signing off.

blamers are breaking up. thanks to everyone who came out and supported us over the last few years. much love to all.

final show info:

dark room

2210 w. chicago ave.

doors 8pm

cover $6

21+

Pancho's Tonight

when was the last time you saw a great american band in a mexican restaurant? Come down and catch Blamers at Pancho's tonight 9PM. 2200 n. california ave. it's our live in tijuana reenactment ceremony. well be leaving our equipment in the alley after the show for anyone who wants it.

Muthers'appear - The Mother Superior Tapes

New Blamers side project.

Recorded in just under three hours live to 4-track cassette.

Say hello to the massive punk rock that was huge.

Muthers'appear

The Mother Superior Tapes

1. Fuck My Face

2. Sex Junk

3. Stealing Feels So Good!

4. The Classical(Pavement Cover)

5. Who Knew?(demo)

6. Who Knew?

http://www.mediafire.com/?lvddmptp6sqjl7b

On the subject of bounty hunters, and how they acheive redemption

Galactopus in Space:

Created by master geneticists, under Kronblarg the Odoriferank's terrible oppression, Galactopus was raised by Kronblarg himself and, when he was old enough, appointed chief bounty hunter of the infamous Pronscion Sector. For many years, this octopus of space traversed the deep reaches of the cosmos, performing Kronblarg the Odoriferank's bidding with unquestioning loyalty. Known for his cunning and bravery, he is one of the most feared beings in the galaxy.

Galactopus had always known something was missing from his life. True, he was never denied anything, for to do so would mean death for the unfortunate who refused him. But, he was ever alone, the sole creation of a genetic experiment never repeated, a Frankenstein of space... That is, until he came to Earth and found the octopi who live in our oceans. Soon, our planet became home to Galactopus too...


Here we see Galactopus after his life-changing visit to the planet Earth, on his way to defeat Kronblarg the Odoriferank, his own father. Over the years, the cold of space drained from his soul and he realized the incredible pain and cruelty he had inflicted on others. He was happy on Earth, but the weight of his misdeeds weighed heavily on his heart. He knows that confronting Kronblarg the Odoriferank could mean death, but he must pay for his cruelty, with his own life if need be...

On the subject of sea creatures, and how to survive in a desert.

The Giant Squids of the Mojave:

These twin architeuthii were once the most powerful beings in the ocean. Somehow born with intellects unmatched in our solar system, they also possess the power of invincibility - as long as they are in physical contact with eachother. The bond between twins is strong, and none stronger than with these two. When they are touching, nothing in the universe can harm them.


Here we see them trapped in the Mojave Desert, a predicament they found themselves in after being out-witted by the space tyrant Kronblarg the Odoriferank. As ocean creatures, the heat and dryness should mercilessly desiccate their fragile bodies. But, as long as their tentacles touch, there is still hope...

On the subject of commuting, and how you can't always trust your friends.

Wattson Goes To Work:

Mr. Wattson was just like everyone else in the land of Bulbaria. Every day he'd wake up, put on a suit and tie, screw his head on tight, then he'd check the weather, grab a quick bowl of frosted copper wires and electron pops, strap himself to a balloon and head to work. It wasn't an exciting life, but Wattson didn't know that at the time. He was just a regular Bulbarian, with a regular 9 to 5 and little to regret or look forward to.

Here we see Wattson on his commute. He is late, as usual... another tick against him on his boss's growing list of grievances. But, he doesn't let that bother him. This is always the best part of his day, when the full glory of Shell City is laid out before him, and he's not going to let the vicissitudes of his mundane life ruin it. Unfortunately, (or fortunately, whichever way you look at it) things are about to change big time!

Wattson Meets the Cyclops:

Cyclops are fairly common in Bulbaria, though rarely do they actually interact with the general population. As they see mainly in 7th dimension, full of neutrino ribbons and sparks of time-future, it's not easy for them to relate to others. On the rare instance that they do approach strangers, it's usually because they're hungry. As you can see, times have been tough for the Cyclops - meals have been hard to find on the only road through Darkfang Forest.

Here we see Wattson many days after his balloon popped while commuting to work over the Great Bulbarian Desert. It has been a few hours since he reached Darkfang Forest. Suddenly, a massive hand, big enough to grind him into dust, reaches out for him. Behind it, an emaciated, one-eyed giant kneels and eyes him smilingly. For a moment, Wattson thinks the Cyclops is going to gobble him up. But, as the one-eyed giant has only just finished off a caravan of gypsies (the first meal he'd had for weeks) he only wants to make friends. Wattson and the Cyclops soon become pals, but, eventually, our hero realizes it's time to move on - his cyclopean friend begins to eye him hungrily after a few days, and Wattson sees that their friendship could never survive his being eaten...

