WKNC 88.1 FM - North Carolina State University Student Radio
# Artist Record Label
1 VON PEA AND THE OTHER GUYS The Fiasco HiPNOTT
2 YOUNG RJ The Detroit Project [EP] Ne’Astra
3 DOS MONOS Dos city Self-Released
4 VINCE STAPLES FM! Def Jam
5 DOMINOES SLIME Pain BORN CTZN
6 ASAP ROCKY Testing RCA
7 BONES Failure TeamSesh
8 EVIDENCE Weather Or Not Rhymesayers
9 BUDDY Harlan & Alondra Lil Cool Company
10 DENZEL CURRY “RICKY” [Single] Loma Vista
# Artist Record Label
1 SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO Murmurations Wichita
2 SAMPS, THE Breakfast Gloriette
3 LONE Ambivert Tools Volume Three [EP] R&S
4 YVES TUMOR Safe In The Hands Of Love Warp
5 SATIN SHEETS St. Francis 100% Electronica
6 NEGATIVE GEMINI Bad Baby [EP] 100% Electronica
7 GEOTIC Traversa Ghostly
8 DANCE SYSTEM Wind ‘Em Up (Radio Version) [EP] Monkeytown
9 SEB WILDBLOOD Grab The Wheel [EP] All My Thoughts
10 DORIAN CONCEPT The Nature Of Imitation Brainfeeder
# Artist Record Label
1 TACOCAT This Mess Is A Place Sub Pop
2 AA BONDY Enderness Fat Possum
3 TRUTH CLUB Not An Exit Tiny Engines
4 MORABEZA TOBACCO Morabeza Tobacco Luminelle
5 BLESSED Salt Pirates Blend
6 MEXICO CITY BLONDES Blush Burger
7 NOTS 3 (Three) Goner
8 REPTALIENS Valis Captured Tracks
9 FLAT WORMS Into The Iris [EP] GOD?
10 CHAI Punk Burger
11 PUZZLE X Hail Burger
12 POW Shift Castle Face
13 MALLSEX Discreet Services Self-Released
14 ROSE DROLL Your Dog Father/Daughter
15 SWERVEDRIVER Future Ruins Dangerbird
16 FADE EM ALL Fade Em All Self-Released
17 POTTERY No. 1 [EP] Partisan
18 EYEDRESS Sensitive G Lex Ltd
19 ROYAL CANOE Waver Paper Bag
20 TY SEGALL Fudge Sandwich In The Red
21 MADELINE KENNEY Perfect Shapes Carpark
22 GREYS Age Hasn’t Spoiled You Carpark
23 BEABADOOBEE Loveworm/Patched Up [EP] Dirty Hit
24 TOWNES VAN ZANDT Sky Blue Fat Possum
25 MAN’S BODY Put Your Family In It Beautiful Workhorse
26 GIRLPOOL What Chaos Is Imaginary Anti-
27 NATALIE PRASS The Future And The Past ATO
28 SASAMI Sasami Domino
29 ENTRACTE TWIST Entracte Twist Requiem Pour Un Twister
30 CALEB FRAID The Old Rugged Me Self-Released
Top Adds
1 PINHEADS, THE Is This Real Farmer & The Owl
2 DUMB Club Nites Mint
3 HARLAN “Fingertips” [Single] House Arrest
4 NECKING “Still Exist” [Single] Mint
5 CATE LE BON Reward Mexican Summer
6 STEF CHURA Midnight [Advance Tracks] Saddle Creek
7 SAMIA “Ode To Artifice” [Single] Grand Jury
CLASSIC REVIEW: ATARI TEENAGE RIOT- Delete Yourself
Atari Teenage Riot’s 1995 Masterpiece “Delete Yourself” sounds as if a punk modified with a synthetic heart and iron lungs was pumped to the seams with amphetamine. It’s political, it’s blunt, there’s no camp in its rawness. In a decade which saw punk reinvented as a handsome nihilism, “Delete Yourself” returned the genre to its roots in political panic and aggression. Every song rotates through a handful of ingredients: thrash guitar, screamed one-liners, maybe a movie samples, and a simple techno drum sample. But it was through this simplicity that ATR captured the essentials of punk’s vigor without a hint of nostalgia (or punk for punk’s sake). There is no close-reading with “Delete Yourself”. It is a pure, volatile reaction.
