Linus Pauling Quartet Blog

Our Blog is Moving...

2011-05-12T07:11:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone....

It's still in development right now but we are in the process of slowly moving this over to wordpress on the main LP4 website. Right now we are importing this blog to the new location as well as messing with the look and feel of the site. It's not much to look at now but it's gonna be cool once we are done and, more importantly, we will be better able to blog and update people on what we are doing.
Here is the link:
http://www.worshipguitars.org/LP4/LP4_WordPress/

KTRU Farewell to 40 Years of (Analog) FM Radio

2011-05-12T07:09:00.000-07:00

A last minute show folks.

Come join us this Friday as we say farewell to 40 years of independent student run analog FM radio in Houston. Thankfully the station lives on on KPFT’s HD signal and on the air but there was something magical and wonderful about having a an analog signal that could be heard anywhere and without special equipment. All that aside, it should be a fun show. It’s free, all ages, and it’s gonna be lovely weather at that. Seee you guys there.

Oh man, we have a show on Saturday at Walters

2011-04-28T15:33:00.000-07:00

Sorry folks. We aren't dead, just recording. We've been so zoned into the whole recording process that we've kind of ignored this blog for the last few months. No worries, we'll start posting here more regularly on what we are up to as we have lots of neat stuff coming up. That includes our show on Saturday with super cool fellows stoner rockers, Radio Moscow...

We'll be playing some new songs at the show that we're working on for the new album. Expect lots of heavy riffs and some confusion as some of these songs have parts that are a bit open ended. But hey, we like to play on a wire and the other bands kick ass so see you there.

Oh and keep on the lookout for more posts here as we ramp up for the summer.

Girls Rock Camp benefit this Saturday ar Rudz

2010-12-13T14:52:00.000-08:00

"Oyez, Oyez, Oyez!"

Hark ye lost souls seeking to escape the drudgery of your daily toil by visiting this board, for Saturday marks the day of Girls Rock Camp Houston's Christmas Benefit.

Yeah, for on this very Saturday on the eighteenth day of December in the year of our lord two-thousand and ten at 2010 Waugh Drive and a wee pub dubbed Rudyard's ye shall be visited by three spirits. The first, Omotai, shall crush you with unrelenting Christmas spirit of grinding metal. Weep for mercy ye shall from the blur of notes and the groan of hell's vocals. The second spirit goes by the name of The Anarchitex. Culled from the darkest corners of Houston Punk history it's members boast a lineage unparalleled in this dimension. Surely names like the The Pain Teens, Really Red, and Happy Fingers Institute already chill your very soul. Finally, the final and most frightening apparition will appear as the clock tolls the midnight hour. It's dark shadow long feared by mortals, it's terrifying rock visage shunned by humanity, it's sounds...nothing less than pure horror. I speak to you of The Linus Pauling Quartet. At stake is your very soul for their cause is a worthy one - a benefit for young women who simply have one wish for Christmas, one very simple and innocent wish, the kind of wish that children pray for as they fall asleep at night - the dream of ROCKING THE FUCK OUT!

Yeah, in fact there will be no cover at the appointed locale but donations will be taken all night ($7 -$10 but you can give more) and your monetary contribution will help fund musical equipment needs such as instruments - lutes, fifes, bladder pipes, rauschpfeifes, sacbuts - strings, plugs for the ears, amplification systems, materials and supplies for non-musical workshops, and scholarships for families who cannot afford to pay the full tuition to attend the camp.

Therefore, I implore your kind assistance. Grab thine red and gold robe, white breeches, black boots and a tricorne hat, head for the square with thine bell and announce this event from every town square and ask people one simple question, "Old Dirty Bastard was for the children, are you?"

Thank you,
Screaming Lord Highmiddlebottom VonRock and Heavy Friends

Girls Rock Camp Houston Christmas Benefit - Saturday, December 18, 2010

2010-12-02T11:24:00.001-08:00

You know what Santa digs?
Rock and Roll!
Rock and Roll played by Girls!!!
So what better way to get on his good side than to help Girls Rock Camp Houston's 2011 program.

Saturday December 18th at Rudyard's we will have the crushing and unrelenting might of Omotai, the action packed all-star team of the Anarchitex (with members of The Pain Teens, Really Red, Happy Fingers Institute, etc etc. etc.) and The Linus Pauling Quartet (that would be us) playing selections from the upcoming 2011 double LP Bag of Hammers largely because we forget how to play the old stuff after a while.

There will be no cover but we will be taking donations all night. We suggest something like $7 -$10 but you can give more.

Your monetary contribution will help fund musical equipment needs (such as instruments, amps, PAs, guitar strings, ear plugs, etc.), materials and supplies for non-musical workshops, and scholarships for families who cannot afford to pay the full tuition to attend the camp. Happy Holidays.

Tonight (Tuesday 11/09/2010) Live on KTRU 91.7fm

2010-11-09T15:46:00.000-08:00

Tonight on the KTRU local show
(8 - 10pm central standard time)
It's The Linus Pauling Quartet!!!

Yes, fans of guitar string frequency oscillation - tonight is your night. The Linus Pauling Quartet will be playing The KTRU Local Show and we guarantee such exciting fare as:

* 82.41 Hz
* 110.00 Hz
* 146.83 Hz
* 196.00 Hz
* 246.94 Hz
* 329.63 Hz

Yes, hear flat or sharp guitars constantly increasing or decreasing their oscillations in a vain attempt to reach and maintain these ideal frequencies!

BONUS DVD features include:
* feel the rush of dirty pots on wah pedals squeaking!!!
* experience Mexican radio through a Vox amp!!!
* marvel at vocal mic feedback!!
* hear such classic catch phrases as "Is this in Drop-D?" and "How does this song go again?"
* your mind will be blown with erratic tempo shifts, solos in the wrong key, and epic string breakage!!!

The Linus Pauling Quartet - Live In Joe Mathlete's Living Room

2010-10-22T12:47:00.000-07:00

This project was a bit delayed as we'd hoped to have it done in time for Tonystock but alas, we are Linus and things just get done whenever they get done ya know? ...because well...hell... we're just complicated, OK? Anyhow, thing is we missed that deadline but also intended this for Joe's "in the living room series" and Joe finally published it on the 29-95 website today.

I can't recall what songs we recorded that day but I do recall it ended after we went into a cover of Can's "Sunshine Girl" that ended the set with guitars in need of a visit to the guitar tech. Unfortunately Joe's main camera's batteries gave out but somewhere out there the footage awaits release. What we do have is three songs - 40oz (from ATAL), Hamburger Girl (from Immortal Chinese Classics), and a medley of The Linus Theme and Mournebong (also from the first album) - performed in a low key setting with bongos and acoustic guitars.

So, check out the link below and see if you can guess which member of the LP4 doesn't know how to play Stairway to Heaven.

29-95.com: Live from Joe Mathlete's living room: Linus Pauling Quartet

Album Release for Horns of Ammon is tomorrow!!!!

2010-10-22T12:26:00.001-07:00

Well hell,

Here it is Friday afternoon and we have two shows tomorrow for the new album Horns of Ammon. The cover is made by our good friend Chris Cascio and we're pretty stoked. As Larry put it, we're hosing down the vault before moving on to the new material (that we hope to have released early in 2011 under the name Bag of Hammers) and so Horn of Ammon is really a bunch of songs that we really are proud of but because of tracking and/or time limits never made it on previous releases and since they were all written between C6 and ATAL, it represents a period where we were experimenting with vocals and melody as opposed to just guitar riffing and so they seem to kind of fit together style and mood wise. And for fun we threw-in "HAWG!!!" which if you missed the original 13 CD-R edition, here is your second chance to enjoy this 11 minute 2 chord Biker classic.

Anyhow, here is the cover for the new album:

As for the shows,

Well, it should be pretty awesome. We've got a day show at Cactus where local brewery St. Arnold's will providing free err... refreshments. Then in the evening we'll be playing over on the Kohn's garage roof with the downtown skyline behind us. Plus, we'll have our good friends Chris Cascio, Hearts of Animals, and The Mathletes performing as well. It's all free and we'll have copies of the new CD for sale.

3:00PM
Cactus Music in-store (Free)
Linus Pauling Quartet

----AND-----

7:00-10:00PM (Free)
On the Khon’s Garage Roof
2808 Milam

9:00pm Linus Pauling Quartet
8:00pm The Mathletes
7:30pm Hearts Of Animals
7:00pm Chris Cascio

PS. Our good friends Giant Princess are also having a record release on the same day over at Fitzgerald's. We plan on heading over after our show and you should too. Here is a link for the full details over at Indie Houston.

Album release Poster

2010-09-28T11:19:00.000-07:00

Hi friends,

We're a bit behind on our blogging and we promise we'll catch up with a what we did over the summer post soon but for now here is the poster for our upcoming record release.

The Linus Pauling Quartet tonight on KTRU - Rice's besieged student run station

2010-08-24T16:24:00.000-07:00

We will be performing with a host of other local bands tonight on the KTRU local show. For those outside of Houston who are unaware, Rice University has quietly negotiated for the sale of the Student Run Radio Station over the summer while the students were away. KTRU has been an invaluable part of the community and... in particular the music community in Houston. Exposing listeners to artists that would otherwise not have a way to reach their audience. To kill the station after 40 years of broadcasting would be a huge loss for the city and given the secretive manner in which the deal was handled, a sad day for students at Rice University.

Please be so good as to check out SaveKTRU.org below and lend your support.

See you guys at 8pm central time on KTRU radio on 91.7fm.
This may be the last time but we hope not.

Egads! 7" is on Youtube...

2010-06-04T11:49:00.001-07:00

Weirdness, we only just released this last week and already the 7" is on Youtube.

First review for the new 7" is in....

2010-05-27T13:51:00.001-07:00

Well it looks like the new single got some love over at Space City Rock. Jeremy Hart wrote:

"...First off, the Quartet’s track, “Monster,” eschews the band’s trademark thundering guitar attack (at least at first) in favor of a hypnotic, raga-sounding drone that brings to mind the Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows,” of all things; definitely not what I was expecting, given the band’s general leanings...

The sitar-esque guitars, the repetitive riffs, the flat, Donovan-sounding vocals — put it all together, and you could be forgiven for thinking you’d slapped on the wrong damn record. But hey, they make it work surprisingly well...

The track comes off like Nick Cave doing some kind of half-sarcastic take on raw garage rock, and it’s frighteningly addictive."

You can read the full review at Space City Rock

Thanks Jeremy. We're glad you liked it.

Linus Pauling Quartet/ST37 Split 7" Release shows in Austin and Houston (5/28 & 5/29)

2010-05-08T08:07:00.000-07:00

Hide your women! Hide your children! Long has it been since its horrendous visage has fouled a stage, yet much like C'thulu, The LP4 rises again this month!

The LP4's return shall be marked by the arrival of small polyvinyl chloride discs containing new musical incantations. Etched into this disc will be Monster, a song that will send aurally induced psychedelic visions of such frightening depths that words are rendered useless. The disc will also include a track by Austin's ST37 who have created their own interpretation of Helios Creed's Lactating Purple that will cause such psychotroic harm to your cerebral cortex that you may spend the rest of your days as a drooling madman. [Update] And yes, ~~both the events~~ the Houston event will render unto you a free copy of the split 7" single. The Austin event will not render you a free 7" but there will be no cover.

