ON THE ROAD WITH SAINT VITUS: GRIM KIM’S TOUR BUS PLAYLIST
I’ve been out on tour with the mighty Saint Vitus since mid-September, slinging merch and sneaking gulps of Wino’s whiskey from Arkansas to Idaho as the West Coast looms ever closer. While free time is always scarce on this kind of adventure, I’ve still had a few moments to check out new tunes and zone out to some old chestnuts.
Here’s what’s been blasting out of the PA and through my headphones recently. The boys have been playing for an hour and a half each night, and longer if they’re really feeling it, so there’s a lot of ground being covered.
SAINT VITUS
“The Troll,” Mournful Cries (SST, 1988)
The sold-out show at Brooklyn’s Saint Vitus bar was a tour highlight, and this great quality video gives you a good idea of what it was like to be there (minus the feeling of pressing up against a slew of hairy beardos whilst gripping a sweating beer in your sweatier paw).
WEEDEATER
“Gimme Back My Bullets,” God Luck and Good Speed (Southern Lord, 2007)
Forty minutes of Weedeater’s syrupy, sludgy, bonged-out doom a night is capped off by this low-slung, ultraheavy rendition of one of Skynyrd’s best tunes.
SOURVEIN
“Dirty South,” Salvation (Game Two Records, 2000)
Cape Fear’s ugliest kick off the proceedings each night, setting the tone and tuning down low. This is my favorite song of theirs, and the way they pull the plug at the end of their half hour.
DERKETA
“Goddess of Death,” In Death We Meet (self-released, 2012)
I’m a massive Derketa fan, and at our Pittsburgh gig, I had the chance to nerd out and have a few drinks with the badass ladies of this oppressively heavy death/doom behemoth. Their new record is one of the year’s best – essential!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQmtali9avc
SOLITUDE AETURNUS
“Seeds of the Desolate,” Beyond the Crimson Horizon (Roadrunner, 1992)
Our tour manager, John, is an original member of these titans of classic American doom metal (and one of the more rabid black metal fans I’ve ever met – we first bonded over Archgoat!). I’ve been relentlessly badgering him for information about their new album since he let that particular cat out of the bag, and with two weeks to go, am certain I’ll wear him down eventually.
DOWN
“New Orleans is a Dying Whore,” II: A Bustle in Your Hedgerow (Elektra ,2002)
The NYC show with Down, haarp, and Warbeast was as hectic and insanity-filled as one would expect; I was camped out behind my merch fortress all night, but having toured with Down before, I know full well what those boys can do to a stage. Still need to give their new EP a good listen, but what they played from it that night sounded mad decent.
DEADBIRD
“Eclipse of the Rye,” The Head and The Heart (Codebreaker, 2005)
We scooped up Reid, Vitus’ roadie/tech extraordinaire, at our Little Rock gig with YOB and Norska, and he’s been running the show ever since. If only his band Deadbird would hit the road…
FORGOTTEN TOMB
“Deprived,” …And Don’t Deliver Us From Evil… (Agonia, 2012)
Can’t stop listening to this! It sort of reminds me of Faustcoven, but with a pronounced Shining influence. Their new record fucking rules.
MINOR THREAT
“Screaming At A Wall,” Complete Discography (Dischord, 1989)
Ian MacKaye came out to the DC show, and I was a gigantic awkward fangirl when I met him. No fucks given – Minor Threat have always been one of my favorite bands, and, come on, it’s fucking IAN MACKAYE. Listening to him reminisce about the old days with Chandler and Wino was something else.
SPEEDWOLF
“Denver 666,” Ride with Death (Hells Headbangers, 2011)
Denver is a rad city, and Speedwolf are the raddest thing to come out of it in aeons. Special thanks to their drummer Richie Tice for helping us lug around a zillion pounds of gear that night!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnZqZfKQxmo
MARE COGNITUM
“Pyre of Ascendance,” An Exraconscious Lucidity (Milam Records, 2012)
This just appeared in my inbox, and I’ve been hooked on it ever since. Mare Cognitum’s last release, ‘The Sea Which Has Become Known’ (2011) was a study in mesmerizing Dawn-meets-Krallice progressive black metal riffs, harsher than expected vocals, crystalline melodies and nightmarish atmosphere; its successor is even better.
DRAGGED INTO SUNLIGHT
“Widowmaker, Preview 1,” Widowmaker (Prosthetic, 2012)
Widowmaker is fucking amazing, and the next record will be even better. This is a very different beast than 2009’s ‘Hatred for Mankind,’ but its quiet, almost mournful chords and gloomy interludes are the perfect accompaniment to ending another long day alone in the relative quiet of a top bunk, with curtains drawn and Skype booting up to half-connect you with someone you’re missing.
See you somewhere along the highway.