Wattson Tries Out His Giant Shoes:

When we last saw Wattson, he was average-sized. After spending a few days in Darkfang Forest, accompanying the Cyclops on day hikes and spending evenings by a roaring bonfire, Wattson decides, for his own safety, it is time to move on. However, before he leaves, his one-eyed friend teaches him a spell that all cycloptics learn on their seventh birthday (as everyone knows, the cyclops of Bulbaria are born quite normal-sized, and achieve their great height through the use of magic).


Here we see Wattson returning to Shell City after employing the Cycloptic's Double Vedic Growing Spell. As you can see, he is much larger than he should be.

Fun Times!

Guess what everybody! If you're gay and a conservative there's now a place for you in the vacuous ether of the American right. We now have an initiative called GOProud whose mission is to "[represent] gay conservatives and their allies" through the traditional right-wing knuckle-dragging hubris of "free markets and a confident foreign policy."

In their latest post, Christopher Barron - GOProud founder and petitioner for a pass/fail grade for his freshman year PR course - posted this tidbit announcing some kind of annual gay Republican bash:

"The gay left," Barron laments, "has done their best to take all the fun out of politics, with their endless list of boycotts and protests."

Damn protestors practicing their first ammendment rights. How dare they?

"Homocon," Barron continues, "is going to be our annual effort to counter the 'no fun police' on the left."

Because nothing is more fun than the government forbidding you from getting married.

sav mor loung

Show tonight:


the blamrs
whiskr music

4060 n. lincoln
9 pm
off the the brown lin, irving park stop.
eeeeee

Videos from the SubT show

Clown Babies On Drugs Demo and ::NEW SubT SHOW::

Pt. 1
The Blamers would like to usher in June with tidings of a giant party. June is a good month. It is the month where we get together on the 15th for a raucous show at Subterranean in Wicker Park with our friends Calibrated Crematorium and Deadlands.

6/15 Subterranean
The Blamers
Calibrated Crematorium
Deadlands

The Blamers sound like clown babies on drugs.

Deadlands is like listening to The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly soundtrack if Ennio Morricone could sing. They're also really nice. I met them once but I don't think they remember me.

Calibrated Crematorium is a Mannequin Men side group with some serious skillz. I saw another MM side project last night by the way. It made me hungover without even drinking; it was that good.
...................................................................................................


Pt. 2

Here's this weird local band's demo I just found. Ya'll shoud listen and expand your emotional constructs. If you don't find yourself walking around singing, " Sheeeeyaaaaaaaaah" repeatedly for the next week you can have your money back, guaranteed.

Clown Babies On Drugs-Demo

http://tinyurl.com/2fwgxe9

Videos from the Empty Bottle Show

Huge Tidbits

Hey everyone,

Good, better, ugly, and superlative news. First, we have shows(really soon)!!!!

5/11 Empty Bottle- Holy shit, I cannot wait for this one. First show since last august(?). Ya'll better be there.

5/15 Elbo Room - Late night time but where else would you be round 1:00am, sleeping? Come on, it's Saturday. Live a little!

Second, here are the results of our latest band photo shoot. We went out to Montrose Harboure in Chicago and they were having kite day. Good Lord, that was a lot of kites. We were all in great spirits and I even did a handstand. One of our best friends, Jolie Cota Flink, accompanied us and took all these cool pictures.

You can see more of her stuff at: http://www.lightstalkers.org/jolie-cota-flink

She's a pro!!!... and here's the proof...

Jolie Cota Flink cont...

A Song to Commemorate the Great Spaghetti Monster Accomplished Controversy of 2007

Hey ya'll,
Patrick here. If you are a friend of mine you have heard this song. If you think you are a friend of mine but you have not heard this song, we are probably not friends. If you have heard this song but don't know me personally, I'd say that's odd.

This song is a throwback to old school History of the Western Death Thing tribalism but is a lot more listenable than the old crap, mostly because my brain has grown tremendously in the last six months. If you would like to hear what my brain sounds like today, you probably can't. But you can hear the next closest thing to today which is this from like a month ago. This song is called Forget It and while I hope you all forget this ridiculous message I just wrote, I hope this melody sticks with you all day. Try and dance to it. Let me know what happens. If you feel yourself falling in love, that's ok too.

HEAR IT IS!!!
http://www.mediafire.com/?2mznwzdyywn

Paint/Young Romans EP.

Five song EP featuring the original demos of Blamers's staples "Black Cloud" and "Blood Runs". 

Click here to download

Photo by David Grant

American Anger v. American Hatred: Another Labor Speech

Hello there, The Blamers. All quiet on the Western Front, I see. They ain't no shows and they ain't no congress in session for damn near just as long. So what've we all got to talk about up in here? Well, Justice John Paul from Chicago, the liberal lion of the SCOTUS, is retiring and we'll have to discuss that soon. But now's not the time. Practice sounds good lately on account of our new good ol' boy drummer from Bourbon country. But none of y'all care about no practice seein as how that don't bring home the proverbial bacon.

