"Yeah, But It's A Dry Heat": A Tucson, Arizona Complication; West World Records, 1993

 

A bit of the purely subjective right off of the the bat from this reporter: for a long time now it's been my intent to find contextual clues about a given place that may find me through music. Many years have been spent trying to piece together some kind of understandable narrative about locales such as Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Cleveland, Richmond VA, San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles...many many places. The music of varied cities and the regions in which they are located have tantalized me. 

Before moving to Tucson in September of 2021, Disaster Amnesiac was aware of Calexio (seen at a street fair in Oakland) and Giant Sand (seen at Great American Music Hall in 'frisco) from here, but that was kind of about all. The first live music that I had the pleasure to take in, Thanksgiving weekend 2021, featured a band playing covers of many different types of Metal; at that moment it became clear to me that music in Tucson has its very own unique characteristics, and that applies across genre. Tucson has quite a unique cultural gestalt and its music is a reflection of that. 

Just about five years into my residency here and said uniqueness still shows itself to me just about any time I have the pleasure of hearing musicians that live here play and perform music. In light of all that it would likely not come as any type of surprise to a reader of this post that Disaster Amnesiac was delighted to find an affordable copy of "Yeah But It's A Dry Heat": A Tucson, Arizona Complication over in Miami back in May of this year. Some observations after listening for a while follow. 

Earl's Family Bombers are featured first. Was this band a good draw in Tucson? Their two tracks are Slow Run and Green Corn. The former presents as a bit Mid-Western Hardcore and the gravelly vocals from the singer who sells it fine. The latter is bit more England 1979 or Berkeley 1990 with its gang vocals. Great guitar solo makes it for this listener. 

Lonely Trojans come up next. Nothing Is Random has a lot of features from contemporary acts of the early 1990's era, the tight snare drum in particular. Treble-ey bass and wide guitar chord chuckin' move this anthem. Speedway shows a different side of the the band as it's more traditionally Punk Rock in its method. The singer hits a higher note and the song has a brevity which helps. 

Did the Fells ever overcome their disdain for digital audio tape? Melodic Hardcore guitar tones and rhythms lead up to a wild, cool guitar solo on Pretend. When this song goes full meltdown it makes Disaster Amnesiac smile big. Tabouli has aspects of spoken word in the vocal areas: the music frames it thusly within the mix. The singer name drops the Fall so that's winning, as it its big, beautifully messy playing and Psych vibes. 

Al Perry and the Cattle had no disdain for digital audio tape apparently. Their contribution to "Yeah But It's A Dry Heat" is Losing Hand, a piece of proper Cow Punk with crackin' drumming and a grinding, non-Metal riff. Lyrics are troubadour in nature and they sound to have bypassed the Hardcore influence in favor of a more roots-styled aesthetic. That works, always!

Perhaps the most singular group on the record is Skinnerbox, whose singer laid down sultry vocal lines, framed by keyboard lines and thick bass tones on Whisper Parade. The female energy of the singing provides a nice bit of relief from all of the male angst that lead up to its appearance at the end of side one. Gothic Lounge sounds for some kind of emotional intrigue that took place, presumably, in Tucson. Whomever this song's lyrics are about, y'all got dissed pretty fiercely it seems. 

Side two features Mondo Guano, who played junk percussion and primal reverb guitar that really move. They seem to have been fascinated by mind control and societal masks, and Don't Look At Me admonishes people to avert their gaze indeed. This is some fine, primitive Psych. If you love bats, you absolutely MUST find a dusk during which you can stand near the overpass on Campbell near River and watch as the bats depart on their crepuscular journeys in search of insect blood. It's really quite the scene. 

Feed Me, the lone track documented from Zero Tolerance Task Force on the album, is a somewhat shambolic performance but the singer's recounting of life's varied foibles makes it a relatable and listenable one. A ripping second half of this song gets all Hardcore for a final push into sonic oblivion. 

The two songs by Fuzz are Diffused and Drill. They both have a lot of information packed within their structures: this was a tight, well rehearsed band. The drummer stomps really brightly and he must have been well regarded by the guitar and bass dudes. Fuzz hit pretty much Nu Metal zones at times, while twinned vocals on Drill evoke a bit of Fugazi influence. Disaster Amnesiac can envision scenarios in which Fuzz played with Ian's crew and maybe early tour stops by Korn. A really sharp, bombastic group they were.

Feast Upon Cactus Thorns appear next. Their contribution is Gonzo, an Avant Garage/Psych burner with Pop-ey changes that dip into some righteous jamming. It morphs into faster paced places and it's a really interesting blend of styles. UFO's are spoken of and the band jams out more than once, and tightly at that. Who has tapes of this group? Disaster Amnesiac wants more!

