A musical side project started in 1993 in Riverside, California. Recordings made under the monikers Diskovepher, Dirt Auction, Not A Band, Dumbell Tower, but mainly Jackass Penguins. CEO and founder of Oyitt Records.
Checked out my online music distribution account today. It looks like I made enough last year to hit Del Taco.
My first real new follower in like forever! Thanks for following me!
I’m just so tired of seeing my favorite artists and musicians die way too young while our shithole president continues being a dick and shitting on our country.
This week, Doomed & Stoned is giving you a taste of the highly anticipated return LP, ‘Maintain Radio Silence’ (2018), by MR. PLOW. You may have encountered Mr. Plow on our recent compilation, ‘Doomed & Stoned in Texas’ (2017), an ongoing fundraiser for the Houston Food Bank in aid of Hurricane Harvey victims. The new album is the band’s first in more than a decade, following the widely heralded ‘Asteroid 25399’ (2006).
Maintain Radio Silence is an thrilling collection of riffs and choruses that reinforces all the things that makes the band so beloved among its fan base. Take “Johnny Gentle,” for instance, the song we debut today. Fair warning: like the other songs you’ll encounter on the new record, it’s an addictive one – whether we’re talking about the opening rumble of the bass, the lure of the siren riff, or that catchy chorus I’ve been singing under my breath all day (“Come on, Gentle Johnny save us”). This is why we’ve missed you, Mr. Plow, and why we’re so excited that you’re back.
The Houston outfit got together more than 20 years ago in the sunny year of ’97, their bio tells us, “when Kyuss and Fu Manchu were blowing out speakers in car systems across the land.” It was an era of evolution in heavy music, when more and more bands were returning to the worship of the riff and “the term stoner rock was joining the lexicon for music writers who needed a category” to describe a genre “that was tuned down and turned up.”
The band were “influenced heavily by the times,” their bio tells us, “but sought a different direction lyrically” opting for “pop-culture references and hooky riffs” over “skulls and satanic imagery.” It’s “way more about good times” they tell us. In this way, Mr. Plow aims “to be that would be the soundtrack for summer trips to the beach or skate park.” That I can definitely get behind!
If their last album Asteroid 24399 was inspired by American author Kurt Vonnegut (or, to be more precise, an asteroid named after him), it will come as no surprise that Maintain Radio Silence is full of literary and cultural callbacks. For instance, “Johnny Gentle” hints at David Foster Wallace’s ’96 novel, Infinite Jest. Under the direction of fictional President Johnny Gentle, a movement is under foot to tidy up the mess of hazardous waste that was once the Northeastern United States. In the book, the U.S. joins with Canada and Mexico to form a superstate called the Organization of North American Nations. “Lock the door, shut the whole world out,” the band sings with more than a smidgen of irony. If you love stuff like that, you’ll find Maintain Radio Silence stimulating to mind and body alike.
There’s an excellent interview our friend Steve Howe did over at Outlaws of the Sun that I’d recommend to you if you’d like to catch up with what the band’s been up to between the two albums.
Maintain Radio Silence was mastered by Ty Tabor of Kings X, with album art by Kyler Sharp. It releases January 26th and can be pre-ordered here.
Jackass Penguins 