A new compilation of SoCal bands titled Who invented the Mirror has just been released and is available exclusively at Amoeba. One of the bands featured thereon, Those, recently released their debut, We Cure Nothing, just before Christmas.
 

The name of the band, Those (assuming it's the plural pronoun of "that" and not the village in Nepal), seems calculatedly obscure and at the same time reminiscent of Them, The Who, The The, They, Them, Them! or It. The they behind those are John Cason (guitar), Eric Spolans (ex-The Not Today and 000 Records - guitar), JJ Watson (bass and horns), Brett Strobridge (drums), and Emily Grant (keys). It was recorded and engineered by Chris Reynolds at Dangerbird Studios in Silver Lake.

The always busy Tim Armstrong (Rancid, Transplants, solo, etc.) is gearing up for Halloween with his latest side project; an ambitious, rock n roll based, musical with a horror flavor, short film series titled ROCKNROLL THEATER - that immediately reminds one of Rocky Horror Picture Show. Under his alias Tim Timebomb Armstrong's been busy on the project working with director Kevin Kerslake plus a host of both experienced and first time actors/dancers including his Rancid bandmate Lars Frederiksen who gets a starring role (peep him in clip above and trailer below) in this new series that was launched on Friday last on VEVO with the first episode been "Dante" (see above).

Armstrong, a long time horror fan, could not have better timed the release of this unique new series. As well as the horror themed film piece being just in time for Halloween additionally this story about "corporate bad ass" Lars character Dante Wilson, who "practices treachery at every turn," also coincides perfectly with the Occupy Wall Street protests - something that had not yet begun when filming for the project began. As well as Frederiksen also featured in ROCKNROLL THEATER are Armstrong's pals AFI‘s Davey Havok, Shoshana Fox, Robert David Hall, and recent Amoeba Hollywood instore performers Fishbone.

By now most most Amoeba customers know about our expanded book section. From time to time I'll be pulling out some books from the section and recommend some I find of interest. The First one that caught my eye was Spray Paint The Walls: The Story Of Black Flag, written by Stevie Chick. Here is a small review of the book, which you can currently buy at Amoeba Hollywood.

By the time I finally saw Black Flag live it was early 1986, shortly before the band broke up. Fenders Ballroom in Long Beach, which only held 500 people, was only a quarter full. I had just seen The Circle Jerks at the same venue a few weeks before and the place was packed. Still, the band was amazing and everything I thought it would be. The band was so loud that the vibration from the speakers shook my clothes as if I was caught in a windstorm. Henry Rollins looked like a younger Charles Manson in his running shorts and tattoos, trying to sing between bouts with a group of skinheads. He just glared at them and kept singing, occasionally swatting at a few of them when they came to close to hitting him. Greg Ginn stood away from Henry, eyes closed, obliviously playing guitar and shaking his long hair as if he was Carlos Santana. This version band was light years away from the band that had released the Damaged album, which was released only five years before. It was indicative of the progression of the band, a decision to progress musically rather to continue to play the same music and retain a fan base. In the end, that choice ultimately destroyed one of the most influential bands of all time. Black Flag’s music was not the only legacy they had. The way Black Flag toured, release records independently and even the sound systems they took on the road are still linked to modern day bands to this day.

Currently in the third week of a national tour with Joell Ortiz, underground NYC emcee Propaganda Anonymous (aka Prop Anon) is gearing up to drop his musically & politically abrasive new album Squat The Condos in the coming weeks. Recently I caught up with the emcee, whose music is as much inspired by punk rock as hip-hop and who always has some engaging socio-political message to share. I wanted to know about the concept behind Squat The Condos, and how an artist like him, who has shared bills with punk rockers and alternative hip-hoppers in tiny dive bars in NYC, would end up on tour with a more mainstream rap artist like Joell Ortiz.

Of the tour with Joell, which came together via his booking agent, he said, "This type of tour is something new for Joell. It's more of nation wide grind out variety -- the type of stuff that artists like me are used to, but that more industry cats are not usually known for doing. It's a smart move on his part, because there have been cats who have done tours like this, and those MC's have a strong and loyal following now. People like Talib Kweli and Mos Def are two who come to mind. And I've done a number of tours like this, so when they reached out, I knew it would be a good match." 

But he notes that life on the road, while great and truly satisfying, is a lot of serious non-stop work. "I'm working my ass off, as I have three jobs on this tour. I am the opener for Joell. I am the main driver, clocking insane amounts of miles behind the wheel, and I am the tour/road manager," he said, adding that getting on stage every night is one part of the pay off. "It's a good feeling to watch a crowd full of people throw their hands in the air when you are killing it on stage." But how different is his show when he is playing to a more mainstream Joell Ortiz audience vs. playing some small dive club with a mixed punk/hip-hop audience? "My show is not be much different, to be honest. One thing that people who know me as a musician will tell you is that my style is extremely versatile. So, while Squat The Condos has that electro-punk hip-hop feel to it, for the past five years, I've been rhyming to a more traditional hip-hop back beat over at Sin Sin Lounge. I've been doing this for nearly every week for the last five years. Plus, the one rule for rhyming at Sin Sin is that it all has to be from the top of the head. On the last tour I was on, I had to rhyme for a half an hour straight off the top in front of an audience while the headliner was getting ready to come on the stage. The crowd loved it. When I toured the Czech Republic, I rocked many of my verses over those old style 90's boom bap beats and the audience ate it up. So, in other other words, playing to different crowds is not hard for me. And I came up on that ole 90's boom bap shit. I was raised on a healthy diet of that. I've just chosen to make my own sound when I have the chance, but rocking over styles like that is easy for me. And I see Joell's music and his fan base as a positive throw back to those times, so this is not going to be much of a stretch, I don't think."