ALBUM REVIEW: Teenage Time Killers – Greatest Hits Vol.1


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Have you ever heard an album so good you thought it was made just for you? Like someone reached into the great boombox in your brain and pulled out just what you wanted to hear? Well, Greatest Hits Vol. 1 (Rise Records) by Teenage Time Killers is that album for me. If you have yearned for some new tunes to come along and kick your ass back to 1988, then this music is for you. Masterminded by Mick Murphy (My Ruin, and Reed Mullen (Corrosion of Conformity), the core band is rounded out by the ubiquitous Dave Grohl and chipping in everything except lead vocals and Greg Anderson (Sunn O)))/Goatsnake) and his mighty axe. In addition to a cavalcade of former and current stars from across punk and metal, it’s an ambitious attempt to turn the idea of a supergroup on its head.

Certainly, a lot of hype has gone on about the assembled players, especially the vocalists. If you re thinking of Grohl’s Probot project, you are not far off. That was Grohl paying tribute to his metal heroes. TTK is all about paying tribute to a certain mindset. An era when writing fun, smart songs that hit you where you live was the norm. Mullen has put his distinctive angry yelp on many C.O.C. albums and does a fine job here on the opening track ‘Exploder’ and on ‘The Dead Hand’. ‘Exploder’ is just a classic punk track with all the whoa-oh-ohs you can handle. Second track ‘Crowned by the Light of The Sun’ sounds like an early-era Clutch song and thus Neil Fallon is right at home singing over some stone grooves. The most blistering track here is the thrash/punk ‘Hung Out To Dry’. Randy Blythe (Lamb of God) just slays the track with his parts.

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Following these first salvos the rest of the album is a tad uneven in a few places, but on repeated listens the entire thing holds together well. Jello Biafra is predictably pissed off in the too-short ‘Ode to Hannity’. ‘Barrio’ featuring Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio/Blink 182 has the second-best track on the album. It’s another fun old-school sing-a-long that is both fun and political. Mike IX (EyeHateGod), Tommy Victor (Prong/Danzig) and Tairrie B. Murphy (My Ruin) anchor the three of the remaining real standout tracks. While it’s great to have an album in 2015 with Lee Ving (Fear), Karl Agel (COC Blind/King Hitter) and Phil Rind (Sacred Reich) altogether, at times you wish the tracks were a little stronger. Although a little short of total greatness for all the meaningful names, Teenage Time Killers backed up having the stones to call this album Greatest Hits Vol 1.

 

8.0/10

KEITH CHACHKES


Teenage Time Killers Issue More Info On Greatest Hits Vol 1


Photo credit: Tairrie B Murphy

Photo credit: Tairrie B Murphy

Teenage Time Killers will be releasing their long awaited release Greatest Hits Vol 1 on July 31, 2015 via Rise Records. The brainchild of Corrosion of Conformity drummer Reed Mullin, guitarist Mick Murphy (My Ruin, The Birds of Satan) and producer John “Lou” Lousteau, the project has released a track listing along with a breakdown of guest credits. All instrumental tracks on Greatest Hits Vol. 1 were recorded at Dave Grohl‘s 606 Studios in Northridge, California. The album was produced by Lousteau, Mullin and Murphy, engineered and mixed by Lousteau at 606 Studios.

Stream “Barrio” (with Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio) and “Hung Out To Dry” (with Randy Blythe of Lamb Of God) below.

01. “Exploder”
Vocals: Reed Mullin
Featuring Pat Hoed (Bass), London May (Drums)

02. “Crowned By The Light Of The Sun”
Vocals: Neil Fallon
Featuring Jim Rota (Guitar), Dave Grohl (Bass)

03. “Hung Out to Dry”
Vocals: Randy Blythe
Featuring Mike Schaefer (Guitar), Dave Grohl (Bass)

04. “Power Outage”
Vocals: Clifford Dinsmore
Featuring Dave Grohl (Bass)

05. “Ode to Hannity”
Vocals: Jello Biafra
Featuring Mike Dean (Bass)

06. “Barrio”
Vocals: Matt Skiba
Featuring Brian Baker (Guitar)

