BEREA FEST V

The show schedule for Berea Fest V is after "The Jump." The DIY punk fest, which each year raises money for children in Berea, takes place July 16th and 17th in Berea, Ohio.

What Gives at Monster House 4/26/10

What Gives is Josh Hoey from Serious Geniuses on bass, Austin from Delay, Welcome to Concrete and Lose The Tude on drums and Ryan Starinsky from Amelia, Slugging Percentage and Letters on guitar.

This is a recording of their first show. Download here.

Razorcake Article on Columbus DIY in Which my House is Mentioned

Razorcake just published this article by Bret who writes "Black Cloud." It just about sums it up, besides our relative wealth of zinesters and our roster of punk entrepreneurs. Also, with the 15th House being around for so long (2003? 2004?), Skylab existing equally as long, and with the Monster House being in its third year - the venues of the house show scene are more institutionalized then the year-by-year sentiment in the article (which was more true a couple of years ago: Hunter House, Screamer House, Stink House, House of Rice, Scoliosis House, Sheridan House, Villa Vietcong, 24/7 House, etc). Maybe now more people will spend a year being confused in a place they thought was cool (which I am all about).

Razorcake Article on CSBYS by Bret

Buddyhead Article on Columbus by Brian Carnahan

CSBYS Message Board

On a slightly related note, Aaron Lake Smith of Big Hands zine gets Plan-It-X records move to Cairo, Illinois ("punk town") in Time Magazine. Listen to an interview with Aaron about the story on Chicago Public Radio, here.

Top 5 of 2000s: Bitter Homes & Gardens

"Perhaps human beings weren't made to be happy and free all the time, we're always trying to enslave ourselves one way or another, if it's not through a career it's through a relationship or it's through kids. It just doesn't seem to be the natural human state. We go through a good phase then we regress. I'm really glad you're happy just be prepared because tomorrow you might be thrown on the scrapheap." - Richard Linklater's Slacker.

Bitter Homes and Gardens' single album is dark gray. A dark gray manifesto in favor of admitting reality during the mid 2000s reign of unreal happy punks. It's music for those that refused to drink the Kool-Aid of folk-punk and bike rides and holding hands. The sound is bass heavy and shitty. The lyrics are saturated in self-loathing; personal excoriation permeates each and every song - a total rejection of the affirmative utopia that Bloomington signified on message boards across America. The first song on the album is actually called "Bloomington," an appropriate opener as the rest of the album can be thought of as the answer to one of its first lines:

"Do you think a person could just disappear on the walk from Seventh Street down to Town Square?"

November CSBYS Monthly

This is the second month of editor Deller's adventure into the world of alt-mags. Among its contents you will find can collecting stories, comics, "Kristina's sister," and plenty of leftist chit-chat.