ATR, a trio consisting of Alec Empire, MC Carl Crack and Hanin Elias, combined elements of hardcore punk, thrash metal and breakbeat with, often extreme, anti-fascist lyrics. The result was Digital Hardcore; a far-left subculture pioneered by ATR which quickly spread in reaction against rising neo-nazi subcultures in Berlin’s electronic scenes. The genre’s namesake is derived from Digital Hardcore Recordings, a label set up by Empire which signed similar acts such as EC8OR, Sonic Subjunkies and Christoph de Babalon. For eight years, ATR reigned supreme in the Digital Hardcore scene before the subculture’s eventual decline at the turn of the millennium. In 2000, Crack was found in his apartment, dead at age 30 from a drug overdose. With that, Atari Teenage Riot disbanded: Empire continues to release experimental electronic compositions and Elias has established a career as a solo artist and created her own label: Fatal Recordings.
When first dissecting Delete Yourself, one should familiarize themselves with ATR’s first single, which happens to also appear on the 1995 LP. “Hetzjagd auf Nazis!” (“Hunt the Nazis!”) can be examined as a microcosm of ATR, exemplifying their urgent simplicity and unadulterated fury. An overdriven three note synth line layered over a breakbeat with Empire screaming “go” over and over for five minutes, “Hetzjagd auf Nazis” descends further and further into ambient obscurity as it progresses. Undeterminable echoed noises fill the space surrounding the mid-heavy synth line which, along with the repeating beat, grounds the track while its peripheral components drift further into madness. “Speed” begins with a speed metal guitar sample which stands solitary for a mere moment before being swept up by the beat. From here on it’s only a breakneck barrel towards the finish, Empire sputtering out unintelligible lines like News, Drug abuse to the future and the hypocrites cry: Who dies next? while Elias bellows out the song’s half-melody hook. There’s no room for breath, no room for contemplation; there is only an immediacy of terror which ATR thrashes again in futility. Even slower cuts like “Sex” embrace a gritty tinge of cyberpunk, as Elias delivers spoken word over a wet-reverbed breakbeat coupled with droning ambience. As if the band were lying face up underwater, occasionally able to grasp a breath before being flooded back down, “Sex” embodies Delete Yourself’s thesis of titanic cyberpunk anxiety. Atari Teenage Riot knows it’s too late; the powers which will overcome all of us are too large to stop. And Delete Yourself is trying to, even if just for a second, outrun our doom.
Delete Yourself does not exist to meticulously explore art as enrichment. Its lyrics are a simple, grotesque indictment of fascism, technology, and the institutions we have created which now rule us. It finds relevance today among those who feel alienated and exploited by every facet of their existence through its direct plea for individual uprising. It is a rebellion in its purest form.
A good building party consists of a few things. A lot of people who want to have a good time, a good DJ, and a good setlist. This setlist is not dependent on how good the song is, but rather how many people know it. As we all know, pop culture nowadays is a mess. Everybody wants to be different, but in the same way. This presents itself on social media, in fast fashion, but most importantly in the music industry. It’s lead to what I like to call, “The Young Thug Era”. This is an era in hip hop where essentially, everybody sounds the same. Gunna, Lil Baby, Sah Babii, and Lil Keed are four different artists that I can think of off the top of my head who all sound like Young Thug. This is worse than the soundcloud generation where everybody seemed to be a rapper, but nobody was good. That is because this “Young Thug Generation” promises success. The rappers I previously mentioned are all performing sold out shows on the regular though they sound like the same person. This is making everybody also want to sound like that same person in hopes that they might too, becoming success as well. Black party culture is what drives this. Instead of playing new or even distinguishable music, parties play the same setlist over, and over, and over again. The setlist is only changed when new indistinctive songs come out because they are promoted by popular artists. So even if Gunna for instance makes a whole album where most of the songs sound like the same song (Drip or Drown 2), the masses will bump it in their car for weeks on end, making it a party hit for the next few months. Now don’t get me wrong, I love Lil Keed, Sah Babii, Gunna, and Lil Baby too, but I also enjoy variety. So guys, stop trying to be Young Thug.
