PONKERAS: VERRATERISCH

Although the term "ponkeras" is in Spanish, I want to make it clear that the term refers to all women in punk, regardless of their ethnicity or the language they speak. Such is the case for Verraterisch, a local punk band from Sacramento that sings in German. I first heard them when Rayos X came back to LA from their last out of town trip, and let me tell you, they blew my mind. They remind me of the bands Disorder and Chaos UK with fierce female vocals and no guitar. That's right. NO GUITAR! It's hard to imagine a band sounding so fierce without such an essential instrument, but Verraterisch pulls it off nicely. I highly recommend everyone to check them out if they pass by Sacramento. As a matter of fact,I do believe Verraterisch has a show this week but it might have gotten canceled. I'll update this post if it hasn't been. In the meantime here is the tape for all of you to enjoy.




http://www.mediafire.com/?hawgkspkek2br1j

WRITERS BLOCK (RIP: NO TE MUEVAS)

I haven't got a thing to write about today. I actually was going to upload the Ya Basta! stuff I talked about yesterday, but I was unable to find the CD. I guess I'll have to ask Poliskitzo about getting another copy. Anyways, instead today I'm going to talk a little bit about RIP. I'm sure everyone already knows who RIP is. They're definitely one of my favorite bands and one of the greatest bands to have ever come out of the Basque Country (along with Eskorbuto of course). Now, I'm no RIP expert, but I do believe they were formed in around 1979. Originally, they had a different singer, who was drafted into the army soon after forming the band. To replace that singer, they got Mahoma, who is the singer you hear on all the RIP recordings. He really has a heavy presence, as his voice is BOOMING! Definitely a one of a kind voice that is simply irreplaceable. And if there's a doubt in your mind, just watch the video:



Of course, there was also the bass player, Portu, who also sang. He had a different style of singing that was also all its own:



In the end, both Mahoma and Portu passed away. Of course, that didn't stop RIP from playing a reunion show a few years back, with Portu's brother on bass and Mahoma being replaced by someone else. Unfortunately, I just can't find that video on youtube anymore. Anyways, if you've never heard them, I suggest you do. Here's there one and only full length album (they did a split with Eskorbuto that's also amazingly good). It's called "No Te Muevas" and it was released in 1987. It's one of my top ten favorite albums of all time for sure...

http://www.mediafire.com/?944xa87uj84xq7b

Oh! and for kicks, here's a video of RIP covering Angelic Upstarts' "Solidarity". Makes me wanna pogo!



POGO!

POLISKITZO

OK, so enough with the goth/dark wave. Lets get on with some punk! Poliskitzo are another band from the golden land of LA. They're actually my favorite local band and they are always fun to watch at shows. Usually people put them to play last, and they'll play for hours (regardless of whether you want them to or not)! They're not your average local hardcore band, either. They have elements of "La Banda Trapera Del Rio", "Eskorbuto", and "Paralises Permanente" (quite a melodic combo). Before they were "Poliskitzo", they were called "Ya Basta" and hopefully after this post, I can put up that original demo. Regardless, this tape rips!





http://www.mediafire.com/?lejk2vj6dll91x3


Here's a flyer for a show Saturday that Poliskitzo and a bunch of other awesome bands are gonna play:



If you're in LA Saturday, come check it out.

GOTHIC DARK WAVE FOR THE PUNX (PUERTO RICO FLOWERS)

Today I don't feel like putting up another random punk hit. I'm feeling a little gloomy tonight. This is Puerto Rico Flowers, one of my favorite dark wave albums at the moment (or is it goth? Who cares!). This is slow and mellow music to slit your wrists to, so if you're into the more speedy punk/rock n' roll stuff, you'll have to wait till tomorrow for that! This is basically just a distorted bass, synthesizer, and drums, over some deep vocals. Not much more I can say, so I'll just let you have a listen.

