MAXIMUM ROCKNROLL » Video of the Week

Video of the Week: Vicky Drunk & Thrash

Paul — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 05:44:30 +0000

OK, kids. This video by Vicky Drunk & Thrash has been on my “to post” list for a while, but I’ve been at a loss for anything to write to about it except for, “Whoa, check this out!” It was sent in to us with this complete message: “hardcore punk from indonesia,” and the description on YouTube is pretty cryptic as well:

This band is a Vicky’s solo project, started out in the middle of 2006. Vicky’s first guitarist are Angga Madonna, who was disappeared from late 2007. Hereza, the next guitar player was not appear in this video. Hell with another band, this is all about Vicky anyway.

Who is Vicky? “Disappeared”? Why are there 25 seconds of credits for a 35 second song? Does anyone know the answers? Anyway, without further ado: Whoa, check this out!

Video of the Week: Fucked Forever

MRR Web Coordinator — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 06:44:08 +0000

Here’s a trailer for Fucked Forever, a documentary-in-progress on the history of the Spokane punk scene, which so far looks pretty f’n cool. They’re still compiling old footage of Spokane bands, as well as zines and flyers, so contact info {at} fuckedforeverfilm(.)com if you’ve got any goodies. And why not help them raise money for the production of the film at their fund-raising page here? Can’t wait to see the end results!

Video of the Week: No Fun City

Paul — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 23:39:14 +0000

Screening at the Frozen Film Festival San Francisco’s Roxie Theatre this Saturday, No Fun City is a documentary about the struggle of underground music venues in Vancouver, BC, Canada. While focusing on legit (read: for profit) venues, it seems to give a fair amount of time to the truly (and literally) underground venues that even a lot of punks don’t seem to know exist nowadays. Go see it and let us know what you think!

Video of the Week: Code of Honor

Paul — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 14:36:54 +0000

We’ll warm up with an undeniably fantastically great song/video/band, “Fight or Die” by San Francisco’s CODE OF HONOR from Target Video, 1983. After that is something I’ve been looking for for-fucking-ever, and was so stoked to see that someone finally posted on the YouTubes. It’s a half-hour long appearance by Code Of Honor on SF’s public access cable channel (probably also from 1983) performing songs from throughout their “career” and being interviewed by Maximum Rocknroll’s longest-running shitworker, Steve Spinali! I’ve started with part three ’cause I like watching the interviews (there’s another one that starts at minute 4:00 on part one), but of course the whole thing is worth enjoying if you’re a fan — and who isn’t?

Here are links to PART 1 and PART 2.

Video(s) of the Week: more Chaos in Tejas 2010!

Paul — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 21:15:40 +0000

Oh, hell yes, party people. Whoever does the Aborted Society label outta Seattle just sent us a killer batch of videos from this year’s Chaos in Tejas. Most of the heavy hitters are there, including BASTARD, CROW, RORSCHACH, and TALK IS POISON, but the ones I wanted to share with you are from two fucking awesome newer bands. The first one is Bay Area chaos merchants MÖRPHEME, who I’ve only ever seen at much smaller shows, and whose energy always overpowers that of the audience itself. It’s cool to see them here at a larger venue where you can actually hear what they sound like, and it makes me happy to see them appreciated by the larger world of punx. By the way, these videos are all available in HD, so if you got the connection speed, check ‘em out in full screen glory…

The second video is from another semi-local band that blew everyone away on their recent US tour. CROSS STITCHED EYES contains members from California, the UK, and Germany, and despite having a great LP out on Alternative Tentacles, still seems to linger in some obscurity. Hopefully their impressive performances, like this one, will help to rectify that.

Video of the Week: Conquest For Death

MRR Web Coordinator — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 07:43:36 +0000

This amazing video was made as a promo for CONQUEST FOR DEATH‘s tour of Africa(!) back in 2007. (See some awesome photos by Karoline Collins from that tour here.) The footage is from the band’s previous tours in Japan and the US. Count the jumps!

Video of the Week: Talk Is Poison

Paul — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 00:32:43 +0000

Time for my yearly ritual of trolling the web to see what I missed at this year’s Chaos in Tejas. This is the best one I’ve found so far. Fucking TALK IS POISON. What more needs to be said? If you’ve got more, send the links our way! webzine {at} maximumrocknroll(.)com

Video of the Week: The Knockabouts

MRR Web Coordinator — Thu, 27 May 2010 06:42:09 +0000

David Baird sent us this video, via Facebook, by the should-be-legendary Huntsville, AL, band THE KNOCKABOUTS. It was made by Phillip Wann in 1983. David’s MySpace page is dedicated to Huntsville DIY history, and it’s worth checking out for his audio intro (I thought it was cool, anyway). Thanks a lot!

Here’s an interesting bit from from the September 1984 issue of MRR, reprinted in the 1995 Prank Records 7″ of The Knockabouts’ 1983 demo, from drummer Greg Sklaka:

We wanted to show that you don’t have to be Jimmy Page to be in a band. We wanted to play something basic but very powerful. We really don’t know what the average person thinks of us because we hear “play sickie sado”, than someone says “boo, y’all suck.” Our first real gig was at the University of Alabama in Huntsville in January of ’83 at a talent show with three other bands. I think we shocked everyone there, especially when we played “Sweet Home Alabama”. It was kinda funny, because after we played it, someone yelled “Freebird!.”

If the people here in Alabama would look closely at our songs, they would probably relate to them. But not very many people want to do that, so we’re labeled as shit and we get fucked with a lot, especially by the cops.

Today, we have a name for ourselves, whether people say we suck or we’re good. “Where’s My Vietnam” is probably our best song. Live it’s the peak of our insanity. “I hate your guts” and “The Beautiful” sum up life in Huntsville. I think people who first liked us now have “grown out” of hardcore or the Knockabouts, but to us it’s a definite way of life.

Wonder where they are now…

Video of the Week: Animals and Men

Paul — Thu, 13 May 2010 03:45:39 +0000

We try to keep a healthy balance of the old and the new here at Maximum Rocknroll, and ANIMALS AND MEN embodies the best of both worlds. They are a great, fairly obscure DIY-style punk band that started in the ’70s, inspired by the likes of Adam & the Ants and Pere Ubu. They later evolved into the impressive minimalist punk/blues band THE TERRAPLANES, and eventually faded away. But as with so many unsung gems of punk’s past they were rediscovered and re-issued in the ’00s on Hyped To Death‘s Messthetics CD series, and an LP reissue on Mississippi Records of their three 45s and early demos.

And as seems to be de rigueur nowadays, they went ahead and reformed, played some gigs, and got some new material together to record a 12″, which was released in 2009 on Convulsive Records. As predictable as all of this is, the real shocker is that the new record is fucking great! In this writer’s opinion, it’s at least as good as the old stuff. To prove the point, here is a live version of “John of the Sword” from said 12″, which I guarantee to get stuck in your head, in a good way…

It needs to be said…

MRR Web Coordinator — Fri, 07 May 2010 21:36:34 +0000