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On the Cover: The Narrator, www.thenarrator.net Photo: Chris Strong, www.chrisstrong.com

Above Photo: Nurses, www.nursesmusic.com Photo: David McHank, www.myspace.com/mchank
Correspond: subtitlespub@yahoo.com
P.O. Box 2076 • Maple Grove, MN 55311
 08 Schedule two06
30 36 24
Sixes- editors
The Narrator
Nurses
40 07
Baby Teeth
Reviews
Summer
Schedule Two started out as a record label and
then switched to filming live shows? Why the
switch and do you have any plans to release any
albums in the future?
Oh, man. That's a long story. Let's see if it can be
shortened up. Luke and Steve decided to put out a
CD EP by Trent's band, Monarques. It was a great EP
and we're proud of the 400 copies (out of 1000) we
sold. After Trent and Monarques split ways, he was
throwing around the idea of starting up an all digital
label. Being great friends, suggestions were made
in joining forces under a new multi-format sched-
uletwo.com where we could give away videos and
mp3s for FREE. This was agreed upon and we
started filming shows shortly there-after. The main
principle was: it is easier to give things away for free
than to sell them for money. This is especially true
with the distribution power of the almighty Internet.
"What the fuck is the internet?" you ask. [See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet] We originally
intended to do a lot of live/session style mp3 releas-
es (much like daytrotter.com is doing now), but with
the videos getting such an overwhelming reaction,
and taking so much of our time, we got a little side-
tracked. We hope to have more mp3 releases in the
near future and to release more albums [physical
media] in the more distant future.
How has the response been from bands and visi-
tors to the site?
Overwhelmingly positive. Bands are excited to have
06
great sounding/multi-angled live videos of their per-
formances. Fans are happy that the videos aren't
uploaded from the cellphone of that staggering
drunk guy at the show, not to mention that they last
longer than 30 seconds.
What kind of equipment do you use? Do you record
sound from the soundboard or is it all done from
the camera?
We use Canon GL2s to shoot most of the video with
the help of an occasional Canon XL1 or Sony TRV-
17. Eric Drommerhausen, our soundman, gets a
mix from the board which he incorporates with
some high quality room mics. This is all key in
achieving the live sounds we look for. Straight
board mixes typically are way too vocal heavy, so
having a good set of room mics really makes all the
difference in the world. On a few occasions in the
early days of filming, camera audio has saved our
necks, but typically camcorder microphones sound
flat, and pick up a lot of machine noise from the
camcorder itself. We try to avoid using camcorder
audio at all costs, but some times it's all you got.
How do you choose which bands to film and do
bands ever contact you to film there live shows?
Pretty much it's just our combined tastes versus
scheduling. We try to shoot 2-4 sets per month. But
some months have 6 shoots and some have none.
We also trust a lot of people who listen to a lot of
good music.
Do you get permission from bands before you film
their show, or do you just show up with cameras?
We always get permission beforehand.
Understandably, bands and venues don't appreciate
people waltzing in with cameras and audio equip-
ment at the last minute all guerrilla style. Though in
one case [The Hold Steady videos are a good exam-
ple of this] we went to First Avenue to film the open-
ing band, The Evening Rig, and while we were there
we got the OK to shoot Sean Na Na as well as The
Hold Steady. The moral of the story is; always bring
extra batteries and tapes. Also, always be polite to
your venue staff. The Twin Cities have some incred-
ible clubs with some even more incredible people
who run their day-to-day operations. We love em all
and think that more people should buy them
drinks...after they get off work of course.
Have any bands denied you from filming their
show?
When we ask permission, either bands respond and
say, "yes please!" or they just ignore us. A few
bands have asked us not to post the footage given
that they were not pleased with their performances.
We have, of course, always complied. We won't
name names. Though one in particular is a
Canadian band who's name has something to do
with a standard of measurement, and we're not talk-
ing Imperial (or English) units of measurements
here. Yeah, that other kind.
Who films all the shows?
Our main crew consists of Steven Candy, Luke
Heiken, Trenton Raygor and Eric Drommerhausen.
The sound guys at the clubs deserve a lot of the
credit. They are why it sounds good in the first
place. [Here's to you Matt Lindquist] We have a
group of go-to camera people including Julie Wager
(who is also responsible for the beautiful stylings of
the scheduletwo.com website), David Hill, Seth
Mabbott, a trusty old tripod, and any one else who is
hanging around and willing to sling a camera for 45
minutes to an hour.
What are some problems that have arisen when
filming live shows?
The most attention needs to be paid to audio. It is
the single most crucial part of any shoot. That's
where Eric comes in. He delivers every time. If he
didn't dial in the audio, we wouldn't be posting the
videos. Otherwise it's just little stuff like people
turning off cameras mid-set and ruining the sync,
audience members deciding to fuck with the asshole
holding a camera by holding their drink in front of
the lens, band members looking directly into the
camera all the time [can be creepy], filming the
floor/ceiling for 30 seconds while you drink beer, etc
etc...
If you could shoot video of one band from any time
in history, which band would you choose?
Steven: Dirty Three
Luke: Sonic Youth circa 1987
Trenton: Bad Brains circa 1982
Eric: The Anniversary
What bands can we look forward seeing on the site
in the near future?
We have some new sets from Portastatic, Haley
Bonar and Akron/Family that are almost ready to be
posted. We're filming some great upcoming shows
including Low's CD release show on April 14th at
First Avenue, Vietnam, and The Black Angels as well.
Other than that we don't have a lot planned.
Any suggestions? Email them to us at
info@scheduletwo.com
07
 6 questions
7Editors
6x7Gus Peña (Chord)
Stuart Anderson (The New Scheme)

6
Amy Schroeder (Venus)
ques
7Editor
Steve Brydges (Copper Press)
Justin Luczejko (WonkaVision)
Todd Taylor (Razorcake)
Jack Rabid (The Big Takeover)

