Teen Cthulhu were a great punk/sludge/power violence band from Seattle, but by the time they recorded their final release in 2002 they had added black metal to their palette. Even so, Ride The Blade still has a frantic punk vibe to it that, along with the jokey name, shows a reluctance to fully commit to the dark side. This didn't leave my cd player for months. Here
this is damn good stuff. I've only ever heard this band in passing and not very often but the last few months I've been quite into the newer group Book of Black Earth with two ex-members of Teen Cthulu. Their debut 'The Feast' is worth hearing
ReplyDeleteYes, I am very familiar with BoBE, I think now there is only one former Teen Cthulhu member. Joe, the drummer of BoBE is also in Splatterhouse and Skarp, 2 very worthwhile bands.
ReplyDeleteBOBE still has 2 members from Teen Cthulhu: TJ (vocals/guitar) and Hank (keyboards). Unfortunately I never got to see Teen Cthulhu, but I've seen BOBE probably a dozen times, and they're always hilarious.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info. Is BoBE's intent to be hilarious? I always got the impression that it was a serious concern.
ReplyDeleteThe music is very serious, but the band itself is very over the top, and therefore kind of tongue-in-cheek. TJ does all the between song banter in a deep growl, and he says stuff like, "Thank you for moshing!" "I hope there aren't any Christians in the crowd, because this next song is so Satanic you might burst into flames!" and my all-time favourite, "Now I want to see some real Satanic moshing!" Joe also raises his sticks as an inverted cross every chance he gets.
ReplyDeletei got this record when it came out. I think at the show they played with dystopia in seattle a few years back. It has a finger print in blood on the inner sleeve that apparently is really one of the members blood i think they said there was like 25 or 50 with the blood in them. the record itself is fucking amazing.
ReplyDeleteI have both the cd and vinyl. The cd was pressed by Rage of Achilles and the vinyl was issued some time later by Life Is Abuse, the label ran by Dystopia guitarist Mauz. I got the cd when my band Ludicra played with Teen Cthulhu at Gilman Street in 2002. They were amazing and they were great people too. I guess I could've mentioned all this in the actual post.
ReplyDeleteDid you ever see/hear Travis Nakamura's post-Cthulhu band, Doomsday 1999? They were also pretty hilarious, like a super-hyperactive Andrew WK fronting a grind band.
ReplyDeleteNo, but I certainly want to. Link?
ReplyDeletethis band came and went before i ever even knew they existed. thanx i now have motivation to hunt this down and buy it. and yes, BoBe is awesome.
ReplyDeleteWell the only information I have on Doomsday 1999 is their MySpace, which only has one song on it.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.myspace.com/doomsday1999
The vinyl version of their album (I actually don't even know if they released it on CD) came out on Nukes!, a little Seattle-based label that I haven't heard of otherwise.
Thanks, puncher of bunnies.
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure. Thank YOU for the awesome blog! Keep it going.
ReplyDeleteAwesome stuff, won't be leaving my playlist.
ReplyDeleteAwesome fucking blog, thanks for the discoveries !!
ReplyDeleteCamille / Smohalla
Teen Cthulhu is sick. Their split with Wormwood is pretty black-metal-ish too...
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting this up! I have the vinyl, but no way to transfer it to my ultra-hip ipod for daily walkings....so thanx!
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