On hand for this blackest of evenings will be Golden Cites (5/29 in Houston) and Book of Shadows (5/28 in Austin) both of which should send shudders from an instinctual subconscious fear that has lurked deep in our species since its earliest days.

The locations are no less frightful and mysterious. In Houston, the site is Rudyard's British Pub whose dark wooden interior hides a dark secret - a secret so dark that few dare speak its name but for the primitives of the Montrose who are known to mutter Rudzburger is fearful tones. Meanwhile, the Austin locale is no less a source of terror. I could explain to you what unspeakable acts occurred there but you would mistake my utterances for those of a lunatic. Yet, I believe its name alone speaks volumes to this indescribable horror - Cheer Up Charlie's.

Heed this warning mortals and behold the poster art below! The time is nigh upon us!

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!

Houston Show ($7 includes 7" Single)

Austin Show (Free but does not includes 7" Single)

(art by Orion Medina-Guerrero 8 yrs)

Split 7" Artwork Revealed and Two Release Shows Announced

2010-05-04T11:24:00.001-07:00

We commissioned artist Eli Sebastian Brumbaugh to illustrate our upcoming split 7" with ST 37. Below is the lovely and intricate final result of his labors and, needless to say, we are pretty thrilled. We've sent the full-resolution versions over to our good friends over at I Heart U who will be making a screen for us. We will then take the screen and hand-screen the covers ourselves in various lovely colors.

If all goes as planned with United Records, (and it looks like it will since we just got the test pressing today) you will be able to hold one of these in your hands when you attend one of our two 7" release shows in May. The first is on Friday 28 May at Cheer Up Charlie's in Austin and the second is on Saturday 29 May at Rudyards British Pub in Houston. We'll have further details soon.

Thank you Eli.

Yo foo'! Quit yo jubba jabba and check it out!!

2010-03-15T12:32:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's the inner label for the upcoming 7"! Wow!

OK so it's not as exciting as the cover Eli is gonna make for us but this is important because this had to be completed before we could send off the masters to United Record Pressing. Now that it is done, we will be shipping off our stuff to URP this week.

Keep a look out for record release shows in Houston and Austin in the next few months.

The Linus Pauling Quartet's choice for 2012

2010-03-12T12:07:00.001-08:00

Oh HELL yes!

Clinton explains the decision:
"Ramon and I have patched up our political differences with the ultimate Presidential campaign ticket -- NIXON + TYNER! There's something in it for both of us -- Nixon, probably the smartest Prez we've ever had in modern times, his domestic policy was pretty liberal for a Republican yet still market-oriented, tough but realistic about foreign policy, and completely and utterly corrupt. Tyner - drug addled, woman chasing pseudo-revolutionary spewing random word salad and wearing rhinestone spandex and a fro the size of the Hindenburg.

Their campaign motto?

TRICKY DICK OUT THE JAMS, MOTHERFUCKERS!!!!"

The LP4 Dry Erase Board

2010-03-04T06:10:00.000-08:00

We are all pretty excited, since Larry bought a new dry erase board. I don't know about most folks but for me, when yr. just figuring out an arrangement, it's good to have some kind of simple visual reference to follow until you have it all finalized. So, to give you a peek at the mind of Linus, here are two songs we are working on:

Star Chimp

Crom

New album cover????

2010-02-12T04:35:00.000-08:00

'K maybe not.

We're in the usual round of coming up with a title for our next album. Now the late 2010 heavy-duty album's title, Bag Of Hammers, is a pretty done deal but the one we plan to release before that one was still up in the air. Most everyone liked The Many Moods of Linus which was Clinton's nod to Throbbing Gristle. I threw in my two cents and said I thought that the neo-lounge thing was a bit old hat even though I know that was not Clinton's point of reference for the title. Anyhow, the usual discussion then took place and as Linus discussions go, they go south. In this case Dirty South as Clinton finally trumped us all with this:

So Long story short...

The Many Moods of Linus it is.

2010

2010-01-04T13:07:00.000-08:00

It's chill time here for the LP4. As you can see from the photo, Steve Finley is off skiing. The rest of us, meanwhile, have been taking time off to enjoy the holidays and, in the interim 29-95.com listed All Things Are Light as one of Houston's top 100 albums of the decade. But fear not, we are not resting on our laurels. As we mentioned in our last post, we're moving forward with a hella lotta activity in 2010.

Yes, you may have been lulled into complacency in 2009 but, much like Cthulu, the LP4 has only been quietly biding it's time - waiting for the right time in which to rise from the depths.

Hide your women, hide your children: we are Linus!

Happy New Year, friends and fans alike!

Hi friends, we've been a bit busy since our last post.

2009-10-16T14:45:00.000-07:00

Hi LP4 fans,

As you can see by the image of HAM we've lately been obsessed with the idea of space chimps for no good goddamn reason. In our research on we ran across this article from TimesOnline.com that chronicled how sadly our heroic chimp-o-nauts have had it over the years. Luckily, Save the Chimps has been doing some good work and you can even adopt a chimp. We particularly like Gromek the chimp because he has bad-ass name so expect that name to appear in some lyric at some point.

At this point, you are likely asking "Sure primates in space are cool but what else have you guys been up to?" OK then...

Well, we've been pretty busy in the studio lately and so haven't been out playing shows or much else. We did have a chance to open for Shonen Knife on November 9th at Mangos (Larry and I are huge fans) but once we realized it had become a four band bill on a Monday night we thought it would best for everyone concerned to not clog up the bill with four bands and so we gracefully bowed out. Still, if you are in Houston you should definitely check out the show, we'll be there (of course off the stage).

Personal commitments forced us to have to cancel our playing two excellent festivals (This fall's Block Party on November 14th and 15th and a cool psych fest being put on by our friends at Golden Cities on December 5th). Sadly, it doesn't look like we're going to play any shows before year's end which is a shame because shows are always fun.

On the bright side, we have been pretty productive in the studio.

We have a split 7" with our good friends ST37 that we hope to have out early next year. The song we've picked is one called "Monster" which is pretty much what you'd expect when people say "Texas Psych" and ST37 are doing a cover of Helios Creeds' "Lactating Purple." We're looking at a run of like 300 with silk screened covers (prepared and designed by a local artist and screened by ourselves).

We also expect to have a CD album of odds and sods we've had kicking around for some time in the spring of 2010. It's stuff that was mainly recorded and written between Killing You With Rock and All Things Are Light. The material is a lot more focused on melody than just chimpy guitar riffs so if you are expecting the muscle riffs of ATAL you may be disappointed beyond the re-issue of HAWG!. That said it's solid stuff and if you've kept up with our myspace you've likely heard older mixes and recordings of songs like "Porno In the sink" (which we re-recorded with a drunken piano part that's pretty aces).

Add to that the fact that we are looking at releasing a full length LP by the end of 2010 of all new material. If you are in Houston you've likely heard some of the material live but some of it is stuff that is still in the gestation stage of songwriting. The material though seems to be along the lines of ATAL in terms of the heavy riffage. If You've heard the demo of "She Did Not Know" on our Myspace you'll know what to expect.

And as for recent press...

Pauling On Line: The Good folks at this blog devoted to our favorite scientist gave us a passing mention in this article which was an epic thrill for us: Clarifying Three Widespread Quotes

The Examiner: Trevor Wallace wrote a nice interview with us: The Linus Pauling Quartet: space, dope, monkeys and D & D

Astral Headspace: The folks here dug back and gave their (you could say belated) top 10 albums of 2007 and All Things are Light scored the bronze: All Things Are Light - Linus Pauling Quartet #3. Thanks guys, that's awful nice.

Here is a post for You Tube that they made for "Waiting For the Axe To Fall":

Well that is all friends.

And so Clinton came down from the mountain with these 5 commandments.

2009-07-30T07:02:00.001-07:00

Here is an excerpt from an e-mail conversation Clinton and I had yesterday in which Clinton lays out the 5 commandments of Linus.

Here are some things that LP4 members should NOT do:

1) Give guitars to women. Especially vintage guitars. No good can ever come of this.

2) Text women during practice, even during exceptionally long and tedious guitar solos by one's bandmates

3) Avoid load-out so they can get some booty

4) Go to see highly questionable shows just because some woman they are into is there

and ESPECIALLY

5) Give up drinking for any reason other than avoiding imminent, massive organ failure - and even then, it comes up for a vote

These Principles have stood the force of time, reinforced by the Wisdom of all, and continuing to flout them will undoubtedly result in exceptionally Bad Karma.

We're playing Saturday August 1st with ST37 & Giant Princess! Come on Out!

2009-07-21T12:59:00.000-07:00

Poster By Lindsey Simard
(Right click to enlarge)

Hey comic book fans, you may recognize the artwork above as being that of Lindsey Simard of the KTRU Post-Punk Show as well as the much beloved Weak Highlights comix. Colorful awesomeness isn't it! The show itself should be just as awesome. We've got the ever bad-ass Giant Princess opening the show who are a band that sound like what an Indie-Pop band would sound like if they ever were on International Artists. I personally really love the song Adventure and it's almost obscene to have them open given how balls out their live shows are. In Headlining Middle slot (this is Houston after all and nobody wants to play last) is Austin's Psych-rock masters ST37. We've played with them a million times over the years but this time should be special as it's their first tour in I believe Five years. I remember driving up to Austin to see their last record release a few years back and all I could say was it was worth the drive. So come on out, set a spell, and enjoy a fine night of music at (our home base) Rudyards.

It's July and we're playing Mangos with Fired For Walking and Novox on the 18th

2009-07-04T06:37:00.000-07:00

Anyhow we had a blast the Harvey Milk/Bolt show last month. Bolt are fast becoming one of the more fun bands in Houston (shamelessly swiping from T-Rex and early Bowie) though arguably the normally excellent sound at Rudz failed them for some reason. I'd seen them three times now and this was the one time they seemed off to me. Hey no worries, I was pretty sick that day with a horrible cold and had to clock in a show. I think that's the first time I'd done that but it was all I could do to just hit the notes given my condition. Playing sick is pretty lame, I tell you what, but the show must go on. It reminds me of a time where I had a hundred degree fever (I later passed out at home I was so sick) and there I was laying on the studio couch as we went over remixes - stupid! Anyhow, I digress, Point is Harvey Milk closed and holy shit were they amazing. Even through all my sickness drama I was still blown away. The band was probably one of the most heavy bands I'd ever seen and the singer sang with a roar that would have made a grizzly stop its charge, cower, and run away. Fucking amazing! I hope they make it back in town and I'm in better health.

That was back in May but this is July and we have a show coming up now that Clinton is back from the EU...
Nice poster huh? One of the Fired For Walking dudes did it. FFW are the band that still carries the 90's torch with flair and Novox are one of Houston's best (if criminally under appreciated) instrumental rock acts. Plus it's at Mangos (my FPH editor and chief's wife's new restaurant/bar/venue) where you can get your vegetarian/vegan on and order at ODB for breakfast or choose between a Castro or Zapatista pizza. Anyhow, see ya there no?

Oh and PS, we're playing with our good buddies ST37 and Giant Princess at Rudyard's on August 1st too so Mark you calendars.

Saturday 23 May 2009 - Harvey Milk, LP4, Bolt, & Ghost Town Electric @ Rudyards

2009-05-20T02:58:00.000-07:00

Yes, we're playing with Athens, GA's heavy Harvey Milk, local cool cats Roky Moon and Bolt (who sound like they absorbed every T-Rex and Bowie record from the early 70's in a good way and thankfully left the corny clothes and make-up behind), and power trio Ghost Town Electric. It's Four Bands so the doors are at 8 with music at starting at 9pm so get there early.

