KH003 UPDATE TIME!

Depending on how you look at it, we have some good and/or bad news for anyone interested in our third release, Cowabunga Babes vs. The Zoltars. There are only a little less than 50 copies of this awesome split left — they’re halfway sold out! So, if you haven’t picked up a copy yet, you can do so here. You can also find copies at Ooga Booga in Los Angeles as well as with the bands at their live shows.

Speaking of live shows, both the Cowabunga Babes and the Zoltars have several dates lined up for this fall, so if you happen to be in Austin, TX, be sure to check them out! We are especially stoked that, on September 17, Cowabunga Babes will open for legendary Japanese punk princesses Shonen Knife at Red 7. Totally rad. The Zoltars also have some exciting news — on September 16, the band will play their first ever show as a four piece at Beerland!

COWABUNGA BABES FALL DATES
September 2 @ Chain Drive, Austin TX
September 9 @ Trailer Space w/ Christmas Island, Austin TX
September 17 @ Red 7 w/ Shonen Knife, Austin TX
September 23 @ Beerland w/ Tyvek, Austin TX

THE ZOLTARS SUMMER/FALL DATES
August 28 @ KOOP (Jard Zoltar solo radio performance)
September 16 @ Beerland, Austin TX

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PIZZA! CANCELS 8/11 SHOW IN PROTEST OF BEST BUY POLITICS

Pizza! has canceled their first show in their five years of being a band due to shady political donations by Best Buy, one of the corporate sponsors of “Hide+Seek: Summer at the Bandshell.” According to the band, Best Buy made a significant campaign contribution to an anti-gay Minnesota gubernatorial candidate — totally not cool by Pizza! standards, and not cool by our standards, either.

Check out the band’s reasoning written by frontman Geoff Geis below and come support this amazing band at a more tolerant venue this summer. You can also pick up copies of their super cool cassette, Bogus Rimshots from the Fourth on our release page and at every Pizza! show this summer.

Pizza! has removed itself from the bill of performers playing the West Los Angeles Bandshell on Wednesday, August 11. This is our first cancellation in over five years as a band.

We have chosen not to perform on Wednesday as a result of Best Buy’s involvement as a sponsor of the performance. Human Rights Campaign has reported that Best Buy has donated $100,000 to MN Forward, a political action committee that is working to elect State Representative Tom Emmer to be governor of Minnesota. Representative Emmer is on record as a vehement opponent of equal rights for homosexuals, and has stated his support of at least one group that advocates violence against gays. Human Rights Campaign has asked Best Buy to compensate for their action by donating an equal or greater amount to a candidate who is supportive of civil rights, and the company has declined to do so. In an emailed response to a Best Buy shopper who expressed his dismay about the company’s donations, a representative of the company said the following:

The reality is candidates across the political spectrum have a lot of different positions on a lot of different issues – and Best Buy may not necessarily agree with all those positions – but from a jobs and economic perspective, Best Buy joined other MN businesses in supporting the objectives of MN Forward.

In other words, Best Buy’s policy in regards to political donations is to act only in its economic self-interest, even if doing so means supporting candidates who are opposed to civil rights.

We believe that the duty of our state and federal governments is to protect citizens from harm and to create policies that encourage the well-being of society. A legal denial of rights based on any arbitrary distinction runs contrary to that duty. Those who support the codification of bigotry undermine the fabric of our society, as well as the Fourteenth Amendment of our Constitution. Anti-gay public officials, moreover, send a message that hatred and intolerance are somehow reasonable viewpoints. We unequivocally oppose those with such irresponsible ideals, and we furthermore oppose those who choose to ignore their vitriol in pursuit of profit. Thus, we cannot implicitly endorse Best Buy by performing at a concert that is sponsored by the company.

We apologize to our friends and fans who were planning on attending the performance, but we trust that they will understand and respect the reasoning behind our decision.
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KILL/HURT IN THE LOS ANGELES TIMES!

In case you missed it, KILL/HURT was featured in the August 1st edition of the Los Angeles Times for a piece on the rise of cassette culture in LA. You can check it out here.

We are extremely humbled and super excited to be featured in the piece alongside two of our favorite tape labels, Burger Records in Fullerton and Not Not Fun just a hop, skip and a jump away from KH HQ in Eagle Rock. Many thanks to Pop+Hiss writer August Brown for including us in such a fantastic piece.

Our favorite parts about it, however, have to be the reader-submitted comments. Or maybe that the teaser on the LAT homepage featured a quote from Chris (see picture above.) Both are equally hilarious.

