It’s officially out! The Electric Grandmother’s first vinyl LP is now available at electricgrandmother.bandcamp.com/album/do-you.... Order a copy today and I will personally mail it to you. Or catch them at Pie Shop on Saturday, February 21 and buy one there. It’s super-fun and catchy—trust me.

Goals.

I don’t have a whole lot of time for tv, but I’ve been binging West Wing since xmas. What a program. Nostalgic for when people in the White House try to do the right things for the right reasons. Of course, there’s like 4,000 episodes, so I’ll report back in 2027 when I’ve watched them all.

I’m delighted to announce that Means of Production’s next release comes out on vinyl on February 1st: The Electric Grandmother’s “Do You Want Sitcom-Core, Or Do You Want the Truth?” It’s a collection of 18 of their top bangers, including a new tune, “Jurassic Park for Sharks”. Pre-order the LP now!

LITTLE MAN WITH A GUN IN HIS HAND

Minutemen wrote their lyrics more than 40 years ago, but they were scarily prescient and are as relevant as ever. @minutemenbot.bsky.social

Every January 9, I think about this song, by one of the most criminally unheralded post-punk bands ever: Dog Faced Hermans, from Scotland. Busy drums, rumbling bass, dissonant squalls of guitar, and the lead instruments are trumpet and viola. Everything about it is perfect. youtu.be/wPPuDfZVKqQ

Goals.

The “prosecute the former regime at every level” candidate has my vote in 2028.

After the holiday onslaught is over, come see Czonka on Sat. Jan 3 at Quarry House in Silver Spring (w/ Cash on the Nail & Fashion Crime; we're on first), or the next day at 6 pm, Sun. Jan 4, at Smash in Adams Morgan (w/ Neon Grlz). Our pal Pete Duvall will join us on guitar for 3 songs, both shows.

RIP James Ransome, aka Ziggy Sobotka in The Wire. Incredible performance in that role.

“I wouldn’t say I’m a fan of steampunk, but it’s the healthiest way to prepare punk.” — Norm McDonald

the republican obsession with trans people is creepy and fucked up

The only xmas song I fully support:

First the Brown University shooting, then the Hanukkah shooting in Sydney. Now the news that Rob Reiner and his wife have been stabbed to death in their own home. Triple gut punch. Feeling very low tonight.

What I think whenever I read anything about today’s GOP. Side note: I watched The Shining again for the first time in many years. It’s not “scary”, as such; just deeply strange and unsettling. Great movie, but still not in my top three Kubrick films.

His style is repetitive, but I have to confess: I loved the Guggenheim Bilbao and the Disney Concert Hall in LA.

I love soccer but hate FIFA and despise that shitbag *rump. Nauseating to see them commandeer the World Cup draw today for their own corrupt purposes, complete with sellout actors in “comedy” skits and washed-up musicians phoning in their song & dance numbers. Shameful. Football is for the people.

A few people have posted "perfect albums when I was 16". As it happens, 1984 was an AMAZING year for music, so -- in no particular order -- here are mine, part 1. Husker Du: Zen Arcade. Minutemen: Double Nickels on the Dime. Echo & the Bunnymen: Ocean Rain. Prince: Purple Rain. Meat Puppets II.

50 years ago today, one of the most tragic shipwrecks in U.S. history took place in eastern Lake Superior. I heard this song a lot when I was a kid and listened intently to the horror in the words. It still gives me chills today. youtu.be/FuzTkGyxkYI?...

Not that I get super-excited about centrist democrats, but words can't express how relieved I am that Spanberger was elected governor of Virginia today. Every local and state election matters, and this is a good sign that the U.S. is tired of the creeping fascist bullshit. Keep fighting these MFs!

I voted early weeks ago, so this election day, I'm thinking about how mad it is that the former vice president went quail hunting and shot one of his colleagues in the face. Being a war criminal AND blasting away into the underbrush without checking for humans first is just so on brand for the GOP.

Two things. Thing 1: Tone, Czonka, and Oms tomorrow night Sat 11/1 at Galactic Panther, Alexandria. Thing 2: Means of Production is releasing Electric Grandmother's first vinyl LP early next year! 18 songs! Do you find them offensive? TOO BAD. Their songs are catchier than any other DC band. Fact.

DC now has the highest unemployment rate in the US. The gov't shutdown is all fun & games, but not all federal workers are well-paid bureaucrats. Some live paycheck to paycheck and they're feeling the pinch. The most immediate way you can help is to donate food & cash to www.capitalareafoodbank.org

Didn't get tickets for Shudder to Think in DC this Friday night? Come see this instead at Comet Ping Pong: Czonka and Minibeast, featuring Peter Prescott of Mission of Burma. Czonka will have guest guitarist Pete Duvall on a couple of songs. @minibeastband.bsky.social; czonka.bandcamp.com

Yes, there are 50 jokes in this thread. Blaine is a genius.

