Bloodhag.

THIS MONTH'S PICK IS A phenomenal record by The Detroit Cobras. I'm not into cover bands, and generally dislike bands that put out records that are all covers. There are a few exceptions, however, and this is a glaring one. Life Love and Leaving, their second LP (the first one rocks too, and unfortunately is long out of print now) on Sympathy for the Record Industry, is an amazing collection of obscure blues/soul/rock stuff. The songs all smoke, but perhaps what sets this so far apart (and above) much of the crap out there are Rachel Nagy's vocals. Sultry and she sounds like any young punk's dream girl. Now I gotta see 'em play...The Essential Radio Birdman (1974-1978) left out one essential song: "Death By The Gun," one of my all-time favorite (although kinda obscure) Birdman tunes. Still, Sub Pop has put out an amazing CD of Birdman stuff from their two LPs and other sources, including a great sounding version of "Snake." You should know by now that they are one of my all time favorite rock and roll bands. This CD is no disappointment, and provides an easy way to check out the variety of their music without having to buy crappy sounding bootlegs or paying top EBay dollar for the original stuff...Speaking of Sub Pop, a couple of other labels, Crash Rawk and Rock 'N' Roleplay, have collaborated with the behemoth to release Is It Dead?, a compilation of 10 Northwest hardcore (and its subgenres of the day, grindcore and thrash) bands. Some pretty brutal stuff that will definitely give your grandma a headache and make you a hit with the unwashed masses... "What the hell is Fancy Hair Dragon?" you might ask. A perfectly reasonable question, and let me provide the answer. It's Dave Miller's (from the Odd Numbers) side project; solid pop stuff that'll set you to tappin' your toes on a warm summer day. The 'Numbers also have a new long player entitled The Trials and Tribulations of... (on Coldfront, who also re-released their debut About Time). Modpunk that is too pop to be too punk, but still punk enough not to be pop (and it's definitely not "pop-punk"). Heavily influenced by The Jam, the songwriting has continued to be top, and their latest shows more of their soul and '60s side along with plenty of their up-tempo tunes ("Thrift. Shoppin'," "Dee Major Tom")... The new Scared Of Chaka LP is entitled Crossing with Switchblades, and it's on Hopeless. More quirky and high energy punk with the occasional dose of pop, these guys put on a great live show and a lot of their energy captured on this number.

Where are the codpieces ?

JB: My skills at clothing crafting are pretty limited. I was hoping that by this time I'd be hooked up with some sort of fashion model. When we do the R**d Like a Beast album (ala WASP's F**k Like a Beast), I'll be wearing a bloody book codpiece on the cover.

How did the library tour go?

Z: One show got cancelled. It had been broached to the librarians as "something for teens" and this lady at the Olympia library decided it was going to be something for young teens. They had a sign-up sheet at the library. One person signed up, heard we were a metal band, then pulled her kid out. Our point was to bring the youth into the library.

JB: We were treated like rock star royalty.

JM: The librarian in Hoquiam...

Z: She was saying, "Those were the kids who come into the library to try and steal CDs and stuff. I've never seen these kids ever interact or enjoy them-selves that much."

JB: That's all in the video--The Faster You Go Deaf, The More Time You Have to Read: The Timberland Regional Library District Tour 2001. The Read Free or Die Tour." Big-assed long title, but it's only eight minutes long.

Good for ADD.

JB: That showed at South by Southwest as part of the short documentary film competition. Zach, how much do you bleed when you floss with the E string? (Otherwise known as doing bass slides with his teeth.)

Z: Well, I've been known to lose chunks of teeth. I learned my lesson--not to do the solo to "Phillip K. Dick" with my teeth. Luckily, my mother works at a dental clinic and I got that fixed on the cheap.

Jake, have you ever faced litigation for throwing books and inflicting severe paper wounds?

JM: You wasted a dude right in the face and broke his tucked-up Mongoose-styled glasses.

JB: That was a straight head bash. He was up by the side of the stage and I hit him on the head and I didn't know he had his sunglasses across the top of his head, and I split them right in half. He's all, "These were 80 dollar sunglasses." Then there was this really big straight edge kid. We finished the song and he said, "You hit me in the face with the book." And his friend goes, "He's going to kick your ass." And I'm like, "You're not going to kick my ass." And he's like, "What do you mean?" And I'm like, "Well, you can't kick my ass. How about that, motherfucker?" The worst part was after the show, he wouldn't take my apology. "You marked my face." He had this little, tiny blue mark under his eye. The guy was a foot and a half taller than me. The first book I ever threw out hit a really cute girl right in the face.

JM: It hit Brent's girlfriend right between the eyes.

JB: That was the curse, that I was always going to hit the biggest guy or the smallest girl in the head. One thing that will prove your hardcore geekiness...

JM: We went to Robert E. Howard's home (author of Conan), over 100 miles out of our way.

JB: The place he lived his entire life and killed himself. Cross Plains, Texas. We searched through two cemeteries looking for his gravestone so we could get a photo....

(They also stole a route 666 sign. It was in their van. Bloodhag can be reached at 634 NW 48th, Seattle, WA 98107 or at [e-mail])