ANARCHY EVOLUTION: FAITH, SCIENCE, AND BAD RELIGION IN A WORLD WITHOUT GOD by Greg Graffin and Steve Olson

It could be said that Greg Graffin shares a lot in common with the fictional character Indiana Jones. Both are professors at universities. Both have a deep desire to study history. Both have battled it out with Nazis — well, okay, maybe not exactly, but Greg did have to deal with the racist skinhead contingent in the LA punk scene in the early ’80s. Nonetheless, the one main bond between the two is a desire to understand the world’s histories through the study of facts and evidence.

Anarchy Evolution explores what is at the root of the inquisitive mind of Dr. Graffin when it comes to the subject of evolutionism versus creationism. The study of evolutionism through the works of people like Charles Darwin fascinated Greg as a child and proved to be a driving force in his life as laid out in this book, and, of course, in the lyrics to Bad Religion’s music.

Anarchy Evolution reads like two books in one. Half of the book is written in an autobiographical sense as Graffin details growing up in Wisconsin, his family, moving out west to LA, and the events leading up to the founding of Bad Religion with Brett Gurewitz. The other half reads like a textbook, with detailed passages that feel like they came right out of his lecture series at UCLA (where he teaches evolution). He ties the personal and educational together by drawing examples of how certain parts of his life (especially his teenage years) echo the natural effects of anarchic evolution — hence the title of the book.
Graffin challenges almost every aspect of religious rule in this book, well beyond evolution. He challenges the claim of an eternal afterlife and spends a good deal of time talking about the falsehood of natural selection. He also tackles the issue of being an atheist. Graffin himself doesn’t really consider himself a so-called atheist, but really a “naturalist” — as in someone who believes solely that no supernatural entities were or are involved in creating what we know as the universe. His naturalist worldview is based upon “observation, experiment, and verification.” He spends a good deal of time in this book detailing many of his adventures observing nature and gathering evidence in collegiate field studies, including an amazing story about a trip to the Amazon while working at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History in 1987. This trip would change Greg’s life forever.

Much of Anarchy Evolution could be considered adequate reading material for an introduction into the history of evolutionary biology. After all, this was written by someone who teaches this material to students at UCLA. So some of this material might be already common knowledge, depending on your educational background. If you’re not up on the subject of evolutionary biology, don’t be surprised if you have to re-read passages as some of this information is quite deep in facts, names, and dates. Luckily, there are nearly 50 pages of cited notes in the back of the book.

For the Bad Religion fans out there, this book will also please your need for random stories about people and places involved in the creation of the band and the making of some of your favorite albums. So while you’re learning about why Greg Graffin was arrested in high school, you’ll also be learning about a certain type of ant that lives in the forests of central Mexico.

Anarchy Evolution is clearly a work of love by a man that loves his work. His views on religion don’t aim to offend, but rather to question the religious status quo. He simply refuses to believe in something that he can’t observe or investigate, as it goes against his naturalist worldview. He studied the evidence and came to the conclusion that there is no supernatural being issuing a hand of assistance (or dominance) in creating the world and universe as we know it today, tomorrow, and in the distant past. He invites you to question the answers and make up your own mind by doing your own investigating and observing. A very insightful and interesting read.

THIEVERY CORPORATION – It Takes a Thief

Eric Hilton and Rob Garza started the DJ’ed dub and lounge sounds of Thievery Corporation nearly 15 years ago with a minimalistic approach on their debut album, Sounds From the Thievery Hi-Fi. The album featured a mix of mostly DJ’ed dub beats with little live instrumentation, some sampled vocals ,and a couple guest vocalists.

Since then, Garza and Hilton have evolved their sound by encompassing a rotating roster of world music’s who’s who, creating a sound that intertwines the world of down-tempo electrified lounge with the acoustic cultural sounds of planet earth. It Takes a Thief takes 16 of the Corporation’s “best of” tracks and displays them for all to hear. Unfortunately, there is not one track featured from that debut album. What can be found on this album is a collection of tracks mainly from the 2000 release The Mirror Conspiracy all the way to present day, with their newest album Radio Retaliation.

As expected, “Lebanese Blonde” (you know, the one from the movie Garden State), featuring the amazing vocals of Pam Bricker, is on here, along with other great ass-shaking  tracks like “Sound The Alarm,” “The Richest Man in Babylon,” “Warning Shots,” and “Vampires.” There are also some really nice laid-back tracks on here, including “Sweet Tides” and “Until Morning.” The compilation also includes the song “The Passing Stars,” a track that appeared as an instrumental on the album The Cosmic Game under the title of  “A Gentile Dissolve.” This particular version features vocals sung by  Bricker.

