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Lab X Sampler - CD Review
By Grog 2006 -ChickenFish (Lab X Records) Most of the bands on this compilation come from the Brainiac / XBXRX school of rock. Their website lists six tracks, but my copy had eight songs. The lead of track was by Oxymoronatron who play odd robot love child infused rock. Next up were another long time Dayton band My Latex Brain playing a song that was cross between XBXRX and The Dead Kennedy's. COG was like Adam & His Package; you get a drum machine, casioesque keyboards and geeky as hell vocals. 7 inch Wave did a great dead on B-52's sound, from the odd voice of Fred Schneider to the background vocals of Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson and Thomas Dolbyeque keyboards. Geeky fun rock. Junior High Mustache Ride was very similar to Oingo Biongo and Talking Heads. Cobra Bite was like being trapped in a mid 80's video game. The seventh "hidden" track is a three chord instrumental punk rock style song. Very 77's sounding lo-fi rock all the way. The finale was a short oddball keyboard number with a harpsichord sound. A great compilation by song under rated bands. Plus they give it away at shows for free! Cover: Adventures at the Midpoint Music Festival By Tim Death September 28, 2005 -Dayton City Paper Press registration at Cincinnati’s Midpoint Music Festival ended at 7 pm on Thursday, so when I arrived at 7:04, it was too late to pick up my press passes, despite the fact that I could clearly see the list with my name on it and the passes next to it. The man running the registration looked at me looking at the passes and, still, did nothing to help me. I did the only thing I could do: I insulted his Nazi registration policy and his malodorous town, then decided to leave. I explained the new plan to my photographer/friend Mandie (who is perfect in every way, except that she denies that “Musicology,” by Prince, is a funky jam). “I’ve been insulted for the last time in this city and I’m going home,” I said. This city has been so unkind to me. My car was once towed on a late January night, my complimentary GWAR tickets were “misplaced,” I’m fairly sure I was cheated on once here, too. But this is the last straw. I will go back to Dayton, check out Thunderbirds are Now! At Elbo’s, and turn in an essay about how impossible it is to tell if scene kids in Dayton are ironic or genuine concerning their partiality toward anything at any given time instead of turning in this review. I didn’t do any of those things, though, partially because I heard the new TAN! album wasn’t that good, but mostly because my editor would beat me up severely. Also, I ran into Dayton musician Tom Salvatierra, who shared my predicament. His situation was admittedly slightly worse. He was actually scheduled to play in a matter of hours with The Late Nite Drivers. Unlike Mandie and I, though, Salvatierra was picked up by the aforementioned Drivers, who had his pass. We decided to go across the river to buy cheap Everclear and wait for the bands to start. We assumed (for no rational reason at all) that by the time all this went down, we would have figured out a way to get into the clubs without paying. The clubs in question were plentiful in the Entertainment District of Cincinnati and they were all crawling with music lovers being stalked by homeless people in much the same way that Raptors hunted their prey in the Cretaceous Period, or the way Best Buy employees stalk customers. I think I was propositioned by more panhandlers in two nights in Cincinnati than I have been in Dayton my entire life. In a rather fascinating move, though, Robot X5 of Dayton band Oxymoronatron actually paid a homeless man named Steve $20 to be their roadie for the night and pass out flyers promoting the band’s show. Steve performed his task marvelously. Still press pass-less, I was ready to leave the town behind, but was talked out of it by the Everclear. At around this time, I stumbled (literally) upon art-folk heartthrobs, Sleepybird. They graciously lent us their extra passes (and I couldn’t thank them enough) so that we could join them in seeing the Late Nite Drivers, who were playing a marvelous set to an only slightly populated house. I’ve seen the Drivers a few times and have always enjoyed them, as do many Daytonians judging by the turnouts they usually get in town. This set was especially delightful because Salvatierra was sitting in on keys. Later, I asked their ruggedly handsome guitarist/singer, Bill, what their plans with Salvatierra were, and he assured me that the band and Tom were “just dating for now.” He also believed that the sound in the beginning of their set was awful. Bad sound would be a main complaint of mine (and of