Reckon now sounds like a good time for our monthly news from the world of Organized Labor. I know y'all are excited, especially Pat since he's become the biggest fan of Studs Terkel this side of Sedwick Street.



I just read this Richard Trumka speech, which he delivered at Harvard a couple days ago. Trumka is the president of the AFL-CIO and his speeches are usually pretty bad ass and always rife with the kind of economic common sense us progressives gulp down like Jay at the Secret West Side Sake Emporium of Chicago.

Since the attention span of the average citizen of Blamers Nation is about as short as God's temper in Deuteronomy, I will here supply an abridged version of the speech. (The full thing can be found at this here link.)

I am going to talk tonight about anger—and specifically the anger of working people. I want to explain why working people are right to be mad about what has happened to our economy and our country, and then I want to talk about why there is a difference between anger and hatred. There are forces in our country that are working hard to convert justifiable anger about an economy that only seems to work for a few of us into racist and homophobic hate and violence directed at our President and heroes like Congressman John Lewis. Most of all, those forces of hate seek to divide working people – to turn our anger against each other.

The fact is that for a generation we have built our economy on a lie—that we can have a low-wage, high-consumption society and paper over the contradiction with cheap credit funded by our foreign trading partners and financial sector profits made by taking a cut of the flow of cheap credit.

So now a lot of Americans are angry. And we should be angry. And just as we have seen throughout history, there are plenty of purveyors of hate and division looking to profit from our hurt and our anger.

I am a student of history, and now is the time to remember our history as a nation. Remember that when President Franklin Roosevelt said, "We have nothing to fear but fear itself," other voices were on the radio, voices saying that what we really needed to fear was each other – voices preaching anti-Semitism and Nazi-style racial hatred.

But in the United States, we chose to turn away from the voices of hatred at those critical moments in the twentieth century. In much of Europe, racial hatred and political violence prevailed in response to the mass unemployment of the Great Depression. And in the end, we had to rescue those countries from fascism-- from the horrible consequences of the failure of their societies to speak to the pain and anger bred by mass unemployment.

Why did our democracy endure through the Great Depression? Because working people discovered it was possible to elect leaders who would fight for them and not for the financial barons who had brought on the catastrophe. Because our politics offered a real choice besides greed and hatred. Because our leaders inspired the confidence to reject hate and charted a path to higher ground through broadly shared prosperity.

The systematic silencing of America's workers by denying their freedom to form unions is at the heart of the disappearance of good jobs in America. We must pass the Employee Free Choice Act so that workers can have the chance to turn bad jobs into good jobs, and so we can reduce the inequality which is undermining our country's prospects for stable economic growth.

Government that acted in the interests of the majority of Americans has produced our greatest achievements. The New Deal. The Great Society and the Civil Rights
movement -- Social Security, Medicare, the minimum wage and the forty-hour work
week, and the Voting Rights Act. This is what made the United States a beacon of hope in a confused and divided world. In the end, I believe the health care bill signed into law last month is an achievement on this order, one we can continue to improve upon to secure health care for all.

But too many thought leaders have become the servants of a different kind of politics—a politics that sees middle-class Americans as overpaid and underworked. That sees Social Security as a problem rather than the only piece of our retirement system that actually works. A mentality that feels sorry for homeless people, but fails to see the connections between downsizing, outsourcing, inequality and homelessness. A mentality that sees mass unemployment as something that will take care of itself, eventually.

We need to return to a different vision.

There is no excuse for racism and hatred. All Americans need to unite against it. The labor movement must be a powerful voice against it. But you cannot fight hatred with greed. Working people are angry—and we are right to be angry at the
betrayal of our economic future. Help us turn that anger into the energy to win a better country and a better world.

Paint- Axis Mundi

Round about Aught 8, Jeff wrote another album called, Axis Mundi. Let's hear bout it.

Where Esuna was sometimes schizophrenic, an experiment by a songwriter finding his footing, Axis Mundi marked a sharper focus. Instead of writing whatever came into my head, I tried to achieve a specific sound and aesthetic. The result is a collection of songs that is dark, ethereal, and sometimes, tribal-- heavy on the keys, and light on the guitars.

Later Blamers's standards, "Nocturne" and "Lights Go Out," follow opener "The Tyger," which pairs lyrics from the famous William Blake poem with  frenetic Sufi-styled vocals and hand drums. Also featured is an updated version of "Summersong," a track that debuted on Esuna. My other favorite is "Monday Nights," which is a momento mori focused on the mating habits of fireflies, built upon a repeating koto riff.

The recordings are still a bit rough, as I was still grappling with the mechanics of home recording, but overall, the songs are fun and worth a listen or two. Axis Mundi is a record of a songwriter staking a claim and unstretching his wings a bit.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/2jmdlmndhdb/Axis Mundi.zip

Paint - "Esuna"

 Way back in Aught 7, when Jeff was known as "Paint," he wrote a little album called Esuna. This is it's story. 

