A friend of mine for over 30 years, Dan Clements of EXCEL, is selling something that he never thought he would – his hand-drawn Suicidal Tendencies button down created by Ric Clayton RxCx is up for auction on Ebay for $3,000. I know that many people reading this will say, why so much? Because this is really a one of a kind piece of punk rock history. Back in the day, having a shirt created by Rick was way more than just a badge of honor! These shirts were just as important to us as a biker’s cut is. If I had the money, I would buy it from from Dan and then put it in the L.A. Punk Museum. Read a recent interview with Dan below, plus check out the details behind this auction…Venice for LIFE!

100% AUTHENTIC, ORIGINAL OWNER, ORIGINAL HAND DRAWN SUICIDAL TENDENCIES BUTTON UP DRESS SHIRT. THE SAME ONE WORN ON THE LEGENDARY 1983 DEBUT ALBUM, THIS ONE IS DISPLAYED ON THE BACK COVER IN ALL IT’S GLORY. ARTWORK BY RxCx aka RIC CLAYTON, WHO CREATED THE ENTIRE VENICE DOGTOWN SUICIDAL IMAGES THAT STAND THE TEST OF TIME. THIS PIECE WAS ON IT’S WAY TO THE LOS ANGELES PUNK ROCK MUSEUM BUT DUE TO A PERSONAL EMERGENCY, I MUST SELL THIS TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER. INCLUDED IN THIS AUCTION IS THE ORIGINAL FIRST OFFICIAL RELEASED T-SHIRT 1982 AND THE VERY FIRST STICKER 1981. THIS IS A ONE OF A KIND AUCTION NEVER TO BE REPEATED. I HAVE HELD ON TO THIS MEMORY FOR OVER 30 YEARS AND TO MY KNOWLEDGE, I AM THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS AN ORIGINAL HAND DRAWN SUICIDAL SHIRT LEFT OF THAT ERA…Words from the seller…
READ MORE…

We have finally restocked our woven patches, this time with two new styles – Black Heavens (Desecrator) and Satan’s Ride (Jacob Parmentier) accompany our Raise the Dead patch (Cub of the Woods) in the Woven Patch 3-pack II! Plus we just got in the highly anticipated split from Cough and Windhand, Reflection of the Negative. We are so stoked to have this on vinyl – the deep vibrations of this incredibly heavy record are finally done justice in our HQ! Check out some photos of our new stuff below and after the jump!

READ MORE…

Death Metal and Grind mixed with Surf Rock???? Yes, you heard right. Here we have a group of five foul mouthed surf zombies hailing from the decrepit sands of Wormwood Beach, CA.. (Fresno, CA to be exact) entitled GORESHACK and here is their brand new full length album entitled “Surf.Mosh.Kill” that is an extremely well executed mix of Death Metal, Thrash, Grind and Surf Rock wrapped up in an awesomely wacky, kooky surf-zombie filled package full of great sound bits, song themes and punishing tracks that’s just all about having a fucking blast doing it while hammering your face in all at once. GORESHACK pays homage to the gore-soaked likes of GHOUL, EXHUMED, CARCASS, IMPALED, SPLATTERHOUSE and IMPETIGO along with some Surf Rock masters like DICK DALE and THE BEACH BOYS.

READ MORE…

Where do I begin with this one? Well first off this is D-Clone from Japan’s first full length release entitled “Creation and Destroy”. This is right up my alley; Raw Japanese Noise Punk..  if you’re familiar with the genre at all chances are you know who D-Clone are along with an assortment of other artists. This right here is easily one of D-Clone’s best releases in my opinion. Don’t get me wrong..  their assorted splits and EP’s are great but they have really taken it to a new level with “Creation and Destroy” here.

Right from the start you have maniacal screams, shrieks, guitars and bass drenched in EQ pedals and effects and the what seems to be extremely punchy and pummeling drum tone on this to help give it a thundering backbone. This album has 12 tracks, clocks in at just under 17 minutes and with song titles such as “Weekendpunk”, “We Make Next Generation”, “Life is…”, “History of Error” and “Living in Chaos”  that should give you a small idea of what’s in store..

READ MORE…

I’m always looking for unique and quality vintage, antique, and handmade items to add to my wardrobe. So, it should be obvious that I’m an extreme Etsy fiend. I was lurking through the site when I first noticed Fila Arcana -let me tell you, if you’re into the film “The Craft”, you’ll love what Fila Arcana from Toronto, Ontario, has got going. The style is eerie yet delicate, mysterious and pure, like a witches student, or black magic lolita. Mina Sewell Mancuso, the High Priestess of Fila Arcana, hand-embroiders beautiful works onto pinback buttons, wall hangings, and peter pan-style detachable collars. All the designs she offers are inspired by “alchemy, the occult, and all things esoteric.” Items adorned with symbols, moon phases, beasts, palmistry, and more. All conjured by hand, the details in each piece are skillfully intricate, classical, and bewitching.

“I render secret things in colored threads.”

READ MORE…

We have done a few of these DIY clothing posts now, but we keep coming back to them. The reason we re-visit this topic again and again is because we feel that it is an art form, one that communicates the passion and dedication of the wearer to the world. Not only is the wearer passionate about the bands he or she painstakingly sews or paint onto the garment, it shows their commitment to originality and craftsmanship. You can’t buy a battle jacket at Target or Walmart. You have to make it yourself, just like in the good old days. Below is the definition of “Battle Jacket” according to the Urban Dictionary, and I think it is an apt description:

Battle Jacket:
A denim or leather jacket worn by metalheads to show their devotion to the best musical genre on earth.

