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57. The Flaming Tsunamis (w/ Mutiny)
223 Plays7 months ago
Hope you didn't skip leg day cause its about to get heavy! CP/SC heads to the clam pizza capital of the world to dig in on cult darlings, The Flaming Tsunamis. To help discuss, they welcome back third timer Chris Ruckus and to talk about his new anime/ska/metal group Mutiny. First they catch up with a discussion on The Jinx, the Station Fire and what Chris has been doing since his last appearance. Then, Rob, Celine, Joey and their guest breakdown the entire TFT discography from their hard to find Ska Punk years to their horror-themed heaviness to their always surprising musical experimentations. It's all capped off with a spitfire game of Turning Otaku.
CP/SC will be performing LIVE at SPI Fest 2 in Connecticut May 17-18! Tix at www.spifest.org
Hosts: Celine, Rob and Joey
Engineer: Joey
Editor: Cutman
Skassociate Producer: Chris Reeves of Ska Punk International
NEW MERCH: www.checkeredpast.ca/merch
Patreon: www.patreon.com/checkeredpast
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Transcript
Theme of Fear: Zombies, Robots, and Flaming Tsunamis
00:00:00
Speaker
On this episode, we fear everything and that includes zombies and robots. Our externalities are shivering, but this podcast has one insignificant victory. We're talking flaming tsunamis on Checkered Past the Skycast.
Introduction and Hosts' Banter
00:00:36
Speaker
What up, Checkerheads? Welcome to Checker Pass, the SCOD cast of Selene and Rob, the show where a Skara Oke, the empty SCA Paradise Orchestra, and a Skami Skaze, the divine woodwind, explore the history and impact of a different band each episode and hope to bring in new fans along the way. I'm Rob, and this is my extremely confused sister. Was it showing on my face? Yeah, a little bit.
00:00:57
Speaker
yeah a little bit what's happening what was that about kamikaze right and then karaoke karaoke yeah so karaoke okay karaoke yeah the definition is the empty orchestra oh translation that's the hat and then the
Selene and Rob's Dynamic and Show Format
00:01:13
Speaker
Kamikaze is the divine wind. Kamikaze, the divine wind. And here's our co-host with the most toast engineer, Joey. Hi. The divine woodwind I said. Yeah, you did. I thought that was funny. I'm still confused. This was for Rob and only Rob. No, it'll come around. It'll come around. Everything is layered. There's a lot going on here with this episode. This is tied together.
00:01:43
Speaker
Okay, so yeah, I believe you. Flynn, you said you got stuff to talk about. Um, do this. Did we introduce Joey? Yeah, we did. Oh, yeah. Hi, everyone. Should we do a salin it? Is that what we should call this? Um, do you want to pick it up? Pick it up, pick it up. Fuel by sea change. Fuel by sea change. Oh, yeah. You gotta do the thing.
00:02:12
Speaker
Oh man, that's good. Well, that was a good one. And? Irish red ale. Yeah. Tasty. It's good. I'm drinking whole garden. It's got a scary snake on it. Terrifying.
The Jinx and Robert Durst's Trials
00:02:25
Speaker
A joke. Yeah, I am late to the party, but I watched The Jinx for the first time. Me too. Shocking. Shocking. I'm in place of Robert. I find him fascinating. I'm not saying like in a good way. He's enigmatic. You know what? Enigmatic is the word I would use.
00:02:42
Speaker
And I guess like the fuckery of his, of course! He killed, one of the cops said it best, he killed at least three people. At least. He killed his friend Susan Berman to cover up the murder of his wife Kathleen. And then he absolutely killed Morris Black when he was on the lamb disguised as an old woman.
00:03:07
Speaker
And then he got off of the murder and he admitted to dismembering the body but not the murder and that the gun accidentally shot So so that was the that was the start of the true crime craze. Yeah, that's incredible What's even more fascinating is that Robert Durso? There was a movie with I don't know some famous people that I can't remember that was based on the
00:03:33
Speaker
disappearance of Kathleen. Kathleen Durst, I guess, right? Yeah. Yeah. And Robert Durst was a fan of it. So Jarecki, the director of that movie, like is making the documentary about him. So Robert Durst sought him out about it. It's crazy. And then so he was discovered in a hot mic moment and it like ends on the hot mic moment. Yes. Have you heard the full recording? Because it was so the argument of the trial was like
00:04:02
Speaker
that uh was that taken out of context taken out of context but it's still insane yeah that's just the defense right i'm like that actually like what do you mean he said i killed them all of course and yeah when it's pretty crazy because like on camera they filmed the moment where somebody realizes they've been caught for murder
00:04:22
Speaker
And there's no way out of it. He almost barks like the like physical reaction of it. And then yeah, I mean, he definitely has like, I believe like schizophrenia or something. Right. And then so season two is coming out. I don't know when but 2024. And because the cut trial he's dead now. Yes, he's dead.
00:04:39
Speaker
And he died before he could get, he was gonna be on trial for the murder of his wife. And he was found guilty for Susan Berman. And he served two months in prison, then he died. And during the whole trial, it was like fuckery, because it was like COVID and he's like feeling health. I mean, I'm sure like the stress of being caught for these murders probably fucking killed him. So I guess that's karma.
Great White Fire Tragedy
00:05:01
Speaker
And then he like admitted at the trial that if he did kill them, he would lie about it.
00:05:06
Speaker
and that he's lied under oath before. That's a real OJ Simpson moment. Anyways, I was at a place where I am in a place of Robert Durst. I wish there's more. Let me know if there's more than just the jinx. I think there's something. And then also one other thing I discovered. Did you know about the station fire?
00:05:24
Speaker
No, back to music. There was like a rock. It was great white. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And they had like pyrotechnics in this old shitty bar. And there was like like kind of like a blues on white, which would be whatever, like an old rock and roll bar. And they had like shitty soundproofing that like wasn't up to code. And it like lit on fire. And like within two minutes, the whole thing burnt up. One hundred people died. Yeah. One hundred people died. Crazy to see some hair metal.
00:05:52
Speaker
And one guy survived, I saw interviewed and he was like, cause he was lying on his side and he was like survived after it, like all burned down around him. So yeah, don't get, you get crushed. So if you're in a pile of bodies, go on your stomach or don't go on your stomach. Sorry. Don't go on your stomach or your back, go on your side, go on your side. I don't know if this is the podcast to be getting advice. I heard it from the guy.
00:06:17
Speaker
great white my favorite band and so the main guitar player died because he went back in to get his guitar and the manager the band manager went to jail but a lot of the great white fans were like no man but he was like an honor he didn't serve that much time i think he served two years out of a four year
Obsession with Great White and Robert Durst
00:06:38
Speaker
don't know why like I don't remember anything I don't remember anything I don't remember anything but my brain is like no what about these facts about this specific thing that won't help you in your life at all anyways hey do you do a great white song no no threat poison is a great white song I actually don't know they had a big one didn't they had a big one I don't remember
00:07:01
Speaker
That was a good... Was that good? Okay. That was great. Informative. I loved it. We talked about... Pop culture? I don't know. And we talked about great white. These are the things I've obsessed over randomly. Like holes I've gotten in. Holes I've gotten myself in. I do want to know more about Robert. So please reach out if you guys have anything.
00:07:22
Speaker
Honestly, okay, also there is a documentary, yes, everyone. And then
Guest Chris Ruckus and the Band Mutiny
00:07:28
Speaker
also the station, there is a documentary that you can't see in Canada. And I really wanna watch this documentary on the station. So please, please, please, please give me that documentary. I'd really like to watch it.
00:07:43
Speaker
but our guest has been waiting long enough. We're absolutely thrilled to introduce our guest. They're one of the masterminds behind the manga slash Scottcore outfit mutiny whose debut self-titled EP is available everywhere through Scottpunk international records. Three-timer Chris Ruckus is back. Hey Chris. What's up?
00:08:02
Speaker
Got any thoughts on Robert Durst, The Jinx, and or Great White? I'm wondering in the terrible fire of Great White, how many fans were left after the terrible incident there? Was that the entire fan base that went under?
00:08:25
Speaker
Chris, the last two times you're on was from your pre from your other band, just the dente. And we talked about the suicide machines, but you're here today to talk about your new project mutiny. So why don't you, uh, tell the listeners all about your new project? Yeah. So, um, mutiny is a, has been, I've been told that it is a super group.
00:08:46
Speaker
We have members of Voodoo Glow Scalls, Dissidenti, Manic Hispanic, Death by Stereo, Adolescence, et cetera, et cetera. And it is a ska band that is also a multimedia thing. So we have a comic, a manga, Japanese manga, that is all the songs are revolving about there. The EP has vocals in English and then on the flip has the same songs in Japanese with the different singers, right?
00:09:15
Speaker
Correct. Yeah. The band Fraile also has two singers, like how we have two singers. So we are good buddies with those dudes and they translated the lyrics, which I'm sure was a fucking nightmare just because of how many words that I tried to put into, you know, a two-bar phrase.
00:09:34
Speaker
They had to do that in Japanese and make it also fit and then record it and they're so wonderful and they're the best band and I really fucking hope that those dudes take off here out in the West.
00:09:46
Speaker
That side of the EP is fucking awesome. And it makes it so I can appreciate it too, you know? Yeah, totally. It's very cool. So how did the band come together?
Mutiny's Musical Influences and Creative Process
00:10:00
Speaker
Since all of you are kind of in disparate bands and disparate areas, what got you all together to form this project?
00:10:06
Speaker
So Voodoo Glow's called Sax Player lives in Pittsburgh, where I live. And we were, he tried to get some stuff going on Dissidenti's record, but never really panned out that way. And we're just good buddies. So over the pandemic, we were just like, you know what? Let's fucking get something together. We got a bunch of songs that we can kind of glue together and we can make it about.
00:10:33
Speaker
of an anime you know so like originally we were writing it like the lyrics will be about Gundam or something or Ultraman I'm a big fucking Kaiju guy so like we'll just have all these songs be about this weird stuff that we like and then eventually it's like well what if we just
00:10:49
Speaker
wrote it. What if we just made our own intellectual property? So that's kind of where it it's gone. And there's a lot of layers that are still unfolding about it. So it's a, it'll be cool to watch it, you know, come to fruition. Since you're on the anime manga kind of train, like we've talked about it a bunch on the pod before. And if anybody's watching patrons at home can see behind you, I can see, you know, big wall of Dragon Ball jumps out right away.
