DDSS Side Note: A small flashlight on Harvey Milk

So last night I had the great pleasure of enjoying one of the many perks of living in New York City in that a band was playing and I had the chance to see them.

Enter Harvey Milk.



Now with this I want to talk about my history of how I got into Harvey Milk which shouldn’t take longer than a paragraph. I’ve always heard the name Harvey Milk mentioned in the same breath as Neurosis, which is how I at least heard of them. Got their latest album: Life….the best game in town. Fell in love. See, that was easy.

For a long time, just knowing the name Harvey Milk seemed to be a secret handshake among many metal fans and music aficionados Now that the internet has allowed cult bands to have a stage, it’s refreshing to see a band who is, for lack of any term, uncompromising in their implied intent.

That intent seems to be to dig into the soul crushing riffs of human misery. Metal is a hard thing for “normal” people to get into and the sludge of the south is even harder. But Harvey Milk tests the patience of even the most ardent Eyehategod, Crowbar, and Buzzoven fans. To say the Harvey Milk is angry music, misses the point. To say that Harvey Milk is sad music, is a pitiful understatement. Harvey Milk kidnaps you, throws you into the head of a very emotionally damaged person, and you fight and claw to escape but you can’t. Once someone “gets it,” it’s very difficult to escape. But it requires patience and an a good deal of active listening on the part of the audience.



Sorry about the picture on the video, but you see my point. It’s a hard pill to swallow. It whispers and yells. But Harvey Milk also shows us beauty in that adolescent suffering not just by it’s lyrical content but also by their southern twangy sensibilities (see: Special Wishes). But they also demonstrate that they have some grasp on the poppyness of music, but still (at least lyrically) keep that pained groan.


After seeing Harvey Milk live, you get to really see them mess with your need to headbang because of it’s off-beat nature. It tricks you, you want to nod your head to a beat….but it’s so sporadic that they make it almost impossible.

Harvey Milk is one of those bands that makes me realize why I like southern sludge. If you don’t get it, you don’t get it. If you get it, you almost wish you didn’t and you envy all of those happy people who don’t. Because when a band takes sadness to such a beastly and unearthly low, it’s hard to look up and see any light at all.

So in closing, here’s a live recording I wasn’t at. Notice Joe Preston on second guitar. That guy gets around. Also, the last part of the song is a play on The Velvet Undergrounds “Waiting on my man” and The Beatles “A Day in the life.”




Command Image: Shaky pictures of concerts from my cell phone

Russell's Rant: A lament for the month of February and the longing for the ides of March

Starting a new segment here on Lack of Command. Russell's Rant. I'd be lying if I said that it wasn't just a way for update more than once a month, but I don't think that's such a bad thing. There are some exciting updates in the exposure of Lack of Command. I've started a 365 Day Tumblr project (I'll link it up here for those who are interested) and will be starting a movie review podcast with one of my old college pals called: Carlsen/Boruff: Untitled Movie Review Podcast. (Click on the RSS feed on the bottom of this page and join in the fun!) We've recorded our first episode and I'm excited. Not JUST because I love giving my opinion especially when no one asks; but I love talking about movies. Also, Richard and I are seriously considering a documentary project.

I hate February. It's just a freak month that only reminds us that we have more winter to suffer through. Not to mention Valentines Day; or as someone once said, "Single Awareness Day." It's literally the longest month for me.

The first February of 2010 did not disappoint. Long, cold, and full of uncertainty. Not to say that all of February was bad. We had a STUNNING Olympic Hockey Tournament where Team USA was so close to the gold medal, they could almost taste it. I don't think people realize the power of rooting for a team. I watched it with a few of my friends. One of my friends got so caught up in the game that when the US lost in overtime, she ended up in tears. She wanted it that bad, and she's only a passing sports fan. A story like the Olympic Hockey Tournament can do nothing but inspire everyone and bring me closer to the nation that I truly love for at least 3 hours. I like the fact that people can get wrapped up and get seriously emotionally invested in the drama of sports because it's the same as crying in a movie. You put yourself in the game/movie, and then the horn blows or the credits roll and you move on with your life. But alas, I am disappointed in the loss, but hopeful for the potential.

