tbzine

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This blog, formerly totalbummerzine, is now officially inactive. I just made a completely separate blog. totalbummerzine follow that if ya wanna keep updated

#total bummer #zine #total bummer zine

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Conor Oberst has been abducted on aliens

Late last night, reports arose that indie singer-songwriter Conor Oberst had been sucked into a bright white light at approximately 9:32 PM.

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#i write here now

[tbzine]

Probably deleting this blog in a couple weeks. Follow this. http://tbzine.tumblr.com/

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Roman Candles/Jay Levy And The/Struckout/French Exit/Hard Girls/Jeff Rosenstock & The Internet Poseurs @ Bridgetown DIY 5/20/14

I'm writing again. This is from a show I went to a while back. I think it's important to note that I wrote half of the review right after the show and I just finished the rest, so I was a little fuzzy on the details. Here goes.

So, I haven't been writing lately cause I've been going through some shitty shit. That's not exactly an excuse but more of an explanation. Anyways, look at that lineup. Read it again. Do you see how good it is? If you missed this show, you suck. Unfortunately there was a ton of traffic and La Puente is fucking far so I missed most of Roman Candles' set. He's one of my favorite local musicians so this bummed me out. I caught his last three songs and it was great of course. Really emotional acoustic punk. If you want a good cry, go listen to him. Jay Levy And The were pop punk I think?? They were a good fun band that had good energy. They were a danceable band and I found it odd that nobody was moving. Struckout are some of my best friends and Daniel, their singer/bassist loves BTMI more than I do so I was totally stoked on them playing this show. To be honest though, I feel like this wasn't one of their better sets. Daniel was nervous and it showed. They've definitely played better sets. French Exit recently released a record that I really enjoyed, but I don't feel those songs translated very well to this show. It might have been because Bridgetown doesn't have very good sound, and it might be because French Exit are the type of band that seem they would be better with a crowd that knows their songs. I wish I had paid more attention to their set, but I went outside a few songs in. I like their record a lot, so I'm definitely going to try to make it out the next time they play VLHS. Hard Girls were too good. All of my friends had been raving about them for months prior, but I only started listening to them a few days before the show. I really wish I had gotten to know them better, because that set was so much fun. Their new record is definitely going to be one of the best of 2014 and I'm bummed as fuck that the LA date of their tour with AJJ is sold out cause that's gonna be an amazing show. I wasn't sure how Jeff Rosenstock's set was gonna be. Bomb The Music Industry is my favorite band and has been for years, and Jeff's solo stuff is some of my favorite music ever released. I Look Like Shit is a fucking classic. But, this was my first time seeing him live and I wasn't sure that the fluidity/unexpectedness of BTMI's live sets would transfer over to his new band. I was so wrong. When the band came on, Jeff started playing Hey Ya through his ipod and after a few seconds the band broke into a cover. This set the tone of the most fun set I've seen since I saw BTMI in 2012. The band, comprised of Mike from Hard Girls, John from most of Jeff's other projects, and some dude who I don't know, was so good. They weren't just a backing band, like I worried they would be. They ended the set I Don't Wanna Die and then broke into one more chant of Hey Ya, and then they were done. The sweatiest show I had been to before this was August 24th, 2012. The one and only time I saw Bomb The Music Industry. This show beat that record and it deserved it.

#struckout #french exit #hard girls #jeff rosenstock #bridgetown diy #jay levy and the #btmi

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URGENT NEWS: The Che Cafe has been served with a 30-day eviction notice. That means that after June 13th, we will not be allowed in the building. While part of me wants to sit in the dark and cry for the next few days, the other part of me knows that there is more work to do. I’ve already contacted many of the bands and agents that I’ve booked shows with, but if I haven’t, feel free to get into contact with me about the status of your show. If you are a UCSD student, please send a cordial, but firm email to these addresses:

Vice Chancellor – Student Affairs, Alan Houston: [email protected] Assistant Vice Chancellor-Student Life, Gary Ratcliff: [email protected] Associated Students (AS) President, Robby Boparai: [email protected] Graduate Students Association (GSA) President, Rahul Kapadia: [email protected]

Please share.

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Roman Candles – Riley vs. Jason in the Battle of Gracious Living (Plan-It-X Records/Avocado Records)

People love to talk about bands making “timeless” records- what they really are talking about are bands using a specific set of signifiers (the physical manifestation of something that has meaning beyond itself) that touch upon a certain identifying features cherry picked out of the “golden age” of classic rock or punk largely by the historical narratives shaped by the press or music industry itself. Roman Candles is not making a timeless record. However, the signifiers that populate this record certainly do nod to the folk punk canon that has been shaped by his label Plan-It-X Records’ schedule of releases. This record is a contemporary record, figured squarely in the conservative Yorba Linda suburbs, grappling with leftist punk politics and relationships with friends and lovers.  

