In The Backyard Of The Record Collection (4): Avail - "Over The James"

I neglected this record for a way too long time. The were nomerous occansions when I listened to this gem over and over again. And after listening to it I really felt better. It's one of those records that really lift you up to the next level and give you strength and hope. AVAIL were one of those bands who managed to capture the intensity of everything hardcore and punkrock mean to me.


"Over The James" (1998, Lookout) wasn't the first record I bought by them, in fact I got "4AM Friday" (1996, Lookout) first. I fell in love with the wild mixture of power and melodies instantly. This wasn't as nearly as chaotic as some hardcore bands but it wasn't as boring as some punkrock records. It had the energy of a live show in a small room during a hot summer's day when everybody in the venue is moving around and there's the stench of sweat and beer everywhere.
So when I got myself a copy of "Over The James" I thought it couldn't get any better. But it did. And to top if off the live show at the "Sojus" in Monheim was one of the best I've ever been to. Pascal, Dimi and me were bouncing around in the front rows singing along to every song while the band was giving their all on stage. I guess in the end it's those memories that keep you coming back for more. Although I rarely experienced something like this again later.

"S.R.O." was one of the songs that stayed in my ear for most of the time. Great lyrics as well.

"What difference does it really make When your head's at the foot of the bed? Close the lid tight remain out of sight Easy escape numb the senses
Everyone around is such an expert On who is who and what they do I could give a fuck about small talk Discussions in fact I'd rather be alone And do without companionship for now Block out and walk out unseen Keep far away thean come clean
I thought I heard someone say That if the bottle falls but doesn't break Feel blessed it all stayed inside Unopen beats spilling
Bored to death with hearing second hand Who's grown roots who's on teh move Can't seem to avoid small talk discussions Is it safe to be unknown? Who's in, what's out, can't keep up Keep up, look good, be seen Label a trend with no meaning"

Do yourselves a favour, get the record.

On a side note, I completely lost track of what the band was doing after that show in 1998. They put out two more records on Fat Wreck and their singer tried some solo stuff, I heard. But I never got to the point where I wanted to buy one of their later records. Why, I wonder...

Here's one track off "Over The James" that can be found on their website. Enjoy.

Avail - August

The usual off-season rant against that damn team from the south

FC Bayern Munich is the team you love to hate. They are Germany's hold the record for the most championships in football, I believe they are record-winning cup champions as well, they have the most money, they (at least most of the time) have the best players. And what is most important, they win their matches. And for a long time they won almost each and every one of those games by a very small margin. Something that led people to speak about the so called "Bayern-Dusel" (roughly translated as "Bayern's luck"). And, surprisingly they have to most "fans" in German football. People like me refer to those kinds of supporters as arrogant and not really in it for the beauty of the game. Those people simply like the most successful team. If they lived in Italy, they'd cheer for Juventus. France? Lyon. Spain? Most certainly Real Madrid, because Barcelona is too political. To cut a long story short, Bayern Munich supporters are the most ignorant, stupid and uncool bunch there is.

Another thing this club always does is buy players. And by saying that I mean buying players who played well over the past season, maybe even for a close rival in the race for the title. Bayern almost bought the whole of Karlsruher SC when they were performing well in the 90s. They bought Leverkusen's Ballack and Lucio in 2002, they bought Bremen defender Ismael in 2005, they then bought Hamburg defender van Buyten in 2006. All players having played really well in the previsous season.


So now they have gone after Miroslav Klose, Germany's top striker for the past five years. There had been a huge row over that particular transfer and it seemed only to be a matter of time until Klose announced that he moves to Munich.
Now it has been rumoured that Klose is unhappy in Bremen and he played horrible in the 2nd half of the season. Still I can't understand why people take the step and move to Bayern. Yes, they want to win championships, but Klose has proven that he can do that with Bremen (2004) as well. Why not go to a foreign country. Try your luck in England. That's what I call a challenge.

The season seems to be over before it even has begun. Bayern spent a total of € 57 Mio (Klose's transfer excluded because there was no sum mentioned, people talk about € 12 Mio) on top players as Toni and Ribery and they look like the next champion now. On the other hand it might be even more interesting to watch them fall. They lost so often over the course of the past season that it somehow lost its meaning when they lose. So maybe we can celebrate a loss by Bayern a lot more in the coming months

Where have all the soldiers gone? Watching baseball...