00:11:15
Speaker
Have you shared that you also have a crazy manga wall? Do you guys know that? Okay. You've done this already? I sent a picture to him. Okay. And you were like, whoa, that's a lot of manga. Yeah. Hey, that's a lot of manga. It's not a lot. It's quite a bit. You actually pulled the words out of my mouth. That was verbatim what I had said. They call me an intuitive.
00:11:41
Speaker
What were the manga anime influences that went into Mutiny? I mean, it's a mecha story. So a lot of it was, you know, Gundam. I know that Eric is a huge Gundam dude. He has a couple of Gundam tattoos. Just a big fucking dork that way. A lot. I mean, a lot of it truly was like wanting to see punk rock represented in a realistic way.
00:12:06
Speaker
So, you know, like a lot, I feel like a lot of times in the manga that, or anime that I watch, like, it would be like, oh, there's a punk rock character. He is a green mohawk. And I'm like, what fucking year is it, dude? Like how many punks do you see that have, that are represented this way? So we wanted to see it more like in the, you know, kind of a.
00:12:22
Speaker
a more realistic interpretation of punk rock and metal. And the subcultures of that. There are D-beat characters. There are characters that are more into other sides of super hyper-specific punk rock. So we wanted to see that. Are the D-beat ones the smelliest ones? The smelliest ones. We've got the crest. We have the metal head who are cannibals and have shit like that. That people who are punk rock and metal would definitely get those kind of jokes.
00:12:52
Speaker
So there's a lot of like, it's almost like the inside joke for the subculture almost like it's not, it's for people who are like, yeah, we get this and we can see ourselves in it. And not just like the sort of mainstream version of it.
00:13:06
Speaker
We did an episode recently where we did all the sort of Ska references on TV. And I think what we realized was the only time Ska was ever referenced on TV was as a joke. It was never, yeah. There was nothing ever sincere about it, like a couple of times maybe, but still it was always in a comedy and it was always for the sake of a joke. It was sincere in the America's Funniest Home Videos theme.
00:13:28
Speaker
no we found out that that guy was a joke well no the guy just was like given a project the the songwriter he'd never written a ska song before yeah that doesn't mean it's not authentic just because he got it for a paycheck i think he just was like maybe that was maybe maybe that was his truest expression yeah fair enough you don't we don't let's get him on the pod what was the vampire movie that came out Renfield that came out recently they had a couple ska jokes in there too
00:13:56
Speaker
Apparently, I have not seen it, but that got flagged to me too.
00:14:00
Speaker
I haven't seen it at all. I just know that specifically it does mention video glow skulls, which is kind of topical. That's cool.
Ska in Pop Culture and Mutiny's EP Reception
00:14:09
Speaker
I didn't know what specific. There's a on Twitter somewhere and I have to find it. There was an outtake from the show AP Bio, which we did play that clip there, where Patton Oswalt goes on a tear about specifically Washington DC-area SCA bands.
00:14:27
Speaker
like talks about watching the pie tasters and stuff like it's just this whole like run and the search party bit is very good search party it's so good it is also still a joke okay i don't know i don't know he's pretty cool
00:14:45
Speaker
Was that undergrads bit a joke? Yeah So how about on the music side when we think about the music that mutiny is is writing like what were the influences that went into it and
00:15:03
Speaker
It's definitely heavy. The thing that I wanted to make sure that we were kind of going through is we wanted to utilize the skills of everybody that was in it. So Ephraim, our lead singer is known for being in a hardcore band by stereo. And same thing with Mike, the drummer, huge fucking metal dude and hardcore dudes. We wanted to make sure that we were utilizing those elements. So a lot of it's going to be, you know,
00:15:28
Speaker
there is a blast beat within the first minute on the first I'm pretty sure so that gets you like goal achieved yeah for sure yeah I mean and like the sky that I grew up I listen to Scott my entire life but like as I got older my tastes got heavier so bands like the flaming tsunamis and a billion earnings and you know a lot of that likes the
00:15:53
Speaker
Connecticut's ska-core scene that was coming out in like, you know, the mid 2000s era was a huge influence for that stuff. And a lot of Japanese bands too, you know, like Eric and JP, our Saxon guitarist, are huge into the Japanese ska-core scene and know all those dudes. So like, we're pulling a lot of influence from that. And honestly, in manga and anime too, like a lot of the anime theme songs is, I feel like you'll hear some of that in there too.
00:16:20
Speaker
Yeah, it's awesome. And yeah, I'll just like shout out the mutiny P is fabulous. It's fantastic. It is very good. It's big on our discord. Yeah. Yeah. We talk about it constantly. Yeah. It's it gets brought up quite a bit. It does.
00:16:35
Speaker
Fuck yeah. Thank you guys. People are stoked. What do you have to say? We're people. I'm people. People are stoked. I'm people. That's funny. That is good. I like the caveat of having to be like, that's funny, right? Right. That's our podcast. That's my life. That's my life. Just make sure we got... That's why there's three of us, so we can turn around and be like, that's funny, right? When are you reacting more? That was more what I was trying to do. Yeah, laugh more, Robert.
00:17:06
Speaker
You say that a lot to me. Live, live, love, and laugh. That's what my pillow tells me.
00:17:14
Speaker
Uh, what do you have to say to the Australian folk punk band, the P funk spinoff and that set your goals album that are all called mutiny as
Pittsburgh's Food Culture and Sandwiches
00:17:23
Speaker
well. Whoa. I didn't know. Well, you guys, it was a fucking name. I didn't do the fucking research here. Finding it on Spotify is tough as fuck, but you'll be rewarded for it.
00:17:36
Speaker
Preferably.
00:17:39
Speaker
I feel like you're ahead. I listened to that folk punk band. They're not that good. They're a little sea shanty. They'll never know. You like sea shanty? Yeah, they don't do it very well. That P-Funk spin-off is hilarious. The other Mutiny fans are going to come for you.
00:17:58
Speaker
Is that conceptual as well? Is it like, is it a mutiny happened on the mother mothership and this other? No, it's called so different. So the, the people that's the people, the people spin off is called me because he, he broke up with George Clinton, right? It's called mutiny because he left them. He's the only one that got like that actually left and not fired.
00:18:22
Speaker
Okay, so he called it a mutiny and then dragged along yeah Yeah, cuz then he still probably talks about aliens. I don't know. I don't really remember it that well It wasn't good. I I listened to it one time. I was like this is fine. That's how your goals album is good, though
00:18:36
Speaker
Yeah, I'll set your goals. But this this mutiny is top. Yeah. So this one, number one, set your goals. Number two. And then the one three and then the folk punk ones at the bottom of the list. Yeah. That's the ranking. That's the ranking. Yeah.
00:18:52
Speaker
The last question I have for you is when I was setting up this meeting, we somehow started talking about food. I believe you said this will either have to be before or after I get my bagel. Life is pre and post bagel.
00:19:11
Speaker
We talked about regional foods, and you said everyone thinks about putting fries on a sandwich here, but there's way more to Pittsburgh than that. Let's talk about it. If I were to visit your home city- Fries on a sandwich is pretty fun. I mean, that is good. I don't know. But what should I eat?
00:19:28
Speaker
right here. I'm a, you know, I was raised in a Polish house with all the fucking weird ass pollock traditions and shit. We got a good Polish community here. I will say that almost when I think of Pittsburgh food, it's all pollock shit. So Holuski, Piroki is like, that's what it is. It's going to be some form of carb on top of another form of carb. So
00:19:48
Speaker
Which is, to be fair, I feel like what the Permani shit is, that's just carbs on carbs too. But fuck Permanis, that shit blows. Whoa. Whoa. I mean, nobody who lives in Pittsburgh City proper is going to fuck a Permanis. That's for the people from the suburbs coming in and they're going to go see a Steelers game or some shit. And then they're going to be, well, what if we put coleslaw on a sandwich? That'd be fun. Wouldn't that be fun? Fuck you. I would love to be activated on this subject, but it's so, so regional.
00:20:18
Speaker
I'd love to be as upset as you are about it with you, but I simply can't relate.
00:20:25
Speaker
Also, I know that we were talking about bagels earlier. I did not get a bail today instead. Whoa. That's the biggest. Yeah. Well, daylight savings here, right? So like, it was the time. So we got to try some new shit. We went to Kyber. We got the vegan BLT. Very fucking good. You're in Pittsburgh. You go to Kyber. And you add the avocado. We got three sandwiches. There are only two of us. We got three. We split the third one.
00:20:54
Speaker
I was going to say that's what going to Pharaoh's like, I'll get Sammy. I'll, I'll, I'll rock a full Sammy and a half. I got Pharaoh. I love fucking love a sandwich. Yeah. You also make your own donuts. They had a matcha filled Darrow also makes their own donut. Yeah. Fuck. Are we friends? Let's do it. Sister sandwich places in different cities. And Pharaoh's like cool vibes. Yeah. They have punk rock energy.
Punk Rock and Vegan Cafés
00:21:20
Speaker
No, same thing. So in the building of Kyber, in the same, in the building of Kyber, it's the very, the first floor, right? Vegetarian cafe. Above that, all punk rock record shop. Above that, small press comic shop. So it's one building and it was like a hundred percent of my like interests. You got it. Every single person has tattoos in that building. Absolutely. And Kyber is themed around Star Wars. So.
00:21:47
Speaker
I was gonna say yeah that the crystal you got walked right in. You couldn't get past Joey. Nope No, there's no way I knew it. Oh, yeah. So yeah, the Pittsburgh will take you to Cairo get you a VLT a shit fucking add avocado. Don't be a fucking
00:22:02
Speaker
cheapskate all right he's he doesn't like avocado i'm gonna bust him whoa okay that's not what you say every time i have anything spicy salmon sushi combos and it's got the avocado he's just he's just trying to impress me he's just trying to that's what i'm saying that's what i'm saying i will say we grew up in a in a half in a french ukrainian community growing up
00:22:28
Speaker
And so we also ate shitloads of pierogies on the daily cabbage rolls. Oh, and from what I hear, you guys had the first, like, pajeon, like, donut, yeah? Oh, so not the Korean-style Chinese style. The green onion cake was, yeah, invented here, yeah. Yeah, that was really good. And Tim from Cap Light really enjoyed it.
