Propagandhi! (trumpet fanfare)

It is officially March 11th, 2009. That means that I see Propagandhi within the next 24 hours and Dillinger Four within the next 48. Do you know what kind of excitement this brings me? A good kind of excitement. Excitement involving a chronic erection.

Due to none of my initial plans working out and everyone I'd asked to come with me not being able to, my fellow blogger, Alex Grabenstein, will be accompanying my journey to Baltimore over the next two or three days. We, together, will witness a lot of moshing and face melting and utter amazingness from an array of fucking amazing bands. So stoked. So totally stoked.

I will not have a computer with me over the course of the next few days, so I will not be able to tell you about my time at either concert until both are over and I've returned home. That's kind of lame, because I'd like to journalize my feelings about the venue after the show on the first night and then come back and follow up after the second night. I guess that means you also won't get to read Alex's blog for a while, too. Man, this is almost as bad as breaking both of your arms at the same time. You can't even rely on one while the other's gone! Or like busting both nuts. Of course, that's not really a bad thing baby-making wise.

I fully intend to spend whatever money necessary to buy every Dillinger Four, Propagandhi, and Paint It Black shirts and/or CDs that I find fitting to filling my desires. If that entails spending $50 on merch, then so fucking be it. It's a hell of a lot better than spending $50 on a pair of jeans at American Eagle.

Against Me! is touring with Off With Their Heads this spring. I might have to go to that in Virginia Beach....

I'm going to Williamsport this weekend with Belle to see Drew and I'm going to meet up with an old friend. Then we might all head out to Shred Fest to see some punk bands and I'll get to sing "Minor Threat" with The Foul Mouths. I'm looking forward to that. This is going to be an excellent week. I was really fretting earlier today because it seemed I was going to go to Baltimore by myself and not share the experience with anyone. Grabenstein saved the day, though! Fort Ashby drummers UNITE!

I'm sending my iPod back. They sent both boxes to my dad's house...even though his house doesn't even have a street address. That either means that the mailman is really stupid or...someone knows who I am and where I live. Either way, I'm a bit concerned...but at least I'll get my iPod fixed. Hopefully it comes back purple. Or tiger-striped. Or the texture of a shower loofa. Or covered in vaginal secretion. Okay, that one's a little much for even me...

To any readers that don't already know this, I did not sleep on Sunday night. I woke up sometime Sunday evening after sleeping a bit in the middle of the day and then did not go to bed until last night. I write this mostly to mark this time in my life incase I want to read all of my blogs again one day. Oh, and my internet at my dad's has been really out of wack, but I think it's fixed, since when I saw the modem today, it wasn't flashing like a crazy mofo. It was making conversation with everyone impossible. That's a big factor to the lack of blogs posted recently. I've also had no material, as you might be able to see. All I can say is "Propagandhi! Dillinger Four! I love me some boobies!" I do love me some boobies. How many things can you think of that are cooler than boobies? There's your essay topic. Go.

love,
Kyle

(as you might have guessed it) Apple Goes Asian at 8 p.m.

So my iPod doesn't work right, right? That's established. So I send Apple a message thing on their site asking them to call me immediately (which seriously is IMMEDIATELY[like when I got upstairs to wait for the phone, Rod was already talking to them]) so that I could talk to them about it and this sweet-sounding American girl named Laura (I think) is talking to me. I must have caught her near the end of her shift or something, though. She was very nice and very helpful and I gave her my address to send me a box (free of charge) to put my iPod in and send to them so they can fix it and send it back (also free of charge). I almost wish I could have spoken with her longer and about more personal things than just my iPod because she was very nice and I love when people are just fucking nice. Anyway...I get like a confirmation email a little bit ago with my mailing address on it. Well it's wrong. It's HC 86, not HC 6. So you really can't just message Apple because that's too easy. You have to call them. So here I am like an hour and a half later and I have to call them this time.


Asia! Indian/Chinese/some other Asian country woman speaking to me. She's also very nice, but I can't understand her very well. Twat juice! So she puts me on hold and then comes back and tells me that I have to call tomorrow between 8 and 8 because they basically can't do shit for me any other time. So that's great. I was so happy that Apple was so nice an hour and a half ago and now they're shutting me out in the cold. Anyway, so I guess I'm calling them again tomorrow to put one more fucking number in my address that was left out. SHE EVEN REPEATED MY ADDRESS BACK TO ME CORRECTLY! Goddamn. This is overly complicated when it really shouldn't be. I hate my iPod.


