KYLESA RATTLES MISSOULA'S CAGE.

Picture of Kylesa at the Palace Lounge, October 19, 2013. By Stephan Chase

I've always really liked the phrase Hollow Severer. That for the uninitiated is a rager of a Kylesa song from their Time Will Fuse Its Worth LP. It evokes some kind of creepy Evil Dead skeleton army kind of deal for me.Well, Kylesa pretty much severed us, and turned lots of us into a hollow skeleton army ready to do their bidding. That was the closeout of the OcTotal Fest shows last weekend. Jeesh, what sweaty mayhem.

Picture of Kylesa at the Palace Lounge, October 19, 2013. By Stephan Chase

To be honest, I was waaaaay more immediately taken with theTo Walk a Middle Course, Time Will Fuse Its Worth and Static Tensions LPs than I currently am with the space jam approach of Spiral Shadow and Ultraviolet. I've just never needed a ton of intro before the riffs start, man! But seeing them do their thing, theremin, skateboard-guitar and "visuals" all kind of brought it home for me. They're not the same band they were when they put out those earlier records. They're exploring some different territory. they still thoroughly bring some of the most immediately gut-rattling riffs and rage-inducing power that we can really think of. It sounds a little cheesy, but our penance for questioning will be to thoroughly explore these two new records, and report back. Reggie Shramana swears by 'em.

PAY THEM TO LEAVE.

Grunt, a Great Falls/Missoula band, have been plying their grindy hardcore for a couple years now, as far as we can tell. They emerged from the ashes of the short-lived Semen Segal who I think we can say without any need for challenge are the only Montana band who ever covered Caustic Christ. Missoula's Eat Records put out a 7" and the band immediately broke up, or perhaps they were already broken up, and the 7" got released as a posthumous deal. Details, man.

Regardless, Eat curates a pretty good and eclectic set of releases and makes us appreciate the little weird underground pockets in Missoula. That record's definitely still in print, if you were wondering. That there's extreme music coming from Great Falls makes ushappy on a Friday.

The other thing that makes us happy is the ambition these guys are displaying. They're currently planning a tour, regularly travel around the state for DIY shows, and played Billings' Richard Dreyfest, with great bands like Mr. Dad and Noise Noise Noise, and are recording regularly. Here's a link to Grunt's demo tape.

Three final notes:
1) Marcus Swafford from Mahamawaldi plays bass for them.
2) Grunt releases a 12" at their show on October 19th.
3) That October 19th show is with Kylesa, Pinkish Black and Sierra at the Palace Lounge. Grunt play at 9PM.

OCTOBAL FEST.

What, you've never heard of the unique musical event known as OCTOBAL FEST? It's where the Bugs play on Wednesday, October 16th and Kylesa plays Saturday, October 19th. That's what Octobal Fest is all about. It's put on by Total Fest, every year. You probably missed it last year because of that family thing or whatever. That's cool, but you should come this year. You know, it's Octobal Fest. It's always a rad time.

The Bugs (Wed. Oct. 16th, the ZACC below w. Mountain Shark and Oll Breds). Where to start with the Bugs, the Bugs, the mighty ol' Bugs? Jeesh, it's a hard question. I met Mike Bugs when he used to roadie for Last of the Juanitas, who kind of helped produce Red Fang. Mike sang on this song of theirs called Big Eyed Space Girl. It was incredible. The bugs might've come through Missoula first around 2004, or 2003. Kind of like a Sufi punk band. Guys interested in the world they live in kind of more than the teeny little weird world of punk rock, I guess. That's what I've always liked about 'em anyway. The music's as honest and imperfect and human as I think you can find in America. And that's not just us being whatever, kind of sentimental. Come see the Bugs, it's $5 if you get your ticket at Ear Candy before the show and $6 at the door.

We'll have some more about Kylesa shortly, and we're taking the ticket pre-sales down, so your only option for presales is in-person from Ear Candy Music in Missoula, prior to these shows.

LORD DYING, MORE VITAL THAN SLAYER.

