PURA MANIA DEMO "RATAS DE DOS PATAS"

Take one look at this artwork and you may think this is some old 80's South American punk band, but you'd be (somewhat) mistaken. PURA MANIA comes from Vancouver, BC Canada and this demo is from this year, 2014 (although the insert says 2013). Consisting of Members of FRACASO and SPECTRES (what a combination!), this band has elements of raw 80's South American punk with a slight dark post-punk feel... and it rules! "1000 Años despues del hombre" will have you wanting to shake out of your own skin in public places (just try to show a little restraint, please!). Now to only convince PURA MANIA to come to Los Angeles...

You can download the demo here.

Please comment if the link is down. Mediafire sure likes to delete files it has no business deleting these days...

BED BUGS

What's this? More raging hardcore from the Inland Empire? Say it ain't so! This time coming from the non existing beaches of Mentone Beach, CA. BED BUGS is the kind of hardcore that really gets under your skin. It's tough, but not exactly like all the other tough guy stuff that's going around in the scene right now (which is a good thing). You can hear a sneak peek of their EP below. I hope you dig it as much as I do! It will be out sometime this year on MATA LA MUSICA DISCOS (check out their site here). 

EDIT: I've just noticed that this shitty Cincopa thing has a limit. I unfortunately can't upload the full BED BUGS demo here, but I'll try to put it up once its been properly released. Sorry! 

...

You can catch BED BUGS (along with CRIMSON SCARLET and DEAD CULT) on March 22 at The Dog Haus in South Central LA. It's gonna be a hell of a show!

LITOVSK

Hey! For all of you that are lucky enough to still be coming around to this blog, here's a little treat for ya. Litovsk is a 4 piece post punk band hailing from the coastal city of Brest, France. Their sound is very dark and gloomy, similar to bands you'd probably find in Portland. We were lucky enough to see them play while we were in Brest and I recently found their demo online. Now if I can only get my hands on the actual tape...

You can download their demo (and I suggest you do) here.

Here's a video I found of Litovsk on Vimeo:

GENERACION SUICIDA WINTER EURO TOUR 2013!!!

A llegado el momento...

The tour is all set up and ready to go (well almost). We need help on a few french shows and in Malmo, Sweden. Below is a list of all the shows that we have set. If you can help out, email us at rayosxpunx (at) gmail . com

Fr. 13.12.2013 Madrid - Rock Palace
Sa. 14.12.2013 Logroño - tba
So. 15.12.2013 Western France - tba (HELP NEEDED)
Mo. 16.12.2013 Brest - tba
Di. 17.12.2013 Paris - La Miroiterie
Mi. 18.12.2013 Kortrijk - The Pits
Do. 19.12.2013 Amsterdam - Occii
Fr. 20.12.2013 Copenhagen - Dödsmaskinen
Sa. 21.12.2013 Aalborg - 1000 Fryd
So. 22.12.2013 Gothenburg - 128 (A)
Mo. 23.12.2013 Malmö - tba
Di. 24.12.2013 Kiel - Alte Meierei
Mi. 25.12.2013 Hamburg - Hafenklang
Do. 26.12.2013 Berlin - Koma F
Fr. 27.12.2013 Leipzig - Zoro
Sa. 28.12.2013 Vienna - Ekh
So. 29.12.2013 Erlangen - Jugendhaus
Mo. 30.12.2013 Zagreb - Attack
Di. 31.12.2013 Munich - Südstadt
Mi. 01.01.2014 Offenburg - Kessel
Do. 02.01.2014 Lyon - tba
Fr. 03.01.2014 Toulouse area - tba (HELP NEEDED)
Sa. 04.01.2014 Barcelona - tba

 
We'll be releasing our split with Catholic Spit this month also, so keep an eye out for that. I'm real short on time these days, but I'll try to keep up with updating this as much as I possibly can. For those of you that have a facebook, check this out:

 https://www.facebook.com/events/656982601000099

See you all on the road!

GENERACION SUICIDA - CON LA MUERTE A TU LADO

I haven't had a chance to really update the blog in several months. I actually haven't even really been home either! Well, I finally uploaded the master tracks for the GENERACION SUICIDA Lp and the record up for sale on our bandcamp. You can start ordering it through Going Underground Records as well. This record took a really long time to complete, so I hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed making it.