(end MySpace bulletin post)

So Watchmen came out today. I kind of wanted to see it since everyone's making a big fuss out of it, but more importantly because all of my friends were going to see it today. I decided not to go because a.) none of my friends directly asked me to go, b.) I didn't have an easy ride getting there, c.) I wasn't sure if I'd get a ticket even if I did get there.

It's kind of lame how it seems that everyone thinks it'd be a bother to ask me to do something with them. Like I feel like I'm a plan B or a plan C. No one's ever like "I want to hang out with Kyle today!" It's kind of lame, as I said. But I'm kind of self-centered and I can be an ass, I geuss, and...maybe I'm not that fun to hang out with, so I can see some logical reasoning behind it. I realized that I don't really leave my house unless I'm going to my mom's or if I'm doing something I Forget-related. Sometimes I'll go to someone's house if they're inviting a bunch of people, but it's rare that anyone invites me and only me over to their house or to go out somewhere. At the same time...how often do I invite people over here? Also at the same time...what is there to do here? I don't know...it's kind of lame.

Propagandhi's new album is incredible. I think I covered that in my last blog post, but maybe I didn't. If I didn't, then I'm telling you now that it's fucking awesome and I can't wait to see them next week and buy it directly from their merch guy. I'm 90% sure I already said this, though.

Some guy tried to give it a bad review. 5/10 he gave it. I called him a twat. I could find no words to appropriately express how much of a moron he was for posting such an ignorant review on the album. So lots of other people started posting comments about how he's an idiot. There were no supporting comments--no one agrees with an idiot who'd rather Propagandhi play Boys Like Girls covers and sing songs that convey no message and sensor their views and feelings. One guy's comment was so great I'm going to repost it here.

"

its nice that you tackled this review without having any agenda whatsoever.

and also its such a pity that propagandhi slap people round with face with a wake up call so pure and accurate with some modicum of musical talent and vocal delivery that goes beyond the boundaries of the inoffensive, the mundane, the norm.

how dare they actually write heartfelt songs about heartfelt issues?

"

Thank you, OH DEAR, for making me feel more sane. God, not only does mainstream music suck nowadays, but the critics don't even know good music when it hits them anymore! What the fuck?! Some other reviews gave it the score it deserved (5/5 stars, 4/5, 5/5, 8/10). Seriously, the music reviewer was getting bent out of shape because he loves eating his meat and doesn't like when people oppose of it, so he blew it out of proportion and said that Propagandhi are saying that eating KFC makes you a cannibal. Yeah, that's definitely what they mean by "Human(e) Meat." Uhh...let's try the thought of...maybe they're asking us to be in the place of the animals? Imagine walking into someone's house and they have people's heads mounted on their walls and humans stuffed and a big, dead, roasted, naked guy with an apple in the middle of the dinner table. The song starts off with the sound of a hacksaw and a guy screaming. It's asking you to imagine if people were put through slaughterhouses in the same way. In my view, at least. I really don't see how you could draw a parallel between cannibalism and KFC, no matter how much you oppose either one.

Anyway, at the end of the album, there is a bonus track that is a cover of "Come to the Sabbat," originally by Black Widow. Everyone says it's fucking amazing, but they don't have it on their MySpace for the album stream, so I'm dying to buy the album. If you know the song "Come to the Sabbat," you'll know it's some fucking trippy hippy song with a dumb flute and shit that chants "Come, come, come to the sabbat. Come to the sabbat; Satan's there." Propagandhi's covers are always very stretched from the originals, though, so it should be fucking epic.

In other news, I have no idea what to do with my weekend. I'm thinking about doing nothing. I have to write a paper and finish reading The Doll House. I really hope I find the motivation to do both of those things. If I don't, then I guess I deserve a shitty grade.

This blog is getting quite lengthy for the kind of shit I've been posting recently. Maybe that means I should stop for now. If I'm gonna start writing long blogs again, I gotta slowly lead you readers into it. Bye, I guess.

love,
Kyle

Yo ass STANK (did I already say this?)

