The Orange Noise

Ok, let's get back at it.

Many thanks to Louisville rocker, and The Orange Noise friend, Conner Gray Johnson for this election haiku.     

BAND:    Batwizard GENRE:  Metal  SOUNDS LIKE:  A cassette recording of a 1x10 Peavey Studio Pro mic'd hot, and stuffed with live kitchen appliances and overdrive pedals. FEELS LIKE: cold, galvanized trashcan lids covered in hot motor oil.  LOOKS LIKE:  Pop-punk falls thru trans-dimensional worm hole, exits with legitimate issues and a sensible, darker wardrobe.  SMELLS LIKE: green curry, lemon oil, unleaded TASTES LIKE:  Southern Comfort, 9V battery, LaBamba $1 beef taco LAST RELEASE:   Medustrich (2018) NEXT GIG:   Metal Monday @ Tap Room w/ The Wilful Boys Medustrich by Batwizard

The Hell You Say is rowdy as fuck.  There it is.  I'm not sure how else to put it.  Rowdy. As. Fuck. Both their stage performance and recorded material are pure canned chaos.  At a The Hell You Say show, the current state of affairs doesn't mean a thing.  It's the spectacle that matters.  It's the sounds and the sights. It's the anger and the insistence and the movement.  Make no mistake, you ARE in danger.  But "danger" is relative, and subjective, and you're in danger just putting your fat foot on a wet bathroom floor in the morning, but you do it all the time. The Hell You Say have things to scream about, and reasons to take rock'n'roll to ballistic levels of volume and intensity. They obviously have some existential shit they need to work out, and I think we should all feel lucky that music is their creative outlet. A The Hell You Say experience is one to give yourself up to completely.  Resistance is basically futile. Whether ...

Cover art by Audrey Nelson As we reluctantly surrender precious minutes of daylight to the winter lords, as we pinch back blooms and swap bulbs in our sensory chambers, as we force-feed our skin-suit with balms and salves all in the name of forgetting that the inevitable hemispherical darkness will eventually consume us all, some can be found reveling in this eventuality.  Their place is the darkness.  The darkness is their source of power, as they were conceived and gestated in the darkness.  They are Prayer Line and this is their season! In celebration of the dark-duration, high-static days of a bloody crack-and-chafe Kentucky fall, Prayer Line have unleashed a track to further distract you from the impending pain. A quick stab of a song, coming in at 2m40s on the death clock, Flesh Eaters serves as a fine sampling of what this ghoulish group has to offer. With a tense intro featuring sounds of lapping water and panicked film dialogue over a low pulsing synth...

Prayer Line has a thing.  Let's not call it a schtik. I guess we could, but please don't.  Let's call it a theme.... or maybe more of a disposition.  A disposition towards all things dark, and shadowy, and creep-like.  Prayer Line walks, if not defines, the disturbingly foggy line between dark culture and camp.  Are they cannibalistic satanists back from the underworld to low-key indoctrinate Louisville's counter culture? Or are they friendly zombie rockers giving tongue-in-cheek homage to horror and gore icons of the past?  I think Prayer Line is likely all of that. Like a blood-red smoothie made of equal portions Misfits, Ramones, Duran Duran, Bela Lagosi, and John Carpenter, Prayer Line rock faces with dark hooks and macabre verse that leave you sucking meaty chunks through the straw.  They caught my attention with their dark disposition on my first spin of their 2019 release, Drink the Blood .  Sure, it was heavy hitting, with not-so-sub...

Listen to what you've been missing!  The Metal Monday series has become a staple listening room for the hard music community in Louisville. FREE to attend, and a paid gig for both local and national acts,  Riotheart  keeps the bands rolling in, and keeps it loud on the regular over at Highlands Tap Room! Click Below.

The new track, Starlightdancer from dark-synth-drip-droppers Scary Black is a banger for sure.  They're pretty new on my radar and here to stay.  Most commonly used to gain composure, thrash recovery, and couch melt.  You could probably also do a dance of some sort to it.  You... not me. Scary Black // Starlightdancer Starlightdancer by SCARY BLACK

Take a rip and head to Mag Bar TONIGHT to watch Shi - 死 fire up the stage with their heady brand of stoner doom for the people.

Shi - 死 Shi - 死 are metal-monks who have served at the Temple of Weed and Riffs and returned home to teach by example the ways of Doom.  Their live shows are metal meditations with dark fuzz, rolling bass lines and growling vocal emissions. Reportedly, their drummer utilizes drums and cymbals. Bob from Shi - 死  was recently agreeable to filling out a 13 Questions interview for me. Knowing they're a personal favorite of many local metalheads, I was looking forward to his feedback and getting some more insight into what this group of headbangers is all about. You can catch Bob and the boys in Shi - 死 at Highlands Tap Room for Terrifying Tap-O-Ween on Thursday Oct 31st, sharing a stacked bill with Bazookatooth (Nashville), Louisiana Lot Lizards  (IN) and The Hell You Say (Louisville). You can also often catch these guys out enthusiastically supporting other local acts around town.  If you spot'em, giv'em a "Hell, yeah!", a fist pump, and some horn...

