The following is an interview I did for an upcoming Aug./Sept. "Back to School" Issue of AMP magazine. What would you have said?? (I'm sure they'll only publish a sentence or two, if anything.)


1.)What do you think is the most over-looked, or under-appreciated record in punk-rock’s past, and why…?

To me, Dissolve’s “Dismantle” album has been highly under-appreciated and over-looked. I believe it came out in 1995 or 1996 on Elevator Music Records but I could be wrong. Dissolve was from upstate New York and on their album, “Dismantle,” they combined metal, hardcore, and punk elements unlike anyone before or after them. The music is undoubtedly rooted in metal with its tuned-down, sludgy guitar sound and its excellent use of double bass. Yet, the experimentation Dissolve uses in its songwriting draws a great deal from many avant-garde hardcore bands of the nineties such as Bloodlet and Deadguy. The album’s also full of breakdowns that any hardcore kid would have to be lobotomized not to whip a spin kick to. The vocals were the most surprising aspect of the disc when I first heard the CD. They’re completely punk in sound and lyrical content. The vocalist’s screams twist and wreath throughout the music, nasally and angry as hell. At the time “Dismantle” came out, I was steeped in straight-edge hardcore and almost all early Victory record releases so wasn’t used to hearing such intelligent, enraged, high-pitched vocals and lyrics about life as we know it, the status quo, supposed social norms, 9-5 jobs, lying governments, etc. I was blessed to see them live once sometime around ’97 or ’98 and they blew me away. The singer looked like Charles Manson and the rest of the band looked liked they’d be more comfortable playing in Malevolent Creation or Cannibal Corpse so, needless to say, their stage presence left a huge impression on me. I loved it. I still listen to the CD regularly and, when writing for the_network., I’m not ashamed to say I’ve tried to rip-off a part or two.

Nowadays, its only old timers like myself (27 yrs old is Grandpa status in this scene) and serious music snobs that remember Dissolve’s “Dismantle,” which is unfortunate because that album paved the way for all the best heavy music around today. Do yourself a favor, track down Dissolve’s “Dismantle” or kneel down to the heavenly body that now decides the fates of so many musical efforts; myspace.com. www.myspace.com/dissolveusa A wise man once said that any popular music serves to attract the lowest common denominator, and is thusly dumbed-down, an idea that may be applicable to Dissolve’s musical career. Dissolve had the balls to sound different than their peers, and they may have paid the price for it in a form of exclusion. To tell you the truth, I’m beginning to feel that my band may be headed in the same direction, but some smart ass will write about the_network ten years from now and hopefully have similar kind words to share.


2.) If there is a record that really is doing it for you right now, write a review of it, or just a little paragraph about why you like it so much, or why it impresses you. Be it a brand new record that hasn’t even come out yet, or just rediscovering JAWBREAKER’s first album after years of forgetting how great it is.

I love nothing better than getting a record that I can listen to from start to finish, over and over, an album that unmercifully keeps my attention, and one that reveals new secrets to me every time I listen to it. Right now, El-P’s “I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead,” is that album. El-P’s a New Yorker and that fact is evident in every second of the record, (here I go using the stale, tired adjectives every hack reviewer has in his or her template) it’s gritty, honest, heavy, intelligent, original, and ground-breaking. “I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead,” has all the ridiculous “boom-bap” shit that helped guerilla hip-hop into the minds of mainstream America in the early eighties as well as all the fancy new school bells and whistles that makes every hipster in glasses and a backpack hail it as a masterpiece. Those two elements aren’t enough though. It’s not the fact that ISWYD has the right ingredients, but that they’re cooked by a master chef. There’s nothing on the record that’s there just for the sake of being there. Whether El-P meant to or not, every sound on the CD belongs where it is, which is so rare these days (especially in hip-hop). When I hop in my piece of shit car, I just push play with the knowledge that ISWYD is in the deck. There’s also a bunch of hip featured artists on the album including Trent Reznor, The Mars Volta, label mates Aesop Rock, Mr. Lif, Cage, and more. The CD’s just pissed! Get your mind right and get it. Don’t download it, get off your right-clickin’ ass, go to a record store, and trade currency for goods.

Well played!

7/7/07