New Propagandhi album on MySpace. Now. Go to it. www.myspace.com/propagandhi

It...is awesome. One of the best Propagandhi albums I've ever heard, which is comparing it to every Propagandhi album there is. I am seeing them a fucking WEEK FROM TODAY! AHHH!!!

I just don't blog anymore, do I?! See, it's this state of being...happy, but not complacent where I just don't blog. When I'm complacent, I talk about bullshit nothingness and when I'm unhappy, I talk about how shitty I think my life is. But when I'm happy and exploring life, I don't blog. It's weird. I just don't journalize anything until like...I know what I think about it, and while I'm exploring life, I don't draw any permanent conclusions. So like I could say that I really like something one day and take it back the next when things are like this. However, I really like this Propagandhi album, Supporing Caste. I'm buying it directly from them, I think, that way they get more money from it and I don't have to pay any corporations in between and it'll probably cost less, too. They don't make albums I don't love, I'm sorry. I'm extremely biased.

I'm done recording drums! FINALLY! I shouldn't announce that, but I'm so relieved that I have to. I've realized that more people read this than I was aware of...and more people listen to I Forget regularly than I was aware of. I feel like I'm being watched. Maybe I'm a celebrity in the UK and don't know about it. You ever wonder that? If a bunch of Ethiopian kids watch you on the single TV in their town every day? The odds probably aren't good, but who can say?

I can say this: I hate work. School work. I am such a lazy student and I'm the worst procrastinator and underachiever in my house. Class work is fine, I can do all of it that anyone wants me to do, but when it gets to be taken home, it's a pain in my ass. I DID finish both Frankenstein and Oedipus in the past few days, though, which I'm proud of myself for doing. However, I probably completely neglected to do probably 5 other things for each of those. The Master Hand knocked me off of the edge on my last life when he had 1 HP left on Super Smash Bros (the N64 version) and I got pissed and said "fuck this," and did not continue. I do hate that bullshit. Nothing is more discouraging than getting really far and losing unepically.

It's cold down here. I want some food. I wish I could play that goddamn piano better than I can. I want my drums. I want our album art and album to be finished. I want to go to Baltimore and I want Kaila to be able to come, too. I want a week off of school. I want to be motivated enough to write my essay paper in Mr. Alkire's class. Whine! Whine! Whine!

Okay, I'm gonna get some food and bathe. Good night. I'll let you know if something interesting happens in life. And I want to start something. If you would like advice on ANYTHING and don't mind me publically answering (you can submit anonymously), please do so! Contact me however you want. be it here, MySpace, telephone, email, whatev. BK does it and I want to try it. It can be ridiculous questions, too, I just want something to write about.

love,
Kyle

Dear world,

I want to slit your brother's throat. Okay, but seriously. I've posted one or two blogs in the past 7 days. That's not very many, I realize. So here I am telling you about my past week. Well, I played shows the past two nights of my life. First night was in Frostburg where we played with The Undercover Saints and Anarcoustic.

How did that go? Well, we opened (as we always do) for everyone. Jim and Tim came. Sierra came (with a really cool Black Flag shirt on). And people I didn't know came! That's the best part. Expanding our fanbase, we are. The room was probably like 10x10 with a 7 foot ceiling, I'd say (in which the drummer for The Undercover Saints had to duck his head to stand in). It was a super punk venue. There were like 20 people in a very tiny room. If you're lame, you'll think that sounds like a shitty place to play. It was awesome. I had no elbow room and the room was lit with tube Christmas lights. If you live locally, you should come out next time if you didn't this time...or even if you did come, you should come the next time, too. The ScReW-b@lZ didnt' show which was uhh...really, really lame of them. That's not punk. Punk is that The Undercover Saints are touring without a bassist because their bassist is a "stupid cunt."