Esuna represents a time when I was still finding my footing as a musician and a writer. I had given up on songwriting for a few years at the time, thinking that my future was leading me down other pathways. I was studying Art History, and though I loved it, I was starting to feel foggy and empty, always writing about other people's work and never producing anything creative myself. For me, Esuna represented a taking back of a past from which I had cut myself away, deliberately or passively. 

Esuna takes it's name from a staple spell from the video game series, Final Fantasy. In these games, you can cure all the negative spells effecting your characters, such as "slow," "poison," "blindness," by casting "esuna." For me, writing the album was a metaphorical wiping away of the spells telling me I couldn't do it; an unlearning of the things I learned that kept me from music. 

The songwriting is flawed, the recording, abysmal, but there are a few things I am proud of. My favorite is "La Fin d'Octobre," a waltz sung in French about a guy who is being haunted by his dead lover, who visits him in his dreams, but only if he drinks enough du vin. Fans of The Blamers will be interested to hear an early and zygote-like version of "Summersong," which has become a live staple for the band. Other stand-outs are the tribal opener, "Incantation," a dark and wickedly morbid duet with Future Pat called "The Magic Number," and "All out War," a blues song about the spirit of war personified as a red-haired and ultra-violent beauty (à la Neil Gaiman). 

Anyway, give it a listen if you feel so inclined. Sometimes, its nice to remember where one comes from. 

http://www.mediafire.com/file/nz0zhnmuktm/Esuna.zip

Come on, little life-giver. Give your life.

This blog post is about Joanna Newsom. Her new album, Have One On Me, which came out a couple weeks ago, is really fucking awesome. Seriously. Drop what you're doing and buy it right now. Worbs cannot describe...

Due to my unrelenting love for this person - whom I've never met and from whom I probably subconsciously rip off musical ideas - I will, so as not to appear overly creepy, withhold the discursive and pleonastic disquisition about her beauty and genius which has been percolating in my thinking-head for some great time now.

I've really only got one thing to say:

On April 3rd Joanna is playing at the Vic. So help me God, The Blamers, if we book a show for that Saturday night I will not play and probably take the opportunity to finally quit the band and become the first non-Jesuit to hold the Guinness record for slow-falling and abstract heuristics plagiarism. Fair warning, oh my brothers.

MAKE ME A BOAT

So, this somehow came out of a chat Caitlin and I had at work.
Caitlin: Are you mad at me????

me: intensely

moderately

slightly

barely

no

Caitlin: but...but then why would you not communicate with me all day?????

me: power

you see

now that you were the first to communicate, i am in the power position, and you have to do everything i say

MAKE ME A BOAT

Sent at 1:22 PM on Wednesday

Caitlin: speed boat size or like, noah's ark size?

me: oh sorry

no, MAKE ME INTO A BOAT

Caitlin: that will be fun!

I'm not sure about your buoyancy though...

me: details like that don't concern me.

i would like to be a catamaran

Sent at 1:25 PM on Wednesday

me: MAKE ME INTO A CATAMARAN

Caitlin: i dont know what that is

me: Then you shall make me into a rowboat

and we shall sail around the world

and see many beautiful sites. Until one day,when you will say, "Luke, you are leaking"

and I will say, "no i'm not"

and you will say "yse, yes you are. You are leaking all over me"

and I will say, "I bet that's not the first time"

Sent at 1:29 PM on Wednesday

Caitlin: and I'll say, "well I never noticed it before. What do we do now? We're at least 200 leagues from any land"

Sent at 1:33 PM on Wednesday

me: Then I will say, "Why don't you put something in my hole" To whit you will respond, "That's what she said"

Then we will laugh uproariously and be carried to the heavens on the backs of dolphins.

Sent at 1:38 PM on Wednesday

Caitlin: And we'll get to the heavens, and you'll be like, "I was warned about the punch up here, lets avoid it," as Zeus comes up to greet us with two glasses of punch

which we both politely decline but feel Zeus' mood shift when we do

Sent at 1:57 PM on Wednesday

me: Then Zeus will get all whiny and pushy saying things like, "I spent all afternoon on this" and "Why are you guys being so mean to meeee?" Then he'll offer us a sandwich, and I'll say "Fine, if it will make you shut up, I'll have a sandwich" Then Zeus will hit me in the face and I will fall softly into the cloud-floor. And Zeus will ask "You sure you don't want some punch with that knuckle sandwich" Then you will stare at eachother for a second and burst out laughing. You will say, "Wow, Zeus! A double double-entendre! I think I'm going to like this place after all" And I will say, "umm, I didn't think it was all that funny" To whit you will reply, "I guess it hasn't hit you yet"

Sent at 2:12 PM on Wednesday

me: and then you will hit me in the face

and I'll say, "oohhhhhh, I get it now. That is kind of funny"