-Lul Bulma
Once upon a time, it was cool to be yourself. In this day and age, that is long gone with the cultural influence of the City Girls. If you don’t already know, the City Girls is a girl rap group from Miami Florida who is notorious for their raw lyrics and real attitude. There lyrics are humorous and catchy and in all, their songs definitely leave a lasting impact. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrfIZgAfhAM
But, they have almost left too much of an impact on urban culture as nowadays, everybody wants to be a City Girl. City Girls stand for using men for their money, scamming, and wearing long lace fronts. There is nothing wrong with these things (except for maybe scamming) in any other context, but girls nowadays are doing the things solely because they think they are a City Girl. The funny thing is, the City Girls don’t even write their own lyrics, it is actually lyricsts like Lil Yachty who are credited with providing the group with most of their verses and hooks. Though these girls are really about it, the girls singing along with stronger conviction than the artists themselves have, are not. I think that many of the fans have adopted the City Girl persona because of the power it gives them. Women nowadays are tired of taking crap from men and what it means to be a City Girl is to take power over men, have your own money, and just be a boss. I am all for boss women believe me, but you don’t have to be a “Big Birkin Bag hoe, 5-6 figures”, in order to be one and have power. So, let’s listen to the City Girls, without actually trying to be a City Girl, please.
-Lul Bulma
I went to Epicenter this past weekend and it was… eventful.
This was a highly anticipated festival because it was replacing the Carolina Rebellion. I saw multiple comments on social media saying to “bring back the Rebellion” and that the “Rebellion would never have these issues.” Now, it is important to understand that Epicenter is not and will never be the Carolina Rebellion. Having a negative mindset about the new festival and having high expectations for it will inevitably end with disappointment.
Inside of the festival on Friday was great! The first band that I saw was Ded and they jammed! They started the day off right with their energy and they announced that they will be coming out with new music soon! The next band I saw was Vein, and their set was intense. The pit was crazy and some guys brought in pillows and literally had a pillow fight in the pit. The singer for Vein was getting in the crowd and bringing Hardcore to Epicenter.
I then met up with some of my friends from my hometown and we went and saw Beartooth and Skillet. We were in the back hanging out, saving our energy for that night. We saw Knocked Loose, and I think they were my favorite performance of the weekend. They were very interactive with the crowd and were always in our faces. Then I went and saw Evanescence and all I can say is WOW that girl can sing. Finally seeing Evanescence was really fun because they were a band that I would listen to when I was a little rocker.
My friend Ellie and I waited at the stage Rob Zombie was going to play at because he is one of Ellie’s favorite artists. So, we made sure we were going to get a good spot for Zombie! While waiting for Rob to come on, Machine Gun Kelly (MGK) was playing on the other main stage. We could see and hear his performance on the jumbo screens above the stage. He did a good job of interacting with the crowd. He also got a lot of lighters thrown at him when he asked for one. He didn’t catch a single one! Once Rob Zombie went on, the entire crowd exploded. Everyone was moshing and crowd surfing during his entire set.
Then, Ellie and I went to see Korn. Ellie has also never seen Korn and I was excited that she finally got to see them! Like always, Korn crushed it. They played all of their hits and I started a mosh pit near the sound booth. I am proud of that.
Everything inside the festival was great! The food was good; expensive, but good. The bands all started and ended on time, and their sound and light show was impressive! But it was what happened outside of the gate that, to me, was horribly planned. On the first day, there was only one entrance and one exit to the parking lot (rather, parking field). This was a problem the entire day. Some people were stuck in traffic for hours trying to get into the festival. Many were turned away because they ran out of parking, or they were stuck in traffic and missed the bands they wanted to see. We were staying 30 minutes away from the festival and we were stuck in the parking lot for 3 hours (only moving one car-length). No one was directing traffic and a lot of people were getting impatient.
