this is the boomtown rats with mark bolan

mark bolan is trex.

i met t-rex’s son, roland.

roland bolan was very nice.

didnt need to be,

coulda just said, touch me i am here because of trex.

instead he said, hi my name is roland, ready to watch Tsar?

trex had a song called calling all destroyers.

tsar had a song called calling all destroyers

and james gunn put it at the beginning of his movie Super

a couple years after james did Super he did a little movie called

Guardians of the Galaxy

then Guardians of the Galaxy 2

and in august his new movie will come out called The Suicide Squad

today i was signing up to see a therapist because i have insurance now

actual conversation:

have you been feeling lately anxious or worried?

we’re in the tail end of the plague.

correct. do you sleep well?

yes, i go to sleep around 5 and wake up around 10 or 11. today it was 9.

you don’t smoke medical marijuana do you?

im gonna stop.

why?

it used to help me go to sleep.

doesn’t seem to be working?

thats why im calling you.

the hospital called at the end of an interview i was conducting with the man in charge of the police in hollywood.

now typically i am not an anxious man.

id say it was because i played sports and in the band as a child and when you have to perform in front of crowds, and especially if youre the only one with a giant afro

pressure aint no thing by the time you grow up

but i was a bit nervous about this interview

because i was about to ask him about some bad things about his men and women.

and we only had a half hour scheduled.

for some reason i do better with an hour.

but we hit it off right away because we are both professionals.

i treated him respectfully and he didn’t give me a bunch of hype.

it was actually refreshing how little bullshit he gave me.

i am trying to talk with a giant food brand right now and the load of crap they have shoveled my way is shocking because — im not even asking them anything controversial.

with this captain i was talking about illegalities, deaths, social media. serious business.

and then i had to talk to this therapist assistant.

i said i am having a hard time concentrating. i first thought it was because my gf and i were fighting a lot because we were both unemployed and she had to be in a small apartment with me all day and im great in small doses. but 24.7? even the cats are like, no its cool.

i think she said we will give you so much adderall.

i was like, when?

she was all, it takes 4 months just to get tested to see if its right for you.

i was all ???

she was like i know, everyone in LA thinks they’re losing their minds right now, so theres a line.

and ive never felt more kinship to this beautiful city.

 

i had such a good day today

after i published my Star Wars feature for Star Wars Day, the subject, the man behind so many of the best special effects in so many of my favorite films wrote me and said i “nailed it”

got a former Newsweek Editor who is also the former Executive Editor of Random House to make a funny video for me on the spot

got to ask a famous talk show host about this weed vape pen and he said basically meh LOL

spoke for about 5 minutes straight with the former CIA director and asked him what its like to tell the president to his face something that he probably wont like (he said it is uncomfortable, but it’s your duty)

drank two glasses of delicious wine

chatted with my buddy Matt for a little while so said it was me who introduced the nexus to the wonderfuls which created tsar and many of our lifelong friendships

he also said that during the battle of the bad, his band the long haired leaping gnomes were playing and in front of the stage two people who he had never seen before were wrestling in the dirt and those people it turned out where dan and coulter from the wonderfuls

ate a half of a delicious donut

drove home with all the windows rolled down because summer has finally arrived

thank you lord!

for everything!

tsar’s band girls money turns 11 today

ive had a charmed life

ive kissed the prettiest girls

ive traveled the world

you you and you have read my humble little blog.

but one of the best parts of my life has been the friendships that ive been lucky enough to have

and of those friends, it has been so nice to have friends who literally rock

Tsar is comprised of friends i met in college. some from the dorms and some from the Nexus.

and Solomon came straight from the pages of the Good Book.

this video is from the Bootleg when they opened for Nerf Herder.

what a great show. in part because of Dan’s mustache.

theres few things i like more than taking pictures.

here are some of my faves from 2010


toronto, canada, jan 2
in the wake of the failed underwear bomber “enhanced security” was mandatory for international flights going into the usa. here a child speaks for all of us.


hollywood, jan 9
while eating a mcrib in the FoodsCo parking lot on Sunset i wonder why these seagulls prefer that lot when mccarthur park’s lake is only a few miles away. and of course theres also the ocean.


red line, vermont and sunset, jan 16
taggers are the poets of this city


la times cover, jan 20
you have no idea how much i love this paper


hollywood blvd, jan 22
elmo thinks hes undercover when he wears his ron artest jersey, but we see you g


la times, jan 26
tsar makes a triumphant return during a live show in the basement of the alamo


santa monica, jan 28
whenever the lakers win the sky gets purple and rooms for locals are half price

R.I.P. Spaceland

One of LA’s premiere places to experience live music, especially up n coming new alternative bands, is changing its name and moving away.

Spaceland, the Silver Lake mainstay that helped launched the likes of Beck, Silversun Pickups, Arcade Fire, Eliot Smith, and Tsar, is ending its longrunning partnership with the owner of the former strip club, changing its name and moving – possibly to Downtown LA.

