Remembering the band Phobia for a little bit...

I took the time to write this article in this specific day for no concrete reason but I just wanted to express a feeling that brought me when I realized I attended this event and because it is a good laugh for me to realize that what I am about to describe are real facts that happened in my life. I think I am also writing it in dedication of my honorable friend nick-named "Inodoro" from Monterrey, N.L., in Mexico, because he was a real fan and would've always wanted to see a live set of the band Extreme Noise Terror from Ipswich, England, UK . Well I feel privileged that I had the chance to listen to a live set of Extreme Noise Terror at the Note (a music-bar venue located in the popular Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago, Il.) a few weeks ago this month of June, 2007. Seriously, this live show of Extreme Noise Terror took me back to an era back in late 1980's , somewhere in the music scene of London, UK, where some of the most obscure "hardcore-punk" bands existed at the time. These bands from this era of the history of this musical genre defined what the term known as "crust punk" is all about, and also derived some of the most radical concepts that are used on today's real life application on how to live a "radical life". If you pay attention to what these bands write in their lyrics you can see that their message is emphasized on giving a harsh criticism of everything that has a negative aspect and belongs to any of the following systems or areas of study such as capitalism, politics, animal cruelty, religion, wars, etc. This is considered "the roots" of radicalism and also the basis of a common way to transmit the message of how the politics of anarchism are applied in the "hardcore-punk" way of life. Well, also the band Phobia from Los Angeles,California toured with them this year of 2007 and just by listening to their live set you can see they are always keeping up that fast paced aggression (typical in "grindcore") that has characterized their sound since the band was formed back in the late 1980's. Well unfortunately I couldn't take any pictures of the Extreme Noise Terror show this year 0f 2007 (because my "goofy ass" for an unexpected reason wasn't carrying the camera), but i found some pictures on my secret archives from the Phobia show in 2006, when they played at some bar on Irving Park Rd. and Kostner Ave. ( in Chicago, Il. of course...) . Every song was just a "grinding-headbanging moshing until death" assault as I expected it to be, I was really brutalizing myself hard from the euphoria that the sound brought me over imagining a true battle of revolution and change in this life-struggle against these fucked up system; or I guess that was just an excuse for me to try to enjoy myself and have a good time at the show. Enjoy the pictures and try to capture the moments, it is a good laugh:

PANTHERS! PANTHERS! PANTHERS!

Well last night was the first Panthers show @ the Empty Bottle in their mini-tour that they are doing this month of June. It was awesome to watch them in Chicago again, they rocked the house like they usually do. I got a chance to talk for a little bit to their frontman Jason David Green and the big news with them is that their drummer Jeff Salane and his wife just saw their newborn come into this world. Good for him we can all wish him a happy father's day tomorrow. Unfortunately that was the reason why the Panthers had to play with a substitute drummer and that is also why they only played songs from their new album on Vice Records called "The Trick". We certainly all missed Salane's excellent drumming and consistency. They are coming back in September so probably I'll have enough time to figure out a cool interview with them. Enough gossiping about the Panthers, i just thought adding a little bit of dramatic literary value would be a good way to start writing an article about the Panthers. I think is also a great way to describe a band that transfers real literary value in the message they try to portray in their lyrics (although I've heard some hard criticism on them, according to someone [that I am actually omitting his identity for fucks sake] the Panthers "have no base in who they are"; I am assuming this means that they have no real influence on their audience or any kind of "political message" value as musicians. I wish this person could give a better definition of what is a musician and what is his function as an artist that he is supposed to be or better yet to tell me how can he create a band with a real base that could actually provoke the change that is supposed to create) . Panthers "musical value", if you like to call it that way, comes from their message in my own personal opinion. This, perhaps, proves one theory I have about musicians progressing in different ways throughout their careers according to their surrounding influences (I mean, don't get me wrong, if we go back to the year 1998 -2000 whereabouts when Orchid [which three members are now playing in the Panthers] came out as a band it was a new concept of music, very well structured but probably never heard before in the history of music, or in this case in the history of rock n' roll which could be considered the core/pivot base of what is now known as the musical genre of "hardcore")and I certainly concur with the fact that this band is influenced by a great amount of literary and philosophical value. By reading their lyrics you can actually understand the fact that the current intellectual point of view of this "new generation" is based on up to date systems of thought that might be able to spark a little fire in changing the conservative ways of thinking that prevail in our society. Ok here are the pictures, enjoy:

WORKING FOR CORPORATE AMERICA (CHAPTER NO. 2) "multi-task and work faster or die trying"

Lately I've learned a few important lessons in life. Number one that for every dollar earned with hard work it becomes the dollar that's going to have much more value than any other dollar. Because that dollar from hard work is going to be spent in a wiser way. It literally transcends to be the dollar that has confrontated sweat, rush, and sometimes even a bit of humiliation. It is a matter of survival in a rough uptight atmosphere when we mention corporate america. All the rules are based on phantasmic and idealistic standards that in order to accomplish them fully it seems like one has to pass through a fastpaced, spazztic and overwhelming situation. Number two that if you never try hard to succeed and improvise it is for sure that you will be stuck in a dark hole for the rest of your life. As I told you before I work for the restaurant industry and when I think about it it's like being in the jungle dealing with wild animals. There is no respect of any sort, the so called "table manners" seem to have never existed because neither older generations are trying to pass it on to younger generations because they actually don't know the manners themselves. Where is this superior race that they claim to be when this kind of inferior behavior is seen most of the time. It's pathetic sometimes but this is a sad reality on how corporate america works. I just wish people could understand a little more what goes on in a restaurant business because the majority of customers blames everything on the servers when it's obvious that certain attitudes can mess up the whole process. This is a very personal opinion but perhaps people that also work for this industry can certainly agree with me. Corporations don't care what the employee has to go through as long as the profit is made. It is seriously a matter of working faster, inventing our own tools and trying our best to do the right thing, and also don't forget to learn how to do your coworkers job because sometimes you'll have to know how to do it in order to make it through the day. But here we are, still kissing people's butt in order to make them the type of customers that learn how to abuse. Work faster, work harder, work faster and work harder.