Shows in August!

The Shamblers are playing on 8/19 at Bar Matchless in Greenpoint. We go on at 10pm--the flier for that one is forthcoming. Line-up:

7 Ultra Death Men
8 La Defense
9 Palmyra
10 The Shamblers
11 The House Floor

The Christian Pirate Puppets are playing a CD release party on 8/29 at Goodbye Blue Monday (w/ a pretty killer bill, see flier (by Toby Goodshank) below).

Our new disc ("For Hire") features songs directly influenced by our favorite film, "Lethal Ninja" (alternately titled "For Hire," depending on the edition you find). The monologue in the middle of our 2007 hit "Solid Gold Pizza" was lifted directly from a scene in it. Be there!

I have a Blofeld for the week!

I've been thinking about swapping our Opus 3 out for something a bit more modern (by which I mean it will break down less often). Having mentioned that to my pal David, he let me borrow his significantly-more-modern Blofeld (from Waldorf, of PPG fame).

Like anyone who has never used a digital keyboard before, I've stuck mainly to the pad sounds. I'll post some audio later this week, provided I can record something worth listening to. Seriously-- this is how it's gone so far: hold down a C chord, wait 2 minutes, tweak the filter, hit C again, repeat.

You had to be there

eBay pick of the day: Ace Tone EH-50

Ace Tone EH-50


$300 for essentially a dumbed down Doepfer 188-1 (1024 stages) is a lot, sure, but the Ace Tone is a beaut-- look at those push buttons and that ridiculously small VU meter! Who wouldn't want this thing?

On a side note, check out this drooler of a beautiful-machine gallery. I like how the 201 Space Echo-- by far the most common one on the page-- is the most clip art-y of the bunch. That guy photographed (and I assume owns) a Guyatone EM-808D, but not an RE-201. Well done, sir!

Bootlegs from last week

Here are dictaphone recordings of last week's gigs, both of them equal parts sloppy and fun.

The Science Jerks show was a showcase of equipment failure (a cable that kept shorting out, a guitar that refused to stay in tune), and a bit of a room-clearer, but I think we held true to the premise of the band (it's a concept group, in which Chris and I are time-traveling scientist jerks who wrote all of the Classic Rock cannon, and have come back to play the hits as originally intended) and had a good time. Amazingly, I managed to record our only practice--the day before the show--with real equipment. Look out for a CD-R on Colonial shortly! I had seven "advance" copies with me at the Sidewalk, but they disappeared immediately.

The Motorcycle Money one was on an unbelievably hot day, the first in a string of 'em. I was not feeling great. "Superfan Dave" (New Mexicoe's #1 fan) was in attendance, which was a surprise indeed. The vocals were very low, the guitar was very loud (despite a surprisingly long sound check). My apologies. Our next show will sound better. Still, I like it and thought we did alright.

Thanks to everyone who came out! Enjoy!!

The Science Jerks live at the Sidewalk Cafe, 7/1/10 by Colonial

Motorcycle Money live at Bruar Falls, 7/4/10 by Colonial

(Drums on the Science Jerks set: Casio SK-1. Drums on the last Motorcycle Money song: Korg PSS-50)