many musicians) throughout the weekend. We stuck around in the same club, Club Dream (which made me think of Freddy Krueger, but most things do), for the Cincy band, wussy. The band was good ol’ fashioned power pop just like your mama used to make. I was slightly mesmerized by the female band leader, because wussy was the latest in a long line of bands which prove that vaguely attractive ladies become unbearably beautiful and sexy while playing a guitar. I think it has something to do with the guitar collaborating with the DNA strands, which is sometimes referred to as “Liz Phair Syndrome.” Afterward, we made our way toward what would be the highlight of my weekend: My Latex Brain with new drummer, Roger Owsley, who used to drum for the defunct-yet-seminal Dayton superband: Mondolux. This was their second show with the new drummer and I hadn’t seen the first one, but they still destroyed people’s faces and souls with their low-fi, danceable punk. In fact, one guy was dancing like he was having a seizure. At first, this was funny, but then I realized I’ve seen at least one or two people dancing like they’ve just been hit by a taser gun at every Latex show I’ve ever been to. And the best part was — they were never dancing ironically. The addition of Owsley was a great thing for the Latex Brains. As bassist Chris Corn told me after the show, “We’re 32 percent faster with Roger and we’re about 27 percent harder. I can’t wait to start actually writing new songs with him.” Mandie and I called it a night shortly thereafter and stayed at a hotel in Covington. We left a note in the Bible that said, “You Suck,” for the benefit of the next travelers, slept, and headed back to Cincinnati at an entirely too early noon. We succeeded in getting our press badges, finally, and with little revenge for the previous day’s insults. The workshops, booths, advertisements and assorted press materials were in the basement of a convention center that reminded me of a comic book seminar with its high level of esoteric interest. We returned to more boredom. I never understood why Midpoint doesn’t try to do something fun during the days. Maybe some all-ages matinee shows? The people who aren’t interested in trade shows or speakers have nothing to do between the hours of 2 am and 9 pm throughout the event. However, I realized that just because we had no need to learn how to book better tours for our non-existent bands didn’t mean that nobody else did, as I learned from Uncle Prunes of SideShow! “The lack of attendance at the seminars, workshops, and mentoring sessions was troubling,” he said. “Is everyone really that confident that they know exactly what they need to do to achieve their goals? I found the advice that I received from most of the generous ‘guest’ professionals to be really invaluable.” The first band we saw on Friday was an industrial/metal band called 9Volt Revolt that was very, very, influenced by White Zombie. The sound, predictably, was awful and faded in and out during the set, which was okay because I’m fairly sure they had the worst lead singer in the world next to post-“Pinkerton” Rivers Cuomo. We then checked out the Primus-influenced group, Otis, who were playing to a much larger crowd than they attracted last year, and then next door to see a band I’ve heard millions of words about: Hungry Lucy, a two-piece goth/earthy/”darkwave” sorta group with visual effects and an amazing female vocalist. We left Lucy and her Hunger to take in some of Dayton’s Captain of Industry. We arrived and were immediately shocked at how packed the bar was. It was by far (read: faaaaaaaaaaar) the biggest crowd we’d seen for any band thus far. I’m not really a fan of the Captain, but I completely understand why others like them and I generally encourage people to enjoy their music. Judging from the crowd’s response, they didn’t need much coercion. We quickly ran a million blocks away to where Shrug was playing. Last year, Shrug played a choice spot right in the center of the action. This year, they were as far away from the eye of the party as they could possibly have been. The only reasoning for this that I could think of (and I mean this literally and not as a compliment to Shrug, even though it is one) was that the Midpoint planners felt that Shrug could pull in a good crowd even when handicapped by being four blocks away, which they predictably did. The band was great. Watching Tod Weidner play guitar is comparable to watching Stephen Hawking do math homework. Shrug will be celebrating the release of their new album, Whole Hog for the Macho Jesus, on October 15 at Canal Street Tavern. We quickly ran to the other far side of the event to catch robo-punks, Oxymoronatron, and their audiovisual assault on the