8PM SHOW
10:30PM AFTER PARTY. AFTER PARTY FEATURES CHRIS HOLMES DJING, PERFORMANCE BY MECCA, AND DISPLAY OF SHELBY DUNCAN’S PERFORMER PORTRAITS.

Voices Voices was confident-looking this time around, but maybe that’s because they were pissed off since their gear seemed to lack consistent functionality.  The appearances of anger and confidence are often interchangeable, so maybe they weren’t confident at all.  They had a big ol’ wall-of-sound in full effect, and I kept changing my mind about whether I preferred them in their guitar and drums configuration versus the sampler-based electronic approach.  Towards the end of the set, Jeanine started screaming into the microphone, but all that came out was a super-messed-up-noise sound. I liked it because, unlike most noisy bullshit, this fit well into the context of the song and was not noise for the sake of making me want to leave the room.  It made me question what in their set was “real” and what was a triggered sample, adding an appropriate bit of mystery and intrigue.

Corridor is a strong representative slice of Manimal music, meaning he is a good musician who plays confidently and whose concept is strong and well-refined.  Not one of the instruments he played during his set (guitar, cello, violin) was used for novelty or cool-factor—each was played well, each had a unique role, and the interchange was not distracting as when attempted by lesser performers.  This show was his first with a live drummer, Rodney Rodriguez (cool name points!), and his playing was solid and straightforward—they sounded like they had been playing together for a while.  The kick drum added some hearty low-end to the music (thanks sound guy and subwoofers), and I’m a sucker for a good thump in the chest.

Moonrats seemed drunk, and if it wasn’t for their drummer holding everything together the performance could have really suffered.  I liked their flannel and they had a tambourine that I wanted for my own, but I was left rather unaffected by their set.  A later listen to their recorded work showed me that they can be a decent band, but on this night they weren’t getting it done, so I went outside.

—Tyler Sabbag

KCRW & LA RECORD PRESENT…

MANIMAL FESTIVAL 2009
OCTOBER 3rd & 4th
WITH
EDWARD SHARPE & THE MAGNETIC ZEROS
CHAIRLIFT
WARPAINT
HECUBA
RAINBOW^ARABIA
FOOL’S GOLD
THE POLYAMOROUS AFFAIR
WE ARE THE WORLD
OTHER LIVES
VOICESVOICES
RIO EN MEDIO
CORRIDOR
MOONRATS
ALEXANDRA HOPE
HE’S MY BROTHER, SHE’S MY SISTER
JULIETTE COMMANGRE
LACO$TE
EXITMUSIC
AMANDA JO WILLIAMS

AT PAPPY & HARRIETS PIONEERTOWN PALACE (NEAR JOSHUA TREE, CALIFORNIA)
www.pappyandharriets.com
TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE AT (VIA PAYPAL)
www.manimalvinyl.com/shows.php
$30 PER DAY OR $50 FOR THE WEEKEND…

MUSIC, FOOD, ART, FASHION, TEEPEES, HORSES, WILDERNESS, HIKING, CAMPING, HOTELS (WITHIN 20 MINUTES), MAGICK…

WWW.MANIMALVINYL.COM
WWW.MYSPACE.COM/MANIMALFESTIVAL
WWW.KCRW.COM
WWW.LARECORD.COM
WWW.PAPPYANDHARRIETS.COM

Moonrats Limited Edition 7″ (L.A. Record)

**White Vinyl / Hand Stamped**

TO PURCHASE [CLICK HERE]

(from Cross Of My Calling out Tue., Nov. 25, on Vagrant)

The (International) Noise Conspiracy were the first Western rock ‘n’ roll band to tour Communist China. They are famous for their matching outfits and situationosocialist politics. We pulled this interview conducted during the most trying years of the Bush administration from the archives in honor of their sprint through California this week. This interview by Chris Ziegler.