“It just reached a point where it was time for us to move on,” Promoter Mitchell Frank said in a written statement. “We’ve had some incredible musical moments here; people met, fell in love, started life-long friendships, but it’s just time for a change.”

The nondescript club on Silver Lake Blvd. was so cool and cozy and perfect that big named groups would often play there for special events. Bands like Weezer and The Foo Fighters had the hipsters lined up around to jam into the 250 capacity club.

But the best shows were seeing a band new band hit the stage and break through to the next level, and often Spaceland was the stage where the magic would happen.

The new club will play electronica.

I weep for those who never had the chance to see Spaceland the way I did. But maybe they will be better off for it will be damn near impossible to replicate that very special LA landmark.

baby have i been busy.

but that doesnt mean i dont love you. it only means i love you more.

tsar came down from the mountaintop after a far-too-long haitus.

they came down with an agenda, a game plan, a target, and a mission.

their goal was to break yr heart.

“you” being all other hollywood bands who were under the belief that the throne of kings of hollywood rock was vacant.

the dual guitar was back, the american flag cape was back, the full house was back, the girls in their summer clothes were back,

in fact chuck tsar beat his bass drum so hard that the fuzzy hammer thing on the top of the bass pedal shot right through the skin and did a stage dive into the front row of the viper room and said deal with it effers,

rock is back.

opening for veruca salt, tsar introduced a new bass player but the same old attitude which is, here are 10-12 songs better than anything on the radio, here are guitar solos that youve been waiting to hear since the 80s hair glam movement, heres a funny tshirt and a recklessness from the isla vista / replacements days, and deep down heres a majesty that pretty much no one has any more, the missing link that even axl knows is the secret ingredient of the chinese democracy.

why was jeff whalen smiling? cuz bros got it, cuz hes got the band, the girls, and something better than money.

ripping through old tunes and older tunes, tsar introduced nothing new, which was fine. it was a walk around the park, a stroll through familiar territory, a jog through a clean well lighted place, a remembrance of their debut album eight years ago, and a quick glance at the followup rocker.

after completely destroying through an epic version of “wanna get dead” whalen through huge applause whispered “so are you watching the olympics?”

nbc wish they had what the lucky few saw on friday night on the sunset strip.







Questions from the greatest people in the world:

busblog readers

and answers from the worst man of all, tony pierce

this one goes out to melissa gluck of Curbed LA who i falsely accused of something and i was so wrong and im so sorry and i hope she can find it in her heart to forgive me:

1. World Peace, Legalized Weed, or a live Bukowski reading? Why?
The WordSlinger

If weed was legal there’d be a LOT more peace and it would inspire the next generation of great writers and poets and losers to bang out a few more books. Or it would simply inspire them to bang more.

2. Are you sad that something came up and I couldn’t see you in :LA?
Michael (aka Azreal Darkskies)

To be honest, im usually very nervous about meeting fans of the busblog because im afraid i cannot ever possibly live up to the personae that ive created. so i was probably quite relieved.

3. When will you come to Chicago and sit in the bleachers with me and drink warm Old Style?
Bob

As tempting as you make it sound, you’ll have to wait till next year. I’m trying to save the world over here.

4. this has been bothering me for quite some time. i would like to know why, at the end of the day, when i have consumed nothing more than cereal and coffee, my sink is overflowing with dishes, YET AGAIN. all i ever do is the fucking dishes and here they are again, night after night, CONSTANTLY MOCKING ME FROM MY DISGUSTING SINK.

it never ends. please help.
murl

if you do them it only encourages them. i mock them by eating fast food and cooking using paper bowls and plastic forks. when the sink starts stinking i say oh yeah? and cut a fart and light it.

5. Why do girls seem a little bit accessible everywhere else?
Sycz

Girls hate local boys. proven fact. always be on the road. always be traveling. always be leaving home and make them miss you, and stay away far too long and before you return demand that they welcome you back – properly. and if they agree and then dont fulfill their end of the bargain, stop talking to them forever and share their secrets with the world in upcoming books.

6. why do people forget that i have been blogging longer than you, is it because you are more of a whore opportnist or just a whore? when are you going to grow some hair back? when are you going to stop saying baby? it makes my skin crawl haha.
raymi

1) b/c youre a woman 2. b/c youre canadian 3. b/c i was web-siteing before you were blogging, baby. and ps thats not your skin crawling thats your juices flowing and i appreciate the compliment.

7. Will you come to Vancouver on September 20th for the Matt Good show to hang out with all the cool people and hotties you met in Vegas?
Jennie

that day is my mommys birthday and the things i would do with the hotties i met in vegas i would never do on my mommys birthday

8. Would ya?
Ciavarro

in canada theres very little i wouldnt do cuz it doesnt count up there. except cocaine. i would never do that there.