07. “The Dead Hand”
Vocals: Reed Mullin
Featuring Woody Weatherman (Guitar), Dave Grohl (Bass)

08. “Egobomb”
Vocals: Corey Taylor
Featuring Dave Grohl (Bass)

09. “Plank Walk”
Vocals: Pete Stahl
Featuring Greg Anderson (Guitar), Dave Grohl (Bass)

10. “Time To Die”
Vocals: Mike IX Williams
Featuring Greg Anderson (Guitar)

11. “Days Of Degradation”
Vocals: Tommy Victor
Featuring Dave Grohl (Bass)

12. “Clawhoof”
Vocals: Tairrie B. Murphy
Featuring Dave Grohl (Bass)

13. “Big Money”
Vocals: Lee Ving
Featuring Pat Smear (Guitar & Bass), London May (Drums)

14. “Devil In This House”
Vocals: Karl Agell
Featuring Dave Grohl (Bass)

15. “Say Goodnight To The Acolyte”
Vocals: Phil Rind
Featuring Jason Browning (Guitar), Dave Grohl (Bass)

16. “Ignorant People”
Vocals: Tony Foresta
Featuring Greg Anderson (Guitar), Nick Oliveri (Bass)

17. “Son Of An Immigrant”
Vocals: Johnny Weber
Featuring Brian Baker (Guitar)

18. “Your Empty Soul”
Vocals: Aaron Beam

19. “Bleeding To Death”
Vocals: Vic Bondi
Featuring Dave Grohl (Bass)

20. “Teenage Time Killer”
Vocals: Trenton Rogers
Featuring Greg Anderson (Guitar), Pat Hoed (Bass)


Reed Mullin’s Teenage Time Killer Sign With Rise Records


Teenage Time Killer

Teenage Time Killer

Teenage Time Killer, an all star project headed by Corrosion of Conformity’s Mike Dean and Reed Mullin, has reportedly signed a record deal with Rise Records. The name was taken from a Rudimentary Peni song. The instrumental parts for the upcoming CD were recorded at Dave Grohl’s (FOO FIGHTERS, NIRVANA) Studio 606 in Northridge, California on the famous Sound City mixing board, which was the central focus of Grohl’s acclaimed “Sound City: Real To Reel” documentary. The effort was mastered by Bill Stevenson (THE DESCENDENTS, BLACK FLAG).

Reported artists who have contributed to the project include:

Randy Blythe (Lamb Of God)
Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters)
Corey Taylor (Slipknot/Stone Sour)
Neil Fallon (Clutch)
Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys)
Lee Ving (Fear)
Tommy Victor (Prong)
Nick Oliveri (Mondo Generator, ex-Queens Of The Stone Age/Kyuss)
Aaron Beam (Red Fang)
Pete Stahl (Scream, Goatsnake)
Greg Anderson (SUNN O))), Goatsnake)
Karl Agell (ex-Corrosion Of Conformity)
Tairrie B Murphy (My Ruin)
Mick Murphy (My Ruin)
Vic Bondi (Articles Of Faith)
Clifford Dinsmore (BL’AST!)
Pat Hoed (Brujeria)
Max Cavalera (Soulfly)
Tony Foresta (Municipal Waste/Iron Reagan)
Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein (The Misfits)
Keith Morris (Black Flag, etc.)
Phil Rind (Sacred Reich)

Asked if there are any plans for TEENAGE TIME KILLER to go on the road in support of the upcoming CD, Mullin told INDY Week: “Touring, I don’t know. Dave Grohl’s folks — his management and marketing people — are going to help us do all that with the thing. We recorded about 98 percent of it at his studio. They were talking about — since there’s so many people from so many different bands — maybe do something like ‘[Jimmy] Kimmel [Live!]’ and have three or four different singers come out at one time, like Jello and Lee Ving, maybe Randy from LAMB OF GOD, something like that. All the songs are real short, so we could do, easily, four songs and not go over. But you know, we’d have Brian Baker come out and play guitar, Pat Smear play bass or guitar or whatever. It’s pretty star-studded.”