08 6x7
What is the purpose of your magazine?
Our purpose is to give music fans an avenue
to discover music.
As editor of your magazine, what does your
job involve?
It is not as glamorous as it sounds. 'Soup to
nuts' basically.
What's the key to longevity in independent
publishing?
Staying independent.
What do you think is the biggest problem
facing independent magazines like yours
today?
Probably the misconception that internet ad
buys equate to CD sales. Internet 'plays' on
sites like MySpace or Pure Volume do not
equal sales. I saw a press release where the
artist had 17+ million plays but only sold 15,000
CDs. Numbers can be deceiving. Plays in the
millions sound good but in truth they do nothing
for your bottom line. I have yet to meet a per-
son that clicks on a banner ad on purpose.
I think that when we get online we tend to
know almost exactly where we want to go; I
want to sell this on eBay, or check the Lakers
score from last night or who posted a comment
on my MySpace page. With print the approach
is different. We want to flip through a magazine
and see what it may have to offer. We want to
have the ability to scope out and ad and flip the
page if we are not interested.
Is the internet killing independent paper
magazines or making them more popular?
I think the internet is offering another avenue
of distribution. Independent print will only die if
we as independent publishers do not move for-
ward with the times and develop new and
improved methods of reaching people and
advertisers. Companies want PR in print other-
wise our inboxes would not be as full as they
are. Clearly there will have to be a new
magazine online business model.
09
10
How would you describe your publication?
In short: a small-run magazine, mostly focused
on independent music. In reality: a fanzine
(read as: dinosaur).
What is the purpose of your magazine?
To spread the word on new, interesting music,
most of which will be only peripherally
covered, or completely ignored by larger
publications. Lately it seems like the purpose
has mostly been survival, both financially, and
personally. It has been difficult to find time to
devote to it, and keep print runs at a
reasonable level while finally getting away
from newsprint.
As editor of your magazine, what does your
job involve?
It involves a lot of different things, mostly
coordinating coverage with a number of
writers, writing too many reviews myself, and
selling ads. Then, I usually end up editing and
laying out the whole issue in a three-day span,
weeks after the deadline. The current issue will
hopefully be the last one that falls into this
pattern, as I'm finally finishing school. I would
really like to spend more time working with the
talented, but equally over-worked and unpaid
writers and focusing more on each issue's
production. Hopefully that will be possible
starting next month.
What's the key to longevity in independent
publishing?
Persistence, and not over-reaching. I have
been tempted a number of times over the
years to leap at the full color cover, free
sampler CD, UPC and cover price. It sucks to
feel so stuck with OK black and white printing
and inconsistent at best, free distribution. But
taking that leap would likely have killed this
project years ago. Instead, I’m always trying to
grow slowly and organically. Right now the
goal is to fill in gaps in circulation for the paper
version, keep growing with the digital version
and make enough money to pay writers. I think
all of them are finally possible now. I’ve been
able to consistently break even at this, in some
capacity, for more than ten years. It’s frustrat-
ing sometimes, but I’d rather stay afloat than
go broke on a few issues and end up working
at Alternative Press.
What do you think is the biggest problem
facing independent magazines like yours
today?
The biggest problem is really the same that it’s
always been: money. It seems like advertising
is way down, since more and more labels are
cutting their budgets as conventional CD sales
disappear. But there also seems to always be
a stream of new labels, despite the slim odds
of making money. I know that distribution is
more difficult all the time for newsstand
magazines. I avoid that by making it free in
print and online. Again, it’s frustrating to
scramble for years and consistently get rough-
ly the same amount of ad money each issue.
But with so many people involved in selling
music going out of business, I’d rather be
treading water than sinking.
Is the internet killing independent paper
magazines or making them more popular?
Usually: killing them. In an effort not to be
another casualty, or go fully online I’ve found a
happy medium. I’m still printing the issues as
always, but I’m also putting out a PDF version,
which is free to download. I have no interest in
doing a fully online magazine, since I really
don’t like reading a bunch of text at once
online. It works great for more news-based
sites like Punknews and Pitchfork, but it isn’t
for me. So far, the PDF version has been doing
really well. There have been at least four times
as many unique downloads for each issue as
printed copies. I see the internet hurting a lot of
mid-sized magazines with cover prices, but it
has only helped to spread The New Scheme.
11
12
How would you describe your publication? What do you think is the biggest problem
facing independent magazines like yours
Venus Zine (and venuszine.com) covers the today?
ladies (and men) in music, film, fashion, and
DIY culture. We’re lucky: We’re the only Funding (i.e. advertising) and channels for
publication that covers what we cover how we newsstand distribution — especially when
cover it. record stores are going under — are always
main concerns. We’ve been able to stay
What is the purpose of your magazine? competitive by putting an emphasis on our
Web site, venuszine.com. In the summer of
There are so many cool women, and there is 2007, we are launching a redesign of our site.
so little time. We do our best to feature as
many creative, inspiring women as we can. Is the internet killing independent paper
We’ve featured Björk, Yoko Ono, Miranda July, magazines or making them more popular?
Sleater-Kinney, and so many others.
Both. Depends on the publication. I believe
As editor of your magazine, what does your that in today’s world, it's less about print vs.
job involve? web. In order to succeed, publications need to
grow their overall brands and multiple media
A lot of my job involves talent search and channels.
management. I recruit talented writers and
creative types and figure out how and where
they’re best suited at Venus Zine. I also edit
stories, decide the cover story, oversee a team
of freelance editors and writers, train interns,
and conceptualize and flush out business
development ideas. Outside of the office, I also
do public speaking on how to successfully start
an indie publication.

What's the key to longevity in independent

publishing?

A solid and original concept, hard work and

dedication, the ability to stay ahead of trends,
and being able to adapt to the changing times
with the Internet.

