My life, some wrestling news, 4th of July, music reviews.
My life, some wrestling news, 4th of July, music reviews.
Current mood: stalked
For those un aware, I have a birthday coming up. I think I might be working but I'm not sure. I'm going to be 22. I know that's still relatively young and everything, but I feel like my youth is slipping through my fingers.
I've been on the Jeff King "Get Lean" diet for about a week now. I've lost 10 lbs. Go me!
I got a new job. I'm now an employee of Goodwill in Mt. Pleasant and I couldn't be happier. The job is actually pretty cool, and the hours are super flexable, so unless something major happens, I shouldn't miss any wrestling bookings.
Speaking of wrestling. Lots of big things are happening. I don't want to come off like I'm not humble or anything, because I know there's a long road ahead but I never thought in a million years so much would be happening to us (Cody and me) so soon. Stay tuned, and you'll see what I mean.
NWA Underground on July 11th in Union, MI
WMWA on July 18th in Big Rapids, MI
Be there or eat shit! Just kidding, but be there!
I had a pretty cool 4th of July. I got to spend it with Stephanie and Ryan. Ryan is moving to Kansas soon, so it was good to hang out with him for the day. Ryan and me hi-jacked a spot in the parade, and I was wearing my CWM t shirt, so we were the official CWM float I guess. We walked the whole duration of the parade, and at the very tail end we saw Cody. Cody jumped in and walked with us a little bit, and then we jumped out and caught up. It's weird, Cody's like my brother, but I don't see him that much outside of wrestling shows. He's got his thing going, and I got my thing going. We live two very different lives, but it was pretty fun to hang out and heckle the other floats as the parade winded down. We split and went our seperate ways. Ryan and me caught up with Steph and headed to the beach. I always forget to bring sunblock for my head, and it gets sunburnt everytime. It's not that bad, but I remember one time it got burnt so bad I had blisters on my head. That shit sucked. Anywho, after the beach we headed back to my pad. Ryan had to do some running around, and there was not much else to do so I watched Smackdown for the first time in ages. Weird to see HHH and JR on it, but it was a pretty good show. Ryan came back, we pulled out the couch from the garage onto the lawn and headed to the fireworks tent by Glen's Grocery where the dude hooked me up with some of the "good stuff" as Cody would call it.
Ok, the Clare County Fairgrounds is literally 50 feet from my house. That's where they shoot off the fireworks, so I have pretty much THE prime spot to watch them. That's the up side, the down side is everybody and their fucking brother likes to park along side the curb on my street, so it's always a pain in the ass with people using my driveway to turn around and shit. Ryan parked his jeep in such a way that my driveway was no longer a convenience for them, and we were ready to sit back, and watch some explosions. The fireworks were actually pretty good this year, and lasted about a half hour. After those were done, Ryan and me broke out the stuff we had and set patches of my lawn on fire in the process. All in all I say the 4th was a complete success. Ryan said his goodbye, and I got in and went to sleep, I had to open on the 5th.
One of the things I hate about my job is the drive. Mt. Pleasant isn't THAT far, but with gas being what it is, it can cost a pretty penny. The up-side is that I've been getting around to listening to some CDs I've been meaning to check out.
I'll start with The Damned - Smash It Up: The Anthology.
The Damned are, in my opinion, one of the greatest bands that have ever existed at any time and any place. Don't believe me? Go listen to Plan 9 - Channel 7, or New Rose. The stuff on Anthology is all stuff that I've heard before, but having it all together in a nice convenient package is great. I think the song "Suicide" and "So Messed Up" should have been on it, but shit I have a cd burner, so I just burnt a new copy and put them on myself. All in all 5 stars out of 5. Do yourself a favor and get this shit.
Next I'll cover Michael Graves - Punk Rock Is Dead
I was always a bit reluctant to listen to Michale's solo stuff. He's a great singer, but I always thought his albums would fall a bit short without The Misfits backing him up musically. I was wrong. Punk Rock Is Dead is a great album from top to bottom with "Beware", "Exit," "Radio Deadly," "Punk Rock Is Dead," and "Dawn of the Dead" sticking out as the best of the bunch. Michale Graves is a great vocalist, and from listening to this a very talented musician (he played everything except drums). Great stuff. 5 out of 5.
Now, onto another Michale Graves album. Michale Graves- Return to Earth.