Although Roman Candles was a full band at one point, Christopher Gordon has paired the project down to it’s core: his acoustic guitar and his politically/socially conscious lyrics. There is an occasional electric guitar but for the most part this album feels like a performance at a house show, probably in someone’s bedroom with everyone sitting on the ground bobbing their heads and singing along. The guitar playing is competent, utilizing punk rock chordal patterns and strumming with generous palm muting. Chris avoids the pitfalls of run-of-the-mill folk punk in his guitar playing by varying up his chord choices and working in great sections of ringing open chords like the end of “Running Out of Chase”.

What makes this album special is it’s lyrical content. The album captures the feelings of a 20-something in the post recession world, painting vignettes of suburban malaise and dealing with the conflicts of being raised in a heavily conservative town while under the influence of leftist punk politics. Chris has a great sense of word play, and writes relatable lyrics that merge storytelling and emotive description. The title track is a play on the City of Yorba Linda’s current motto, “The Land of Gracious Living”, and not only critiques that idea of gracious living in the suburbs but uses it to challenge the lazy suburban punks. Chris upends the inherent positivity in the motto on the final track- a scathing indictment of conservative orange county politics and the racist SB1070 law passed in Arizona.

Considering this record is like a snapshot in time, loaded with local Orange County and punk signifiers to prove it, it would be easy to dismiss this as something for a kid of a certain age or certain geographical location interested in a narcissistic rendering of their own projected discontent. This record is far from that. Yes, it does have heartbroken love songs but even on the record Chris comments on how our lives cycle back through the feelings and experiences that shaped us as teenagers on “Five Year Plan”. His disgust with the conservative status quo of the suburbs is evident throughout the record, making it a great piece of social commentary talking about everything from getting stoned (“Gracious Living”), to religion (“The Mormon Proposition”), to income inequality (“Yorba Linda”), to education (“Public Education”- Chris went to UC Berkeley during the tuition hikes and is a teacher himself, currently finishing a Masters in Education at CSU Humboldt).

Certainly people will dislike this record because it is boiler-plate folk punk, but those people are not giving the lyrics a chance to sink in. Although folk punk suffers the fate of sounding “same-y” to the uninitiated, a high quality songwriter should never be ignored because of genre stereotypes. Chris road tests a lot of his songs, since he plays a lot of shows, and it seems to help him realize what makes his songs sound individual and unique, despite using similar playing techniques on many of them. The record is humble, much like the man behind Roman Candles, but showcases piquant topical and love songs about the struggle beyond the quotidian bore of Orange County.

You can get this record in multiple formats but, undoubtedly, the LP is the way to go. Chris is an ardent zine fanatic and runs his own called The Stowaways, so he included a whole zine’s worth of line notes, biographical information and pictures with the LP. The zine is a beautiful touch and really brings the intimacy. He lists every show he’s played (up until summer 2013), has flyers for many of those shows pictured, transcriptions of all the lyrics (with some explanation) and recommendations or other local, punk, and DIY bands to check out. It’s truly a labor of love, crafted in the same style as The Stowaways but with half-size pages. The details on the cover art are much more visible, plus you get the hilarious mickey mouse-Richard Nixon mash up drawing (“Mickey Nixon” by James Jurado) on the center label of the vinyl LP. Both the LP and cassette (on local label Avocado Records) sound great and have that lived-in feeling. When you plays these tunes it sounds like Chris is right there in the room with you, struggling through the same shit you’ve had to deal with. Nasal and plaintive, but a comforting lament for the times, Riley Vs. Jason In The Battle of Gracious Living works within the confines of folk punk to discuss love, sociality, and politics from behind The Orange Curtain.

Listen/purchase: "Riley Versus Jason In The Battle Of Gracious Living" by Roman Candles

#music

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Have not updated in a long time cause life has been shitty and weird. Finals are done next week and then I'll post more. Issue 2 isn't gonna be reprinted but if you really wanna see it, hit me up on here and I'll send you pictures or something. Working on a mini zine that hopefully should be done the same week as finals cause I have a ton of free printing at my school that I need to use by the end of the semester. So, updates, yeah. 

[tbzine]

Check out the homie

NEW INTRO, NEW LAYOUT, NEW CONTENT.

