Subterranean Jungle: Blood Feeder, Deer Tick, and more holi-daze mayhem!

The holi-daze mayhem is kicking into swing! With that in mind, I figured I’d review a couple of fall releases that have been kicking around inside my speakers for the music lover on your shopping list as well as some upcoming shows that don’t blow.

Blood Feeder – Self-titled (75OrLessRecords)

Dr. Chris Evil of Chris Evil & The Taints, Blood Moons, and Sick Pills has a new band called Blood Feeder. They dropped their debut album, which is a collection of punk, hardcore, and heavy metal nuggets. My favorite tune on the record is “Death of Me,” which has a marching rhythm reminiscent of Green Day’s “Holiday.” It is also Omicron level catchy. “Early Grave” is metal in the vein of Danzig’s early solo stuff. “Jucket Metal Superstar” reminds me more of bands like Suicidal Tendencies and later-day Body Count. “Living in Darkness” is a full throttle punk air raid with hooks and a great lead guitar. This is a strong debut and I look forward to catching them loud and live! 

Deer Tick – Divine Providence 11th Anniversary Edition

Divine Providence was recorded locally at Machines With Magnets in Pawtucket. At times during recording, members of Deer Tick would stop by and I had the opportunity to hear some of the songs as they were progressing. One such song was “Divine Providence,” which is the rare title track to not make the album, and is (probably) the only black metal song Deer Tick wrote.  The fourth Deer Tick album jumped out of the speakers with an opening trio of stompers in “The Bump,” “Funny Word,” and “Let’s All Go to the Bar.” The rest of Divine Providence was more mellow, even including a ballad that the Twilight movie franchise wanted. I’m going to focus on the new bonus material released for the first time in the 11th Anniversary Edition.

The Tim EP (which came out around the time of Divine Providence) had some great jams like “Born at Zero” and “She’s Not Spanish,” which are also included with this release. The original Tim cover had the band members faces photoshopped over The Replacements from their Let It Be album. Speaking of The Replacements, there are two versions of the Paul Westerberg penned “Mr. Cigarette,” which appeared on the original CD version of Divine Providence as a hidden bonus track, about 20 minutes after the previous song ended. Thankfully it is much easier to cue on this edition. Other unearthed treasures from the sessions include the tropical pop of “Cake and Eggs,” an early version of “Hope is Big,” and “Bury Deep.” The latter has been performed many times over the years, but I think this is the first time it has ever been released.  

Besides that, there are a bunch of demos and different versions of songs that did make the album with my favorite being the demo for “Main Street.”

Coming Attractions

Orbit (solo)

Orbit had an alternative radio hit in the late 90’s with “Medicine (Baby Come Back)” featuring the rare tasteful use of a zamboni in its music video. Orbit split up in the early 2000s aside from playing some reunions here and there. Pre-pandemic singer/guitarist Jeff Robbins had been playing and recording with his new band 123 Astronaut, who are well worth checking out. Robbins has come up with a way to bring Orbit sort-of back by beaming up other members via a projector from across the galaxy powered by an app he developed. Only Robbins will be performing in person, but the other musicians will be there via projector. I haven’t seen Robbins do this type of show yet but I am intrigued for a night of sci-fi rock ‘n’ roll. Think of the News Café as the Starship Enterprise, but with a lot less gear to move at the end of the night.

Orbit (solo) Colebert, and I’m Not Crying, You’re Crying rock the News Cafe in Pawtucket on December 15th.  

Grinchfest 5.0

The annual Grinchfest is always a hoot as local musicians play a bunch of Christmas songs and mix in some of their own chestnuts. I’d go see the show just for bands like David Tessier’s All-Star Christmas Stars and Jets Can’t Land but when you throw in the other bands, it is truly a no brainer.

Grinchfest 5.0 featuring performances by Annalise Ford, Jets Can’t Land, Alex Laverde, Karma Rocket, and David Tessier’s All-Star Christmas Stars will go down at Askew in Providence on December 17th.  

Punk X-MAS

We all know that Santa Claus has a Black Flag tattoo and a pierced nipple, so it’s only appropriate we celebrate his arrival with a banger punk rock show. I like the idea of putting The Pourmen and The Paraplegics together because they have decidedly different spins on punk. The Pourmen have a Irish pub-punk slant while The Paraplegics sort of go down the hardcore rabbit hole. The Paraplegics have a new album out, Ramp It Up, that you should pick up at the show!

Punk XMAS featuring performances by Gnarnia, The Pourmen, The Paraplegics, D.O.P. and more goes down at Alchemy on December 22nd.

Email music news to mclarkin33@gmail.com.