Night number two, we played at the Tuscarora Ruritan in Martinsburg. This was a building that used to be a concession stand that is behind the church on a back road in Martinsburg. Out of the way? Yes, but bigger than The Warren House in Frostburg? Yes. More people came to this one, but we made less money. Why'd we make less money? Because Matt is a horrible promoter and blames his horrible picks of venues and doormen on our "shitty bands." He said he made $60 yesterday and it cost $125 to rent out the place. Okay, let's do the math. At $5 for each person's admission, $60 would mean that 12 non-band people came to the show and paid. Something seems wrong since there were at least 30 people there throughout the night. I hate drama, I hate bad promoters, I hate poseurs that start drama. However, Matt is the only promoter around here period. So what are we bands to do? We either put up with Matt or we don't play shows. All the bullshit aside, I had fun playing both shows. The lineup for the second night was I Forget, Disclosure, The Undercover Saints, The Vankills, and The Nunchuck Bastards. The latter was a ska-core band that was very, very talented and very, very strange. They were the most un-punk looking band I've ever seen at a punk show, but they definitely had some punk influence...hardcore punk. Like Black Flag shit. Awesome band. A little girl sang one of their songs, which was adorable and weird. An example of how weird they are...they played the Golden Girls theme song...which was kind of screamed and accompanied with a trumpet and trombone. A bald redneck with a doorag on drinking an Arizona Tea that pulled in an a huge pickup truck sang some song with The Undercover Saints that I'd never heard before and he was as loud as truck and didn't really need a mic. He sounded like Lou from Sick of It All. I didn't quite know what to make of that...

There was a man with a Cheverolet logo tattooed on his neck at the show yesterday.

And after both shows, we went out to eat with the other bands and after both shows, I was fucking exhausted. I can only imagine what the Propagandhi and D4 shows in Baltimore are going to be like on the body. Oh! And Justin from The Vankills and Drew are going to the D4 show, so I'm going to hang out with them when I get there. And I'm trying to get my friend from New Jersey to go to the shows with me since I have extra tickets and no one to take. I'm excited. I've had a good weekend. I'm going to record in a few minutes, so I'm going to leave you at that.

love,
Kyle

We are the dead generation

First thing's first: I dig Marilyn Manson's music. As I've said to various people, I believe that if you changed the lyrics to his songs and changed the instrumentation/vocal style (not even drastically), any one of his songs would fit in with the songs on Radio Disney, and at the same time, blow the rest of them away. I also say that he probably draws a song name out of a hat to decide which one is the single for each album. He can write some pop. Very well.

Okay, second thing: the new Propagandhi song I've heard, "Dear Coach's Corner," is kind of not traditional Propagandhi at all...but then I asked myself this: has a new Propagadnhi album ever been "traditional" to the preceeding albums? Okay, uhhh let's think about this. Their first album (How to Clean Everything) was a very angry pop punk album with some songs leaning more towards speed punk. Okay, lots of speed punk, actually. Their second (Less Talk, More Rock) was kind of, I'd say closer to rock and hardcore? There was a lot less punk, while at the same time, John Samson had two songs that he sang on his own, which were like indie punk or something with a very entergetic band accompanying the vocals...or overpowering them, actually. (Another reason why it was good that Samson left to do his own thing.) Their third album (Today's Empires, Torrow's Ashes) was amazingly drastic. Not only was it like a fucking thrash punk album with some very UNmelodic songs with sometimes NO vocal melody whatsoever, but they also brought in a new member, Todd. No more happy pop songs to be found. More complex guitar riffs, basslines, and drum fills/rhythms. And the album following that one (Potemkin City Limits) was just a more drastically complex album than the third. Not only were there no happy pop songs, but there was no happy-sounding ANYTHING. It's probably the darkest album I've ever heard (I don't listen to metal albums, but who cares?). It's also one of the best musically-composed and political albums I've ever heard. And now, I have a feeling their newest album is going to be drastic in that EVERY song is going to be at least 4 minutes long. (See, they used to hardly reach 30 minute albums [Less Talk, More Rock was around 25 minutes] and they've been writing longer songs recently.) Anyway, to sum it up, I don't know how the new album is going to be as a whole, but "Dear Coach's Corner" started with a seriously shredding guitar solo followed by what sounded like a beatdown and then proceeded by very melodic music, an actually melodic vocal melody, and a rhythm that didn't beat your face off, as Propagandhi usually use. I wonder what Todd's songs are going to be like on this album...and I can't wait to hear for myself. I don't think they're satisfied unless every new album is shocking to the kids. It's like listening to a new band with each release. I love that, though. And they love how so many people wish they'd write another How to Clean Everything (kind of like how everyone wants I Forget to play more ska).

