Vol. 7 - Dinosaurs

DINOSAURS

Wowee it's been awhile. And the freedom of summer is still temporarily taking members from us-- Aesop is back, but Adam has left for a week and a half. We stride onward and await his return. In the meantime, please welcome Aesop back and get excited for our newest mix theme, picked by Hasan!

Hasan: Tad - Behemoth

DINOSAURS! Man, I loved anything dinosaur-related when I was a kid-- I could watch Jurassic Park all day and never get sick of it. By the age of 9, I had already decided that I wanted to become a paleontologist and discover some new species of dinosaur. Eh, so much for that. Anyway, I had a tough time figuring out what song to choose for this week. Then it came to me: Tad!

Tad were a monstrous '90s northwest rock machine that combined old school punk rock riffs with a heavy distorted noise that came to be known and popularized as "grunge." A band that has been overlooked and went through some tough times, underrated for sure. Seriously, Nirvawho? Tad's music is very appropriate given its primitive and hulking nature. But what made me really choose this song in particular for this week's theme (aside from being on a huge Tad kick lately) are the lyrics. I can't help but picture vocalist/guitarist Tad Doyle (possibly drunk) wailing away and yelling at some gigantic "terrible lizard" with nothing else but his old Fender in hand. "You will fall down behemoth, motherfucker!!!"

Jess: Grief - Predator

Discovering deception sucks. As a child, naivety beat fallacy. That’s how it was with dinosaurs as a kid. Upon realizing that a) those things aren’t alive and b) they’re not all cute, friendly and, um, purple, I got my first taste of revenge. Barney-- damn you and all your tricks. If Grief’s “Predator” was edible, it would bite like blood from a mouth wound. That bitterness drives this track with relentless urgency. Decomposing riffs and urgent war cries tell a tale of man versus beast. But Grief tells a more unfortunate story by the name of the album alone: …And Man Will Become the Hunted. Man defeated by beast? Pfff. If this were my fairy tale, I’d savor a fresh limb from the purple freak as testament to my victory. Yes, Barney, let’s make a fossil out of you.

Aesop: Yogurt - Cars Are The Dinosaurs Of The Future

Whew. Just in from a whirlwind three-week tour of the USA with Ludicra and Hammers of Misfortune. Managed to meet two more of my fellow Bodies, Hasan and Jess, both of whom are as adorable and sweet as I imagined they would be. However, I am tired and eager to crawl into my own bed and sleep off the adventure. I can’t really write a big thingy about dinosaurs or the
song, but I have chosen “Cars Are The Dinosaurs Of The Future” by Yogurt. I played drums on the track. Yogurt was the side project of the late, great genius Matty Luv of Hickey. It tells of a future ecological utopia where cars are reduced to hulking memories, and all in just over a minute. Matty is dead now, but I see more evidence of the songs prophecy everyday. Cars truly are the dinosaurs of the future.

Tyler: Hardknox – Fire Like This

Real talk, I almost picked Was (Not Was)’s ‘Walk The Dinosaur’ this week. Seemed cheap, though, so I ended up listening to Hardknox and stomping around my apartment. The big-beat duo of Steve and Lindy only released one full-length, an uneven self-titled that works best when they just go for amped-up entrance themes. If a T. Rex could put sunglasses on with their stubby little arms, they would do it to ‘Fire Like This’, which is a heat rock working its way up the food chain on the strength of cranking primal drums and features a cheerleading group of elementary kids. And no one holds it down for dinosaurs like fourth-graders.

Chris: Giant Squid – Pathalassa

Like so many children, dinosaurs were my absolute favorite thing as a kid. I owned a metric dickton of dinosaur books and toys. I wanted to be a paleontologist so badly. While I'm not going down that road, I still find dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures awesome, and am particularly fascinated by ancient sealife. So too are proggy-sludge band Giant Squid. Most, if not all, of their songs are about the monstrous sea. This track, off their latest album and named for the ancient sea that surrounded Pangaea, definitely evokes plesiosaurs and rising above the waves. In this case, those plesiosaurs are attacking some sailors, somehow! While not really dinosaurs, plesiosaurs were the most badass creatures of the antediluvian ocean. No one enters their sea without getting crushed and eaten.

Quinn: Nine Inch Nails – Corona Radiata

Can you imagine being in the presence of a dinosaur? It goes without saying that you would more than likely be more intimidated and pretty terrified than you would be excited or calm. Personally, I sometimes find it hard to believe that such creatures ever existed considering the animal life we have grown accustomed to here on Earth. With all that in mind, you would think it would be easy to find a song about dinosaurs. This was probably the most difficult one for me thus far. I figured Asa would go for Dinosaur Jr. or Valley of the Dinosaurs, so I stayed clear of those two. If I had had Was (Not Was)’s “Walk the Dinosaur,” I would have offered it.

There are a number of theories as to how exactly the dinosaurs became extinct. The one I recall the most is that the sky was afire as a storm of comets brought down the multi-million year reign of the legendary animals. I imagine that the last day of their lives was incredibly ominous as the sky might have been very dark and foreboding. It would have been the kind of scene in a film where characters are talking but no sound is heard except for silence or something equally as eerie. That day probably sounded like “Corona Radiata.

Asa: Dinosaur Jr - Sludgefeast

Now I know what you're fucking thinking. THAT ONE WAS TOO EASY. Well, sure, but in thinking of my song choice this week, I flashed on when I saw this Amherst trio in the fall of 2007. After the show, my buddies and I awaited the DC metro's arrival so we could make our way back to our Baltimore dorms. As we did, some shaggy douche with a leather jacket and band pins took note of my friend Mike's Choking Victim shirt. "Great fucking shirt, man!" he shouted nasally in a voice not unlike the Frank of the Professor Brothers. As we timidly returned conversation, dude quickly asks if we "were at the shitshow? Or should I say...the Dinosaur Jr show?!" Yes, we were. No, they didn't suck. "Yes they fucking do, man!" he spat. "They're all old now and shit...all those guitar solos...they are fucking dinosaurs!"

That's hardly an insult. Lou, J and Murph may be old, but they still got it. Feast on the primordial ooze of "Sludgefeast" and get over the fact that J Mascis' soloing is all the teen angst he had that comes through his hands and not his mouth. And damn if the results aren't something.

Jason: Gwar - Gor-Gor

Growing up, I had a very unique perspective on dinosaurs. You see, every summer I helped Jack Horner and his crew dig dinosaurs on Egg Mountain in Montana. I helped discover a dinosaur, and discovered one of the first Maiasaura Peeblesorum teeth.

So, this means my song is the best.

Gor-Gor is the biggest, baddest dino ever, and say what you will, but Gwar's first few albums are fucking genius. Hooky and catchy, humorous, but clever, and man, the riffs are amazing. The breakdown on this song makes me smile every time I hear it. Gwar used to be much more than the tools that they are now, and this is a testimony of that. Gor-Gor comes and you must die!

Bitsy: Jonathan Richman And The Modern Lovers - I'm A Little Dinosaur

I guess you could say I’ve been going through a dinosaur phase since I was about two years old. Being submerged in films like The Land Before Time, Jurassic Park, and Godzilla, I developed a deep appreciation for all of them (and especially that awesome Quaker oatmeal with the eggs that eventually hatched into tiny multi-colored dinosaurs.) Reverting myself to my childlike, dinosaur-obsessed state of mind, I chose Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers’ “I’m A Little Dinosaur.” Simple lyrics with catchy 50s rock and roll rhythm- I couldn’t pick anything better suited for a dinosaur mix

Download the Dinosaurs mixtape HERE.