Michale Graves' "Return To Earth" is a much different album than "Punk Rock Is Dead", which came out only one year earlier. Return To Earth is much more of an alternative album than was Punk Rock Is Dead, which was a straight up punk rock album. While Punk Rock Is Dead was very similar to the Misfits stuff, this album sees Michale branching out and finding his own niche. There is some very clear grunge influences on this album, very reminicent of Nirvana, like "Fountains of Heroine," and also "Butchershop." Return to Earth is a very slow song, with piano accompaniment. Michale's voice once again shines. This song may turn off horror punk fans, but fans of Michale's voice will probably like this one. All in all I give it 4 out of 5 stars. It was good, but his previous release was alot better in my opinion.
Up next is the Gorgeous Frankenstein EP.
Gorgeous Frankenstein is Doyle's (of The Misfits) new band. It's named after his wife (remember Gorgeous George from WCW? the blonde broad with Macho man?) and I think it's cool that he named a band after his wife, but damn does that name suck. It's cool though, I'm a Doyle fan so I decided to give this one a listen. To put it simply, Gorgeous Frankenstein sounds alot like Danzig's heavier stuff. (Danzig was the producer afterall). The riffs were pretty good, Goolsby had some decent vocals, but honestly this just kinda fell on it's side and flopped a bit for me. With Danzig producing, and Doyle on guitar, I was hoping for a return to the classic era Misfits sound, but what I got was a Danzig album. 3 out of 5. Not bad, but nothing to write home about.
Last but not least. I'll be reviewing Calabrese - The Traveling Vampire show.
HOLY SHIT! This is what the fuck I've been waiting for! Finally, a band that has a bit of everything that I like rolled into one. Calabrese is by far the best MODERN horror punk band, easily the best since the Misfits in my opinion, without being a ripoff. The music is fast, very fun, awesome melody, and very hard. If you are a fan of horror punk, rock music, alternative, or hard rock you will most likely love this as well. Highlights of the album are Your Ghost, The House of Mysterious Secrets, Young Princes of Darkness, Night in Lonesome October, Come Alive, and Voices of the Dead. But, every song is great, absolutely no filler. I can't go on enough about this cd. It hasn't left the car since I got it. 5 OUT OF 5!
Currently watching :
The Return of the Living Dead
Current mood: stalked
For those un aware, I have a birthday coming up. I think I might be working but I'm not sure. I'm going to be 22. I know that's still relatively young and everything, but I feel like my youth is slipping through my fingers.
I've been on the Jeff King "Get Lean" diet for about a week now. I've lost 10 lbs. Go me!
I got a new job. I'm now an employee of Goodwill in Mt. Pleasant and I couldn't be happier. The job is actually pretty cool, and the hours are super flexable, so unless something major happens, I shouldn't miss any wrestling bookings.
Speaking of wrestling. Lots of big things are happening. I don't want to come off like I'm not humble or anything, because I know there's a long road ahead but I never thought in a million years so much would be happening to us (Cody and me) so soon. Stay tuned, and you'll see what I mean.
NWA Underground on July 11th in Union, MI
WMWA on July 18th in Big Rapids, MI
Be there or eat shit! Just kidding, but be there!
I had a pretty cool 4th of July. I got to spend it with Stephanie and Ryan. Ryan is moving to Kansas soon, so it was good to hang out with him for the day. Ryan and me hi-jacked a spot in the parade, and I was wearing my CWM t shirt, so we were the official CWM float I guess. We walked the whole duration of the parade, and at the very tail end we saw Cody. Cody jumped in and walked with us a little bit, and then we jumped out and caught up. It's weird, Cody's like my brother, but I don't see him that much outside of wrestling shows. He's got his thing going, and I got my thing going. We live two very different lives, but it was pretty fun to hang out and heckle the other floats as the parade winded down. We split and went our seperate ways. Ryan and me caught up with Steph and headed to the beach. I always forget to bring sunblock for my head, and it gets sunburnt everytime. It's not that bad, but I remember one time it got burnt so bad I had blisters on my head. That shit sucked. Anywho, after the beach we headed back to my pad. Ryan had to do some running around, and there was not much else to do so I watched Smackdown for the first time in ages. Weird to see HHH and JR on it, but it was a pretty good show. Ryan came back, we pulled out the couch from the garage onto the lawn and headed to the fireworks tent by Glen's Grocery where the dude hooked me up with some of the "good stuff" as Cody would call it.