My Chemical Romance covered a Bob Dylan song "Desolation Row" and it's actually very punk. I hope these motherfuckers have figured out what punk is and stick with it. Did you know that Frank from MCR formed the band LeATHERMOUTH? They're like a weird blend of As I Lay Dying and Black Flag (I don't really know what As I Lay Dying sound like from song to song, but they represent "modern hardcore" to me and probably plenty of others). It's weird, but hopefully they've figured out that punk is amazing and it should be cherished. Let's bring back the revolution, MCR. I saw you guys before anyone knew you and I don't think you really knew what punk was then.

My Chemical Romance - Desolation Row


Oh, and if one day, everyone loves Cloak/Dagger, I called it! They're awesome. So check out Cloak/Dagger and LeATHERMOUTH because they're both pretty cool. Whatever's going on in the punk scene, I'm liking it (aside from Rise Against sounding almost exactly like Nickelback anymore...).

Okay, folks, show this weekend in Charles Town! I Forget! The Vankills! The Sex Robots! A Squirt Gun Drive By! Show at 6 pm! What is it? $5? If you live in that area (which you probably don't if you're reading this), you should come out to the Jumpin Java on Saturday. You know what I think about all day? I think about 1: how shitty this year has been and how it could have gone better and 2: how amazing our new album is going to be. I said that about the last one, but I mostly said it because I was going to have an album of my own. This one is really going to be something, I think, though. Hooray for boobies!

Oh, we had school today....and no delay. So I didn't get to record yesterday because of the snow, but had school the next day anyway. That's so shitty. And I slept all this evening (I'd say 5-9 pm). I think I'm still gonna sleep well tonight. I just have to write a fucking poem response to something...I forget which poem....

Which brings me to why I didn't post yesterday. Well, I didn't post yesterday because I didn't feel like it and because I didn't feel like it. Why didn't I feel like it? I was tired, exhausted, disappointd in the weather, I'd already written in my journal for school, and I really didn't feel like forcing words to show up on this thing. I'm not real sure if I'm in the mood to write today, even. I wrote enough the other day to last about a week, so I don't feel bad for it.

I have no joyful news for you on any subject, really. Umm...let me find something to report...I've sat here for more than 20 minutes trying to come up with something and I have nothing.

love,
Kyle

God really doesn't like me

As I was trying to post a startingly very angry blog yesterday, my internet went out, which just made the end of it even more angry...but I can't post it until I get to my mom's house again when the internet comes back. But I'm definitely going to post and it and I'm going to set the date for last night because that's definitely when I wrote it. So I'll let you know when it's up so you can see just how angry I was getting. I'm still not doing wonderful, but whatever. Last night was not good.

I just finished my finals in first block like 5 minutes ago and now I'm blogging. Crazy what technology has brought us to.

I've been reading reviews on some albums. I'm apparently not crazy, or if I am crazy, I'm at least not alone. I'm not the only one that thinks that all of these new "pop punk" bands are generic and aren't doing anything that The Starting Line and New Found Glory didn't do 8 years ago. That, and they're completely designed for teenaged girls. I guess I don't find them as intolerable as I used to, I just really don't get the big deal about them. I think people should explore music more before deciding that this band they just heard with the catchy single is the best band in the world. Listen to Superdrag, Weezer, Propagandhi, The Hives, or some other band that's ALWAYS amazing. There's a lot more to being a good band than writing catchy singles. Ya know? I don't think that's a stretch to say at all.

Oh, and to the next band that names themselves "We Are...," the word following should be "Poseurs."

love,
Kyle

Okay, I really should have read this before posting that last one, but oh well...

FROM FAT MIKE:

Hello everybody. Well this Propagandhi thing has gotten a little out of hand when there really is no issue. A lot of people seem to want an explanation, so here it is in detail. I asked Propagandhi to be on the Rock Against Bush comp and they agreed. They also made it clear that they didn't want to be censored and that their political views differ from ours. I said no problem and that I would be stoked to have a different viewpoint on the album (as long as it wasn't pro-Bush). So they send the song which happens to be a song off their last album, but with a different title. The lyrics are about how both political parties in the US are totally fucked and that it doesn't really matter which one wins because there will not be a significant change in the capitalist system anyway. Here they are:

Bullshit politicians. Bloated pin-dick motherfuckers. Bullshit politicians bow and curtsey to the seats of power. We'll never learn and nothing will ever change if we stay this course of followers and slaves. I can_t believe we're still content just reshuffling the same old deck of kings and queens and faux-democracies. I say we hand it back to the bullshit politicians. Free John Hinckley.

