HELL BENT FOR LEATHER TERROR.
Posted on March 30, 2022 2 Comments
If there was ever a time when synthwave music needed a good ol’ fashioned beatdown, it’s right now. Don’t get me wrong, I cherish the dreamy/psyche/neon-swirling sounds that so many have mastered to perfection these days, but sometimes we need a dip in the darkness. It’s a refreshing feeling to wander down the seedy back alleys and find the gritty stuff like Carpenter Brut’s new album ‘LEATHER TERROR’. These twelve tracks are a nuclear reminder that synth music can be heavy, violent, uplifting and danceable all at once.
From the rebirth of this genre some years ago, the projects that really stick out are the ones that take you someplace else. Exotic locations. Forbidden lands. It’s very visual music. You’re lured into a new world and distracted from the bombardment of content, screens and nonsense around you. It demands your attention and keeps you thirsty for more.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed what Carpenter Brut has done over the years in terms of creating a series of absolutely killer songs and concept albums that exist in a world of Italian horror, post-apocalyptic landscapes and heavy metal high school attitude. I’m thrilled to report that I’ve heard the new album, LEATHER TERROR and they’ve taken us on another nasty 3am car ride with Bret Halford at the wheel.
Yes, LEATHER TERROR is a continuation of the story of that dastardly dude Bret Halford who we were introduced to on 2018’s ‘Leather Teeth’ album. While that record was more glam rock in spirit and cleaner sounding at certain points in the tracklisting, now the tables have turned and Bret is out for blood. Literally. These twelve tracks tell the story of a serial killer on the rise who wants to take revenge on all those who mistreated him when he was younger. Back with a vengeance!
From the opening Robocop stomp of “Opening Title” into the Giorgio Moroder-joins-Megadeth number “Straight Outta Hell”, we’ve already ventured into new, deadlier-than-ever territory. CB have always flirted with heavier sounds and atmospheres, but this is opening up a new portal and beefing up the synths to rival the gnarlyness of most twin guitar attacks (without the use of actual guitars). This level of massive synth distortion took me off guard for a moment, but then I realized it’s because I haven’t heard this be done before. Major props to them for breaking new ground in the genre and perhaps even heavy metal itself.
A number of guest vocalists collaborate on the next few tracks, which take CB’s sound in a new direction while sounding more massive than ever. Ex-Dillinger Escape Plan singer Greg Puciato brings a new dimension on “Imaginary Fire” which feels like something plucked from the New Romantic-era but bathed in blood.
Other highlights from the album include the tracks “Day Stalker” into “Night Stalker” which will make fans of the previous albums very happy. “Paradisi Gloria” is maybe the most cinematic feast he’s made since the first EP. It will bring you back to black-gloved killers creeping around aerobic studios under Dario Argento lighting. This is Carpenter Brut firing on all cylinders and doing what they do best. I can’t help but visualize what the live shows will be like.
Speaking of live shows, the band will be hitting the road soon for a big US & European tour. For an Uncle like me who likes to float between rock shows and disco nights, the seamless blend of both of those genres in a live setting was a serious experience. People dancing. People headbanging. On paper it doesn’t make sense but go experience yourself and you’ll see.
‘LEATHER TERROR’ arrives Friday, April 1st
DONNY BENÉT.
Posted on March 8, 2022 1 Comment
The world needs to be talking more about Donny Benet. After all, he’s the smoothest man in music today and his disco-lounge compositions are goddamned exceptional. In a music scene filled with people trying to emulate a sound of the past, Donny glimmers and grooves high above the rest. He carries an air of authenticity that is so rare when comparing with most of his genre contemporaries.
Uncle Don keeps things light and humorous but there’s a genuine layer to what he does and it’s this very thing that sets him apart. Plus, his silky basslines are the sultriest I’ve heard in decades…
Now let’s talk about the look. The head of hair on this iconic human being is something not many could ever dream of pulling off. Donny seems to do it with effortless ease. When I first watched the above music video, I almost fell out of my seat. Was this guy cryogenically frozen in 1983 and thawed out thirty years later? Not only does he posses the look, but he’s got the energy and songs to back it up. We are almost not worthy,
I had the pleasure of catching one of his live shows last weekend during the start of his US tour. He didn’t bring his backing band so you could say it was more of an intimate evening with The Don. Just him wearing a brown leisure suit and a synth thingy he had plugged in, crooning to the crowd for 90 minutes. The audience erupted in a dance frenzy from start to finish.
While Donny’s had great success in his native land of Australia as well as in Europe, he still isn’t on everyone’s radar like he should be. Hell, I just found out about him about a year ago from my good friend Mike Ballermann.
I cannot recommend highly enough picking up his last two albums The Don (2018) and Mr. Experience (2020). Then watch ALL his music videos. If you don’t admire Donny Benet after that, I simply cannot connect with you on any emotional, intellectual, spiritual or mental level. Goodbye.
