Year in Review with Ben Lyon
I’m not a writer. I almost failed my senior year of
high school because I was short on English credits. I
squeaked by....Barely. I write lyrics for my bands,
but if you can make them out, you can tell that I’m no
wordsmith. Every song I’ve ever written is about
girls, cars, monsters, or girls. Needless to say,
it’s gonna take a lot of effort on my part to write a
“top ten” without resorting to “it’s good. I like
it”. Also, It’s a limited list, as I didn’t buy all
that much new music in 2004. Definitely not enough for
EP’s and LP’s to have their own separate lists. Maybe
I shouldn’t have waited ‘til the last minute....but I
did. Oh well, here goes nothing, in no particular
order....
-The Feelers “Fuhrers New Miniskirt” 7” - I think
I was sold on this band before I ever actually heard
them. I heard so much great stuff that I had to pick
up this 7” the second I saw it, even though I was way
too broke to be spending money. I was not
disappointed in the least, and who needs food anyway?
-The Lids “s/t” LP - The band that tied the
Catholic Boys and Reatards for best band of the
Blackout came out with a catchy motherfucker of an
album in ‘04. Yeah, it made me jump and down on my
bed and lip synch into a hairbrush, so what?!
-The Tyrades “I Am Homicide” 7” - I Absolutely love
the Tyrades. Everything about them (well, maybe not
their first 7”). This 7” is no exception, and
actually probably leaves their other records in the
dust.
-Tokyo Electron “Make Me Bleed” 7” - I Like it. It’s
Good.
-Headache City “Knee Jerk Reaction” 7” - I have to
admit I really wasn’t impressed with Headache City the
first time I saw them. They were okay. I was in
Chicago for the Blackout. I was stoked to be there
and Headache City was the opening band for the whole
weekend. I think I was just expecting the first band
to be a boot in the teeth or something. I saw them
again a few months later in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and I
liked them a bit more, but was still more concerned
with the merch table or beer or talking to my friends
or something, and was still not totally sold on
Headache City. I bought the 7” anyway. Well, I
listened to it a few times, and liked it, but not too
much. I must’ve been in a bad mood. A couple months
back I was making a tape for a friend and I thought
she might like them, so I put the A side on for her.
BAM! Like a boot to the teeth! What the fuck was I
thinking in Chicago? Am I deaf or stupid?! I think
I’ve listened to “Knee Jerk Reaction” and “High Rise”
four hundred thousand times since.
-Kajun SS “s/t” 12”EP - I’m not usually the first to
know about anything. A real Johnny-come-lately. I
never heard a Persuaders song until about a month ago.
Yeah, yeah, I suck. Tell me something I, my family,
and the whole population of Coldwater, Michigan
doesn’t know. Anyway, I got this for Christmas from
my sister, along with Killed by Death 4 and “Bedroom
Disasters”. Lucky me! Nothing like a little eggnog
and “Know Your Place” to make the holidays merry. I
think I listened to this more in the last week in
2004, than any other record the whole year. My
Girlfriend fucking hates it. When she leaves me,
Kajun SS will partially be the reason.
-Final Solutions “Eye Don’t Like You” 7”- Along with
Kajun SS, this was my winter crush. The retardified
drum solo thing in “Left Banke” gets me every time.
This was good enough to end up on a mix tape next to
my favorite song, “Let’s Get Rid Of New York” by The
Randoms. They were also “the shit” when I saw them in
K-zoo with the Lids.
-The Real Losers “Go Nutzoid!” 7” - I liked them at
the blackout, but they weren’t my favorite of the
weekend or anything. Another one of those things that
had to grow on me I guess, because I’ve apparently got
big wads of stupid blocking my ears. Dummy rock
supreme. Plus, they’re like all English n’shit! This
is the only thing I have by them. It’s damn time I
got some more.
-The Reigning Sound “Too Much Guitar” 12” - I don’t
know anyone in the know who wasn’t floored by this
record. Fucking great song writing and execution. I
still can’t think of anything an Oblivion has done
that I’ve objected to. This is what all the brown
leather jacketed hipsters in Detroit wish they could
come up with.
-The Black Lips “We did not know the forest spirit
made the flowers grow” 12” - I love this band.
There’s something about ‘em that’s dangerous, and I
don’t mean puking on each other and strumming the
guitar with their dicks. It’s something soaked into
their music that makes me think of serial killers and
zombies covered in gasoline in a garage rock cluster
fuck. Blah blah blah....It’s unexplainable, and I’m
just wasting your time babbling on about it, so I’ll
shut up now.
-Honorable Mentions: Dr. Spec’s Optical Illusion,
Frantic, River City Tan Lines, The Briefs “Joy of
Killing” 7”(There goes my last thread of
credibility!), The Dirges, Miss Alex White.
-Bands that I wish would put out a record in ‘05:
Terrior Bute(The Screamers of 15 year old high school
nerd bands), Body Jazz(the Verve Pipe of retardedly
awsome basement bands), The Terrible Twos, The
Throbbing Urges.
-Records I have on my “to buy” list for ’05: Human Eye
(I’ve heard it, and if it’s not a fucking killer, I
don’t know what is), The Catholic Boys (ditto), The
Krunchies.
See, told you, I suck at writing. Maybe I’ll take
some classes and not suck so much next year. I doubt
it.
~Ben Lyon
Resident art fag.
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