WELCOME HOME TO THE NEW DUMBROCK.ORG

✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧SUBSCRIBE✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ:*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

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･ﾟ:*(╥_╥)*:･ﾟFACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/dumbrockzine

[tbzine]

I'm really diggin' your reviews. Any chance I could submit something for a write-up?

DUDE of course 

#nustjick

[tbzine]

Tony Molina- Dissed & Dismissed (Review)

Going into this record, I thought it was gonna be some loud hardcore punk or something, and I guess that’s cause all the people I’ve seen talking about it are mainly into that kind of stuff, but I’ve been getting bored of it. When I started this album, I heard a squeal of feedback and immediately said “oh god” and then it quickly transitioned into “oh god damn”. This isn’t hardcore. This is super distorted Weezer-y power pop. Like, really Weezer-y. I suppose saying it’s a Weezer ripoff wouldn’t be exactly on point. Heavily Weezer influenced, for sure. But, there’s still some somewhat creative points in this record. One song has these really heavy metal riffs that sound like they shouldn’t fit in with the poppy parts of the song, yet it works perfectly. Apparently this dude has been in some hardcore bands, and I can tell. The cover art alone throws you off before you listen to this. But it’s not a hardcore record and I’m so so happy about this. There’s definitely been a resurgence of power pop lately, and I’m excited for that. It can definitely be compared to Rozwell Kid and maybe a few other lofi pop bands, but still with a more definitive sound. This isn’t a lofi record, but there’s disortion on everything. The vocals sound so good on this record. To be honest, the squeals of feedback at the beginning of almost every song get a bit annoying, but once you get past that, this is definitely a good good record. If you like Weezer, you’re gonna love this. I promise. He’s playing with Against Me! and Big Eyes on their upcoming tour and that’s gonna be an amazing show. I’ve gotta get my ticket.

#tony molina #weezer #power pop #against me! #big eyes #total bummer

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Struckout- Polaroid Of A Punchbowl

Read my review

#struckout #post hardcore #long beach

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Struckout- You Are Not Good At This (Review)

#struckout #post-hardcore #modest mouse #punk #long beach #fileacomplaint

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This is the cover for my new zine. Trying to print more copies. Buy my first issue pleeease to help me out. Art by vermilionsoul

#total bummer #zine #zines #Los Angeles

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Reblog if ya wanna help me out!!! The new issue is pretty damn cool in my opinion sooo COME ON

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Working on a new zine

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Struckout/Olivias/Deerling/Nathan Bignell/Lucas Chemotti/Roman Candles 1/10/2014 at Lisa’s Party House

This show was really really bittersweet. The lineup was great but it sucks when friends move away. Struckout played first, and they’re my homies so of course I’m biased, but their set was great. They’re all crazy talented dudes and they’ve mastered that mix of quiet/loud. Their live shows are insane and not to be missed. They might be recording something soon, so keep an eye out for that. Olivias are basic Jawbreaker-style, distorted pop punk, and I think this was my favorite time seeing them. Their set was great, and Tanner said he was fucking up because he messed up his hand skateboarding “cause we’re a skate punk band and we have an image to maintain” but I couldn’t tell. Deerling are a little hard to describe. My first reaction was emo, but I think that they might be a little more indie but I’m not sure. They were really great, although you couldn’t hear the vocals that well. They were a pretty unique band, which is definitely what Orange County needs. Nathan Bignell is the homie. He wrote most of his songs in 10th grade and they were great. Nathan, you should play more. Lucas Chemotti was the focus of the show. He’s an extraordinarily talented dude, and his songs hit hard. He played a couple Tobias songs, a few new ones, a Park Jefferson cover, and he covered one of Corey’s songs, which was a really nice touch. It totally sucks that 2 of the est songwriters in OC are gone now. Roman Candles is another example of great talent moving away from OC. He’s been back for winter break, so he’s played a few shows down here, and this one was probably the most personal one. His first song was a new one, about Jason Scwartz of Media Blitz wearing black face, and it’s a good one and I hope it gets some kind of recorded version. I’ve seen Chris a bunch of times and I’ve never seen a bad set. I talked to him earlier and totally fanboyed out and I feel weird about that. All in all, this show was great, and a really good sendoff for some great people. I wish I had gotten to know em better, but I wish Pam and Lucas all the best, and once I finish this zine, I’ll be sure to mail you guys a copy.

#struckout #justolivias #deerling #lucassux #roman candles #uhhhh nathan doesnt have a tumblr does he