Reflex Blue/Casa Negro "Live in Bayshore" (unreleased live recording/2001)

It has been awhile since I made a post but to say I have been busy is an understatement. I intended to upload the the Knox Overstreet/Radio Raheem 7 inch but my phone/camera is out of battery life after foolishly leaving uncharged for the last four days where I was away from home. So in keeping things in the family so to speak today's post is the second offering from former Casa Negro guitarist Greg Gerardi's vaults. It is a show from the old Bayshore house featuring Casa Negro and one song from a project called from Reflex Blue which was Jon Gruber from Casa Negro on drums and Jammer of "Jammer Failed" fame on guitar. I am not sure of Reflex Blue ever did anything else or recorded anything so this may very well be the only documentation of the project. And in the case of Casa Negro since they never formally recorded or released anything I am excited that Greg has been sharing these live recordings because they serve as the only documents of a really awesome band that for whatever reason never buckled down to record anything formally. In any event download the Live in Bayshore recording here at the Bandcamp page Greg created.

Casa Negro/Knox Overstreet/TheLord Humongous "Live at the Mod Center" (unreleased live recording/2000)

Through doing this Here On This Island I have certainly reconnected with a lot of people whom I hadn't seen in many years. Friends or just acquaintances whom I shared in experiencing all of this great music growing up. And I have to say it has been a good feeling to know that it was just me who felt this way about playing music, and being a part of something creative and substantial  in regards to the Long Island music scene. At times I have thought maybe the joy culled from those experiences so far removed is just nostalgia or my head just playing tricks on me but clearly in trading words with these folks I speak of it is apparent that I wasn't alone in feeling the profoundness of these experiences in the Long Island music scene. One such person who got in touch with me is Greg Gerardi who played guitar in Casa Negro (originally called Music- who appeared on The Hope Machine comp). He has been residing in San Diego for awhile now had been in touch with me intermittently over the years sharing with me whatever new music he was doing. I appreciated that. In fact I still spin The Challenger Deep cd he sent. Anyhow, he saw a post I made about one of the shows at the North Shore Public Library and how shows with Knox Overstreet, Casa Negro, and Lord Humongous were some of my favorite shows to play when Yes Sensei was starting out. Low and behold Mr. Gerardi has a stack of live shows that he recorded back in the day that he asked if I'd be interested in hosting on Here On This Island and considering A) I love the bands involved and B) some of the bands never properly recorded so live recordings would help at least provide a sort of aural documentation so I said absolutely.

This is a bit different from usual posts since I don't actually own the material but I feel it is just more important to properly archive this stuff. You can download the files from a Bandcamp page that Greg uploaded. He and Mario Quintero mastered this live set at Black Box Studios in San Diego, CA.

Even though I have written about all three bands before here is a brief run down of what the bands are like. Casa Negro played loud, bombastic post punk that is a lot like Shellac, Karp and GodheadSilo. Knox Overstreet were an awesome indie/emo band that meshed together the influences of Garden Variety,Superchunk, Afghan Whigs, the Replacements, Big Star, etc to create truly great rock music. The Lord Humongous played screamy hardcore that  was a blend of all the best elements of Scapegrace, The Last Crime, Rorschach, "My War" era Black Flag, and Slint.

Here is the link to the Bandcamp page. Thanks to Greg for sharing this.

So you had shows in a library???

Yes. We did. From December 1999 till early 2001 I somehow was able to book a series of monthly shows in the basement of the North Shore Public Library. It was pretty awesome while it lasted. How it went down was that Noah from Bo Coach introduced me to Peter Carrol-a super rad guy who worked for the library and wanted to do  something to bring more teenagers in the library. Using the shows through the North Shore Youth Council program as an example we touched base and just like that like clockwork I started booking shows there. We kicked off the first show with a show featuring Space Robot Scientists, Bo Coach and my old band Pale Marble Movie. Things went really, really well. The staff was very supportive. Kids came out in droves and the kicker was if kids weren't watching the show they were upstairs reading. It was a fun a time and lots of bands that couldn't get shows elsewhere were getting an opportunity to play. At some point the fun stopped because Peter Carrol stepped down from his position and retired and naturally the people taking over weren't as hip as he was. It was a quick, predictable bureaucratic decision that was handed down and was definitely a bummer to myself and  a lot of folks. Venues closing or stopping shows is par for the course in DIY but in hindsight I do have to say I don't think anyone really understood how much Peter Carrol and the supportive employees of the shows stuck their neck out for the program as they were certainly getting flack from the board, and the usual cast of old farts who complain about everything.  I had somewhat of a grasp on that so I was as diplomatic as possible in organizing with him but like I said I don't think I full realized how much heat he was under.

Here is a flier for one of my favorite shows at the library that included some of my favorite Long Island bands. This show was a birthday show for Knox Overstreet bassist Own Antku and had a fifth band on the bill who weren't on the flier, With Every Idle Hour. I have raved about Knox Overstreet a few times already in this blog and will continue to do so as I'll be ripping their 7 inches very soon but let me talk about some of the other bands.

Music who later went on to be known as Casa Negro were a three piece noisy post punk band that was a lot like Shellac, GodheadSilo, or Big Business. They were a great band that played out for a short period of time but if my memory serves me correct they only ever had one release under the name Music and that was the track "Not In The Fire" from The Hope Machine compilation which I have attached below. I am pretty sure that there was a Casa Negro demo or recording that was passed around friends. If not that would be a shame. I'll have to ask around.

Lord Humongous is band that has been around for quite awhile. I first came across them at some show at the Roadhouse Pub back in 1998 or thereabouts. And while they don't play shows anymore I recently spoke with guitarist Ned Overton who says they still rehearse and write. They play my kind of hardcore-noisy, screamy and a bit more expansive then the usual one-two punch type hardcore fare. They are a cross between The Last Crime and Scapegrace mixed post punk stuff like Rodan, June of 44 and New Plastic Ideas era Unwound. Chiming, discordant guitars with driving rhythms and frantic screams. For the longest time all they had recorded was a track for the Appropriate Response as well as an unreleased demo which was incredible and I am not sure why was never released. I need to find my copy of those tunes and rip em. Then they contributed the track "Desmond Tutu" for The Hope Machine which I have attached below as well and that wrapped up the era of the band with Steve McCarthy on vocals. He was replaced by John Gruber former bassist of Music/Casa Negro but they never recorded anything with him. Matt Roren of Microwave Orphans, The Reprecussions, etc became their most recent vocalist but after some shows and recording a EP for Example Such Cloth Hammer Engine Records was no longer involved with the project. A great band that writes great songs yet most people on Long Island have never heard them and most likely will never. An absolute crime. I definitely feel fortunate for the experience of getting to hear their music over the years.

Download MUSIC "Not in the Fire"

Download LORD HUMONGOUS "Desmond Tutu"