Hope to see you there.

All Things Are Light goes digital

2009-05-15T02:54:00.000-07:00

Yes, all things are light is now available on most music services including EMusic, ITunes, Yahoo Music, La La, and a whole bunch more.

So if you missed out on our vinyl copies here is you chance to score the digital version. and dont forget all the inserts, lyrics, and art are available on the LP's media page.

Monday April 27th - Hearts of Animals VS. The LP4 (Free!!!)

2009-04-14T12:35:00.001-07:00

Hey friends,

I know this show is a Monday but it will run only from 10PM to 12AM so we promise to get you enough sleep to survive work on the following Tuesday. We're gonna be playing at Boondocks with Hearts of Animals, Mlee Suprean, who is both one of my favorite artists and one of my favorite people in the world. Bonus is it will be our friend Carlos Sanchez's birthday (he of of Young Mammals fame). We will debut a new song Clinton wrote called "She did not know" (that you can preview on our Myspace) with all the standard LP4 tropes - heavy guitars and goofy lyrics about bongs. So it's going to be a fun night so come on over.

Oh yes and here is artist Chris Cascio's poster:

Sandy Ewen, Wols, Dogebbi - Sunday 05 April 2009 @ Avant Garden

2009-04-01T12:14:00.000-07:00

(Just a reminder that this Sunday I am helping put on this lovely show.)

Signal To Noise Magazine and Sound Exchange Present:

Sandy Ewen, Wols, and Dogebbi
Sunday 5 April 2009
At Avant Garden
411 WestheimerHouston, TX 77006
832-519-1429
$6.00
7PM -10PM

Sandy Ewen - Employing various tools and techniques, Sandy Ewen coaxes sounds from her guitar that have a fragile fleeting otherworldly beauty. That may be because Austin's Ewen seems to approach the guitar less as an instrument than as a canvas. This is nothing new for fans of her band The Weird Weeds (pictured at left) - a band who Popmatters raves "can make you scratch your head, cover your ears, or dance with abandon. If you let it, though, it can also break your heart.” while Pitchfork describes them as a band that "excel at creating moods and demolishing formulaic songwriting." This evening Ewen will be performing an improvised set of music that will show why Austin 360 calls her an "improvisational guitar wunderkind."

"...seeing such unusual instrumentation used in such a genuine way is a real treat. The bows, bells, and drums littered about the stage were gradually employed to their various effects, yet at no point did anything feel unnecessary. Instead it felt like the joy of experimentation tempered by the hard-headed realism of musical invention. A friend I ran into there who swore he saw her employ an E-bow found out after the show that it was actually a piece of chalk used as a slide." - Tiny Mix Tapes (Weird Weeds review)

Artist Links:Weird Weeds ( http://www.weirdweeds.com/ )
Weird Weeds on Myspace ( http://www.myspace.com/weirdweeds )
Autobus Records ( http://www.autobusrecs.com/?page_id=11 )

Wols- Amye McCarther is one of Houston's most engaging songwriters. Her low-fi cassette recordings are essential examples of how melody, voice, and instrumentation can say more through simplicity and understatement than the most baroque of recordings. Live performances are another matter entirely as, without compromising the emotion and wit of the recordings, she surrounds herself with musicians who add color and texture to expand on the original song structures. By design the musicians - who have included Will Adams (Black Snakes & Kangaroo), Abe Houck (Hungry Villagers), Mlee Suprean (Hearts of Animals), and the lovely guitar work of brother Jake McCarther- perform without rehearsal and follow McCarther's muse to wherever it leads. It's performing without a net to be sure but that openness to the moment is what makes each performance singular and demanding of attention. (Photo John Van)

Wols ( http://www.myspace.com/wolsies )
Bonernap Cassettes ( http://www.myspace.com/bonernapcassettes )

Dogebbi - Michelle Yom incorporates her classical training as a flautist (she received a masters from NYU) with a love for improvisation and takes the flute to places most people would never expect. With a range that encompasses the classical and jazz traditions to the more abstract and experimental, it is music that celebrates the versatility of the instrument and the joy of music's communicative embrace. For this performance, Yom will be performing with Spike The Percussionist (Astrogenic Hallucinauting) a noiz freak who studied under master percussionist Dr. Norman Weinberg. Together, the duo goes by the name Doggebbi - named after a breed of monsters in Korean folklore possessing supernatural powers and a penchant for pulling pranks on humans (transforming themselves into furniture and such). It's an appropriate name for music that overflows with intelligence, energy, and mischievous wit.

Dogebbi (http://www.myspace.com/doggebi)
Michelle Yom ( http://michelleyom.com/ )
Michelle Yom ( http://www.myspace.com/michelleyomflute ) Astrogenic Hallucinauting ( http://www.myspace.com/astrogenic )

Westheimer Block Party!!!

2009-03-31T06:30:00.000-07:00

Well we played the Westheimer Block Party this past Saturday and it was an interesting experience. I mean we've played festivals but they always seem to be indoors and we've played outdoors before but that was someone's backyard. This was outside, on a fairly wide stage with monitors and the whole shebang. So this was new territory for us and while we had a great time it was, shall we say, ~~not our best live performance~~ err... I mean it approached the godhead of musical experiences.

Still, despite ~~that whole train wreck of a show~~ the tedious crush of fans and adulation, we had a good time and a dude - who I think may be one of the Valient Thorr dudes or a damn good doppelganger - said he really dug it and someone told me a bunch of pot smokers also dug it too. So, go figure, stoners and heavy rockin' bearded dudes liked our set to at least some degree.

But lets look at the LP4 show elements in detail here:

A. Huge throng of onlookers bowing to our greatness. Clearly awed by our mighty rock.
B. What may seem like an empty 10 foot gap between band and audience is really where the time space singularity (caused by our volume) exists. Any audience member foolish enough to step too close would be sucked up into another dimension.
C.1 Not poor fashion sense, I am merely ahead of my time. Right now this may appear to be a fashion disaster but I am already told that Muccia Prada's fall line up will be following my lead.
C.2 What may have sounded like an out of tune guitar to the common person is actually a rebellion against the oppressive wohl temperiert 12 note per octave scale. Fuck Bach!
D. Charlie studied with George Balanchine and here is putting his years of rigorous dance instruction to the test. This move is known as "la singe."
E. Beer is what fuels this engine.
F. For legal reasons, I can't say what powers this engine.
G. It's not that we rushed our soundcheck and therefore Clinton couldn't hear the rest of the band. No not at all, it is that his tone is so perfect as to cause all other sounds to be phased out.

Yes, that's right if you missed this show we were freaking awesome and boy did you miss out!*

Thanks Omar and the Free press for having us,
We had fun

*On the other hand, if you saw the show - our sincerest apologies

January 31st 2009 - MV & EE, LP4 and WOLS!!! (with Eli Brumbaugh Poster)

2009-01-09T07:46:00.000-08:00

WOW! Artist Eli Brumbaugh did this poster for us and we think it's jaw dropping! To really appreciate this poster I suggest you click on the image to enlarge it. You should make it a point to see this show as we're playing with two mind crushing bands:

MV & EE Are simply stunning! Are they playing a folky set, an trippy improvised psych set, or a heavy rocking set with The Golden Road? I have no Idea but I saw them last Year at Terrastock doing the latter two and they were freaking amazing. Highly recommended freaky psych folksters!

Wols is Amye McCarther's ragged improv beast that killed me last December. Not sure who is playing in it Will Adams (more than likely), Mlee Suprean (maybe), but whoever she drops it's gonna kill! The songs are Myspace are older songs but her skeletal compositions take wild turns and get get epic when they hit the stage. So point is don't be late!

Linus Pauling Quartet with our pals Ume! 19 December 2008 at Rudz!!

2008-12-06T07:46:00.001-08:00

Wow the final LP4 show of the year.

Sorry if this all seems kind-of last minute but, ironically, we asked Ume to headline this show a long time ago; we simply had a lot of scheduling issues to overcome (holiday season and all). I'm a huge fan of Lauren's fretwork so playing with Ume for me is a thrill. The great thing is, despite a few crazy scheduling headaches, it's actually happening and, even better, it's free!!!!

By the way, that poster is by Michael C. Rodriguez. He's a local artist who I commissioned to do the show's poster. I've dug his work for some time and, happily, got to meet him recently. It turns out he's a nice guy to boot. This is something we're hoping to do more of in the future - working with local artists and commissioning posters, not only as a way to make our posters look better, but also as a way to highlight the talent here in Houston.

Anyhow, we hope to see you there and note that a few new songs will be making their debut.

Stoked!!!!!!! LP4 with MV & EE and Wols

2008-10-21T06:03:00.000-07:00

Wooooo! I am stoked about our newest and only confirmed show (the previously mentioned Artstorm show has been pushed back to some as yet undetermined date in 2009). We are playing with MV & EE (Matt Valentine and Erika Elder) whose work I just love to death be it with the Golden Road or as a duo! That's pretty cool and awesome in and of itself but we're also playing with Wols (Amye McCarthur) which is just an amazing stroke of good fortune as she also is someone I admire greatly. I'm so stoked that I'm asking local artist Eli Sebastian Brumbaugh to do the poster artwork and looks like he might be able to swing one. YUSSS! So, mark your calendars:

MV & EE, Linus Pauling Quartet, and Wols
Saturday 31 January 2009
at Rudyard's British Pub

MV & EE

Wols

C6H8O6 Reissue, ATAL Update, and Upcoming Artstorm Show

2008-09-11T11:44:00.000-07:00

Hi friends,

Long time since we've spoken. I'm sure some of you have been pretty sad that C6H8O6 - or as we like to call it C6 - has been sold out for some time now. Well, lo and behold, we are right now negotiating with Germany's September Gurls to see it reissued as an LP. Right now it's pretty loose as to how it will appear. Single LP? Double LP? New Cover Art? Bonus Tracks? Inserts? A Particle Accelerator? It's that loose, but the big hurdles are out of the way and one thing is for sure it will be re-mastered for a far superior sound.

Also, All Things Are Light is coming close to selling out. We have about 10 left to sell at shows and at Sound Exchange Houston (our local indie record store), Europe has long been sold out, and Carrot Top Distribution has some copies for sale. You can order copies via Carrot Top via their on-line store Saki.

Lastly, for people who wonder when we are playing next, some scheduling conflicts have caused us to turn down some pretty neat shows (a show at the River Oaks Theatre and The Westheimer Block Party to name two) but the stars seem aligned for us to play an Artstorm opening with Inidan Jewelry sometime in late November. Right now the date is sketchy but it should happen sometime after IJ gets back from touring which is in Mid-November.

Thought you may want to know - We're Playing Saturday

2008-08-18T22:13:00.001-07:00

Terrastock 7 Wrap-ups

2008-07-01T08:23:00.000-07:00

Terrastock's Grand Poobah, Phil McMullen, chats with the band
Photo Rosa Guerrero

Well, Terrastock 7 is over. We had a lot of fun, met a lot of wonderful people, and made a lot of new friends. We suffered the horrors of bad road food (Pirate Dairy Queen outside Nashville with the one-armed cook being the low point) and the pain of hangovers (the low point being Steve almost hurling in the car on Saturday). On the other hand, we enjoyed the thrills of experiencing such great music and the joy of engaging with such a wonderful congregation of folks. We met artists who we've admired for ages and would never have had the nerve to approach under any other circumstances. Thankfully, Terrastock is so friendly an atmosphere that we did get over our hang-ups and came to discover that they were all sweet, funny, smart, and generous people. The Terrastock fans were also a hoot with the kids from room 285 being especially cool and fun to hang out with. Overall, it was tiring,overwhelming, a lot of work, and a lot of fun.

