Friday, December 31, 2010

Visual Proof Of Moving Images




Secrets and Discipline. Dahlia Shapiro playing bass.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

third vote

Total Abuse - Mutt
One of the most intense modern hardcore records I've heard in quite awhile. It's also one of the most effective 'concept' albums ever, with it's concept being for every song to express the shame and disgusting nature of sex. Listening to this album with the lyrics available is exhausting and makes you feel absolute shame and horror about any of your desires.

from somewhere online

another vote

5. Total Abuse- Mutt
The mysterious hardcore still prevails in the likes of Total Abuse. Although I hate the term used to describe these type of bands, this record was pure heinous. I guarantee you that this band will eventually get compared to Poison Idea, if that hasn't been brought up. "Caligula" will probably rank as the best hardcore song in latter years, when people start to recognize the pure brutality of the underrated bands in today's scene. It seems like everything this band does is pure genius. I mean, I haven't came across a bad LP or EP from these fellas.

http://soldiersrequiem.blogspot.com/2010/12/tops-of-2010.html

Sunday, December 12, 2010

A VOTE

5. Total Abuse, Mutt (10)
Harnessing the feedback-laced hardcore of Black Flag, Born Against, and Void, Austin’s Total Abuse adds unsavory lyrical content and an unwholesome sheen of skronk to whip up Mutt. Squirrelly and perverted (song titles include “Eunuch,” “Caligula,” “14 Years Old,” and “Fluid Exchange”), the album oozes sonic and moral squalor in equal—read: copious—quantities.

http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-best-music-of-2010-the-ballots,48711/

JASON HELLER of the Onion A/V Club

Sunday, October 10, 2010

PINPOINTMUSIC.COM REVIEWS MUTT

"Okay, so you remember that Ren and Stimpy where Ren goes all batshit on the happy helmet and almost rips Stimpy’s throat out to satiate the savage beast that a week of forced joy creates before realizing (in one of Nickelodeon’s most blatantly subversive “aaaaahhh” moments) that he, in fact, “LOVES BEING ANGRY!” so imminent slaughter is swiftly supplanted by TV’s first genuinely tender interspecies kiss?
Yeah. This is like that. Only bitter and fatter and noisy and from Texas and whereas John Kricfalusi was playing social commentary with the Prozac nation providing those of us of the age to spend our Friday nights watching that show and going “Whoooaaaa” while our parents wrote letters of apology they would later read aloud in therapy for all the guilt they must have laid on us a manic fucking song Total Abuse want to knock you down, rip your fucking teeth out and bring them home to use as ben wah balls on their thirteen-year-old girlfriend.

Just one…for all four of them.

And fucking NO ONE is getting kissed that night.

No one’s ever making out again. We’re just going to sit around and draw skinheads humping dead dogs and listen to the Brainbombs and talk about how if they only knew how we had it down south they wouldn’t be so kind to women. Only we won’t be talking. We’ll carve it into each other’s skin, call it poetry and later say in prison interviews that the Slayer kid was a pussy.

IT’S ALL FUCKING RELATED, OKAY!

And not just because.

There’s always a reason."