In all, It Takes a Thief does a fine job showcasing Thievery Corporation’s style and musical capabilities. A good album for someone who just found out about Thievery Corporation  and aren’t too familiar with their music.

(ESL Music, 1849 Calvert Street, Washington, DC 20009)

Show Review: Megadeth and Slayer at the Long Beach Arena, 8/30/10

Megadeth Front-man Dave Mustaine
 

Getting both Megadeth and Slayer to tour together again wasn’t an easy feat to say the least. It had been nearly 19 years since they shared a stage on the “Clash of the Titans” tour and feuds between Megadeth’s front man Dave Mustaine and Slayer guitarist Kerry King deteriorated much of the respect between the bands over the past two decades. Through the animosity and name-calling, both Mustaine and King have buried the hatchet and moved on within the past year, thus giving birth to the “American Carnage” tour.

The tour was initially slated to kick off in January but was postponed due to Slayer bassist/vocalist Tom Araya’s need for back surgery, as the pain was too intense to tour through. The tour was eventually rescheduled in April.

“We canceled two tours, and I don’t feel great about that, but I couldn’t deal with the pain anymore, and that’s now completely gone,” said Araya in a press release. “I know the fans are excited to see the band — the tour is on, we’re keeping our word, there will be no more cancellations.”

As I pulled into the Long Beach Arena parking lot, it was clear Tom’s words were spot on. The fans were beyond excited to see both Slayer and Megadeth team up again for a tour as a 2010 version of Heavy Metal Parking Lot played out before my eyes. Fans young and old partied it up in the expansive parking lot. Taking in the loud music blasting from car stereos (mainly Megadeth and Slayer) and some brews before converging into the arena. I also couldn’t help but notice two older gentlemen holding signs reading “REPENT OF YOUR WICKED HEART OF UNBELIEF,” “YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN,” and “ASK ME WHY YOU DESERVE HELL.” Clearly these men were God-fearing faith-filled individuals who were there to confront the concert-goers of their enjoyment of the evil sounds of heavy metal. As people passed these two men in line, they were randomly flipped off and one young man even dropped his pants and bent over, exposing his bare ass. The consensus was clear: they sold their souls for rock and roll!

Upon entering the arena, I could hear Testament warming up the crowd with their music. Unfortunately due to circumstances beyond my control, I missed just about all of Testament’s set.

As Megadeth set up for their performance, I strolled along the arena floor taking in the scene. The crowd was still pouring into the arena, filling in the seats on the upper level and taking up space on the standing room only arena floor. Shouts of “Slayer!” could be heard randomly throughout the arena, all while the PA system cranked out “Walk” by Pantera, causing the crowd to chant out the chorus in unison : “RE...SPECT...WALK!”

Eventually the lights turned off and the stage turned blood red as a heavy fog crept across the entire span of the stage. Behind the drum kit, the artwork for the album Rust in Peace was featured predominantly and Jello Biafra’s spoken word piece “Message From Our Sponsor” played as one by one the members of Megadeth took the stage.

Being the 20th anniversary of Rust in Peace, They proceeded to play the album in its entirety. Mustaine dawned a custom Rust in Peace Flying-V guitar and put that guitar good use through solos during songs like “Hangar 18” and “Rust in Peace…Polaris.” Key interaction and communication between Mustaine, bassist Dave Ellefson, and guitarist Chris Broderick were noticeable as all three played very tight. At times, the vocals were hard to hear over the guitars but for the most part the acoustics were rather impressive, especially for an arena show. Mustaine’s vocals were mostly on point, but it’s clear he doesn’t have the pipes he had 20 years ago (plus, look at what he did to himself over the years…the man is lucky to be alive).

At one point, during the song “Dawn Patrol,” Ellefson and drummer Shawn Drover were the only two people on the stage. As Ellefson drove out the bass line that served as the base of the song, Megadeth’s “mascot” Vic Rattlehead walked out and acted out the lyrics spoken backstage by Mustaine. Dressed in the business suit as he appears on the cover of Rust in Peace, this definitely added a theatrical feel to the show. They finished off the album set with “Rust in Peace…Polaris” and left the stage, only to come back a few minutes later to perform an encore.

As an encore, They played “Trust,” “Headcrusher” (off of their newest album Endgame), “À Tout le Monde (Set Me Free)”, “Symphony of Destruction,” and, lastly, “Peace Sells.” After a rousing cheer from the crowd, Dave and crew left the stage…now it was time for Slayer.

