I would like to tell you all that I am originally from northwest Indiana. My home region features Lake Michigan, steel mills, The Gary SouthShore RailCats, farmland and a really bangin’ punk scene. In honor of me recently booking a plane ticket home for the holidays, I thought I’d share a little about everything wonderful and cool happening in NWI. I’ve got three really solid bands to talk about: They’re all weird, noisy and perfect.
The Coneheads’ first full-length album is named “L.P.1. aka 14 Year Old High School PC-Fascist Hype Lords Rip Off Devo for the Sake of Extorting $$$ From Helpless Impressionable Midwestern Internet Peoplepunks L.P.,” and I think that says a lot. The Coneheads are a bunch of self-aware, irreverent, wacko fools who pretend like they’re no big deal, but really they seem to be the cornerstone of everything lovely and great coming out of NWI right now. If you think you would enjoy the sound of Wall-E doing cocaine or anything else that would resemble dystopian toy-robot stimulant use, then you will like The Coneheads. Put more simply, they sound fast, loud, fuzzy and like a bunch of evil robotic butlers.
Check it out, and start with the tracks “ALIEN & WARM” or “1982” if you don’t understand my Wall-E joke.
C.C.T.V.’s four-track 7-inch is in rotation at Radio 1190. (Courtesy photo)
The Coneheads’ drummer, Mark Winter, is also in a great band called Liquids. He is also in yet another great band called C.C.T.V., which I will discuss in the next paragraph. Liquids is a punk band with a deeply reminiscent yet original sound. They ricochet between the gritty, lo-fi attack of Black Flag’s “Nervous Breakdown” and some neo-hard-rock moments that call to memory Thin Lizzy, ACDC and contemporaries Sheer Mag. Liquids is political and gross, with songs titles ranging from “I Killed D.T.” to “Piss on Me.” There’s a brash, hardcore sense of confidence that controls their music. Their full-length “Hot Liqs” is really cool. I also recommend the self-titled 7-inch they put out more recently. Both are chock-full of driving chord progressions, unrestrained, piercing guitars and a lot of fun. If you like Lumpy and The Dumpers or even G.L.O.S.S., I think you’ll dig Liquids as well.
I recently threw a C.C.T.V. 7-inch into rotation at 1190. It has four songs on it, it’s six minutes long and it’s maybe the best six minutes I’ve had in a while. It’s like the angular guitars of Delta-5 and The Slits had a baby with a Gang of Four/DEVO kind of energy and then kicked it all up a big ol’ notch. I’m naming too many names, but it’s only because I’m having trouble containing my excitement. These tracks have an undeniable post-punk agility. This record is razor sharp, chaotic in an exhilarating way and frustratingly short. Due to its brevity, I’m just gonna go ahead and recommend that you listen to the whole thing.
Mosey on over to Radio 1190 to hear this stuff and more.
By Jolie Klefeker