http://www.pinpointmusic.com/total-abuse-mutt/

Saturday, September 4, 2010

CRUCIAL BLAST REVIEW

As of this moment, writing this blurb about their new album Mutt, Texas rippers Total Abuse are my favorite hardcore band. I was gushing over their self-titled debut that came out a while back on Deranged after getting totally enamored with their atavistic throwback to circa-1984 thrash, their infatuation with the writings of Peter Sotos, and the stark black and white visuals on their album and 7" sleeves that referenced both the primitive apocalyptic collage art of early American hardcore and the blunt monochrome look of old British industrial cassettes. Seemed like it was custom tailored to my taste in hardcore, a negatory, nihilistic blast of primitivist fury that feels dead serious, driven by murderous desire and staring at the world with an unblinking eye. Not to mention a fiercely noisy edge that felt like I was hearing some as-yet undiscovered psychotic hardcore band from the 80's being blasted out of shredded speakers and malfunctioning PA equipment.
Their last album and the Sex Pig 7" (the title of which is another direct Sotos reference) are still highly recommended to fans of psycho HC and get constant play around here, but their latest Lp Mutt just fucking blew me through the door. On the surface, the album is a direct continuation of the debut. The songs are once again short, brutal blasts of ancient hardcore played with maximum venom and power. The music and everything within it feels as if it's slathered in feedback, as if the band is hurling themselves against a wall of busted, squealing amplifiers. Songs like "Eunuch", "Fluid Exchange", "Buried", and "Caligula" mostly blast out brutal speed attacks somewhere in between Void and Negative Approach, infested with screaming high-end amp howl. Then the band shifts into a staggering dirge that stops the album dead in it's tracks, like when they stumble into the spastic noise and damaged Flipper/Kilslug-esque sludge of "Secret Passage I" and "Pure". There's nothing anthemic in the vocals; the singer delivers his hungry, desperate howl into the storm, his desperation syncing with the band into a wave of droning power. The apex of the album is the complete collapse into noise that comes with "Secret Passage II", a savage wall of guitar squall, squealing agonized feedback, and avalanche drum clatter. The aesthetics of Broken Flag applied to brutal, stripped down American hardcore.
The b&w fanzine style booklet that comes with the Lp features the lyrics, an integral part of Total Abuse's art. The lyrics are obviously influenced by Sotos's writings, the clipped, blunt, brutal lyrics expressing themes of total control, nihilism, loathing, oppression, depravity, violence and desire, directly and without glamour. It's an exploration of hunger that has more in common with Dom Fernow's work in Prurient than anything going on right now in hardcore.
Highest recommendation

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Thursday, July 8, 2010

LYON FRANCE

012 - Total Abuse from christophe bernard on Vimeo.



second song is a cover of Dick's - Saturday Night at the Bookstore

Friday, May 21, 2010

Total Abuse European Tour 2010

Sa. 22.05.2010 Leipzig - Zoro Germany
So. 23.05.2010 Mannheim - Pfingstfest Germany
Mo. 24.05.2010 Nuremberg - Kunstverein Germany
Di. 25.05.2010 Munich - Kafe Kult Germany
Mi. 26.05.2010 Vienna - Tüwi Austria
Do. 27.05.2010 Bologna - Atlantide Italy
Fr. 28.05.2010 Milano - Dauntaun Italy
Sa. 29.05.2010 Lyon - The Grrrrnd Zero France
So. 30.05.2010 Barcelona - Rock Sound Spain
Mo. 31.05.2010 Zarautz - Gaztetxe France
Di. 01.06.2010 Toulouse - Les Pavillons Sauvages France
Mi. 02.06.2010 Paris - La Miroiterie France
Do. 03.06.2010 Kortrijk - The Pits Belgium
Fr. 04.06.2010 Amsterdam - Occii Netherlands
Sa. 05.06.2010 London - tba Uk
So. 06.06.2010 Newcastle - tba UK
Mo. 07.06.2010 Leeds - The Packhorse UK
Di. 08.06.2010 Cardiff - Buffalo Bar UK
Mi. 09.06.2010 London - The Big Takeover UK
Do. 10.06.2010 Hamburg - Hafenklang Germany
Fr. 11.06.2010 Münster - Cafe Lorenz Germany
Sa. 12.06.2010 Berlin - Koma F Germany

Friday, May 7, 2010

FIRST REVIEW IS IN:

TAKEN FROM HERE:

"Dead Beat: Total Abuse, 'Mutt'

Few Texas bands demand your full attention like Austin's Total Abuse.


Since its formation in 2006, Total Abuse has toured the nation, played any house-show available, and put on unforgettable performances -- some of the most harrowing and disastrous that I've seen -- slowly carving its name deep into the annals of Texas punk like a prison tat. Now with the release of Mutt, the group's sophomore LP, Total Abuse has captured its most confident, confounding, and fully realized music to-date. Those with weak wills, ears and/or stomachs, turn back now.


If authenticity is your gravest concern in music, the first seconds of "Eunuch" should ring as the loudest antithesis of hardcore, tough-guy posturing ever recorded. "MAKE ME A EUNUCH/MAKE ME COMPLETE," demands vocalist Rusty Kelley beneath gathering storm clouds of resounding, one-note guitars and death-march drums. Is this ugly? Is it beautiful? Is this ironic? What the hell?!


