities, artists, and historical figures make cameo appearances as well, since nearly everyone important is put on the down escalator after they die. Madison especially enjoys this perk and keeps an eye out for River Phoenix. "One can't help but picture the lackluster VIP Lounge in Heaven, a kind of nonalcoholic ice-cream social starring Harriet Beecher Stowe and Mahatma Gandhi. Hardly anyone's idea of a 'with-it' social register."

After much difficulty, the Hellfast Club make it to a town where they're allowed to contribute to infernal society. Unfortunately, the only career choices are porn ("You see, Hell is responsible for about 85 percent of the Internet's total smut content.") or conducting pointless phone surveys designed to interrupt the living from enjoying their dinners. Madison becomes a star telemarketer, convincing several of her dying clients to sin it up in their remaining time on Earth so they can join her downstairs once the big day comes. Alternating between memories of her flesh life and spirit life, we slowly learn more about Madison, growing ever fond of her. I can't say I blame the dying folks she recruited, I'd want a friend like Madison to show me the ropes.

The way Palahniuk structures the strict rules of damnation, nearly everyone ends up there even if they were the kindest humanity had to offer. Pee in a pool as a child or curse more than 700 times in your life and Heaven's gates close. "According to Babette, 98.3 percent of lawyers end up in Hell. That's in contrast to the 23 percent of farmers who are eternally damned... Perhaps a trace number of politicians ascend into Heaven, but statistically speaking, 100 percent of them are cast into the fiery pit. As are essentially 100 percent of journalists and redheads." Well, I'm an auburn blogger, so if that counts, guess I'll see you in Hell, Palahniuk. The twists at the end are a tad more predictable and less sociopathic than those in his other books, but overall, 'Damned' is a wonderful novel. It's the only heartwarming story about Hell you'll ever read, an odd sentiment that in itself makes it well worth a try.