Lyrically Donny tackles all the appropriate subjects. Passion, romance, seduction, exotic destinations, food.
— 2022 US & CANADA DATES —
10 Mar Turf Club, Minneapolis, MN
11 Mar Lincoln Hall, Chicago, IL
12 Mar Globe Hall, Denver, CO
13 Mar Larimer Lounge, Denver, CO
15 Mar Echoplex, Los Angeles, CA
16 Mar Independent, San Francisco, CA
18 Mar Wonder Ballroom, Portland, OR
19 Mar The Crocodile, Seattle, WA
20 Mar Imperial, Vancouver, BC
‘HEAVY WEEPERS’ PLATINUM PLAYLIST.
Posted on February 11, 2022 2 Comments
As a wise man from a Monster Ballads commercial once said, “every bad boy has a soft side”.
Power ballads, monster ballads, tearjerkers, panty droppers, heavy weepers. Whatever you call them, they are without question an important part of music history and we as a society don’t talk about them enough. Shame on us.
It’s actually not that the genre within a genre isn’t talked about enough, rather not in the right regard. For many of our favorite artists these particular songs were the exact ones that catapulted them to massive success. For even the harder-hitting tough guys of the scene, it wasn’t happening for them until “the ballad” made them darlings of MTV and kept their record on the charts for weeks and months. It took many of them several singles and albums before they finally broke with a love song.
Make no mistake, there were plenty of clunkers and bad eggs. When things got too poufy and sappy, lines were blurred and suddenly these “rock bands” actually weren’t doing any rocking (see: the Nelson twins). These songs could be painful to listen to at times, but for all the bad there was still plenty of POWER. Heavy metal ballads tailor-made for long nights, going all the way, senior prom, beach sunsets or a recently divorced dad cruise-controlling down the road at 35mph in his ’87 Cutlass with a cigarette in one hand and a tear on one cheek.
In honor of Valentine’s Day coming up, we thought instead of making a usual TNUC mixtape, how about just a monstrous, heavily lubricated, long-lasting, ribbed for her pleasure, platinum playlist of HEAVY WEEPERS to help you through the intimate times. The 100-song playlist is available through Apple Music and YouTube. Just click the big red play button! *Bonus videos on the YouTube version below*
Many of the super obvious ballads didn’t make the cut (November Rain, More Than Words, To Be With You) because I think we’ve been clobbered over the head with those enough. Everything else though, was fair game. You’ll hear anthems of power love that haven’t seen the light of day in a very long time, as well as favorites to revisit.
So on one of these upcoming nights, take a drive to “the point” on top of the hill, past the big water tower. Set that baby in park, ease the seat back, crack open a Whitman’s Chocolate Sampler, that 6-pack of High Life, get the HEAVY WEEPERS PLATINUM PLAYLIST going and give your partner the look. You know the one.
Call 1-900-UNCLE-T today to order Volume One. *Don’t ask your parents. Just buy it!*
TOP OF THE HILL MIX.
Posted on January 27, 2022 4 Comments
They say you never forget the first time you fall in love. For me it was at Squaw Valley during the winter of ’91. The air was cold and passions were hot. I never did catch her name.
That year I trained for Squaw Valley’s annual ‘Downhill Invitational’ like I’d never trained for anything in my life. Dumping my life savings into training regimens and expensive gear, while neglecting my own family and friends because my fight to the top was so pivotal. At no point during this focused determination did I realize that all of my hard work and discipline would be completely wiped away once I got a glimpse of that bare long-butt racing down the mountain.
The day started at 10:00 am — the sound of the gun going off at the starting line felt like ice in my veins. I was off like a Japanese bullet train, pummeling down the double-black diamond trail like 185 pounds of cold-blue steel and sex appeal. Nobody could catch me. At this point when my confidence level couldn’t have been any higher, suddenly everything came to a screeching halt when a beautiful figure was directly in my path like a desert oasis. I dropped to my knees in the snow.
A perfectly tanned, glistening long-butt was tearing down the mountain in front of me. Not just a long-butt, but a perfectly carved, chiseled-by-the-Gods, impervious to cold temperatures long-butt. My eyes and my heart started to simultaneously ache. I began short circuiting from sensory overload. Now helpless from its power, I had no choice but to follow this immaculate, natural beauty. At certain times she would look back at me and either wink or tip her shades down to see if I was still there. Questions entered my mind. Where did she come from? Why wasn’t she wearing any pants? Was I still in this race? Then I realized quickly…none of it mattered.
I looked back and remembered I had been competing in the invitational. By this time I had veered way off the trail due this horny vortex. I was caught in a web of mountaintop-long-butt fantasies (something I didn’t know existed). “Just hold on tight and enjoy the ride” I told myself.