The parking situation and traffic issues that occurred on Friday were (somewhat) resolved on Saturday when entering the festival. They had added entrances! The first band to come on was Alien Weaponry and they set the mood for the day. The next band of interest was Wage War and as always, they killed it! Probably the best performance of the day because they had the crowd wound up! Everyone was moshing, crowd surfing, and singing along with the band. They were assigned one of the smaller stages, but judging from the size of the crowd, they should have been on a larger one. Black Label Society was on a larger stage, and they were steamrolling into their third song when an announcement appeared on the screens that we must evacuate the grounds and head back to our cars because of a tornado warning. The band quit playing, mid-song, and the entire crowd herded toward the exit. Once back in the cars and waiting out the storm for hours, the rest of the festival was canceled (there was damage to the venue). I did not get to see the two bands that I have been looking forward to all weekend: Tool and Judas Priest. Trying to get out of the parking field was tough because, first, part of it was flooded due to the storms that rolled through and, secondly, everyone was leaving all at once.
Sunday was the one day that everything was great! Parking was quick and easy, and the weather stayed sunny for us to mosh in! The band of the day was Architects, and boy did they put on a show! Their stage presence was fantastic and their light show was great! There was a bunch of crowd surfing for this band. Bring Me the Horizon was of interest, next, they always put on a great live show. Interaction between the singer and the crowd was insane! Everyone was trying to crowd surf and give the singer a high five. Foo Fighters closed out the night and everyone was singing, dancing, and crowd surfing along with the band.
Although everything was great while inside the festival, what occurred outside of the festival is what has me second guessing if I will ever return to Epicenter. Parking was poorly planned out, for one. The logistical nightmare of being out in the middle of nowhere lends itself to chaos when 90,000 people descend. But the thing that bothers me, and many others, the most is that the majority of us spent over $200 to attend Epicenter. Then they had a $20 sale on Saturday passes. A week before the festival, tickets were only $1. To me, this is disrespectful to the people who paid a lot of money to attend and support the festival.
I question if Epicenter will be worth going to next year because after this experience, I won’t be getting tickets early; and if there is a chance that I do go, it will only be for a day.
Stay Metal,
THE SAW
The Swedish Kings of Melodic Death Metal, Amon Amarth, have delivered again! 2019 sees the arrival of Berserker, the band’s 11th studio album. There is no other metal band like these veterans – the near-perfect combination of (seemingly) opposing concepts of melody and crushing brutality, harmony and roaring gutturals – and this record exemplifies that fact, once again, while also showcasing some new aspects. Where 2016’s, Jomsviking, was a concept record that (lead vocalist) Johan Hegg had written the story and the other band members supplied music thereafter, Berserker saw all music finished before Hegg had penned a single lyric. This offering also introduces us to the band’s new drummer, Jocke Wallgren, who fits in nicely with the other members while adding some fresh blood (so to speak).
Tracks
Fafner’s Gold opens with acoustic guitar and keyboards before launching into the ever familiar gallops of Amon Amarth’s trademark storytelling. A dragon’s tale.
Crack the Sky is a bop about Thor (and his hammer) that sounds like a holdover from 2008’s Twilight of the Thunder God.
Mjolner, Hammer of Thor is pretty self-explanatory. It reminds me of something from Deceiver of the Gods (2013).
Shield Wall sounds like it came right off of Surtur Rising (2011), and is also self-explanatory; though I sense there is something personal, here, too. A real anthem!
Valkyria is a story about a female heavenly messenger in the old Norse mythology. The track also ends with some spooky keyboards (nice!).
Raven’s Flight – war, vengeance, conquest – any questions?! It features a wicked breakdown, and the overall feel of the song gives you a real sense of the battle.
Ironside features ‘the spoken word’ by Hegg, who not only has one of the best general vocal gutterals in metal, but also an awesome speaking voice. This one is adapted from the mythical Norse character by the same name, famously portrayed by the series Vikings.
The Berserker at Stamford Bridge is based on a historical account from English mythology about a battle against a single Viking. The music, here, is extremely dramatic and Hegg shouts a line at one point as if the Berserker himself is speaking. Awesome!