13
14
How would you describe your publication?
Adrift in a sea of debt. Oh, and a perfect-
bound, 8"x8", quarterly publication that
focuses on music, art, photography, literature,
snow/skate creative types and other
endeavors of interest to us.
What is the purpose of your magazine?
To communicate and share with others in
artful fashion things we're passionate about.
We've been publishing since 1993. The first
was Pok (pronounced "poke") Magazine,
which was equal parts snow/skate/sound. In
1999, two of us broke off to found Copper
Press. It's 5.01.07, and we're about to release
our 29th issue.
As editor of your magazine, what does your
job involve?
It would take less time and space to list the
things it does not involve. We're a two-man
operation that's fortunate to have a solid
unpaid staff of writers (one of whom is now our
copy editor) and graphic designers who
contribute articles and layouts, but I'm
personally responsible for ad sales,
distribution, retail sales, mail-order, writing,
interviewing bands/artists/etc., assigning
articles, corresponding with publicists and
labels, paying bills, arranging the layout, track-
ing down missing ads, photos, articles, etc.
What's the key to longevity in independent
publishing?
Passion and ad sales. With a magazine as
expensive to produce as ours (over $2.00 per
copy), we have to be able to sell ads to stay
afloat. And without the desire to publish issue
after issue, year after year, there would be no
point in pursuing those dollars in order to put
out an issue devoid of heart. Readers will
know when you're faking it.
What do you think is the biggest problem
facing independent magazines like yours
today?
Lack of available ad funds. Labels are spend-
ing their money on web ads and publicists
without considering the viability of the printed
word.
Is the internet killing independent paper
magazines or making them more popular?
Financially, we'd like to be doing a lot better,
but we hustle for every ad dollar we can earn,
so we're hanging in there. Plus, I think our
content and format is unique and I'll put the
quality of our paper and layouts/presentation
up against any magazine in any genre, so
while the cookie-cutter magazines scramble to
interview the same cover subjects and tumble
into the death spiral that is going all-color, we
have actually see our circulation increase.
Huzzah!
15
16
How would you describe your publication?
Created by an extremely passionate staff
that’ve seen the magazine mature over the
course of ten years, Wonka Vision is a glossy
publication with worldwide distribution yet has
the personality and attitude of a cut and paste
fanzine. In the ever-growing corporately
funded music industry, WVM remains an
independently published magazine with the
guts and moxy to stand up and take good care
of the little guys of the world. Whether it’s punk
rock & hardcore, politics & photography, toys &
comics; Wonka Vision’s eclectic approach to
up and coming artists and musicians is as
gritty and raw since the day of it’s inception.
With an ever-growing sense of humor, there is
something in the magazine for every kid that
refuses to become an adult.
What is the purpose of your magazine?
Give readers who still believe in real music a
magazine then can feel good reading. Give
smaller bands an outlet for exposure when
bigger magazines won’t pay attention to them.
Help young artists with visibility for their
artwork.
As editor of your magazine, what does your
job involve?
I oversee everything that goes on at the
magazine; however, we have more
department heads than ever before so I’m in
charge of the people who are in charge of the
people. Did that make sense? I’m doing some-
thing different every day and that keeps things
here fresh. Some weeks I’m selling advertis-
ing, others I’m getting all of the stories and
photos ready for design and every day I’m
helping our staff with their tasks and answering
hundreds of e-mails. The e-mails tend to get
arduous and the job has become more
administrative than ever before but I’m happy
where I am outside of the creative process
because every day my main duty and detail is
strictly helping the magazine grow.
What's the key to longevity in independent
publishing?
The first and more obvious things are faithful
advertisers and exclusive worldwide
distribution. We just got an exclusive deal so
the previous ten years were always tough. We
basically used street teams and tons of
friends, writers, etc. to give out our magazine
free everywhere we could. Shipping is so
expensive and to make matters A LOT worse,
the USPS is about to implement a fee hike
that’s going to affect print media in a very neg-
ative way. The rates are going up 30% and I
can guarantee it’s going to knock more and
more magazines off the block. In this day in
age where so many mags are flopping and
online sites like Pure Volume and Myspace are
raking in the profits, the only thing a print pub-
lisher can do to stay afloat is compromise.
We’ve been looking at intricate things that sell
magazines more nowadays and we NEVER
did things like that in the past. In the past, we
did what we wanted to, we spoke from the gut
and ONLY featured the bands we loved. Our
passions haven’t changed but to stay alive I’ve
had to think of this as a business every day I
go to work. It’s not exactly something I like to
do but hey, I’m surviving off of what I love to do
and I’m taking my friends on the path with me.
We have goals and to reach them, you have to
constantly give and take, push and pull. We’ve
been forced to become more critical and intro-
spective that when I started this magazine I
would have referred to as silly things: the col-
ors we use, the text we run, the paper we print
on, the cover stock we use, our page counts,
recycled paper… lots and lots of utterly boring
things.
What do you think is the biggest problem
facing independent magazines like yours
today?
The internet.
Is the internet killing independent paper
magazines or making them more popular?
Both. Without the internet, we wouldn’t have
survived as long as we have. It’s made
everything from advertising to file transfer and
contacts easier. However, it’s a double-edge
sword because Status, Clamor, HeartattaCk,
Under the Volcano, Big Wheel, Rockpile,
Hanging Like a Hex and Law of Inertia have all
closed in the past couple years. I think the
cons outweigh the pros. Then again I’m a total
and complete hypocrite and anyone who says
they aren’t in 2007, is a liar.
17
18
How would you describe your publication?
We’re technically the only official non-profit
music magazine in America at the time. There
are shit-tons of great zines that don’t turn a
profit, but we’re the first to go through the
grueling non-profit gauntlet. It took two and
half years, were denied our first two attempts,
and it cost about as much as it does to release
two 7”s, but a lot less fun. Megan Pants took
the charge on it.
What is the purpose of your magazine?
To cover DIY, grassroots music, mostly punk,
stuff that we truly like and that doesn’t
traditionally get a lot of coverage. We go out of
our way to celebrate the littler folks in favor of
bigger bands with bigger budgets. Here’s
where the official non-profit comes in to play.
Since we can’t make money off of it and our
finances are public domain, I hope it puts
people at ease that we’re doing all we can—
doing our part. That we’re in it for the right rea-
sons. That we give a shit about this culture and
are willing to give it more than just lip service.
We’re working on setting up activities in our
neighborhood: East Los Angeles, Highland
Park specifically. I love it here.
As editor of your magazine, what does your
job involve?
Almost everything. I consider myself a grey
collar worker: partially white collar, partially
blue collar. I spend a lot of mental time getting
our 100 contributors in synch with our
schedule, I answer a ton of emails, get all the
advertising aligned, do some graphic design,
help balance the books, do all the prepress for
the printing, write reviews, interview bands,
take pictures. I also do a lot of the lug work.
Every two months, we pull a little over one ton
of magazines up a flight of stairs, process
them, haul them back down, and make sure
the right postal markings are on them. People
think I’m joking when I say that the zine’s a
workout, but swear my arms are longer from
constantly lifting 50 lb boxes the last six years.
I also fix all the computers, keep the mail bike
and pickup truck working. Shit, you name it
with Razorcake, and I’m either helping steer or
am intimately involved in the process.
I’m totally fortunate to have awesome helpers,
in addition to our contributors. Daryl, Jenny,
and Megan all come in once or twice a week
and we have two interns, Adrian and Hannah.
There’s a tremendous amount of shitwork we
all have to go through. For instance, we upload
about 200-300 new reviews onto our website
alone, every two months. That’s a lot of data
entry.
What's the key to longevity in independent
publishing?
Semi-serious answer: Make friends with your
postal employees. They’re your gateway. If
you piss them off, you’re doomed. I know all of
the desk workers at the four closest branches,
am sensitive when it’s best to go in with a big
load, and always help with the lifting and
hampering.
More broad answer: Pay attention to the
boring details. You’ll totally get killed if you
don’t pay attention. It’s not fun to balance your
checkbook. It’s not fun to harass distributors to
pay. It’s not fun to learn about dot gain. It’s not
fun to become a skilled amateur at things like
taking care of computer viruses and wondering
how the fuck some asshole in Turkey just
breached your site’s security and erased
everything just for kicks, but, unless you have
deep pockets (I made $5,500 last year) I’ve
found out that if you learn it yourself, or have
people that you get along with and you treat
them well, you don’t have to outsource much
(this keeps it in our “community”), and it’s
cheaper. If you’re honest and forward, you’ll be
okay. I’ve always been very conservative with
Razorcake, financially. Everything we do, we
have the money on hand before starting it. If it
bombs, we break even. I know too many folks
who got carried away, got slapped with a huge
return, or rely too much on a distributor to pay
them, then go kaput.
Continued on page 23
19
20
How would you describe your publication?
For music lovers tired of hearing about the
same bands over and over. We will talk about
some of them if they are really good, we're not
snobs, but it's always been the case that there
is so much more out there that needs a voice
and will enrich your life even more if you can
hear them. We're 220 pages of all music, all
the time, all by people who buy copious
amounts of CDs, and we get the artists to real-
ly open up about their music and what really
turns them on as musicians.
What is the purpose of your magazine?
I'd say it's the above, but it's also really about
getting people more involved, and to think
deeper about the things and the art they love.
We try to foster a small community of people
who really do more than just buy the t-shirt or
have music on in the background; we want
people to get more out of their lives and give
them a small assist to really harvesting the full
potential of the underground music that's out
there.
As editor of your magazine, what does your
job involve?
Ha, just about everything! I assign the stories
and reviews, many of them to myself. I edit
them before they go to copyediting. I talk to
distributors and get orders. I book all the ads.
I talk to all the writers. I deal with the publicists
for the most part, when I have time. I get
involved a little with the orders for the mag,
and I talk to our readers a lot as well. And I
deal with the art director a lot, and then the
printer once it is all done. I'm also in charge of
all accounts payable and accounts receivable.
And bookkeeping too for the IRS folks. I know
bigger mags have a person that does all these
things, but we only sell 22,000 and don't get
any really expensive lifestyle ads, so I'm
required to work this much, but I like it! I have
an assistant and two or three interns that help
as well, which is key. And all our contributors
are really in on it as well, they're all volunteers
and they all love the music as much as I!
What's the key to longevity in independent
publishing?
In our case, since we're working on our 60th
issue in our 27th year of publishing, I would
say it is just stubborn persistence born of the
genuine love of what we cover. It's a pain in
the tail to do a print mag, that's for sure. (But I
vastly prefer them--I read the New Yorker, The
Economist, and Time Out New York and print
newspapers like The New York Times, and
other ones quite religiously, and don't do that
with any web based magazine. I think you can
take your time and consider more with a print
mag. It fosters more substantial thought
processes and information, I think.) I hope
people understand the extra love and care and
effort that goes into one as opposed to
throwing together some web zine. There is
work involved there too, but nowhere near as
much. Printing and shipping and distribution
and its attendant accounts receivable woes
are a huge chuck of time, as are subscriptions
and the like. But I think it is all worth it as we
really do love what we have been doing for so
long, and it means a lot to me when people say
it means a lot to them, and they say it to us all
the time. We're really inspired by that to keep
it going if we know it is appreciated like that,
and we've been lucky that people have been
unsparing with that sort of important feedback.
It makes me feel like we make a difference,
however modest, in the culture, however
small, and in people's lives, however few!
That's a good feeling when I walk around the
sidewalks humming a tune to myself on any
given day. We hope to keep it going another 27
years! And there really is no substitute for that
kind of zeal. Ego alone will never get you very
far when the workload starts to eat you alive,
and the funding issues start to strip you naked.
It's really quite quixotic otherwise!
What do you think is the biggest problem
facing independent magazines like yours
today?
It's always funding. Any mag is dependent on
advertising, and many of the traditional
sources of that have been slowly eroding
(especially in the music business as the indus-
try's sales have been down so bad the last few
21
years, killing a lot of their more generous
marketing budgets, but not limited to that!), as
marketing departments of products are
confronted with a much wider range of options
and ideas and solicitations for their budgets.
And print mag or newspaper is running the risk
of seeming like old media. But what's keeping
us afloat is that our advertisers consider our
readership a unique set of eyeballs. I hope that
continues. Because you just can't count on
getting a lot of money for the mags you sell,
the whole independent distribution channel is
the most patently one-sided business
arrangement I have ever seen. Since every-
thing is consignment, the poor publisher is
always left holding the bag in unsolds, plus
both the distributor and the store both get a cut
out of every sale of the ones that do sell, then
the distributors charge you for everything they
seem to do and should do as a matter of
course (the most bitter are "marketing fees"
that you can't opt out of, but there's more!),
and that gets deducted, plus you had to pay to
ship the buggers to them in the first place, so
all in all, you end up breaking even more than
making a profit even if your sell through is
good. (In which case, you only do it because
it's essential to your ad rates.) If your sell
through is bad, you actually end up losing
money on store sales, because the costs of
printing and shipping the mags to these distrib-
utors are not made back. Since this putrid and
offensive relationship has no end in sight, it's
all down to subscriptions and advertising to
fund the massive upfront costs of doing a mag
before you've sold a single issue (for us it's
around $45000 to $50000 an issue!). So if
either of those things lesson, you will probably
be forced to stop. It's a big problem, and I'm
not surprised some of my favorite print mags
are now web only zines. You cut out 80-90% of
the costs right there. Although I also think you
cut out 80-90% of the joy for me as a reader. I
get sick of staring at a computer screen and
don't read much of anything on it other than
the occasional informational blurb or headline.
22
Is the internet killing independent paper
magazines or making them more popular?
Oddly both. I'm old enough in this game to
remember what it was like before the internet.
There was no competition from it true, but it
was 50 times harder for readers who were
potentially interested in your coverage to find
out you even existed! So it's a double edged
sword. Our circulation doubled in a few short
years after the internet started, and rose slow-
ly the next several years, then it plateaued. It's
an old story, some people just don't under-
stand that you get what you pay for, and a lot
of the coverage on the internet is cheap fast
and easy (not all of it, obviously) and you just
don't digest it properly the way you do sitting
down with your favorite print mag. Now I think
it is starting to kill paper magazines a little,
because there is an unreasonable rush to get
all your info and opinion now, instead of the
greater satisfaction of waiting a little and hav-
ing it covered more thoroughly. The lessening
attention spans of our society is directly relat-
ed to the barrage of media thrown at people
every day, and I think it is actually curtailing
real brain activity a little. But if you walk into
any newsstand in any airport, you see a sea of
print mags, so we must still be fulfilling a basic
human need, for deeper, more thoughtful
reads, despite the internet's competition. If
newspapers survive it will only be because of
this as well. I can't get the depth of the New
York Times' coverage anywhere online in my
view, and if I could, I wouldn't want to read that
much on a computer screen! The thought
makes me laugh. In the end, I think the real
problem will be how much of the marketing
dollars the internet siphons. To the extent that
marketers have or will put more money there
and less into traditional print mags, they will kill
us all. And they ought to think long and hard
about that. Because it is my view that an ad in
a paper mag is far less annoying and far more
welcome than the ads I get bombarded with on
the internet. And they're 10 times more eye
catching too. And you can't Tivo past the ads in
a mag. They're always there with their mes-
sages, and good art directors know how to
make you look at their ad.