00:22:51
Speaker
Yeah.
Flaming Tsunamis' Musical Journey
00:22:52
Speaker
And Brittany from Cat Bite was mad because Tim had all the sauce. And Kenny, our friend, and then he said, I can eat things dry. I was also, K-boy was not. K-boy said that's too greasy and then would not eat it.
00:23:08
Speaker
Yeah, they're pretty fucking strong like they're like they clearly take care of themselves. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I think came when I looked at it and was like, that is not proper fuel for my body. They ran down to the vegan restaurant, which is probably like, they actually found the best vegan restaurant in the city.
00:23:32
Speaker
That tour had a good time in Edmonton because we also learned through Britt and Tim that there is a dentist here in Edmonton who was a punk rocker growing up.
00:23:45
Speaker
and he does he like makes deals with like tours and does like dental cleanings for bands like on the house as like kind of his way for like his way to like help out the scene because he knows all these bands that have like coverage or whatever so like they were playing with the Bouncing Souls and the Bouncing Souls came to Edmonton a day earlier than everyone else because they knew this guy and they
00:24:10
Speaker
Yeah, so the bouncing souls and their crew all got like dental work like cleanings and fillings and stuff like the day beforehand so So I want to go to that then I know fucking sick I think we're gonna route our tours through Edmonton now cuz I gotta get this one. I can check that out. Yeah, I Don't know how you get a hold of this guy, but he's here. Yeah, I want to find it. Yeah ask hombre tip rock Yeah, vinton dentist yeah Google tell me
00:24:38
Speaker
I just want to hear that. I like that. Cat on keyboard. It's very Muppet-esque. Yeah. So today, Chris, we're talking about flaming tsunamis. Tell us about your history with this band. Why did you want to talk about them?
00:24:50
Speaker
They're the greatest band of all time. I know he says I've done suicide machines, but I only speak into perletives. So when I was like 20 years old, maybe even younger, actually definitely younger, like the first tours that I ever did, I was touring with a band called Cryptorchic Chipmunk. And we were really good buddies with a lot of those bands that were kind of in that CTE like Scott Core, what I will call the fourth wave, but y'all can fucking fuck off if you disagree.
00:25:20
Speaker
um with a lot of those bands so like it was you know um
00:25:25
Speaker
Fuckin' Flaming Tsunamis, A Billion Earnies. There used to be a band called Paranoid Dance Party that were in the same thing. There's a lot of those community records bands that were coming out. Yeah, A Billion Earnies is a big part of that. So a lot of this was like, this is the first exposure that I had to Ska that was not like Poppy Ska or even like Punky Ska. This was definitely hardcore and metal. And I was like, as I was getting into that scene, it was kind of,
00:25:51
Speaker
you know, a lot of the hardcore bands were kind of a little more inaccessible to me. So this was, for me, a lot of my introduction to that scene. It was also like a lot of my first, you know,
00:26:02
Speaker
introduction to activism with veganism. And Andy has been a huge advocate for veganism. And even in the post-Flaming Tsunami's life, he's been doing that with his clothing company, Compassion Company. And so this was the first kind of exposure that I had to that world too.
00:26:22
Speaker
And I know you were worried that they were perhaps too regional, but I think nowadays their stock has really risen in the last five years, especially as bands come out that talk about how big an influence they were, regardless of whether or not they
00:26:38
Speaker
were big in their time and I mean, they were big in the dark ages anyway. You can feel their influence forward and bands like yourselves, but also in like, you know, best of the worst. Best of the worst, definitely. And now that Folly's coming back, like Folly's had a resurgence obviously and they were clear, Folly was a huge influence on flaming tsunamis. So I think that probably you're getting those bylines through there too. So let's do it. Let's get into the time, Scoshine. Hell yeah.
00:27:05
Speaker
Thank you.
00:27:18
Speaker
All right, so my sources for this episode are slim. There's not a lot of TFT information on the old internet. There's like a little blurb on Last FM and that's about it. So I was doing a lot of deep dives and discogs, which is where I go when I can't find anything. And I listened to our- Deep dive to the discogs.
00:27:41
Speaker
Scott Associate Producer Chris Reeves podcast Scott Pong International did a song by song breakdown with Andy on fear itself. And it's very, very good. It is three hours long. So it was a bit of a thing. I listened to it at time and a half speed. So kind of had to. But it was fantastic. And I got a lot of details out of that.
00:28:03
Speaker
So, the time Scott Sheen takes us back to 1999 to the clam pizza capital of the world, New Haven, Connecticut. As Scott was- That's not like anchovies, you know what I mean? You're getting carried away there. Oh, we'll find out. You must use seafood and cheese, arguably never, but in sparingly anyways.
00:28:24
Speaker
Connecticut. Connecticut style pizza. Clam pizza. Now I don't know if I want to go to Connecticut. You're on the fence about it regardless, right? Push me over.
00:28:40
Speaker
This is just me talking you out of it. As Ska was breathing its last breath, a new- There's lots of ghosts. There's clams on the pizza. A new scene was emerging in the Northeast spurned on by a desire to buck everything that made third wave radio friendly. Bands like the arrogant sons of bitches, Big D and the kids table, and folly made Ska dangerous by combining it with hardcore metal and jazz to bring it back to its roots in the underground.
00:29:08
Speaker
It was in this crucible that the band The Flaming Tsunamis was birthed. Backed with a massive stage-filling lineup, it featured three vocalists, one who played guitar and two who played saxophone, three more horn players, a bass and drums, for an eight-piece explosion of ska-punk mayhem. They made their live show the cornerstone of their experience with a high-energy performance that combined their heaviness with their lightness, sociopolitical topics with a cheeky sense of humor.
00:29:34
Speaker
Within two years, their DIY till I die attitude would result in their debut full length insignificant victories that was self released on CDRs and distributed at their live shows. So I'm going to talk about it just a little bit because this is like the most hidden record that's ever been released. I don't know if it's technically a demo. I don't know how one can access it outside of just illegally pirating it.
Transition to Kill Normal Records
00:29:58
Speaker
I verified it on discogs. It does exist and it is a thing. You can listen to the whole stupid thing on YouTube.
00:30:03
Speaker
It's very bad. It's not good. I've never even heard of this before. Wow. And it wasn't part of the listening experience that I provided to everybody because it is not easy to locate. Okay. So I did not do my homework. But you know, I am nothing if not.
00:30:21
Speaker
a completist and a thorough person when it comes to this. The man who watched 24 episodes of 24 in 24 hours when I was 16 absolutely. I took power naps to do it just to say he did it. And I haven't talked about that. And it wasn't comfortable. No, it wasn't good either. His eyes were so red.
00:30:40
Speaker
Yeah, it's also bad. This is the type of person that I am. That's why I wanted to add that contact. I want people to understand. So I suffered through this insignificant victory so that you don't have to. So let's listen to one song just to get an idea of what the Flaming Tsunami sounded like in 2001. Here we go. It's called pre-packaged childhood is the name of the song.
00:31:21
Speaker
for those who aren't on the patreon chris ruckus is making a very surprised face yeah i'm gonna say dude this sounds like fucking real i've been or some shit like this is like
00:31:47
Speaker
And then this is a little bit more like This is kind of where they end up going a little bit. Yeah, cuz the horns matter to TFD, right?
00:31:59
Speaker
The recording's pretty rough. Oh, yeah. I mean, did I not say that they distributed it on the, like, CERs? You did. You did say that. Yeah, this is... Wild. Yeah. So the whole album is a rough listen. This is where they started. Again, at this point, they had, like, way too many members. Like, they had so many people. It was, like, a gigantic lineup. No, none of the more, like, screaming, hardcore shouting stuff. Yeah. Like, you don't really get that feel. It was in 2020, like you said. Yeah. Yeah.
00:32:28
Speaker
Yeah, so this is still in the heels of Ska. It's not like they weren't a Ska punk band. I think they were more traditional to that style, third wave at this point. Chris, what do you feel about that? I would say that they're more traditional for better or for worse, but clearly that's just for worse.
00:32:46
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's famously not good, but like they were probably high schoolers then oh Yeah, I don't want anybody listening to the first thing you're allowed also you're allowed to suck Yeah, I believe that I like really I'm like it's good to try and put yourself. It's okay to suck It's okay to not be good. That's my attitude
00:33:10
Speaker
of 2024. So moving on with the band still mostly in school at the time to your point lineup changes were bound to happen before finally settling on Andy and Bill Barr as the screaming saxophonists Greg on vocals and guitar Ethan on the bass Jeff on the drums and then a horn section
00:33:28
Speaker
of another three people, Nick, Dan, and Joe. This resulted in the band going the extra mile, not just, oh, I put DIY, that's funny. And starting- That's funny, right? That's funny? Yeah, that's funny, right? DIY, extra mile, DIY, extra mile, going the extra DIY. They started their own label. They founded Kill Normal Record. Kill Normal, yeah. In order to put out their more professional
00:33:54
Speaker
and better produce follow-up, the EP focused the fury in 2002 with friend and Cro-Mags producer, Chuck the Duck on the boards. The scariest show I've ever been to, Cro-Mags. They're pretty punk. Punk isn't the word I would describe it. Aggressive. I'm going to get my ass kicked for doing anything. Edmonton loves Cro-Mags. I know. It was a packed show when we were there. Yeah, for whatever reason. Everyone is bald.
00:34:22
Speaker
Everyone is vulnerable. Naturally or unnaturally. Yeah, it's a thing. If you're in that Hare Krishna hardcore scene, it's just got to be like pumped up, go to the gym every day. Yeah, your body's a temple. Do you think that's what it is? Because we do have like a large Hare Krishna community.
00:34:39
Speaker
Yeah, it could be. Maybe they just do well here, right? I miss that Krishna core scene. I remember going to show like people just like throwing fucking down harder than I've ever seen. Yeah. Your knees and doing like hottie kish, hottie, hottie, hottie. And it was fucking I would love to see that shit again. Totally. Yeah, yeah. It was I girl makes are cool.