Arty anti-Vanilla Ice sentiments are presented by Slo-Deluxe on Vanilla Ice In Hell, a track done in solidarity with the scenes that he's been so lengthily accused of ripping off. Dunno, he seems pretty astute with his business and down to earth at that, so maybe all these years later he deserves some kind of break from all of the invective? Pounding percussion pushes yet more delicious, freaky guitar playing on the song. Tucson really spits out fine guitar players, along with drummers. Their promo blurb mentions cassettes for sale. Who has 'em?

Tight garage rockin' is called for on Shadows, by Malingus Youth, a group that sounds as if they worked on even their harmony singing. It's a unique song that ends way too soon. 

"Yeah But It's A Dry Heat" concludes with Blood Spasm and their tribute to the Old Pueblo on We Got Cactus, done in pure Hardcore that breaks down at exactly the correct spot. While the song is about Tucson, it was waxed in Los Angeles with one of the Bad Religion guys. 

"Yeah But It's A Dry Heat": A Tucson, Arizona Complication lists a clutch of other acts, not on the recording. They are: Doo Rag, Barely Bipedal, Head Cheese, Suicidal Drunk, and Skolliwoll. Hello to them as well. 

As Disaster Amnesiac has dug into this album, the question has arisen: have I partied adjacent with any of these people at shows? Or perhaps stood in line behind them at Bashas'? It's wished that I could tell them all how happy it makes me to hear their music and how stoked I am to get to spend some time in this wonderfully complicated town, even if Grant Rd. traffic currently makes me wanna holler.

Live shot(s) #222!

 

All shots taken at Chicago Bar Tucson, 5/16/26.

Below: World War 77 playing their first show. Fusing varied strains of Punk Rock into a Street Punk Blend.

 Above: Ace & the Soulless. Raw rockin' with fuzzy guitar slayin'. 

Below: Holy Nitemare: simply kick ass. Recording a 7" next weekend!

Foresight In Retrospect: A 10-Way Split, Or A Compilation; No Sides Records, 2026

 

Well gee whiz, No Sides Records, that's quite the mouthful for a release title! Right off the bat, let's just settle on calling this thirteen track compilation of sound artists' music Foresight In Retrospect, shall we? Disaster Amnesiac is grateful to No Sides for putting this release out there, and also for making this listener aware of the various projects featured upon it. Many and varied sounds and approaches to sound production are presented within its duration, so let's dive in. Chandra Shulka starts of the album with Antariksha, a sonic diptych of atmospheric sounds. Long tones and minor synth wave forms characterize this piece, one which could be excellent for an afternoon spent painting or perhaps a morning yoga sesh. There is some nice tweaking of sounds going on during its second half. The second track features percussionist Sean Hamilton, a name familiar to me. It's possible that I saw him play in 'frisco once, too. His track, User Experience, starts with small, wispy percussion bits before building into bigger clacks and scrapes. Bells join in a one is treated to a very intimate microtonal experience indeed. Eventually an avalanche of sound cascades within this feature of unique percussive ideas. Highly worth the eight minutes of its duration. Enchanted Helm come next, with three untitled pieces. Big synthesizer sounds fly by, graciously presenting big chords or are they clouds? Angelic voices ring and there's no shame in that, even in a scene that's probably pretty agnostic. Slow arpeggio forms follow with vertical harmonies very present and a conclusion of harder tones for a coda. Foresight In Retrospect continues with the wonderfully named Insect Deli, who pound the eardrums with straight up machine gun sounds on This Is the Version I Have Right Now. Crazed heaviness and spoken word ruminations upon ontology make this track an absolute crusher. Seriously insane action! Soundoferror have Disaster Amnesiac's favorite title for the proceedings on Hello Breakfast. There's just something so surreal about it. It's a track made up of three parts, with high register beepies and gackles, deeply rhythmic synth tightness and a consummate Head Music vibe that just hits correct while its music spreads out wide into signal feeds of delight! The Long Room is Bob Bucko Jr.'s contribution, wherein a drum machine pulse pushes the the keyboard and woodwind riffs into a Fourth World statement of international polyglot creole. It's a song of realm-wide trance moves which presents musical possibilities that should be further expounded upon. Two tracks of Dream Pop, Germs Burn and An Ode To Fred, are played by Peter Boof. Any kind of Darby reference and Disaster Amnesiac is in, that's a given. The latter is great for dancing around, while the former is more abstract in its sound but still playful. Living Room come up next with Untitled (Song Titles Are For Assholes). Why so dour? Harsh grinding primitive guitar/drums/noise action, that's why! A deeper listen shows that the Living Room dudes are indeed really good at their instruments, which literally rocks. The Avant Garde needn't worry though, as their is a ton on straight up Noise within this primitivist power trio. With Dub! The Drowned World must be Angus Maclise fans, as their Dreamweapon suggests. It starts out with a quite Minimalist arc and builds upon that with paced layers. It's a song like a sky full of slow moving cloud forms and as such very relaxing to hear. Last up on Foresight In Retrospect is Inscrutable Matter from Crow Hotel. Cool moniker and neat, dialed in electrical tones blend with wide Industrial samples to create a sonic junk heap of intricate granular details. Juicy electronics push and weave a track that gets pretty crunchy at times. Are they using contact mics to produce their machinic melodies? As stated, there a pleasing variance to the acts presented upon Foresight In Retrospect: A 10-Way Split, Or A Compilation, and any fan of underground sounds will likely be pleased to interface with all of them. You must be a bit tired of blasting your P.E.A.C.E. comp by now, surely, so seek this one out for some fresh examples from the subterranean music scene!

