Cheers to Bad Religion who are celebrating their thirty year mark as a punk rock band. To celebrate, the band offered a free download of live material this past week. If you did not get it I was able to find this link that may help. The live CD is incredible and is just a simple testament to all that even after three decades of being a band, they have no plans of slowing down anytime soon. To prove that point Bad Religion are currently in the middle of recording an all new album. Can you say The Awesome?
If for whatever reason you can not download it, head over to Spinner where they are streaming the album in it’s entirety.
You know what else is awesome and turned thirty?
The little yellow chomping head that eats ghosts after popping pills turns the big 3-0 on Saturday. This will always be one of the greatest games ever created. It was simple and to the point. I remember when my father decided to take me to Randal Park Mall one crappy Cleveland winter when I was just a toddler and picked up the game. If I am not mistaken he dropped about $70 on the 2-bit cartridge.
The version we got was for the Atari 2600 and it was nothing like the arcade version but we all played the hell out of it regardless. I blame that game for starting my addiction to video games and still play it every once in a while. The nostalgia that game brings is like no other.
Here, play it for yourself and bring back some memories…
As previously mentioned here on the damaged listening apparatus site, the Bouncing Souls currently are in the middle of taking the entire year of 2009 to celebrate their two decades at being a punk rock group. The band has been dropping an unreleased track every month for their fans, playing shows, and having the times of their lives while doing so.
In May the band decided to start a “Bouncing Souls 20th Anniversary TV Spectacular” series on the web internets for all the punk rock fans. Alternative Press had the honor of sharing the first installment of the series. I had not seen it until today.
Warning, lots of swearing – after all the Bouncing Souls are from New Jersey.
The video for “Airport Security” can be seen at the end of this episode and may very well be my favorite Bouncing Souls music video of all time so make sure you watch the whole video. There was something about the simplicity of the video, the dancing, and seeing the boys just let loose and have fun that made it so entertaining to me.
Here, check it out:
The whole sit-com approach at the beginning killed me. I loved the added laugh tracks too. I would not expect anything less from the Souls.
Now of course someone out there saw the “Airport Security” video and decided to try their own take on it substituting life with LEGOs. The result was flattering to the Souls and has been shared with all of their fans. Sure, it has been done before but still something like this takes a lot of time to do and really shows dedication to a band.
The creators, a family actually, had this to say about it when the Souls asked them to talk about the video:
When we saw the “Airport Security” video, with the cardboard sets and props, it just seemed natural to turn it into a Lego animation. Theresa constructed all the sets and props while Andrew and Brian, ages 12 and 13, did the bulk of the animating and Brian Sr. was the director/dictator and editor.
The whole project took two months and more hours than we are willing to admit to. We had all hoped that the Souls would see it but we never expected any feedback. Imagine our surprise when Kate contacted us and wanted to put it on the Souls web site!
We go to as many Souls shows as we can, which is about every 3 or 4 months. Their music truly speaks to us and we hope this video can express our gratitude. Thank you Bouncing Souls for 20 years and we hope for many more.
– Brian, Theresa, Brian and Andrew Westervelt
How cool is that? A family created this? A punk rock family at that.
Not too shabby. I wish I had the time to try something like this. I am sure I could not do it though. I am pretty sure I would be getting very frustrated about 3 minutes into the project. I’ll just stick to sharing stuff done by other cool folk.
I also thought I would mention that the Bouncing Souls are also helping out a friend in need and have been doing charity auctions on their label Chunksaah Records to help raise money.
Rich Cunningham formed Happy Days Records in 1995, releasing debut records by Hot Water Music and Ink & Dagger, as well as titles by Endeavor, Times Up, and Human Remains. In 2000 he formed New Labor, an alternative model of worker organization that combines new and existing strategies to improve working conditions and provide a voice for low-wage, young, immigrant workers in central New Jersey. In 2005 Rich was diagnosed with cancer and recently his battle has taken a turn for the worse.
Chunksaah Records and The Bouncing Souls will be auctioning off rare records, vinyl test pressing, limited poster prints, Bouncing Souls tickets, and anything else we think will help raise money for our friend.
If you are a Bouncing Souls fan you should head over to Chunksaah Records and see what goodies they are auctioning. They have been auctioning off some pretty rare stuff for this very worthy cause.
As far as the Bouncing Souls song a month project, here is the list up until August:
Track list for 20 Year Anniversary (so far):
“Gasoline” – (January)
“We All Sing Along” – (February)
“Airport Security” – (March)
“Dubs Says True” – (April)
“I Think That The World” – (May)
“Mental Bits – (June)
“Ghosts On The Boardwalk” – (July)
“Boogie Woogie Downtown” – (August)
CLICK HERE if you would like to download any of these great songs for only $0.99 each. Totally worth it.