Sent at 2:17 PM on Wednesday

Caitlin: And Zeus and I will erupt in laughter and turn away to walk arm and arm to the heaven collesium, where they have prepared a great festival for us. You lag behind, feeling defeated after being punched in the face twice within 5 minutes of being in heaven. You finally catch up to me as I stand on the edge of the stadium looking horrified

You look down upon the what I am so disgusted by to see the two dolphins we rode in on being forced to battle to the death. They have attached razor blades to all their fins and everyone is shouting, begging for murder

Sent at 2:20 PM on Wednesday

me: Seeing this, you are filled with rage. You hurtle yourself over the railing into the arena and take the two bladed dolphins by their tails and begin twirling them above your head like a deadly pair of aquatic mamallian nunchucks. And thus, the battle begins. A amazonian scream escapes your throat and in a tornado of fury, you circle the colliseum, hacking away at anything that gets in your way. Angel wings and cherub limbs fly everywhere. Mother Theresa very nearly bites one of your ears off, but at the last moment, you stab her in the neck with a dolphin. You fight valiantly, and with fury, but soon the tide of battle begins to turn, and you cry out to me. Thinking fast, I say to myself, "Luke - Form of...CATAMARAN"

Sent at 2:41 PM on Wednesday

Caitlin: Just like that you transform and a heavenly gust of win catches your sails, pushing you straight towards me. You chuckle heartily as Gandhi's blood spatters across your clean, white sails. You can’t help but utter the catch phrase, “it’s time to kill saints and chew bubble gum...and I’m all outta gum.” Just I’m about to be struck by Zeus’ lightening bolt, I’m scooped up on your starboard side, as you head, full speed for the gates. The dolphins, who are eternally grateful for the justice we bestowed upon them, use their rigged fins to knock off any heavenly creature who try to vindicate us. When you came to a sudden hault, knocking me to the floor, I start to yell that your driving reminds me of a woman’s, but my voice catches in my throat as I gaze upon who was waiting for us at the gates. The most feared creature in heaven...

Sent at 3:03 PM on Wednesday

me: It was the Koala of Shame, a strange mutated combination of a Jewish mother and a Catholic school principal, endowed with the humiliating powers of a report card from Chem 102, all put together in the terrifyingly cute form of a Koala Bear. It stood in front of the Pearly Gates with it's little arms crossed, and disgust in it's eyes. The creature said "Look at this mess! I'm going to have to spend all afternoon cleaning this up! Now what do you have to say for yourselves?!?" Instantly, our consciences shrivelled up and remorse became our only emotion. My sails drooped and your bottom lip began to tremble. Though we knew it was just an illusion, we wanted to take it all back. "It was the dolphins fault," you murmured. "Yeah," said I, "It was the dolphins! They made us do it!" "Is that so?" said the Koala, with a look of withering disdain, "then we will have to... take care of them. Back to the Colliseum with them!" Fortunately, as we all know, dolphins are insatiable gamblers, cheats, liars and theives, and have long since devolved the need for remorse. Menacingly they wriggled towards the little furry animal. "Impossible!" it cried, "Have you no shame!?"

"No." they said. and within five seconds the Koala was fricasse.

Sent at 3:33 PM on Wednesday

Caitlin: You and I breathed a sigh of relief as the Koala (who is actually a marsupial and not a bear at all) became a figment of the past, but soon realized we were now in more danger than ever! The dolphins narrowed their eyes at us and eerily jingled their razor blades, as if to indicate our fate. “You betrayed us!” they nayed and inched closer “No...no we knew you could save us all, we weren’t trying to put you in any danger!” you squeaked, and transformed back in to a human. Within two seconds the dolphins had as by the throat and were whipping back the way we came. “Lets see how you like fighting to the DEATH!” they cackled as we neared the coliseum. Amongst the corpses of thousands of Martyrs, the Dolphins placed us in the center of the ring and replaced each of our fingers with sharp knives. “What do we do now Luke,” I said through sobs. “Heaven is clearly no place for the likes of us. I wish we would have just kept sailing around the world.” “Kill! Kill!” the dolphins jeered impatiently. You dropped your head. “I know what I have to do,” you mumbled as you held the knife that was once your index finger up to your neck. “No Luke! NO!” I screamed. “There’s another way! Just try to read my lips.” In addition to being lying cheaters, dolphins are also rudely impatient, so they wriggled down to the rink. Just as they were about to force me in to the blades of your right hand, you suddenly transformed in to a TUNA NET, which we all know equals death to any dolphin that comes in contact with one.

(bring it home Luke!)

Sent at 4:10 PM on Wednesday

me: Just then, a light shown from above and a man descended on a cloud of cotton candy and landed in the middle of the arena. "Jesus!" you exclaimed. "Christ Almighty!" I said, astounded "Yes, it is I," intoned the son of God, "I hath seeneth the terrible deeds you haveth done, and I am deeply disturbed, my children. Knoweth thou not what will ne'er be to come of thy doings ere on this thy most terrible of days whence to be will be the comings of the time of reckoning?" "What!?" we said. Then Jesus said, "Never mind. What I'm trying to say is that you have completely ruined a glorious Festivus. The dolphins weren't fighting to the death. They were modeling the latest animal fashion. Idiots!"

