Paging Dr. Beat

Boris, Touché Amoré, State Power, N8NOFACE, The Cure and more

Greetings from somewhere in SoCal!

Once again I’m on my way to LA. This time it’s for the event at Clifton’s Republic in DTLA tonight to support the launch of The Witch’s Door, the book I collaborated on with Ryan Matthew Cohn and Regina M. Rossi.

I’ll be back in LA this weekend for the Oddities Flea Market at Avalon. It’s also a ticketed event but if you’re planning on being there, let me know.

It’s a stunner of a book and the stories are incredible. If you are a collector of any kind and/or have an unusual relationship with stuff like records or books The Witch’s Door is for you.

Do you have any questions about the book?

Is there anything you’d like to know? Shoot me an email or ask in the comments and I’ll be happy to answer your questions.

Today I want to share some music that I’ve been listening to.

Last week I told you I was going to see Boris, the Japanese noise band, play their album Amplifier Worship in its entirety. Well, I lied. I bought the ticket when I was in Tennessee, starving for social interaction of any kind, but the show was the day after I returned from LA and I was exhausted and I didn’t go. I’m bummed because I’m still listening to the record and now there’s a reissue available from Third Man Records. Small consolation but I’ll take it.

Touché Amoré has a new record coming out and they’ve released a pair of singles. One of the new tracks, “Hal Ashby,” is named after the iconic ‘70s filmmaker but the song reminds me of something I can’t quite put my finger on. A little bit of late Jawbreaker in the guitar. A little bit of Grabass Charlestons, maybe? Help me out here…

Norman Brannon has an interview with the singer coming tomorrow at Anti-Matter, which he teases here. Last week Brannon recommended the new EP by Holland’s State Power “The Year of the Harvest” and it’s a crusher:

N8NOFACE, fresh of his Loserville tour with Fred Durst and Corey Feldman, is coming back to San Diego in December. He dropped this EP right before the tour and it’s a hypnotic swirl of stripped down synths and lyrics dripping with danger.

Speaking of tinny synthesizers, I can’t be the only one who got swept up in the Budots dance hit “Emergency” that samples Gloria Estefan.

No? It’s just me? Your loss. Have you listened to the new song by The Cure? If the answer is no, you may not be emotionally prepared for this. It’s like the Cocteau Twins went off their meds and started writing depressing come-down music. In the words, it’s pretty great.

I’ll leave you with something completely different: Western Massachusetts’s Animal Piss, It’s Everywhere. It’s late afternoon at the state fair and the beer taps won’t turn off and the space cowboy band starts to sound like Kurt Vile on a booze cruise. Hat tip to the great Tony Rettman for the recommendation.

Thanks for reading! If you liked this newsletter you might also like my latest novel Make It Stop, or the paperback edition of Corporate Rock Sucks: The Rise & Fall of SST Records, or my book with Bad Religion, or my book with Keith Morris. I have more books and zines for sale here. And if you’ve read all of those, consider preordering my latest collaboration The Witch’s Door and the anthology Eight Very Bad Nights.

Message from the Underworld comes out every Wednesday and is always available for free, but paid subscribers also get my deepest gratitude and Orca Alert! on most Sundays. It’s a weekly round-up of links about art, culture, crime, and killer whales.