>>>After nearly 11 years, 515 shows and one short-lived name change, Tazy Phyllipz's renowned Ska Parade radio show has ended its run on KUCI-FM 88.9. “I love the station, but it was time to move on,” Tazy tells LowBallAssChatter. While acknowledging that there had been “personality clashes” with station management (“That's the best way to put it,” he says), he opted not to elaborate further. (KUCI program director Julie Espy did not return our calls.) The last first-run edition of The Ska Parade—or SP Radio One, as the show had recently been renamed to reflect its gradual embrace of more diverse non-ska styles—was broadcast on Sept. 16. Now airing in the program's long-held Saturday, noon-2 p.m. slot is a freeform show called Repeat After Me. Despite his show's demise, Tazy is fairly optimistic about the future of The Ska Parade. He plans to broadcast two versions of his show over the Internet, with one channel devoted to the traditional ska/third-wave fare with which he made his name and a second channel that will reflect the wider scope of SP Radio One (meaning everything from emo and punk to pop, country and hip-hop). “It'll be easier than live radio because programs will be saved and archived, so people can listen whenever they want,” says Tazy, who adds that he has his own broadcasting/recording gear, which liberates him from the studio. You can keep tabs on The Ska Parade's re-launch by logging on to www.skaparade.com. “I'm grateful that we had an impact at KUCI,” Tazy says. “It really became a cornerstone show. The program has always been centered on artist development, and it's worked. I wish the station well.” (Rich Kane)
>>>SWINGIN' AND SCOWLIN', BABY! It was inevitable, since the genre is so ripe for parody. The only question is why it took so long. But finally, here it is: Lounge Against the Machine, a 16-track collection of rage-rock favorites done up lounge-style, performed by a smarmy guy named Richard Cheese (a.k.a. Mark Davis, a.k.a. KROQ's Paul, the 55-year-old intern). It's essentially a comedy album, and like most comedy albums, it drifts from pee-your-pants-funny on the first spin to unlistenable by the 10th. But there are some rather wicked moments: the “Nookie/Break Stuff” medley, for instance, in which Dickie croons, “Stick it up your yeah!” with a grace that's worthy of Sinatra; the mellow martini-and-olive take on “Guerrilla Radio,” in which Dickie sounds genuinely moved and concerned in a way that Zack de la Rocha just can't as he coolly coos, “More for Gore or the son of a drug lord?/None of the above/Fuck it; cut the cord!” (come to think of it, maybe this is what broke up Rage Against the Machine); and the way Dickie builds tension in the Offspring's “Come Out and Play” in the lyrics, “Like the latest fashion/ Like a spreading dis-eeease/The kids are strap-pin' on the way to the classrooms/Gettin' weapons with the greatest of eeease.” Instead of finger-flipping music, this is finger-snapping music—not a trace of real (or well-faked) angst here, babe! Other high points: “Holiday in Cambodia” (uncensored, with jingle bells!); the intro line of Papa Roach's “Last Resort,” which Dickie makes positively operatic; and his spoken intro to Radiohead's “Creep” (“Y'know, folks, I was talking to my honey the other day—my Pablo honey. I said to her, I said, 'Pablo honey,' I said, I said . . . 'You go to my head. My . . . Radiohead.'”), which though not technically rage-rock, is still kinda cute. (RK)
>>>YES FUTURE FOR YOU! LowBallAssChatter would like to congratulate Nick Sjobeck of Costa Mesa punkers Dodge Dart. On Sept. 27, Sjobeck's wife, Brooke, gave birth to a baby girl, Audrey Elizabeth, who weighed in at 8 pounds, 10 ounces. Papa Sjobeck is currently busying himself by teaching young Audrey how to play guitar, cuss, and flip people off. (RK)
>>>TEX TWIL'S EURO-TRASHING “I've been in Tex Twil for seven years, and that is enough,” says Barry Diamond, Tex Twil's infamously retro lead singer. Six months ago, the band jetted off to Europe with nothing more than their tunes and the hope they'd hit it big. But after years of playing local bars, coffeehouses and bowling alleys, one of OC's hardest-working bands has instead called it quits. Europe was no vacation, according to Diamond, who reports via e-mail from Hamburg, Germany, that he doesn't “know where the guys are or how they feel. As for getting together again, I don't think so.” Diamond's newest project is a '60s country/folk-inspired Mersey-beat band, the Rotten Peaches. The Peaches have recorded a 7-inch and will be making a brief tour of German clubs before returning home for a full-fledged OC assault. Diamond has been doing part-time carpentry in Hamburg while rehearsing with his newfound jet-set band mates in an old World War II bunker. “We drink lots of Caro (a hot malt beverage) and eat too many Turkish kebabs and lemon chocolates,” he says. As for his future, Diamond replies, “Never get soft.” (Frank H. Seddigh)