In other February defenses, the new High on Fire came out. But I didn't listen to in until March. So I don't think it counts. Yes. It is awesome.


But March is here now. And the Oscars are tomorrow. I got a job. March might be looking up.


Command Image: Breathing Command. Struggling for air.

To Whom It May Concern. Our mother is not going to take it anymore.

If anything can be said about Richard and I, at least by those that know us personally, we generally think that no subject is taboo. We owe this attitude greatly to our parents. Our mother and father taught us that us as long as we were able to present a reasonable argument, and keep ourselves slightly polite. Okay, so we have disagreements on the term polite. My mother and I have certainly had our fair share of fiery disagreements.

My mom and I were famous at waking up the house early in the morning. I always wanted to make it clear to her that those arguments over foreign policy and government assistance can always get heated, but I always wanted her to know that I never took it personally. I always made it a point to say, “I love you” before she had to rush to work. I could always tell that she was relieved when I said that. I never realized where that relief came from.

You see my mother grew up in a southern Baptist family with very strict rules. And while my mother bares no grudges with God, Jesus, or her family specifically, she does tend to snarl at people pushing their morals on her. She does, however, know how homes can become broken and what it feels like to be unwanted. But she does not judge. Quite the opposite. She embraces and is empowering, by loving each member of her family. She has not lost her faith, but she can question the knowledge of we mere mortals. She loves the south, but only from a distance. It’s kept her pleasant, smiling, and kind. She won’t ever absolve any church run by man if that church is in the wrong.

Our mother taught us to channel my anger at hypocrisy and blind bigotry.

My mom doesn’t respond well to anger or hatred. She can usually keep her cool but sometimes it can take her a few seconds to calm down after the dust has settled. I wanted her to realize that “yes, I do get angry at state of the world but you do too and that’s okay. I’ll still be home by three.” To us, here at lack of command, we view politics as a game. But we have no choice living in a generation that is obsessed with spectacle rather than substance, but luckily so did our mother. Our parents’ generation is trying to find itself just like the rest of us. To me, being an American is the constant struggle of finding ways to better ourselves, learning from each other, and trying new ideas. Rewarding them, rather than exploiting them.

Our mom wrote this letter and gave it to us and asked us what we should do with it. Unfortunately mom, this is the best we do. Yell out of the only soapbox we have at the moment.

So without further a due…

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

I am a former, solid Republican is now ashamed of “my” party. As a result, for the first time in 2008, I voted for the Democrat. This is only my note of introduction, in hopes the Republicans might pay attention to how they lost me (and evidently others since the Democrat won).

My perspective had always been that only the Republicans supported FREEDOM, which included freedom from taxes and government interference in both personal and corporate endeavors. I’ve been willing to overlook the portion of the Republican platform that opposed abortion because it has never been an issue for me personally, although I support the FREEDOM of individuals to choose the best of action based on their individual circumstances. I support the FREEDOM of a child to be born into a life in which he or she is wanted, loved and supported by at least one parent.

Republicans, who believe in self-reliance (aka not reliance on the government) demand that the woman bear that child, despite the circumstances that only she fully understands which would prevent her FREEDOM to become self-reliant, in fact demanding that she become reliant on the government in order to raise an unwanted child or to rely on some government program to raise the child for her. Not only is FREEDOM denied, but government assistance becomes required to raise, feed, and eventually imprison the tragic soul who is brought into the world unwanted, unloved and unsupported.

