The Nerve Agents "Kill Your Idols/ Nerve Agents Split EP"

Here's an out of print gem from my old band, The Nerve Agents, that I'm making available for free download now. This was the last recording I did with the band.

The cover of The Nerve Agents side of the split.

This split EP was the result of a friendship we gained with Kill Your Idols after doing a short tour on the East Coast with them in the Summer of 1999. The idea was for each band to do two original songs and one cover song each. Kill Your Idols covered "Goodbye to You" by Scandal and we covered "Suffragette City" by David Bowie. For obvious reasons I can't post the Kill Your Idols side for download, but their side is fantastic! As a matter of fact, all their stuff is great and I recommend it highly!

Insert

Listen to "Planet Frankenstein"

Download The Nerve Agents side of the split

The Nerve Agents in Falls Church, VA 1999

GOODFELLAS "E.B.S.R."

Here's an out-of-print recording from one of my old bands for you to download. This time its GOODFELLAS, one of the lesser known groups I was part of. We hailed from Oakland, CA from about 1995- 1998. During the lifetime of the band, we recorded one full length LP and one 7" EP. Personally, I don't mind if the LP is lost to time and remains hidden, but I'm still pretty happy with the "E.B.S.R." EP we did. Its really when the band was coming into a sound and direction that I preferred. Friends of ours in other bands, such as Screw 32 and A.F.I., were calling their style of punk rock E.B.H.C. for East Bay Hard Core. So, being the cheeky skate punks that we were, we decided to call our style of punk rock E.B.S.R. for East Bay Skate Rock.


The first lineup for GOODFELLAS was Shawn Chatelain on guitar, Will Thompson on bass, Tom Landon on guitar, Jude Ramirez on drums, and I did vocals. By the time we recorded "E.B.S.R.", Brian Hood had replaced Tom on guitar. Soon after that recording, Will left the band and I played bass as well as did vocals for the remainder of the band's existence.


Although, this wasn't one of the more successful bands I was in, I miss this time incredibly as well as all the guys in the band. Unfortunately, I've lost contact with a couple of them and I only get to see the others on very rare occasions.

Enough rambling. Here's the GOODFELLAS "E.B.S.R." EP...

 

Click here to listen to "TOMBSTONE DISASTER"

Click here to download GOODFELLAS "E.B.S.R."

BIG RIG "Expansive Heart + Demo"

Excerpt taken from the Lookout Records catalog:

"Originally released in 1994, this EP was recorded by a short-lived San Francisco bay are supergroup of sorts that featured vocalist Jesse Michaels’ (Common Rider, Classics Of Love) return to music after the seminal punk/ska band Operation Ivy broke up in 1989. Big Rig also included members of Screw 32 and Pitch Black. These four songs are unique melodic punk with Jesse’s trademark vocal style. This record has become a sought-after classic because of its memorable music, emotional power and passionate lyrics. Original packaging artwork by Jesse Michaels."

Purchase this release at Amazon.com
Purchase this release as a digital download

BIG RIG wasn't around for long. We only recorded one 7"/CD EP and a demo. The band started with me on guitar and two friends from high school, Brandon Riggen on drums and Doug Sangalang on guitar. We soon got Jeremy Goody, who would later play keyboard for Pitch Black, on bass and Jesse Michaels on vocals. In 1994, Lookout Records put out the "Expansive Heart" EP:

Track List:
1. Expansive Heart
2.Will Alone
3. New Fist
4. Persistance

Liner notes in the insert of the vinyl release of "Expansive Heart" say, "BIG RIG was a short term musical project. We played for a couple of months this year (1993) and then went onto other things. We decided to put out this record simply because we developed a liking for some of our songs and thought it would suck if nobody heard them."

Before we had decided to make it a "short term musical project" we recorded a demo in 1993:
On the demo are different versions for three of the songs that would wind up on "Expansive Heart" and three songs that have never been released before now.

Track List:
1. Escape From The Freezing Ice Hut
2. Our Secret Hours
3. Mr. Down and Out
4. Will Alone
5. Expansive Heart
6. New Fist

Click below to download the demo. The last track I've included in this download is a work in progress that never got finished. Its added here for posterity. The sound quality for the work in progress and the demo version of "New Fist" has some crackle, but they were transferred from an old cassette tape.

Click to download the BIG RIG "Demo"