I’m expecting two killer albums from two incredible bands this year. What do these bands have in common? Well, almost nothing I guess. (It’s 11 whole steps at BandToBand.com!) They’re both punk bands, but they really sound nothing alike. They are, however, in my all-time top favorites.
My wife tells me all the time that every band that I talk about is my favorite. But that’s how I am, I guess. If I like a band, I really like a band. I try to acquire all of their music. I get into side projects & related bands. I sometimes even look for live stuff & bootlegs. Snuff & Ann Beretta are bands that have that hold over me.
I got into both of these bands right around the time I started playing in my first real band, AiXeLsyD. I was really into buying punk compilations some time after 1995… and whenever ’98 or ’99 rolled around and AiXeLsyD was writing and playing shows, I was absorbing everything and these bands just lit me up.
I’m incredibly pumped for this, or anything that Duncan Redmonds puts out.
Ann Beretta
With Ann Beretta, I can pin it all down to one song. I heard “Bottlecaps” on Fueled by Ramen‘s Year of the Rat comp, and that was it. These cats are incredible. Hearing their songs is like being dropped right into the middle of a story, situation, or town that you know every inch of despite having never been there. I’ve seen them more than once in the ‘Burgh, and have even road-tripped to Cleveland to see them. I helped make buttons for them, and they crashed at my buddy (& fellow AiXelsyD bandmate) Andy’s place after a show one time at the Rex. The music is not unlike Rancid… without so much ska & snarl, but with honest Willie Nelson-like storytelling. These guys wear RVA on their sleeve, and certainly make their hometown proud. Their cover of All‘s “Long Distance” is incredible. (The original is of course flawless in its own right.)“Love’s Easy Tears” is one of the catchiest songs ever, and I love the chaotic ending. “Russ’Song” always gets me going, too. Inquisition, Sixer and Foundation are worth checking out too.
The major update on this front comes from the driving force behind Ann Beretta and Foundation, Rob Huddleston…. via Twitter:
So, recently I stumbled up on a site called Ax Vault, where you can catalog your guitar collection. I took some updated photos of all of my guitars for use there, and thought I’d share them here.
Dewey Decibel FlipOut
Galveston – B.B. Stone
Six Flags Batman Guitar
Epiphone Les Paul
Fender Stratocaster (Japan)
Gotham Bat Paul
Fender G-IIE
Ibanez 627-12
I’m always wanting more, always thinking of ways to modify these & clean them up. When I see new ones, I want them. Especially if they’re odd. It’s a sickness.
There are more photos if each if you’re interested in a gallery at Photobucket:
I’ll be a while until I correctly catalog all the relevant information. I must admit that I cannot identify tone woods or fretboard woods simply by looking at them, and I’m not quite sure how to identify some of the pickups. There’s also a current glitch in adding photos… as in I can’t add any more or edit the ones there. I like the idea of the site though. It’s a great way to keep track of my guitars, serial numbers for the ones that have ’em, and to spark conversation between guitarists.
I’ve blogged before about my FlipOut and my B.B. Stone, I’ll have to blog about the others some day! Up next will most likely be that Batman Logo guitar, once I get it all ready to play out.
So, Ernie and one Bert decided to crash a Houlihan's open stage last night in Robinson. Apparently it enters us into a contest. We'd like to take the other Bert to round 2, so we'd like you to vote for us. How do you do that? Like Houlihan's Robinson on Facebook. Vote for us here. This is what we sounded like: …sort of. Imagine that you ca … Read More
World (and Lunar) Domination 