Continued
What do you think is the biggest problem
facing independent magazines like yours
today?
Here’s the elephant in the middle of the room:
traditional magazine distribution (on a national
level) is abhorrent. It was horrible when I
started in 1996 helping out with Flipside, and
it’s worse now. I’ve seen four of the largest
independent distros go belly up right in front of
me: Fine Print, Desert Moon, now Tower (who
were great) and Big Top (a branch or sub-
sidiary of the IPA, Independent Press
Association). Big Top’s the shame because at
one time they had the money in their hands to
set up the national system for magazine
distribution (which is complicated and
incredibly expensive), but they totally fucked
up, spent the money on the wrong things, and
took down some great magazines with them. I
think they’re getting sued by both the Chicken
Soup for the Soul people and Mother Jones.
Drives me nuts. A lot of these folks will be “rah,
rah, revolution, rah rah, everyone equal, PC-
PC-PC, antidote to media monopoly,” (which is
fine if it were really true) and then treat you
worse than you’ve ever been treated. Suckin’.
Is the internet killing independent paper
magazines or making them more popular?
I don’t know if the internet’s doing the killing
(see answer above), or if it’s because postage
is getting higher and higher, but it seems that
zines are getting harder and harder —not to
make—but to get into people’s hands and
have them pay a modest sum for all of that
hard work and shipping.
Really, I have no idea. Razorcake covers both.
My heart’s in paper, full-page spreads, ink, and
reading something that’s not glowing at you
like a computer monitor. Plus, you can never
underestimate that the biggest room for
reading in most folks’ house is the bathroom.
But, I understand the internet’s utility. We use
them together and they’re interwoven. We use
the website to help provide a direct link (thus
taking out some of the distributors’ choke
holds) between us and our subscribers.
Except reviews and some other small things,
we keep the webzine and fanzine contents
separate. Two different experiences. A Venn
diagram with a little overlap between the two.
We’re working on posting way-sold-out issues
up on the website as PDFs.
Stuff’s always changing and I hope we stay on
top of it while it still remains fun. Otherwise,
what’s the point?
23
Interview with Jesse Woghin // Above photo: Ryan Russell // Live photos: Oly
How did losing your drummer affect writing and recording All That to the Wall?
Well, there was a pretty extensive search that went on for months until we finally realized he was
just gone -- real gone -- and that we had to move on. You know that old saying, "If you love
something..." Yeah. Essentially, though, it sort of streamlined the whole process. The drums on
this album definitely feel a lot different than on Such Triumph. There's a lot more "holdin' it down"
and a lot less "riffin'" rhythmically. Probably some of that comes from the fact that the feel of at
least two of the songs comes from beats written by a Casio CT-250 drummer.

Dave Turncrantz from Russian Circles and Dan Fetherston from Oxford Collapse filled in
on drums for the recording of All That to the Wall. Did they come up with the drumming
parts for the album, or were those already written before recording?
There were some parts written by our old drummer that didn't change all that much and some
that changed a lot. We had demos and live recordings that Nate had played on. Some ideas
came from the Casio. Some ideas came from Sam or James or I. Honestly, it was still pretty
collaborative, but in a pretty different way. We really only worked with Dave for about a week
and Dan for a few days, but they both really developed and fleshed out the ideas that were
already in place. Dan definitely came to Chicago to record with his game face on. He had a lot
of great ideas, not just for his own parts, and we love him for it. He's kinda like the Jimmy Jam
on Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation of All That to the Wall.

With Bob Dylan's extensive catalog, what made you decide to cover "All the Tired Horses"?
Divine intervention.

Since you've been playing these new songs live, how have the fans reacted to them,
especially "All the Tired Horses"?
Ahh, the fans. The reaction has really been pretty great. I think we're making a lot of new fans
from the new jams and I will continue to believe so until proven wrong. Honestly, though, I think
people either really love or really hate "... Tired Horses." One side of the fence or the other. A lot
of times people who know it will sing along while it's going down and then a lot of nerdy Dylan
chat will ensue post-set. A lot of times people will groan and walk away. It's like what George
Clinton tells Kid 'n Play in the cinema classic, House Party: "Cry two tears in a bucket. Fuck it.
Let's take it to the stage."

Did you accomplish everything you wanted to with writing and recording All That to the Wall?
Yeah, we did actually. We got to hang out with Mike Lust (engineer) for like a week straight.
We've always really wanted to do that. Honestly, though, we're really happy with it for the most
part. Right now, for me, the album feels like it'll stick with me. I guess I finally feel like I've been
a part of something that in ten or fifteen years I'll come back to and still be happy about. Father
time will tell.

26
How was writing and recording All That to the Wall compared to writing and recording
Such Triumph?
With Such Triumph we had a bunch of songs that had been written for quite some time and we
knew what we wanted the album as a whole to feel like. We wrote some songs specifically to fit
in spots that we thought needed to be filled in the greater idea of the album -- like, "here's where
the rocker will go" and "then we'll drop the interlude here." ATttW transpired a lot more organi-
cally in that we knew we wanted to make another album and were writing for it all along, but
there was no real greater idea to making the album than to try to write a bunch of songs we were
really happy with and really wanted to play the hell out of live. We put the pieces together a lot
later in the game. Also I'd say that a lot more attention was paid to vocal melodies and lyrics
than before. We did our best to not just haphazardly throw things together. As far as recording,
the vibe was a lot different. We also recorded over a longer period of time, which definitely
changed things a little, gave us some time to rework ideas and get them right. We fought less
I think, which was nice. We tried to stay away from excessive overdubs and noise, which we
didn't quite accomplish, but there's definitely less. Lust rubbed his madness all over that
recording. It's great. He was in a lot of ways hands-on and had a lot of valuable advice. He
really knew how to walk this dog.

