Late Night Music Post
I'm sitting here, drinking a beer and writing, listening to one of my all time fave bands, 16 Volt.

The new album, FullBlackHabit, isn't bad or anything. It certainly maintains the "newer" 16 Volt sound that Eric Powell* went with for supercoolnothing (an album I love, btw) being more indie/skate-rawk with industrial sensibility and production. However, FullBlackHabit just doesn't have that "oomph!" (pun intended) I've come to expect from this favourite project of mine. I'm sure it'll grow on me, and I'm not shitting you when I say I dug it far more until I popped in some older albums. It's hard to believe, but Wisdom is still fucking AMAZING. Jesus, it seems to get BETTER every year. Not something one can say about most modern music.

*Not the same guy who does The Goon; although 16 Volt Eric is from Portland, OR, and The Goon is published by Dark Horse, which is in near Portland, OR... hmmm.

Anyhoo, I don't think the new 16 Volt album sucks or anything, but I don't think it's Wisdom meets supercoolnothing, as Powell supposedly said. I also think FullBlackHabit is the most radio friendly 16 Volt album created so far. Not that it's a bad thing... It's just not what I expected.

I mean, I compare FBH to Remix Wars 3 here (16 Volt vs. Hate Dept.) and I'm just blown away by how much COOLER this old shit sounds NOW. Then that leads me to think about Hate Dept. and how they used to be so damn good... Now they're just okay. I really thought HD would become the Big Black of the industrial scene. And maybe Seibold was for a split second. Nothing against him, of course, as I've always thought he was a great guy (always got on with him well back in the day). But man, there was a time...

There was a time when industrial music had balls. Stones. Gumption. Whatever you want to call it. It doesn't anymore. Sure, a lot of it is cool and some of it I still like, but most of it lacks... well, balls. It lacks those stones it once had. Shrieking over "techno body music" does not give you stones. Making the same song 10 times on an album is fucking retarded. Some of you musicians should be ashamed that bands like motherfucking MUSE have more nads than many of the industrial acts out there today.

And I love Muse, don't get me wrong; I'm merely using them to illustrate a ranty point.

Don't bring up shit like Skinny Puppy, either. I don't truck with that frequency, kiddies. They're cool and and all that happy horseshit, but they're not who I'm thinking of. Not that I think they're pussies or anything. Just not a part of my point. Okay?

"You fucking stupid piece of shit. Snap out of it."

I feel these lyrics capture my point entirely. You see, I live in the past now. I've become one of those lame-ass motherfuckers I used to hate when I was a "dj". I need a time machine back to the 90s to be musically content again. Okay, with maybe some stuff up to like '02. Or something. I one of the last industrial shows I saw that kicked my ass was goddamned Winterkälte like five years ago. And that was a dude on a drum kit and a guy (Udo!) running in place behind a keyboard doing... something. It was intense, though. Other shows have been fun from time to time, but they weren't intense. Musically speaking, mostly.

(For those not in the know, Winterkälte was like a fucking bomb of tribal beats going off and leaving no survivors. It was awesome. Another excellent project that played that same show was Ah Cama-Sotz. I was wearing their shirt when Drake was born. As you can probably tell, that makes them even cooler.)

All that said, I can't wait for And One to swing by Seattle. But I can say that, as I've listened to them since not long after their inception. I get a pass.

Yes, I'm THAT cool. I can't help it, I was born that way.
What?

Okay, kidding around aside, I wish the industrial music scene would stop being lame and that the music would be goddamn tough and actually pissed off again. Maybe I have a different perspective now, being far removed from the scene I was a part of for so long. Ditch the make-up and the fucking ridiculous fan clubs that girls pose in pictures for wearing silly logos on their panties, start the drugs again if you have to. Drink like assholes again, and not just "rawkstars" who pissed away their 20s on covering Erasure songs and think they're assholes. That won't fly. Being a dick at a club is something I did on a regular basis and I didn't have a fucking "band". What I mean is, write songs that show how pissed off you are, piss people off, and just piss on most things in general. And own up to your actions. Don't be a fucking wuss and hide behind fans when you fuck up real bad like*. Never be ashamed to be pissed off. Call the band Urine 7653. That sounds "rivet", yeah? And drop that term for fuck's sake. It's done now. You may only use that combination of letters when mentioning the Chemlab song Rivethead. Note that you cannot properly convey true ANGER and RAGE by hunkering down behind a console on a stage pretending to mix your "I'm somewhat annoyed" tracks and bobbing your head up and down. Your headphones might get peeved, but that's about it. Only, like, Converter should be able to get away with head-bobby shows. OKAY? Also, stop being goth. Goths, you're cool. The 438 of you who are left in the universe, that is. But when Rogue from The Cruxshadows is more hardcore than most "Terror EBM" projects, there's a serious problem. KMFDM is still making music and touring because NO ONE ELSE CAN REPLACE THEM. Don't you think that's, I dunno, sad? Not for them. You. Aren't they like 50? Along with Puppy, Frontline Assembly, Front 242 and Nitzer Ebb? And they all have their shit together? Must suck for a guy who's in his mid-twenties to be out-matched and out-classed by a fella that could be his father (or enter female pronouns and terms in there if that makes you happy ;P ).

*Example: "ARRGGGH! I'M ANGRY!!... Aw, shit! I've been arrested! OH GAWD!! I'm not angry anymore!! I pinky swear. It's a big mix up. Someone send me money. I think I'll complain in my blog."

Of course, it's all an act and most angry industrial bands are nice folks, but that's not the issue here.

I, uh, don't even think there's an issue. I'm sure someone will read this and take issue, but truth be told... I just forgot what I was talking about. I guess it makes me really, really irritated that Captain America comics are tougher than industrial music (thank you, Ed Brubaker). As a matter of fact, feel free to argue me, you won't change my opinion. Whatever opinion I may have. You may have to tell me what it is. Who are you again? It's like my life is a Phillip K. Dick novel.
LOL

So... Yeah... 16 Volt. Still dig 'em.

I'm also rather impressed with the Idiot Stare album "Welcome to Babylon". Check 'em out.

I'd like to say that there needs to be more bands like Caustic, dammit. I may not like all of Matt's music, but he has stones, man. Serious stones. And I love him for it. I also love my friends who make synth-pop/EBM and are hard as nails compared to the "evil" bands. Also, there needs to be more bands like Andraculoid. Don't worry, Jos, I still like Grendel. ;)


Know what I'd do with my time machine? I'd go back to like '95 or somewhere there 'bouts and fly over to Germany to see Leaether Strip. Then I would weep angry tears of joy.

I would.