“New Jersey” (Used 16 times)

"Before us, it was all just a bunch of foolin' around" -Gene Wildest, regarding punk-rock

You probably haven't heard of Citizen Blast Kane, this may be due to their singer introducing them as Laser Fag, The Ernest Borg 9, Lobster Dinner, Straight To Video, Creature From The Black Neighborhood, and Reduced Lunch, to name a few... or, maybe you don't go to shows in people's basements. The duo known as Gene Wildest (vocals/sound effects), and Rick More-Anus (gui-tard) are the founders of the group. They embody the party animals in all the 1980s teen sex comedies, in their antics and music, fueled by summer high jinks, cult VHS, and cheap beer.

CBK hail from Hackensack, New Jersey, where Gene was "Hard as a kaiser roll" as the lyricist and frontman in Jumpkick & Fruitpunch. Rick, guitar wild-man, previously shredded with the preachers of sleaze, Theee Bishops as "He Who Cannot Play Guitar", and on bass in Tyrannosaurus Dracula as "Prince Matthew". Being a regular face at the T.DRAC house, Gene started jamming with Rick, promising a shenanigan laden future.

Next, in a small Moleskine® from a stupid girl, Gene mysteriously scribed the name "Chazzy D". Months later he happened upon a young drummer at a Liquor Store show with that very name. Chazzy D is to drums, as Tommy Wiseau is to filmmaking. Most recently, the boys have added Bobert (pronounced Bob-air) aka Bob Shot, as second lead guitar. They are currently recording an album of number 1 hits. Join the fan club and become a Citizen Blast Fan here: facebook.com/CitizenBlastKane

"They say that was them, and it was terrifying, and they didn't know anybody else in the locker room" -Sarim Al-Rawi of Liquor Store, on Citizen Blast Kane

-Uncle Dracula

See them live...

Their next show, hosted by a hack comedian, and following 8 other musical acts, is Saturday, May 5th, in the entertainment portion of Paterson's Annual Art Walk, presented by Petty Nobles Collective. The artists' exhibition space covers 11,000 square feet of warehouse, featuring the works of CBK's founding guitarist, and around 2 dozen others.

 DON'T MISS CITIZEN BLAST KANE, THEY ARE PERFORMING AT 8PM!

The event goes from 10am-10pm, and is located at: 60 Spruce Street, Paterson, New Jersey 07544

Coming from NYC? Take the 190 bus towards Paterson NJ from NYC Port Authority

http://www.njtransit.com/pdf/bus/T1122.pdf

 Citizen Blast Kane videos:

"Salisbury Shake"

http://vimeo.com/26750673

"Honk Box"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glBX4EYyWYk

"Fastball"

http://vimeo.com/28733715

"One Shot Tony"

http://vimeo.com/28776312

"Garbage Night"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpRhe78rZfk

"Locker Room Shenanigans"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wJ0SNrTwN0

CONTACT CITIZEN BLAST KANE: johnnycelentano@yahoo.com

Despite the sun, Uncle Dracula made it out to Flipside II Records in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey. I checked out the special releases for the holiday, but wasn't really interested in any of them (well, the live Devo one is still on my mind, but I already reached my $ limit!). Flipside has a great selection, and the best prices that I have seen, including $1, $3, and $5 sections where you will always find lps clearly worth more. There are many gems still to be found there! Dan, the owner is really friendly, and knowledgeable, and played bass in Creeping Pumpkins.

Check out their groovy track "Move".

Flipside II Records 120 Wanaque Ave. Pompton Lakes, NJ 07442

Smersh are legends of the NJ cassette underground, previously featured on WFMU's blog. Beat studio guru Mike Mangino and Chris Shepard started recording together in 1979 and began releasing cassettes as Smersh in 1981, improvising cuts nearly every Monday night for over a decade.

"My God Those Legs" is a later recording featuring Roger Johansen on sax. It's sourced from 1994's Isomorphic Records comp The Arbitrary Nature Of Meaning where Smersh appeared alongside artists like Illusion of Safety and Jim O'Rourke. The track closes out a 15-track Smersh Library Sampler compiled by Mike Mangino especially for WFMU and the FMA.

Mike is still releasing fantastic small-run releases over at M-Pop, and if you dig these sounds, then you are encouraged to reach out in the true spirit of the cassette underground.

Today's song was selected by @miscellaniac.

Vanatei grew up in a musically driven Newark household, studied fashion, and joined forces with fellow New Jersey female rapper Semi on this track, "Bitch Yout Ain't A Barbie". 

She was featured by FrostWire, surpassing 100,000 downloads, and "Bitch Yout Ain't A Barbie" made Side A of FrostWire's massive Creative Commons Mixtape.

Vanatei also distributes her music videos for free online. There's some debate on YouTube whether "Bitch You Ain't A Barbie" is a jab at Nicki Minaj, or at people who try to imitate the pop star's style rather than stay true to their own vision.

Check out the video for this song after the jump and let us know what you think!

A little over a year ago, WFMU featured Smersh -- "NJ's Prolific Legends of the Cassette Underground" -- to coincide with the release of the Smersh Library Sampler -- 15 tracks recorded between 1983 and 1994.

Working out of a Piscataway basement full of seemingly endless musical toys and creative inspiration, beat studio guru Mike Mangino and vocalist Chris Shepard wrote & recorded one song every week dating back to 1979. So this sampler was just scratching the surface of Smersh's tremendous and influential output, which ranged from industrial to pop to electronic to noise and earned them a cult following all over the world.

Mike has recently made some of the Smersh catalog available again through his Mirandette Popular label, along with newer electronic works by artists including The Dirty Outlet and Andrew Mascardi. From the label website: "M-Pop Recordings is a really, really small music label. We're so small we're almost microscopic. Contact us for our latest catalog."

This week, M-Pop announced the newest Smersh compilation is here: We Like To Be Listened includes five tracks that were also part of the Smersh Library Sampler (below) along with 15 more gems culled from Smersh's vast output. A personal favorite is the outtake of "Sweet Little Bishop," a bizarro-world Michael Jackson sorta sick jam which was the first Smersh recording I ever heard (via 7" on Börft), but really every track is a hit and if you like these sounds, you will like listening to We Like To Be Listened.