00:35:00
Speaker
Yeah, they're they were cool. They put on a good live show. It was just a terrifying experience. I'm a very slight person and I have I give off hard meek beta energy and I'm like a room full of alphas like about to get my ass beat. Yeah, they're peaceful though in nature. Yeah, that was a gigantic pit.
00:35:18
Speaker
And yeah, a little bit. It's kind of like the skin a little bit, you know what I mean? Like they're fine. They're peaceful in nature, but sometimes they get like riled up. Well, there's a stampede of them. A stampede of Hare Krishna.
00:35:32
Speaker
practitioners worshipers i don't know i'm so sorry to all everyone the whole community no no sleight on harry christian no no sleight on it that's not what you said early uh no oh i don't think i said anything but scary i said it was a scary show the ep channel the band scott punk attack into a more pardon the pun focused effort
00:35:53
Speaker
It also was the first real time that the band began bringing in a lot of guests to do various gang vocals or an instrument now and then. The label would go on to issue records by the Arrogant Sons of Bitches, Infamous Jake, and Call It Arson. So Focus the Fury was also not on your listening. It's a little bit easier to find, but there's only like five songs and it's like 15 minutes. There's not a whole lot going on there, but this is one of the songs on there called Good versus Emo.
Zombies vs Robots EP and Zombie Culture
00:36:20
Speaker
And we were funding the song.
00:36:27
Speaker
This has got some taking energy. Did you tell us the close interview? No, this is not the first interview. We're not into the three records that you can find online. Okay, that's all I've listened to. This is the first I'm hearing of this as well. Yeah. Yeah, this is very big interview. Yeah. It would have been like the biggest tour in Scotland at this time, but I wouldn't be quite good. This is good.
00:36:56
Speaker
Yeah, this is not bad. This is funny? What's wrong with this? Nothing. The whole album kind of sounds like this. Right. I don't mind these vocals at all. Oh, that's fun. That's pretty ska. Yeah. And good verse but demoes are very funny. Very funny. Back when they wrote jokes.
00:37:20
Speaker
That's because their old singer was a bit more of a go-to guy. We haven't really talked about it, but they have multiple narratives, I guess. Still doing the almost rappy. That shit rules. I had that CD. It was in a paper, a red paper fold-in, and it was also a CD-R.
00:37:48
Speaker
Yeah, Andy on the Skoping International interview said that he did all the artwork for it and he's embarrassed by it because he did it all in MS Paint. Amazing. There wasn't much artwork on it. It was mostly just the title of the album and I don't really remember. I just remember the album art and it had like, but it had like the stars on it. And he was like, it's pretty bad. That's why we started hiring people to do our art after because I couldn't do it.
00:38:16
Speaker
a learning curve that everyone goes through in a DIY band. Do your homework until you're like, man, this would be much better if I paid someone to do what they're doing to do it. You know, that's right. We're still in TFT is like Scott punk phase though. This is still their early sound Scott punk phase national. Yeah.
00:38:37
Speaker
Oh, I see what you did there. That's funny, everyone. How do you feel about this, E.P., if you remember it at all? I loved it. I haven't listened to it since I, I mean, fucking 2000.
00:38:52
Speaker
like maybe a little after that. But yeah, like when I was living down in West Virginia, like this was the era that this was coming out. So this is, I love this album. But it's one of those things I- It's a good song. I don't remember much of it. I don't, you know, I haven't listened to it in 20 something years probably. Yeah.
00:39:13
Speaker
I would have probably enjoyed, if somebody showed me that song when it came out, I would have liked it. Yeah, I would have been perfect into what I was into at that time. Yeah, that would have been exactly what I wanted to hear. So, lineup changes would shake the band again with Andy, Greg, Evan, and Nick sticking around and forming the core of the band's songwriting. In addition, cavernous Dave Alley, that's a crazy name, joined on the drums. So cavernous. And Mike Ford on the trumpet reducing the band to a much leaner six piece.
00:39:39
Speaker
They began incorporating more varied styles into their sound, including swing and folk music and attempt to make their sound as surprising as possible. I noticed that the lyrics also began taking shape with a bend towards horror themes to match their satire and overall heaviness. This new formation resulted in the EP zombies versus robots that finally cemented the band as Northeast favorites, giving them more credibility and exposure, allowing them to tour more aggressively. The EP up the ante with guests, including the credited for white guys in her garage providing the hand claps.
00:40:10
Speaker
Andy apparently would just like bring in as many random people that he was aware of to throw them on the record to do anything whether it was a big just like pile everybody into whatever and I guess the studio they recorded that was in somebody's attic so it was kind of just like come over to this house go to the attic and Record some vocals and then leave
00:40:35
Speaker
kind of a Jeff Rosenstock sort of attitude about it. I was very, you know, that was contemporaneous. Yeah, totally. Like, this would have been post arrogant sons of, or at least towards the end of arrogant sons of bitches and bomb the music industry picking up. So it would have been right, right in that era.
00:40:51
Speaker
The case zombie discourse, let's talk about it. This is called zombies versus robots just because so I worked at a Famously I work rockabilly like kind of psychobilly alternative II whatever store At the same time at this time Yeah, and it was just like it was just like very much a part of my life and I myself was a was a billy I was I was going to shows so like Zombie was huge huge in the cycle specifically in the psychobilly scene
00:41:21
Speaker
And just in the culture in general, like zombies were just everywhere. What was the was walking dead? But what was like what started it and like why was it so big? Because I will say I'm a little like over zombies, but I was in I'm not judging it because I was in at the time.
00:41:38
Speaker
Well, I mean, Walking Dead came out around that time. Was it Walking Dead? That's the start of it. Well, there was the comic Walking Dead way before that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Okay. And also- I know all the kind of B-movies, obviously Return of the Living Dead and, like, etc. All that. And Dawn of the Dead, as far as the 2000s. In the early 2000s, all those Dawn of the Dead remakes started happening, so zombies were big there.
00:42:00
Speaker
Yeah, there's these Mac Brooks books that came out like this. Yeah, there's the 28 and 28 weeks later, which we're pretty. I'm just trying to understand how we got there. I guess it was kind of weird now. There was a few years there where we were just inundated with different kinds of zombies and it just became like the pop culture discourse because I guess like how did zombies become cool? Well, I guess it's no different than zombies are cool.
00:42:30
Speaker
But remember in the mid 90s when everything was about like, you know, like disasters, it was all like, like there's disaster movies all the time. And before that, it was vampires. Yeah, I know. Post, post. If we want to get real into it, I think it was the permeation of like, like smartphones starting to come out and everybody having that and being like, Oh, see, this is the answer I wanted. And people kind of being like the you're all this is the real zombie apocalypse.
00:42:58
Speaker
Right. Exactly. And there was a lot of video games that time. I remember Left 4 Dad came out and then they started putting out zombie modes and other shooters and stuff. Yeah, Undead Nightmare. Undead Nightmare. Yeah, for Red Dead Revolution.
00:43:13
Speaker
It was just so in the culture. It was just so huge. Resident Evil was huge. And there was a lot of people that were like zombies are my personality, like collecting zombie stuff. Oh, for sure. Just like zombies every day. Zombie was life for a lot of people. And there was like kawaii zombie stuff all over the place, dude, like cute zombies. I do like that cute stuff. And also because like emo was like co-opting a lot of like goth culture at the time too. Yeah, lots of hearts and blood and zombie type stuff. Chemical Romance was like all about the coffins, right?
00:43:41
Speaker
There's also universal monsters had like like people maybe was this okay Was this Billy specific or were universal monsters in the culture? No, that was Billy specific like were people like Bella Lugosi and like The house was and like okay. No Okay, so that wasn't that didn't permeate because that was a song I thought universal monsters was really big for a bit, but maybe that Why don't we take a break is that fine and when we get back
00:44:11
Speaker
more flaming tsunamis welcome back to checkered pass we're talking about the flaming tsunamis with chris ruckus of mutiny so let's talk about the ep zombies versus robots by playing the song zombies versus robots because why not here we go good evening ladies and gentlemen and i came in towards the end tonight the zombie robot wars claimed another 11 victims with the market like that news man is
00:44:50
Speaker
Did you participate in zombie culture, Joey? Oh yeah. Oh yeah, you have a zombie tan tattooed on your head. We can see giant teeth right now. And they're repeated so many times.
00:45:09
Speaker
Yeah, it's the lyrics that you come to for this one. I think that that's what's important. It's like this, compared to what comes next, it's such a stark difference, especially when it comes to the lyrics. It's so silly. Yeah, they really were much sillier at this time. Chris, were you into zombie culture? Were you a zombie head? I was into Left 4 Dead for sure. I have friends who thought like,
00:45:37
Speaker
zombie like pin up tattoos and shit. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Yeah. I had a friend that tattooed his one side of his neck was his mom is a zombie and the other side of his neck was his dad. And they were well done. He went to like some really fancy art as a pompadour.
00:45:57
Speaker
No, no, no. We had a hot rod. Where's the spenders? He wasn't Billy. He wasn't Billy. Surprising. He was more like emo. Okay. Yeah. So we had a swoop. So it looked like a little, it was all Salvadorian. It looked like a little werewolf at the time. Now it's really weird. It was really bad style. Like a little werewolf. Yeah. Do you have chops? Yeah. Okay.
00:46:23
Speaker
When you say he looked like a werewolf first thing I thought is like Wolverine. It was giving a little emo Wolverine. Okay, actually, so this EP was definitely on the listening list. Let's talk about it zombies versus robots. Let's start with our guest Chris Ruckus. Talk to me about the CP. How do you feel about it?
00:46:45
Speaker
I love it. You picked the worst song though. This song is on purpose. Why? Because it's so dumb. It's the title track, but I know that this one was recorded after the fact. This was not initially going to be a part of those four songs.
00:47:02
Speaker
Um, so this was recorded after the fact and, um, they would do these shows where like they would have, they would give like, you know, they would crowd kill the kids and like spread them into two people, two factions, give the ones sides these green, uh, uh,
00:47:20
Speaker
fucking, what do you call those? Pool noodles? Okay, sure. Okay. The other one, the other side, different pool noodles. I think they're orange poo noodles. And just how, that was like what they would do with these shows and stuff. So I was never at those. I was not living in the right place. But like that was, I think how this shit started. Where the zombies versus robots. You are the zombies, you are the robots. Okay, that's cute.