KH003 will be ready for sale on our release page very, very soon. Sign up for the email newsletter and you’ll get a first grab at Cowabunga Babes vs. The Zoltars. Woo!

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FREE PIZZA!

Keep your afternoon wide open this Sunday, July 25 and come on down to Space 1520 in Hollywood for a free slice of Pizza! (The band, not the food. Sorry to get yr hopes up.)

The kick-ass experimental pop group performs with other local bands Big Search and Summer Darling as a part of the KSCR+Origami Vinyl “Afternoon of Local Music” concert series. The show is totally 100% free, so come chill in Space 1520’s courtyard, grab a beer and catch some rad music. You do NOT want to miss Pizza!, believe us. Imagine a band that’s one part David Byrne’s quasi-autistic brain, one part danceable world pop and one part “WTF?!” Sounding good already, right? Pizza! has been a solid fixture in the underground LA music scene for several years, so if you haven’t seen them yet make sure you see them Sunday.

Better yet, we will be at the event with advance copies of Pizza!’s Kill/Hurt release, Bogus Rimshots from the Fourth before they go on sale on our website! These tapes look absolutely amazing in bright golden yellow with artwork from the band. Also available at the show will be copies of KH001 and KH003, so stop by and check ‘em out!

Can’t make it Sunday? Pizza! has a slew of shows this summer across Los Angeles. See dates below.

PIZZA! SUMMER SHOWS
July 25 @ Space 1520 w/ Summer Darling, Big Search
July 26 @ Echoplex w/ Mississippi Man+The Pity Party
August 5 @ Echo Curio w/ Kid Infinity
August 11 @ Hide and Seek w/ Evan Voytas
August 13 @ the Smell w/ Aunt Dracula+Essay
August 30 @ Echo Curio w/ Michael Nhat

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FREE SHOW, FREE BEER, TAPES 4 SALE

Pretty sure the title says it all, but a little detail never hurt, right?

Get yourself down to the very fabulous Origami Vinyl in Echo Park tomorrow night to catch a free in-store performance from KH003 artists Cowabunga Babes, who will be in Los Angeles all the way from Austin, TX. We initially caught the ‘Babez back in February at No Cancer, met up with them during SXSW and totally had to put out a tape with them. The group (who, despite their name, have two guys on board) play an infectious, raw brand of noise pop that reeks of drinking cheap beer at 11am on a Saturday after staying up until 5am drinking the night before. Rad.

They’ll play with local band Woah Hunx, who are pretty super-cool themselves; both bands are kicking off a mini West Coast tour this week, so if you can’t make it down to LA, check them out in a city (hopefully) near you.

The best part of tomorrow’s show? Free beer while it lasts.

The other best part? We will have a limited number of pre-sale copies of Cowabunga Babes vs. The Zoltars, the totally amazing split tape between the ‘Babez and fellow Austinites, the Zoltars. These tapes WILL NOT be sold online until later this week, so if you want to hear this cassette ASAP, you’ll have to show up to Origami!

COWABUNGA BABES/WOAH HUNX WEST COAST TOUR
July 21 @ Origami Vinyl
July 22 @ the Doll Hut (Anaheim) w/ Wonder Wheel
July 23 @ Fuzzplex (Oakland) w/ Rock&Roll Adventure Kids+Larry & the Angriest Generation
July 24 @ Pissed Off Pete’s (SF) w/ Apache+Wild Thing
July 25 @ the Hub (Sacramento) w/ Personal & the Pizzas
July 27 @ Duckett’s (Portland) w/ Mean Jeans
July 28 @ Mango House (Olympia, WA)
July 29 @ the Funhouse (Seattle)

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YO, SAN FRANCISCO!

A little shout-out to my hometown(area) making sure you keep the evening of July 10th totally and completely open. Why? So you can check out the artists behind KH002, of course!

Pizza! will be playing at Amnesia in the city along with fellow Angelinos Signals (featuring former members of the Mae Shi). Some San Francisco bands are on the bill, too, but everyone knows that no US “underground” music scene can hold a candle to LA right now — take that, Brooklyn! (In all seriousness, I’m sure the local bands are wonderful, so you should go awkwardly stand in the center of the venue to watch them as well.)

In other Pizza!+KILL/HURT related news, Bogus Rimshots from the Fourth is on its way to the tape printer to get nicely decorated and will then come back to us for dubbing, packaging and other fun times. Long story short, KH002 will be out sometime in mid-July and will be totally available for sale online and at whatever Pizza! shows pop up in LA after the release. We are super stoked for this tape — and you should be, too!