Okay, so this is really not the message that I am trying to convey because I believe that Democrats are a bit better than Republicans, and I think that Bush is fucking the world worse than anyone possibly could. But, I still want the song on the comp. So we get the liner notes from the band and at the end it says, "This message was not brought to you by George Soros". This is where the problem starts. George Soros is a Billionaire who got his money from exploiting the foreign currency exchange. He screwed a bunch of countries to make his money. It is also important to note that he is also a member of the Carlyle Group, which is a company that makes money from selling weapons. Okay, that sucks. Meanwhile he has been giving close to 500 million dollars annually to progressive causes and has founded a network of philanthropic organizations in over 50 nations throughout the planet. He is spending a good part of his fortune trying to get Bush out of office. Maybe he feels guilty or something, I don't know. The point is that he has given money not to us, but to many great organizations such as Moveon.org and America Coming Together, and these organizations help support us. I didn't want an anti-Soros message on the first Rock Against Bush comp, because I don't want to make enemies within our movement. I am trying to unite people not alienate them from each other. So I asked Chris from Propagandhi if he wouldn't mind taking that last Soros comment out of their liner notes. He said he wouldn't take anything out. I said okay, then asked if they would mind being on the Rock Against Bush vol. 2 comp instead of the first one, which will be coming out 3 months after the first one.

There were 3 reasons why I wanted them on the second one. First and most importantly, MoveOn.org is going to send a mass email to their 3 million members encouraging them to buy the comp. Letting them know that the more CDs we sell the first week, the more of an impact it will make on the music scene. If it's the number one independent record in the country, CNN and other news sources will report it. It will be a powerful message to Americans. MoveOn did this for the "Uncovered" DVD and it sold 40,000 more copies because of them. So I do not want to piss off MoveOn, not to mention that they are doing fucking amazing work. They are leading the online anti-Bush movement. Second reason; The first comp is a little Fat Wreck Chords bands heavy. There are already 8 fat bands on the comp. We had asked the Lawrence Arms to be on the second one too. They said okay. The 3rd reason was that the Propagandhi song wasn't new. It was an old song with a new title. I thought that this might piss a few people off.

So I ask Propagandhi to be on the second comp with all the lyrics intact and with the George Soros comment and everything. NO CENSORSHIP. Chris politely said no thanks. He said that the band has had cold feet about the comp from the beginning, that their politics don't mesh with ours, and that he doesn't want to be shuffled on to the 2nd comp. I was bummed, but I felt that our message of getting Bush out was more important than Propagandhi's anti-Soros message. There are no hard feelings between the band and I. Not only do I think they are the most important band in punk rock, but I feel that they are amazing people, and I am incredibly proud to put out their records.

There it is. The whole explanation. Sorry no drama, but it never was a big deal until it got all over the internet. Thanx for listening.

Sincerely,

Fat Mike

Disagree if you must!

Propagandhi ARE punk. I'm not saying that in defense for people that might say that they're not punk, I'm saying that the definition of "punk" is Propagandhi. Propagandhi is the walking soul of punk. Johnny Rotten, go to hell. Propagandhi's where it's at.

So maybe their music isn't "traditional punk," but that, I think, makes it even more punk than "trational punk." Their music isn't traditional at all, they're just fucking incredible all the fucking time. They definitely put most bands with a message (and certainly every band without a message) to shame. And maybe no one knows who Propagandhi is and doesn't care if I say that they put other bands to shame, but hear you me: I care.

I don't know if anyone's heard of the Propagandhi/Fat Mike/Rock Against Bush comp incident. So basically, Fat Mike was saying "Hey! Let's put out a comp against the Bush administration so that we can get it to kids and get them to vote and educate them." Okay, sounds reasonable. So Propagandhi present this song to Fat Mike for the record, as he'd requested. There's a lyric in the song, however, that Fat Mike does not approve of and asks them to change it or he won't release it. Umm...don't we call that...editing ourselves? Since when does a punk band (especially one like Propagandhi) edit themselves? Well, since it hit mainstream radio, but that's why I put the "especially one like Propagandhi" in parenthesis. Bands like Propagandhi don't do that. I have no idea what the lyric was or was about, but go Wiki it, or whatever that new site Alex found that is better than Wiki...use it. Anyway, I don't think it's important, regardless.