We just witnessed mind breakingly berzerker-tight and minor as hell metal from the righteous bros of Lord Dying. By god. That was some wild, wild, wild rock and roll. They had to put a bunch of extra effort in to make it to the show because their van's transmission died in the wilds of eastern Montana. Lord Dying is the roughly three year old band fronted by Erik Olso and Chris Evans, who were in Le Force and Portals, and Don Capuano who did some time in both Black Elk and Wadsworth. As solid a pedigree as you'll find these days...

But talk about just soldiering onward, they rented a van and handled the adversity like some weathered-ass pros. If you're one of those jaded types who thinks metal might have started and ended with Tom Araya or Tom Warrior or something, man, update your software because LORD DYING were just as brutal and great as you'd ever want. I left without an LP because I was concerned on my bike it might be bent up. I'm ordering one Monday. Thanks dudes.

 

KYLESA: OCTOBER 19, MISSOULA.

It's true, dog. Kylesa Play Saturday, October 19th At the Palace Lounge in Missoula. Start your calisthenics and neck exercises 'SAP, because otherwise, you may need a neckbrace come Monday. Pinkish Black, Sierra and Grunt open. More info and a full-sized write up coming shortly.

Tickets via this page right here. Totalfest.org and Ear Candy Music in Missoula.

Also, of note: Saturday, October 5th: Lord Dying at the Palace Lounge. 18+

Wednesday, October 16th: the Bugs, Oll Breds and Mountain Shark at the ZACC basement. All-Ages.

DOG SHREDDER RE-BRAND UNDERWAY: CURTAIN RAISED ON WILD THRONE.

Wild Throne is unfortunately not members of Wyld Stallyns and Joe Preston, that band would've been too incredible. And whether it's a better name than Dog Shredder is certainly up for debate. I liked the shock value of Dog Shredder. But the point to me is this: I love a punk rock re-brand and I can think of next to none in my time around bands and shows and records. I think it takes some gumption to say: "hey, this handle of ours might be keeping some people from checking us out, and among our modest goals is having some people check us out when we play live, so, you know what, we're gonna change our name."

If it means that even a few more people (735 at present) witness them covering Heart of the Sunrise by Yes (below), it will all have been worth it. We've been fans Josh Holland bands since he was putting on zombie facepaint in that one band. Cicadas were great too! And remember that incredible video when he was in Federation X? Where he brought so much rock that he slipped and fell down? Jeez. Epic. Can't find it on Youtube. Anyway, Dog Shredder have a great LP called Brass Tactics on Good To Die label. They slayed Total Fest XII. Enjoy them on tour with Red Fang.

MUCHAS GRACIAS, HERMANOS/AS!

Dead, from Melbourne. Picture by Tommy Martino.

Man, excellent Total Fest. All kinds of stuff we can't get out of our heads. Like how Thrones doesn't need a bass to make the wildest music out there. Or how much we like Dead, and Brain Tumors. And Mr. Dad. And Benjamin Von Wildenhaus. And Seawhores. It's a little ridiculous to try to sum up in a single place, frankly. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the bands that played and lent gear to one another (especially Brothers of the Sonic Cloth and Dog Shredder), the folks that volunteered, the businesses that sponsored us, and you the folks who came and raged.

Hey, let's keep the momentum going! Lots of us put on shows across the other 362 days of the year, and we have some incredible ones coming up this fall in Missoula. Here are some spots to learn about them:
Minor Bird Records Blog (TF Organizer Marty's blog)
Missoula Punk News (TF Organizer Kate's blog)
I think those two are some of the best resources for DIY happenings in Missoula, MT. Weird Missoula is Tom Shahs website, and it's great as well. 

Some other endeavors we TF organizers do are listed here:
Shahs (Colin's band with Tom H.)
Big Sky Documentary Film Festival (Travis's awesome film fest.)
Wantage (Josh V's label/distro)
Hans Bagworks (Paul's bikepacking bag business)
ART, BLOG, INK. (TF O

Michael Workman, who's (TF co-Boss) Kari's brother, shot and edited a couple of awesome Total Fest XII videos:
Red Fang at Total Fest XII
Seawhores at Total Fest XII

We absolutely love it when folks share photos and videos with us. Feel free to do that via our Facebook page, or through this email. See you before Aug. 2014, we hope!