Gina Birch of THE RAINCOATS, performing live in San Francisco at the Market Street Theater, 1981.
NUMBERS, live in San Francisco, April 2003, doing “I’m Shy”. For about one year this was the hottest band going, and I was fortunate enough to have been in attendance at this show and a handful of others before it.
Somehow found this site whilst frolicking around the internet & it’s now bookmarked for some deep divin’. Ribbon Around a Bomb is a burgeoning multimedia empire helmed by La Lengua, and she’s pretty rad across the board. Her radio show and podcast is 100% female-fronted punk rock, postpunk and no-wave noise, and I swear, I don’t know how these youngsters know so much about music these days, but goddamn it, they do, and they’re doing laps around us. She’s got a lot to teach me about the past & the present, and indeed all of us.
Moreover, Ribbon Around The Bomb website’s sort of a modern primer on past & present outsider art, music, photography and style. It’s a visual onslaught of photos, links, flyers and all sorts of underground ephemera. I’m just getting really acquainted with it right now. Wanted to make sure you had a chance to do so as well – download a couple of radio shows and get clicking right here.
In 2002, San Francisco band NUMBERS were my favorite musical act on the planet. I got to see them play multiple times as their hyper, Bulb Records-inspired, technology-gone-awry dance/postpunk was becoming fully formed. It was pretty ephemeral, too, because after about a year, they’d pretty much played the whole concept out and started releasing some pretty mediocre records.
I’ve listened to “Numbers Life”, however, at least once every six months since it came out that year. Not much of a commitment, considering it’s over and done in 20 minutes, but absolutely one of my favorites of the first decade of our young century.
PAMELA were awesome in a brief 7-song set at Thee Parkside tonight. Two guitars, no bass and a fantastic drummer. Total roaring tuff noise with hooks like you wouldna believe.
AGONY SHORTHAND 