27
28
Some of the reviews I've read about All That to the Wall say that there is a big difference
in sound between your previous albums (faster tempos) and this new one (slower tem-
pos). After listening to All That to the Wall quite a number of times, I found that a lot of the
same elements and tempos exist on both full lengths, but they are played differently. Do
you think there is a dramatic change between your previous albums and All That to the
Wall?
With age comes grace. Kevin, our new drummer, thinks it sounds a lot different, but agrees with
your sentiment that it's make-up is not as different as some might lead you to believe. Less
aggression, more energy. Less hangin' by the bar, more boogie. I don't really think the change
is all that dramatic. I just think it's better, which makes sense. The more songs you write, the
longer you stay a band and make albums, the better they get (unless you're Metallica - ed. Sam
disagrees based only on his "Saint Anger" tattoo). We trimmed the fat.

I find myself liking bands from the Chicago area than any other area in the U.S. Why do
you think there are so many talented and diverse bands from Chicago?
I feel like Chicago is the musical hub of the midwest in a lot of ways. We're a Chicago band and
none of us are from here originally. A lot of the Chicago bands you really like are probably made
up at least in part of folks from St. Louis, Detroit, Louisville, Iowa City, New York, etc. It's great,
though. It brings a lot of these different styles and ideas together. I think life for a band in
Chicago is also generally more accepting and low-key. There's less politicking and "biz" in our
world than if we were in NY or LA or something, but we get to have the diversity of the scene
and general midwestern friendliness and a little bit cheaper lifestyle surrounding us to support
our dream. We probably would've broken up a long time ago if we lived somewhere more dog-
eat-dog. Snoop dog-eat-dog.

You recently played the Flameshovel Showcase at SXSW. How did it go? How did it
compare from when you played SXSW in 2004?
It went a lot better than last time. The room was pretty much full when we played, which was
really nice, but it was filled with a lot of friends and a few fans raging hard up in the front and
then a bunch of industry geezers in the back. I was hoping for a rumble, but it didn't go down.
The room was better than last time, the attendance was better, we're a better live band than we
were then, all better, better, better.

Where there any bands that you actively sought out to see while there?
Oxford Collapse. I saw The Mae Shi and Bill Callahan, who were both amazing, but that's about
it. We took the cash instead of the wristbands because our van, The Puppy, is a real sinkhole
and we needed to feed its urges. We thought we might see some bands at the late-night
parties, but they almost all got shut down before we could get there and let loose.

What do you think of SXSW as a whole?

It's a pretty enormous cluster-fuck and it gets more and more business-y as every year goes by.
We know it's important to play it, but we're not really sure why, and I feel like most bands don't
even really enjoy it anymore just because it is so overwhelming. I'm also pretty certain that no
one really discovers anything down there anymore other than just how many Shiner Bocks you
can consume before total black-out. We still had a good time, though, although I'm not sure
how.

Are you planning to tour this summer in support of All That to the Wall? Do you plan to
play both coasts?
Yep. Can't wait. Full US tour begins May 31st in Omaha. We'll head west first, then east. We're
coming to your town. To quote Willie D of the Geto Boys, "DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YA."

29
30
 ses
Nur h a
C ha p man
aron ts: Sean Desmond
i it
ew w McHank // Portrai
interv id
os: Dav
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Liv
31
How did the deal with you and Sargent House come about?
Some friends of ours played our record for Cathy at Sargent House and
reportedly upon first listen her head made a cash register sound and
big gold dollar signs flashed in her eyes. She called us up and we had
a real live business meeting. We really liked her vision for both
Sargent House and our group so we spat in our hands and made it
official. We're now 'going steady'.

From the vocals to the instrumentation on Hangin' Nothin' But

Our Hands Down, the sound is very original. Was there anything
that helped influence that sound?
Most importantly, I think our sound is a result of not identifying with any sort of geographical music scene or movement. We don't real-
ly have any roots or belong to any group of bands, so we sort of willy-nilly wrote a bunch of the best songs we could muster. As far as
musical influences - we were transitioning out of noisy, wacky rock into melodically centered songs and pop songs. I think our record
sort of falls somewhere between the two. We also really got into "Negro Spirituals" for a while there. Is there a better name for that?
I've always felt uncomfortable saying Negro Spirituals, but that's what they're called on the introweb.

Since your sound is so unique, have most people been receptive of it or turned off by it?
Sometimes people seem a little confused by us. Trying to figure out what we're all about. People tend to fold their arms and cock their
heads a little upon first listen. But once they hear that slide whistle.... I tell ya what, they're like putty in our hands. Nobody can deny
the power of a slide whistle. I'll tell you who's pretty receptive - old sound guys at dives always get real excited and compare us to
Zappa. They love us.

Is the song writing a group effort, or does one member write most of the music?
Well, our leader Aaron usually brings the basic structure 'n' melodies to the table and then we all figure out the best way to translate
the ideas into a group number.

How does the album translate into a live show?

A lot of times we play the record front to back live. I think we really hum-ding it live, it definitely has more energy and a certain some-
thing the record doesn't have. Although we go the extra mile to recreate the record live, it’s definitely a different idea. We have a lot of
gizmos on stage and there's a certain spectacle the show achieves that I think compliments the manic nature of the record pretty well.
The amount of stuff on stage alone is a pretty big character in the show.

32
Performing live is something the band is passionate about. Do you think albums should be written with the live show in
mind?
In our case it works out a lot better to just write whatever we think is best and worry about how to pull it off live later. We ended up
with a show and record we couldn't have dreamed of otherwise. We literally spent five months alone in our garage learning how to play
the songs and performing them to a collage of fifty celebrity faces cut out from magazines. We didn't even own a piano or Rhodes when
we wrote the record; we just borrowed instruments and figured we'd learn later. John had never played piano before we wrote the record
and by necessity had to learn to play half the piano parts on the record. We definitely ended up challenging ourselves to no end and
really improved drastically as musicians by forcing ourselves to perform something we weren't capable of playing well before we record-
ed the songs.

The lyric sheet that comes with the CD has very small text on it, but it comes with a magnifying glass to read it with. What's
the explanation behind this? Are the magnifying glasses powerful enough to burn things with the by refracting the sun's
light onto an object? Is there anything that you would suggest burning?
The magnifying glass was a novel idea to make the packaging more interesting. When I was younger and still bought albums and CDs,
the best part was the first day where you just listen to the record over and over and stare at the packaging. It’s such an awesome feel-
ing to enjoy the packaging and let it become a sort of visual accompaniment to the record. I haven't seen very many interesting record
covers or packaging ideas that get me juiced lately and that's a bummer. It was really important for us to have something that we
thought represented the record and was fun and interesting. We did the artwork and came up with the packaging ideas which was much
more rewarding to us than sending the music off to a guy we don't know and having an impersonal visual for our record. And yes the
magnifying glasses are powerful enough to burn things so use them to burn a copy of our CD and give it to your friend!

Is Nurses a full time job for you? What do you do to make ends meet?
Our group is a full time albeit non-paying job. We spend all of our time doing it- but to put food in our cupboards and roofs on our
heads we serve people soups, salads, coffees, and breads!

If you type "Nurses" into Google, you get over 54 million results. Was the intention of naming the band "Nurses" to make
your band hard to find on the internet?
....that was just tragic lack of foresight....

33
 You've got over 80,000 page views and over
9,000 plays of "Wait for a Safe Sign" on your
MySpace page. Do you think that those num-
bers have any impact on what record sales
Hangin' Nothin' But Our Hands Down will be?
It’s hard to say how many people care about
owning records. At the same time MySpace is a
great vehicle for selling records - I think it's
where some people go to listen to music and are
satisfied with streaming four songs. I don't mean
to be pessimistic, but I'm not sure plays or views
on MySpace equal sales, I think people need to
see a live show or something to persuade them
to fork over cash. There's almost no incentive to
purchase a record any-mo.
What do you think are the positives and negatives for a band like yours on MySpace?
Myspace for the most part is a positive thing for most bands. It's a really effortless introduction to people for groups like ours who are
small and can't afford to tour all the time. However, I think MySpace is just that - an introduction. Our record is definitely intended as
a whole, so people who only listen to the four songs on our MySpace aren't really getting the gist. Also we haven't yet mastered the
ultra flattering angled camera shots, so we're sort of underdogs for now.