Sent at 4:38 PM on Wednesday

me: After that, we all forgave eachother and had a great laugh. Jesus cleaned up the mess with a snap of his finger. A table laden with food and drink appeared and we all sat down. After a satisfying meal and many jovial laughs, we knew that heaven was not so bad after all. "Well," said Jesus. "I hope you all enjoyed dinner. It was great having you here, but now, unfortunately, I must erase your memory of this day, and send you back to your normal lives. But, before that" he added, meaningfully, "can I interest anyone in some punch?"......
Caitlin: We woke up next to each other on the floor of my apartment, not remembering at all how we got there. "Did we...?" I asked confused, wondering just how drunk we had gotten the night before. "No no," you replied. "I actually don't have a penis, so we couldn't have slept together." "Phew!" I sighed. "that could have been awkward. Let's go get some brunch" and we carried on with our lives. THE END

This post has nothing to do with music.

Sup Blamers-nia and Herzegovina. Just in case any y'all forgot, today is the day everyone goes out and votes in the primary elections. These elections determine which candidates are chosen to represent their party in next November's congressional election. The primaries, although they may seem "lame" or "pointless" are an important part of the American democratic process.

If you're at all like me, you cain't tell the difference between Dan Hynes and Pat Quinn for governor of Illinois. They're both Democrats and they both seem like legitimate assholes. They're marred with the corruption and general ineptitude one would expect from a Chicago politician. Which ever one you choose, it doesn't really matter. The middle class will carry the brunt of taxes while the wealthy sit back and scoff at the misery of the poor. Since this is Illinois we're talking about here, one of them will beat which ever social conservative free market fundamentalist the Republican party can cough up.

That's why I urge all you Illinois progressive to vote for Rich Whitney this November. Whitney ran against Blago four years ago and received over ten percent of the popular vote. That's pretty good for a third party candidate. Here's to an extra 3 percent this year!

We Share our Mother's Health

Ok, so this speech is a bit sensationalist... but man, its pretty cool, too. If you haven't heard Fever Ray's debut LP, I definitely recommend giving it a listen. Its dark and evil in the best of ways. Also, how wicked is the music video for "When I Grow Up"?

Bitches man

Thanks http://www.harkavagrant.com/ (via Luke)

Who Wants One?

Anyone want a free Blamers CD? By employment of the United States Postal Service I now have the power to mail. Postage paid by me. Original tuneage and unique artwork included in each print. Did I mention it's free? All you need to do is tell me your address. If you don't want the whole world to know where you live then send it over myspace or facebook. Otherwise, there is what i'm sure is a completely blank comments section below this post which i frequently check, much to my dismay.

Can't make up your mind? Here's a little teaser. It's called 'Inside Voices'. Download it by copying and pasting the link below. GEEEEEEET IT!

http://www.mediafire.com/?re5tiy15rim

Squirrel Feeding Frenzy

4:44:35 PM Pat Campbell: fu
4:48:36 PM Jeffrey Campbell: did you see the fucking video dumb ass?
4:50:21 PM Jeffrey Campbell: and we are getting wii ghostbusters next
4:50:29 PM Jeffrey Campbell: and i drank too much coffee
4:50:36 PM Jeffrey Campbell: thats old news though
4:53:35 PM Jeffrey Campbell: also mom got trapped in her house coz of a squirrel feeding frenzy
4:53:45 PM Jeffrey Campbell: think thats all that happened so far today
4:53:50 PM Jeffrey Campbell: ready for band practice?
4:53:51 PM Jeffrey Campbell: me too
4:53:54 PM Jeffrey Campbell: can't wait
4:53:57 PM Jeffrey Campbell: uh huh
4:54:25 PM Jeffrey Campbell: its gonna be real snowy though
4:54:33 PM Jeffrey Campbell: your guitar and pedals are in the car
4:54:41 PM Jeffrey Campbell: ok thats all i can think of
4:54:48 PM Jeffrey Campbell: shoor hope you watch the video
4:54:54 PM Jeffrey Campbell: you wink at the end of it
4:55:04 PM Jeffrey Campbell: ok
4:55:06 PM Jeffrey Campbell: well
4:55:09 PM Jeffrey Campbell: i guess
4:55:16 PM Jeffrey Campbell: i will talk to you later
4:55:19 PM Jeffrey Campbell: i suppose
4:55:23 PM Jeffrey Campbell: inevitably
4:55:38 PM Jeffrey Campbell: coz we live in the same apartment
4:55:41 PM Jeffrey Campbell: and are in the same band
4:55:45 PM Jeffrey Campbell: and have the same parents
4:55:53 PM Jeffrey Campbell: and 25 percent of the same dna
4:55:57 PM Jeffrey Campbell: ok
4:56:01 PM Jeffrey Campbell: well
4:56:04 PM Jeffrey Campbell: gonna go smoke
Changed status to Offline (4:59:31 PM)

SaicoMania

This is fucking awesome.