Mutt is rife with such murky questions at every perilous, no-look turn. But don't go looking for answers. This isn't a record of easily decoded mission statements; there's no obvious message or lesson to be learned here. Total Abuse relishes basking in extremes. There is nothing tame or organic to how Mutt behaves. Favoring grotesque oddity and rigid control over all else -- this is hardcore for sadists.


Firebombed riffs, nihilistic abandon, churning, and stomping melodies -- the standard pieces of the '80s hardcore are all in place. What's truly captivating is Total Abuse's perverse, experimental rearrangement. Mutt distills that classic formula through three decades of diverse punk, hardcore and noise, reducing its subjects and sounds to their most primitive, unpredictable instincts. In tracks such as the title song and "Caligula" this takes shape through pounding a brash riff into submission, anxiously contorting the rhythm at free will, bending ringing notes out of tune, as reckless, shredding guitars peak in violent static.


On "Pure," guitars howl in wasted exhaustion through barren feedback, the rhythm feeling as though it's working against itself to betray any kind of progressive, rock fluidity. The riff slowly growing into cruel bloom, the guitars stick like a lump in your throat as Kelley rambles, "This is what I want, what I really, really want..." all the while the drums refusing to stay synced-up, the beat slightly off track. Whether it's a maelstrom of guitars sounding like a fork caught in a blender ("Secret Passage I") or distortion that could double for a two-ton, rusty carburetor turning over ("Fluid Exchange") these jarring moments are Total Abuse's fuel.


Sections of the music might recall acts such as Poison Idea, early Black Flag, as well as the modern weirdo hardcore of Cult Ritual and Drunkdriver, but this record is distinctly Total Abuse. Challenging, uncompromising, a wake-up-call in every sense of the phrase, Mutt is the most original punk album I've heard in 2010.


Dirty as a drag rat's pit, hungry for punishment, and proud of its scabs -- get bit.


P.S. -- Houston-based artist William Boone designed the impressive cover for the the band's LP. Check out more of his unique obsessions here."

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

TOTAL ABUSE - MUTT LP OUT NOW



TOTAL ABUSE - MUTT

PPM23 TOTAL ABUSE "Mut" LP. LP COMES WITH ZINE.

DESCRIPTION - On the new LP titled “Mutt” recorded between May 2008 to October 2009 for
PPM, Total Abuse finally cement a marriage between their obsession with early UK power electronics, and early eighties american hardcore. Since their humble beginnings they have been hinting at the sound, and on Mutt they deliver full force. Heavy feedback infused hardcore soundscapes, not for the weary.
Only available on Vinyl and Digital, the LP comes with printed inner 12” sleeve and a 24 page zine, and free download.


get direct from PPM:

http://www.postpresentmedium.com/vinyl/

100 white (mailorder only) 900 black



-

INTERVIEW WITH TOTAL ABUSE BY HOLLIS RUGGIERI

Tell me some new things about the new album.

mutt is the strongest total abuse material yet. it took us almost 3 years
to make it and i think it shows. we took our time. it is a record
about being a slave to your fantasy. about being imprisoned by desire
and need. about the symbiosis pervert and pornography. about
the frustration in realizing you are one of the bad people in the
world. desire rules all. it is not good. i do not embrace this fact.

I am sure you've been asked before, but How much does Peter Sotos'
work influence the band? Are you all just fans of his/get a band name,
or does his work impact you all more?

I can't speak for the rest of the band but , Sotos is one of my
favorite writers bar none. His work and ideas have been very
influential to some of the concepts and lyrics behind total abuse.
The name of the band refers to a collection of the earliest sotos
writings. Some of his most base and ugly work. I think it matched
well. But I must say i think people tend to only dabble in those early
writings due to their availability on the internet and never get a
chance to read his more complex and (I think) stronger material. I
recommend everyone getting their hands on a copy of "selfish, little:
the annotated lesley anne downey" or "predicate" to start off with.
Sotos is just an incredible writer.

Do you like power?