I think the whole feeling can be summed up on Saturday night, - the last night before some of us had to leave. We drove around after the show while Larry played his Gary Numan live Double CD. We'd sing "Garyyyyy Numaaaaan" to every instrumental intro to every song which led Larry to sheepishly say "I can change the CD if you want?" This was met with a chorus of "NO!" and the Gary Numan played on as we made our way to Wicks Pizza on Baxter. We got in, ordered a huge-ass pie stacked with meat, enjoyed some of the more local brew, and just kicked back chatting about the festival. You've never seen the LP4 more giddy and the reason for that was we all felt very grateful and lucky to have had that experience. Music and friends - that's Terrastock in a nutshell.

Thanks every one
With Love to the Terrastock Nation
The Lp4

MORE

BAND MEMBER BLOGS:

Charlie wraps it up with Photos by Rosa Guerrero for the Houston Press:Holiday Road: Linus Pauling Quartet Hits Terrastock

Ramon wraps it up for the Free PressHouston: Music with Jameson & Lone Star: special Terrastock 7 edition

YOUTUBE VIDEO OF OUR SHOW:

PICTURES:

TERRASTOCK LINKS:

TERRASTOCK POSTER!!!

2008-04-11T07:00:00.001-07:00

We're now on Facebook

2008-04-11T06:57:00.000-07:00

We're now on Face Book. Here is the Link: (Link)

We're in Pitchfork

2008-03-20T10:57:00.000-07:00

Er...well not really (joke courtesey of Bright Men of Learning's Marshall Preddy). Actually Pitchfork just announced Terrastock today. Thanks Mike of Sharks and Sailors for the heads up. Here is the Link:

Terrastock7 Line-up Announced

SXSW was a blast! Thank you everyone!

2008-03-17T10:05:00.001-07:00

Live LP4 Photo by Flip Osman on his IPhone

I had a blast playing SXSW. I just want to say thank you to everyone who came out, those who provided beds and showers, the good folks at the Tap at 6, SXSW, and all my many good good sweet-hearted friends whom I love so dearly for making this SXSW so amazing. It's our third time and easily, for me, the best time ever. I've never been so sad to see it all end. Thanks everyone, that was a truly singular experience.

Live LP4 Photo by Ericspin

Thursday March 13th at SXSW!!!!

2008-03-09T08:01:00.001-07:00

New Tracks on Myspace for your downloading pleasure!

2008-02-16T17:54:00.000-08:00

Hello friends,

We have just added three tracks (available for you to download) in anticipation of our playing SXSW next month.

1) An untitled live improvisation in the studio. Load the Bong!

2) The rare and extremely limited issue #48 of the Grey Ghost Series by your truly - HAWG! here reduced to a 112Kbps but, hey, it's better than nothing - especially since the original was limited to 13 copies. Note: includes gratuitous sex, drugs, motorcycles, use of of the phrase "Motherfucker", and guaranteed to not contain more that two chords!

3) Alien Abduction - the opening track from our newest album "All Things are Light"

Here is the link: http://www.myspace.com/linuspaulingquartet

Enjoy!

The LP4

SXSW 2008 Details

2008-02-15T16:09:00.000-08:00

The LP4 has been scheduled to perform at TheTap Room at Six (117 W 4th St) on Thursday, March 13. Word is our pals The Dimes will be playing that night at the same place too - sweet!

Catching up on LP reviews from around the world.

2008-02-15T14:59:00.000-08:00

Sorry we've been slacking on the Blog here but we've been getting good feedback in the last few weeks or whatnot since our last post. Here they are:

Phil McMullen of England's Ptolemaic Terrascope penned a lovely review (Link)
DJ Astro of Finland's The Psychotropic Zone Psychedelic Music Club was just as gracious (Link)
Mats Gustafson of Sweden's Broken Face chimes in on Jan 08 with a sweet review. (Link)
Fred Mills at Harp magazine wrote some nice things (Link)
Jerry Kranitz at Aural Innovations also was very kind. (Link)
The Rice Radio Folio (KTRU) Dropped us in their top local albums (Link PDF)
Andrew Nicolaou at Southern puts the album in his top 30. (Link)

I can't read Poland's Tableau! but I do understand "Stoner-Fuck-Rock" (link)
Greece's Electric Requiem wrote up a review but we honestly can't read a lick of Greek. I guessing it's favorable if only because we have a lot of very nice fans from Greece who we like very much. (Link)

Additonally Space City Rock did a nice review of the LP4 itself. (Link)

more reviews - Holland's Roadburn and Joe Mathlete

2007-12-29T07:04:00.000-08:00

Holland's Roadburn gave us some nice props: http://www.roadburn.com/

We also got some love from Joe Mathlete who put our album on his Top 15 Albums for 2007 -Yuss!!

Skyline and Space City Rock put us in some very good company

2007-12-21T18:05:00.000-08:00

First off, we made The Skyline 50 which is pretty cool. You can find us in Part 1 but the rest of the list is pretty choice:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

Then, as if that wasn't awesome enough, Space City Rock reviewed three Grey Ghost releases which included our good friends Mlee Marie (Mlee Suprean of Hearts of Animals' acoustic persona) and Ben Murphy (of Bright Men of Learning) as well as our humble entry into the series. Considering my* admiration for Mlee and Ben that is really awesome. Anyhow, very nice stuff and well deserved love for our good friend John Sears who has been behind the series. Here is the link:

Mlee Marie, BDM, Linus Pauling Quartet

* I'm given to using we a lot but Charlie chided me for speaking of the band in the plural.

South By South West 2008

2007-12-13T04:15:00.000-08:00

Guess what friends? We'll be playing South by Southwest in 2008. See you there.

Our Beloved Proletariat will be closing it's doors in February

2007-12-11T06:31:00.000-08:00

The LP4 outside the Proletariat

Here in Houston the LP4 considers two clubs home - Rudyard's and the Proletariat. Sadly ADR at Skyline network announced today that The Proletariat (where the cover for All Things are Light Was shot) will be closing on February 4th 2008. Very sad news indeed. Thank you Denise, Dunnock, Shawna, and all the rest the staff past and present for giving us five great years of music and memories. We'll be drinking it up until the bittersweet end,

Article:

Worst Monday ever: Proletariat to close...

Shazaaam! We have achieved “heaviosity”

2007-12-05T04:22:00.000-08:00

Foxy Digitalis gives us 8 out of 10 of these Shazaam! symbols and proclaims that we have achieved "heaviosity!" All right!

Read the whole review here: Jeff Penczak Reviews All Thins Are Light

More reviews/articles for your consideration

2007-12-04T03:26:00.000-08:00

Ned Raggett at Allmusic reviewed All Things Are Light (4 out of 5 stars) saying "...a core point about the Linus Pauling Quartet isn't merely that they're a great psych band, but a great band period, able to embrace a lot of styles and moods and work them well" and comparing Enchirito to Psychic Powerless era Butthole Surferes is one very nice compliment indeed.

Here is the link to the article: [http:// wm08.allmusic.com / cg/ amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:dvfuxzwhldse]

Also, Skyline posted a very cheeky "review" of Grey Ghost #48 - HAWG! YUSSSSS! \m/

You can see that here:
http:// www.theskyline.net/ 2007/ 12/ review-linus-pauling- quartet-hawg-grey.html

This week super duper limited edition LP4 CDR - Grey Ghost #48

2007-12-02T12:00:00.000-08:00

Yes, the limits of vinyl made it so that we had to drop the 11-minute two-chord lecherous pill-popping dying-in-a-hail-of-bullets complete-with-Otis-Redding-Rave-up biker-epic HAWG! Next week will see a very limited release of this song as Grey Ghost #48 and will be sold only at Domy books for one week only beginning Sunday Dec 2nd. The Grey Ghost series only publishes 13 copies of these and sells them for $2. Once they are gone, they are gone.

Above is the mock-up of the cover which appropriates the cover from the Party Owls' classic 7" EP Rock Out!

More Album Reviews this week

2007-11-29T05:29:00.000-08:00

Hooray, more album reviews:

Ptolemaic Terrascope: Phil McMullen reveals to us that while an Enchirito may not be universal the glory that is a spork is:

Ptolemaic Terrascope November 2007 Reviews

Skyline Network: ADR makes a unique and not all inaccurate connection. Yes, I own a Superfuzz and a Bigmuff and saw Mudhoney play at the Axiom back in the late 80s.

Skyline Network Review

Local reviews, interviews, articles.

2007-11-12T20:25:00.000-08:00

Well we've gotten some very nice press over the last week locally so here is a round up:

Space City Rock: A really nice album review from Jeremy Hart

All Things Are Light by Jeremy Hart
Rockin Your Shit (a record release preview)

Houston Press: Nick Hall wrote an article and two blogs on us within one week (nutters!!!)

Houston Press Article (plus links to the referenced sword metal blogs)

2007-11-07T12:10:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone, Nick Hall wrote a very nice piece about us in the Houston Press. You can read it here at: http://music.houstonpress.com/2007-11-08/music/the-light-brigade/

If you are coming upon our blog from the article, the blogs nick refers to in his piece are these two:

Attention EU Fans - New LP available NOW! (N.A. Fans you have one more week)

2007-10-29T21:42:00.000-07:00

Attention EU fans our new one is now available via our distributor Clear Spot. Only 50 copies made their way across the pond so get them while you can.

North American Fans fear not the US release date is one week away (Nov 6th) via our distributor CTD.

Thanks to all you who came out to Sound Ex on Wednesday

2007-10-26T13:41:00.000-07:00

Thanks for coming down to Sound Exchange, celebrating with us, eating 6 large-ass Pizzas, and drinking a hella lot of beer.

I'd have pictured but my batteries died on my digital. C'est la vie.

If you don't live in Houston you are (mostly) out of luck....

2007-10-22T06:03:00.000-07:00

We have three things to report this week so pay attention kiddos!

Local LP Presale

This Wednesday 24th of October we're having a small presale of the new album at about 5-5:30ish at Sound Exchange complete with pizza and beer.

This is just something for our local friends and neighbors and an excuse to eat pizza and drink beer after work. Those of you living outside of Houston will simply have to wait until November 6th when it will be officially available via CTD in North America or Clear Spot in the EU.

Record Release Poster and Line-up

Also, here is the line-up for our record release hootenanny at the Proletariat:

Jenny Westbury: A woman whose clever songwriting and understated performance is likely underappreciated in this town - we aim to change that. Come out early or we will kick your ass.

The Jonx: Math rock brains meets punk rock aggression from a trio whose latest album is one of the best albums from 2007. Did you hear me say local albums? No I said albums - Period! Buy the album and see for yourself.

The Mathletes [Featuring the Dimes] : Joe Mathlete takes his brand of youthful pop and gives it some indie muscle with the always jaw-dropping Dimes. I can't wait to see them tear up "Animals"!

Media Page

Yes, we have stooped to a new low - a "New Album" media page for newspapers and magazines . Thanks to Matt Brownlie (Bring Back the Guns) and Melissa Lonchambon (Sharks and Sailors) for giving us ideas to shamelessly steal and Rosa Guerrero for being so kind as to take the time to photograph us (which is a pretty damn painful thing when you think about it).

http://www.worshipguitars.org/LP4/Media/

Dig it! "All Things are Light" Assembly!

