These Are a Few of My Favorite Memes: Rev 25 Edition

One of the worst kept secrets in music circles has been the planning of the East Coast series of concerts celebrating Revelation Records' 25th anniversary. So although the dates, October 11-14, have been in my calendar for months now, the official announcement from the label was made this week. And while speculation about which artists could logistically appear has had many a hardcore kid abuzz, a few new graphics posted on Rev's Facebook page have hinted at Chain of Strength, Texas is the Reason and my beloved Into Another.

But this is a meme culture, so some creative people decided to make up their own. See if you can spot the fakes. And let's get some info about the on-sale date, please.

Turbonegro's New Video

Last year, I was lucky enough to catch Turbonegro's American debut performance with new vocalist, The Duke of Nothing (aka: Tony Sylvester). And while the broad Brit turned out a consistent set of hits that won over the demanding crowd, it was clear that emulating Hank Von Helvete's flamboyant over-the-top ways was not part of his M.O.

Are the infamous Finns heading into a more "straight" mainstream direction? Check out the video for their new single, "You Give Me Worms," and share your thoughts.

Oh Hey, It's Been Awhile

In fact, it's been so long that Blogger has changed its dashboard layout in my time off from posting. It's been increasingly difficult trying to make time to consistently write when the inspiration just isn't there. And nothing in music has been really inspirational as of late. Unless you count the Afghan Whigs reunion show, which was fantastic - and I still can't believe I was lucky enough to experience it.

What has been going on?

This!

Z100.com won the 2012 Online Presence of the Year Award at the Worldwide Radio Summit

And this...

Read the whole thing HERE and many thanks to Natalie Zina Walschots for including me.

Finally, there was this. Granted, it's been a minute, but some other folks don't take things seriously until they're "Facebook official."

I'll try to do better about posting more often - and in fact, have some stuff lined up for Doro Pesch and Lita Ford (what year is this, again?) - plus others. No more long-term disappearing acts, I promise. ::fingers crossed::

Shut Up & Listen To... Into Another

Richie Birkenhead's voice is polarizing. Either you love the Underdog/Into Another frontman's falsetto or you find it torturous and grating (like a certain prick I know). Personally, I adore Into Another. They were emo before emo existed — in those days, they were frequently referred to as "post-hardcore" — and they were truly difficult to pigeonhole; managing to gel the members' various interests into a cohesive, eclectic sound. There was Drew Thomas as the mod drummer, the late Tony Bono was their bass player with a metal past, guitarist Peter Moses who added a psychedelic tinge and some of the prettiest tones ever heard, and, of course, Birkenhead brought the vegan hotness.

Though completely different from one another upon sight, the foursome made it work by creating music that reflected their personalities but defied all boundaries and categories. After three official albums (plus the record only released in Germany) and a handful of EPs, Into Another succumb to the curse of Hollywood Records and split up. And to date, they remain the only band whose logo I'd readily tattoo on my body—if only because they wrote my favorite song of all time ("Two Snowflakes").

Recently, it was announced that Into Another would be performing at one of the Revelation Records anniversary shows in California, with murmurs that they'd be adding an East Coast date to the mix. Good? Sure. But rumors that Moses will not be joining them dampens things as his guitar sound is so unique.

Love 'em or hate em? Can't know unless you try. Shut up and listen to Into Another.

RIP Whitney... And Johnny... And Joey

The ever animated Vinnie Stigma and Agnostic Front pay tribute to fallen idols Whitney Houston, Johnny Cash and all the dead Ramones with this touching medley. Enjoy!

Hot Shower, Cold Beer

I effing love Red Fang... and I love that they cleverly managed to add a product placement to the intro of their latest "high" concept video, all while exposing one of my favorite male behaviors - showering and getting tanked at the same time.

Stranger on the L Train; photo by me.

My Metal Midlife Crisis

This guy!

Tough as it is to admit, I'm pretty damn bored with metal these days. My first clue was when I compiled my Best Of 2011 album list and realized all the bands' logos were easily decipherable. Then I noticed that I only recognized about two thirds of the acts friends and colleagues were name-checking on Twitter, and worse still, I didn't give a shit enough to look up the remaining ones. This is my crisis of faith.

I deeply respect the passion held by folks like Grim Kim and Fred Pessaro for the darker, more dissonant facets of black and death metal, but I've rarely enjoyed the genres. Too much treble, those interchangeable shrill vocals, the typical shock-for-shock's-sake imagery. Not my steez at all, but it feels like they're metal's most vibrant sects these days. Never liked Lamb of God either (no hooks at all), Ghost sounds like Blue Oyster Cult and don't even get me started on the whole embarrassing pirate/symphonic/folk metal circle jerk scene and their fucking Utilikilts. The last really great new metal record I thoroughly enjoyed was Mournful Congregation's The Book of Kings. (More 2011 metal records I liked listed here.)

Don't get me wrong, I'm not chilling at home with a buttery chardonnay and the Adele record. But truth be told, the music events I'm most excited for so far in 2012 are Monster Magnet's show on Friday (Dopes to Infinity in its entirety, y'all), the new Cursive record—and catching the Afghan Whigs reunion wherever I can.

The last time something like this happened, I was in college and totally over Pantera when I started listening to tons of hardcore and punk rock. Then At the Gates' Slaughter of the Soul blew my mind and pulled me back into the scene. Maybe that's what I need right now: that one unfamiliar act or at least one ridiculously good album to excite me again. Any suggestions?