I've added all of Pitchblende's recorded output to Means of Production's Bandcamp page. Please check it out! Every song we recorded is there, except for a few songs for which I don't have a digital version to upload. pitchblendedc.bandcamp.com/music

Mind-blowing that albums like Fables of the Reconstruction, Atomizer, Psychocandy, Head on the Door, Rites of Spring, and New Day Rising are all 40 years old. I wonder if kids today look at this music as being quaint, like we looked at Bing Crosby, Cab Calloway, Perry Como, and other acts from 1945.

I'll watch and enjoy most any music documentary, but the DEVO doc is especially good. Its thesis is that DEVO was the most misunderstood band in the world, because although they dressed in silly, attention-getting outfits, their critique of a world gone mad was dead serious. More relevant than ever.

I saw a sign for a new restaurant on Wisconsin Ave yesterday: "Coming Soon: DELHI BELLY". Um, do they not realize that "Delhi Belly" is a fun way of describing diarrhea? That's like opening a Mexican restaurant and calling it "Montezuma's Revenge".

Pretty excited about this one. Czonka's next show is Friday 24 October at Comet with Minibeast, featuring Peter Prescott of Mission of Burma. They kind of sound like PiL if they were from New England instead of England. youtu.be/Br-wid75zS4?...

Kimmel was back on last night, and the rapture didn't happen. Which means that religious nuts are 0-2 just in the last twelve hours. Let's keep that momentum going.

I saw Pulp at Anthem last night and am happy to report that Jarvis Cocker's slow transformation into Charles Nelson Reilly is now complete. (It was an entertaining show, but the resemblance is uncanny.)

I love Galactic Panther, a cool little gallery and performance space in Old Town Alexandria near King St Metro. But it's funny that the ticket link describes Tone as "emerging" when they've existed for 35 years. In fact, my old band, Pitchblende, first played with Tone at 15 Minutes in DC in 1991.

As end-of-empire scenarios go it is so much more dignified to get your capital city sacked by the Visigoths than to have a bunch of illiterate rich people in their 70s doing it through a series of incomprehensible tantrums because their brains were defeated by their phones.

Oh, hey - we've got a linktree thing, if you want to bookmark it and refer to Czonka info later. Instacamp, Applefy, Bandtube, Facewash... all your favorites in one place. NEXT SHOW: Saturday 16 August at Comet. Album release party - we will have sweet vinyl for you. Please clap. linktr.ee/czonka

On Saturday, August 16, my band is playing at Comet Ping Pong in DC with the most excellent Shadow Riot and Hammer No More the Fingers. Our second LP will be available. Come for the pizza, stay for the tunes!

Totally hate-watched part 1 of the new Billy Joel documentary last night. He should’ve quit after Attila, because there was just no topping that.

“I’m once again asking you to support local bands, including Czonka and Right Chipper, who play this Sunday night at Galaxy Hut. Now, I’m more of a Dylan, Baez, and Guthrie (Woody not Arlo) fan. I don’t get math-rock, kraut-rock, snout-rock, or whatever. But Coldplay can’t have all the fans.”

“Cattle die, kinsmen die, you yourself die // But I know one thing that never dies: the judgment of a dead man’s life // he is truly wise who has traveled far and knows the ways of the world.” -from The Hávamál, a collection of Old Norse poems from the Viking Age

I learned today that the woman who played the Moog in that ‘90s band The Rentals is now a trump-humping state senator in Iowa, and yeah, I just don’t know what to make of that.

NEXT CZONKA SHOW ARLINGTON VIRGINIA SUNDAY JULY 20 TATER TOTS & BEER PLUS RIGHT CHIPPER IS SICK

A sense of profound disappointment and defeat today as our “government” has voted to take benefits from children, the poor, and the elderly and give more tax cuts to the rich and billions to ICE, so they can terrorize human beings and put them in Alligator Auschwitz. Deeply ashamed of the cruelty.

Had to go into the office today, and didn’t feel like fighting insane traffic and tropical storms on the way home, so I decided to stop and have a grilled cheese with pickles, a mountain of tots, and a strawberry-pineapple wheat beer instead. Viva Galaxy Hut.

Embarrassed to be a University of Virginia alumnus today. When are prominent people going to fight back against this illegitimate and destructive administration? Never obey in advance! apnews.com/article/univ...

Hello. My band Czonka is playing a show tomorrow night (Sat 6/28) at Pie Shop in Northeast DC. We go on first at 8. If you haven’t heard Czonka, we’re like Flight of the Conchords, except we’re not from New Zealand and our music isn’t the slightest bit funny. New album: czonka.bandcamp.com

I’m glad the mayoral election in NYC has dominated the news today. Even though it affects most people not one bit, it’s a nice change from nonstop coverage of prezodent fucknutz.