2007-09-30T19:43:00.001-07:00

If i could make a Linus Pauling Video It would look somethign Like this...

2007-09-20T16:07:00.001-07:00

Jacket Artwork has been sent to Ross Ellis.

2007-08-24T11:03:00.000-07:00

One word....

YUSSSSSSSSSSS!

Updated LP Street Date November 6th 2007

2007-08-22T21:04:00.000-07:00

The street date on "All Things Are Light" has been bumped back a week to November 6th at the request of the distributor.

That is all carry on.

New Lp Street date Oct 30th 2007

2007-08-19T18:27:00.000-07:00

The new LP is finishing up production (we're largely down to jackets, inserts, and assembly) and we now have a street date of October 30th. You can get the scoop at Camera Obscura Records and at Skyline Network.

Tally Ho Tally Ho - LP and July 4th show update

2007-06-30T21:06:00.001-07:00

Crazy how well this is all going. Last week we had a listening party for the test pressing and it sounds great!!! The only downside was United goofed on the locked groove but a quick phone call on the following Monday cleared everything up. They were super nice and super helpful. Hell the engineer even called me to ask where we wanted the locked groove to hit. It was really nice of him to take the time to call and I was happy he put some pride in his work. The blank locked groove error was simply a miscommunication on the order form. So here it is a week later and Clinton says he got the new pressings in and he said "They nailed the locked groove!" Sweet, I can't wait to hear it. Now we just have to work on the covers, inserts and CDRs! Joy! We wouldn't kill ourselves on this if we weren't sure it was the best thing we've done. Consider this our "Fuck you! Top this motherfucker" release.

In the meantime are now getting ready for our July 4th show; it's our last show until October since Clinton is about to join me in Rock and Roll fatherhood. So we've been rehearsing double time as we were so busy with mixing and mastering the LP that before we knew it we didn't have much time to actually, you know, rehearse. But we're in pretty good shape for the show. We'll be playing with Novox for a very patriotic Turbojugend Humpday this Wednesday at Rudyards. Given it's July 4th we're not starting until 11PM so you can come by after the fireworks. We're playing first and Novox will be closing the evening. Given it's a weeknight, we plan to end around 1PM so you can get a few Zs before you head home. Plus remember if you don't come to our show, the terrorists have won.

July 4th - the only LP4 show until at least October

2007-06-17T23:04:00.000-07:00

(Click to enlarge)

Come on out to Rudyard's after the fireworks. We'll start at 11pm and perform our new album and one more song followed by Novox doing their set about midnight. Remember if you don't come to our show, the terrorists have won. God bless America.

Bust out the champagne!

2007-05-29T20:25:00.000-07:00

Or at least the beer. We just listened to the final masters on the remnants of my parents' Luxman stereo, purchased in 1981. With big-ass Polk Audio speakers of the same vintage, it sounded pretty full. All Hail the Luxman!

Long story short, the mastering process yielded awesome results and everyone is very happy with the mixes, dynamics and EQ. The masters are shipped off to the plant, so now it's just waiting.

I would like to take credit for this thing sounding so good but it's all Steve: he busted his ass, both during the recording process and during the mixing process, applied a tremendous amount of skill and know how, and only threatened to kill us all once or twice.

Ramon brought a flagon of Chimay, which we drained promptly but we saved the champagne he brought for next time, when the vinyl gets here. We still have a LOT of work to do, but the toughest part is done.

Mixing is done.

2007-05-23T21:59:00.000-07:00

Hell yeah, we just put the finishing touches on the mixes. I'm beat and going to bed. Goodnight!

Studio Week two

2007-05-21T12:45:00.000-07:00

Tuesday and Wednesday are our last mixing sessions. So far we have 5 of 7 songs mixed with just two more to go. The 5 tracks we've mixed so far sound great in the car and on the home stereo (though on the crappy home headphones they sound like ass so maybe it's time to upgrade those). So wish us luck on these last two and we'll see ya around. Hard to believe that, barring any unforeseen calamities, we should be shipping our materials to the pressing plant a week from today.

Meanwhile, for our British friends, remember National Siesta Day is fast approaching (July 11, 2007) so start practicing now!

Nobody can stop the LP Juggernaut now!

2007-05-16T09:36:00.000-07:00

Last night was another marathon mixing session. Things are coming along nicely and with 3 more mixing sessions planned over the next two weeks so the Juggernaut's momentum is increasing daily and I think we're on track. Hell, we even just put down a deposit for the mastering session and stuck Steve with dealing with all the pressing plant's legal mumbo jumbo. We even had a big discussion about publishing issues (do we go with the ASCAP, BMI, SESAC route or do we go Creative Commons) and it was 4 against 1 to go the traditional publishing route. Yeah, real dull stuff my friends but the mixing part was quite painless and the beer was of reputable quality. You can't ask for more than that, can you?

Until the next transmission,
Continue to rock as Dio would have wanted,

There's a fire under our asses. Latest Lp update.

2007-05-14T15:47:00.000-07:00

The new LP has suddenly blazed into high gear (a manufacturer's sale deadlines will do that to you). Belive it or not we have an LP tracked which will consist of 36 minutes of the material we have recorded thus far. Since we want to take full advantage of the fidelity of the LP format we will be mastering the album on Sunday May 27th at a studio outside our own that specializes in LPs. That Monday we will FedEx the package to the manufacturer. Crazy!!!!!!!! This means huge mixing sessions this week but it will be nice to crank it out.

The other good news is that pending final mixes, Australia's Camera Obscura, may be releasing this album. They have good distribution and we've always admired their roster of artists so we're hoping that they stay aboard.

What does this mean for you loyal LP4 fans? Well, it means that we'll actually have the Lps back before the covers and inserts are completed which still have to be put together. All in all we'll be on track for a late summer release of 500 purple vinyl LPs with a booklet and a CDR titled "All Things are Light".

Until our next transmission

Keep on rockin' in the free world,

Final Tracks for the new album are done...

2007-04-25T12:16:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's right we just laid down the last two tracks for the upcoming album last night- a guitar solo and a guitar/analog delay feedback track for Alien Abduction. This means the next stage in the process is the portion we like to call "Drive Steve Crazy" which usually consists of mixing sessions where the band makes random suggestions that often contradict their last suggestions, random requests that an entire track be replaced by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, or the classic "make 50 remixes only to decide that the first one (made months ago) was really the best version". The only way to remain sane here is to bring good whiskey and beer: a lot if it.

Onward Men!!!!!

Stuff to do...

2007-04-07T06:51:00.000-07:00

Tonight you can catch The Defenistration Unit (with our own Charlie H) at Notsuoh with the Mathletes.

Then, Thursday at Rudz I will be playing in Kilian Sweeney's Redo Makeshift Band. I'll be playing with ex-schmoggers like Chris Bakos, Kilian Sweeney, and Johnathan Sage which means...I'm so waaay out of my league. So I'll be there holding down the bell curve for the rest of the class which will include (I'm told) Mike Switzer and Joe Mathlete.

Bright Men of Learning, who really burn it up on stage, will be playing along with the Mathletes are just fun fun fun. Rudyard's, BMOL, Mathletes, and sucking on stage - sounds like a good night!!!! Here is Joe Mathlete's disturbing flyer.

Oh and while I"m plugging stuff there's a Cardboard Exhibit at Super Happy next week; You can Read more about it on Kilian's Blog.

Lastly, KTRU has its outdoor show today and for the first time ever (aside from the Dimes - who we will never stop praising) I'm just not that interested in the line-up this year. I mean it's all right, I guess, but this would be more Clinton's thing than mine. But you can follow the link if you want to see who's playing.

Back in Action.

2007-04-02T15:42:00.000-07:00

We've wandered the desert since December after our last crappy landlord failed to pay the electric bill- our bonds as leasees broken by a plague upon his house. But lo, the build-out is nigh complete and we have crossed the river to the promised land. Yes, that is right! Next Tuesday we will have our first rehearsal in over four months. Rejoice!
============

A thing to note is that we always take a Christmas break and upon our return play about as well as elementary school kids in a garage. It usually takes us a month to get back up and running. So Since it's been nearly 5 months, you know it's going to be painful. Still, itwWill be nice to be in a a studio that doesn't have about 2 inches of pigeon shit.

Plans for the new LP are moving along. Cross your fingers; we will be looking at sending out our shit to the pressing plant sometime in July. As promised you won't see us play live until we have the LPs in our hands so, until then, we'll be hiding in the studio writing new material and drinking lots of whiskey and beer.

Behold, the amazing power of sitting on our ass!!!

2007-02-26T15:45:00.000-08:00

In case you haven't realized the LP4 is kind of still in forced exile leaving us to sit on our asses as of late.

While we had to turn down playing a really cool off SXSW event, it may have been good as here it is already March and the new LP4 central is not even built out yet. So travelling up to Austin would have been a disaster given no rehearsals since December of 06 after the slumlord of our last studio stopped paying his electric bill forcing Steve to move his studio and our practice space.

The good thing is that during this relocation and build-out Clinton has had time to finsih vocals so when we do return to the studio some time in March we can start mixing for our upcoming release.

So, hang on kids. Well see you soon.

Boston takes the lead in Stupidest city in America!!!!

2007-02-01T05:00:00.000-08:00

Yes, the war on Terror has reached an Orson Wells War of the Worlds like level of stupidity after a clever marketing stunt caused panic in Boston. Is it me or is the item above clearly not a bomb? I mean what terrorist setting a bomb would place it in plain sight with a blinking light to announce its location? The sad thing is that the two guys who were hired to put these things up got arrested for "a hoax" and "Disorderly conduct". Wow first off a Hoax is against the law in Boston? Secondly, doen't a hoax suggest premeditation of the result? Last and not least, shouldn't the media, officials, and the citizens of Boston be responsible for causing the hysteria?

Congratulations Boston - you are officially the biggest dumbasses in the USA.

AP
Updated: 3:34 a.m. MT Feb 1, 2007
BOSTON - Several illuminated electronic devices planted at bridges and other spots in Boston threw a scare into the city Wednesday in what turned out to be a publicity campaign for a late-night cable cartoon. Most if not all of the devices depict a character giving the finger.

Peter Berdovsky, 27, of Arlington, and Sean Stevens, 28, of Charlestown, were each charged Wednesday night with one count of placing a hoax device and one count of disorderly conduct, state Attorney General Martha Coakley said.

The two men worked together to place the devices, Coakley said in a news release announcing Stevens' arrest.

Image Bill Chuck
MSNBC article can be found here http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16902707/

Recent progress

2007-01-14T22:30:00.000-08:00

Lest the rest of my bandmates assume that I did nothing but consume a fair portion of a bottle of Weller last Wednesday at Steve's new digs, I did in fact finish vocals on a couple of songs. I think this leaves only two songs left to go, and Steve has a handful of bass parts to re-do. So it may come to pass that the LP4 will actually finish recording sometime in the next couple of weeks. Mixing the album, on the other hand, is a potentially endless task. Its only real theoretical time limit is how long it will take before Steve begins to use violence to make us stop.

The scary thing is that we have nearly two albums worth of material, which isn't that surprising given that it's been 3 years or so since our last release. What form this material will ultimately take is still up in the air.

Perhaps it will be performed live only in select venues, by diminutive mimes riding Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs.

