Insound purchase: DNA DNA On DNA No More Records Released: 2008 No More Records had released this compilation on CD in 2004. Possibly feeling the choke from the current CD marketplace, as if the band’s obscurity wasn’t enough to keep sales modest, DNA On DNA was released on vinyl late last year with live CBGB performances and some other gems that didn't make the CD. Admittedly, DNA is one of the most irritating bands that ever plugged in, but to hear Arto Lindsay violently scrubbing away at his six-string in an attempt to perform an instrumental, an anti-instrumental; you understand why DNA is so essential. With arrhythmic, syncopated shrieking-word pieces, to me, DNA is the most defiant band from the No Wave era, Arto No Wave’s Les Nessmann a threat to conventional song structure and rhythm having NO jazz chops or real musical ability. DNA was a band that didn’t really have a place to influence anything, but they did. Ask Thurston Moore. Insound purchase: Sonic Youth The Et...

Pansy Division That’s So Gay Alternative Tentacles Releases: 3.31.09 Rating: 5.5 out of 10 The first lines you hear are these: “He’s in his PJs/Giving BJs/To the DJs/Who play what he likes…” …and it’s exactly what you’d expect from an album entitled, That’s So Gay . The sixth album to emerge from San Franciscan Queercore pioneers Pansy Division , That’s So Gay ’s giveaway of a title is meant to ironically disparage the usage of the word “gay” as a euphemism for “lame,” “stupid…” etc. The title track attempts to make a serious case ( “I heard what you said/I'm not stupid you know/What do you take me for?/Hetero?...” ) while not being THAT serious ( ”I’ll show you what it’s like to be gay” ). Thusly, you have the plot. With poppy punk-infused rock n’ roll sort of gallivanting about its 14 sung treatises on promiscuity (“Twinkie Twinkie Little Star”), sex (“Ride Baby,” “Dirty Young Man”), attached prostitution (“It’s Just A Job”) and the celebratory battle cry of self (“20 Years Of ...

Here's where having a punk rock legacy and record label come in handy: Jello Biafra , bitter ex- Dead Kennedys frontman, is having a two day celebration for his 50th birthday where he will be unveiling his as-yet-to-be-named new band. In addition, he'll be singing with The Melvins and probably having a blast. If any readers are based in the San Fransisco area, tickets aren't bad. The rest of us are shit-out-of-luck. Here are the line-ups for two nights of Jello birthday celebration: June 16th — (Great American Music Hall, San Francisco) Jello Biafra with the Melvins Jello Biafra's unnamed band Drunk Injuns Los Olvidados The Melvins June 17th — (Great American Music Hall, San Francisco) Jello Biafra with the Melvins Jello Biafra's unnamed band Triclops! Akimbo The Melvins More information can be found at The Great American Music Hall 's website and of course Alternative Tentacles . Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

I'm still listening. I just haven't been able to write it all down lately. The past month or so, I've been a painting and patching fool, readying the nursery for the newborn. Naturally, there's nothing my stereo hasn't been pushing through its speakers over the countless hours I've spent in a fumy haze while thinking a lot about nothing in particular, or thinking very little at all and just letting the sounds carry me through the task at hand. The Dead Kennedys' Plastic Surgery Disasters , one of those relics from a discontented teenagehood, shuffled into place at one point and inspired a fluid stream of nostalgia followed by internal debate. It was on a cold morning while walking across Pickering Field to the bus stop when I first heard DK as they pummeled their way through a somewhat sloppy version of David Allen Coe 's "Take This Job and Shove It." A kid at school had lent me a dubbed cassette. Further adding to the audible drawbacks wi...