I will say this for the record : Slayer has some of the most loyal and hardcore fans ever. Even while watching Megadeth during their encore, this guy stood next to me — clearly enjoying what he was hearing and shouted “Megadeth!” only to back it up with “…but it’s all about Slayer!” You could feel a difference in the crowd once it was time for Slayer to take the stage. Like a calm before a storm, you knew you were going to be witnessing something special. Once the house lights turned down, the music started and the huge white sheet covering the stage dropped to the ground revealing Slayer and all hell broke loose.

They started out with the title cut off of their newest album World Painted Blood and then went into playing Seasons in the Abyss in its entirety, since it also is celebrating its 20th anniversary.

Musically, Slayer is about as fast and as brutal as you are going to get when it comes to thrash metal: lighting fast guitar riffs provided by Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, backed up the driving deep bass lines of Tom Araya and insanely fast drumming of Dave Lombardo. These guys have been on top of their game since the ’80s, and tonight’s performance was no exception. Sporting his usual getup of catcher’s knee-pads and a Raiders jersey, Hanneman was simply unstoppable with his screamin’ solos on songs like “War Ensemble” and “Dead Skin Mask.” A few times during their performance, King and Hanneman had dueling solos, one trying to one-up the other. Araya seemed to be feeling fine as he belted out song after song, even allowing the crowd to fill in for him on “Expendable Youth” and “Dead Skin Mask.” Lombardo’s drumming is something amazing to witness live as he pounded out song after song for a good 80 minutes with amazing accuracy and power.

As they finished up with the album set, they continued on playing a few songs as encores including “South of Heaven,” “Raining Blood,” and ending the show with “Angel of Death.” Throughout the show, the crowd sang along almost louder than Araya’s vocals and many let their long locks fly as they banged their heads to the music.

Much like Megadeth’s set, Slayer played very tight and the guitar solos were nearly flawless, but one thing set Slayer’s performance aside from Megadeth’s was their relentlessness. Slayer’s ability to relentlessly manhandle the crowd with their music and energy proved to be the highlight of the evening. Honestly speaking, Slayer’s set proved to be one of the most energetic musical experience I have witnessed. Don’t get me wrong, Megadeth put on one hell of a show as well, but when you factor in Slayer’s rabid fans and the excitement instilled by Slayer’s music, there’s no doubt about it that Slayer stole the show!

Seeing one half of the “Big Four” in thrash metal was an amazing experience. As I was leaving the arena, some random guy slaps me on the back and says, “That was one hell of a show, wasn’t it?” Yes, my friend, yes it was!

PICTURES - Megadeth at the Long Beach Arena - Long Beach, CA - 8-30-2010

MAD CADDIES – Consentual Selections

After 15 years, five full length albums, and a rotating roster of musicians, the Mad Caddies are pulling out all the stops and are finally releasing a “best of” album. Consensual Selections features 22 cuts from the Caddies past plus two new tracks. For those unfamiliar to the the Caddies’ sound, their eclectic ska-punk sound is mixed with various musical influences. From polka (“All American Badass”), to Spanish (“Just One More”), and even pirate dirge (“Weird Beard”), the boys from Solvang, California have remained true to their whimsical yet musically impressive roots year after year, album after album — even if the California ska scene has returned to its underground two-toned cave in recent times.

The tracks selected for this album do a really good job representing the essence of the Mad Caddies. Most of the tracks here focus mainly on the Caddies music after their debut album Quality Soft Core, although they did add “The Bell Tower” and “Preppy Girl” to show off their oldest material (where’s “Crew Cut Chuck?”). “Save Us” and “Why Must I Wait” are two previously unreleased songs, both of which don’t disappoint.

Consensual Selections would be fitting for someone new to the Caddies, but for those who have been singing along with these tunes for nearly two decades, this is a fine tribute to one of the best third-wave ska acts to come out of the Golden State.

(Fat Wreck Chords, PO Box 19360, San Francisco, CA 94119)

THE ADICTS – Life Goes On

After 35 years of being a staple of the English punk rock scene, The Adicts are still tearing it up. Amazingly featuring all original members, they’ve released their eight studio record Life Goes On. Being only familiar with their older material (mainly their infamous album Songs of Praise), I have to admit that this new album features a much more matured sound than that of their youth — although, there’s still strong evidence of that silliness and bouncy feeling found in so much of that UK punk from the ’80s.

