The Best Atomic Bitchwax post, ever

Surprised to discover that I haven't ever done a post on these dudes,
they have been around for a
while and legitimatly bring the noize......something of a stoner rock supergroup/side project, currently utilizing Monster Magnet bassist/vocalist Chris Kosnik and drummer Bob Pantella, and vocalist/guitarist Finn Ryan who was fomerly in the criminally underappreciated Core.

So, what do they sound like, for the unfamiliar? Well, maybe something like a hybrid of Monster Magnet and Core (duh) filtered through some hard psychedelia of the early 70's, along with some SERIOUS riff-rock of the late 70s, I think that would sum it pretty well.....Scott what the fuck are you TALKING about? I don't know, these guys rock out and are quite a bit more (shall we say) "experimental" than many straight-up stoner bands, they do take chances, and the results are for the most part positive.

OK, they let their imaginations run amok by titling their first effort "Atomic Bitchwax I" (there'll be more titles of this ilk to come), it's really a good one with its blend of short, smart riff rockers ("Hey Alright") and longer, trippier stuff like "The Formula".....lineup for album #1: Kosnick, guitarist Ed Mundell, and drummer Keith Ackerman.

Once again, they let the imaginations go crazy once more opting to call it "Atomic Bitchwax II", again, it's a good album of heavy stoner rock, even featuring an Atomic Rooster cover, and the by-now obligatory mix of short, dynamic riff-rockers ("Ice Pick Freek") and longer, "stonier" material ("Soild").

Next they chose to release the killer EP "Spit Blood", which features the fab "Cold Day in Hell" as
well as an unecessary cover of AC-DC's "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" which I thought sucked the FIRST time around (that's just ME, ya know).....quite a good EP though, recommended for fans, for an EP of throwaways and outtakes etc, it's A-1.

Finn Ryan replaced Mundell for the third "official" release, entitled (wait for it) "Atomic Bitchwax 3", it is a really good one, actually, with a cover of Deep Purple's "Maybe I'm a Leo" and concentrating more on the riff-rock stuff and less upon trying to be creative......

The next EP "Boxriff" is basically a full-length, featuring four new studio tracks and a complete live set, for the first time they show off their substantial live chops (we'll hear A LOT more of them later)..

Bet ya can't guess what they named thier next album? Bzzzzzz times up, it is "Atomic Bitchwax 4" beleive it or not. Pantella joined the lineup for this one, and actually, it's quite a good one as well....they continue their penchant for strange cover material ("Astronomy Domine" in this case), and a collection of excellent hard rockers such as "Revival" and "Wreck You"....it's a good one, not as good as "I", but a good one....if you guys like this stuff you'll want em all, because they have NEVER released a dog-shit album (as of yet at least).

Their next, and I suppose most ambitious effort is "The Local Fuzz", which consists of one track, some 40-plus minutes long.......this trick has been tackled by others, notably Sleep ("Dopesmoker"), but it DOES work here, 50 minutes of slamming guitar riffs, and, well, more slamming guitar riffs....

So that would be it for their studio efforts up until now, but as luck would have it, I have a buncha
boots too......five of em to be exact, covering pretty much the entire "career".......the oldest being from Youngstown Ohio (Ohio YAY!) in 2004, with some good versions of their early stuff, such as "Shitkicker" and "Hey Alright", as well as a cover of the Melvin's "Honey Bucket". Next we have a set from 2006, Hickory North Carolina, from where I have several sets from several great stoner bands, is Hickory some sort of stoner mecca?

A couple of sets from 2009, one from Freiburg, which mixes some old and new material, and from later in the year at Basel Hirscheneck with a very similar set list, as both feature versions of Pink Floyd's "Pigs". By 2011 they were still doing "Pigs" evidently, as they do on this Luzern Switzerland show, they also attempt to tackle as least PART OF "Local Fuzz" which gets pretty revved up.

These guys are pretty tight, and relatively underappreciated, I think......all of these at least have thier moments, let me kow what you think of em if you have a minute!