What are your plans for touring in support of Hangin' Nothin' But Our Hands Down? Are there any particular bands that
you want to tour with?
Ahhhh man, I thought you'd never ask. We're really hoping to just plain tour our nuzz off. We have a wish list on our fridge of bands
we want to tour with. We're sort of aiming high. I'm going to list them here, in no particular order: The Flaming lips, Animal Collective,
Gary Wilson, Beck, The Arcade fire, Modest Moose, White Stripes, Liars, Pinback, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Spoon, Radiohead (of course), David
Byrne, Blonde Redhead, Tv on the (college) Radio, Bloc Party, Grizzly Bear etc. You get the idea. *If you're reading this and you're in
one of these bands, take us on tour! Call this number 208-680-4844. That's our band’s mobile phone number*

34
 e p ower
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35
 Pearly Sw
The B

36
weets is Dead
Baby Teeth Interview
Interview with Peter Andreadis
Live Photo: Kirstie Shanley
Pearly Sweets abandoned his moniker
for The Simp and recorded this album
under his given name, Abraham Levitan.
Was there any reason behind this? Will
the Pearly Sweets name be making a
comeback in future recordings?
The Pearly Sweets moniker was created in
college and used initially for a band called
Pearly Sweets and the Platonics. It continued
into Baby Teeth, but we all thought that
Abraham's lyrics were becoming more
personal and the song writing stronger, so we
decided that it should be dropped. I don't think
Pearly Sweets will be coming back later. He is
dead.

Each member of Baby Teeth also plays

with another band; Bobby Conn,
Detholz!, and All City Affairs. Where do
you find time to play in all these other
bands and still do Baby Teeth?
Well, for me All City Affairs is something that I
do almost entirely on my own, so I can do it in
between a lot of other things. Sometimes I
work really late at night or early in the
morning. I freelance, so I have control over a
lot of my work schedule. Jim (bass) has the
most difficult schedule to juggle probably,
because of Detholz! and playing bass with
Bobby Conn. Abraham is not really playing
with Bobby anymore.

