Local Stuff You Should Know #5
No rest for the local punk-hunter.
TPStank • Thursday, July 16, 2009 • 12:00 PM
Trying to keep up with the sheer awesomeness that splatters this state from border to border is a full time job. There is so much going on in the Arizona punk scene on a daily basis, that since we relaunched in April, there's maybe been one day that has been empty on our show calendar. And despite the daunting task of scanning the innerwebs for shows to populate the calendar with, there's a chance that something was going on that I just missed. That being said, it's hard for us to get EVERY show posted. If you know of something coming up that you don't see on the calendar, please post it! If you've got something you want to promote, let us know! We're still working on making comments possible, and tons of other stuff, but the promotional capabilities on AZPunk is alive and well! If you want to help, or if you've got shit you want to promote online (and we know you do), just shoot us an email and let's get it rollin!
Ok ok, enough with the begging. Let's get on with the real reason we're here; a very brief list of some of the local things you should know about...
Good Ol' Tom Phnart of Pinky Tuscadero's White Knuckle Assfuck & Hillbilly Devilspeak fame (as well as part genius behind AZPunk's Thrash Of The Titans show) has a brand new band lined up, and from what he tells me, it sounds like a whole lot of awesome...
"The Father Figures is a brand new band with Michael Cornelius (commonly referred to as Chicken Butt from JFA ) on guitar and vox, me (Tom) on bass and vox, and Bobby Lerma (who has played with the Captives, Jeff Dahl, Grant and the Geezers, the Voice, Sticky Thang, and many others) on drums and vox. It is a very different kind of band for me, at least, and also, I think, for Michael. It post-punky, fugazi-ish, pixies-like, with some definite Phoenix underground flavor. At least that is what I hear in it. We started out by talking about our love for bands like Gang of Four and Wire and then we decided to jam."
They've got a couple gigs coming up within the months, but you can check out their first performance this Saturday at The Ruby Room on 717 S. Central Ave. in Phoenix , in celebration of Michael's 50th old fart birthday party. Go check it out and give him some special birthday spanks.
Northpark Awesome Fast
Our resident awesome dude, MikeyWretch from Rumspringer , Hotdog! & Japanese Monsters , pointed me towards an out-of-state events that will be showcasing some of Arizona's great underground talent. The Northpark Awesome Fast in San Diego, CA will for certain make one kick ass road trip on the weekend of September 4th-7th. If the enticement of checking out local bands like Adrew Jackson Jihad , Shark Pants , Rumspringer & Japanese Monsters , don't get your adult parts tightening up, maybe the best commercial in the whole world will:
Mikey's posted an entire blog about NAF on theshizz.org . Peep it for all the details.
Rob, my friend, you have way too much time on your hands. Check out what the AZPX guys have been busy with. Hail Skatan!
Golden Rule Tattoo
Earlier this month, Golden Rule Tattoo presented it's Grand Opening event as a perfect addition to Roosevelt Row and First Fridays. Jason Anthony from Red Son heads up the place with some friends and they're part of a rapidly growing collective of artistic thinkers in the Downtown area who play a massive part in keep shit real in this city. Head over to Golden Rule Tattoo located at 120 E. Roosevelt St. in Phoenix and treat yourself to a well applied and planned out tattoo that you will love for years to come. To see some pictures from the Grand Opening event, skip on over to the Phoenix New Times site.
Art by Jason Anthony
Speaking of Red Son, they have a big show coming up with Royal Monsters for their EP Release/Tour Kickoff @ Green in Tempe this Friday, July 17. Go check out the show posting on our calendar for the gritty details.
Because Shark Pants will never die.
Matt Spastic from 602 Radio
602 Radio is a bullet train of awesome. Matt Spastic and the guys running the show over there pump out one awesome and crazy recording session after another. Since I last mentioned them in Local Stuff You Should Know #1 , they've been hard at work on recording all kinds of local punk bands linke Scorpion Vs. Tarantula , Automatic Erasers , Nunzilla , Necronauts , My Doll and more. If you hven't heard of 602 Radio, drop what your doing, turn up your speakers and check them out. These guys produce a precious local resource, and we give them 100% respect! Don't ever stop what you're doing, guys.
As an added bonus, here's a video of Nunzilla in their latest 602 Radio session.
P.S. If you haven't noticed, you can listen to every 602 radio session for free at the bottom of this website. Just scroll down to the footer, choose a playlist, and don't close your browser!
DJ Don Miguel
DJ Don Miguel from Tucson is spinning punk rock vinyl from all over the board weekly on Wednesdays from 6-10 pm. He's been hopping from venue to venue spinning records for a while, but for now, you can catch him at Club Congress at 11 E. Congress St. in Tucson. Head over there, grab a beer, and kick back while Don Miguel spins the shit you wanna hear. Best part is, it's free - except for the beer part.
The Impossible Ones
Wes from The Plainfield Butchers (formerly Big Vinny and the Cattle Thieves ) runs the boards on The Driving With Gass Show on KWSS 106.7 FM on Mondays from 4-7. Wes has been diligent about getting locals involved with this show, and recently has featured bands like Authority Zero and The Impossible Ones . Speaking of which, here's a video of their song One More Drink off their upcoming album Blood, Death and Glory on May Cause Dizziness Records .
Fuck You Ups
Do you like the Format? Fuck You Ups do. Go listen to their cover of The First Single and tell them what you think.
ICanSmallYourBrains.com
Our gory brothers over at ICanSmallYourBrains.com are giving away free shirts from Fright Rags. All you have to do is sign up on the ICanSmallYourBrains.com message board , and post a reply in this thread telling them how much you want it. Here's a little clip taken from their promo message:
"In honor of a super sweet interview that Kirby did with Fright Rags owner Ben Scrivens, I Can Smell Your Brains and Fright Rags are teaming up to give away free shirts from Fright Rags kick ass line of horror shirts! Oh wait... There is more. every single person who enters will get a discount code to get 10% off shirts from Fright Rags! Now that is truly awesome! Winners will be announced on August 1st, post now to win!"
While you're over there, go read the interview with Fright Rags .
The Necronauts are not only back in action playing shows around the Valley, but they are all hopped up on their new record label, High School Football Records . Infact, they're throwing a record label showcase @ Jugheads this Friday featuring a grip of local bands on their label like Skinwalkers , The Tightholes and Bolt !
As an added bonus, skip over to the High School Football Records website and download free tracks for your listening pleasure from all of the bands on their label.
If you have a list of local punk shit that you want to share, hit us up in our contact sectionAZPunk needs your participation! and let's talk. We definitely can't cover all these angles alone.