The denim kind are usually sleeveless. The leather kind are usually a converted biker jacket.

It is covered with sew-on patches with the names/logos of favorite bands. There is usually also a large backpatch covering the back of the jacket, with almost all the available space left taken up by smaller patches. Studs and/or spikes are optional, but they aren’t punk jackets so don’t go overboard.

Some may smell a bit due to being worn exclusively in moshpits where it can get sweaty at times.

Metalhead 1: Your battle jacket is awesome!
Metalhead 2: Yeah I know. I dare you to smell it though!

After the jump, check out our huge gallery of battle jackets! Much thanks again to T-shirtslayer for the images!
READ MORE…

“It’s bad enough you’re a fuckin faggot. Nobody likes a negative queen.” – Some asshole talking shit to Myles

Negative Queen’s short life started on December 18th 2010 and ended on September 1st 2011. The band was comprised of vocalist/guitarist/noise samplist Dylan Bennedict (Cull, Anon Remora), guitarist Ayla Holland (Disemballerina, Anon Remora, Malice Discordea), bassist Myles Donovan (Disemballerina, Myles of Destruction), and drummer Ashley Spungin (Taurus, Purple Rhinestone Eagle). The name of the band originates from the above quote – a line which was delivered as an immediate response to bassist Myles Donovan’s refusal to comply with the societal cluster of expectations and stereotypes that burden individual members of smaller LGBT circles (where the ‘L’ and ‘T’ matter just as much as the ‘G’ and ‘B’). For the short span of time they were around, the members dealt with a few years’ worth of personal pressures and group-based tension.

The members found themselves during a time when everything was falling apart and the only possibility of relief made itself attainable when the music was being played. This is a definite sign of a band that had a purpose and, by virtue of this, a band that needed to exist at some point in time. One can only imagine how the constant stream of friction felt and shared throughout roughly seven months of activity justified the band’s existence when those momentary lapses of release manifested themselves on stage, or otherwise.

Here is some live footage of “Mutiny” recorded at the Black Rose in Portland:

READ MORE…

D.I.Y. or Die: How to Survive as an Independent Artist could have been made about our lives. Although this documentary,a “celebration of the underdog,” was released in 2002, Sean and I just watched it last night for the first time. I think a lot of people we cover, artists, musicians and labels, our fellow bloggers and a lot of our audience will really appreciate this documentary. The director, Michael W. Dean, interviews people who live and work DIY, including Ian MacKaye, J Mascis, Jim Rose, Lydia Lunch, Ron Asheton of The Stooges, Dave Brockie of Gwar and many more. The movie is a collection of stories about what defines DIY and what appeals to people who choose to create and work for themselves. This doc really hit home for us, because CVLT Nation is truly a labor of love, one that we created from scratch out of our passion for the music, art and culture we cover. Doing something DIY doesn’t mean you have to necessarily be broke, but you definitely have to be OK with being broke, and I think you have to adjust your own definition of wealth. Wealth is not something found in numbers, it’s something found in yourself. We figure we could work for someone else and make more money, have a “safety net” of sorts, but we would lose so much happiness and fulfillment by doing so. It’s amazing to hear that people we admire so much agree, and give insight into how being creative and doing it for themselves has enriched their lives. This is a must-watch for everyone who comes to our blog. Many of you keep DIY businesses like ours going, because the vinyl you buy is, a lot of the time, packed and mailed to you by the owner of the label you’re buying it from. I think it’s the wave of the future, a return to a barter system where all of us can have a good quality of life, not just those on top. So after the jump, get inspired and watch D.I.Y. or Die: How to Survive as an Independent Artist…

READ MORE…

By Chris Smith of California Northern
Text via UTNE Reader

One night a little more than a decade ago, Steve DeCaprio pulled his bike up to an abandoned house in Ghost Town, a poor neighborhood in West Oakland dotted with vacant lots. He cut through the rusty lock on the chain-link fence with bolt cutters, then pried open a plywood sheet that stood where the front door once had. Then he replaced the locks with his own. This is how DeCaprio, a longtime East Bay squatter and veteran of the punk and metal scenes, acquired his home.

He already knew that the previous owner of the house had died in the early 1980s and that no one had come forward to claim it. The turn-of-the-century bungalow had sat empty for many years. The kitchen floor was burned out, and the back of the house hung off the foundation. An acacia tree in the backyard had grown into the roof, leaving the interior open to the elements. The top floor was piled with the carcasses of dead raccoons and other small animals.

DeCaprio and a crew of friends got to work making the place habitable. “At first, it was basically just urban camping,” he remembers. It took eight months of on-and-off work to fix the roof. He got the water flowing, bought storm doors and painted the exterior, planted cacti in the front yard, and yanked out another backyard tree that had begun to menace the house next door. He named it Noodle House, and he currently shares it with three people plus the occasional touring underground band.

READ MORE…

Banner photography via the brilliant work and minds of Thomas Couderc & Clément Vauchez

Over the past few months I have had the incredible opportunity to stay quite busy with playing and attending shows here in the bay area. I am a huge fan and supporter of the underground music and art scene, this year more than ever I’ve fulfilled many life dreams and played/attended some truly spectacular shows. Here’s a collection of sights and sounds that I’ve gathered this Summer.

Starting off, on 5/28/12, The grindcore band I play with, Your Enemy, opened for the legendary Nasum on their 20 Year Anniversary and Final Tour. Here’s a video of them performing “Inhale/Exhale”.

READ MORE…