That bouncy pop sound can be heard through much of the album, especially on songs like “Spank Me Baby” and the title track “Life Goes On.” The song “Gangster” throws an audible wrench in the sound of the album, with a sound that could be described as an electronically twisted acoustical piece likely to be found on a soundtrack to some David Lynch spaghetti western. There is a instrumental cut of “Gangster” featured as a bonus track at the end of Life Goes On. Otherwise, the album stays pretty consistent with The Adicts style of punk, very light hearted and carefree.

Musically, these vets of the UK punk scene still have it. It’s a fun album with a lot of sing-along moments that The Adicts have been bringing to us for over three decades.

(Century Media, 2323 W. El Segundo Blvd., Hawthorne, CA 90250)

Show Review: Lebowski Fest LA 2010

James Hoosier, who plays Liam O'Brien Re-Creates the approach to his "Belly Shake" at the Screening Party at The Wiltern Theater in LA

Shortly after winning his Best Actor award at this year’s Academy Awards for his performance in Crazy Heart, Jeff Bridges was asked this question by the press:

“As we’ve seen tonight, for a lot of your career you’ve been defined by one movie: The Big Lebowski. Will this put that to rest, and how have you felt about that for the last two years or so?”

“No, I’m diggin’ The Dude. I love him!” proclaimed Bridges with a huge smile and a laugh. “It’s wonderful the success that it had. I was a little disappointed when it first came out and didn’t do much, you know? But now we got Lebowski Fest and all kinds of things.”

The Big Lebowski was released in 1998 as a follow up to Joel and Ethan Coen’s largely successful, award-winning film Fargo. The movie tells the story of Jeffrey Lebowski (AKA, “The Dude”), a laid-back unemployed stoner who enjoys a simple life of white russians and bowling. He takes life very easy: no stress at all, almost Zen-like. One day, he returns to his bachelor pad to find two thugs out to collect a cash payment owed to a loan shark and pornographer Jackie Treehorn. They mistake “The Dude” for another Jeffrey Lebowski, who happens to be a millionaire with a trophy porn-star wife. In the middle of explaining his innocence, Woo (one of the thugs) urinates on The Dude’s rug (it really tied the room together). The movie plays out with The Dude (along with his Vietnam vet bowling partner and best friend Walter Sobchak, played by John Goodman) getting involved in a very complicated situation involving a kidnapping, a severed toe, and a marmot among other things.

As mentioned above by Bridges, the movie didn’t do so well in the theaters, but it has become a huge cult favorite since being released to VHS and DVD.
This brings us to the not-so-distant past.

Lebowski Fest: what started in a small Baptist church bowling alley in Louisville, Kentucky back in 2002 has grown exponentially into a behemoth of a celebration of all things Lebowski. Founded by Will Russell and Scott Shuffitt, the fest has reached both coasts of the United States and points in between, drawing in thousands of Achievers (the self-applied title given to fans of the movie) over the years. It has even hopped across the pond, spawning the first-ever Lebowski Fest UK event in 2007.

The idea for the fest came when Will and Scott were vendors at a tattoo exposition in Louisville. Being bored out of their minds (attempting to sell t-shirts for Scott’s business), they started reciting lines from The Big Lebowski. Others around them started to chime in with their own favorite pieces of dialogue, the idea was born, and the rest is history.

This year’s event here in The Dude’s hometown of Los Angeles, California would be the fifth time for the Lebowski Fest crew. The first of two days of events took place at The Wiltern Theater in LA with a movie screening and performance by Creedence Clearwater Revival tribute band Paddy and the Poor Boys. When arriving at the Wiltern, the line to get in stretched about halfway around a city block. There were a lot of people, although not too many in costumes. Once inside, the bartenders were busy making white russians and film crews and photographers scurried about taking pictures of those who came in costume.

The evening kicked off with Will and Scott onstage welcoming everyone and bringing out the first of many special guests of the evening. Robin Jones, (Ralph’s checkout girl) and Andrea Nunn (Julianne Moore’s body double) joined Will and Scott on stage to talk about the filming of the movie. Peter Exline, whose real life experiences with a rug and stolen car inspired some of the Coen brothers’ plot line for the movie, also came onstage to share stories with the crowd. Joining Peter was Jeff Dowd.

Jeff is essentially the real life Dude and inspiration for the Cohen brother’s character portrayed by Bridges. Dowd can always be found at both nights of the LA Lebowski Fest with a large Caucasian (white russian) in hand, mingling with the crowd and rambling on about, well…anything while onstage with a mic in his hand. Dowd is definitely the life of the Lebowski Fest.

