Selling to the masses of music industry insider wannabes is like selling hand lotion in a psoriasis ward. For many of us, the idea of turning our infatuation for music into a career is a moot goal, as it's as important to our existence as air or blood, and something we'd do no matter what the reward. As our day jobs get in the way of our dreams, we realize most of us are in it because we need to be, and any acceptance from an industry that can't define itself, let alone it's “audience,” is as debased as the culture it tries so hard to counter. With college radio, “alternative” music, and the floundering carp out of water that the music industry is continually proving itself to be, it becomes evident that they need us more than we need them. The 25th annual CMJ Music Marathon kicks off this week in New York, and a raft of non-official or “anti-showcases” spring up in it's shadow in hopes of bringing attention to their virtual fishbowls of microcosmic sonority. Among them is the freshly forged Daggerman Records showcase at Passout Records in Brooklyn this Saturday, November 4th.
Debuting this past summer with the release of the Imaginary Icons' single and several subsequent follow-ups focusing mainly on the output of upper east coast bands, the label has yet to fling a stinker. The event will reflect the label's entire roster along with The Night Terrors, the only band without a release on Daggerman, who still fit in nicely with the other acts of the day. Frontman Tony Sagger is the missing link between Paleolithic man and something still more beastly than a modern human. His carnal yelp is pungent enough to shake the cage of orthodox rock'n'roll turning it into a mammalian display of overzealous facial hair. Imaginary Icons' off kilter sound follows the post-punk lineage with repeating and sparse beats woven through echoed vocal tracks as luminous as a toxic waste site. Their debut single released this past July has racked up rabid accolades and their future output seems to be promising. The New Jersey based DC Snipers, with a full-length LP and a couple of split singles under their belts, have proven so far to be much more than their bygone name ripped from the headlines. Delivered with throat trashing basket case vocals, keyboards and reckless guitar, their sound is refreshingly antagonizing. Their split single with the The Tampoffs from Boston came out recently on Daggerman, and features the Tampoffs' melodiously sloppy sludge of straight forward Rip Off-esque garage. The tantamount sounding Vice City Rockers (V.C.R) dish out a teen bag of harebrained stumbling downbeat Rn'R, not too far off from an early Black Lips sound. LiveFastDie's bedroom bedlam of clamorous garbage can din digs up the sonic corpse of GG Allin and pisses all over it with an updated stench that wafts with clever stupidity. Their in-store set will leave a suet on the records and leave onlookers in a cloud of noodled guitar licks and left-over drug baggies. The show starts at 3:00 PM
Here's a V.C.R video