BAND:  Isolation Tank Ensemble GENRE:  Trash Prog SOUNDS LIKE:  Marching band eats acid, enters video game... in hell. FEELS LIKE:  Swedish-plastic exoskeleton.  LOOKS LIKE:  Chamber orchestra for a nerd cult key party. SMELLS LIKE:  wet denim, Barbasol, fries TASTES LIKE:  PBR, Worcestershire, strawberries LAST RELEASE:   Collapsers + more (2017) NEXT GIG:   w/ Shi - 死 + Swamp Hawk + Stormtoker @ The Green Lantern Bar (LEX) 10.4.19

Louisville's The Instruction just unleashed a video upon the digital masses for their hard-strut, gritty-banger of a tune,  Monster Maker.   The striking video, with filmed footage and animated imagery over a backdrop of recognizable local corridors and alleyways, is fun to watch as you follow the punk-rock-protagonist on her mission thru the 'Ville. Check it out. Find your 'hood. The Instruction features bass work by Jeremy Stein of local doomsters union, Blind Scryer .

Louisville Horror-rock heroes  Prayer Line , dropped a new track on their Bandcamp page today.  Rocking PJ Harvey's Meet Ze Monsta , and guest-fronted by dark songstress  Sheri Streeter , the super-undead pounded this one out at Deadbird Studios . The track was expertly recorded, mixed and mastered by Deadbird's own Dave Chale.  Come for the song, stay for the banter.  Fantastic cackles from a live studio audience will put you in a spooky mood. Meet Ze Monsta feat. Sheri Streeter by Prayer Line    

A signature set by the guys in Bad Wires for their last set at The Care Less Lounge. With a stage heated up by locals Push Start and Brooklyn, New York's Castle Black , Bad Wires ran thru a gambit of new and old songs during their heavy set at The Care Less Lounge on 9.19.19. It was a welcome Thursday night show, and apparently one of the last for The Care Less Lounge at it's current location on the first floor of Barbarella-Louisville. Word-is this series (renamed?) may be moving to an event space at Rockerbuilt in Portland.  Will definitely be checking that room out soon.     

Topping off a trifecta of loud nights, Highlands Tap Room hosted yet another evening of doomed, fuzzed, screamed and pounded performances.  There were more than a few monolithic amps and cabinets stacked up rolling thru the doors of the small venue, always a sure sign that amplitude would be metered in degrees of chest thump and tinnitus.  Temple of the Fuzz Witch (Detroit, MI) warmed up the corner platform stage with their deep, fuzz filled set, their vocals reminiscent of a grungier era. Witchkiss (Hudson Valley, NY) filled in the middle slot with an aggressive set that wouldn't let their moody transitions, hammering drums, or bellicose vocals go unnoticed. Playing cleanup on the night, and taking full advantage of a pre-tenderized crowd, The Hell You Say  (Louisville) came in like a drunken chainsaw juggler, casting their raucous brand of Louisville metal into and onto the audience, and proving why they're local noise favorites.  Solid sets by all. You ca...

Nashville based metal trio Howling Giant visited the Tap Room last night and offered up a solid set for the weekly Metal Monday series. Loud and fluid, these drop-tuned maestros ran thru their set with creative, efficient guitar work, a dirty rolling bass sound, and drums that pop like syncopated grenades bursts.  Followed by D.C. heavies Caustic Casanova, the Metal Monday stage proved once again that it's THE place to spend your Monday Night.       

Blake Conley is putting on his Droneroom  boots and bringing his unique brand of guitar loop dreaminess to the Surface Noise listening room on Friday September 27th at 9pm.  While he's no stranger to making noise at the small-but-mighty record shop, art gallery, and performance space at the corner of Baxter Ave and Payne Street, this outing is special.   He'll be offering up his latest release,  I'll Make It Up To You I Swear  ( Somewherecold Records ), for you to pick up at what I'm sure is a very reasonable charge.  It's also his birthday. Blake was kind enough to let me preview the newly birthed EP.  I was intrigued.  I was captivated.  I got tranced-out in a David Lynch daydream of wandering consciousness and dark corners ... I might have slid in a nap.  This guy has it going on.  Like Junior Brown on quaaludes, the Droneroom sound leads you through a sea of musical mantras and distant auditory horizons. Grab those h...