Buy the digital copy here: http://generacionsuicida.bandcamp.com/album/con-la-muerte-a-tu-lado

Buy the physical Lp copy here: Going Underground Records

We'll be going to Europe in December. I'll post the dates up once I get them all confirmed.

FAST FIVE FRIDAYS - PESADILLA DISTOPIKA

You may recognize PESADILLA DISTOPIKA from one of my previous posts (which you can find here). They are one of the newest bands playing raw hardcore in So Cal at the moment. Their shows are fast and intense, so if you ever get a chance to see them play, so yourself a favor and check them out. You won't be disappointed... 

1. So, you guys are a fairly new band. Tell us how you came about the idea of starting this band. Is this the first band you guys have ever been in? How did you come up with the name “Pesadilla Distopika”?

This isn’t the first band we’ve been in. We have all been in different bands but I got bored with the old stuff I was doing. I wanted to do something that I felt more passionate about and have songs that I felt had some meaning to me. There is a lot of apathy right now in punk (bands singing about how their life sucks, drugs, not giving a fuck about anything) and that’s fine if you want to be a band and do that because I like a lot of those bands but I don’t feel like that’s my thing because I grew up listening to bands like Tragatelo, Los Crudos, Sin Dios, and other bands that had a message about social change. I came up with the band name (means Dystopic Nightmare) because that’s how I was feeling about a lot of things in society. That the power and institutions that make up society have just placed us in this big inescapable nightmare.

2. Your sound is dark and heavy, similar to what a lot of hardcore bands are doing these days. What sets you guys apart from the rest of the hardcore crowd (in your opinion)? Do you think there is anything new or unique that can be brought to the scene? I Know a lot of bands play around with reverb vocal pedals, super fuzzed out guitars, etc…

I think there isn’t a similar sound like we have in Southern California right now. Maybe in Spain there are bands with a similar sound that we have but I think we have incorporated elements of hardcore into loud punk songs. I always think bands can bring something unique to the scene. I am not sure if we are bringing something really unique or not soundwise. I’m not sure if bringing a new unique sound to punk is really our objective with this band. At the end of the day, if they’re just cool songs then people will dig them.

3. You guys are coming from San Bernardino. Correct me if I’m wrong, but as far as I know, there’s not much of a scene on that side of So Cal. Is it difficult to be a band on that side of town? How is the scene in SB?

You’re pretty much right. There isn’t much of a punk scene out here aside from the Mentone/Loko Lounge Punks and some scattered smaller scenes in Colton and Riverside. I think it is pretty difficult to be in a band that is from San Bernardino or this part of the Inland Empire. Mostly because if you’re in a band from L.A. or Orange County, you have a pretty strong scene you can be a part of from the beginning and jump on shows and help set up shows. If you’re from the Inland Empire, you don’t have that visibility or network like you do in bigger cities like L.A. or Orange County. You also have to drive an hour or so for shows. Smaller things like that make it harder to be in a band from the Inland Empire. It would be cool to try and build up the scene in the Inland Empire a bit more.

4. You’re tape was released to much buzz and your live shows are short and intense. What’s next for you guys? Are you touring or traveling anytime soon? Are there any more releases in the works?

We are going to take a break from shows after July to practice some more songs and record a 12”. I am most likely going to start releasing records and that will include the Pesadilla Distopika 12”, the Ekolalia 7”, and our other band Abortion Reels’ 7”. We want to do an Abortion Reels/Pesadilla Distopika tour in the winter.

5. I know that at least one of you has a degree from a University. What are your thoughts on punks and education? Do you think that education should be valued more in the punk culture?

This is a funny because I just got done writing an entry for my friend Salvador’s zine called “Nameless in Life, Faceless in Death” about punks and education about a week ago. Anyway, I am the one who is really entrenched in academics right now. I got my bachelor’s degree in 2010 in history and I am entering my fourth year in a Ph.D. program in history right now at UC Irvine. I have a lot of mixed feelings about the academy. There are positive aspects to it and negative aspects to it. Basically, in what I wrote for Sal’s zine, I talk about white privilege, my frustrations with higher education, and how all that relates to punk. If anyone is interested in it, you should hit up Sal for a copy of the zine at sal_hernandez1@yahoo.com

FAST FIVE FRIDAYS - CATHOLIC SPIT!!

