Halloween horror marathon: Two Thousand Maniacs

poster-2000maniacsThe Herschel Gordon Lewis gore-fest that is Two Thousand Maniacs is a movie that can only be described as “slimy.” The mayor, the townsfolk, all the characters – even the Yankees – are all two-faced individuals, quick to deceive.

Granted, it’s because the mayor and townsfolk are the angry spirits of a hamlet slaughtered by Northern soldiers during the Civil War, bent on vengeance. Don’t worry: this revelation spoils nothing. If anything, it makes the shrill cackling and maniacal laughter at every bad joke and unsubtle double entendre in the movie’s early moments easier to take.
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John Wilkes Booth Records’ David Solender on the label’s recent split releases

cover-billy-raygun-lipstick-splitThough still several months shy of celebrating its third birthday, John Wilkes Booth Records has become a solid purveyor of pop-punk. In addition to releases from the band for which he drums (Billy Raygun), David Solender has put out recordings from Blockhead and What Happened? Solender recently put out two splits: an LP from Billy Raygun and Lipstick Homicide, as well as a live cassette from Big Eyes and Rational Anthem. We e-mailed back and forth with Solender about the new releases, as well as a little of the label’s history.
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Halloween horror marathon: Dawn of the Dead

poster-dawn-of-the-deadIs there a movie that represents the pinnacle of zombie movies more than Dawn of the Dead? I think not. It perfectly encapsulates the social critique inherent in the genre. Seriously – it’s set in a fucking mall. I wouldn’t be surprised if there weren’t a few graduate theses written on Romero’s work, especially this masterwork.

Yeah, it might seem a tad hyperbolic to consider a zombie movie a masterwork, but Dawn of the Dead owns it. Romero’s social commentary from the OG Night of the Living Dead is alive and kicking. One of the survivors, and the dude who has it all together: Peter, an African American, much like Ben in Night of the Living Dead.
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Halloween horror marathon: Horror Remix presents Zombies 2

poster-zombies2Zombies 2 marks either my third or fourth Horror Remix. Given my propensity for swigging as many $2 Free State draws as my budget and liver allow, it always gets a little fuzzy. Honestly, I’m pretty well able to recall the first half of every Horror Remix, but the last fifteen minutes to half hour are usually cloaked by a beer haze. Yes, I have a problem. However, there’s nothing better on a Tuesday night than cut, chopped, and otherwise improved-upon horror movies.
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Podcast #67, “Ooh, Spooky”

sad-halloween-flierThe fun of putting this together is pretty much impossible to describe. I basically came home from work yesterday, started throwing music on, and just let Audacity record the onboard sound, and whatever happened, happened. I cut all the pauses and gaps out, and what you’re left with is a Halloween show that – while not exactly 100% about monsters and the like, as I did last year – is certainly creepy and eerie and just about perfect for your holiday parties. There’s no announcing, just music and horror movie ads, so you’re good to throw this on at your party. Hope you enjoy it.

Podcast #67, “Ooh, Spooky”
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Halloween horror marathon: The Town That Dreaded Sundown

poster-town-that-dreaded-sundownReturning to The Town That Dreaded Sundown over a decade after I first saw it reminds me that coolness and taste have to be acquired. Nobody innately has either quality from birth. This movie is a perfect case in point, as I came to it not because I knew it was cool, or through study of the obscure. No, I – like so many teenagers in the mid-’90s – heard the title name-checked in Scream, and (like every other little gorehound) filed it away with all the other movies mentioned during the course of Wes Craven’s homage picture.
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Paper + Plastick releases comic book; Silver Sprocket smirks

cover-word-and-panelsI’d be totally thrilled about a record label starting to put out a comic book if it hadn’t been done before. I mean, granted – yeah, Silver Sprocket‘s put out both Turnstile Comix and the Phenomenauts’ Adventures In the 3rd Dimension. But – even before those recent releases – bands like Gas Huffer were including comic books with their releases. Were they always good? No. As a matter of fact, they were frequently amateurish and painful.

So, one can say positively that Paper + Plastick‘s release of Words and Panels Vol. 1 is a neat thing, and it’s always pretty cool to be able to snag a webcomic in print form. Hopefully, these will be something to look back on fondly, like the Nothing Nice to Say collection, rather than the slightly cringe-worthy early years from the likes of Sinfest or Penny Arcade (you can thank Dark Horse for pretty much all of those – prescient work, folks!).

Anyhow, Words and Panels Vol. 1 is limited to 200 copies, features the first installments of 50 States, Exit Interview, and Kill the Wonderhawks, and will run you $5. It’s available from the Paper + Plastick store,

Crusades’ “The Sun Is Down…” an album you need to hear now

cover-crusadesAs October winds down and we get closer to November, music geeks start going through the albums released in the past year, and “best of” lists begin to take shape. One of the contenders being floated around as best punk album is CrusadesThe Sun Is Down And The Night Is Riding In, released last month on It’s Alive.

Is it the best album of the year? Potentially. It does things with pop-punk, hardcore, and orgcore that flips genres. The melding of clear, catchy sing-along choruses with powerful stoner rock riffs is a breath of fresh air. It speeds up the sludge, but there’s still that rumble in the gut you get from bands like Torche or Kyuss. The harmonizing isn’t limited just to choruses – Crusades operates with multiple voices at all times, making the songs seem like a choir of angry angels taking up electric guitars.
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Halloween horror marathon: Puppet Master

poster-puppet-masterWatching Puppet Master, you can assume one of two things regarding the plot: either it’s left unexplained because the writer and director trust in your intelligence, or because they had no ideas regarding the story beyond “Hey – killer dolls!” It’s one of those convoluted horror movies along the lines of Phantasm or Hellraiser, jamming in as many disparate points as possible: psychics, killer dolls, voodoo, witchcraft … really, really ridiculous mishmash of ideas. Puppet Master is a movie hell-bent on being strange, no two ways about it.
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Thee Tee Pees, “Your a Turd”

cover-thee-tee-peesThis is terribly-recorded, grammatically-lacking budget rock. Out now on Bachelor Records, this debut single from California’s Thee Tee Pees is heavy on the organ, light on anything resembling subtlety. Fun as hell, though. Bachelor is known for fun stuff, and they’ve yet to put out anything that’s so stupid as to be insulting. This treads a line, but manages to do so fairly well. You can snag it for €4 from the Bachelor shop. It’s limited to 500 copies in budget rock (read: cheap paper fold-over) sleeves.

Thee Tee Pees – Your a Turd by gimp-o-rama