00:47:44
Speaker
Robots was of the culture too, like robots were like cool too. Not nearly to the experience. Arguably robots are more cool now. But like shirts like Mars and Venus, the store I work in, like had shirts also just with like a robot. But like a 50s, 60s kind of robot.
00:48:04
Speaker
Not always, no way. That was more a 90s thing, that like 50s retro revival, that was more like- The Iron Giant. See, and that person, Venus, like existed like since the 90s and like- And still has stuff from the 90s and things. Yeah, like absolute, like they're kind of just stuck in that era. I love that shit, that like space age, time age shit, like that's my aesthetic for sure, I love that shit. Or like Astro Boy.
00:48:31
Speaker
Astro boy is my best friend like if it were not if it were well, okay, I'll say He's top three it's Goku
00:48:42
Speaker
Mega Man Astro Boy. Oh, that's some good friends. Yeah, they're all my best friends. I have like, that's it. That's pretty much it. Who's my best friends. And so ironically, mine is. Yeah. I want to know everyone's best. I love the world. Sailor Moon. Okay.
00:49:01
Speaker
Well, I'm sorry, I also didn't hear the end of Rob's. I don't want to cut you off. I heard he started one and then he went to Tron Bond. No, I just was naming like, you know, my best friends are beat the bird. My best friends are roll the sister, my friend, and fucking rush the dog. We're just going through Storm Eagle, you know, Storm Eagle. Yeah, yeah. Sting, Sting Chameleon.
00:49:27
Speaker
I guess like I'm thinking cartoons now, but it doesn't like have to be cartoons or my best friend, but maybe Clefairy. Yeah, so Sailor Moon, Clefairy. I want to say Elvira, but that's like that's going out or that's going up. She's like a cartoon like person. That's right. But she is my best friend, so.
00:49:48
Speaker
that's good yeah you were talking that you were pretty heavy in the in the uh rockabilly scene and the and the universal monsters that like went along with that alvira and in pinball culture is like a huge thing that machine is sick too she's also just funny like her movie is good uh there's a couple alvira pinball
Flaming Tsunamis' Album 'Fear Everything'
00:50:09
Speaker
machines
00:50:09
Speaker
There's like four at least I know. There's one that just came out. Scared Stiff was like the one I think was probably late 80s. And then there was yeah, there was a she just had one that came out like two years ago. I think I think Stern made it. Are they sick? Are they so cool? They're super good. But I will say the universal monsters was like a huge part of that. So like, fuck, it's like one of my favorite games. I can't remember it.
00:50:36
Speaker
I mean, so the Creature from Black Lagoon is a classic. I love that one. And then there was the Party Monsters. Is that what's called Party Monsters? It's a monster bash. Yeah, it's like Party Monsters is the Macaulay Culkin film based on the club kids. Yeah, with the club kids. Yeah. And the whole point of that monster bash is to get your band together and it's all like universal monsters.
00:51:02
Speaker
I'm so which I'd like that all does tie in because I'll so I have a tattoo of vampira. Okay, just I'd say zombie culture adjacent. Yep. Because plan nine is pretty vamp a zombie. Yeah, promoter space. So because vampira did Elvira's gig before Elvira did it.
00:51:22
Speaker
So she introduced like old school movies. She was like a host before the movies came on. So like the Universal Monster film. So then Elvira had that gig late night host and introduced. So she did like play like Universal Monster movies like on her show, too. Hell, yeah. And there was a vampire did tried to sue Elvira, but I do love them. Oh, Michelangelo. Yeah.
00:51:46
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Thank you. Michael Angelo, Sonic the Hedgehog, and who? That was it. Those two for sure. That's it. That's it. That's it. That's it. Oh, maybe the two hobbits from Lord of the Rings are smoking the weed, and I'm like, Mary. Mary and Pippin. Mary and Pippin.
00:52:06
Speaker
I would say Pippin more than Mary for Joe. I only know humans. I only know humans that I compare you to, which is Ben Schwartz, Nathan Fielder, and Adam Scott. No, Rob, Nathan Fielder, Adam Scott, and what did I say?
00:52:31
Speaker
And who else do you look like? What did I just say? That one. A little bit of Ben Schwartz. Ben Schwartz. Let's play Opus. Opus, here we go. They closed the show with this song. This is the one that's like eight minutes long or something? Yeah, all their last songs are eight minutes. That's the thing.
00:52:57
Speaker
And yeah, this fucking trombone solo rips. It's very good. Again, the horn section, always tight. So the recording of this EP was not easy, apparently. Everybody had a lot of different ideas. Not everybody had the same ideas where the band's direction should go. That's why it's kind of all over the place.
00:53:24
Speaker
And it was all in service of the live show. It was like, we're going to write songs to be played live. That was the whole idea. It was not about creating a listening experience so much as it was like, oh, let's write this so that we can play it live and people would jam. Oh, yeah. It's not cool. Greg is a sick guitar player.
00:53:59
Speaker
Finally getting heavy. I like when they get heavy.
00:54:09
Speaker
Yeah, so this is the first I'd say true classic TFT record like those two records before not not as well known not as beloved this one is the first one that got them got them out there got them popular it seems like sonically the other two are kind of stepping stones to get here which is kind of where their sound sort of starts I feel like and I won't be giving too much away but the next records really the
00:54:32
Speaker
That's the big one. So but this one is it's an EP so it can only go so far But it's it's it's very good. It's very listenable. Yeah that as we were mentioning earlier that first song is terrible and embarrassing but Fun way to start a song like that is a very fun way to start this EP. Yeah for sure like I
00:54:55
Speaker
Yeah, we're gonna pretend like it's not called that because it's Right, I guess like what I will say because I'm always the first person to come people I would massage this lyrics, but I think I think my Billy past makes me really numb when it's
00:55:16
Speaker
Like necrophilia. Honestly, I'm not even kidding. Like I'm like numb to it. I'm like, oh, yeah. And I'm like, oh, yeah, that's like, that's not good. That's not good. But I just like. They cut it off on the playlist. Yeah. But that being said, when it does come to like misogynist lyrics, when it's just necrophilia. That's all right. But but just having like a really ridiculously ripping, just hardcore song to start off.
00:55:46
Speaker
an EP that kind of goes all over the place after that, is like, it kind of gets you in the right mindset for the whole EP, but you still have no idea what's coming. You know what I mean? The surprise factor was so big for them, and I think this is where they first really started exploring that piece. Totally. I'll also say, not to interrupt here, but the first song of Pure Everything, that has that
00:56:11
Speaker
Boom, everything, that paradigm shift is wild. We'll talk about, cause I have it queued up. Like, early in conspiracy is queued up. Let's do it. But let's, okay, before we do that, I got something very important to do. It's time for a mini episode of Power Pod. So we'll play the song, Joe. What?
00:56:50
Speaker
Okay, so here's what we're gonna do this is gonna be a buckle in a little bit So I have a spin-off podcast called power pod. It's about the history of power metal and I did a episode that was just about the metal genres that led into the 80s but here's something that I just realized that I don't think people are that familiar with and it is about the genre that is called a
00:57:09
Speaker
Metal Core, which is a big deal for Flaming Tsunamis. That was a big influence on them. And I realized that Ska fans probably don't know that much about it, even though a lot of their favorite bands nowadays really practice a lot of the offshoots that kind of came in and went with that. So this is going to be a really brief history of Metal Core. Cool.
00:57:30
Speaker
So first you have to put your mindset into the 80s when metal and punks did not get along. They both were anti-authoritarian. Metal was do more. Punk was do less. Right. Punks were pro making government and society change. Metalheads were about apoliticalness and not doing anything and doing your own thing regardless of whether anybody told you to do it or not. Right. Just they were both counterculture but not seeing eye to eye.
00:57:56
Speaker
until the hardcore scene picked up and the thrash scene picked up, and then they started to meet together. And then you got the crossover bands, you got DRI, suicidal tendencies, all those guys. Then you also got the crusts and the black metal thing happening, the Mi-bix and all that kind of stuff. And then Grind happened, Napalm Death, right? That was like the death metal thing. Yeah, Napalm Death is the best. But it's all stemmed from hardcore punk.
00:58:24
Speaker
And then everything changed in the 90s when, uh, earth crisis came out. Changed the game completely. They were hardcore band. That was all about like the punchy hardcore, not the black flag hardcore politics too.
00:58:39
Speaker
Yeah. And they brought the politics back in. Super important. And they had real heavy songs, which was not like it wasn't their whole thing to be heavy. It was their whole thing to be just like, egg row. And then they had a couple of these heavy songs that kind of blew people's minds. And then so people started to experiment with how do I make punk and hardcore heavy. And then the band that really kind of kicked that off was Hate Breed.
00:59:04
Speaker
and their record in 97 and that was like game over metalcore is basically defined by that record right that's the framework hey breed would go on to tour with like system of a down and shit like they became gigantic and then
00:59:18
Speaker
Metalcore became super duper popular in the 2000s. That was when it went from like this underground sensation to an above ground one kind of tied with the pop punk emo resurgence and there's a lot of crossover there and Guitar Hero.
00:59:35
Speaker
What made it really different was because their metal influences were not the 80s bands, it was the 90s bands. So not just like Earth Crisis and Eight Breed, but Pantera, Korn, Machine Head, Rage Against the Machine, Groove Industrial, and a little bit of Thrash, like Slayer would be the big Thrash band.
00:59:58
Speaker
But it was it was about the bands that go chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga not as much about the bands that go Like it wasn't about the solos Although that kind of came later. It was more about like how do we make this heavy hard, right? Shorter songs not ten-minute solos like let's make it like more accessible to some degree but more just like how do we get the kids mashing and so in the 2000s, that's when you got a
01:00:22
Speaker
Fucking a million of these bands Venge Sevenfold, Killswitch Engages, L.A. Dying, Trivium, Bullet for My Valentine, All That Remains, Black Dolly Emergent, Norma Jean, Poison the Whale, Misery Signals, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I feel like all those bands still have a pretty huge following. Lots of them are still pretty great. Big changes wouldn't be happening with them, though. And I mean, it was a very online genre, like Web 2.0, MySpace. Yeah, very MySpace. Huge for these bands to get picked up.
