Do you not know who Insane Clown Posse are? Have you never heard of Juggalos? Have you never seen a Gathering Of The Juggalos infomercial? Well, here's a chance to clue yourself in.
Insane Clown Posse are a horror inspired hip hop act from Detroit who spawned a whole genre of rappers with clown paint talking about murder and "neden". Along with the genre came a fanbase which got nicknamed Juggalos. Although Juggalos are primarily considered "white trash" who do a lot of whippets and drink Faygo, I, a Londoner from a pretty middle class upbringing, always saw myself as a Juggalo at heart. I remember seeing the video for ICP's Hocus Pocus when it came out and was mesmerised by these rappers in facepaint.
Over the years, I got myself more familiar with ICP as well as others from their Psychopathic Records label such as Twiztid and Boondox and related artists such as HedPE and Wolfpac. The Gathering Of The Juggalos, ICP's annual festival, has always really appealed to me. As well as having some amazing names from the hip hop world, they also tend to have some metal or hardcore bands in the mix. This year, GoTJ 17, they've managed to get old school rappers like Bone Thugs N Harmony and Slick Rick on board, as well as metalcore acts like Suicide Silence, Attila, Asking Alexandria and Emmure. Despite being from a more hardcore background, I'm actually more excited by Bone Thugs N Harmony. I don't even really listen to those metal bands. There is still regular metal acts such as GWAR in their latest lineup and HedPE who I've always really liked. TechN9ne is a regular of the festival too. He is probably the main Juggalo related rapper who is even considered outside of the Juggalo "world" as a genius and is loved pretty much by all.
Check out the video for the rest of the lineup, including more rap and metal acts, as well as comedians and other entertainment throughout the weekend. I always like checking it out for discovering new acts or acts I've never heard of before. Deranged horror rock duo One-Eyed Doll and the cocaine loving rappers The Dayton Family both really stood out for me. The infomercial itself, as always, is funny, although as the years go on it has become more purposely comical whereas before it was just weird. Early infomercials even brought forth a bunch of Saturday Night Live parodies. This year, the makers of the infomercial seem to have taken on board SNL's jokes and run with it. This is pretty much a parody within itself and would thus make it hard for anyone to poke fun at.
And I am actually quite interested in this year's festival. Are any of you guys going?
Despite constantly having to compete with this band when they do shows on the same day as Woolly Boy, Sweatshop Boys are the current Israeli kings of catchy and uplifting fuzzy pop punk. I may not have given them the best review for the last EP, Always Polite, Never Happy, but simply because the songs didn't do much for me compared to the songs on previous record, The Great Depression, not because I don't like them.
Vertigo is a new track that the band are demoing as a taster of their next record which they will start recording soon. It has a bit of a Descendents/Pegboy/early Social Distortion feel, with raspy vocals layered over up tempo punk rock. The song seems to use "vertigo" as a way of describing one's personal downward spiral. Personally, it sees the band back on track on writing some both catchy and punchy socially aware anthems.
I am seriously unsure of how to feel right now. Despite other people's views, I still like Buckcherry. I loved the self titled debut, I liked Time Bomb, they then had some hits which were "ok", in my opinion, and the more recent FUCK Ep and Rock n Roll album had them sounding more like their old material again in parts. I've even been known to admit to having a bit of a man-crush on frontman Josh Todd, despite looking like a tattooed Willem Dafoe in hindsight. Mr Todd and Buckcherry guitarist Stevie D have created a side project that goes in a completely different direction to their hard rock roots.
Spraygun War is the duo's new dubstep style outfit and no...it doesn't seem like a joke. Personally, their track OMG could be sooo much worse....but it could also be sooo much better. I don't have that much of a problem with dubstep in general but this isn't even all that creative for the genre. Josh Todd's rapping (yes, rapping!) lacks any real substance. Josh tries to tackle the tricky subject of war and religion but it comes off like a cliche activist preaching to passers by. The chorus does have a bit more bite to it but on the whole the song is pretty weak. Even the guitar stabs don't do much for the track.
OMG's video is annoyingly pretty well shot; simple yet affective. It does feel weird to see Josh Todd acting younger as time goes on. In the video for their expletive cover of Icona Pop's I Love It, the Buckcherry frontman is sporting a NWA cap. In this video, he is sporting his very own Spraygun War cap. That's right! They already have their own caps!! Along with the tattoos, the chains, the wifebeater and shooting the video next to urban graffiti, it's all slipping into Escape The Fate territory and is, quite frankly, embarrassing. All that being said, I respect them for attempting something different to the more traditional hard rock they normally do. It shows that they're more open minded than some "ageing" rockstars, although it could be an attempt to "get down with the kids". Spraygun War's Ep Into The Blackness is due for release June 10th. Guess what... I'm probably going to check that out purely out of curiosity.