A documentary on Los Saicos, one of the greatest punk rock outfits of all time.

Haiti Relief Fund

Hello Blamers fans. The tragic earthquake in Haiti yesterday could not have struck a less fortunate group of people. Our Haitian brothers and sisters need your help now more than ever.

Here is the easiest way to help: text "HAITI" to 20222 and ten dollars will be charged to your cell bill and go directly to the relief efforts of the Big Dog's Foundation.

Ten dollars, at this point, could save several lives simply with clean drinking water.

POTATO SMASH

12:21:44 PM Luke Willson: Yes? How may I assist you?
12:23:50 PM Jeffrey Campbell: I was hoping to speak with a Mr. Luke Willson, please.
12:24:43 PM Luke Willson: Mr. Willson is not available right now.
12:25:00 PM Luke Willson: He became redundant, and I've taken over his position.
12:25:16 PM Luke Willson: I disposed of him in the trash
12:25:18 PM Jeffrey Campbell: are you a robot?
12:26:24 PM Luke Willson: I am half-robot
12:26:59 PM Jeffrey Campbell: what half?
12:27:17 PM Luke Willson: My other half is 70% human, 30% badger, and 100% badass
12:27:39 PM Luke Willson: the top half
12:27:51 PM Jeffrey Campbell: do you like mashed potatoes?
12:28:30 PM Luke Willson: Not if they're arrogant or unkind.
12:29:02 PM Luke Willson: The real question is, if you had three days until the world ends, would you?
12:29:30 PM Jeffrey Campbell: "Mashed potatoes is sucks!!" -- My little cousin Ryan
12:29:44 PM Jeffrey Campbell: I think he states my sentiments more eloquently than I
12:30:46 PM Luke Willson: I really prefer smashed potatoes
12:31:25 PM Jeffrey Campbell: Its the badger in you, my animalic-robot acquaintance.

Changed status to Offline (12:32:50 PM)

Changed status to Online (12:33:11 PM)

12:33:54 PM Luke Willson: POTATO SMASH
12:34:27 PM Jeffrey Campbell: Luke, is that you?
12:35:07 PM Luke Willson: No, this is still the half-robot, half-30%Badger70%human100%baddass
12:35:55 PM Jeffrey Campbell: oh. I thought that possibly Luke could have hotwired a broken laptop in the garbage and rigged a wifi connection. My bad.
12:36:15 PM Luke Willson: We will speak no more of Luke
12:36:59 PM Jeffrey Campbell: Ok, I really must be going. Tata for now, bad(ger)-ass chap!

The Wedge

Hello brothers, and thank you for taking the time to visit our little blog. I've noticed that more fans have discovered us recently, some from as far away as Europe! Alright, Blamers nation. Keep on truckin.

Today saw the much anticipated meeting between President Obama and leaders of organized labor over the placement of taxes in the new health care bill. The current bill employs the so-called "Cadillac tax" to help pay for the coverage of millions of Americans who currently have none. Unions, progressives, and many House Democrats oppose these taxes because of the heavy burden placed on the middle class.

I wanted to bring to your attention a snippet from a speech given earlier today by Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO.

The tax on benefits in the Senate bill pits working Americans who need health care for their families against working Americans struggling to keep health care for their families. This is a policy designed to benefit elites—in this case, insurers, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies and irresponsible employers, at the expense of the broader public. It’s the same tragic pattern that got us where we are today, and I can assure you the labor movement is fighting with everything we’ve got to win health care reform that is worthy of the support of working men and women.

[snip]

Let me be even blunter. In 1992, workers voted for Democrats who promised action on jobs, who talked about reining in corporate greed and who promised health care reform. Instead, we got NAFTA, an emboldened Wall Street – and not much more. We swallowed our disappointment and worked to preserve a Democratic majority in 1994 because we knew what the alternative was. But there was no way to persuade enough working Americans to go to the polls when they couldn’t tell the difference between the two parties. Politicians who think that working people have it too good – too much health care, too much Social Security and Medicare, too much power on the job – are inviting a repeat of 1994.

These new taxes are already firmly established in the Senate bill and it is very unlikely that they will change. Trumka - and progressives around the nation - know this; the speech serves, however, as a fierce rebuke and warning to the Democratic Party that it cannot continue to ally itself with big business without alienating large swaths of its base. In nine months a tiny fraction of Americans will vote for all 435 House Representatives and 36 Senators. Trumka's speech today may prove to be yet another harbinger of this year's upcoming election.

Stay with Me

Hola Fan(s?)

Just wanted to post an oldie but goodie that I forgot about. Its a short song called "stay with me." I wrote it right after we acquired a midi keyboard and I was experimenting with the sound effects.