Welcome to a new feature I'm starting on this blog. I call it the FAST FIVE FRIDAYS and it's basically five questions asked to a band of my choice. Pretty simple, right? Lets get this underway...

CATHOLIC SPIT has been around for a while, but only recently has begun to get noticed in LA. Maybe it's because they're from Ventura? Or maybe it's because their unique punk/deathrock/goth/synth hybrid went right over the majority of the LA crowd that dig nothing but the rawest punk? In any case, it's great that these guys are doing their stuff. They have an Ep out entitled "I'm Your God Now" and a new recently released Lp called "A Pact With The Devil". The kids in LA like to call it "Spooky Punk" (which I find hilarious), but really when I hear this stuff, it reminds me of a of something like X meets MISFITS meets GORILLA ANGREB or something along those lines. Cool/dark synthesizers, guitars full of tremolo effect, technical drumming, and a female singer that sounds both ferocious and on key at the same time make this something you wont wanna miss. If you want to listen to them for yourself, check out:

http://catholicspit.bandcamp.com/

1. Tell us a little about yourselves. When did Catholic Spit start? Where are you all from? How did you all meet & decide to make the band? Whats one of your most memorable shows?

-The idea for Catholic Spit started around Winter of 2010 in Ventura, CA. Oscar, Kaleb and myself (Chris) had recently put the brakes on our hardcore band Dogends and wanted to do something different.  It was Oscar's idea to start a death rock band, and he had been writing some good tunes that fit somewhere in between deathrock and Dangerhouse era punk. It started with Oscar playing guitar, KK on drums and myself playing bass. we recorded a track or two so we could show it to a potential drummer so I could play synth and KK could move to bass. We eventually convinced the old Dogends drummer to join when we proved the songs were drastically different from our old band and this wasn't just the same band with a different singer. Which brings us to Ericka; we had befriended her earlier that year through mutual friends and found out she was an excellent singer, so we asked her to join. Then we really started working our first set of songs.

Personally one of my favorite shows was our gig with Stalag 13 at the Ojai Women's Center. Our current drummer Nick had recently joined the band, the venue was packed, and the kids went nuts. It was a blast!

2. You guys consider yourselves to be “Deathrock”, but to me there is a distinct punk sound to your guys’ music. What do you think makes your band so unique in the punk/deathrock genre?

-Yeah, that was definitely on purpose since day one.  I think it comes from a weird combination of listening to a lot of early LA Punk like the Screamers, the Bags, Deadbeats, etc., having just played in a 80's style hardcore band, and A LOT of fuckin' TSOL. But the songs still gravitate towards that dark punk/ death rock sound.

3. You guys are from Ventura, which is about 60 miles north of Los Angeles. Tell us about the scene in Ventura. Is it much different from the scene in Los Angeles?

-Ventura and LA are literally worlds apart in this sense. There's a lot more diversity in LA and people watch your band even if they've never heard of you. Ventura's a lot smaller than LA and even though there's a variety of bands that play here it seems like they always kinda stick together and play the same shows.

4. I noticed you guys play a lot of 21 and over shows. Growing up, I always disliked when bands played at bars where the kids couldn't get in. What are your thoughts on 21+ shows? Are they better than all ages shows?

-It really depends. We've played some really fun bar shows, but we've also played some great all ages shows. We definitely play more bar shows in Ventura because the simple fast is that Ventura can't seem to hold onto an all ages venue that caters to punk. Cops here have nothing better to do than fuck with us, they've literally threatened venues and shops to cancel all ages punk shows.

We'd prefer all ages shows that allow people of age to drink, which right now we can only do at Zoey's cafe, but the catch there is all ages shows end at 10pm and anything after is strictly 21+, thanks to our boys in blue.

5. You guys have a new Lp out now on Bad Touch Records. Do you guys have any plans on touring in support of this new Lp?

-We did, but they fell through for a couple of reasons. Hopefully we'll be able to make a tour happen soon.

Contact:

 BADTOUCHRECORDS@GMAIL.COM

Chris Bad Touch

Bad Touch Records

PO Box 7668

Ventura, CA 93006-7668

-Tony