PIZZA! SUMMER SHOWS
July 3 @ Pehrspace w/ Moses Campbell
July 6 @ the Echo w/ Fol Chen
July 10 @ Amnesia (SF) w/ Signals, No Babies+Dad Fag
July 25 @ Space 1520 w/ Summer Darling
August 5 @ Echo Curio w/ Kid Infinity
August 11 @ Hide and Seek w/ Evan Voytas
August 13 @ the Smell w/ Aunt Dracula+Essay
August 30 @ Echo Curio w/ Michael Nhat

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CASSETTES: POWERFUL 80S TECHNOLOGY

Put that shit on yr super hip hi-fi system.

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PREVIEW: NIGHT VISION STREET MAGIC

The tapes have come, the labels are printing and our first tape is on the way! We are beyond stoked to announce KH001Night Vision Street Magic by Philadelphia musician-artist Brendan Welsh.

Featuring dark guitar jams, aerodynamic synths and some killer tambo, Night Vision Street Magic satisfies those craving heavy sludge drone rock. Like Brian Jonestown Massacre and A Place to Bury Strangers chilling at a backyard barbeque, these tracks dish out those healthy helping of low-end and distortion right over top of twangy folk jams.

We are only pressing 50 copies of this solid 6-song collection on an all-black c28 cassette, so make sure you’re signed up on our mailing list and following us on Twitter to snatch up this tape before it’s gone!

Brendan Welsh - Dreamin' Beamin'
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TAPES ARE HERE!

After a lot of checking the UPS online tracking system, our first batch of blank cassettes have finally arrived over at Kill/Hurt HQ! We think you’ll agree with us in saying that they look TOTALLY RAD. Special thanks to our distributor, Tony, over at Rainbow Tapes for putting up with our picky tape lengths.

In case you were wondering, that bright gold tape is be used for Pizza’s Bogus Rimshots from the Fourth tape, the transparent purple belongs to the Franks and the black tape is for KH001 — Brendan Welsh’s Night Vision Street Magic.

So now that we have all the materials, we’ll just be spending the next few weeks duplicating and packing and all that other fun stuff. We should have the first release out  in the next week or so, so follow us on Twitter, sign up for the mailing list or just obsessively check the site to see when Night Vision Street Magic is available for purchase.

There’s also a lot of exciting stuff in the works and a lot of amazing tapes we’re working on, but we’ll let you all take a grab at these releases first.

Posted in KILL/HURT, TAPES | 1 Comment

PUT A RAD ALL-GIRL BAND OUT ON VINYL, FEEL GOOD ABOUT YOURSELF

Seeing as how we are (soon!) going to branch out into pressing vinyl, it seems only halfway relevant that I mention an amazing project spearheaded by indie stalwarts Kill Rock Stars featured on the uber-hip fundraising website Kickstarter.

Way back in 2001, KRS released the entire discography of the totally-rad all-girl Swedish post-punk band Kleenex/LiLiPUT on 2 CDs; more recently, the label put out a CD/DVD combo package featuring live performances from the band’s heyday.

With a P4K approved score under its belt for the original 2 CD release and tons of requests from fans, KRS wants to turn the original LiLiPUT release into a 4-LP box set using Kickstarter to raise funds — but they can’t do it without your help.

Unfortunately, KRS only has 9 more days to reach their Kickstarter goal of $20,000 to make this box set a reality. Currently, the label has only raised a little over $4,000, which is uncool by any standards. I mean, far more ridiculous and amateurish junk has been fully-funded via Kickstarter, so what gives, Internet? Yes, $20k seems like a lot to throw at a vinyl release, but KRS is keeping it real by doing this DIY and not throwing themselves into severe bankruptcy. I can appreciate that. (Plus, pressing vinyl is EXPENSIVE.)

With pricing packages starting at a measly $1.00 and capping off at $1,500+, KRS will give donors a variety of incentives ranging from a single mp3 to the entire 2010 KRS catalog on vinyl. (If you’re wondering — yes, I pledged $20, but I would fund the whole thing if I could.)

And the best (well, worst) part — if KRS fails to meet the $20,000 goal, none of the donors are charged. (That also means I don’t get my goodies, but oh well.) Wouldn’t it be so much radder if they did meet the goal and more people could discover the frenetic, noise-filled goodness of one of the most influential girl bands of the punk underground? (Answer: YES.)

So head on over to Kickstarter and pledge — even a dollar helps! I want this on vinyl!

Posted in NON SEQUITUR, VINYL | 1 Comment
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    KH001: BRENDAN WELSH - Night Vision Street Magic