Started working on the new Blood Runs studio track and its turning out to be pretty awesome-- lots of crazy distorted drums and some screechy tricked out synth. Totally different feel from both the demo and the live versions. Also, added some new vocals to the intro that pretty much blew my mind. It was really rough cleaning it off the keyboard.


J

I image searched the words "stay with me" and the above picture came up. I think its amazing. It was painted (?) by Kirsi Salonen and you can read an interview with her and see more of her work here.

Click here to download song

Also, in the interest of proving that no members of the Blamers are dead or lost in the space/time continuum, here are some videos of us rehearsing. Enjoy.

Pleximongleestran

Hey everyone,
Hope you liked the video. Here's another tasty morsel for ya'. It's called "Speak Out". It was recorded like three days ago or something. It's like what happens to your mind the next day after you binge on gasoline fumes all night or get punched in the brain by a very strong man. Similar symptoms can also occur after playing the last level in new mario wii. Contact a physician if you have a boner that lasts more than four hours. Sorry, I'm in a weird mood today...

*copy and paste the link to download. If someone knows how to create a link that people can click on instead of copying and pasting let me know, please.

http://www.mediafire.com/?r5nq1rtyztn

Jimmy -- music video!

It was a dark and stormy morning.

11:21:34 AM Jeffrey Campbell: hola
11:21:43 AM Luke Willson: what do you want
11:22:03 AM Jeffrey Campbell: to pester you as always
11:22:13 AM Jeffrey Campbell: pester pester pester!!!!!!
11:22:28 AM Jeffrey Campbell: looks like a french verb in the infinitive form
11:22:31 AM Jeffrey Campbell: je peste
11:22:34 AM Jeffrey Campbell: tu pestes
11:22:37 AM Jeffrey Campbell: il peste
11:22:41 AM Jeffrey Campbell: nous pestons
11:22:45 AM Jeffrey Campbell: vous pestez
11:22:50 AM Jeffrey Campbell: ils pestent
11:22:59 AM Jeffrey Campbell: want past tense too?
11:23:00 AM Luke Willson: o my gods
11:23:04 AM Jeffrey Campbell: future perfect?
11:23:09 AM Jeffrey Campbell: conditionel?
11:24:08 AM Luke Willson: what are you babbling about
11:24:35 AM Jeffrey Campbell: other tenses to congugate
11:27:45 AM Jeffrey Campbell: ok pestering was successful i think
11:29:50 AM Luke Willson: it was pretty successful
11:30:16 AM Luke Willson: it always is when you just say the word repeatedly
11:30:28 AM Luke Willson: Annoy annoy annoy annoy
11:30:36 AM Luke Willson: Annoy annoy annoy annoy annoy
11:30:39 AM Jeffrey Campbell: no french verb on that one
11:30:46 AM Luke Willson: it's the same
11:30:50 AM Jeffrey Campbell: annoyer
11:30:54 AM Jeffrey Campbell: :to annoy
11:31:01 AM Jeffrey Campbell: j'annoye
11:31:10 AM Jeffrey Campbell: probably get changed to annoie
11:31:11 AM Jeffrey Campbell: though
11:31:32 AM Luke Willson: I don't care
11:31:42 AM Luke Willson: haha, im not in a great mood today
11:31:59 AM Luke Willson: so, I'm sorry if I seem rude
11:32:05 AM Luke Willson: it's just that you're really annoying
11:32:26 AM Jeffrey Campbell: you should probably just sign off before i take things to the next level
11:32:30 AM Luke Willson: ok, that was actually pretty rude
11:32:36 AM Luke Willson: yeah, probably
11:33:15 AM Jeffrey Campbell: me or you?
11:33:38 AM Luke Willson: me
11:34:00 AM Jeffrey Campbell: you are one rude bitch wigga!
11:34:24 AM Luke Willson: you need to not say that
11:34:46 AM Jeffrey Campbell: NO TELL ME WHaT CAN I TYPE
11:36:08 AM Luke Willson: NO TALL WRITE ME
11:39:02 AM Jeffrey Campbell: stop screaming Luke
11:39:08 AM Jeffrey Campbell: I am at work and someone will hear you
11:39:15 AM Jeffrey Campbell: have some decency, man1
11:39:16 AM Jeffrey Campbell: !
11:40:38 AM Luke Willson: YOU NO TELL ME WHAT I DO
11:41:42 AM Jeffrey Campbell: IS YOU ME THREATENING?
11:43:22 AM Luke Willson: YOU DUMB, I SMART. YOU NOT KNOW.
11:45:10 AM Jeffrey Campbell: I SMAsh!!! DUMB FACE!
11:46:30 AM Luke Willson: ME NOT DUMB FACE. YOU IS
11:47:22 AM Luke Willson: ME ANGRY, NEED SMOKE
11:48:48 AM Jeffrey Campbell: I IS ASWEL
11:54:07 AM Luke Willson: assholeways