ATOMIC BITCHWAX-01 Stork Theme/02 Birth to the Earth/03 Hey Alright/04 Crazed Fandango/05 Hope You Die/06 Ain't Nobody Gonna Hang Me In My Home/07 Kiss the Sun/08 Gettin' Old/09 Last of the V8 Interceptors/10 Shitkicker/11 The Fomula

ATOMIC BITCHWAX II-01 Ice Pick Freak/02 Forty-Five/03 Play the Game/04 Smokescreen/05 Cast Aside Your Masks/06 The Cloning Chamber/07 Marching On the Skulls of the Dead/08 Dishing a Heavy Dose of Tough Love/09 Solid

ATOMIC BITCHWAX III-01 The Destroyer/02 You Oughta Know/03 You Can't Win/04 Dark
Chi/05 Maybe I'm a Leo/06 Force Field/07 Going Guido/08 The Passenger/09 If I Had a Gun/10 Half as Much

SPITBLOOD-01 Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheep/02 Liquor Queen/03 Get Your Gear/04 Cold Day In Hell/05 Spit Blood/06 Black Trans/07 U Want I Should

ATOMIC BITCHWAX IV-01 Pawn Shop/02 Middle Man/03 Daisy Chain/04 Giant/05 Revival/06 Astronomy Domine/07 Don't Do It/08 Sometime Wednesday/09 Super Computer/10 Run/11 Wreck You

BOXRIFF-01 STD/02 So Come On/03 Turn Me /04 Kiss The Sun/05 Intro/06 Force Field/07 Hey Alright/08 Kiss the Sun/09 Stork Theme/10 The Cloning Chamber/11 The Destroyer/12 Maybe I'm a Leo/13 Gettin Old/14 Ice Pick Freak/15 Forty Five/16 Birth To The Earth/17 Shit Kicker

THE LOCAL FUZZ-01 The Local Fuzz

YOUNGSTOWN OHIO 9/5/04-01 Liquor Queen/02 Hey Alright/03 Dark Chi/04 Unknown/05 Cast Aside Your Masks/06 Going Guido/07 Honey Bucket/08 Shitkicker/09 Birth to the Earth

HICKORY NC 12/10/06-01 Tuning/02 Ice Pick Freak/03 Tuning/04 STD/05 Tuning/06 The
Destroyer/07 Tuning/08 Maybe I'm a Leo/09 Tuning/10 So Come On/11 Long Break/Tuning/12 Gettin' Old/13 Astronomy Domine/14 Stork Theme/15 The Monolith Problem/16 Force Field/17 Banter/18 Hey Alright/19 Shit Kicker/20 Birth to the Earth

FREIBURG 4/21/09-01 Stork Theme/02 Shitkicker/03 So Come On/04 Destroyer/05 Kiss the Sun/06 Giant/07 Revival/08 Maybe I'm a Leo/09 Super Computer/10 Hope You Die/11 Gettin' Old/12 Wreck You/13 Encore Break/14 Pigs (Ryan Solo)/15 Pigs (Three Different Ones)/16 Force Field

BASEL HIRSCHENECK-01 "Where Is Bob?"/02 Stork Theme/03 Shit Kicker/04 So Come On/05 The Tuning-Up Song/06 The Destroyer/07 Kiss the Sun/08 Giant/09 Revival/10 Hope You Die/Gettin Old/11 A Guy From the audience climbs on stage/12 Super Computer/13 Wreck You/Ain't Nobody Gonna Hang me In My Home/14 Encore Break/15 Pigs/16 Force Field

LURZEN SWITZERLAND 4/21/11-01 "Missin' Finn"/02 Intro Jam/03 Stork Theme/04 Shit Kicker/05 So Come On/06 The Destroyer/07 Chris Talking/08 Giant/09 Kiss the Sun/10 Hope You Die/11 Chris Talking/12 Local Fuzz (portion)/13 Pigs On the Wing/14 Pigs (Three Different Ones)/15 Encore Break/16 Gettin Old

Quite a bit o work for the Big Guy, hope I've introduced an unfamiliar band that you'll like to some of ya.......requests, and comments, and pictures of your neighbor's 19 year old daughter, are always appreciated!

May not get all these many links up today (I will try) because I am going to see the (sure to be) fab "Hunger Games: Catching Fire".....I thought the first film was awesome, thought the books were great (of the books, "Catching Fire" was my fave)....I will never understand people's thinking,ever, it' hard to imagine people flocking to see this (the certainly ARE), and actually grasping the subtle messages.....my favorite book ever was Orwell's brilliant "1984", and
this series is an incredible updating of those very deep, layered themes......I won't go into a whole thing about it right now, but it seems to me that people rarely go to see "good" movies anymore, they are in general so blank-brained they prefer to see the recent spate of films which are, simply put, about 2 hours of explosions.........often people can surprise me, pleasantly, with their intellect. It was great, and surpising, that the mainstream actually LIKED Talking Heads, and Seinfeld, and "The Hunger Games",all of which at fist glance would seem to be FAR over the heads of most of them....still not convinced they all "get it", but I give them huge points for at least making the attempt.


Having some trouble with the Youngstown set, may or may not be able to get it uploaded but GOD ONLY KNOWS I AM TRYING, to the very best of my diminished ability, I AM TRYING!