Seeing as this past week was the anniversary of Israel's independence, I thought it would be fitting to do something I haven't done in a while. Here are some (fairly) new videos from Israeli bands and what I think of them.
Saint God - Narasvette
First up is the Tel Aviv based Saint God. I've seen Saint God once before and was impressed by their creativity and mixture of genres (see review). Having already released their first album Montefiore (which I should review at some point), the duo also released a single, Narasvette. I found the video by accident via BlankTV. Well done on the boys for getting themselves on there. The track is pretty much in a shoegaze vibe, with dreamy, fuzzy guitars and echoed vocals. The video features Italian dancer, Giualia Piana, whose free spirited movements fit the flow of the song perfectly. The video is professionally shot and should be getting more attention.
The Fading - Solitude Express
When it comes to Israeli metal bands, I'm still not 100% clued in. The Fading is a name I have seen and heard a lot since I moved out here. I'm actually still not sure if I've ever seen them but they must be doing something right. Their In Flames style metal has given them fairly wide spread success, most recently gaining them support slots on tour with the likes of Five Finger Death Punch and Bring Me The Horizon. The band's latest video is for Solitude Express from their last album Till Life Do Us Part. The video is mostly of the band in their rehearsal room, along with a few snippets of live performances and general "band stuff". The song itself is a good slab of modern metal, with thunderous drums, melodious riffs and growling vocals. I tend to prefer my metal a little bit more creative or fun and thrashy, but for what it is, it's certainly better than some of the more metalcore of bands who use bad clean vocals.
Jack The Envious - Wonderwall (Oasis Cover)
Speaking of bands with bad clean vocals, have you met Jack The Envious? In all seriousness, despite being unimpressed with the band's original material from the Pull You Down album (another album I'm yet to review), I have been made pleasantly surprised by this total reworking of the Oasis classic, Wonderwall. To many, this might be considered "sacrilege" and that most Oasis songs are "untouchable", but even if you don't like Jack The Envious and this genre in general, you have to give them points for creativity. If someone was to hear this without being told what it was, they probably would not guess it was a Wonderwall cover until the first verse starts. The music is pretty much rewritten and given the "easycore" treatment. Apart from the closing melody of the song, nothing much from the original has stuck. The essence of the chorus is still there vocally, it's just been given some added double kicks and chugging guitars. The video sees the band roaming around a big house while playing and swapping instruments, eventually ending in one big house party. Probably out of all the covers of the song that have been done over the years, this has to be on the list of the most interesting, even if it does lack the punch that one would hope from this type of band. Taking the iconic drum solo out of such a classic song was definitely a risky move.
Shredhead - Devil's Race
Yet another Israeli metal band who I don't know as much about as I should; Shreadhead are back after a breif hiatus, dropping this video for Devil's Race which comes from their second album Death Is Righteous released last year. I've seen them a couple of times but nothing ever really stuck with me. Might just not be my bag, but they are one of the more popular bands that manage to gather fans from both the metal and hardcore scenes. The song takes in bits of thrash and death metal, mixing it with an anthemic Pantera-like chorus. The video largely features multi-camera live show footage with crowd close-ups as well as some tour bus/backstage stuff. The concept might be nothing new, but we get to see both the band and the crowd really giving it their all.
Matricide - Unreality
Here's another one. It's funny how many of these videos are actually coming out along time after the album's release. Unreality comes form Matricide's 2013 album, When Random Turns To Fate. Like Shredhead, Matricide are also doing pretty well for themselves out here in Israel, but I'm not entirely sure how well they are doing elsewhere. They are doing that popular Djent-influenced style metal that I'm not all that into but can appreciate why others are. This is quite an epic video, almost like a little movie, and the song is a little bit too long for my taste. However, it's well crafted and the musicianship is pretty flawless.
Peled - Ba Be Boom
Some hip hop now. Peled (apparently from Menchamia very close to the Jordan border) is one of those rappers that also moves in the Israeli alternative circles. Ba BeBoom (Hit You With A Boom) comes from the latest album HaKol Alay (Everything's On Me). It's the kind of rap rock mix that was popular in the early 00s. I just happen to be the type of person who still likes that sort of thing. I might still not be all that great with following rap in Hebrew, but you got to appreciate the flow. The video is like most southern (USA) hip hop videos. You've got a bunch of cars in a field, dirt bikes, smoking and some breakdancing. Although old concepts, it still comes across as a pretty fresh video and you can't fault the track...unless you're not into that kind of thing, then say what you like.