Yes
Do you want power?

Yes

If you had all power what would you do with it?

I can't answer that because it will never happen

How can I cleanse you?

You can't. I wish you could.

Why does someone from revhq hate you?

Because some of the members (including myself) have a big mouth. We
tend to talk too much about too many touchy things. We should probably
shut up.

Tell me something about Austin, that is where you are from right?

Austin is a lazy town. Everyone talks about big plans and schemes but
don't accomplish much. It's too easy to get by doing nothing. So much
potential goes to waste. I gotta get out.

Were you in a band when you were younger and did your father drive you
on tours? (I heard someone say that once.) Tell me about how that was
if you are the correct band.

Ryan, Duncan and I (Rusty) were in the snobs. We released two 7"s on
my war records (RIP). Dave (the singer)'s dad drove the band to posi
numbers 02.

Are you a bad man?

Sometimes. I have bad things inside my heart i think. Bad thoughts.

Please tell me something humiliating. (either about yourself or someone else).

people view me as a real life sex pig. I look like a walking slob. I
am aware of how disgusting i look. Things will never change. i wish
they would.

What are some of your most listened to records right now?

the dead c - harsh 70s reality 2xLP
swans - public castration is a good idea 2xLP
judee sill - judee sill LP (i do not own the actual copy of this)
sonic youth - evol LP
trop tard - ils etaient 9 dans l'obscurité LP (i do not own the actual
copy of this)
vile gash - s/t EP
virgin spring - absolute decline cs
rene hell - 18:54 torture hour cs
martial canterel - cruelty reigns through ages cs
nagamatzu - sacred islands of the mad cs (i do not own the actual copy of this)


Explain sex pig please. I like that one a whole lot.

the song is about a specific time in the fall of 2006. the song is about living in your house and never leaving. It is about watching pornography online and accepting the fact that you really are
a disgusting creep. you are not normal. you are hiding strange secrets
and desires that are sadly very very real.

Any upcoming tour plans?

we are touring through europe this summer.

I am pretty stupid, ugly, untalented, my thoughts are worthless and so
are my everyday motions. Do you think I have a place I can go to?
Remember, I do not bring anything to the table. Is that ok with you?

i don't think your thoughts are worthless. this is the best total
abuse interview we have ever been given. the questions are creative
and interesting. actually worthwhile. please keep doing the things you
are doing. stay afloat.

What turns you on?

too personal. can't answer. i'm sorry.

What was the most forgettable worthless experience had as a band?

playing with all kinds of horrific jocks disguised as punks like seasick.

What makes you nervous?

women and men talking about me

Is it weird for people to tell you they like your band a lot?

no. we create it so that others can enjoy it. or we hope they do. we
appreciate any positive and negative comments.

Do you like your own work?

yes. i am the biggest fan of total abuse. i put all of myself and my
ideas into it. maybe this is foolish but i hope not. the new album
mutt i feel is total abuse's strongest moment so far. i urge everyone
to try and purchase a physical copy of mutt as the art and writings
inside are needed to fully understand all the concepts within the
record.

Do you have a constant idea or theme you work with (your artwork/movie included)

i think i am constantly struggling with what is in my mind. how much
it scares me... or how much i wish it to be reality. the idea that there
is a line where something is in your mind and then you make it real. how
long does it take for the line to be crossed? what does it take? how
do we try and hide those things inside our minds? how strong is
denial? what is pornography and what isn't? fantasy is all we have.
our struggle is and always has been trying to make that fantasy as
real as possible.

Is there a big connection to your art and music?

in some regards yes. total abuse and breathing problem (my solo
electronics project) share similar concepts. they are a part of of the
overarching theme within much of my work.

thurible is a different entity. that film is more about the importance
of ritual in our lives. the importance of finding meaning in harsh
reality. finding our own religion when we know god can't exist.

certain aspects of the breathing problem magazine series are focused on taking specific found images and putting them in an ambiguous context...then seeing what kind of response comes out of the viewer. how they personally attach their own meaning.

Who is your favorite artist?

terrence malick, werner herzog, peter sotos, alain robbe grillet,
harmony korine, dennis cooper, mikaylah bowman, gaspar noe, david lynch, fredrick
wiseman...more more

Can you give me some girl advice please?

trust and respect women. they create life. they are
beautiful. they are better.