37
38
Were the brass and stringed instruments
on The Simp samples or actual live
musicians? Do you use samples of the
brass and stringed instruments on tour or
do live musicians play those parts?
The brass and strings are definitely live
musicians. We've got a lot of friends in the
Chicago music community and just reached out to
people that we liked and who were interested in
being a part of the recording. Andra Kulans is the
violin/viola player that tracked on a number of
the tunes and she plays in The 1900's. Also
Tomeka Reid recorded cello on the title track. The
horns were played by Nick Broste, who also plays
in Cursive from time to time and Dave
McDonnell, aka The Diminisher played the
saxophone/clarinet.
How was it recording with Blue Hawaii?
He's an old, good friend of mine. We went to
recording school together and I've trusted him to
engineer just about anything I've done. We loved
the first record from his band Icy Demons that he
recorded and we wanted him to put his creative
spin on our album. He's got a lot of patience when
it comes to spending time and creating sounds
that fill out the sonic space. He helped out with all
of the texturing.
As heard on the For the Heathers EP, each
member of the band has pretty diverse
musical tastes. What bands or songwriters
help influence Baby Teeth's sound?
What bands did you listen to growing up?
The song writing is definitely influenced by a lot
of 60's and 70's rhythm and blues artists, girl
groups from the Motown era of soul, and seven-
ties icons like Elvis Costello, Fleetwood Mac,
Bowie, etc. Jim has a lot of eclectic tastes and is a
composition and conducting major, so he brings a
lot of music theory and arranging strategy to the
band. I like a lot of hip-hop and grew up listening
to De La Soul and Public Enemy as much as the
Beatles and other pop/rock music. So the
combination of all those things is a real
cornucopia of different interests.
How does song writing work in Baby
Teeth? Are the violins and horns part of
the initial song writing process or are they
added in at the end after the guitars and
drums parts are written?
Abraham makes demos of most of the songs and
gives Jim and I burned CDs to listen to and we
choose our favorites. From that point it's pretty
much fair game. We often mutate those original
demos into something completely different, but
usually the melody and lyrics remain intact. The
bass/drum parts and the background vocals all
get added in the collaboration stage. Violins and
horns are usually arranged later by Jim or
Abraham.
How did each member of the band become
such a multi-instrumentalist?
Everyone in the band is a bit of a control freak, so
I think we want to be in the driver's seat all the
time. I think it comes from that. None of us want
to be left on the sidelines holding the water jug.
I've noticed that such a wide variety of
genres come out of Chicago, why do you
think that is? What are some Chicago
bands that you enjoy and think everyone
should check out?
Chicago is a huge musical community. Blues and
Jazz have a real strong history here. And there are
some obvious rock stars that have come out of
here too, like Cheap Trick, Smashing Pumpkins,
Kanye West, Common. The city is huge and is
really the major city of the midwest, so I think
many different kinds of people end up here and
that's reflected in the music. We are fans of
Chicago bands, such as Icy Demons, The 1900's,
Devin Davis, The Changes, The M's, Mucca Pazza.
I can see some people saying that you don't
take your selves seriously as Baby Teeth
because it looks like your having too much
fun with this band. Is Baby Teeth a serious
outlet for you?
It's a serious band and we don't take the music
lightly. I think that you can hear how much time
we put into it. We as people don't take ourselves
too seriously and we have a blast together. When
we play shows, we expect people to walk out
saying they had an amazing time. We hope people
dance and cheer when they see us. I think some
journalists are just lazy and they hear about what
some of our influences are and they think, "these
guys can’t be serious." So they start there instead
of listening closer, reading the lyrics, coming to
the shows, etc.
Are you planning to tour this summer or
fall in support of The Simp.
We are going to the east coast in the summer and
continuing to do shows throughout the midwest.
In the fall we hope to continue touring colleges
and hopefully going out with bands we like.
39
 The Ants
Ideabreaker
I was excited when the first song popped
on. The vocalist had a Davey Von Bohlen /
Bob Nanna feel along with the music and I
thought I had this album pegged. But from
there the album gets more classic rock,
bluegrass, country and vaudevillian. It’s a
good release but tends to be all over the
place, which can be distracting.
(Sickroom Records)
Barr
Summary
Brendan Fowler’s second full length
offering as Barr has Fowler teamed up with
a full band and a bit more upbeat sound on
at least on one song. The “Song is the
Single” track is just that. It is the first
single off Summary and it doesn’t seem to
have any chorus and few repeated words.
The bassline and drums have a fun and
charming feel and will keep your feet
tapping. The rest of the songs are slower
mostly piano driven diary submissions or
confrontations that keeps the art/abstract-
ness of Beyond Reinforced Jewel Case.
(Kill Rock Stars)
Battles
Mirrored
Featuring ex-members of Don Caballero
and Helmet, Battles is an aptly titled band
name because your brain will be battling
itself trying to figure out what is going on.
It is mathy as hell, and features an
influence of a wide variety of odd genres
and odder vocal deliveries.
(Warp Records)
Big D and The Kids Table
Strictly Rude
I was somewhat disappointed with “Strictly
Rude” because Big D is starting to drop
their ska/punk sound for a more grown up
dub/two tone sound. I’m not saying that
this is a bad album; it’s just not what I was
expecting. Most of the songs are really
good and should keep the rudies happy.
(Side One Dummy)
The Brokedowns
New Brains For Everyone
Loud, fast, and gruff throaty vocals make
for a well-done punk album. All of the
songs are under 3 minutes with the excep-
tion of the closing track “Coke Mule Blues”
which comes in at just over 7 minutes.
(Thick Records)
40
Chase Pagan
Oh Musica!
Chase Pagan has a voice like the lead singer
from Saves the Day or Kiss Kiss, vocal
ambitions like Thom Yorke and channels a
little Freddie Mercury on a few tracks.
There are a few gems on Oh Musica! such
as “Waltzing in the Sky” and “Push My
Buttons”.
(The Militia Group)
The Comas
Spells
It’s hard to outdo your previous album that
was loved and lauded by critics and fans
alike, but The Comas sure do make one hell
of attempt with Spells. Spells starts off with
fuzzy guitars and splashing drums on “Red
Microphones” and each song following is
up to par with the ones on Conductor.
(Vagrant)
The Conformists
Three Hundred
Recorded by Steve Albini, The Conformists
return with Three Hundred which is hard
to peg to a certain genre or influence. One
thing is for certain though, each song will
intrigue you, and you will be a better music
fan for listening to it.
(54º40' or Fight!)
Dr. Dog
Dr. Dog
We All Belong
I never really liked modern bands who play
60’s influenced pop reminiscent of the
Beatles. I’m on the fence about Dr. Dog,
because We All Belong has a few good
songs, but it’s all been done before by other
bands for years and will continue to be
done for years to come.
(Park the Van)
Everybody Else
S/T
Everybody Else plays catchy innocent pop
rock that sounds made for radio. Sure it’s
infectious and your tougher friends my
punch you for making them listen to it. It
would make a good soundtrack to one of the
teen high school movies starring Hilary Duff.
(The Militia Group)
Fall of Troy
Manipulator
Fall of Troy has good intentions. They went
and wrote all this really good metal music
and went and ruined it with the vocals. The
growling vocals are actually okay; it’s the
high pitched vocals that ruin the album.
(Equal Vision)
Field Music
Tones of Town
Field Music is similar to the Shins, except
the guys in Field Music are from England
and their lyrics are more direct. Tones of
Town is a great follow-up to their last self-
titled album. Each song has its own
element that makes it stand out from the
rest of the songs, while still remaining
catchy and infectious.
(Memphis Industries)
Gena Rowlands Band
Flesh and Spirits
Gena Rowlands Band sounds sort of like
The Dismemberment Plan but more mel-
low. The opener “Fuckups of the World
Unite” is probably the stand out track and
“Hope, For Want Of A Greater Word” is a
close second.
(Lujo Records)
Glos
Glos
Harmonium
Featuring brother and sister Maura Davis
(Denali, Ambulette) and Keeley Davis
(Engine Down, Sparta) and Cornbread
Compton (Engine Down) Harmonium is
an impressive debut that got their start
much like The Postal Service and Heavens.
What started out as file transfers between
Keeley Davis and Compton during an
Engine Down tour, Glos turned into a full
length with the vocals of Maura Davis.
(Lovitt)
Guff
Symphony of Voices
You’ll find that Athens, GA Guff has simi-
larities in sound with Bad Religion, Nofx
and Blink 182 on they’re latest album
Symphony of Voices. With 10 years of
experience behind this album and a cover
of an unreleased Journey song “I Can See it
in Your Eyes”, complete with Journey’s
lead singer Steve Perry on vocals, Guff
might start getting the recognition that
they deserve.
(Go Kart Records)
Holy Roman Empire
The Longue Duree
Holy Roman Empire’s long awaited full
length, The Longue Duree picks up where
their previous EP left off. Each song is lead
by Emily Schambra’s strong beautiful voice
and the guitars and drums don’t disappoint.
It seems though that the album rests on
Schambra’s vocals alone and some of the
album comes off as “Sparta with female
vocals”. With their Lost in Landscapes EP, it
felt like they were experimenting a little with
their sound to work with the vocals, but on
The Longue Duree it feels like they didn’t
explore enough with the instrumentation.
It’s worth picking up, because this band is
on everyone’s radar this year, and you want
to get in before everyone else does. Let’s just
hope that this band doesn't go through the
No Doubt syndrome, where everyone focus-
es on the lead female singer and forgets
about the talent behind the sound.
(HeWhoCorrupts)
Hot Rod Circuit
The Underground is a Dying Breed
Hot Rod Circuit’s latest since their 2004
Reality’s Coming Through shows the band
maturing and experimenting with new
instruments. The most immediate change
you will hear is the prominence of the steel
guitar in the album’s opener “Stateside”
and in “U.S. Royalty”. They use it well on
both tracks, but restrain themselves from
using it too much throughout the songs.
HRC goes a little country western with
their bonus track, “Camo” at the end of the
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 disc. “Camo” has the steel guitar and
drums played with brushes instead of
sticks. It’s a nice song and may be the
predecessor of what a lot of punk singers
are doing today, releasing country albums.
(Immortal Records)
Hot Rod Circuit
The John Francis
On the Moments We Share
The John Francis is the solo project of San
Francisco singer/songwriter Jack Francis
and this is the first release from Rerum
Novarum Records. The John Francis has a
similar sound to The Jim Yoshii Pile Up and
The End of the World mixed with the vocals
and lyrical wordsmanship of Cat Stevens.
(Rerum Novarum)
Lovedrug
Everything Starts Where It Ends
This album starts off with a similar guitar
part from the latest Lola Ray album, if
you’ve heard it you’ll know. Everything
Starts Where It Ends takes musical cues
from bands like Coldplay, Radiohead, and
Muse but maintain some originality. Most
