akimbo

rainy days always make superb shower days. rainy days always make superb sipping days. rainy days always make superb slouching days.

i feel clear-headed and cleansed. this does not mean, however, that i am not in the process of baking, steeping, and jamming. rejuvenation does not precipitate a change of habits. it just means i feel refreshed, and thus, resume my daily practices with zest and appreciation anew.

baking: creeping orange.

steeping: arabian mountain spring jasmine blossoms complimenting chinese green tea leaves.

jamming: akimbo.

on an unrelated yet critical point i'd like to mention that the rain has just graduated to a veritable downpour and a hippie-type girl who happened to be passing just across the street lifted her arms and face to the sky as if to acceptingly embrace the helplessness of her situation. i'm going to go ahead and guess she was smiling.

good. good for her. onward. in the time it took me to write what i have so far an entire akimbo album has played through. that album is 2004's "city of the stars"--third LP by the seattle natives. that album is pretty damn good--the third of five pretty damn good LPs by akimbo. "harshing your mellow" in 2001; "elephantine" in 2003; "city of the stars" being quick work's epitome in 2004; a fourth--"forging steel and laying stone"--in 2006; and "navigating the bronze" in 2007. busy little buggers. and whatever should i discover but that akimbo has written, recorded, mixed, mastered, and planned on releasing a sixth full-length entitled "jersey shores." the album was intended for a september 23 drop, but as these things go, it will not be available in stores until october 30. the band is going to be doing quite a bit of road-doggin' with crates of "jersey shores" in a van though (e.g. october tour), so be sure to investigate the situation as well as go to the show (chicago, october 29 @ empty bottle w/sweet cobra & millions) and investigate the new album. you know. investigate. as in buy. you can probably get such information with less hassle and far fewer sassy words, but i thought i'd consolidate yr chores and provide the usual, the expected: the basics. one-stop shop is a phrase i'd advocate if you were looking for one.

i will not outline all of their albums. it's tedious. plus, akimbo seem to have a knack for relative consistency of style and sound. it's full. it's hard. it's heavy. it's rock. it's...shit, well...rock. sometimes bluesy hardcore feel akin to bison. sometimes thrashy and more than sometimes on "harshing your mellow." pretty massive riffage to be found all over. kind of remind me of young widows. sometimes i even feel like i stepped on a jagged, jangly jesus lizard somewhere in the heap. sometimes i feel the dark snare of an hot snakes low and evil riff ringing out. the vocals are certainly this man's unadulterated yells, by the way. no bullshit coating his vocal cords. just like takaru's vocalist (technique not sound). shredding esophagal skin. pure pipes. just throat. he's just doing a bunch of yelling. "wow, he sounds angry." damn yea. it's what i'd call fucking rock.

but. but. akimbo is akimbo. they write like akimbo. they play like akimbo. rock refreshed, clear-headed and cleansed is still rock. but. zest and appreciation anew is what akimbo provides. it's different. it's fucking akimbo.

start wherever you'd like. fuck chronology, dog. or not, you know. go chronologically. whichever. whatever. but listen to it here. or elsewhere. wherever. you know, whoever. akimbo.

below will be the fruits of others' labor--artwork that i often use as a way of defining and describing myself. yea, you do it too, you asshole. i see you. and i then guess you are someone with whom i may get along swimmingly. so yea. whenever.

akimbo will be fully represented. a song from each of akimbo's first five LPs is down yonder. furthermore, a bison song, a young widows song, a jesus lizard song, a song by hot snakes, and a takaru song will all be chilling together below. i think i'll throw a sweet cobra song on for the hell o' it/because they're playing with akimbo in chicago/due to mammoth riffage during the last two minutes of the track i'm posting. milk that money riff. always milk that riff you brought in to practice. the one that had all yr bandmates nodding their heads and mouthing the word "oooooooh" with their eyes closed when you busted it out. always milk that money.

and one last comment, a laudatory postscript--thanks for keepin' it real, akimbo. yr shit's just real. no other way to put it. i find no inklings of disingenuous efforts nor do i sense a recycled sound. how could i summarize? you dudes are original? you seem like scummy punk dudes who would never pass on smoking thai stick, occupying various administration buildings, breaking into the ROTC, or bowling? and i'm all about that? i suppose. but there's something missing in that.

language proves to be a crippled vessel indeed, yr dudeness.

i guess there's only one way to put it, akimbo. yr shit's real.

tune down, smoke up, and go hug a rainy day.