Backwards Looking Forwards 2011 - Bad Sports, AIDS Wolf, Acid Baby Jesus

OK, so here are three more releases that I "discovered" over my two-month sabbatical that, whilst not anything overly groundbreaking, were a hell of a lot of fun.


Bad Sports, on their 2nd LP Kings Of The Weekend, have chiseled out some major disaffected pop rock that'll tear holes in the seat of your jeans. The Denton, Texas trio are made for summer benders with a sleazy bent. Dirtnap Records put out this fun-loving, fuzzy gem, and it reverently does what it says on the tin. I guess there are elements of Bare Wires about Bad Sports, albeit with more protopunk snarl, which makes me like these guys all the more.

Bad Sports - Can't Just Be Friends


Richie Follin's sister Madeline of Cults' fame will be here on Saturday as a part of the Laneway festival, so it would be remiss of me to mention Guards' Do It Again 7" that came out in December that I found quite delectable. Put out by White Iris, these tracks cement two facts - that Richie Follin knows how to pen a heck of a hook, and that they need to bring out their debut album STAT.

Guards - Do It Again


There was a stage when I seemed to be listening to a lot of Athens, Georgia acts back in 2010 - kickstarted probably by my love of Tunabunny - and it's more than possible that Acid Baby Jesus is going to bring that love full circle. Yet these clowns are from the "other" Athens - the one that proclaims to be the capital of Greece, the starting point (and possibly the endpoint - oh, political controversy!!) of civilisation as we know it. Their self-titled debut came out in October last year on Slovenly Recordings, and it sounds like another 2011 fave of mine, Human Eye, in its insistence of sounding like psych punk played by Ming The Merciless off Flash Gordon. Such space jams are morbid and strange, and oh so goddamn rad. This is a pretty killer album, and may have made the top 40 of 2011 if I'd heard it sooner. 2012 also has them firing up to join the biggest and best lineup yet for the Austin Psych Fest. Live long and prosper, you awesome weirdos.

Acid Baby Jesus - Tooth To Toe

Burying The Dagger

People, sad, sad new. One of my favourite bands of recent times, Baltimore's Double Dagger, are calling it a day. The trio - Denny Bowen, Nolen Strals, Bruce Willen - provided one of the most electric, immersive, and insane live performances ever, and were able to somewhat recreate it in recorded form, especially on their LP More and their Masks EP. Below is a statement from the band themselves:

"We've accomplished a lot in those nine years, playing some incredible shows with bands we love and in places we never thought we'd get to play. We've been fortunate enough to have several great labels support us along the way, starting with local friends Hit-Dat, and later Chicago-based labels Stationary (Heart) and Thrill Jockey, as well as hometown labels Toxic Pop and Terra Firma.

To answer the inevitable question about why we're breaking up: Like any relationship's end, it's complex, but for us it mostly comes down to time. As the band got older and grew and changed, the people in it did too, and our individual lives are pulling us towards other pursuits. With this in mind, we decided to focus on playing a few final shows in some of our favorite cities, and go out on a high note instead of slowing fading away. We still like the music, the shows, and each other, and we think it's best to bring things to a close while we can still devote our full energy to this music.

We've been taking time off from playing live to finish a few new songs, which will be released posthumously in some format (the details are still being figured out). We've also been planning a string of final shows in some of our favorite cities next month. Those dates are at the end of this and are also posted at www.posttypography.com/doubledagger and www.thrilljockey.com.

We could fill a book with the people we want to thank for everything they've done for us over the years. Those who helped us out in any way from putting out our records, helping us screenprint record covers and t-shirts, taking a chance on booking us in other cities we'd never played before (or booking us time and time again), roommates who sat through countless hours of practice (and sometimes recording), strangers who made us meals in their homes, let us sleep on their floors, drove us around, put up with our bad jokes, lent us equipment (though more often it happened that we were the lenders), absorbed the onstage insults, didn't sue us when getting hit in the head with drums, gave us good advice, bought the records and came to the shows and flipped out which gave us the energy to better do the same, and most importantly the girlfriends and wives who let us take the time to do this, all of you made everything we've put into this worth it.

We're all creative dudes so this isn't the last you'll hear from us, but it is (almost) the end of the line for hearing from us together as Double Dagger."

If you are lucky enough to be in the following areas of the US in October, I implore you to do the world a favour and GO. They are an amazing act, and will be sorely missed. The last few Double Dagger shows:

Wed, October 12 - Baltimore, MD - Charm City Art Space w/ Ed Schrader's Music Beat, Holy Tongues (ex-Ruiner)
Thu, October 13 - Detroit, MI - The Berkley Front
Fri, October 14 - Chicago, IL - Ultra Lounge w/ Call Me Lightning
Sat, October 15 - Chicago, IL - TBA
Sun, October 16 - Cleveland, OH - Now That's Class w/ Megachurch, Clan of the Cave Bear
Wed, October 19 - Washington, DC - Black Cat w/ Imperial China
Thu, Oct. 20 - Brooklyn, NY - Death By Audio w/ AIDS Wolf, Zomes
Fri Oct. 21 - Baltimore, MD - Ottobar w/ awesome secret guests!!!

Vale Double Dagger.

Double Dagger - Pillow Talk
Double Dagger - The Lie/The Truth
Double Dagger - Camera Chimera