ZOMBIE JAMS #3

Kiss - God of Thunder

Now, I know that in 2011 the name KISS isn't exactly synonymous with bad-assery and probably conjures images of bloated, self-indulgent rockstars; over the top merchandising and bad reality television but hell. I will always love this band. They were the second band I ever saw live and they ruined my world. I bought their comics, drew their faces in my school books and worshipped the ground Ace Frehley walked on.

It's always unfortunate when a band you love proverbially shits on their legacy but I've always liked to imagine being a KISS fan in the early 70's: smoking under the bleachers, scrawling band names on the back of your jean jacket, doing burnouts in your dodge and not having to hear, "Oh, I think my dad likes them" when you mention you're a kiss fan in the 7th grade.

'God of Thunder' perfectly sums up what is cool about the band. It's heavy, it's anthemic and when they play it live Gene Simmons throws a sword into the stage and spits blood. It encapsulates everything i love about hard music and if you haven't already, spend the weekend at your local markets sifting through records till you come across Destroyer, pop it in your Crosley and pretend it's 1976.

I promised myself...

...that by the end of the day I would understand how to build and design a website. Actually pretty stoked on my progress, it looks a little less than brilliant but at least I understand the mechanics of it all.

I will now listen to this in celebration.

Sydney City udon & candy club with Natalie

Listening to:

Title Fight - Shed

Man Overboard - The Absolute Worst

Alice in Chains - Dirt

Entombed - Wolverine Blues

Reading:

The Graveyard Book, Sandman - Neil Gaiman

The Big Sleep - Raymond Chandler

Scott Pilgrim - Bryan Lee O'Malley

Scott Pilgrim

So after all these years, I finally let my hatred for Bryan Lee O'Malley subside and ordered the Scott Pilgrim box set. I really loved the film, but in terms of the comics there was always something holding me back. I think it had something to do with Scott's character being an unlikable 2-timing dick, O'Malley filling the books with quasi-indie cultural references that tried just a little too hard and a general distaste for the American-anime graphic style.

Well, I've been thinking lately and I'm dying to write and create an indie comic. The main problem is - I'm not brilliant at drawing. Then I got to thinking... who else isn't exactly Jim Lee when it comes to illustration and created a wildly popular graphic novel series? Well I sighed, I guess Bryan Lee O'Malley pulled it off.

So here I am, eating my words once again and actually quite enjoying the series so far. Besides, the packaging is gorgeous -

...and quotes like this don't hurt much either -

So to everyone whose been asking if I'm into these comics over the last 2 years, the answer is 'Kind of'.

As it stands, we're called SLEEPWALKER but who knows how long that will stick. Hardcore lives.

ZOMBIE JAMS #2

New York Dolls - Jet Boy

I first got into the dolls when I was in high school, There was an older kid who used to hang out while I was waiting for my mum to pick me up after class and he was was in a pop/punk band. In my eyes this dude could do no wrong, he was a soft-spoken guy with chipped black nail polish who wore sweatbands made out of gym socks, dyed his hair black and was constantly surrounded by a small army of babes. I thought he was the coolest person in the world.

One afternoon, he actually approached me and asked what I was listening to. This was my big moment. I played it cool and replied, "Oh just a bunch of old school metal. You know... Priest, Maiden, stuff like that." and I thought I did a pretty good job. "Oh", he sighed. "I thought you were gonna say old school punk... That's cool man".

Just slightly crushed, I headed home and downloaded as much 70's punk from Kazaa as i could. The Clash, The Pistols, Ramones and anything else I could remember briefly seeing in guitar magazines. It took 10 years to download (Remember, this would have been 2000 or 2001) but my coolness was at stake and nothing could be more important.

My pursuits were successful and we ended up being really good friends (Today he lives two streets away and we often hang out). I'm babbling. point of the story is... eventually, he leant me The Filth and The Fury, a Sex Pistols documentary. I dug the pistols but what stuck out to me more than anything was a 15 second snippet of a heroin-addicted group of transvestites from New York. They were mean, aggressive and kind of sexy in this weird way and they were playing a song which i eventually found out was called Jet Boy.

This little speel is much longer than I anticipated but if you haven't, check out the Dolls. This is one of my favourite records ever, they were a gigantic influence on punk's existence and they unintentionally created the entire aesthetic of the 1980's. Also, Johnny Thunders is the raddest dude in life.