At this point, Paddy and the Poor Boys took to the stage. According to comments made by the band during their performance, they are not normally a cover band and apparently go under a different stage name, but on this particular evening they would be a CCR cover band. Hailing from Berkeley, California (interestingly also the same part of the Bay Area where CCR got their start), the four piece band covered some of CCR’s timeless and Lebowski-inspired tunes like “Lookin’ Out My Back Door” and “Run Through The Jungle.” Instrumentally, these guys are pretty spot-on, but the lead vocalist was quite off-kilter and really didn’t reproduce the vocal styling of John Fogerty, something that’s a tough feat in the first place.

At one point during the set, both Jeff Dowd and Andrea Nunn took the stage to sing backup for the band. Most of the crowd sat in their chairs and watched and listened. Some patrons made their way to the lobby of the theater, where there was a meet-and-greet with some of the stars of the film taking place during the show.

After about an hour of waiting (due to the very long line of fans wanting to get pictures and autographs with the stars of the movie), Will and Scott retained their position on stage to bring out the next round of special guests. They introduced Jim Hoosier (Liam, Jesus’s bowling partner) who performed his signature “belly shake” celebration move for the crowd. Hoosier has been a consistent attendee to the nationwide Lebowski Fest, always humble and beyond appreciative to the support and kindness of the fans.

Jack Kehler (Marty the Landlord) was next up onstage, talking about how he created his “cycle” dance and went on to recreate it for the crowd. It was one of the most crowd-pleasing parts of the night.

Lastly, Peter Stormare (Uli the nihilist/Karl Hungus) strolled on stage. Stormare was also in Fargo and has been seen in many commercials and other feature films. Stormare talked about how he’s recognized by people worldwide as being in The Big Lebowski and how grateful he was to the fans for all the kind words and support.

Then, without any further delay or interruption, it was time for the big screen showing of the movie. The experience of watching The Big Lebowski with a group of extreme Achievers is pretty amusing. Imagine a midnight showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show where intoxicated viewers hurl the F-word rather than pieces of toast or toilet paper. The only complaint I had about the screening was that someone cranked up the volume beyond eleven. I mean, it was seriously too loud. Night one was in the books. The next night would be the bowling party at Cal Bowl in Lakewood.

After a little pre-bowling party get-together at my apartment, we caravaned to Cal Bowl for a night of more costumes, more white russians, and unlimited bowling. Once inside, we got a lane and started to bowl it up with fellow Achievers. Bowling is not essential when it comes to getting the Lebowski Fest experience. I find myself having a better time walking around with a white russian in one hand and my camera in the other, taking pictures of people in costume and talking about the movie.

I have to admit, though, that I was a little bit disappointed in the creativity of this year’s costumes. I ran into a guy who attended last year as a carton of half and half (very true to scale) and he too was disappointed in the lack of creative costumes. The costumes that were displayed, however, were excellent: plenty of Dudes, Walters, and Jesuses were represented, as well as a whole slew of Maudes (including a group of male and female Maudes who made up “The Maude Squad”). There were a few Jackie Treehorns and two entries as The Dude’s car (one was awarded “best costume”).

There were also a few nihilists dressed up in the full red jump suit featured in The Dude’s dream sequence. One couple (with whom I bowled last year; they were the Knutsens, Bunny Lebowski’s parents) came as “dead beets” in reference to what Treehorn’s thugs call The Dude. For the first time that I can remember, someone came dressed as Donny (Steve Buscemi’s character, and Walter and The Dude’s bowling partner and friend).

The bowling party also brought out a few stars from the movie. Jim Hoosier and Mike Gomez (the Auto Circus Cop) made it out, as well as Jeff Dowd who did his share of mingling with the crowd.

In all, the 2010 LA Lebowski Fest was a good time for all who attended. Sure, it’s a bit nerdy obsessing over a movie made 12 years ago — but hey, we’re talking about one of the funniest movies ever made! The movie is almost universal in appeal — find yourself reciting lines from The Big Lebowski at any social gathering and you are bound to have someone come up to you and start a conversation. It is truly a film that brings people together. There’s no doubt in my mind that Lebowski Fest will continue to grow as word of mouth spreads. The love people have for this film is deep and it brings people together in droves nationwide.

Don’t be an amateur…grab a white russian, a DVD copy of The Big Lebowski, and enjoy life as The Dude would.


Lebowski Fest will be in Orlando, Florida on May 21st and 22nd; Louisville, Kentucky on July 16th and 17th; Chicago, Illinois on September 17th and 18th; Seattle, Washington on October 15th and 16th; and New York City on November 4th. Find more information at www.lebowskifest.com