How fiscally idiotic is it to demand the birth of an unwanted child while protesting the government assistance needed in the years ahead. An abortion costs $300-$1,000 while the cost of raising that child is easily $300,000 if by some miracle the child doesn’t then move into the same tragic circumstances as the mother requiring further government assistance or incarceration. From a fiscal standpoint, it’s a wonder that government doesn’t require (even pay for since it’s so much cheaper) abortions of mothers who are unable to financially raise a child, but because we support FREEDOM we don’t make that decision for them. Why don’t the Republicans get out of the way and support the platform, “If you oppose abortion, never have one.” Isn’t that true FREEDOM?

Through the recent health care debate, the hypocrisy of the Republicans as they oppose a “government takeover” of health care has exposed the Republican insanity. They oppose the FREEDOM of elders to make end-of-life decisions and they oppose the FREEDOM of doctor-patient privilege when it comes to the abortion decisions. What happened to FREEDOM? How much of the health care debate has been about supporting the FREEDOM of insurance companies to collect premiums without delivering health care to protect profits. It is as if the Republicans now support corporate FREEDOM of robbery.
Republican FREEDOM seems now to be limited to corporate FREEDOMS. Republicans protected FREEDOM to make/sell bad mortgages, which led to the banking crisis of 2008.

How much of today’s unemployment is attributable to the FREEDOM afforded corporations to replace minimum wage American workers with $1 an hour Mexican or Indian workers? How about the FREEDOM of credit card companies to change the rules after extending credit, raising fees and interest to usury levels? Now the Supreme Court has given the FREEDOM to corporations to spend the enormous wealth of investors and profits earned by employees to support the candidate the corporation deems “best” for them.
Then, there is the Republican denial of FREEDOM toward gay marriage is just another in a long list of Republican denials of FREEDOM. What happened to FREEDOM?

Republicans want FREEDOM to carry guns (which I support but don’t exercise), but how safe do we feel when Republican tea parties display symbols of Nazi and Ku Klux Klan support? They are given their FREEDOM of expression, which openly opposes the FREEDOMS of Jews and Blacks.

I have always been proud to be born in a country that supported FREEDOM. From the day the teacher explained that your FREEDOM only extends to the end of your own nose, I understood that I was FREE until my FREEDOM encroached upon another. The Republicans are now defending their right to encroach on the FREEDOM of others. How can I support that?

I should think the Republicans should be proud of a President who can put two sentences together, can answer a question without assistance, and can accept responsibility for errors in judgment. After the Bush debacle, I was as embarrassed to be an American as I was when living under Jimmy Carter.

Under the Bush (George W.) administration, after a 24-year career, my husband was laid off in a corporate downsizing. It took a year and a half to find new employment, which he lost after two and half years in a corporate takeover. It has been nearly two years searching for work, finding odd menial jobs. We managed to get three boys through college (with no government assistance), and only one is employed as a part-time parking attendant. After a year with a Democrat at the helm, the promise of job opportunities are finally starting to emerge. I have pledged to my liberal sons that if my entire family is employed again by the end of 2010, I will exercise my FREEDOM to re-elect Obama.


The Republican you’ve lost,

Jane Carlsen


So there you have it. I can’t say it’ll have any impact in the white noise of the blogosphere, but I hope it shows that we’re proud of her.

Our mother, despite our vastly different practical solutions, the core is the same. That we call no man master. And there is nothing, my friends, more American than that.



SOUTHERN COMMAND

Lack of Commands: Albums that didn't suck in 2009

Here at Lack of Command, we really do love top tens. Many days and nights of our lives have been spent making "top" lists with friends. Comparing and contrasting and all of that. Being that it's already 2010, but we figured it's still January so our list still counts!

Now, there are thousands of "Top Ten Albums of 2009" lists out there. Most of them are marketing strategies, some are the similar to "Readers Choice," and some are created by the critics who think that they know more than you.

Guess which one this is? This list is catered to our tastes. So with that in mind, if you've read this blog at all you know it's all about the sludgey-doomy-droney-stoner metal. I will say, if anything; it's a list that doesn't include Animal Collective as #1 (or anywhere at all). We decided to be honest with you guys and rather than to try to impress you with our broad tastes of music genres and bands and actually show you our favorites of the year.