of the songs are kind of quiet and slow then
explode in the chorus into a rock anthem or
are slow piano ballads.
(The Militia Group)
MXPX
Secret Weapon
Before listening to Secret Weapon I was
hoping that, with their triumphant return
to Tooth and Nail, Secret Weapon would
be their comeback album in which they
would show all the naysayers who had
written them off as has-beens, that they
42
can still write good songs. I was hoping for
an album that was in the same league as
Teenage Politics and Life in General, but
sadly Secret Weapon joins its brothers The
Ever Passing Moment and Before and
Everything After in the “losing more fans”
bin. In fact, their previous full length Panic
is better than this. Secret Weapon is not a
total waste. There a couple good songs hear
and there, but for the most part, they
missed a chance to regain fans of their
early releases with a snoozer of an album.
(Tooth and Nail)
The Narrator
All That To The Wall
The Narrator’s stunning debut full length
Such Triumph was enough to make me a
fan for life. Everything that made Such
Triumph great is on All That To The Wall,
though it might take a couple of listens to
fully appreciate this album. Don’t let the
Bob Dylan cover of “All the Tired Horses”
fool you into thinking that they have
slowed down their sound, it’s still pretty
quick and angular but it’s played
differently and better.
(Flameshovel)
The Narrator
The National
Boxer
I’ve had The National’s Sad Songs for Dirty
Lovers and the Cherry Tree EP for years
now and I never listen to them. I wrote
about the Cherry Tree EP a few years ago,
and I said that I’d probably like this album
in a few years, but at the time I didn’t. I still
don’t know if I would like it because I
haven’t listened to it. I’ve listened to
“Boxer” 3 or 4 times now, which is more
than I listened to their previous albums
combined, so that says something about the
band. One, they can continue writing good
music with each release. Two, they can try
new things, “Boxer” is a lot more upbeat
than anything I’ve heard of their’s before.
Three, it takes a while for one’s musical
tastes to catch up to a bands sound.
(Beggers Group)
New Atlantic
The Streets, The Sounds and
The Love
The Streets, The Sounds and The Love is an
album for all those emo kids that have
grown up a bit and gotten laid. It’s a highly
polished album and it has a nice sound sim-
ilar to Copeland and other bands on The
Militia Group label. It sort of reminds me of
Push to Talk without the new wave feel.
(Eyeball Records)
Nurses
Hangin' Nothin' But Our Hands
Down
Once in a while a band comes along that is
so far out in left field that it leaves you
either floored or in disgust upon listening
to it. Nurses is one of those bands. It may
be hard for some people to get into it
because none of it is expected, it’s all a sur-
prise and it’s different. They blend so many
genres together, with different vocal deliv-
eries. Hangin' Nothin' But Our Hands
Down is a rousing, rocking, weirdly
awesome debut.
(Sargent House)
Page France
...and the Family Telephone
With a voice similar to Daniel Johnston
and song writing skills like Ben Gibbard,
Michael Nau and his band, Page France, are
back with their second release on Suicide
Squeeze Records . They get an “A” for effort
but can’t quite pull of the charm and good-
ness of their previous album Hello, Dear
Wind. ...and the Family Telephone has its
moments, but it falls short when it comes to
matching Hello, Dear Wind’s simple songs
and instrumentation.
(Suicide Squeeze)
Page France
Pagoda
S/T
I was surprised as you were when I listened
to this and found out that Nirvana got back
together with Kurt being dead and all. But
then I found out that this wasn’t Nirvana,
but it was actually actor Michael Pitt’s
(Dawson’s Creek, Murder by Numbers)
band. This eponymous full length is a mix-
ture of Cobain like vocals and Sonic Youth
like jams. It was even released on Thurston
Moore’s Ecstatic Peace record label.
(Ecstatic Peace)
Rob Crow
Living Well
Pinback’s Rob Crow’s solo album is essen-
tially a Pinback album. Both have relative-
ly the same song structure and sound.
When I first listened to this album, I
noticed that the songs were kind of short
and it felt like the songs were never com-
pleted. It’s like Rob wrote 3/4s of a song
and then fades it out. It’s a pretty good
album though. It’s no Pinback album, but
it’s close enough.
(Temporary Residence)
Seven Storey Mountain
At The Poles
If you’re a fan of early Foo Fighters or
Jawbox then Phoenix, Arizona’s Seven
Storey Mountain is for you. It sounds near-
ly identical to Foo Fighters just faster, more
angular and more punk. It took me a while
to listen to this album, and now I’m kicking
myself for not discovering it sooner.
(Thick Records)
Six Parts Seven
Casually Smashed to Pieces
Kent, Ohio’s Six Parts Seven are back with
their 5th release and most focused. Gone
are the days of albums with epic 8 minute
plus songs in exchange for 5, 6, and 7
minute ones, and a few songs under 3 min-
utes. One thing you’ll notice is the trumpets
and clarinets, which are played beautifully
throughout the album. Casually Smashed
to Pieces is another excellent album to add
to your instrumental collection.
(Suicide Squeeze)
Smoke or Fire
This Sinking Ship
I got into this band after hearing one of
their songs on a Fat Wreck compilation. I
must have listened to that song 10 times in
a row. This Sinking Ship is an album full of
those kinds of songs. The ones were you
can listen to over and over and still feel
good about them.
(Fat Wreck)
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 Spoon
Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
I really enjoyed Spoon’s Kill the Moonlight,
and was bummed on Gimme Fiction, so I
was a little weary going in to Ga Ga Ga Ga
Ga. After first listen I was pleasantly
pleased that Britt is done singing like a girl
and each song is way better than the ones
on Gimme Fiction. Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is sure
to win the band more fans, which is good,
because the deserve it.
(Merge Records)
Spoon
Stemage
Strati
Stemage is Grant Henry’s solo project in
which he releases songs derived from the
classic Nintendo game Metroid Metal. He
apparently recorded all the instruments on
Strati with just one microphone. I couldn’t
figure out why that was a selling point
when the album isn’t that good to begin
with. It’s just him, so why would he need
any more mics. It would be more impres-
sive if he recorded it through a soup can
with a string attached to it. As for the
music, it sounds like a bad impersonation
of Cave In.
(Silent Uproar Records)
Sundowner
Four One Five Two
Sundowner is the solo project of The
Lawrence Arms’ Chris McCaughan and it is
everything as good as The Lawrence Arms,
just acoustic. 10 of the songs are original
and 2 are reworked acoustic versions of
TLA’s “My Boatless Booze Cruise” and
“One Hundred Resolutions”. Each song is
good and Jenny Choi’s backing vocals on a
couple of the songs are beautiful. Four One
Five Two is the perfect album for the aging
punker and fans of The Lawrence Arms
who are looking for something a bit more
mellow.
(Red Scare)
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Tim Kinsella
Field Recordings of Dreams
Tim Kinsella is in a place in his career
where he can record anything he wants, no
matter how abstract or obtuse. Everyone
has gotten accustomed to Tim’s creativity
and eagerly wait to see what he does next.
It’s always a surprise when it comes to
Tim’s recordings. Field Recordings of
Dreams is no different. Thirteen of the
songs are instrumental, while 3 of the
songs, including the 36 minute closer, are
simply a narrative story revolving around a
boy’s baseball game with only Tim’s voice.
You may think that listening to Tim speak
for 36 minutes would be boring, but his
voice is earnest and compelling while
telling the story. The narrative acts as a per-
fect compliment to the instrumental music.
I can only wonder what he will do next.
(I Had an Accident Records)
The Toasters
One More Bullet
The Toasters have been playing ska for well
over 20 years and haven’t missed a beat
yet. One More Bullet falls into some of
those ska cliches like; undefineable made-
up words (what the hell is a “Gwan”), over-
ly repeated lines and a cover songs (“Bits
and Pieces” by the Dave Clark Five and
“When Will I Be Loved” by The Everlys).
The album is quite good though despite
those factors. The Toasters know how to
make a good ska album and they’ve done it
again with One More Bullet.
(Stomp Records)
Tyler Read
Only Rock And Roll Can Save Us Now
There is no one in the band named Tyler
Read, strange I know. Only Rock and Roll
Can Save Us Now reminds me of when
rock was kind of sleazy and had big hair,
but the album maintains a modern feel
with Queen influences a plenty.
(Immortal Records)
Voxtrot
S/T
This band is on the verge of getting huge
and with their new full length, you’ll soon
be hearing this band on radio stations and
as background music for shows on the WB.
This self-titled album is good start to finish
and will mostly likely be on many critics
top albums of 2007 list.
(Beggers Group/Play Louder)
Cover: Chris Strong Ads:
www.chrisstrong.com Modern-Radio // www.modern-radio.com
Pg 4-5: David McHank Lujo Records // www.lujorecords.com
www.myspace.com/mchank Lovitt Records // www.lovitt.com
Pg 24-25: Ryan Russell Flameshovel Records // www.flameshovel.com
www.ryanrussell.net Sargent House // www.refused.tv/
Pg 27-28: Oly // www.oly.cc Sickroom Records // www.sickroomrecords.com
Pg 30-31: Sean Desmond Copper Press // www.copperpress.com
www.loveyourtelevision.com 54°40’ or Fight! //www.fiftyfourfortyorfight.com
Pg 32-33: Live photo: David McHank SaddleCreek Records // www.saddle-creek.com
Portraits: Sean Desmond
Pg 34-35: Live photos: David McHank Labels:
Portraits: Sean Desmond Sickroom Records // www.sickroomrecords.com
Pg 36-37: Miriam Doan Kill Rock Stars // www.killrockstars.com
www.miriamdoan.com Warp Records // www.warprecords.com
Pg 38: Kirstie Shanley Side One Dummy // www.sideonedummy.com
Thick Records // www.thickrecords.com
www.flickr.com/photos/kirstiecat/
Pg 40: Ryan Collerd (Dr. Dog) The Militia Group // www.themilitiagroup.com
www.ryancollerd.com Vagrant // www.vagrant.com
Pg 41: Unknown/Promo Photo (Glos) 54°40’ or Fight! //www.fiftyfourfortyorfight.com
Pg 42: Unknown/Promo Photo (HRC) Park the Van // www.parkthevan.com
Ryan Russell (The Narrator) Equal Vision // www.equalvision.com
Pg 43: Unknown/Promo Photo Memphis Industries //
(Page France) www.memphis-industries.com
Pg 44: Autumn De Wilde (Spoon) Lujo Records // www.lujorecords.com
www.autumndewilde.com Lovitt Records // www.lovitt.com
HeWhoCorrupts // www.hewhocorruptsinc.com
Immortal Records // www.immortalrecords.com
Rerum Novarum // www.rnrecords.com
Flameshovel Records // www.flameshovel.com
Bands: Go Kart Records // www.gokartrecords.com
The Narrator // www.thenarrator.net Tooth and Nail // www.toothandnail.com
Nurses // www.nursesmusic.com Beggers Group // www.beggars.com
Baby Teeth // www.babyteethmusic.com Eyeball Records // www.eyeballrecords.com
Sargent House // www.refused.tv
Web: Suicide Squeeze // www.suicidesqueeze.net
Schedule Two // www.scheduletwo.com Ecstatic Peace // www.ecstaticpeace.com
Temporary Residence //
Zines: www.temporaryresidence.com
Chord Magazine // www.chordmagazine.com Fat Wreck Chords // www.fatwreck.com
The Big Takeover // www.bigtakeover.com Merge Records // www.mergerecords.com
The New Scheme // www.thenewscheme.com Silent Uproar Records //
Venus // www.venuszine.com www.silentuproarrecords.com
Copper Press // www.copperpress.com Red Scare // www.redscare.net
Wonka Vision // www.wonkavisionmagazine.com I had An Accident //
Razorcake // www.razorcake.org www.ihadanaccidentrecords.com
Stomp Records // www.stomprecords.com

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