What is always very strange at American sports events is the constant mentioning of the armed forces serving their time in foreign countries. Just this weekend while watching St Louis play against Philadelphia or The Red Sox vs the Padres there was always at least one soldier in the picture at some point of the game. In St Louis it was a veteran who proposed to his girlfriend before the match and was interviewed at some point during the game. Of course he has all the right to be a happy man, but when asked if he liked his stay in Iraq he replied that it was agreat time and that he would to it again without a second thought. The commentators were thrilled and grateful and thanked every soldier who was or is serving his or her country in some other place across the globe. I mean, how naive can one be. Serving the country and defending the freedom. Sounds a lot like the usual propaganda. Maybe it was like that because the game was shown on Fox Sports Network. Who knows...

The same picture in San Diego where what looked like a complete batallion was greeted by the audience before the game. Here the commentators were a lot more laid back although they also tried to praise the efforts of the soldiers fighting for freedom, blah blah blah.

Baseball seems to be a very conservative game and just like the NASCAR dads the baseball audience might be a force to be reckoned wwith when it comes to political decisions. Perhaps it's just me who is a caught off guard a little bit. But to me it would look strange that, when watching a football match on TV, the commercials would say "This programme is brought to you by the Bundeswehr", just as it is done with the marines at baseball coverage.

The future of European football on display

The European Championship for players under 21 are taking place in the Netherlands right now and the semifinals were up today. The German ream lost to England in the playoff matches although they looked pretty confident after the group stage. But they only managed a draw away and then lost to England at home.

No I always like to watch under 21 games because it gives you a glimpse of the future of football. There are so many players who made an impact when they played youth games. And although it is true that there are some of them who already play for the big teams there are still some players that surprise you. As for the German team almost half of that class now plays on a senior level, the best known players being Podolski and Schweinsteiger. So with so many good players missing one might say that it is no surprise they didn't make it.

Anyway, the semis took place today and England faced the hosts, the Netherlands. Oh boy, what a thriller. Both teams were tied at 1-1 with England leading off in the frist half and the Netherlands equalising just before the final whistle. The extra time produced no score and so the match went into a penalty shoot out. Now, the senoir teams of both sides didn't always do best when it comes to shoot from 11 metres. Germans love to remember England losing to them twice in big games on penalties (1990 World Cup semis, 1996 Euro semis). In fact I don't even know if England ever won a penalty shoot out. I wouldn't be too surprised if the hadn't. The Netherlands weren't too lucky as well. So with that I mind I kept on watching and I saw both teams score and score and score and score. The damn thing ended at 13-12 for the Netherlands with some guys missing the target but most of them scoring. Should give them some hope for the future.


The Netherlands advanced to the final and will face Serbia. Now, I seem to have some sort of prejudice towards teams from southern Europe. They all play the same style of footbnall. They are all wonderful plays with excellent skill and brilliant technique. But when it comes to fair play the totally lose it. And especially the teams from the balcan region are way out of it. There was one scene when a Serbian player went through the Belgium defense with two options: pass the ball or shoot it on the goal. He aimed for the latter and missed. Instead of going after the lost ball he decided to take a dive. The Belgians didn't bother and played on. This is so lame and it's so typical of balcan sides. Another scene was a hand play by a Serbian defender. I just hate the way they play.
And they get way too emotional. When they faced England in the group they were almost starting a brawl on the pitch.

So, for the beauty of the game I surely hope that the Netherlands will win the competition. Although because of the huge rivalry between germany and the Netherlands I know some people will hate me for that wish...

Edelweisspiratenfestival

Today there was an "Edelweisspiratenfestival" taking place just across the street where I grew up. The park is called "Friedenspark" and at its outside stretches there is a huge memorial for the fallen soldiers of the World War I. The whole building used to be a fortress during the times of the German Empire back at the turn of the century (1900). Today it houses a center for children where they can play and build their own wooden fortress.


So today there was this festival to honour some resitance fighters from the Third Reich. Back then some young people from Cologne formed groups calling themselves "Edelweisspiraten" or "Navajos". They originally emerged from the "Bündische Jugend", some form of boy scouts during the Weimar Republic. Those kids roamed the country hiking and singing (to put it simple). When the Nazis took power the Hitler Jugend was the only youth organization allowed and all other groups were closed down. But those young people from Cologne didn't want to join the Hitler Jugend and decided to set up their own stuff which was pretty dangerous back then. They were harrassed by the police and the Gestapo and had to meet secretly in the parks of their hometown. Towards the end of World War II some of them even took part in sabotage acts to disrupt the military actions of the defending Wehrmacht. Because of that some of the "Edelweisspiraten" were assassinated just before the end of the war.