So I've never claimed that I wouldn't "sell out" if given the chance. At this point in life, I'm not GOING to claim that because I don't know what it fully entails and the pros and cons of being on a major label or whatever. I CAN speculate that Anti-Flag is not the face that punk should be wearing. In fact, I don't think punk should have a "face." Your mohawk doesn't make you punk. Period. Your message, your music, your actions, your views, and your caring for others makes you punk. Yeah, punk has a lot to do with caring for the well-being of the people at large. That doesn't mean that you're supposed to have Sam Walton's back in his industry (he's dead, anyway). You get what I mean, I'd hope.

So anyway, the reason I'm ranting on about Propagandhi is because they have announced that they have a new album The Supporting Caste that is going to be released on March 10th of this year. I'm fucking stoked. They may have lost a lot of fans when John Samson (another one of my heroes) left the band and they became serious, but those are the poseurs anyway. Sorry to sound so angry and shit, but seriously, come on. Samson wrote some good and fun songs while in Propagandhi, but they were kind of holding each other back...and young and less educated as it was. So John leaving Propagandhi is the best thing that's ever happened to music, I think. The Beatles don't have shit on this, I'm sorry. John forming The Weakerthans and Propagandhi beginning their search for their new sound and style was the best thing. Ever. It's amazing. And it's awesome because I love everything that's happened. I love how John Samson used to play in Propagandhi and, while they were younger, released some fun pop-punk/thrash punk music. I fucking love the hell out of The Weakerthans (John's new band, incase you're from Mars), and Propagandhi since John is fucking incredible in a completely different (and probably more significant) way. It's a win/win/win/win situation (the fourth win being for the listener).

So yeah, just because Fat Mike and Anti-Flag are like the face of punk doesn't mean you have to follow every order they command. I love Fat Mike (he runs an excellent record label and he was fun to watch almost fall over and sign my coaster real sloppy in person) and I'm a sucker for certain Anti-Flag songs, but there are some definite lines that can be drawn. This is why Propagandhi's new album isn't even going to be released on Fat Wreck Chords (I'm assuming, at least). What's more punk than ditching your punk label? Or writing songs about the owner of your former record label (hear: "Rock for Sustainable Capitalism")? Propagandhi are where it's at. Yeah, their lyrics are over my head sometimes, but so are everyone's lyrics. I just don't listen to lyrics. I listen to mostly the drums and in how they fit their surroundings and the context of the song (me being a drummer, of course). But Brittney looked at me like I was crazy for not knowing the lyrics to "Radio" by Alk3. So maybe one day, I'll read all of the lyrics to Propagandhi's new album. They're about things like American imperialism, people getting left to die by a country that promised to take care of them, "fucking fat-ass mohawked-millionaires," and US/Canadian affairs and bullshit. And tons of other things (one song talks about Bono from U2 being a dickweed in some manner, I think).

This brings me to my favorite band to hate on, All Time Low. All Time Low, do you promise to tell only the truth, nothing but the truth, truth truth bullshit blah blah truth yaddayadda something? If you answered yes, then explain this to me. If Propagandhi = punk...then what do you equal? Your MySpace claims that you, too = punk. I think someone here's lieing...and I, for some reason, trust Propagandhi's reasoning more than yours. You're definitely not fucking Propagandhi, you scenester pieces of shit. Eat dirt.

I wrote Propagandhi asking them if we could use a song of theirs on a compilation CD that is against bands like All Time Low/Mayday Parade/Scary Kids Scaring Kids/any other bands that aren't punk, but are on "Punk Goes..." compilations. Todd wrote me backing telling me that no lawsuits would be filed or anything like that and I was free to do what I wanted with any of their songs. Propagandhi, I love you. You made me the vegetarian I still am today. You also make me feel really bad for wearing this leather jacket (the only jacket left in the house) and my Descendents shoes (that have some leather on them) to stay warm. I swear that if I had my other jacket and if Descedents shoes came in not-leather, I'd wear both of those things instead. I'm also wearing some hemp, so I'm trying!

I guess that's all I've got for today. I'm totally going to see D4 when they come back around, though. Woo!


love,
Kyle