Or perhaps we will make only one copy of the CD, encase it in lead, and bury it forever deep beneath the ocean's dark waves.

Maybe we will encode it on papyrus made from the wings of fruit flies, ultimately setting it ablaze as doves are released, on the first day of the Summer Solstice?

Or maybe we'll try to put out the CD ourselves and get some U.S. distribution....nah, what am I thinking? What kind of a screwy idea is that? No one will ever hear it that way...

Maybe we will beam its digital signal into deep space using a dark matter transmitter, while Ramon drinks an entire gallon jug of buttermilk....

Plans for 2007...

2007-01-13T19:34:00.000-08:00

Happy new year dear readers.

As you may notice after the huge amount of activity last year we are suddenly laying low. After the show on the 16th we found ourselves in a studio with no power (thanks to a cheap ass landlord) so we packed up the plantation and are moving to nicer digs. That means we haven't rehearsed in about a month and it may be another month until we get all settled in. So here is what you can expect from us in 2007:

1) Finish recording any loose ends on the new album, mix it, master it, and release the beast!

2) You won't see us at SXSW. We put zero effort into buildign any press kit for SXSW; OK, we never made one due to our getting wrapped up in the year end blow out. Then when we were offered to play an off -SXSW event one member had a conflict.

3) In fact expect no live shows until we hold the newest album in our hand.

Until the new album you can enjoy the fact that Last FM has finally got its crap together and you can now download the first 3 Linus releases for free as MP3. Sure it's MP3 quality but what the hell eh? Our contract says the rights revert back to us after 7 years so we're tossing those we can out there for you people. Who says we don't love you peeps?

Dec 16th End of the Semester rumble...

2006-12-23T22:58:00.000-08:00

My wrap up of our big show earlier this month can be found here:

NonAlignment Pact for 12/23/2006.

Thanks to all who came out and Merry X-mas Fuckers. : )

Come out Saturday!!!!!!!

2006-12-14T05:56:00.000-08:00

I you don't want your brain to melt, don't come here - go see Foreigner instead! If want your brain to hemorrhage from 5 hours of non-stop pummeling, then end the year right the come to the

end of the semester rumble at the Proletariat
Saturday 16th Dec @ the Proletariat

9pm sharp
$5 21+/$7 everyone else*
*Bring in your report card and get in for $5

Who will be there?

9pm
The Dimes-Motherfucking Indie pop kings of Houston! You were never this cool when you were in High School!

10PM
Gay Marriage-We had to stalk this band to get them to play one last show. Yeah that's frikkin' will Boone of fatal Flying Guilloteens Fame and yeah Mikey T is that guy who puked in the womens bathrooms of Notsuoh at the Turkeys show! They will play a short but pummeling set that will kill so don't come late like a total poser!

11PM
The Linus Pauling QuartetTexas Psych Dudes who have been around for over 10 years. This will be their last show in a while as they have to finish up work on their next studio record.

12PM
PRKL8R- Yeah it's a fuckin DJ with a bunch of rock bands. You got a problem with that? Well, you will dance even if you are a rocker or a hipster by nights' end!

OH NOT FUCKING GOOD ENOUGH???

HOW ABOUT
AN ALL NIGHT MULTIMEDIA ONSLAUGHT FROM
Lori "Surfer" Varga Yes as in she's frikkin' done face-melting multimedia for the Butthole Surfers and we are drivign her and her army of projectors to fuck with your head! Still not convinced as to how cool she is... here is a YouTube excerpt from a Documentary about Austin Micro-cinema with Lori

Familiarize yourself with Lori Surfer (who will be doing her thing at our Dec 16th show)

2006-12-03T12:41:00.000-08:00

An excerpt from a documentary about Austin Micro-cinema.

This week on NAP - Naughty Flyers!!!

2006-12-01T23:09:00.000-08:00

This week:

http://www.nonalignmentpact.com/2006/12/naughty-flyers-or-everythings-got.html

And a weeks worth of other essays too.

This week on Non-Alignment Pact: "Monkeys! We are all monkeys!"

2006-11-25T07:03:00.000-08:00

My post this week on the Non-Alignement Pact Blog. Don't forget to check out the other posts too.

http://www.nonalignmentpact.com/2006/11/monkeys-we-are-all-monkeys_25.html

Early Warning!!! December 16th (with Lori Update)

2006-11-24T06:50:00.001-08:00

We've been working hard to put together a pretty awesome bill. The Dimes and Gay Marriage have both released stellar albums that you should have in your collection. Given our endless admiration for their work, we asked them to please play with us and they finally relented. Note that this will the final show ever by Gay Marriage! They play a very short set so don't be late!

We made the show all ages and to mix things up we even added PRKL8R to the bill for you dancing fools. Not enough? Well how about Lori "Surfer" Varga doing multimedia? Admittedly, that last one is right now a bit dodgy as we just got the word yesterday that Lori's employer is suddenly denying her a day off but we hope to figure something out and make it happen; we'll let you know what we figure out. Anyhow, it's $5 or $7 bucks and it will be great. So come on down! [Update, Lori will still be able to do it. I will have to drive her back right after the show but she is going to do it. Hooray!]

By the way there is no LP4 poster because after we made the first three (below) we realized that at 11X17 these really hogged a lot of space where ever we posted them and adding a fourth would be a bit much.

Oh and special love to Rosa for the photos and Shawna.

Report from the frontlines - At the Proletariat beer isn't just for drinking!

2006-11-04T23:12:00.000-08:00

Click here for my post this week on NonAlignment Pact

Ame Strasser Benefit 10/27/2006

2006-10-30T16:15:00.000-08:00

If there is one thing that we know for sure it’s that Linus is not a weekday show kind of band. Add to that an early start time and you have the LP4 fighting an uphill battle. Nonetheless, given the fact that this was a benefit for Ame Strasser (a very dear friend of Shelley and Steve) how could we say no? The sad news was that Ame passed away just a week before. That really puts a damper about having a good time at a benefit. I mean, there is a small pang of guilt when you are planning of singing silly sings about Satan Eating at La Tapatia when you know there is a 4-year-old child who is now without a mother.

So with this baggage we headed off to Fitzgerald’s. Now have to say it’s been a really really long time since I’ve been to Fitz I really abohorred the downstairs. It was a cramped little slum for local bands to be hazed by the Fitzgerald’s schtick. Sure, they still haze the kids with bands with the whole Fitz “if you do well enough here you can play upstairs” routine but the good news is that the space was actually nice now. We dropped off our equipment in the small but adequate backstage area then watched “Young Frankenstein” on a DVD Projector from the comfort of some La-Z Boys. Between the lounging, snickering, and the bands admission that Teri Garr was actually a real cutie we came to the horrible realization that we were a bit too comfortable. Me I was almost ready to fall asleep there. Mercifully, the DVD started skipping which snapped us back to the Idea that we were about to play a show and, if we were ready for house slippers and PJs, we were likely not ready to rock. Cue in a few Lone Stars and the first band…

The first band was Slag. Now like I said I was a bit sleepy and for me when I’m sleepy the effect of metal’s harsh guitars and pounding drums is much the same a nice massage. So, I can’t comment on the music as my brain wasn’t working on the right level but I can say that Slag’s frontman was one of the best I’ve seen in a long time. Here is this big burly guy squeezing his face into these insane contortions that had everyone impressed. It’s that kind of Bruce Springsteen I’m-signing-like-I’m –taking-a-crap face BUT knowingly funny! The clincher that made everyone bow to his brilliance was when he unpacked this sheet, unfolded it, and, despite its inadequate size, draped it over himself. The sheet was so small that we half expected him to cut a hole and make a poncho out of it but instead the ghostly howl of “ooooOOooooOOoooOoo!” emanated from underneath as they went into some song about ghosts. It was fucking brilliant; I’m talking Daniel Johnson would have crapped in his pants great!

Whorehound followed and if you read my Houston Press awards blog you’d know that they rock pretty hard. Of course as luck would have it, Jon broke a guitar string on the best song leaving Trevi and Cory to continue on as a duo. Trevi dutifully carried on with a smile that said “Yeah, I’m signing – what if it?” and had everyone rooting for them. It was like rooting for the Ten Thousand in Xenophon’s Anabasis. [Ok, well, maybe not quite like that…I mean it was just a string change after all but just go with me because that’s the only simile I’ve got right now.] And much like the storied Greeks, Jon overcame his foe, vanquished it, and against bitter odds returned (to the mic). Ok I’m reaching but fuck it, they rocked.

Next up was Bowel. Now I’d heard a lot about Bowel and I was both excited to hear them and dreading the fact that we would be following them. Sure enough the band (playing as a Three Piece oddly enough) sludged through some metal that more than lived up to the bands name. By the overkill of two huge bass cabinets, Bowel succeeded in literally rattling your guts. A few songs into it I had to start getting ready for our set but from what I saw the band lives up to the hype in every way, shape, and frequency.

Clearly, if Metal is measured by the amount of people standing close to the stage rocking, then we clearly were about as popular as a bespectacled kid walking up on stage and asking if this was the room where they would debating the merits of the new season of Doctor Who’s David Tennant. I mean we performed well but when we began to play Southern Pine (our one song with a mellow part juxtaposed with a heavy part) you could feel the room collectively think “Dude, I could so kick their ass! There’s not a tattoo on the lot of ‘em!” Mercifully, ending with La Tapatia gave us a stay of execution. I’m exaggerating of course, I mean we did play a solid set and likely held our own but I did feel like we were the odd man out of the bunch.

Academy Black closed the night with an hour-long set of fog and Metal. They were actually really great but, it being a weekday and my having burned every ounce of energy with La Tapatia, thirty minutes into their set, I was ready to go home, shower, and sleep. So despite my dread, it was a night of music worthy of Ame’s memory.

For you masochists who read my Blogs - NonAlignmentPact.com

2006-10-30T13:08:00.000-08:00

So I have a new blog with some old friends- NonAlignmentPact.com. The idea is simple - Music in Seven days from Seven Writers. Hopefully it will be lively, entertaining, and worthy of adding your RSS Feeds. Odds are, if you've been in Houston for a while, you may already be familiar with some of the writers: Heidi Bullinga (New York Office), Carlos Anaconda (Chapel Hill Office), John Cramer (Houston Office), Kilian Sweeney (Chicago Office), Doug Dillaman (New Zeland Office), and Justin Crane (Austin Office).

Anyhow, This will be our first week of publishing. After 48 hours I think I have been victorious in my battle the various quirks of Blogger publishing to FTP*, so pop on by and see what you think.

*FTP Broken Pipe errors = no fun.

You can learn a lot from just reading a frozen dinner...

2006-10-24T10:55:00.000-07:00

Lean Cuinines are pretty cheap lunches so I sometimes try a new one just for grins. Today it was some pork and cherry sauce thing which wasn't great but it was passable. Now, you'd think that my not liking it were a matter of taste but, upon tossing the box, I noticed that my not liking it was not the fault of Lean Cuisine but was entirely my own.

You see, in the instructions there was a final step that I did not read carefully. The final step read as follows; "Let stand for 5 minutes in the microwave then enjoy." See, I simply let it sit for 5 minutes but I clearly forgot to enjoy it.

So listen up musicians and take a cue from me; from now on, when Linus plays, you will see instructions printed on a 4X4 card on every table explaining as to how to rock. The final instruction will be the crucial "Enjoy." If someone demands their money back, we will simply point to the card and tell them that they need to learn how to read directions first before they come whining to us.