As said, to honour those people a festival was set up with lots of stands with food and drinks, a small exhibition from the local documentation centre which covers the history of Cologne during 1933-45 and there were bands playing on five different stages. Everything set up around the war memorial we used to call "Der Adler" (the eagle) because of the statue of a huge eagle that stands on top of the main building. The atmosphere was very lively and peaceful with all kinds of people walking around the place. I bumped into an old friend from school whom I haven't seen in ages as she was taking a walk with her boyfriend. Then there were other friends who were involved in setting the whole thing up. Lots of children running around, lots of older people. You could say it was a real family festivity.
I really enjoyed walking around there during a perfect sunny afternoon, but unfortunately I didn't have time to stay since I promised a friend I would meet her at the train station. But I will be back next year to take a closer and longer look.

Take a look at some pictures from last year:

Take me out to the ballgame

One thing I noticed in my newly found and still ongoing fascination of the sport of baseball is the 7th inning stretch. Although you can read (and obviously also write) articles about this it's something I will never understand. On the other hand I just find this wonderful. As I was watching the Cubs game against the Padres last night I watched an old man, maybe some celebrity nobody knows over, sang the tune of "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" with the whole ballpark backing him up. This looked a little bit like what is going on before matches in European football stadiums. Everyone knows the infamous "You'll Never Walk Alone" sung at both Anfield and Celtic Park. Then there are the hymns at Estadio Bernabeu and Nou Camp. The fans of 1 FC Cologne also have their own song they sing before every game. In the German region of Baden supporters tend to sing their national anthem "Das Badener Lied". But there is nothing that all fans can relate as there is in American baseball with "Take Me Out To The Ballgame".
I am still not quite sure of what to make of this. I see sports as rivalry where two opponents meet to fight it out. Same goes for the fans. They should yell down each other to intimidate the players and their opposing side of supporters. Maybe it's different in the USA since the distances between the cities in which the teams are located are so huge that there isn't a thing like groundhopping over there. Maybe it's simply too expensive.
Now I imagine that there is a very dedicated following in certain cities, especially the ones that have teams that were in the competition from the very beginning of professional sports. In baseball I would really like to pay a visit to Fenway Park, especially since I found out that they have a very strong following and they also have their own songs they sing during games. Although I wouldn't imagine the fans sounding like Dropkick Murphys when they do "Tessie", the song most people seem to associate with the Red Sox.

In the Backyard Of The Record Collection (3): Water Closet

I can't recall where I stumbled across this little gem. Maybe it was while researching about another great band from Japan, Ellegarden. Anyway, I got some copies of the records of Water Closet and I was blown away with the first few chords. This is a band in the vein of Discount or Cigaretteman (who also shared a split 7", by the way). Female fronted melodic punkrock with the right kind of sloppiness. Not too perfect, yet not too crappy. The right amount of melodies with the right amount of crunchy guitars and (at least) a little out of tune instruments.

I think "Again & Again" (2000, Swept Rec.) was their 2nd release. This record has it all, I think. It starts of with a rather unnecassary intro and blasts of with a song sung by guitarist Asuka, who shares her vocal parts with bassist Shimo. They interact perfectly, wonderful harmonies. What's a little strange at first is the very heavy Japanese accent in their English. Without a lyric sheet you're not even close to guessing what they are trying to say. Then again, the whole music, instruments and vocals, really convey what the band wants to get across. I had the same feeling when listening to Negu Gorriak from Euskadia a few years ago. I wasn't able to understand a single word yet the message came across through the music and the way the singer was singing.
As for the lyrics one shouldn't expect too much intellectualism. It's everyday life stories with a little punk edge thrown in.


They released two more records after this one, "Water Closet Music" (2002, Pizza Of Death Rec.) and a Split CD with Registrators (2004, Pizza Of Death Rec.) and had another Record before "Again & Again" called "Time Is Cool" (1998, Swept Rec.). On that one the band was still a three-piece, guitarist Etsushi joined in 2000.

I was really happy when I found the European pressing of "Again & Again" (2000, Rugger Bugger) in a 2nd hand box at my local record store. Only 2 Euros, now that's what I call a bargain.
Unfortunately there are no mp3s on their website, but for a teaser you might want to try some songs on the Pizza Of Death Website.

The band still seems to be around as there are always new tourdates on their website. Hopefully they make it to Europe or else I have to travel all the way to Japan to see them perform.