When David Henzie-Skogen sits down to write a song, it isn’t always for his band, the instru-/experi-mental five-piece Cougar. Sometimes he’s writing songs for kids. Continue reading
Day Job: Cougar
Posted in Day Job, Features, Interviews with tags Cougar on 12/29/2009 by Kurt OrzeckFrom the Vault: Michael Jackson And Kurt Cobain, Suicide Kings?
Posted in Essays, Features with tags Kurt Cobain, Michael Jackson on 09/29/2009 by Kurt Orzeck
With July 4 fast approaching, it seems fair to say that the real fireworks happened eight days ago, when the country lost someone who has quickly become regarded as something of a patron saint. Much to Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert’s chagrin (see below), the coverage has been ceaseless since that Thursday afternoon, and will almost certainly continue unabated at least until the details of his death finally congeal.
But while it’s hard to flip on the tube and not see an image of Michael Jackson, someone else keeps getting resurrected in my mind.
Zoey Van Goey’s The Cage Was Unlocked All Along: Two Cent Review
Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags Zoey Van Goey on 05/11/2009 by Kurt Orzeck
Artist: Zoey Van Goey
Album: Bangers
Label: Metal Blade
Release date: February 16
To those who regularly suck from the teat of Metal Blade, Bangers is an unusual taste: Label loyalists are bound to think some deviant got his hands on all the copies of the album, crossed out “Tee Pee Records” and wrote in “Metal Blade” instead. Stone(d)-washed with finger-lickin’ riffage and groovy beats, and thoroughly soaked in hard psych, it’s no wonder Barn Burner hail from “Bongtreal, Canada” (as they quip on their MySpace page). The tablet is a solid B-plus effort from start to finish, with frontman K. Keaglesmit earning some extra credit for downright poetic lyrics: “One road takes you higher/ The same road goes nowhere/ In the middle of this island/ Everything makes so much sense,” he sings on “Wizard Island.” Tracks like “Holy Smokes” and “Medium Rare” could not be more aptly named, either – and even the name “Barn Burner” makes you wonder why another metal band didn’t think of it first. The 11 smoldering bangers featured on the record are just about as tight musically, and while Bangers might not become this year’s Gods of the Earth, it’ll at least tide over boogie fans (boogers?) till that new Priestess record drops.
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