He added: “It sounds really organic. It sounds like we — the people that we associated with for the different songs — wrote the songs together.”


Southwest Terror Fest 2013- Live At The Rock, Tuscon, AZ, USA


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The Year of the Snake: Four Days of Noise, Doom, and Booze in the Old Pueblo Part I

Early in the afternoon on the tenth day of October, a small corner on the edge of a rather quiet neighborhood in Tucson, AZ was besieged by a caravan of tour buses and vans. Within moments of screeching to a halt, this group of transports began disgorging the vanguard of an army primed for delivering an all or nothing audio assault of extreme music over a four day campaign. This was the beginning of the second annual Southwest Terror Fest, a celebration of heavy underground music with an impressive lineup that puts well known national acts alongside the best of the underground scene. Year two was all about outdoing year one. Doubled in length, with sixty-five bands, the headliners also grew in immensity with revered artists such as Kylesa, Red Fang, and Sacred Reich leading the charge. Anticipating the experience of seeing these mighty bands and discovering new ones, a heady excitement permeated the air as those first day bands and venue staff converged.

 

 

 

Within hours of their arrival, these merchants of extreme unloaded mountains of gear to strategic locations inside The Rock, the well known local venue on the street corner that was about to become anything but silent. The impressive array of guitar cabinets, amplifiers, drums, and other instruments were tuned and adjusted, while microphones were fixed to stands much like bayonets would be fixed to the end of rifles. Walking by the bar, one would have seen a stockpile of Pabst Blue Ribbon or a vast array of Jack Daniels, all of it neatly set up to supply the artillery of alcoholism that would shortly be firing for maximum effect. Yes, year two of the festival was definitely going the distance and pulling out all of the stops to make the biggest bang possible. Day one was ready to begin.

 

After an initial gaggle of local bands, who alternately performed on the main stage and the smaller, more intimate second stage, events began to heat up with some on fire performances via Godhunter’s confrontationalTransient2 punk sludge, Anakim’s cerebral hammering, and Sierra’s old school, groovy distortion. The mood of the event was cheerful and the growing crowd flowed smoothly across the the venue in search of merch, beer, or food. Later performances of note on that first day included a powerful set from Demon Lung, packing the smaller side room with their heavy dirges and apocalyptic vibes, as well as a rather unique band named Pinkish Black, who dropped an ethereal, keyboard heavy acid trip onto the curious onlookers over at the main stage. Once Kylesa hit the main stage to close out the first day, it was clear that all which came before was mere prologue. Through their trademark poly rhythmic attack and gut wrenching atmospheres, Kylesa was the definition of heavy during their debut performance in the City of Tucson.

 

 

 

Vehemence5As day two dawned, the festival kicked into even higher gear with a more extensive and diverse lineup. The crowd seemed to grow larger and more eager on that Friday night, ready to party harder. The bands slated to hit the stages for the evening certainly encouraged that attitude. From a local band Kvasura came Eastern European tinged folk metal that could make even the most kvlt hipster nod their head. The band featured an interesting male and female vocal combination, along with a guitarist who picked up the mic and sang a song in Russian. Tucsonans Lethal Dosage also whipped the crowd into a frenzy with their melodic, death tinged pummeling over in the once again tightly packed second stage room. The music grew even heavier when Oregon’s Transient assaulted ears with grinding chaos and Cave Dweller spit venom into the souls of listeners with their prog flavored death metal. Even these performances were outdone when Vehemence deployed a battery of razor sharp death tunes that mowed down droves of the crowd with flawless precision.

 

 

 

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Rounding out the heavy caliber portion of the evening, Landmine Marathon crushed heads with their alternating groove, and straight dirty death grind. The mood seemed to shift after all of the super heavies were done, as a bona fide legend was about to get up on the main stage. The show became a nostalgic sing-a-long as Sacred Reich capped off Friday with 80s thrash and proof that the old guys can still plug in their guitars and rock. They could have played ‘Surf Nicaragua’ ten times and the attendees would have enjoyed each one all the same.

 

 

 

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Words: Ryan Clark

Photos: No Ceiling Photography/Violent Resistance