Oh. Don't worry. We'll have not-quite-as-awesome-as-this-list-honorable mentions.

So, disclaimers aside: The 1st Annual Lack of Command Top Ten Albums That Don’t Suck.

2009 was a good year for metal. Through out the whole genre, we had old dogs re-inventing their own sound and young pups really making their mark. This year is a tribute to the perseverance of passion for making music. Because I wish I could put Wino, Clutch, and Fu Manchu on this list, but I think the fact that they didn't make shows how good of a year it has been. And those are just the veterns. Big Business, Giant Squid, and fresh from the muck Black Pyramid all had it going on. This actually wasn't easy. And when top ten lists aren't easy to make, you know the gettin' is good.

Included are pictures that I took from my phone from the bands that were seen by one or both of us. Aren't you impressed? I know I am.


10. Flood - Native



Definitive Track: “Water”
Richard
“My pick for the 2009 Rookie of the Year. Named after the Boris masterpiece album, Flood lives up to its namesake with their debut album, "Native." What’s that? That’s right I said debut. These guys just get it. They understand their metal. Drone-y at times, never a shortage on riffs, and the heavy meter cranked to 11. The tracks take the listener from the magma centers of the world on a slow crushing journey ending on the planet’s lifeblood. Water. Watch out for these guys.”


9. Ancestors – Of Sound Mind



Definitive Track: “Bounty of Age”
Russell
“And yet another shout out to the young guns in the scene. A heavy whirlwind of patient psychedelic sorrow. I literally just finished this album two hours before I wrote this and I knew it was one of the best things I've heard in a while. It’s THAT good. It’s their sophomore album but it sounds like these guys have been doing this for ages. They use careful inspirations of legends (Pink Floyd, Neurosis, Sleep, Hawkwind…and I think there’s some Eno in there) but keep their emulation to something absolutely unique. If I said Ancestors were epic, that would only scratch a very superficial surface. Now, this album does require a time commitment but I never scoff at track lengths. If I were still driving, this CD would probably never leave my stereo. Apparently this is their first studio recording and it serves them well. It’s textured but not over-produced. Simply brilliant. On my list of bands to see live.”

8. Sunn 0))) – Monoliths and Dimensions



Definitive Track: “Big Church” (There’s a name after this track...and I ain't typing it. Once you see it, you'll know why.)
Richard
“Let’s face it, with Drone metal, you either get it or you don’t, those who don’t get it, really wish they did. Those that do get it listened to this album for a solid month after it was released. Like Neurosis did with “Given to the Rising,” Sunn 0))) shows us something new by not changing at all. From the very first track, the brown note is hit, but the heavy crawl that is trademarked with the genre is not without subtle beauty in its riffs and occasional church choirs. In any case, I’m positive this album is what HP Lovecraft heard in his head everyday.”

7. OM – God is Good.



Definitive Track: “Cremation Ghat II”
Russell
“I took a friend of mine to see them; I was nervous she wouldn’t dig on it. I was wrong. It’s hard not to lose yourself in the hypnotic bass hymns and moving rhythm. She described OM as gently engulfing. After the show, she turned around and said: Thank you. She’s now an OM convert. Om is a hard band to like on face value, but being a fan, this album is exciting because of the growth that is shown. Now, if you haven’t heard Om, then buckle up. Now, with a new drummer, this album was the first true test run for Emil Amos. Talk about hitting the ground running. The biggest change to your typical OM is now their best asset to this album is Robert Lowe (Lichens and TV on the Radio fame) and should seriously be considered as a permanent member. Of course, not enough could be said about a master like Al Cisneros. He makes the bass light as a feather or as thick as metal. I really do hate to bring it down to this but it’s true: It’s Om…but different. The thing about Om and the previously mentioned Sunn O))), the subtle changes have to be noticed. If you get the chance: see em’ live.”