When Once Again We Can Set Our Sails If you liked 2008’s Embrace of the Endless Ocean (Twilight of the Thunder God), then you’ll like this bop. It also has the darker sound of 2006’s Under the Northern Star (With Oden on Our Side).
Skoll and Hati is a song about “one who mocks" and “one who hates.” The former races across the sky chasing the sun, while the latter chases the moon. Isn’t Norse mythology great?!
Wings of Eagles is a narrative about fleeing from Norway to Greenland and westward discovering new and distant lands. In Amon Amarth fashion, the listener feels an emotional bond to the story because of the melodies, harmonies, and double kicks.
Into the Dark is an interesting ballad-like song, like Back on Northern Shores (Yomsviking, 2016). It’s heavy, but very dramatic. Hegg’s vocals hit a new low guttural, here. A perfect ending to this saga.
Rating: 8.5
Favorite Songs: Raven’s Flight; The Berserker at Stamford Bridge; When Once Again We Can Set Our Sails
Stay Metal,
THE SAW
Okay, y’all should already know that anytime Whitechapel comes to North Carolina, I’m going to go see them. I was really looking forward to this show because the lineup was STACKED. The North Carolina date was the last date of the tour and you already know that NC brought the energy.
I got to the Ramkat before doors because I bought VIP tickets to meet Whitechapel. I have never met Whitechapel before so this was exciting for me! The meet and greet was supposed to start at 3:30, but it didn’t start until 4:15, 15 minutes before doors opened. When I was in line to get my Whitechapel poster signed, I was thinking about how I was going to tell Whitechapel that I am The Saw and how much of a fan I am without sounding like a fangirl. They appreciated my support for the band and Phil Bozeman (vocalist) also said, “Go Wolfpack.” I also got a picture with the band, so I now have proof that I met my favorite band.
There were some opening bands that came on and they set the tone for the whole night. One of the bands that opened up for this show was Primordial Tides from Greensboro. I have seen them a couple of times and each time I see them, they get better and better. After the opening bands, Fallujah came on. I have never seen Fallujah before and I was really impressed! They sounded great and there was a good crowd for their set. I started listening to this band more after the show and I really like their sound. They are a very technical band and I’m glad I got to see them.
Spite came out and completely dominated the crowd. Spite’s singer, Darius, is one of the best front men I have ever seen. He was in the crowd’s face the entire time and he was running around the stage the entire time. Right when he came running on stage and yelling at the crowd, people automatically started moving and getting rowdy. The band sounded really good and Darius can hit his highs and lows perfectly. Probably one of my favorite vocalists right now.
The next band to come on was Revocation. They have that old school thrash, death metal sound and the crowd really loved this band. People started moshing and headbanging during their entire set! They set the tone for the next two bands to come!
Dying Fetus came on next, and we both know how much I love Dying Fetus. I am still mind blown by how technical, fast, and brutal this band is with only three people in the band. Right when they hit the stage, the crowd went crazy. There were certain times when no one was standing still and everyone was in the pit. I don’t know why but almost every guy in that building took off their shirt when Dying Fetus came on. They played some of my favorite songs such as Fixated on Devastation, Panic Amongst the Herd, and Subjected to a Beating. I moshed a lot for them, but for the most part, I stood there in awe.
Whitechapel headlined the show and they came out with their song When a Demon Defiles a Witch. They played a handful of songs off their new album, The Valley, and during that 5-song stretch is when the crowd went absolutely insane. No one was standing still when they started playing Brimstone and Black Bear. I was moshing and yelling the words to every song and I eventually pushed my way up to the barricade. Phil is also a great front man, he was hovering over the crowd and interacting with us the entire time. He also has some of the best vocals live, too. When they played Brimstone, I was shocked, impressed, and in awe when Phil hit that low note, it was beautiful. Whitechapel also played Mark of the Blade, Elitist Ones, Let Me Burn, and The Saw is the Law.
Overall, this was one of the best shows that I have been to this year. The set up and tear down was quick and easy, and the sound of every band was clear! The light show for this show was also really cool. The venue impressed me as well. The Ramkat is very spacious and there is a lot of room for people. There is also a balcony (with its own bar) that people could pay extra to sit up there. I will most definitely be back at this venue.
