Roommates is the project of Ben Cook (Marvelous Darlings, Fucked Up, Young Governor, The Bitters) and his former (you guessed it!) roommate, Mark Fosco of Marvelous Darlings. One day they got real fucked up, made a bunch of songs, and some of them are now available on the 7” we’re giving away today, Winnifred, put together by Slumberland Records.
Want it? Stream “1st Floor Blues” below and comment on this post to win.
Roommates is the project of at one time actual roommates Ben Cook (Marvelous Darlings, Fucked Up, Young Governor, The Bitters) and Mark Fosco (Marvelous Darlings). They took drugs that Mark traded for a sandwich one day and recorded a few songs, releasing them in very limited pressings through Scotch Tapes. Slumberland Records decided to unearth these rare sessions and compile them all onto one 7” titled Winnifred.
Winnifred is available on a trippy blue vinyl with purple splatter though Slumberland Records.
Long time punk enthusiast Drew Wilson is the lucky mother fucker who went on Bruise Cruise when none of the GB staff could cough up the cash. Read a recap of his sun-soaked adventures at this one-of-a-kind voyage into madness, listen to his Loud Love podcast, and check out his column on the Nashville music blog Sinizine. Wish you had been on the boat? Well, start saving those pennies now. You’ll need em.
By Drew Wilson
Piling into a car at 11pm on the way to a concert is nothing new. We do that damn near every night. Driving for 16 hours on your way to a monstrous festival on board a cruise ship in the Bahamas, that’s a different story. We were doubly stoked to get to Miami for Bruise Cruise after an 11th hour invite and expedited passport delivery, given that INC (International Noise Conference) featuring the Laundry Room Squelchers and Nashville’s own Leslie Keffer was going on there the same weekend as well. If you’re going that far, it’s gonna be worth it. We made it down to Miami in time to hang out with Leslie and the noise crew at Rat Bastard’s place on South Beach before heading out for the official Bruise Cruise pre-party.
Captains Jonas Stein of Turbo Fruits & Michelle Cable of Panache Booking knew how to start the weekend off right—with an open bar hour. Sailor Jerry rum set the tone for a vacation of rum everywhere as the Stage venue filled up to capacity and probably beyond with mostly Bruisers checking each other out for the days in close quarters ahead. Jacuzzi Boys and The Soft Pack started it off with tight sets before King Khan & The Shrines got things wild with a party set that was easily the highlight of the night, even with Thee Oh Sees and Fucked Up following. We headed over to catch the end of the INC set a few blocks away, and ran smack into the height of Miami late-night. Sweet dirty dive bar with noise bands blaring and everyone already trashed by the time we arrived, the place was surrounded by crackheads pitching whatever they had to get some cash (and not deliver any drugs). By the time that show was over, everyone around had their place full of squatters for the night so we were forced to hunt out a roach motel at 4am, but whatever, Bruise Cruise was in the morning!
Let’s recap. Toronto’s Marvelous Darlings, which features Fucked Up guitarist Ben Cook, hit the scene a few years ago and unleashed one electrified pop/punk single after another, delighting voracious power pop fans young and old and keeping Canada’s pulse throbbing with their head-bobbing hooks. In case you missed out the first time around, Single Life collects the band’s 7” releases from the past few years in a nice little package.
“I Don’t Wanna Go to the Party” (which sounds like an Undertones track, but with more gusto) and “Careerist” are from their first 7”, released back in ‘07, and stand as some of their catchiest crowd pleasers. Aren’t those songs the types of hits you should hear when you flip on that ol’ radio? Anyway, the Darlings are centered on red-hot guitar licks and all things energetic and youthful, and the Single Life compilation is a nonstop rock ‘n’ roll romance that straddles the line between power pop and punk rock much like fellow Ontarians Teenage Head. All you have to do is glance at its name and you just know “Teenage Targets” was made to be a power pop anthem. Describing something as “fun” seems like such a cop-out, but it feels appropriate when describing such highly energetic, melody-packed songs as these.
If you miss those beloved Exploding Hearts, well, Single Life isn’t gonna replace Guitar Romantic or Shattered, but it belongs on the same shelf. Stream the full album, which includes bonus demo tracks, below or here. Get the LP/CD at Deranged Records or pick up the cassette at Burger.
We’ve been hearing bits of news here and there about the upcoming hell on high waters, better known as the Bruise Cruise Festival. Gearing up for its return to the seas, Co-Captains Michelle Cable and Jonas Stein are pulling out all their tricks to make this upcoming fest not just live up to last year, but with more bands, more booze, and more hijinx to ensue, it’s setting a stage for what will be one of the most highly talked about events of the season.
For a preview of the ridiculousness you can expect on your way to the tropics, there’s this video, directed by Neal Jonas and starring the Soft Pack and the boat itself as it Little Mermaid’s a day on land. (Ok, there aren’t sea witches and talking crabs, but you know what I mean). And for an inside look at what you missed last year (and could miss again), you can check out this photo essay book, compiled by photographer extraordinaire Jackie Roman.