For the first album, I recommend you skip the first song. It's boring (in my opinion):



http://www.mediafire.com/?dmynl07yllbkcpf


Here's the 7". It only has 2 songs, and I don't think it's as good as the first 12", but if you're curious to hear more, here's your chance:



http://www.mediafire.com/?dmynl07yllbkcpf

"Turn that depressive shit off"! - Frank (a real quote from Frank, the Kruel bassist, about the PRF 12". But what does he know about good music? He's in Kruel! Hahahahahaha!)

PONKERAS : IV REICH (DISCOGRAFIA COMPLETA)

Unfortunately, I had technical problems last night and couldn't fulfill my blogger duties. Anyways, what better day than Christmas Eve to post about IV Reich. I personally believe that IV Reich is one the most influential bands in the punk scene for ponkeras. For those who might not know, the band consists of two women, one on bass and one on guitar/vocals, and two men (drummer and vocalist). This line up is unique to me because women in the punk scene are often regulated to playing bass or vocals. Not often do you get a combo of women playing guitar and bass (one exception is the excellent Free Radicalz from PDX which I had the pleasure of seeing a couple of months back). To me, IV Reich sounds like a mixture of Cocadictos, RIP, and HHH. Here is a video from youtube that I enjoy (unfortunately, the bass player is missing):




Here's the Discography CD, which covers everything this amazing band released (demo's, live stuff, it's great):

http://www.mediafire.com/?mdmywq85fmbhm7d

Ough! Too punk!

What is Ough? Seriously! Every other band here in LA (and really the world) does it. It's like a mandatory right of passage for every punk band or something. In case you don't know what "ough" is, it's a short grunt sound similar to like if you're getting kicked in the gut. Usually bands do it in the middle of a song or spelled out on their logos, etc... LA bands are especially notorious for this practice. Case in point, exhibit A:


Here's a flyer for the short lived Solo Se Oye Punk radio from LA. Notice the huge "Ough!!!"? I'm sure you do, as it stands out pretty well. "Ough", of course, is nothing new. It's been around for years. The earliest band I can think of that does it is Ratos De Porao in the song "Agressão Repressão" (though I'm sure it's been around longer than that). To me, "ough" is simply a primal grunt that reminds us we are animals. It has no real meaning, other than a way to express yourself without real words. Here's exhibit B, a list of bands that say "ough" in their songs:

Ratos De Porao - Agressão Repressão



Svart Framitd - Nar Bomba Kommer (starts at 4:47 in the video)




Olho Seco - Isto E Olho Seco (No video, here's the track):

http://www.mediafire.com/?6co5qvryyg3ytr9

OUGH!!!!

GENERACION SUICIDA

Who likes Masshysteri or Lost Kids? I know we do. That's the premise behind Generacion Suicida (named after the Vicious song "Suicide Generation", get it?). This band was created almost a year ago by members of Rayos X and Astalkulo. We haven't played too many shows, though that's quickly starting to change. We've been called many things from power pop to 77 punk, but it's all just rock n' roll to me. Here's a track from the upcoming tape, due out in January:

http://www.mediafire.com/?tb82qsrh2asywd6

I think the song goes perfect with this thunderstorm we are currently having in LA (gotta love this weather!).

PONKERAS: X RAY SPEX (GERM FREE ADOLESCENTS)

Every Thursday, I am going to be posting or highlighting what I consider to be important female figures in punk. This section is going to be called Ponkeras and it will be updated weekly. For my first post I have decided to feature X Ray Spex. I would say that this band is one of my earliest influences in punk. They have a unique sound, mainly due to their amazing singer and their ever so talented (yet raw) saxophone player. The saxophone in punk is not something that is done very often, but it has been seen before (in bands like Espasmodicos and Seguridad Social). The band has been broken up for a while, but they perform reunion shows ever now and then (I believe their last reunion was in 2008). I first bought this CD at Headline Records when I was 15 years old. Ever since, you can always catch me bumping this CD and chugging a 40 oz.

Here's an awesome video I found on youtube (I love the way she moves!):



And here's that CD I promised:

http://www.mediafire.com/?jbvrho6pozff5es

Enjoy!