How old are you?

22

Who are you addressing in your songs? Do they hear it?

i am addressing myself and trying to show myself the light. to let
myself see how i am shielding myself from the truth. then hoping
others see that truth as well. many of us men are perverts and
reptiles. we must understand this fact. that does not mean we can
change it. i don't know where to go from there...

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Thursday 3.18.2010

Zum/KXLU/Aquarius Records Presents
913 E. Cesar Chavez (Domy Books)

- Broken Water
- Moment Trigger
- Eternal Tapestry
- Weird Weeds
- Total Abuse (we play at 3PM sharp)
- Zs
- Abe Vigoda
- John Bellows
- Infinite Body
- Earn

Night of Rage II at Baby Blue Studios
1522 E. 12th St.

Eternal Tapestry (Portland, 9:30pm)
Grass Widow (SF, 9pm)
Cry Blood Apache (Austin, 8:30pm)
Mutating Meltdown (Austin, 8pm)
Gun Outfit (Olympia, 7:30pm)
White Boss (Olympia, 7pm)
Total Abuse (Austin, 6:30pm)
Slavescene (Tampa, 6pm)
Neon Blud (Tampa, 5:30pm)
Cold Girls (Austin, 5pm)
Rene Hell (Iowa City, 4:45pm)
Breathing Problem (Member of Total Abuse, Austin, 4:30pm)
Wet Hair (Iowa City, 4pm)
Sewn Leather (Oakland, 3:30pm)
Broken Water (Olympia, 3pm)


Friday 3.19.2010

Breathing Problem Productions Presents...
at The Broken Neck (East Ceasar Chavez & Red Bluff)
Starts at 9PM sharp. Doors / Keg open at 8PM.
Free Beer

Rusted Shut
Drunkdriver
Dry-Rot
Total Abuse (Playing around Midnight)
Rene Hell
Slavescene
Neon Blud
Weak Sisters
Cold Girls
Rayon Beach
The Men
Pigeon Religion
White Dog (Members of Total Abuse and Rayon Beach)


Saturday 3.20.2010

Post Present Medium / The Smell Day Party
at Cheer Up Charlie's (Formerly Mrs Bea's)
1104 East 6th St at Medina
Noon - 6pm
Free

w/

Moment Trigger
Pocahaunted
Infinite Body
Gun Outfit
Abe Vigoda
Total Abuse (We play at 5:15)


Post Present Medium Presents SXSW Showcase
Barbarella 615 Red River Street
Free w/ SXSW wristband

Gun Outfit 8:00 p.m. Olympia WA
Total Abuse 9:00 p.m. Austin TX
KIT 10:00 p.m. Los Angeles CA
Best Coast 11:00 p.m. Los Angeles CA
Abe Vigoda 12:00 a.m. Los Angeles CA
No Age 1:10 a.m. Los Angeles CA

Sunday 3.21.2010

Todd P's Mexico Festival
Monterrey Mexico
more info @ http://www.toddp.com/mtymx

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Monday, February 15, 2010

TOTAL ABUSE AT SXSW 2010

March 18th

show #1 - 913 E. Cesar Chavez (domy books) we play at 3pm

Show #2 - Baby Blue Studio @ 1522 E. 12th Street (we play at 630pm)

w/ Slavescene, Neon Blud, Gun Outfit, Rene Hell + More


March 19th

BPP showcase

at the broken neck
(east cesar chavez and red bluff)

starts at 7pm we play around midnight (two kegs will happen)

playin with rusted shut, dry rot, drunkdriver, slavescene, neon blud, rene hell, weak sisters and more!

March 20th

PPM showcase

615 Red River Street

starts at 8pm

March 21st

at / in Avenida Lázaro Cárdenas 1818, Monterrey, Nuevo León, MEXICO

w/ fucked up and 10000000 other bands.

fest starts at noon till midnight

Thursday, February 11, 2010

RELIGIOUS UPDATE

On March 19th Total Abuse Will Be Getting Baptized At Marney Mamorial Church