What do the Chinese think of your politics?
Dennis Lyxzen (vocals): Everything we know about Chinese communists and Mao Tse Tsung is stuff we learned through Western eyes–through history books written by American scholars who were vehemently opposed to Communism. So you talk about Communism there and they get it–they realize we’re not talking about state oppression, but they also realize that twenty years ago there was no pollution, no crime, nobody had to lock their doors and there was always food on the table. And now it’s a country run by the mafia with pollution and crime. We have a song ‘Under A Communist Moon,’ and we were like, ‘We can’t play that in China.’ But all these kids asked us to play it–like ‘Those are the best lyrics you ever wrote.’
What a nice story.
Mao is still really big in China, like a folk hero, and it’s funny how people justify all the bullshit–’Mao was seventy percent right and thirty percent wrong.’ I think even the Communist party said it was a 70/30 split. That’s what we try to do with the INC–be seventy percent right and thirty percent wrong.
What do they think of Communist chic?
They have the same thing. You can buy Mao shirts, little Communist hats–it’s a mix between something historical, and they’re proud of it, but there’s definitely a little chic to it. A lot of twenty-year-old kids grew up under Communism–there’s a kitsch value to it. They’re not dumb, the Chinese.
Do you think America is in decline and China is going to control the twenty-first century?
There’s definitely gonna be a shift. Right now, America is the only real superpower. I think in all honesty that America in Iraq is a way to stabilize its position as a superpower: ‘If we can control the resources, we can control the world.’ But the century keeps ticking and Asia is definitely going to catch up. It’s definitely something to count on–not necessarily a bad thing to my perspective.
Some people are thinking America is going to become like the Soviet Union in the ’80s–bloated bureaucracy, crumbling infrastructure, lines for toilet paper–
I think it’s already happening. They’re kind of building castles out of sand. You’ve got a government that’s very bloated and self-righteous, and the infrastructure is falling apart–America has never experienced such differences between rich and poor, and that keeps increasing. It’s typical of what was happening in the Soviet Union in the late 1980s.
As someone who visits every year or so on tour, have you noticed the country changing?
Totally, especially since 9/11. You can tell that America is really fighting for their position–you can definitely see from the outside how freedom of speech and freedom of expression are being subtly screwed over. Not like in the Soviet Union but in subtle ways–scare tactics, the whole un-American behavior thing. When we came over the first time, people were much more outspoken about politics. They were not afraid. And now they are. You might end up in Guantanomo–that’s a sign of a totalitarian state. Plus in the last election, only sixty percent went to vote–so thirty percent didn’t even care. And then of those who voted, it was a fifty-fifty split. So thirty percent of the population in the United States wants George Bush as president and seventy percent either doesn’t or doesn’t care.
There’s that 70/30 split again.
Seventy percent of America doesn’t want George Bush or doesn’t care–for me, that’s very undemocratic. America was built on the idea of a utopian society. When the Constitution was written, it was with the idea that this was the ultimate country–so people have a hard time understanding if you talk about something completely different.
How do you explain things to people?
Well, you talk about these ideas and people look at you like you’re an alien–I mean, I’m just presenting a different option here, folks. But most times people know we’re a bunch of Swedish pinkos and they kind of go with that. Sometimes people don’t get it–they’ve been brought up thinking that if you have money, you deserve that money, and then you can buy yourself education and health care. And I grew up in a place where social security and schools and health care are things that everybody is entitled to all the time, no matter what. People think that’s crazy, when I’m like, ‘No, I think it’s a good idea that everybody can go to school.’
What American city offers the least resistance to your pinko agenda?
I don’t know–it’s always easier to play the big cities. Though I do remember us playing Lubbock, Texas, and pretty much the entire crowd was against us–they were all there to see the Offspring and we happened to play before, and… I just spoke my mind. A lot. A LOT. People were telling me before the show that maybe I should tone it down, and I’m like, ‘Yeah, yeah, that’s right.’ So I talked twice as much shit on George Bush–people were screaming at our sound guy ‘Fuck those guys!’ and he was like, ‘Oh, I don’t know those guys.’ Sometimes it’s good to have the crowd against you–you caused a reaction.
I’m sorry that’s how the birthplace of Buddy Holly treated you.
I think they forgot about the Buddy Holly roots.

THE (INTERNATIONAL) NOISE CONSPIRACY WITH TAKING BACK SUNDAY ON THU., NOV. 13, AT CLUB NOKIA, 800 W. OLYMPIC, LOS ANGELES. 8 PM / $25 / ALL AGES. GOLDENVOICE.COM. AND WITH NIGHT HORSE, MOONRATS AND SLANG CHICKENS WITH DJS DANNY WANG AND LUIS FARFAN ON FRI., NOV. 14, AT THE EAGLE ROCK CENTER FOR THE ARTS, 2225 COLORADO BLVD., EAGLE ROCK. 8 PM / $7-$8 / ALL AGES. MYSPACE.COM/FYEAHFEST. THE (INTERNATIONAL) NOISE CONSPIRACY’S CROSS OF MY CALLING RELEASES TUE., NOV. 25, ON VAGRANT. VISIT THE (INTERNATIONAL) NOISE CONSPIRACY AT INTERNATIONALNOISE.COM OR MYSPACE.COM/INTERNATIONALNOISECONSPIRACY.

The Moonrats will be playing a live set on KSCR today between 6pm and 7pm. You can listen to it in your car or on kscr.org. Either way you should buy their 7″ too. You can do this from your iphone in your car or the Little Joy bathroom. But if you want to do it old school click on this link rit chere—> BUY….

Frankie Face @ The Pike
High on Fire / Megadeth @ LB Arena
The Kills @ The El Rey
The Monolators @ Que Sera
Free the Robots @ Low End Theory
Moonrats / Cave Singers @ The Echo
Dresden Dolls / Smoosh / Lavender Diamond @ The Wiltern

The Moonrats have a full page feature in Missbehave Magazine Issue. No. 7 – May/June 2008. Click Here for interview.