Live shot(s) #221!

 

Shots taken at On The Rocks, Tucson 5/9/26.

Below: Wrought Iron. Heavy Blues Rock with great lead guitar action!

Above: Soul Of the Sun bring earth moving riffs, an actual singer and more hot lead guitar action. Busting out new songs bravely. 

Below: Day Trails create adventurously progressive Pop blends. A unique band. 

Robert Poss + E-Clark Cornell-Kepler's Choice; No Sides Records, 2026

 

One just has to love a label that branches out into a broad range of musical approaches, a label such as No Sides Records. Since their initial contact with Disaster Amnesiac, it's been a pleasure to hear the many and varied sounds that they've pushed out into the world so far, not the least of which has been this year's Kepler's Choice, a release by Robert Poss and E-Clark Cornell. For starters just look at that great Abstract Expressionist cover art! Don't know about anyone else, but when this fan sees an album with visuals such as that, it's intrigue at minimum. Additionally interesting are the c.v. of this work's two creators. Poss found renown as a founding member of Band of Susans and Cornell has logged countless credits with some of the top flight Euro Art Rock bosses. These two have put in the work, that's for sure. As for the sounds of their collaborative work, they are based within the aesthetics of contemporary composition and symphonic works. Generally longer pieces during which modal explorations are presented, that's the set list on Kepler's Choice. Much of the album features moods of minimalist atmosphere, sometimes brooding and sometimes ecstatic. The duo of Poss and Cornell pull many different timbres from their respective rigs on each of the eight tracks, yet there is a genuine cohesiveness that binds them all, making for a very coherent listening experience. Pieces such as the ripple effect from an emotional error, Russian Tea Room, and Codified Betrayal would be so great if presented at and by a symphony. Large string sections would suit their writing ideally. Excellent piano passages extend forms but retain melodic aspects that are warm and inviting as their electronic frames float alongside and atop. Yesterday, as Kepler's Choice streamed from my desktop speakers a large rain front rolled up in the sky above, and it was the perfect soundtrack for observing it as it floated by. Find a nice quiet time and spot in which to listen to this low key but intense release from two veterans and it'll surely float your perceptions to some interesting spaces.

Live shot #220!

 

 

Chick Blundy & Tryin' Times, Slow Body Beer Tucson 5/1/26. Straight up honky tonkin' with an incredible guitar player. The drummer rules, too.

Modelbau-Nine Times Makes Ten; No Sides Records, 2026

 

No Sides Records made Disaster Amnesiac aware of Nine Times Makes Ten, a new release from Modelbau, a few months back. It took some time to get to really hearing it, though, mostly on account of the stated obsession with the Ramones debut at its 50th anniversary. With those thoughts out of the way now, it's been a bit easier to check into this quietly burning album from Dutch composer/improvisor/writer Frans de Waard. Its sounds are sourced from two reel to reel tape machines, in order to "uncover old ghosts in the machines", and in that endeavor Modelbau succeeds. The nine tracks on Nine Times Makes Ten all share an aura of mystery, each one building upon the somewhat eerie pulses of its predecessor. It's a perfect album for time spent drifting off into abstract mental zones or cloud watching. Indeed as Disaster Amnesiac sits at the keyboard and types these words, Nine Times Makes Ten's sound are perfectly framing a gloomy desert sky that's drifting across the Sonoran sky. It's great ambient music too, in the sense that one could also play it while attending to other tasks. Again, as this post is being assembled de Waard's sounds blossom in pleasing and inspiring manners that outline a mental space conducive to the imagination's wanderings. What are the source tapes from this album? Are they original recordings made by Frans? Whatever their origin, Modelbau certainly did find a way to reveal them on these broodingly intense tracks of sonic experimentation.