UNDERGROUND RAILROAD TO CANDYLAND: DUM-DUM-DUM-DUM

Maybe I've lost track of how many times I've seen the Underground Railroad To Candyland, but I think that means that they've just become like one of those reflexive things you do to stay alive, like breathing, and not jumping off of cliffs, going outside to get vitamin D in the winter, feeding yourself. URTC fit into that category. Once in a while, about every three months I just need a big dose.

Something about the formula, Todd's voice, the always-shouted, always -DUM-DUM-DUM-DUM- with the guitar. Man, shit is just life-affirmingly approachable, fun as shit and has actual social commentary wrapped up in it.

I remember driving around South Dakota for work a couple years ago, right when their last record came out. I'd brought a copy along, and it turned what would've been kind of mundane drive through farmland, away from family and friends into a reminder of what's important in life.  I was able to picture a big crowd of folks pogoing around and having a blast while the band played and it lifted my spirits, and I think that's about the best thing you can do with a song sometime.

It turns out they've got a brand new record that's conveniently streaming here. I've been listening while I type this, and it's damned good. Not any major departure, just great songing from a great band.

LENGUAS LARGAS TOCARÁ EN TOTAL FEST.

Lenguas Largas

Tucson is one of those "It's the water" kinds of places for me, like Olympia and Tumwater, like Bellingham, San Pedro and Missoula. It's kind of a second-tier city in terms of size, but extremely fertile where the excellent underground and punk bands are concerned. Of course I kind of default to some of my all-time favorites like the outsider metal of Last of the Juanitas, and the forlorn country of Miss Lana Rebel, but you've also got The Pork Torta (who describe themselves as like E.S.G. and Thin Lizzy), Swing Ding Amigos (a raging fast Latin punk band) Shark Pants and Lenguas Largas in pretty recent memory. What's kind of special about all those groups is how uniquely they each own a sound. So, I attribute that to a town with something going on, and thus the "it's the water..." quote up there.

Lenguas Largas are the band that's playing Total Fest XIII this August, if that got lost up there. And to say I'm excited about that is kind of underplaying the significance of getting Lenguas Largas onto our bill. This band is one of those deeply-marinated in music sets of lifer musician guys, kind of like the Arrivals (who's new group Treasure Fleet is also playing) a couple of years ago. They just exude great tunes and play with the kind of shared band DNA that only comes with a longer commitment. They're part of the Recess tour with the Underground Railroad to Candyland and Treasure Fleet and White Night. Isaac Reyes from Swing Ding Amigos sings and plays guitar in Lenguas Largas, and he's got one of those super memorable voices and styles, like Todd Congelliere and David Merriman, Isaac Thotz that just helps you have a good day, regardless of what might have happened. I'll be up front for this. (Josh Vanek)


 

JUMP ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD TO CANDYLAND

Harshest album art ever?

Let's all go on a magical junket with Underground Railroad to Candyland! This driving, catchy, poppy, San Pedro-based Recess Records outfit, brought to you by Todd Congelliere and other sundry talented folks, comes back for another rousing Total Fest.

Listen up and party! (KW)

(Vanek jumping in) I can't tell you how many times I've seen this band, exactly. It's probably 7 or 8 now. Todd's been bringing groups to Missoula since FYP first played the Union Hall in around 2000, or the late 90s. Toys that Kill have played probably 3 or 4 Total Fests and URTC maybe the same number. I'm over 40 now, let's face it. It's not a steel trap up there.

And the total appeal of the tight-as-hell, melodic punk rock band with that awesome nasal voice behind it,  from D. Boon's hometown just never somehow fails to wane for me. These guys will crush even the most in-need-of-heavy-riff XL bearded bro out there, I've seen it happen. Todd, among other things has a past profession as a pro skater, runs one of our favorite labels of all-time (Recess) and has been quietly advancing DIY/weirdo/punk rock for two solid decades, and is now embarking on a third.

When you look at how long SST had output worth considering, it really was maybe only about one third that many years. And here's Recess just slogging it out, continuing to put out great records and selling them cheaply as ever. It may sound like hyperbole, but it's always an honor to get these long-time, elder statesemen (ahem) dudes like Todd C. and the Underground Railroad to Candyland, and they bring the ooomph, man. They bring it.

(KW)

WHITE NIGHT WHITE HEAT

Adrian Discipulo Photography

Fullerton's White Night  is one of those bands that baffles me a bit. That's not a knock in any way. They're straight up stellar, good-time punk that makes you taste the air. I (welcomely) take some flack for defining bands in the negative, or, to say it another way for positioning bands I like against bands that, for one reason or another, folks like and pump out $20 for a two band bill and continue to buy tired and trite record after record. Straw man or not, I'll not do that here. Well ... at least, I will not call out names or point fingers at those "punk" labels that cookie cut their way through merch sales. What White Night gets right is that punk is about merging the serious with the silly, jettisoning constricting genre categories, embracing the dirty rawness, and celebrating all the people and experiences that come with it.