01:00:48
Speaker
And then there was always these fights online like the magazine I worked for, the metal magazine I worked for hated the metalcore bands because it kind of created this like almost like split like you had the newer bands here then there's like the old school metal heads and then it was like really hard for them to cross over.
01:01:05
Speaker
um but didn't matter they were doing very well yeah like those bands it was almost too like emo-y for like the puns and it was because they were touring with emo bands and it was like they were like too pretty and stuff like they weren't punk enough those bands like i'm not saying that's true but that was the attitude for sure
01:01:22
Speaker
And the metalheads thought they were too slow. Yeah. Not metal enough for metalheads. They weren't not enough like... The metalhead metalheads. Yeah, so they're because they're in between. It kind of made the fringes difficult. But I think it's because they were in between that they got so popular. Hell yeah. And then in 2008, a record called Obzen came out by Meshuga and metalcore died.
01:01:48
Speaker
Basically, Mushoka came out and invented Gint. And that became the big genre. And not to say it died. Obviously, it just went back into the underground. It's just become rolled into what is now just modern metal. Like now you just have modern metal bands. New wave of American metal. And part of it is just like metalcore breakdowns and metalcore riffs and stuff.
01:02:14
Speaker
right so that I guess is like where we get into it is like what makes metal core so different is yeah it's harder it's more aggressive it's heavy right it's not about the speed it's about the heaviness and the breakdown is like kind of the central factor of it although that's not necessarily always the case I gotta say I'm surprised to not hear uh
01:02:32
Speaker
converges Jane Doe mentioned in that. Because I feel like that's where that... That was another big one. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was huge. Like everybody would mention converge. That's a good... The other one was Norma Jean, whatever that... Because that was like early 2000s. That was like... Early aughts for sure. And that for me is like what's... Jane Doe records specifically is like, now this is an art genre. Like this is not just like, you know, like there's some fucking art involved here.
01:02:58
Speaker
I felt that way with bands like Poison the Well and Thrice a little bit as well. There's some academia in the musical writing. That earlier part of kind of metalcore becoming really big and kind of the mid aughts had I think the most diverse range of metalcore bands. And they were really cool and all over the place.
01:03:22
Speaker
last jaw sounds nothing at all like birds, which sounds nothing at all like thrice, but they were all on the same bills. Totally. Yeah, it was these kind of wild bills that would come out of it. And I think where it wasn't just Meshuga, but I will say that Gent had a big play into like pulling people into a different direction, right? Totally. But I, it was also, you know, you had a day to remember with the easy core stuff, and then death core, suicide silence, like,
01:03:48
Speaker
all these like little genres kind of came out enter shikari we had um uh mega mega friends are big enter shikari fans and then i i don't maybe i shouldn't call this uh the shark jumping bands but those crunk core bands also were oh crap corn stuff it was it was so there were some of these subgenres that came out that cartoonified the metal core and it kind of like you're like i think we went too far
01:04:13
Speaker
Attack is back. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Which was even black veil brides with their like crazy glaminess. Yeah. A little too much. I got to say at that point I was kind of already over it. So I was just able to like laugh. Like I don't know. I kind of got the joke. But at the same time it was like I was I was back into punk a little bit more at that time. So like the popifying of like the used my chemical romance and then it going even further into like panic at the disco fall out boy. And then it kind of just like
01:04:43
Speaker
That was that. Clean. That was, yeah, that MySpace era of just like where everything became one culture. Like it wasn't not. It's not, but it's clearly not. Yeah. We have, you know, a Hello Kitty glitter graphic and that somehow pairs with your fucking hardcore band, you know, your dad or whatever. It all kind of became the same thing.
01:05:06
Speaker
And so in the 10s, post, you know, like the big blow up of metalcore in the 2000s, Sumerian records became big, like I can't say enough about how that born of Osiris record sort of like, again, to your point, artified it, like it was like, okay, now we're technical, we're Proggy, like the technical prog bands came up periphery, right? They had that one record.
01:05:28
Speaker
Between the Buried and Me did that one record, that was one song, right? Like it became a lot more, you know, people didn't feel the need to kind of play it into the way it was being played and try to come up with new stuff. And then you got some like architects, like that, they got like more critical acclaim, like it was more like dark, moodier, that kind of became a thing. And then now you got those new metal, metalcore bands like Spirit Box and all them, they're now gigantic. And so I think metalcore has swung around
01:05:58
Speaker
to being this more like, it's more of a critical darling in the last like 10 years. It's cool again. It's cool again. Yeah, I mean, it's like rolling the shore and shit. Like they're like doing the same thing that was kind of happening in like the early 2000s, like where I was coming up with it. But now they're just doing it one octave lower. Yeah. So how do we drop this? Yeah.
01:06:20
Speaker
uh so i like it my it's like more serious again but not in a bad way i think yeah actually i think seriously that's why people are more it's taking itself seriously again but i don't mean that as a people like authenticity in music and i think that having more authentic music is
01:06:35
Speaker
And I think having online personalities attached to these metal bands makes it so the bands can be kind of serious and badass and sincere, but then the people can kind of be silly in their own YouTube videos or whatever, you know what I mean? It makes it so, it's not just like, well, this whole band has to be a silly cartoon or this whole band is a scary cartoon, I guess. You're supposed to sass along and just be like me and my sad boy era. Yeah, totally. Do this, right?
01:07:05
Speaker
so i just want to dab dab dab can i do both can i do the e-boy face and dab i can do a fortnite i don't even know i'm just like depressed or whatever so all i wanted like put a pin on this to say that's the end of my power pod
01:07:22
Speaker
Um, it does match a lot of Ska's trajectory. No, right. I'm trying. That's what I'm trying to do is a parallel. Anyway, that's the metal core history. There's obviously more stuff to it. That's just, okay. If you ever want to start another podcast called Nintendo power pod, like I'm in every issue of Nintendo power and
01:07:47
Speaker
And we weren't Nintendo powerheads. So do we talk about horse the band then? Because they were. I love horse the band. And I think I this shit, I think I make a man speaking of Mega Man, your best friends, my best friend. So I was.
01:08:07
Speaker
The first band that I really ever toured with, which was the band that I was playing with with Flaming Tsunamis, Krip Torque and Chipmunk. We had a lot of similarities, kind of like the weirdo Nintendo core shit. I was playing keyboards in that band. And our bassist, my best friend Corey,
01:08:25
Speaker
was asked to play bass for Horse the Band, but didn't, because she didn't want to leave her boyfriend, who she eventually broke up with anyway, so... That's always the story. Yeah, right? Fucking Cory, god damn it. So anyway, so yeah, so there we go. That's my tie-in with Horse the Band, with Cryptorca Chipmunk, which leads us into Flaming Tsunami, so now we're back to Ska.
01:08:51
Speaker
With the thought of touring on the horizon, another big land-up change was imminent with Andy giving up the sax to do harsh vocals full-time and take over the lyrical duties. Harsh vocals full-time, harsh box. In the metal community, we always called it harsh vocals. I don't know if you do it. No, I didn't know. I'm just like, I didn't know what the metal critic's choice of wording. Harsh and clean vocals. No, no, scream guy, rap guy. Scream guy, rap guy. I mean, my mellow's harshened, but I don't know about my vocals.
01:09:18
Speaker
Greg and Ethan remained on guitar and bass with Craig taking the drums, the new horns would be John James Ryan who would also play on the fads Kill Punk Rockstars and Logan LaBarbara who would join the modern incarnation of Big D. So this led to the album Fear Everything in 2006 in which the band pushed every envelope they could think of to create a unique sonic experience. While their live show was still the cornerstone of their presentation, they wanted the album to stand on its own.
01:09:44
Speaker
They shifted to a music-first approach in which no idea was too crazy to try, from integrating surf to funk rock to grindcore, so that every song was a new event and different from the last. They also bucked genre conventions that were common in ska and metalcore by having non-standard song structures and defying conventional wisdom.
01:10:01
Speaker
The lyrics often came last, and now written by Andy, took on a more intense socio-political tone, decrying everything from big pharma to the government to youthful rage, all but bucking their previous juvenile humor in favor of a pure, unadulterated rage. Let's open with Ritalin Conspiracy, the first track. So, we talked a lot about metalcore, it opens with a metalcore breakdown, so let's do it. This is the very first Fleming's Nummy song I've ever heard.
01:10:29
Speaker
like this was this was i was like there's there was a moment it was a very distinct moment where it's like what the fuck to happen yeah and on the uh in the interview he said the conventional wisdom yeah there it is yeah
01:10:54
Speaker
One day shut, shut your head, yeah Boy, stick like this, bang for love
01:11:03
Speaker
After listening to this, I did decide that I'm going to make my band let me sing a song. It is fun. It is really fun. Person's mind is being blown like he's listened to for the very first time. And then the jazzy song. And then there's a little moment.
01:11:28
Speaker
What do they do in the pit when this happens? Get confused. Yeah, I want to see IRL what happens in the pit. I want to see. I love the idea of fucking with the crowd.
01:11:39
Speaker
And that bridge is so long. That bridge is most of the song. You go get a beer, you go get a beer. And then it just goes back into a breakdown again. Isn't the basic structure of that song breakdown, fast part, jazz thing breakdown?
01:11:59
Speaker
the structure is bridge bridge bridge bridge and they said they did they wrote that song specifically to fuck with everything that people thought was true about those genres and he's like with metalcore you had to earn your breakdown was what it was at the time
01:12:22
Speaker
Do it right up front. You don't have to earn a breakdown. You can just put it right up front. I like that. Also, a big fan of like when I first started listening to music that's wilder and all over the place, it was like Dillinger Escape Plan was probably one of the ones I'd ever heard. And this album in general just gives like hard Dillinger Escape Plan. Just like, oh, this change is going to be
01:12:50
Speaker
going wherever, like completely. Yeah. What was your first? And that was wild and all over the place that I listened to. Yeah.
01:13:00
Speaker
Oh, I don't know. I think mine was the Mars Volta. Oh, yeah. Yeah. That was more experiment. I think that was my first album, like from front to back. Francis, the mute that I listened to. I mean, it's probably more experimental that I enjoyed. It's probably like a little trite, but I was like when I really was first getting into the cure. Oh, yeah. Because their stuff was like kind of all over the place from album to album. And there's always different thoughts.