Mad Robots of Cincinnati. Each band gets 20 minutes to set up their gear. So it was ridiculous that someone scheduled Oxy to play at midnight (giving them 20 minutes to set up their instruments, prop robots, television monitors, DVD players, and to put on their costumes) when they could have been scheduled to play at 9 pm and had all day to set up. Anyway, the average band takes 20 minutes to set up if they haul ass, but it took Oxy about 35, cheating them out of 15 minutes of playing time. It’s an odd coincidence that Oxy gets cheated considering the fact that the Midpoint organizers were reportedly upset that they hadn’t used the recording time they won at last year’s event. Last year, Oxy played at 9pm. The set was good, despite sound problems and the lack of “21st Century Robot Love” from the set (there was no time). The fans down in front danced ecstatically to the jams. One man did the infamous breakdancing move, The Worm. It was hard to tell if their dancing was ironic, though I’m fairly sure that liking Oxymoronatron has to be ironic to a certain extent, considering they have a song about Chairman Kaga and his “Iron Chef”competition. We didn’t have enough energy to stay for Orange Willard, the young band of whippernappers that put on such a good bunch of performances at the Canal Street Playoffs this year. We drove home with no energy, regretting the fact that we missed the O.W. and Sleepybird, who were the only good band playing Saturday (aside from the Black Tie Bombers, who, despite being Juggalos, do the best punk cover of “Hey Jealousy” I’ve ever heard). On the way home, we drove past a huge staircase that went up a hill to nothing, and Mandie commented that it was a metaphor for the Midpoint experience. I couldn’t tell if she was being ironic or not. My Latex Brain By Tim Death July 21, 2005 -Dayton City Paper Imagine if the world had been taken over by extraterrestrial cyborgs from the future, enslaving all humanity. Hypothetically, if during their violent and horrible rule over us, one of them had found amidst the burning rubble that had once been Dayton the album, Pending Legal Action, by My Latex Brain, I’m fairly sure the evil automatons would like it so much that they’d decide that we humans were cool after all. We would then all rock down low-fi punk style to celebrate. This Saturday, My Latex Brain is bidding farewell to their drummer of two and a half years, Pat Jacobs. “Pat’s not leaving the band, he’s leaving Dayton,” said MLB vocalist and mysterious suitcase player, Hoops the Orator. “Pat’s moving to Austin, Texas, to initiate the next phase of our plot for global domination, you’ll see….The mighty Roger Owsley of Mondolux fame will be the newest addition beginning in August. We plan to debut the revamped lineup at (the prestigious) MidPoint Music Fest in late September. Chris (Corn, best bassist in Dayton) and I are really excited to get the chance to work with Roger. This is gonna be some crazy stuff.” The Latex Buddies will be re-releasing their EP, Pending Legal Action, in the near future for reasons the band isn’t “allowed to talk about,” though it’s to be speculated that the ironically named album turned out to be more literally named than anyone imagined. The band is now writing and recording their next album. “We are recording once again with the very hospitable Maxamian Nye, and it is going splendidly. We plan to release our first ever full-length sometime during the winter,” Hoops said. Latex will also be combining their own Corn Farm Records with Oxymoronatron’s Lab X Records. The duo have already put out a 7-inch split of their respective bands’ music. “We are joining forces with the guys from Lab X in an attempt to deliver the rock to the masses in a more efficient manner,” Hoops said. “Needless to say, we will be focusing much of the label’s attention on local Dayton music, but we’ll also be seeking out-of-towners that we feel escape traditional genrefication. Many projects are currently in the works, including some local compilations, the first to be released will be the long-awaited Pool Party Comp. It’s labxrecords.com, for those who want to keep up-to-date.” Oxymoronatron / My Latex Brain split 7" EP by Shawn Abnoxious The Neus Subjex: issue # 63 The Oxymoronatron material is a little bit muddy, but pretty rocking and seems to find an existence somewhere in-between extraordinary bands like The Tubes, Captain Beefheart, Devo, and I can't finish this review without mentioning The Network because of mere aesthetics! Oxymoronatron play synth-new wave that is bound to make Napolean Dynamite get his groove on. My Latex Brain is pretty much in the same vein as the aforementioned ones, but their sound is steeped in the more chaotic side of