When I approached the bottom after carving slopes at nearly 200 miles per hour– steamrolling through trees, moguls and any obstacle in my path — the long-butt-lady and I crashed into each other. We tumbled down the hill while taking out spectators, judges, advertisement banners and some small children. We locked eyes, saxophone started playing out of the PA system and she said something in another language that I didn’t understand. At that point nothing else mattered. We rode the enclosed ski lift for the rest of the afternoon and never got off until sunset. Windows were steamy.
TNUC’s TOP OF THE HILL mixtape is dedicated to all the fun you can have up on the mountain. Whether it’s throwing back pitchers of beer at the lodge or getting steamy in the hot tub with a lady friend, this mixtape will turn up the heat and get you out of the cold!
*A massive thank you Chad Allegro, Dan Gray (for the artwork!), Warren Miller, Dave Marshak, Squirrel Murphy and The Fantasy Inn in Tahoe City for their hospitality*
REST EASY, MR. TANNER.
Posted on January 10, 2022 Leave a Comment
This week Bob Saget passed away at only 65 years old and and the sudden loss reverberates tremendously in the Land of TNUC.
Mr. Tanner (or Danny) earned the title of “America’s Dad” and if you grew up religiously watching TGIF on Friday nights in the early 1990’s, you probably agree. To me, he will always be remembered as the ultimate dorky dad. Either you could relate with your own father or you had a friend’s dad who had Danny Tanner-isms. A neurotic clean freak, nervous about everything, too many sweaters and probably has a few Yanni CD’s in front of the home stereo system.
Full House was always a show with endless cornball moments, but no one can deny the charming dynamic between those characters. Three middle aged guys, vastly different from one another, raising three girls in one house. Jesse, the renegade rocker who lives in a room with pink bunny wallpaper — Joey, the goofball with a heart bigger than his brain — and Danny, the lanky widower with a vast amount of life lessons.
Every episode of Full House ended with 5 minutes remaining and Danny offering tender advice to someone in the family or a complete stranger. Followed by the heartfelt “ahhhs” from the studio audience. It was a golden recipe and it worked.
To this day Full House remains one of the all-time best comfort shows. Something you can tune into whenever and wherever, especially the times when you don’t feel like having to decide between a movie, multiple streaming networks and seven thousand TV shows. Stop on the channel guide when you see the half hour blocks that say Full House and just sit there.
Of course Bob’s successful career would continue through the decades with America’s Funniest Home Videos, movie directing, stand-up comedy and of course the Fuller House reunion series on Netflix.
When I made this video edit for Fleetwood Mac’s “Family Man” on Father’s Day of last year, it sort of fell on deaf ears and blind eyes. Part of that being because YouTube wouldn’t host it due to copyright issues. Well, I can’t think of a better time to post it again. I hope you disciples enjoy.
Expect to see more Danny Tanner coverage on this site in 2022. Cleaning tips, life lessons, and favorite moments like the time he tried dating a younger girl and almost went to a Slaughter concert.
Our deepest condolences go out to Bob’s family as well as Jesse, Joey and the rest of the San Francisco crew.
Rest easy, Bob Saget and thanks for the memories.
DANCE LIKE DOKKEN.
Posted on January 4, 2022 5 Comments
For the first TNUC article of 2022, I wanted something that will both fry your brain and make you get up out of your seat to jump around the room. This isn’t the time for wallowing in post-holiday season blues. Get ready for a thrill ride.
This dance cover of the all-time classic ripper ‘In My Dreams’ by Dokken came across my desk this week and I pretty much launched out of my chair and coughed up Cooler Ranch Dorito dust all over myself. My initial thought was how am I only NOW finding out about this?! With Dokken being one of TNUC’s most sacred bands, I can’t wrap my head around how this got by me.
I should hate it…but I don’t. Being also a fan of early 90s dance music, this works for me. I wouldn’t trade it for the original song even if I was held at gunpoint, but if this came on inside the club and I was wearing my Z Cavariccis, I would be doing cartwheels across the dancefloor.
Kiddie pop group The Party were created by The Disney Channel and were made up of cast members from The All New Mickey Mouse Club. “The Party” was a backronym for “Positive Attitude Reflects Today’s Youth”!
The group had some moderate success and toured as openers for both Vanilla Ice and Taylor Dayne. Their cover of ‘In My Dreams’ ended up being the band’s biggest hit on the charts, peaking at #34 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #16 on R&R (Radio and Records Chart Top 100). The song would also score the group appearances on shows such as Club MTV, a Disney Channel special titled “Go Party!” and another concert tour — this time with the R&B group Hi-Five.
This probably never happened, but it’s fun to imagine Don Dokken showing up all strung out and pissed off in 1990 for a lunch meeting with members of The Mickey Mouse Club. “Do any of your parents know a good blow dealer?”
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