01:13:22
Speaker
I think that was like the first time where I like, I allowed a band to do different things to me. Yeah. And Modest Mouse, Modest Mouse is like older albums. Yeah. But yeah. Anyways. Fear everything, Chris. What do you think about it? It was the best album of all time. It's fucking great. Whoa. No, I mean, no, not really, but I love it. I fucking love it. This was my introduction into TFT. Riddle and Conspiracy was the first song I ever heard by them. Is this your favorite album by them?
01:13:51
Speaker
Uh, I think it's the best album. I don't think it's my favorite. Oh, I feel the same way. Yeah. Yeah. And this, this record, I think if you're not going to play like every fucking song on this, I mean, I could talk at length about every fucking song. Um, yeah, no, you go. Yeah. So watching the horn line and that shit is so fucking righteous. I liked that one.
01:14:18
Speaker
Yeah, it's on my it's on my dark ages Scott playlist But I didn't queue it up for this time because but it's it's my favorite song in the record is bird watching There are some production things I think sound bad on this record like the horns on the horns on that Specifically I'll say in bird watching like are so fucking bright and so crispy and everything works out really well And as soon as it goes to the hardcore part like for like the verse the kick drum just sounds like like
01:14:47
Speaker
there's a lot of sections too where like the guitar is just kind of like muddy in some frequencies that make it sort of hard to yeah and he said that it didn't come out sounding the way he wanted it to sound he said some he said guitar tone mattered for this record
01:15:03
Speaker
but when it finally got produced, it didn't sound like the way he thought it was supposed to sound. You can tell that when you hear it because he's playing stuff that you can tell he wants to come out and it's just sort of mashed into the sound. I will say the bass tone in this record sounds fucking great. The clean guitar is ripping. Clean guitar is awesome too. I think it's just, I don't know if it's, I mean, I'm not the dude to talk to you about that kind of shit, but when it gets to the heavy and loud parts, everything feels real squashed down.
01:15:31
Speaker
Yeah, it doesn't feel like it's coming at you like, I will say like, if any listener Yeah, that's good. Whoa. If any listener hasn't listened to this in full, like it's a listening experience, sit down, headphones on, listen to it front to back, and then give it another listen because it's got layers to
Analyzing 'The Red Cross Robbery' and Album Cohesion
01:15:50
Speaker
it. And I think what ends up happening is like you probably pick out
01:15:53
Speaker
songs that you prefer over others. But in your first couple of listens, you got to listen to it front to back because it's so surprising. Yeah, it is. Yeah. So how did you feel about it? It was my first listen through. I actually liked it a lot more than I actually enjoyed like my listening experience.
01:16:10
Speaker
nice but i will say i only i added two so i have like a big giant playlist going on in my youtube music that's just like my mega hits i think it's like close to a thousand songs and i added two songs from this and it's not super often that i add songs
01:16:28
Speaker
Yeah, that's surprising. Which ones were they? It's on the next album. Is that crazy? But I was like so curious. We'll talk about the next album later because it's weird. But I don't know because this is my first listen through ever. But if I listened to this in the years that these songs came out,
01:16:50
Speaker
you know i know this is a bad example but this it was cool i appreciated it this is the let's face it of tft record you know like this is the big one you know yeah i don't know what the like fandom yeah i don't know what the lore is we should listen to another song what do i have queued up oh if you really love me yeah
01:17:12
Speaker
This is Chris. This is Chris Reeves' favorite song on this record. It's got like a good funk energy into it.
01:17:25
Speaker
Yeah, it's this is where they're this is good for later with their dancing like the dance rhythm Yeah, which I like the dance. I'm not mad. But at this time when you got your like arctic monkeys France Ferdinand Like this would have just international noise conspiracy era. Oh Yeah, this is really good
01:17:46
Speaker
This is giving, this is giving planet smashers like this kind of type. Oh, like I was like, I laughed. No, no, no. Sorry. I was just thinking about that because like I was thinking about this band. Like I like your girlfriend. This, this band has the same horn section at the planet. Really? Look at me. An academic. This song is not my favorite. It's a good song.
01:18:17
Speaker
But it also has that same kind of weird problem that dead girlfriend has. Where it's like, what about zombies?
01:18:25
Speaker
Well, it's specifically about Return of the Living Dead. It's like those quotes. It's a line from Return of the Living Dead. What was the line? If you really love me, you'll let me eat your brains. Oh, yeah. That's fun. So it's because they are big movie fans. So movie references play big into their sound, especially horror movies and like B movies. That was also like, that was also Billy. There was so many. Yeah, I missed it. That's horror punk, though. That's also a horror thing. Yeah.
01:18:53
Speaker
I feel like AFI must have had a movie quote or something. Can we real quick talk? Because I don't like horror movies. I can't stand the violence and stuff. Yeah, I don't either. I don't watch it. So there's that song on this album called The Red Cross Robbery. Yeah, that was cool. And storytelling-wise, it's so fucking cool. It's his heist song, but it's about vampires and shit. Is that what he created? He created it.
01:19:20
Speaker
It was an original, so on the podcast he said it's actually a parable about an eating disorder that he had at the time. But it was an original thought about what would it be like if a vampire didn't want to suck people's necks for blood and just wanted to go and get it from the blood bank and get it.
01:19:41
Speaker
Yeah, it wasn't a direct movie quote, it was just more like an original concept. God, he's such an incredible lyricist, like being able to pull the parables, or whatever you call it, I'm not smart with words, I'm not good with words at. But being able to pull these interesting concepts
01:20:01
Speaker
um for things like and have the bylines for like for veganism for eating disorders for you know sexual violence and all these things and have them all be tiding tying it exactly and having them all tie into these really cool like uh metaphors it's so fucking cool what a smart lie
01:20:18
Speaker
huge difference between this record and the previous ones where like you know yeah like before with all the the jokes and like it was a little bit more like you know like having having a bit of a taking the piss out of things and then but he wasn't writing lyrics before this this is the first record where he started to be the lyricist and so i think it makes a huge difference
01:20:37
Speaker
But I think that's the other thing is like this is still the band never was cohesive, really. Like it was always like despairing thoughts coming together to create music. And I think this was just like a powder keg moment where they all somehow were able to connect all the pieces properly to make a record. But there's a reason why there's a huge gap between this one and the next one. And a lot of that has to do with just not gelling and vibing. Yeah, there's like a lineup changes that happens. Oh, every every record had a massive line. OK. Yeah, yeah.
01:21:06
Speaker
So the last song I have cue from this record is the first rule Why not need a push there
01:21:18
Speaker
Everyone was mad. Yeah, that's what he said. I think you have to go back some time, remember that we just were so mad at the government. Yeah, this was pushing her up for sure. Yeah. That little like, was it, was this one that had the like speech that pointed out how much America bombed and how many people died, other things and then- Yeah, I think that's on the second one. That was an excellent one. That was an excellent one. That's cool. Yeah.
01:21:48
Speaker
These vocals are very cool. Oh, he also said that any clean vocals on this record are not him. They don't know how to sing or do harmonies. Well, even how to do a scream. Yeah, it's like relatable content too.
01:22:35
Speaker
You could play any song you could have queued up any song on this and it would have been phenomenal. Any last thoughts?
01:22:43
Speaker
I agree with Chris. I think this is probably their best album, but it is not my favorite one that I listened to.
01:22:52
Speaker
I'm so curious to do I'm so curious. Did you guys all is your favorite the next one? Yeah. Okay, because I so that's why I didn't know I was like, Oh, is this is it I have like a weird like modern bias. These days I find I had a thought after listening and I often like it more after I listened to the second the next record. I did almost what you did. After the next record I have because I only think of the two really like I was like there's the other three but there's really just the two that are the really really good ones right? Yeah.
01:23:21
Speaker
and I'm just, I had a thought after listening to it and I think it matches what you're saying. So let's finish this off then. The band continue to be plagued by lineup changes in spite of their underground success with some unable to maintain touring, getting other opportunities, or unwilling to continue in the band's current direction.
'Externalities' Album and Band's Challenges
01:23:36
Speaker
Ethan, Greg, and Andy stuck around, but we're now joined by Chris on the sax and D-Ray on trombone. Ever heard of him?
01:23:44
Speaker
with Shai Halud drummer Matt on the drums and Shai Halud's producer produced the next record too which is why it sounds like that. Tragedy struck when friend and touring companion Mitch was shot and killed in a home invasion in 2011 halting the band's ongoing plans to continue with the band.
01:24:05
Speaker
And they finalized the album externalities that continue the band's sociopolitical lyrical rage while musically creating a more focused approach. It was issued on Louisiana label community records and engineered by, there we go, Shai who ludes Greg Thomas in 2015. Not Joey. The band was not officially stated as so. They have ceased operations over their SCAR core sound that focused on metal core experimentation and pushing the boundaries of SCAR can be heard in bands such as Best of the Worst, Grey Matter, and somebody named Mutiny.
01:24:33
Speaker
But let's talk about externalities. So when I finished listening to it, my first thought was, I bet you fans like this record more because it is very cohesive. And it's cool. So there is one thing about it that I really love. But let's listen to one song so we can kick it off. Walking Grave. The fucking bass tone from the get, dude. Yeah, it's so good. It's like Motorhead's bass tone. Yeah, I love it. Yeah.
01:25:05
Speaker
it's way like harder oh yeah this is like throwing down in the fifth for sure yeah this is when Selen goes to the side and get them when this type of shit happens and just all distorted no real chords at all just noises my favorite yeah
01:25:29
Speaker
Yeah, that's what I was like, well, like, because I listened to it back to back and I was like, these vocals are great. It sounds like he just gave himself like a hundred times. Yeah. Oh,
01:26:05
Speaker
There it goes. And there's the breakdown. You're back. Yeah. And then we had a breakdown. Yeah. Chris disappeared just for long enough to miss the breakdown. But that's OK. Yeah, that was a good time, though. That's on the floor.