Om@Bowery Ballroom


6. Church of Misery – Houses of the Unholy



Definitive Track: “El Padrino (Adolfo De Jesus Constanzo)”
Richard
“Where was I with this band? Why wasn’t this shown to me the minute I started getting into this genre? Church of Misery is fairly straightforward band: A Japanese stoner doom metal band that sings songs about serial killers. If that does not sound like something that appeals to you, then you probably wandered unto this blog by accident. Sabbath-esque riffs with a heaviness that would make Electric Wizard proud, mixed with Pantera like vocals. If that’s not enough for you to listen to this album, your browser probably froze, restart your computer.”

5. Snail – Blood



Definitive Track: “Sleep”
Russell
“I haven’t heard of them before this album and I feel like a phony because of it. Of course they haven’t made an album in 16 years, so can you really blame me?!? But after hearing this album, my first thought was: WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE? I’ve never heard a band sound so close to Alice in Chains since Alice in Chains. Stoner rock with the 90’s sensibility of young angst. Ultra-fuzzy guitar that soothes the soul. As far as Stoner Metal this year is concerned; this is the album to get. Stays within the genres constraints, but far from uninspired. It takes a lot of guts to be an obscure band from the Seattle days, call it quits and then make an album a decade and a half later. They pull it off better than they could’ve hoped. Instant classic.”


4. YOB – The Great Cessation



Definitive Track: “Burning the Altar”
Russell
“The doom metal genre has had a void in its heart when YOB decided to hang it up. Like an erupting volcano, the myth of YOB clawed its way back and they are not fucking around. A grand return. After a horrible hiatus filled with side bands and greedy lawsuits, YOB arrives with hunger and a passion that few bands reached this year. You can hear it in Mike Scheidt’s vocals (one of the things that has always turned me off to YOB, to be honest); it’s a release of rage and loss. This album is perfect. Doom at it’s core: angry, foreboding, painful, and scary.”



3. Shrinebuilder – Shrinebuilder



Definitive Track: “Science of Anger”
Richard
“Let’s face it, we here at Lack of Command knew the album was going to be somewhere toward the top. 2009 had its fair share of super groups. Dead Weather, Them Crooked Vultures, Monsters of Music Critic Rock Folk, etc. However, none was more anticipated than the convergence of Scott Kelly, Al Cisneros, Wino and Dale Crover. Now unlike many super groups throughout history, this not only doesn’t suck, but it really REALLY fucking rocks. While the new kids on the block are reinvigorating the genre, the DDSS super friends remind us why we like this style. Each master of his own realm is well represented, and gels so perfectly. If this is what these gods of their own genre can do in three days, imagine what’s going to happen next.”



Shrinebuilder @Le Poisson Rogue



2. Mastodon – “Crack the Skye”



Definitive Track: “Crack the Skye”
Richard
“Every one seems to have their own “I first saw Mastodon at…” stories, and the venue gets smaller and smaller with each story. If you didn’t think they weren’t going to make it as far as they have, you weren’t paying attention. In short “Crack the Skye “ is nothing short of a masterpiece. What some might call a departure, and others might call an expansion, Mastodon demonstrates the bravery that all musicians wish they had. They sing more; have longer older school guitar solos, an ORGAN for Christ sake! Where are the crushing riffs from Leviathan? Simply put, every album that Mastodon puts out is different from the last, progressively better than the last. Mastodon grew up on Neurosis and High on Fire; I’m excited to see who grows up on Mastodon. This was our shoe in, no questions asked, ring the bell winner for Album of 2009 until…”


Mastodon....IT WAS CROWDED!!