FRONTERAS DESARMADAS VIDEOZINE

About a year after the print zine started, Kiwi and I created Fronteras Desarmadas Videozine. The videozine is meant to supplement the print zine by showing actual shows in LA. One thing is to read about the shows in LA, another thing is to actually see one! When we first started to record the shows, we didn't own a camcorder. We used the video feature on a digital camera (that's why some parts in the first episode looks and sounds like crap). Afterwards, we borrowed a HD camcorder from a friend and filmed the remaining shows for the zine. The cameras we use don't have a way to plug in a microphone (we just pretend), so it's kinda hard to hear us talk, but you can pretty much make it out. The videozine is made using windows movie maker and in my opinion is pretty crude compared to other videozine's out there. I have no filming skills and really all I do is get drunk at shows and film everything I can, but I like to think I'm documenting what I love the best way I can. At the moment, we're trying to raise the money to get our own camera and film shows again. I have enough footage from the last year to make another episode or two, but I'm holding off on releasing it until I can get the footage cleaned up.

Here's episode 1:

Fronteras Desarmadas Punk Video Zine Episode 1 from Fronteras Desarmadas on Vimeo.

Here's episode 2 (which is way better I think):

Fronteras Desarmadas Episode 2 from Fronteras Desarmadas on Vimeo.

If you like the videozine, check these guys out:

http://vimeo.com/mondovision

They have an awesome videozine based out of the bay area.

FRONTERAS DESARMADAS PRINT/VIDEO ZINE

Fronteras Desarmadas is a zine I started back in early 2009. It was thought up in my car on my way back from San Francisco along with the help of my friends Kiwi and Frank. Originally it was just a quick 2-4 page zine, with a few articles and reviews. The original zine only had the segments Ponkeras, one band interview, Reviews, a few comic strips, and Ponk Chisme. Originally, we would do it quickly on word and then cut and paste everything together. We would then go to Office Max and steal a bunch of copies and hand them out for free at all the local shows we would go to. Nobody really knew what to make of it at first. Most punks would just throw them away or use them as surface (to break up their weed), but it slowly caught on. Eventually more people got involved and it slowly grew to bigger issues and better art (although I really didn't see anything wrong with keeping it raw). Here we have a few pages of the last issue that was released (which was issue 5). It's all I can find on my computer at the moment, but I will be uploading more as soon I have a chance to scan them in. Issue 6 is currently in the works and should be out by January (finally!). Tomorrow, I'll post up the videozine of the same name.









Here's a link so you can download them to your computer. It might make them easier to see (as always you can copy past the link into the bar to download).

http://www.mediafire.com/?3mc73ecutcuetcs

ASTALKULO (2010)

Astalkulo (not Astaklo, as so many people spell it), is one of the newer bands to come out of LA. It was started in the summer of 2010 and so far has gotten a pretty good response. To me, Astalkulo sounds like Cocadictos mixed with Polikarpa y sus viciosas. They have a tape coming out real soon, within the next month or so. In the meantime, here's a sample track that was done just to show that it could be done:

http://www.mediafire.com/?no5k0e1659419po

and here's a video I found on youtube:



Enjoy!

RAYOS X - MI DESORDEN EP (LENGUA ARMADA 2010)

OK, so we'll start off right here. This is Rayos X's first vinyl release on Lengua Armada. It was released in early 2010. A lotta people actually think there is excessive distortion on the guitar to make it sound like bands like Destino Final. This wasn't done on purpose. In reality, the speaker just popped on the guitar amp and we were just too lazy to redo the recordings. Also, the intro to La Ultima Pelea was a track on its own, but the recording guy fucked it up and just faded it in as an intro to La Ultima Pelea. Anyways, I believe this Ep is out of print, so enjoy! For maximum pleasure, turn the volume up to 11!

http://www.mediafire.com/?3y39kqyr2butfe3

Deep from the underground!!!!

This blog is designed to let everyone know whats up in LA. I will be posting up downloads in the future of various bands from LA, as well as flyers for local shows around town. For starters, here's a show with Mauser from Florida this Friday:



Should be pretty sick! Enjoy!