Did you go to the Chaos and Carnage tour? What did you think?
Stay Metal,
THE SAW
CLASSIC REVIEW: WIPERS- Over the Edge
Best Tracks: Doom Town, So Young, Romeo, No One Wants an Alien
Wipers weren’t the first to fuse punk and introspection. They weren’t the first to rely on atmosphere above blunt force. And they certainly weren’t the first to rely on raw production to communicate desperation. But Wipers put all of this together in what became a necessary precursor to alternative music as we know it today. Nowhere is this more clear than on their third album, 1983’s Over The Edge: an album which bellows out a simple, singular message. Doom.
I know, I know, of the first two classic reviews I’ve pumped out, both are 80s alt-punk born out of the Northwest. But I couldn’t resist. Unfortunately, the double edged sword of being adjacent to Kurt Cobain means that while bands that otherwise would have been long forgotten have received a decent amount of a spotlight, that spotlight is still dwarfed by the shadow of Nirvana. And Greg Sage’s rotating cast punk rock trio, AKA Wipers, deserves so much more than that. In mixing the ferocity and simplicity with lo-fi, feedback driven atmosphere, Over the Edge lies bathed in an eeriness which trudges the listener into Sage’s desperate pleas. It’s a simple dread which seems to speak universally of alienation.
Wipers were, effectively, Greg Sage. Sage, a wiry native of Portland, was pretty old at 25 to form a punk band in 1977. And so, he had an edge on his younger, primal counterparts. He grew up on classic guitar heroes such as Hendrix and Clapton, and while Sage certainly wasn’t a proponent of theatrical face-melters, he understood that a guitar had the potential to convey abstract, monolithic human expressions. When first conceptualizing what would become Wipers, Sage originally planned for his band to be an exclusively studio act. Sage, notoriously self-disciplined, would record the songs and they would be subsequently self-released sans any promotion. While I’m personally glad this plan wasn’t actualized, since it probably would have inhibited the still-limited fame Wipers see today, they would admittedly be the best candidates for this treatment. Sage’s songs sound as if they’ve been pulled out of an ether; a despondent catharsis in the face of an impending doom. When they fully formulated Wipers by the late 1970s, Sage and an amorphous combination of bassists and drummers decided to release their 1980 debut Is This Real? on Park Avenue Records in an attempt to gain some semblance of a following. And it worked. Is This Real? became an instant cult hit while Wipers gained notoriety in Portland through their live shows. And with that, the American Northwest had their first punk band.
While Is This Real? offers a wholly solid introduction to Wipers’ doom punk, Over The Edge is a complete fulfillment of driving introspection. The album’s opening three songs; Over the Edge, Doom Town and So Young, are all constructed around the same four chords. But they somehow circumvent repetition. I honestly haven’t fully figured out how Sage managed to make these songs sound so different; maybe it’s the blunted bass subtly moving beneath a thin overdrive, Sage’s simple and ephemeral guitar leads, or his reverbed croon which varies from a gravely plea to a panicked shout. Romeo offers the first break from standard three-chord punk with a fuzz-coated rockabilly trudge coupled with Sage’s lyrics of absolute isolation and longing which eventually erupt into a singular screech. No One Wants An Alien is an exploration into variation in that it appears unconcerned with any motif established by the preceding cuts. Opening with a surprisingly clean guitar carrying a tidy, yet rough melody, the song churns out three minutes of new-wave which could have easily been found on an early New Order album.
Though Greg Sage likely did not know at the time how influential his choice to chimera punk rock and dread-heavy vulnerability would ultimately be, it’s impossible to omit Wipers from the canon of American alternative music. So as someone who works for a college radio station, I feel pretty obligated to recognize how crucial Wipers were in my current employment. Without Wipers, the Northwest alt-punk underground may have been horribly crippled; something which would have surely impacted the Grunge explosion which current indie rock necessitates. So to all of you DIY, baby jeans wearing kids out there: take the time to thank a Wiper.