1. Baroness – Blue Record



Definitive Track: “A Horse Called Golgatha”
Russell
“A good album is a journey, and the Blue Record is certainly that…like by a lot. It manages to boil down all the positive shifts happening with the metal genre into one album. It’s melodic, it’s delicately paced, it’s even random. But every song forces you to lean in to a punch and it shifts on you. It’s brilliant. It’s produced well, but just off-key that makes it believable. At times, it tricks you with poppy hooks, but never a moment that isn’t honest. It's tragic, it's angry, and it's even fun! They are one of the most promising bands for a new decade. If this is vision of metal for the next ten years, than Godspeed. They carry the flame in every respect. “


Baroness @Bowery Ballroom. (Thank you Angelica.)

Doom and Drone, Sludge and Stone Part 5: The Sludge.

Well it’s 2010, and we hope you’re prepared for an onslaught of awesomeness from we here at Lack of Command. More on our developments as they…well as they develop. In the meantime, let’s start of off 2010 by getting our hands dirty with another DDSS lesson. REAL dirty.

Sludge.



Sounds nasty right? Metal’s sub-genres often have a degree of rebellious dominance in their nomenclature. Thrash Metal. Power Metal. Death Metal. Hardcore. Even Stoner and Doom metal has some semblance of a “fuck you” power to the names. But Sludge Metal? Isn't that the crap (literally) that forms at sewage treatment plants? What in the name of all that is good and holy could sound like that?

Well…something like this:




That’s right, we return to the Melvins. That’s off of their very first album, “Gluey Porch Treatments. Bringing the tones of west coast punk and hardcore to the lowest of low tones. The Melvins really do deserve a whole post on their own. Not just there historical and musical influence, but because trying explain The Melvins to anyone who hasn’t heard them can be quite the chore.

During the death of punk’s wave across the country starting in the west, The Melvins managed to roll it’s way to the south. I’ll paraphrase what Phil Anselmo (Pantera, if you don’t know, you really should) said “While kids everywhere else were listening to Slayer, we were listening to Gluey Porch Treatments.” Like gasoline to the fire, when you combine the low and slow metal to drunk and stoned southerners, what happens is immediate combustion. Actually in this case, it’s more like coagulation. A pissed off bunch of hillbillies with names like Acid Bath, Crowbar, EYEHATEGOD, and Harvey Milk made sounds like this.



You think it’s the low quality of the Tube, but don’t be fooled. Eyehategod is really that dirty. This was the first song I heard when somebody wanted to show me sludge metal, and to this day I think it’s definitive of the genre. It has all the characteristics, guitar feedback, a bass so down tuned the strings are falling off, and as slow as the current in a Louisiana swamp. As you can see, they speed it up for a little bit, but then they get tired and have to slow it down even more.

Fat. Drunk. Lazy. That’s the Southern sound my friends. CT, frontman from Rwake and KMBT Dj has a documentary coming out about the southern sound. Here’s the trailer. Watch for Hank Williams III, Phil Anselmo, and Jimmy Bower (southern sludge superhero of bands like Eyehategod, Crowbar, and Down) offering CT a hit of weed.



The south is and always will be the land of the oppressed. It’s oppression that is either attached or self-induced. From the bankruptcy of the Civil War defeat to the victims of Jim Crow and to it’s tragic devotion to an unforgiving church. That oppression is what fascinates the rest of the country. We can see the agony and the ecstasy of the struggle for freedom. Sludge metal is a good device for demonstrating this. It shares the same spirit of struggle that comes with American music.

Sludge isn’t the only example, but it’s another chapter in the discourse of music from a region that birthed us rock and roll. It’s lyrical content ranges between cosmic wars, to hard drugs, to raising a family. But it’s the music that makes it unique to their region. Soul. Sludge is the icky sticky soul of metal.



You read it right folks. The band’s name is Alabama Thunderpussy. It’s like Lynyrd Skynyrd covered Black Sabbath.


That sludgy shit has laid the ground work and loosened the soil for some of the best bands in the game today. Punk gave us the means to do it ourselves, but sludge gave us an overdrive!


First Command Image for 2010: COMMAND-O'S!!!!