Take their most recent release, Prophets ov Templum CDX, for example. It's a strange ass record, incorporating a few decades worth of sounds into two-minute (give or take) meandering blasts of sweetness. Backed by a solid pedigree of musicians, White Night feels like they're always evolving, always moving in and out of spaces that are familiar and comforting but choreographed in such a way that it catches you off guard, forcing you to catch up before the next shift. It's a dynamic approach that never feels forced or cobbled. Coming from someone who gravitates toward the atonal and affronting drones, White Night gives me pause. In a way, they make me take stock on how my tastes have shifted and remind me of the quiet joy of watching Neil Blender carve around for hours. Yeah, sure, there's some nostalgia plunking me in the back of the head, but White Night is never stale, never trite, never complacent. So dig it, Total Folks, they're coming to Missoula  in August with a small contingent of Recess bands, and we'll all be better for it.

(B'B'B') BENNY... BENNY (AND) THE JET (S) (RODRIGUEZ).

Watt's "Pedro" is that kind of mythical part of L.A. that's  a world unto it's own, if you're a punk fan. Officially, San Pedro is part of the "harbor area" west of Long Beach and is a self-enclosed, working class enclave in the massive metro area of Los Angeles, formerly a separate city. For most of us, it's notable because it gave the world one of the most inspiring and excellent groups of the 20th century: Minutemen.

At some point in the 2000s, with the work of people like Todd from Recess/FYP/Toys that Kill, Craig Ibarra and the Rise and Fall Zine and Water Under the Bridge label, bands like Killer Dreamer, Stoned At Heart etc. etc. the place started to flourish again, or at least from up here in Montana it gave the outward appearance of being a really, uh, generative, inspiring and fun scene. With mandatory halfpipes at/in house shows, great bands and fun folks.

So, when I hear about bands from Todd Recess, I'm normally less skeptical than in my standard assessment of things. I'm normally pretty sure there's something I'll dig about them. Call it a trusted source or call it a bias, we get stoked about Recess bands. But that's the long way around to introducing this band who helps us open Total Fest on August 15: Benny the Jet Rodriguez. Which I guess is the reference to a movie call the Sandlot, which I haven't seen. As you see from the post title up there, I've got Elton John on the mind when I hear about "Benny" and "Jet" anything... I was born in the '70s and was harmed by classic rock radio, I guess. Anyway, they play punk tunes worthy of singing along, pogoing to, and just plain ol' having a good time with. Join us in doing all those things with Benny the Jet Rodriquez, man!

UNDERGROUND RAILROAD TO CANDYLAND: SAN PEDRO'S PUNK TORCHBEARERS.
Todd "Recess" Congelliere's a bro. He's been in bands that we've been fans of for like, uh, 20-some years. I think if you were to consider all of the Todd-related bands that have played Total Fest over the years (Toys that Kill, Stoned At Heart, Underground Railroad.., Audacity) the guy takes the prize for most time on a Total Fest stage.

Part of what we so dig about Todd's projects is that he still does everything diy and keeps up a feverish release pace, and he remembers everybodys' names. Hell, he met Johnny at some point, briefly in the early 00s, and hasn't forgetten that guy!, and same goes for a lot of us. One of my all-time favorite Total Fest anecdotes comes from Todd, via Ben Wildenhaus from Federation X: it was TFIV, the one we held at the American Legion hall. The beer had run out and the alternative alcohol was Sparks, the nasty acidic orange alco-caffeine hybrid. Todd, and some bandmates, had switched from beer to Sparks out of necessity, and got wired-buzzed on the stuff. They were staying at Niki's house, and.. (this is where it gets a little fuzzy) when Todd took a shower, he looked down at his chest and hallucinated a feathery bird's breast, rather than what you normally see. Was it the combination of being in a 90 degree, sweaty room and a massive dose of pharmaceutical grade caffeine and dodgy malt liquor...or was it the Total Fest je-ne-sais-quois? We'll never know.

In the past year, Todd's done a great solo record called "Clown Sounds," he played on the Stoned At Heart LP, and now there's this great new Underground Railroad To Candyland record. It's all got his stamp on it. If you're into modern skate punk, and the torch-bearers of the best of southern California's punk output, Todd and his crew(s) are your folks. The band that's playing Total Fest X is the Underground Railroad to Candyland. They have got a new record coming out, and are massively fun and excellent.