Shake Ray Turbine

Shake Ray Turbine were a Little Rock, AR band that was active from the mid-90's ('94, I think) until they moved to Philadelphia and broke up in '99ish. One of the best (in my opinion) hard driven mathematic indie rock bands ever (think Faraquet or something of the ilk with a lot more attitude.)
I saw them play at Hendrix College in '99 with Fugazi. It was my first time seeing Ian MacKaye and Fugazi and, in all honesty, I thought this Arkansas quartet wiped the floor and thier asses with Fugazi.
It seemed like Guy and Ian had all this anger/frustration/energy that was just...THERE. It wasn't focused or directed. It just was. I think that is why I don't much like alot of Fugazi music. However, Shake Ray was a tough cookie to follow. They played with passion, energy, and most of all focus. They ripped through their set like a wolf through the jugular of an infant sheep. It was awesome and it solidified them as my favorite Arkansas band I ever saw or heard.

Memebers of this band went on to play in Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, Soophie Nun Squad, and even formed the website: www.arkansasrockers.com to help displaced Arkies reconnect to their punk rock roots back home.

This is their discography (so far as I can tell). It consists of a full length titled "The Sauce of Solution" and two split 7"s. One with indie rock group The Divine Hookup who contained members of The Body, Aspera ad Astra, and the owner of Landmark records who put out the first Lucero 7".

Seriously, download this file, listen to it religiously. Devour the material. It ONLY gets better with time.
It's a timless piece of music for true lovers of the mathematic rock genre.

Download Shake Ray Turbine


RIYL: Faraquet, Brainiac, Fugazi, the Mars Volta, Slint, Ted Leo, Soophie Nun Squad, At The Drive In, etc.

Trailer for a video:

The video is of my old band (Scouts Honor) and our dvd/cd release that comes out in March.

It's a posthumous release and there's no shows accompanying it. But you should still all get it and listen to it. It should be a solid piece of music.

Here's the video:
Scouts Honor Trailer

It's finally warmed up: Tem Eyos Ki and Left For Dead

Ah, the ground has thawed and I can, one again, function as a human being.
This is nice.

So, on today's plate will be an Arkansas band and a Canadian band.





The Arkansas band is Tem Eyos Ki. They broke up some years ago, but were fantastic. Members of Soophie Nun Squad, Tom Sweet, Them of Delphi, Sickshine, and lots of other projects; they were a band that almost bridged the gap between the punk and metal scenes
Made up of 2 metalheads and 3 punkers, they played fantasy metal really really fast and with feeling. This is everything I own by them, and may very well be everything they put out. It's a self-titled full length, a 7", and a split 7" with another Arkansas band called Hundred Years War.



download Tem Eyos Ki


The second band I wanted to post was a Canadian hardcore band called Left For Dead. They broke up in 1996 when this record came out. This is their side of a buzzsaw shaped split LP with another band called Acrid.
Left For Dead was crusty. They were hardcore. They were fast. They were many things. But, in all honesty, they were amazing.
This half of this record is one of my favorite pieces of music ever. The only downside is that at 45 rpms, it's only 9 songs long. THAT'S JUST NOT ENOUGH!!!



download Left For Dead

Dedicated to the memory of hardcore.

Happy New Years!

I just got home.
My fiancee is puking in the bathroom.
It's 2:00 in the morning.
Welcome, 2010!!!!


For the first posting of the year I'll choose a band that I only saw once but totally kicked my ass.



They were the Fayetteville, AR "power kindness" band Shut The Fuck Up.

They chose the term "power kindness" because there is, as their lyrics say, no power in violence. One of Dave Dean's projects, it was powerful and phenomenal. The band consisted of two bass player/vocalists, and one drummer (who I think you can hear in the background of one song doing some vocalizing.)
It's worth the download and listen and if I get the requests, I'll even post the lyrics cause they're great.

So, here it is: The Shut The Fuck Up 7"

Download the 7"