Out of My Head

Anxiety. Paranoia. Hate. Reclusion. Garbage. Asshole. If Josh's choice of words for some of the titles to Middle America's songs weren't a good enough indication of what you were getting yourself into with the band, give one song a listen and you'll figure it out pretty quickly. Harsh, negative and depressive hardcore with an early 80s vibe that left you feeling, surprisingly, a whole lot better after listening. Middle America sprang out of the LV scene putting on some killer live shows that were as short as they were intense. If my memory serves me, the one time I caught them, Josh ended up inside of a trashcan by the end of the set. They managed to pull off a demo, a seven inch on Home Invasion Records, a seven inch on Fashionable Idiots, and a tour with Fresh Meat before playing their final show in August of 2009.

Depending on how you look at it, the final show was either a disappointment or exactly how they wanted it. They played first on an outdoor, all day festival, where they were at least ten years younger than most of the bands. There were benches and due to the early time slot, there was literally no one standing up front. To me it was a complete bummer, because to me, the band was so good, but it didn't make them hold back in the least. The final set was exactly as it should have been, short, brutal and intense. They covered "Sick People" and it was incredibly perfect, and made me so happy, despite the lack of crowd reaction. I took the photo above during their final breakdown and really hope that the video from that set surfaces some day.

Fashionable Idiots still has copies of the "Scars" 7 inch available and I highly recommend grabbing one, before you are kicking yourself while searching on eBay for one in a few years.
I am pretty sure the Home Invasion Record can be found to purchase with a little effort searching around the various distros on the web. Track them down. Josh was always super nice in hooking me up with MA stuff and I want people to check them out and be as stoked as I was on them.

The link below contains the following:

Middle America Demo
1. I Hate You
2. I Hate Myself
3. Elitist Asshole
4. Regurgitated Garbage
5. Hard To Avoid
6. All the Same
7. Live Set from Jan's Room

Scars 7 Inch
1. Every Night
2. Reclusion/ Scars

S/T 7 Inch
1. It Repeats/ Out of My Head
2. Anxiety/ Scraped/Paranoia

MIDDLE AMERICA

Picture Postcard

Here's a few shots from the weekend shows. First up, 30 years of LVHC. Definitely a weird vibe being that I was at least ten years younger than most at the show. Seeing paramedics, wheelchairs, backstage passes and dudes trying not to spill their beers while they bobbed o the music was really strange to me. Middle America RIP. I'm sure the fest promoters will have them on the bill for a reunion show next year. They covered Breakdown and the crowd seemed to care less. That's just plain ridiculous.

Mr. Yuk, definitely a crowd favorite. I skipped out on their first reunion show at Scarlett's years back, so I was glad I finally got too see them. Wish I had a copy of the album ahead of time to know some of the songs.
Forthright were awesome. High energy, sing-alongs, and only a hint of fatigue by the end of the set. I did hear Steve ask if the band wanted to do an Antidote cover for one more song, but they declined, which was kind of a bummer.
I ended up getting the show at St. Bernard's late and missed Oxygen Destroyer and GSGA, two bands I would have liked to have seen. Saw a lot of good stuff from bands I don't normally listen to, but didn't get pics of all of them. Back to Back were great, so much so that I am going to give their CDR demo another listen this week. They covered Blood for Blood and had Ray come up to do two Carpenter Ant songs from the early catalog. Memes was really hyped and I didn't think they could live up to it, but I was really impressed with what they did. So good.

I had missed out on Fresh Meat twice now and was glad to finally catch them in person. They went off and so did the crowd. They tore through their set as the crowd ripped each other to shreds. Definitely a highlight.
It seemed like a lot of people left after FM, which I couldn't understand. I love the Secret Cutter demo so needless to say I was amped to be able to catch their set, seeing as I don't see them play as often as other bands. Holy fuck were they heavy. Another highlight of the weekend for me.
Wish I could get up there to see some shows more often. Having to pick and choose shows to drive up to see is a pain and since most of my friends have given up going to shows, flying solo to them can be a pain too. Adult crash I guess. Still, a great weekend.

Mystery Juice

The tile record release show exceeded all expectations as far as I was concerned. In fact, my only complaint would be that due to my advanced age that a) all of my friends who go to shows have moved out of the lehigh valley or b) are no longer interested in DIY shows. What that means is having to attend shows solo, which kind of sucks, but I am getting used to it.

Before tile, Middle America played and they sounded tight. The last time I saw them, their set was like a lightning strike: fast, energetic and over quickly. This time they were a lot more comfortable winding through songs, abusing their equipment and really turning out a solid set.

tile's set proved to be even more impressive. This was the first time I have seen tile live and they are clearly a band to be seen live. All of their recorded material is good, but hearing them live is just crushing. Guitar, bass, drums, vocals were all in sync and created a rythmic drone that left the crowd banging their head or throwing their bodies around the room. tile played a good mix of new stuff and earlier songs all of which buzzed and blasted the crowd with their heavy groove. It was good to hear the familiar ones and the newer songs were some of their best stuff, particularly, "Murder House", which I thought was one of the best all night. Judging by the crowd reaction, they were just as impressed as I was.

Going back to the attending shows solo idea, I was a little hesistant to snap pictures which is weak I know. Anyway, here is a picture of the LP, put out by Limited Appeal Records. The thing is just massive in sound. The record sounds much bigger than their past recordings and it contains some of their best stuff to date. The one sided LP contains six tracks all of which fit together nicely into one complete package that will flatten you on your ass by the end. Seriously, it is that good. After only a couple spins, it surpasses "Adult Video Cassette" as my favorite tile release. The copies were coming with a CDR track, "Free Pizza, Free Haircuts", which is a bit different than the more serious tone of the songs on the LP, but equally good in its own right. Go to Limited Appeal, order one and stay psychadelic.
What's on the other side of a one sided LP? A crazy etching done by Eric De Jesus. The photo does not do it justice: