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MUSIC NEWS AND GOSSIP
Three Is A Magic Number: Triple-threat rappers
Mad Axes have a new video out for the track
"Maple Branch." The smooth jam is from the
group's album You Are The Real Monster, and
you can find it in glorious black and white
on Flagpole's music blog, Homedrone (flag-
pole.com/blogs/homedrone). In other news,
Mad Axes has a new album slated for a sum
mer release that's being busily finished up,
although it remains untitled for now. There's
also a new album upcoming under the name
Hammer Squadron, which includes all of Mad
Axes, Tom Television (Future Ape Tapes),
Sawmill Slang, Mochasage, SOHI and DJ Triz.
No clue yet as to when that'll be released.
I was about to make a smart-ass comment
regarding proper squadrons versus the number
of artists actually participating, and then I
realized I don't know a damn thing about any
type of squadron. So I'll just lead you toward
madaxes.bandcamp.com and let you chew on
that for a while.
Friday Night Lights: The gritty Southern rock
ers in Holy Liars will wrap up a residency this
week at Flicker Theatre & Bar, where they've
performed the previous two Fridays. In pure
residency style, they've been hammering out
some new songs, relaxing with some cover
tunes and inviting some guests to join them.
This is all kind of a big deal considering
the band hasn't played live in about a year.
But it's been busy remixing its 2010 album,
Dirtbag, with Clay Leverett guesting on vocals
and additional instrumentation, in anticipa
tion of a digital release. The last time to catch
the group during its Flicker stay is Friday, May
17, when it shares the bill with Woodfangs.
If you've never caught Holy Liars before and
wanna grab a taste of what you can expect,
head to youtube.com/holyliars, tip your hat
and say hey.
Kick Out The Jams: Sometimes the sweetest
stuff happens at just the last minute. I got
a wild tip on brand new Athens band The
Honey Sliders just as this issue was going to
bed and, damn, I'm glad we held the press.
Composed of bassist Larry Aquaviva, guitar
ist Steve Hunter and Columbia, SC drummer
Charles "CJ" Russell, this trio of veterans
has exactly one gig under its belt. But that
belt is a big oT leathery rock and roll master
whip. I called Hunter to get the full scoop.
"It's Larry's band, [but] we worked together
for about six months before we found CJ. It's
this fat sound that just happens. A wall of
sound. Like a wall of very warm, fat sound
with a lot of energy behind it." I immediately
made mental references to old Athens rockers
Refuse Factory, Cleveland's The Styrenes and
even a little MC5. There are no solid recording
plans, because group members want to get "at
least a dozen gigs done before [they] think
about that." Live show website patchndent.
com recorded the band's debut gig, but it's
not posted just yet, so keep clicking there
until it is. There's one video posted over at
youtube.com/neobandsathens if you wanna
check that out, too.
Five Guys: Athens supergroup Seize Novembre
released a a couple of digital singles back
in June and July 2012 and then... nothing!
Except, now, each song???"Win You" and "Ah,
Merde"???occupies a side on a brand new
7-inch single. The first 50 copies are avail
able exclusively at the Project Safe Thrift
Store on Hawthorne Avenue. After that,
it'll presumably be available elsewhere, but
those first 50 copies have got to go first. The
group includes Jon Lester (Radio:Tahiti),
David Barbe, Patrick Ferguson (Five Eight),
Steve Fitzpatrick (Unus Mundus) and Kevin
Sweeney (Hayride). You can try to stream the
tracks at seizenovembre.com, but I couldn't
get them going. They were more easily lis
tened to at at youtube.com/rtejon.
>??? White Punks On Hope: Although now split
between here, Tennessee and Mississippi, the
remorseless punk rockers in Dead Dog still
point their chins toward the sky and say "Yes
we can!" as often as possible. To wit, the band
has its third album at the pressing plant right
now. It was recorded over a two year period
Dead Dog
in Bloomington, IN and is reportedly taking
forever to get back, so bandmembers are mak
ing homemade copies on CD-Rs and cassettes
and will sell those on the road as placeholders
for the actual vinyl. Then they'll just mail the
records out when they're back, because why
lose only a few dollars on tour when you can
lose all the dollars on tour? The new LP is to
be released on Dead Broke Rekerds, to boot!
Please see deadbrokerecords.com if you don't
believe me. All jibes aside, though, I've always
thought of Dead Dog as one of the premier
melodic bands in Athens. It'll kick off its tour
May 31 at Farm 255, which also happens to
be the band's first show since September. It's
kind of a knockout bill, too, with Portland,
OR's The Woolen Men (woolenmen.bandcamp.
com), Brooklyn's Lame Drivers and Athens'
Eureka California. Dead Dog will be on the
road for almost three weeks, hitting a lot of
the Midwest and Texas and a bit of the deep
South.
A Man For All Seasons: The kudos of the year,
at least so far, go out to Athens teacher and
musician Jim Willingham (Old Smokey, Haml)
for his selfless bravery in rescuing three
Oglethorpe Elementary students from a
potentially deadly rip current on Tybee Island
May 1. The students were on a 4-H Club trip
and were allowed to wade into the water up
to knee level, but the current pulled six of
them into deeper waters. "It was crazy," says
Willingham. "Two counselors dove in, I dove
in and another teacher, Sarah Lewis, dove in.
The last kid I pulled out only had his head
sticking out, and my arms were going numb by
that point. He pulled me under for a minute,
but I was able to get him to shore and give
him mouth to mouth resuscitation." All six
kids were rescued, with four being admitted
to an area hospital. (They have since been
released.) When asked how he was coping, Jim
said, "I'm doing pretty good. I had a car wreck
about a month ago, and it was really rough. I
started swimming a bunch since then, because
it was easier on my legs. I used to be a life
guard and a competitive swimmer. [But] it
was weird. It was one of those God moments,
where you just get this strength. It's like
wow. I'm here for a reason. I started swim
ming for a reason. I feel a little redeemed.
Like a renewed [sense of] purpose." Hats off,
Jim!
Gordon Lamb threatsandpromises@flagpole.com
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