Orange Noise contributor Rev. Snow was able to capture this footage from the Bad Wires set at The Tiger Room in Louisville.  Opening up for the infamous Hank Von Hell, the bill also featured Overdose, Scrooge Mandella, and Creeps Inc.  Ultimately an ill fated outing, with a blown bass amp fucking up the situation, this is a solid clip caught early in the set.   It's been a busy summer for the guys in Bad Wires and they're about to wrap up their local gigs for a while. Word is they're about to birth this album baby I've been hearing about, and plan to get on the road to push their wares and rock the faces of strangers.  Sounds like a good time. Coming off high frequencies from a successful show at the Monnik/Schnitzelburg walk last weekend, you can catch them on Thursday 9.19 at The Care Less Lounge w/ Push Start and Castle Black  . Loud room alert.

Once you find a show you're interested in on the Orange List , be sure to head over to the Listen List to put an ear on the latest studio releases from Louisville bands on the bill.  It's not guaranteed that the act you're looking for will be listed, but it will likely show up, so check back! I'm a fan of getting a taste of a studio offering from a band before catching them live.  The canned material lets me know what the artist WANTS to sound like, while the stage show displays passion and ability, and allows me to take into account the limitations of the performance scenario. Besides, there is some top-notch studio production going on in the 'Ville that you must hear!        

There's a noise for everyone on The Orange List 9.26 // Killi Killi + Los Dolores + Black Sire /// Kaiju 10.11 // BRNDA + Hazel Fire + Kids Born Wrong /// Kaiju 10.18 // Night Club + Bus Hus + Molly O'Malley + TIMŌRĀTUS /// The Tiger Room 10.26 // Stagecoach Inferno + Volcandra + Winterhymn + Cryptic Hymn + Majutsu /// Mag Bar 12.6 // Somewherecold Records Showcase feat. droneroom + The Corrupting Sea + More! /// Mag Bar

9.8  // The Pistol Mystics + Scrooge Mandella /// Punk Rock Night Louisville @ Tap Room 9.8  // Upon a Burning Body + Of Virtue + Speaking with Ghosts /// The Tiger Room 9.8  // Metal Yoga /// Yoga East 9.8  // Duet for Theramin and Lap Steel w/ Dane Waters /// Kaiju

BAND:   The Hell You Say GENRE:  hardcore, metalcore, noisecore SOUNDS LIKE:  agony screams of a Great White shark FEELS LIKE:  Running through a cornfield wearing plywood underwear  LOOKS LIKE:  import mechanics with a black-market body part side-hustle.  SMELLS LIKE: wet enamel paint, empty beer can, grapes TASTES LIKE: RedBull, rye bread, lip sweat LAST RELEASE:   A Dream and The Monsters in It  (2017)  NEXT GIG:   w/ Temple of the Fuzz Witch + Witch Kiss /// Tap Room 9.24.19 A Dream and the Monsters at the End of it... by The Hell You Say

From Surface Noise Records :  Our DJ guest for Friday, September 6, "Dirty" Dave Johnson, is a Louisville native, attorney, philosopher, and musician, best known for his musical acts, the Glasspack and The Decline Effect. The Glasspack is returning after a number of years with its rebirth show set for Saturday, Sept. 7 at Headliner's Music Hall (with special guests Call Me Bronco, Sound Companys, and Wiirmz opening). Dave lost his father, Mr. Wendell Ross Johnson, in the summer of 2018. R.I.P. While later going through his father's belongings, Dave was able to locate hundreds of his father's 45rpm records from the 1960s and 1970s. Dave will be sharing these sounds and memories of his father's records with us—the very same records his father used to raise him, including CCR, Black Sabbath, and Alice Cooper. These records helped to shape Dave's love and life of rock ‘n’ roll. Please join us for this special and sentimental occasion as Dave...

This is Louisville hardcore history. This is Louisville noise history. This is Louisville music history. This is music history. This is history... "Everyone said their good-byes, then Carrie, Layla, and Jason took off for the ten-hour drive back to Louisville. While I was away on tour, Jason and Layla, aided by Buzz Minnick who worked at Hurstbourne Lane’s Kinko’s, took care of getting the record covers copied. I had finished the artwork before leaving."  Sunspring Slinky via Slamdek   (Click the link for an album rundown by the creators and legendary-local name drops in the "Thanks" section of the liner notes.

You know Hank Von Hell as the former front man of Norwegian death-punk outfit Turbonegro.  This wild sonofabitch is currently lighting up stages across the country with his boozey brand of hard-driving rock absurdity... and he's going to be at the The Tiger Room on 9.11.19. You know BAD WIRES as the loud-as-hell locals who melt faces with giant amplifiers, and have a guitarist with a wider than average hair-whip zone.  They're currently pounding out mixes for an upcoming release, booking gigs, and rolling out new material... and they're going to be greasing up the stage for Hank at The Tiger Room on 9.11.19. Pre-sale tix are only $12 and also include sets by Overdose , Scrooge Mandella , and Creeps, Inc . For you geometry whizzes out there, that's only $2.40 per band.  Honestly, we should all be paying more for this kind of lineup. Louisville Locals: message The Orange Noise , or Bad Wires on Instagram to get that discounted pre-sale hookup!    ...