things, bringing to mind a more grindcore influenced Le Shok (for the most part) but also reminding me of the unforgettable Lebanon, Ohio chaos-punk pioneers The Muzzies! My Latex Brain have that dangerous element to them that they expunge in their alotted space... In conclusion, two good bands and here it comes; I would definitely like to hear more from each. you can find the PDF of it at http://www.theneussubjex.com Going Out in Style By Leslie Benson -Dayton City Paper Regional musicians and fans alike despaired on hearing the news that Linda and Doug Balogh, owners of the independent alternative radio station 97X WOXY-FM in Oxford, sold their local broadcast license recently for a handsome sum of money and an Internet-only broadcast. Following the initial sadness came inspiration and a desire to give something back to the couple and those who work for them. Although the station will not completely disappear, two things directly affecting the local music scene — the popular Local Lixx program and the regional 97XPosure contest — will no longer be aired. In tribute to 97X “The Future of Rock and Roll,” Dayton musician Jason Sanders, a representative of Lab X Records and vocalist Robot X5 for Oxymoronatron, posted a message on www.woxy.com calling all musicians fond of 97X to rally together for one last blow-out event. The result was that at least 30 regional bands asked to be placed on the gig list for a tribute show to their favorite indie station. Having to cut some bands in the lineup due to space and time constraints, Sanders finally found appropriate performers and a location for the 97X Signing Off / Logging On show: the Southgate House in Newport, Kentucky. “I’ve been listening to 97X for years, since I lived in Middletown,” Sanders said. “It has had a big influence on me. I wanted to give something back. The only way I knew how was to throw a show.” The bands performing at the event will include (in alphabetical order): Joe Anderl, Broken Head, Chase Lounge, Defrost Star, The Breakers, My Latex Brain, Oxymoronatron, RHE, Mike Ruetschle, Shrug, Emily Strand (who won the 2003 97XPosure Contest), Stunt ***** and The Wankers. “Everyone I’ve talked to about the show feels that 97X is their station,” Sanders said. Because area music fans feel such a personal connection to the station, its DJs and its events, the radio shutdown is that much more difficult for listeners. Even though Linda Balogh says that she and her husband chose to sell the local broadcast license for financial stability, retirement and other reasons, some musicians feel the station is similar to others that have been sold to million-dollar radio corporations, indicating that “mom-and-pop” type endeavors are lost causes. “I have a problem with big companies buying people out who are doing things right,” Rhonda Everitt of RHE said. “It’s just kind of like local hardware stores versus Lowe’s or Home Depot,” Sanders said. “If you tell someone at (one of the corporate stores) that you need help fixing a fence, they’ll say, ‘I don’t know. I’d have to see the fence.’ Local stores will help you out any way they can. Radio is the same way. Big corporations don’t really know what’s going on locally. I can’t call something like a Clear Channel station, talk to my favorite DJ and feel like I’m being listened to. They’ll probably record me and play it on their next commercial, making fun of me. There’s no connection. They don’t know what the listeners want to hear. They only know what the surveys tell them.” With the loss of its local drive, 97X may experience “a run for its money,” according to Sanders, since the station will be competing for audience attention against independent stations from California or Texas. However, the change from 97X access on air to online will bring both positive and negative changes to local musicians searching for recognition. “I’ve been listening to them for 15 years off and on,” Everitt said. “It’s mostly the fact that they really talk about music. Overall, the station is awesome. I’m gonna miss it. As a local musician, you have to be that much more creative to find other outlets. There’s always something cropping up online, on radio or television. I’m hoping we’ll band together and someone will create something even better.” “A lot of us feel like we’ve been dumped by a girlfriend,” musician Mike Ruetschle added. “But it’s gonna give us an opportunity to step up and create something else. I hope that happens.” The 97X Signing Off / Logging On show will take place at the Southgate House, 24 E. Third St., in Newport, Kentucky, on Sunday, May 2, at 8 pm. Admission is $3. Rock and Roll Skatebords will showcase a booth at the event. For more information, check out http://www.labxrecords.com. |