01:26:25
Speaker
The things that the one thing I love about this album that I did the guitar playing is super black metal like just like Very bad Well, yeah
01:26:48
Speaker
From a production standpoint, the one thing I don't like is that even when there's only one vocalist happening, like you were talking about, it sounds like he's done with it. I think it's a chorus effect on it. And sometimes it works. I think it's all that much sometimes. Yeah.
01:27:06
Speaker
Yeah, like in the next song on that record, Vines. That's one of my top two songs. Is that crazy? I wanted to know what you guys thought or you thought because of my top two songs are Vines and Bodies. Those are the ones that are amazing. What does that mean? Is that weird? No, I have it cued up.
01:27:24
Speaker
Okay, it's Vine. Tell me about it. Vine, so it was a long ass time, because this is still MySpace days, when that Vine song came out, and I think it was Thalidomide, there was like two songs that they put up on MySpace and they're like, okay, we have a new record coming out. And then it had been like 10 fucking years. And like, you know, Mitch was killed, and nothing, production was out of standstill, and nothing had happened. And so when this album finally, I don't know if I'm stepping on it. We're on album talk.
01:27:54
Speaker
Okay, so like, it, when this record finally came out, it was on, and like it had been a talk of the town forever, like, when's Flaming Tsunami's gonna ever come out of this record? Yeah, yeah, and like it actually had a different sound and there was not a trumpet version of it.
01:28:12
Speaker
Anyway, anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself. So anyway, um, but then they finally released, I think it was on community. They're like, okay, it's April fool's day and we'll just drop the full record. And nobody believed it. Like, Oh yeah. I noticed that it dropped on an April 1st, but I wondered if it had some sort of joke. It was like on Facebook, like we'd all jumped to a different social media platform at that point. So we're like, Oh yeah, of course. I'll fucking let me know. He's finally comes out with an album and it's, you know,
01:28:40
Speaker
And of course, yeah, it comes out on April Fool's Day, and it's so fucking sick. Yeah. Fucking rad. It's great. So universally, if I'm understanding, everyone here, this is their favorite record. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, oh. Yeah. Maybe we should play another song. Maybe we should play Bodies, since we're talking about it. Bodies? Yeah. Another dance-y song.
01:29:00
Speaker
I think that's why I like, that's why I like Bonnie. I was actually like shocked at how catchy it was. I think I was just like, I like this. I don't care. So it was such a heavy album and then it just like got this like straight up. It's giving like, it's giving like the goth club. Oh, very much. So I was, yeah, it's giving industrial. So of course I like it. Yeah, this is so new city code, which is the golf club that used to exist here.
01:29:28
Speaker
I like aggressively. It's too hard. I love it. I love it. Great. What else do I need? I know. The lyrics are a little bit more on the nose this time. You were metaphors. Yeah. Yeah. Which I remember on the record he said, on the podcast, he was like, it's just different time. The vocals work well on the song, I think. Yeah, it's all ripped.
01:30:10
Speaker
I love the sim. It's like a Ramstein song. Yeah, it's like feeding my soul and I love Ramstein at the time. This is out my alley. I don't know what to say. What do they call that? New Deutsch hardcore or whatever it's called? Yeah, it's got a style. This album did not come with a chest full of dildos like that Ramstein record did. Boo. Boo. Boo. It came with a chest full of clam pizzas. Speaking of pirates.
01:30:19
Speaker
this is cool this is a really good song i really like this riff yeah
01:30:41
Speaker
Joey what do you think? It fucking ripped. This album was right up my alley. I will definitely listen to it more times. It just sounded really fucking good and it was like
01:30:53
Speaker
I liked how wacky and all over the place the previous record was, but this one is, like you said, like more focused. It just, it's kind of more listenable for me personally. It's less of a, yeah, it's less of a cherry pick and daddy. It's funnier when I hear him, too, actually. A cherry pick and daddy. I love that so much. I think I'm a cherry pick and daddy about music. I don't like go full albums. I just cherry pick.
01:31:23
Speaker
Chris, what do you think about this record? It's the best fucking album of all time. I thought the last one was the best one. No, I love this album. And for me, it was a perfect period to the end of their career. I'm so glad that it eventually came out. And I know that getting there was a long process to it. But it was a perfect swan song for them. Hell yeah.
01:31:52
Speaker
Awesome. That takes us to the end of the flaming tsunamis. I have a game. Hopefully we can do it in like five minutes, because I think it's a quick one. This game is called Turning Otaku, which is a terrible name. In this game, Celine, Joey, and Chris will be given one single word as a clue to determine a Japanese word that is borrowed in English.
Game of Japanese Words and Upcoming Performances
01:32:16
Speaker
So for example, if I were to say wave, the answer would be tsunami.
01:32:23
Speaker
So I'll give you one word. Can you give another one? Sure. If I said hurricane, the answer would be typhoon.
01:32:33
Speaker
okay i don't know if i'll get this okay it'll start easy you're not you're not wrong but i don't know if my brain where's my wife was here to just whisper the answers because they're so fucking good at that kind of shit i also wish your wife was here to whisper the answers into my ear i don't know what that means it sounds so burvy but i do just want to win the game i do just want to win the game where's mj just whispering our ears please come on just for information not sexual platonically
01:33:02
Speaker
For winning purposes. For winning purposes. Yeah. For winning purposes. Yeah. Okay. All right. It starts easy and gets harder as it goes. Okay. Are we buzzy in? Buzz Scott or your name, whatever that'll get you in. Or maybe just shout it. Actually, you know what? Because it's so fast, just shout it. It's going to be, it's going to be, and we can have ties. That's fine. I'm not going to scare my cat. I'm going to try to whisper it. Okay. Okay. Comic. Yeah. You all got it. Hell yeah. Okay. Cartoon.
01:33:31
Speaker
Anime. Good job, Joey. Yeah. Raw. Sashimi? Yeah, Flynn. Sushi. Sashimi. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw.
01:34:00
Speaker
bonsai bonsai robe kimono kimono i can't think that fast wine socking okay everyone got it okay assassin ninja yes good job that was fast paper origami origami poem haiku shit i'll give it to both of you yeah soup
01:34:28
Speaker
Ramen? Oh, Ramen. Oh, Ramen. Oh, Ramen. Oh, Ramen. Oh, Ramen. Oh, Ramen. Oh, Ramen. Oh, Ramen. Oh, Ramen. Oh, Ramen. Oh, Ramen. Oh, Ramen. Oh, Ramen. Oh, Ramen. Oh, Ramen. Oh, Ramen. Oh, Ramen. Oh, Ramen. Oh, Ramen. Oh, Ramen. Oh, Ramen. Oh, Ramen. Oh, Ramen. Oh, Ramen. Oh, Ramen. Oh, Ramen. Oh, Ramen. Oh, Ramen. Oh, Ramen. Oh, Ramen. Oh, Ramen. Oh, Ramen. Oh, Ramen. Oh, Ramen. Oh, Ramen. Oh, Ramen. Oh, Ramen. Oh, Ramen. Oh, Ramen. Oh, Ramen.
01:34:55
Speaker
Oh, judo. Oh, you got Jim. Right. It's all connected. Dojo. Dojo there. Yeah. Goldfish. Koi fish. Koi. Yeah. Yeah. Petty Cab. Oh, fuck. Rickshaw. Rickshaw. It's spelled weird in English. It's not spelled the way it's spelled in Japanese. Interesting. Puzzle.
01:35:27
Speaker
Sudoku. Sudoku. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Icon. Legend. Idol. No. Pop Idol. Icon. Yeah, this one's a tough one. Tsunami. I don't know. I don't know. Emoji. Oh, shut up. That's a Japanese word. And it's a Japanese word. Oh, shut up. Oh, shut up. And it's the last one. Magnate.
01:35:58
Speaker
I don't even know what that means in English. Magneton. Magnemite. A magnate's like a very successful business person. Correct. Yeah. Oh, tycoon. Tycoon. Oh, tycoon. Oh, tycoon. Oh, tycoon. Oh, tycoon. Oh, tycoon. Oh, tycoon. Oh, tycoon. Oh, tycoon. Oh, tycoon. Oh, tycoon. Oh, tycoon. Oh, tycoon.
01:36:15
Speaker
It's a tie I don't have a tiebreaker so Okay, we did it in five minutes it was a fast one Okay, all right Chris thanks for joining us. Thank you guys so much. I always have such a great time here What do you got to plug?
01:36:39
Speaker
So Mutiny is going to be playing SPI Fest in Connecticut and Supernova in Virginia. So we'll get to actually hang out, y'all.
01:36:49
Speaker
Yeah. You can buy that record. We're on the second pressing, which unfortunately will not come with the physical version of the manga, but we'll come with it online. Yep. But in. Yeah. And then also this identity has a seven inch split with homeless gospel choir out on asbestos records now. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah. Better or worse time with me.
01:37:16
Speaker
Oh, so much better. This is all I said. No, it's funny, right? That was funny? That was funny. No. That's never a funny. And for the record, I cannot listen to the Suicide Machine's first self-titled record without hearing, where's your fucking balls? Just pointless, spineless. And I love that band, but yeah.
01:37:48
Speaker
Thanks for listening to Checkered Past. Hit us up on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok at checkeredpastpod or send us an email at checkeredpastpod at gmail.com. Support the pod and get bonus content, including a full length and unedited video of this episode. Sign up for the Checkered Head Patreon at patreon.com slash checkeredpast. We also have merch available at checkeredpast.ca. Tell them about it, Joey.
01:38:09
Speaker
I am your more Scott. We got zip ups. We got pullovers. We got t-shirts. We got Rob's head eating a big old Yum Yum more Scott logo. Hit person and we're pull over. It could be like a lame. Oh, I'm just kidding. They both look good. I just voted for the over.
01:38:28
Speaker
And I think when this episode comes out, yeah, it'll be before. Yeah. So we're also playing SPI. Bye. Maybe we'll have something you can buy with you. I'm young more Scott. We're trying to figure that out because we're coming from a different country. You remember that we'll do our best. Although this time we will be able to take your money via a phone somehow. Yeah. We will figure out how to say how to take people's money. All right. Checkered past is edited by Arianne and engineered by a Joey.
01:38:57
Speaker
and our Scott Associate Producer is Chris Reeves. Until next time, I'm Rob. Selena. And Joey. And in the immortal words of the Flaming Tsunamis, there is absolutely something wrong with us.