How do I ask this nicely? Oh and Houston Calling Happy Hour Tonight.

2006-10-23T12:10:00.000-07:00

Hey nothing against Studemont Project - admittedly this ain't my thing so I can't even attempt to make any judgments about their music - but what is it with the KTRU Presents Studement Project at Valhalla? Given the excellent local bands around, I'd think KTRU would be presenting something a bit more...ummm, you know...uh...how do I say this nicely...less bland? Hey, look, I'm just asking. No,seriously,I am...

I mean take a look at David Cobb's Houston Calling Happy Hour show tonight at the Proletariat with Something Fierce, Southern Backtones, and Brightmen of Learning. . Sure it's not perfect. Southern Backtones are not my bag and them being placed between Something Fierce and Bright Men of Learning is pretty annoying. Then I have the fact that the early start may make this show a bit tight for me to catch. Nevertheless it still sounds much more interesting and it's definitely a promising idea especially if Cobb does thing kind of thing in the future. So if miss it let me know how it goes.

LP4 show report.

2006-10-19T10:22:00.000-07:00

Crap You'd think all I post now is just police abuse. Despite the thuggish cop at Walter's there were other shows of note going on over the weekend. Saturday was pretty tricky given all the good shows. Since, I was playing at Rudz I didn't catch Fallcore at the Meridian or The Porch Creeps at SHFL but I did get a chance to swing by The Proletariat and catch a bit of the PUSH fundraiser. Well, ok, I just caught one band Tambersauro who were really really good - the drummer was amazing. They've been around for a while but this is my first time seeing them and while you could argue that the Slint influence is a bit prominent, in my book, they definitely are worth catching again.

But after a quick "hi" and apologies to Sharks and Sailors for missing their set (and finally getting an explanation from Melissa as to what the hell a booby bib is) I was back to Rudz for our show.

The Rudz show was going to be laid back affair as The Paper South cancelled due to illness and there was so much going on around town that there was no way we could expect a huge turnout.

Georgia's Horse was originally going to close but Houston bands fight NOT to play last - we prefer to play then drink - so they won the coin toss and opened and they put on a great set. Melly's cello made the sound simply massive while the rest of Georgia's Horse was exactly what I've come to expect - awesome. I'm just glad that they will continue as a unit but under a different name as they are just too good and unique in this town to break up. Georgia's Horse just show how much power a band can have without resorting to being heavy and loud; subtlety and nuance are great things to have on your side. I only wish I Rhonda Garner of KPFT's Radio Active could have been able to swing by and see them.

Linus of course knows nothing about subtlety or nuance. We casually played a set of loud dumb rock which clearly did not transition well with the Georgia's Horse fans. You could just feel this rush of air as people realized that these bands were nothing like each other; "Loud songs about Swords, Aliens, and Drunken Brawls? Who the fuck booked this show?" sometimes bands that sound different work well and sometimes it doesn't - here, it didn't. But we had fun and closed with a log-ass version of Hall of Mirrors just because we had the time. This was a horribly unprofessional show in terms of tuning and deadspaces between songs but, you know, that's not that bad every once in a while. Basically, people caught us practicing in our rehearsal space. If you are into that casual Porch Hootenany approach to a show, it can be fun and laid back. The important thing is it was fun.

I do have to concede that we may have hit that threshold of playing too many shows this year. It's clear we've started to test the patience of our fans. Perhaps after the Ame Strasser benefit (very sad but a good cause) and the December show (which will rule) we'll give H-Town a break and maybe try to plan some out of town shows. Hey I can dream can't I?

The rest of my rock and roll weekend consisted of cleaning the house top to bottom because when I have the house to myself on the weekend, I go WILD!

HPD Part II - Additional Video

2006-10-15T07:57:00.000-07:00

The Chronicle article states " [HPD's Sgt. Nate] McDuell said Stephens [the guitarist], whose guitar was hanging from a neck strap, then used a sexual obscenity and shoved the officer with his shoulder." You can clearly see from the video that the guitarist did not shove the police officer as per the HPD statement above.

When HPD attacks- Video, Pictures, More- Walters Last Night

2006-10-14T06:37:00.000-07:00

More at http://www.myspace.com/hpd_has_problems

Nothing more upsetting than waking up and seeing "What went down at Walters?" as a subject line on Hands Up.

Replies were as follows:

"the cop pulled out a tazer at some point and started wrestling people while the tazer was on. a fourteen year old kid got tazed but i spoke with him after it was all settled down. his parents came down and are going to press charges. this cop had an agenda and used brute force. up to this point there were hints of very small reasons of legitimacy to the cops aggression. he was out numbered, didnt know what was going on, ect. but what happened afterwards and in the parking lot was the one of the most ridiculous things i have ever seen. heres my favorite part, i was standing outside trying to see everything and understand because at this point i had no clue as to why the cop was even there. i asked another cop what was going on and he said to leave before i got hurt. i then told him i would not leave, because i felt it was necessary to stay and wait to give my account of the situation (because its my right isnt it?). he replied by saying that the officer who was there (the ONLY officer that was there) had given enough account and they didnt need my story or anyone elses. he then said i had until three to leave. ladies and gentlemen, i give you HPD."

and

"I wasn't there but i've gotten ten or so first hand accounts. This is pretty much exactly what I hear aside from one correction...
The officer never went to the soundboard. Instead, he told the door people to "shut it down". That, first, is never what goes down. Cops show up to Walter's from time to time and ask that it be turned down. Should someone not comply, then there's reason to demand a total end to the show.

This cop had a point to prove (with absolutely no other cops around, a sure sign of a cop being macho) and went STRAIGHT to the stage."

and

"I'm in complete agreement. I watched the car pull up and the officer come in and walk straight to the stage. He never talked to the sound guy.
He was looking for a fight. He made no attempt that I saw to do anything logical like talking to management.

I'm quite skeptical of whether any complaints were called at all. Seems much more likely he was driving by and decided he wanted a fight."

I wasn't there so I can't speak but I hope everyone who was there demands some accountability from the city! This is brutish thuggish behavior from one HPD officer who cannot be allowed to continue his job without proper review.

Making benefit a dirty word.

2006-10-12T14:23:00.000-07:00

Here is a new twist to the endless stream of benefits I see happening around town. A band has a benefit show for...Oh you take a stab at it. What would you think? Darfur? AIDS? Historic Preservation? No, you are not with the times; it's a benefit for the band's own album. Is it me or is charging $15 and calling it a "benefit" really gauche? We here at LP4 central make albums the old fashioned way, we save money from playing out and putting money from our own pockets into the pot. Hell, I don't know where the money will come from to make our next record so, yeah, it sucks - especially when Germans get testy - but that's how you are supposed to do it. Our audience has contributed enough to our albums by paying the door (which we split evenly with the other bands) so we would never dare have an overpriced door to "benefit" ourselves. It's just lazy, selfish, and insulting to the audience to do that.

To make my point let me point out two benefits worthy of your consideration:

My band is doing a benefit this month. It's not going to be convenient but it's for a good cause so we're glad to help out. It's for a woman (a single mother) who will likely be dead in a matter of months from cancer. We're charging $8 at the door.

Here is the poster:

This Saturday there is a benefit for PUSH with a lot of good bands coming together to benefit the community. Cost: $5.00.

Here is that poster:
In both of these examples, bands are playing for the benefit of others and the entrance fees are reasonable. So all I'm saying s that given that there are so many benefits already taking place, let's not add a new genre of benefits well call the "Benefit for Me" genre to our calendars. I suggest bands show some class and fans have enough self-respect not to be gouged at the door.

This Saturday in Houston - Lots of Shows to see (including Ours)

2006-10-11T07:55:00.000-07:00

===At Rudz

OK first off this my band is playing on Saturday at Rudyard's with Georgia's Horse and the Paper South. It's Georgia's Horse's last gig as a band which is a shame as they are amazing as a band. Shoegazers take note, The Paper South are from Austin and include our friends from American Analog Set and Winslow.

=====At The Proletariat

It's the big Push Fundraiser. Lots of great bands for a good cause...

====At The Meridian

I'm not a big Meridian fan (it's a bit impersonal for my tastes) but this has a lot of good bands like Insect Warfare and the Jon Benet. For a full line up click below:

====at Super Happy Fun Land

Rotten Piece is playing on a pretty cool bill.

Next Sat Oct 14th @ Rudz- LP4 * Georgia's Horse * The Paper South (From Austin)

2006-10-07T00:10:00.000-07:00

Come Join us on this the 940th anniversary of the battle of Hastings!

SATURDAY 14th OCTOBER 2006

THE LINUS PAULING QUARTET -
You know us.

GEORGIA'S HORSE -
Highly recommended. One of the best bands in Houston. Theresa Maldonado's sharp personal song-writing and gorgeous voice are accentuted by the one of the most understated and atmospheric rhythm sections you'll ever hear. Now they've added a cello which should make even things cooler.
http://www.myspace.com/georgiashorse

THE PAPER SOUTH (from Austin) -
DON'T COME LATE AND MISS THIS BAND! Features members of Winslow and American Alalog Set. Hey, when our good friend Justin Bankston joins another band it's always a treat. We've stolen tons of ideas from his former band (Winslow) and hope to do the same with this band. : )
http://www.myspace.com/thepapersouth

Rudyard's
British Pub
2010 Waugh Dr Houston, Texas, 77006
http://www.rudyards.com/
713-521-0521

$6.00

Re-Posted: Bright Men Of Learning

2006-10-02T16:41:00.000-07:00

(This is a repost of a 10/2 Blog of KPFT's Radioactive show at Miller Out Door Theatre. I have simply removed any personal information from this blog)

...
I'd previously qualified the good things I had to say about Bright Men of Learning (ability to write a good melody and solid musicianship) with the thought that they sounded a bit too much like they had absorbed Pavement too well. Perhaps it was the ragged sound quality but from my vantage point the music was (with few exceptions) delivered with much more urgency and rawness than at the last show I saw. A good hook is nice and good musicianship isn't a bad trait to have, but Rock by nature should have some element of uncertainty and chaos. I'm not saying that Bright Men were some improv sponto act but that they definitely channeled some kind of energy that made you stand up and take notice. So, well done lads, I am officially eating crow.

The Dimes set sounded great but I had to leave pretty soon after they started so I can only report that the shoddy sound quality neither added nor detracted from their solid performance. If you love the Dimes like I do, then you know exactly what they delivered.

Linus Pauling Quartet - Our Job Here is Done.

2006-09-19T05:51:00.001-07:00

Yes, after 10 years we have finally received the kind of commentary that makes you wonder if it's not all downhill from here - I mean, can we ever get a better review than this?

As told to Lance Scott Walker by one of the editors of 002 Magazine as he was looking at pictures of the Linus Pauling Quartet:

"They look like, maybe I think, what the Goonies would look like today."

For hipsters only.

2006-09-18T21:06:00.000-07:00

Right, so John Cramer recently blogged on some stuff he was listening to (Robbie Basho, Jandek, Radio Thailand, etc.). Naturally, being the hipster I am, I have to follow suit and blog the one thing that has been endlessly cycling in my head since Sunday.

Now what I present to you is not simply a musical construct but a meme that bores into your consciousness and never lets go. It is a biting and pithy commentary on our post-modern society that presents us with intricate modalities not simply lyrical but harmonic. Taken at face value it may seem a minor work but it's ramifications reach far and wide. Here is the opus of which I speak...