Kitat Omanut - Chalumot Gadolim
Going to finish this off with something more punky from Kitat Omanut (Art Class). Hailing from Netanya, these guys play a mixture of alternative and punk rock. Chalumot Gadolim (Big Dreams), from the Rock Yisraeli (Israeli Rock) album, has a bit of a Brit Pop flavour while also sounding like Israeli alternative acts like HaShpung Shel HaPita (The Roll of the Pitta??) and even Israeli punk legends Bo LaBar (Come to the Bar). Both the song and the video are short and fun but I just can't help feel that it's maybe a little bit dated. But what do I know? I still like old Smash Mouth...
Although this blog is called PUNKalovich and I tend to cover punk and hardcore, I have been known to go to and review certain shows out of curiosity. This is one of those occasions where I only discovered the act via the gig poster and decided to give them a listen on the chance I might like it. And guess what! I only bloody did!
Tonight, I find myself at Gagarin to see drum n bass/digital hardcore artist drumcorps. When I get there, a fair bit later than the posted starting time (which itself was midnight, anyway), dnb DJ, Hostage, is on stage. I'm not going to officially review his set tonight because..well..I don't really know what to write in terms of a proper review for a drum n bass DJ. What I will say is that it was mostly quite slow for drum n bass. It was more like thumping techno. Either way, it was a good warm up but I didn't hear anything that really made my feet move.
After Hostage, drumcorps takes the stage as the night's main attraction. I hadn't heard of him before but I checked out some tracks and it's practically the sort of mix of heavy guitars and manic beats that I always thought about having a go at. As good as it already is on record, drumcorps live performance is an amazing experience. As well as playing prerecorded tracks off of Ableton on his laptop, drumcorps aka Aaron Spectre (originally from Boston but currently residing in Geneva, Switzerland) also plays some live guitar through a massive Orange amp and uses a form of drum pads/sampler for live effects and added fills. Even when simply playing a prerecorded track, Aaron is totally hyped and making sure the crowd is having a good time.
What drumcorps does is not simply electronic music. The set opener, My Heart Flies To Where You Are, doesn't even really come under the banner of drum n bass, jungle or digital hardcore at all. It doesn't even really fall under punk. It's a pretty slow tempo, heavy and almost sludgy jam with an enticing melody that builds throughout. The drum n bass fans seem to not really know what they've come along to at this point, but those more into hardcore and metal are headbanging away. I'm even smiling immediately as I'm surprised by how heavy and groovy it is. We hear drumcorps' slower side again later with the short dark interlude We Turned At A Dozen Paces, For Love Is A Duel, but the majority of the set is hectic.
The setlist is mainly comprised of tracks from his 2008 album Grist and his latest album Falling Forward. Those who are already fans go crazy for likes of Grist classics like Botch Up and Die (which samples To Our Friends In The Great White North by Botch), the anthemic Down (which samples Cave In's Terminal Diety) and the album's title track, which ends the night back on a slower and more headbanging note. Newer tracks like Got The Row, Crosses and Tap Tap Tap are chaotic electronic numbers with frenzied beats and distorted guitars that get some people running around, whereas more hardcore tracks like Built For War and The Path actually result in some air punching action here and there. He also played a couple of remixes, including his remix for Relief by the band Genghis Tron and an unreleased remix of hardcore band Code Orange's I Am King, the latter of which came off sounding even heavier and more crazy than the original. After the main event, local underground DJ crew, Sensi Sound System, take the stage. Again, I'm not really going to give this much of a review. Not just because I'm not really sure what to say about a DJ set but I really only stayed and listened to Shy FX's Original Nuttah and then went home. By the time I walked all the way home, it was about 5AM. I ended up sleeping until 6:45PM the next day! So lucky I had nothing else to do.
Aaron Spectre/drumcorps is something I am kicking myself for not discovering sooner but so glad I paid attention to the posts and dragged myself along to this at stupid-o'clock at night. I have a soft spot for drum n bass, as well as a big love for digital hardcore acts like Mad Capsule Markets and Atari Teenage Riot and hardcore punk in general. drumcorps takes all this to the extreme and presents it with joy and energy. With only a few bits of equipment, he manages to make a hell of a noise; a powerfully invigorating, crushing and heavy noise. I'm not a fan of the noise genre, per se, but when it's rapid drum beats, heavy guitar riffs and shouty vocals, I am very much on board. The sampling from hardcore and metal bands and the fact that some of the drumcorps original tracks include drumming from Madball's Mike Justian and Iggor Cavalera just make this act all the more interesting and special in my eyes.
A shout out to Bass Fanatics and Frog-Hop Crew for their hard work of bringing him over and setting up the show. 5/5 Photos courtesy of Raz Mor