Ok, the Clare County Fairgrounds is literally 50 feet from my house. That's where they shoot off the fireworks, so I have pretty much THE prime spot to watch them. That's the up side, the down side is everybody and their fucking brother likes to park along side the curb on my street, so it's always a pain in the ass with people using my driveway to turn around and shit. Ryan parked his jeep in such a way that my driveway was no longer a convenience for them, and we were ready to sit back, and watch some explosions. The fireworks were actually pretty good this year, and lasted about a half hour. After those were done, Ryan and me broke out the stuff we had and set patches of my lawn on fire in the process. All in all I say the 4th was a complete success. Ryan said his goodbye, and I got in and went to sleep, I had to open on the 5th.
One of the things I hate about my job is the drive. Mt. Pleasant isn't THAT far, but with gas being what it is, it can cost a pretty penny. The up-side is that I've been getting around to listening to some CDs I've been meaning to check out.
I'll start with The Damned - Smash It Up: The Anthology.
The Damned are, in my opinion, one of the greatest bands that have ever existed at any time and any place. Don't believe me? Go listen to Plan 9 - Channel 7, or New Rose. The stuff on Anthology is all stuff that I've heard before, but having it all together in a nice convenient package is great. I think the song "Suicide" and "So Messed Up" should have been on it, but shit I have a cd burner, so I just burnt a new copy and put them on myself. All in all 5 stars out of 5. Do yourself a favor and get this shit.
Next I'll cover Michael Graves - Punk Rock Is Dead
I was always a bit reluctant to listen to Michale's solo stuff. He's a great singer, but I always thought his albums would fall a bit short without The Misfits backing him up musically. I was wrong. Punk Rock Is Dead is a great album from top to bottom with "Beware", "Exit," "Radio Deadly," "Punk Rock Is Dead," and "Dawn of the Dead" sticking out as the best of the bunch. Michale Graves is a great vocalist, and from listening to this a very talented musician (he played everything except drums). Great stuff. 5 out of 5.
Now, onto another Michale Graves album. Michale Graves- Return to Earth.
Michale Graves' "Return To Earth" is a much different album than "Punk Rock Is Dead", which came out only one year earlier. Return To Earth is much more of an alternative album than was Punk Rock Is Dead, which was a straight up punk rock album. While Punk Rock Is Dead was very similar to the Misfits stuff, this album sees Michale branching out and finding his own niche. There is some very clear grunge influences on this album, very reminicent of Nirvana, like "Fountains of Heroine," and also "Butchershop." Return to Earth is a very slow song, with piano accompaniment. Michale's voice once again shines. This song may turn off horror punk fans, but fans of Michale's voice will probably like this one. All in all I give it 4 out of 5 stars. It was good, but his previous release was alot better in my opinion.
Up next is the Gorgeous Frankenstein EP.
Gorgeous Frankenstein is Doyle's (of The Misfits) new band. It's named after his wife (remember Gorgeous George from WCW? the blonde broad with Macho man?) and I think it's cool that he named a band after his wife, but damn does that name suck. It's cool though, I'm a Doyle fan so I decided to give this one a listen. To put it simply, Gorgeous Frankenstein sounds alot like Danzig's heavier stuff. (Danzig was the producer afterall). The riffs were pretty good, Goolsby had some decent vocals, but honestly this just kinda fell on it's side and flopped a bit for me. With Danzig producing, and Doyle on guitar, I was hoping for a return to the classic era Misfits sound, but what I got was a Danzig album. 3 out of 5. Not bad, but nothing to write home about.
Last but not least. I'll be reviewing Calabrese - The Traveling Vampire show.
HOLY SHIT! This is what the fuck I've been waiting for! Finally, a band that has a bit of everything that I like rolled into one. Calabrese is by far the best MODERN horror punk band, easily the best since the Misfits in my opinion, without being a ripoff. The music is fast, very fun, awesome melody, and very hard. If you are a fan of horror punk, rock music, alternative, or hard rock you will most likely love this as well. Highlights of the album are Your Ghost, The House of Mysterious Secrets, Young Princes of Darkness, Night in Lonesome October, Come Alive, and Voices of the Dead. But, every song is great, absolutely no filler. I can't go on enough about this cd. It hasn't left the car since I got it. 5 OUT OF 5!
Currently watching :
The Return of the Living Dead