Frikkin Houston Curfew and Shows

2006-09-15T08:55:00.000-07:00

Right so we really want to do an all ages show at the Proletariat with The Dimes and Gay Marriage but the Houston Curfew really makes it difficult. Consider the simple fact that 21 and up people don't want to get somewhere until at least 10:30 but if you are bound by the curfew, you have to be home by midnight. So that poses a problem. We have three bands with total estimated music of 1hr 45 min then add 30 minutes between bands and you have to have to allot for 2:45hrs which means that to end by midnight or 12:15am you have to start at 9:15-9:30pm.

Now I don't know how the underage crowd plays at the Proletariat but if the first band plays at 9:15 that means a lot of the non-curfew folks will miss out on the first band. We want everyone to see the two bands that are opening but we fear that if we toss 'em too early they may not have the crowd they deserve. I mean I want everyone to see the Dimes and Gay Marriage not just the 21+ or just those under the curfew.

Well the point is curfew is stupid and draconian. I know (especially during summer) I used to hang out at all hours of the night in Nassau Bay and Clear Lake. One night our goal was to simply to drive on our bikes until we found an open donut shop that had a Bear Claw . Now adays in Houston this would be a criminal act. And now City Council want to make it so kids have to get home even earlier: 11pm on weekends!!!! I mean what the fuck why not just lock them all up "to protect them"! I live in a city fears and hates it's own youth.

Ann Richards - RIP

2006-09-14T08:01:00.000-07:00

Well, it seems Ann Richards passed away last night which only goes to highlight how far the Governor's office has fallen since her time. Bush was pretty lame but Perry makes Bush look like frikkin' Sam Houston by comparison. While Richards (and yes even Bush) at least had some personality, Perry is so clearly a tool of big business that I don't see why the Republican Party in Texas doesn't just elect a frikkin chicken to office and just be done with it. Not only would the bird be more dynamic and interesting to voters, business interests in Texas could just forgo the problem of having to explain to another human being what it wants and just train the chicken to step it's little foot on ink and sign any bills that, let say, have the words "Tax Break" or "Grandfathered Pollution". I've never met one Republican who is enthusiastic about Perry - NOT A ONE! Isn't it about time we could hold up our heads again and say "Hell, yeah I'm from Texas!" and mean it? (Sigh) You'll be missed Ann.

[note- God knows that the LP4 is rarely political for a reason; lets just say there is strong political disagreement in the band. So just to be clear, I am speaking for myself and not the LP4. - Ramon

Worst Poster Ever...

2006-09-10T22:53:00.000-07:00

Oh my god, I can't believe I spent 2 hours on a poster and this is the result of my labor!
(click the image to enlarge)
By the way this artwork comes form a Conan the Barbarian story-LP I bought at Sound Exchange on Saturday. Oh no, I didn't buy it for my four year old. I bought it for myself Yeah, that's right. Here I am in my late 30s and what do I feel compelled to buy? A frikkin poorly produced kids album! My geek power is unstoppable!

Linus Pauling Would like to say Happy 40th Birthday to...

2006-09-08T18:43:00.000-07:00

Hell Yeah! 40 Years ago today Star Trek debuted on NBC! Yea, for without this fine peak of American Culture Linus debates at rehearsal would be shorn of comments like..."Well, look Clinton, I know that's how you would handle the Middle East buy how would Kirk handle it?" or "Much like Kirk spared the Gorn, I too will not kick your ass right now.....if, that is, you make the beer run."

So Happy Birthday Star Trek.

Thor and Zolar X - The Best Show You Never Saw.

2006-09-03T21:02:00.000-07:00

Thor Gear

Well let me begin by saying that, yes, it is Sunday and, no, I am not at Brad’s benefit show tonight at Rudz - Rosa is representing tonight. So, I am just here in my Pajamas with CSPAN in the background. Maybe this is not what you would call an exciting evening but, given that the rest of my week (Labor Day included) will consist of working at my crappy job, I am not complaining. The good news is that we are pretty much past the month of being broke. Last week was a struggle as it was a week of stretching every penny until September. Despite my daytime diet of PBJ sandwiches and ramen – we pulled through and I even managed to scrape eight bucks to see Thor and Zolar X.

As you might remember Linus was going on a field trip to see the show as Thor is a lesson in how to rock. Given that Linus never historically goes anywhere, I may have had unreasonable expectations but nevertheless I saved my pennies expecting a posse and a great show. Then the usual drop-out e-mails hit when Clinton wrote on Saturday saying he had a cold and Larry said he had a project deadline. But to my surprise Steve and Charlie hadn’t bowed out. So, I went to rehearsal in time to hear Charlie laying down some sax parts. The sax parts for our swordmetal song were a bit controversial. I was somewhat opposed to sax on a swordmetal song as I felt it was an anachronism (and a bit too sophisticated an instrument for an Thog type Viking) but Charlie countered that electric guitars were hardly the order of the day. [I later had to concede the debate as the boards on Swordmetal.com seemed to agree with Charlie; it seems only the ukulele is considered anathema to the genre.] When 10PM rolled around, Charlie and Steve bowed out of the Thor show. So, I set off alone to the Thor show cursing New York City as I peregrinated though the streets of Houston.

When I arrived, I found the place deserted. It seems that no amount of goofy hype on myspace or Hand-up brought a single soul to this show - Stevie was the only person there I knew. I guess The Sword closing the Rudyards anniversary party on Sunday and the Fatal Flying Guilloteens playing the Proletariat on Monday likely killed off any people even remotely interested. I spoke with Thor, who was his usual jovial self, and I apologized for at the lack of attendance. He shrugged it off saying that he hoped it would pick up but that if not he was still going to give everyone a great show. That to me is what makes Thor cool. He really loves what he does and feels this duty to his audience no matter how small to bring the rock. I mean, how can you not love that?

Zolar X

Zolar X finally started off and to my surprise they were amazing. The drummer had this goofy “I am having the time of my life” look that was utterly endearing but more importantly he was this amazing engine driving the band. These guys may not be young but they are amazing live. Sure they dress like goofy Star Trek aliens and all but what do you expect from a band that started as a space glam band in 1973? I wouldn’t have been blown away of they were just shtick. The fact is the faster punkier stuff was just top notch driving rock and roll; if the Ramones were from space, they would have sung songs that sounded like Jet Star 19. What was great about seeing them play live was that these driving songs didn’t have any goofy studio effects (like the flanged vocals on the afore mentioned song) – here it was just the band and their instruments rocking in a way bands half their age wished they could. Maybe during the glam era of the early 70s this may have been the standard rock show but seeing someone do this now just goes to show those of us who were not there how that era was fun, witty, and a great musical experience. Quite simply Zolar X makes us all look lazy and unimaginative. Sadly, except for the lucky few, Zolar X’s performance was met with indifference by most of Houston who decided to stay home.

Thor

Mike Sims wisely cut the entrance fee to a few bucks between bands and mercifully Thor was able to get a small crowd (maybe what 20 people) from some curious people who had simply popped in to Rudz for a drink. Those people were of course treated to a brilliant show. My god, here is what people do not get. People think that because Thor has the Rock Warrior gimmick he can’t deliver the goods. The thing they don’t get is that this is the best rock show they could possibly see. Ask Shane next time you go see the Medicine Show play. He was one of the lucky guys who came up from downstairs. He like everyone else was screaming, thrusting his fist in the air, and singing along. Yes that’s right people who’d never seen Thor were singing along! Thor’s a smart guy and builds his songs with simple choruses that anyone can immediately pick up on. I mean when he began singing “We are warioirs of the Universe! We live by the sword not at the edge of the blade!” Everyone immediately picked up of the chorus and sang along. Here at Rudyards you had 20 people having what amounted to a great party where everyone sang “Thor!…Thor!…Tho-o-o-or Th-o-o-o-or!” as the band played their asses off. I mean who the hell does two encores for such a small number of people. I’ll tell you who – frikkin John M. Thor! You came to rock and he does not disappoint! You want to hear Let the Blood Run Red or Thunderhawk? Fuck yeah he’ll do that. Though the beast that is among you was spared by Thor this time, the crowd was not. One giddy person looked at me and said, “Man, I am so lucky I stumbled in on this show! This is incredible!” That to me is the problem - it’s not that the show isn’t great, it’s just getting people to forget their notion of cool and just come on out. Once there, nary a soul could disavow the greatness of Thor. Again Houston, you are not worthy of the mighty Thor but I vow that if Thor returns to Houston, Linus must open and we will lock the doors after we play until you concede to the greatness that is Thor.

Anyhow, even though you are not worthy, you can see some more pictures of Thor and Zolar X on my Flikr account.

ALL HAIL THOR!

Zolar X Photos

Thor Photos

Also on myspace:

http://www.myspace.com/thorrockwarrior

http://www.myspace.com/zolarx

My Axe is Kicked!

2006-08-29T13:21:00.000-07:00

The vending machine stocker dude just left out some Pecan Danishes (expiration date today). Woohoo! Truly this is a fitting conclusion to my kingly lunch of Top Ramen. But I just wanted to jump on and quickly blog about Golden Axe.

You see, after seeing my good friend Jeff Thomas and his wife at their going away thing at Catbirds I made a pass by the Rudz 28^th anniversary party. Now since I was already a bit under the weather the night before – I wasn’t planning on staying long but I figured I’d say hi to some people and at least check out Golden Axe but outside of the Rudz crew, there were few people there I knew. I briefly spoke with Chris Kemmerer who has some Cabaret he’s trying organize [Linus writing one showtune…hmmm, I don’t know but we’ll try anything one]. Brad Moore explained how he received his wrist injury while riding his bike. The bottom line is this - in paper, scissors, Rock, Brad Moore – Rock beats Brad Moore. So aside from bumping into Mara on my way out, that was about it. Maybe everyone was showing up late or were charging their batteries for the Fatal Flying Guilloteens show the following night at The Prol.. Anyhow, what ever the case, to get back to the point of this blog – Golden Axe rocked!

If you took a well adjusted John Cramer and made him a metal guitarist you’d have Golden Axe. I make that comment because Golden Axe has the same physicality that John has with his guitar and a lot of the same mannerisms except he actually looks comfortable and happy to be there playing for people. People call out goofy things or someone tries to mess him up and he just smiles, quips back, and keeps rockin’ without missing a beat. So I guess that makes him Bizzaro Cramer. The guy’s performance is basically “Wow, this is pretty frikkin’ cool isn’t it?” It’s not braggy or pompus it’s just a genuine invitation to marvel at metal when it’s done right.

OK! Ok, maybe I should explain what he does. Basically, it’s a guitarist and a drummer nothing more. The drummer is this skinny dude (never underestimate a skinny drummer) who just pummels away (double kick and all) as Golden Axe plays his mix of early Metallica riffage mixed with Eddie Van Halen virtuosity. Now, I grew up with a lot of metal dudes who could play circles around most any other guitarist. The problem all those guys had is they couldn’t compose a single interesting song. To them technique was an end goal in and of itself. It was the equivalent of having this Norm Abrams like skill and then turning around and making well crafted 2X4.

Golden Axe, mercifully, can actually compose something people who aren’t guitar geeks can actually dig. The material and his approach, while clearly genre specific, shows a very witty and playful writer. It’s hard to explain but he crams a lot into his songs like some crazy ass architect defying the engineers. It seems like he tosses riffs, time changes, and solos left and right but in the end you sit back and admire the result; you nod your head, smile, and think “That is how it’s fucking done!”

http://www.myspace.com/warbone