And did I mention the line-up? I’m gettin nauseous just thinking about it, it’s that sick—King Khan and the Shrines, The Dirtbombs, Fucked Up, Thee Oh Sees, Quintron and Miss Pussycat (complete with a specially designed “Swamp Stack” sound system), The Soft Pack, Neil Hamburger, and the Togas, which features Ty Segall with members of the Strange Boys, Reigning Sound, and Shannon and the Clams, not to mention dance parties with Vivian Girls and Jonathan Toubin DJing.
The several hundred dollar price tag means it’s not for everyone, even though it does include room and board, all of your food, the Thursday night party, and a swag bag (last year, I got a 7”, a t-shirt, sunglasses, condom, and bottle of wine—they know what a lady needs, mhmm), but cross your fingers and head over to flavorpill, where you could win a cabin for two, along with some other cool bonuses. And there’s an additional postcard drawing contest, which could snag you limited edition merch and autographed BC 7“‘s, and your postcard will be used as an official promotional item.
After dropping their hardcore opera of sorts, Toronto’s Fucked Up has debuted their latest video and their second from David Comes to Life. “The Other Shoe”, which follows the album’s storyline of a couple factory workers who fall in love and hatch a plan to build a bomb together, sees the band team up with director Matt Eastman.
You can purchase David Comes to Life from Matador and check out their European tour dates below.
Punk super group OFF!, lead by Keith Morris (Circle Jerks, Black Flag), have announced their tour dates for the beginning of August through the end of October. The first half of the tour, they’ll be hitting up Europe playing shows with Trash Talk and Fucked Up. For the second half, they’ll be showing some West Coast and Southern states of the U.S. some love starting with FYF Fest in Los Angles.
OFF!’s First Four EPs LP is available now through Vice Records. Full tour dates after the jump.
If you’ve been lucky enough to catch one of JEFF The Brotherhood’s recent shows with Fucked Up, you may have already snagged a copy of their tour 7”, which features this super charged version of “Health and Strength”. For those of you haven’t been so fortunate (me), the tour 7” is now sold out, but you can download the less cooler mp3 below. Jake Orall explains the track’s origin:
“The heavy version of “Health and Strength” is actually the original version. It was recorded at the same session as “Mellow Out” and “Diamond Way” but we never ended up using it for anything. When we did the session for We Are the Champions, we were messing around with different versions of some songs with totally different instrumentation, so we had our friend Ryan come in and do sitar on it. I played the violin and Jamin put some towels over his drums. We laid on a bunch of reverb and got real spiritual with it, and we liked it so much we put it on the album. So here’s the original heavy version, I think it’s pretty good.”
We Are The Champions is available now at Infinity Cat Records.
JEFF The Brotherhood - Health and Strength (Heavy Version)
Photo by: Tammy Alaniz
By Emmet Brault
David Comes To Life is the record that Fucked Up has been building towards since the release of 2006’s Hidden World, and it’s a shame that I don’t like this record more. Ever since Hidden World, Fucked Up has been churning out some impressive epically long hardcore/punk songs; this is only their third proper full length. Everything else has been released in a flurry of vinyl EP’s, Singles, Splits, Tapes and compilations. While I was disappointed by 2008’s The Chemistry Of Common Life, I expected Fucked Up to turn it around on their next full length. Here they deliver an 80 minute long concept album/rock opera. The story follows a man named David who works in a lightbulb factory in Britain and things happen to him, but it’s kinda hard to follow unless you’re paying attention to the liner notes. It’s not a bad record, and the songs themselves are easy enough to digest, averaging about five minutes in length, but listening to the whole thing feels like it’s a chore rather than a fun experience. The songwriting is still strong as ever, as evidenced by the excellent (digital) singles “The Other Shoe,” “A Little Death,” “Queen Of Hearts,” and “Ship Of Fools,” which are among the best songs on the album. Pick it up and give it a few spins, it’s worth that much – it’s just hard to listen to a lot. CD/Double LP out now on Matador.
Scott Cudmore, who has directed several music videos and even done commercials for Pepsi, has done an amazing job reinterpreting Fucked Up’s “Queen of Hearts”. The entire video is shot in a choir classroom in Ontario, Canada. The boys choir take the role of Pink Eyes (Damien Abraham) and act just as Damien would have if he was a young choir boy. They shout with anger in their faces almost jumping out of their chairs until the girls choir takes the role of Madeline Follin (Cults) and soothe everything down with their beautiful voices. This definitely has to be one of the more interesting things done with a video in quite awhile.
Fucked Up’s David Comes To Life is available now on Matador Records. Their east coast tour with JEFF The Brotherhood kicks off in just a few days. Check out the dates below.