9. why the fuck not?
timmay!!!!!

ok fine, you talked me into it.

bush cheney lincoln10. How overrated is grad school?
John

if it allows you to become a professor at UC Isla Vista it’s perfectly-rated. if its just a way to avoid the world for a few years as you bang undergrads, repeatedly. wait what were we talking about?

11. When will TSAR rule the world?
Why are chicks so whacked?
Why is Bush still in office?
Who is your favorite candidate?
How is your carpal tunnel?
Do you ever tire of writing?
Chris C

when fear is thru with its turn, if i got cramps and bled once a month id be way worse than any chick i ever met, dumb constitution, ron paul 08, 90% cleared up thank you!, writing is the same as beating off and taking recordbreaking shits and i love all three equally – infact this week i wrote write my 2,000th post on LAist

12. How much better is Canadian weed?
Would you rather stay sober than smoke a shitty bowl?
Michael (aka Azreal Darkskies)

not to burst your bubble but it wasnt better than the weed i normally smoke, but it was way funner to get in vancouver, mostly because it was from the hells angels, and the process was very quick and organized. just like naked girls, if you cant make something good out of a bowl of weed then you probably should go back to defending george bush because youre clearly not playing this game correctly.

when you have a pity party – do you invite god? cuz you kinda know what he’s gonna say.
Adriel

if theres one thing i avoid its negativity. oh and success. however when i have been very sad i have been enlightened while in prayer. its only happened a few times but its amazing. i sorta avoid those moments too cuz theyre super freaky.

apple macbook prowhat happened to malingering on laist?
Rob F

everyone deserves a summer vacation. especially her.

Jesus comes back and says “Tony? You need to run the L.A. Times’ sports section.” What do you do in the first 100 days?
Matt Welch

the first day id say, but i wanted to run the playboy mansion blog squad.
the second day id say, but id rather work with melissa lalum at the Daily News
the third day id say, wait just because i need to run it doesnt mean i have the gig
the fourth day id say, oh great thanks for giving me the gig, didnt want it
the fifth day id say, how did i end up here on spring street, what happened to free will?
the sixth day id say, its saturday why am i still at work?
the seventh day id rest
the eighth day id fire everyone except helene elliott
the ninth day id rehire the transexual Christine and apologize for firing her
the tenth day id hire Steve Czaban to cover Gaucho Hoops
the eleventh day id hire Scott Ferrell to do the Lunchtime Podcast of Hate
the twelfth day id hire twelve maids a milking
the thirteenth day id write a column about Bud Selig being a racist
the fourteenth day id stop covering the Angels until they cut the shit about being the LA Angels
the fifteenth day id hire Snoop Dogg to do whatever he willzle

there would be a guest sports columnist every day from the world of sport or entertainment. id let kids cover the X Games, like 13 yrs old and under. Sundays would be Ladies Day, all stories written by the fairer sex. sorry HR dept.

there would be so much multimedia live, on-the-spot reporting in the online arm (Jesus would let me run the sports portion of LATimes.com too cuz he Loves me) with videos AVAILABLE ON YOUTUBE and not that retardulious LA Times propriety video bullshit that doesnt let you embed and spread the genius thru wacky things like the blogosphere, that it would dominate the world.

i would allow the Laker Girls to write tons. i would demand that Phil Jackson tell us about spirituality and office politics every Saturday during the off season. i would also abuse our local national treasures by picking their brains AT LEAST once a week. those treasures being of course Tommy Lasorda, Vin Scully, Magic Johnson, and Mr. John Wooden. all of whom we’re lucky are still alive so we should celebrate them now and not wait until its too late for long ass bullshit obits and special sections when Jesus offers them new jobs in the sky.

if you want someone to come over and keep you up till 4am

leah reading stiff just let them know that youve gotta go to bed early.

no other than anna kournikova came over to my house last night and the bitch wouldnt leave. it was like lets make up and be friends again and i was all ewwww you have ricky martin germs or whoever that gaydude is.

she was like hes not ricky martin, as if.

the cd that i listened to the most this year was tsar’s band girls money.

and in honor of them and to bring good luck to my trip i will rock blog it right now an invention i just created.

what you do is put on the cd and start blogging and dont stop till its over.

tsar
band girls money
tvt records, 2005

the dual guitar attack is what rock n roll is about. modern day rock. maybe in the olden days it was the twinkling piano but we’re in the post punk post metal post-alternative netherlands right now unsure of who we are or what we’re doing or who is the mightiest rock band of all

and tsar starts off their sophomore cd with a cry in the wilderness, a scream from a butterfly, a call of here i am here i am here i am.

next on my mix after the title track is I Wanna Get Dead which proclaims early “i got a lot a photographs of people i hate” and later “its hard to take a stand with all the women on your lap”. could be the best pop song of the year and i believe i hear a champaigne cork pop.

im going to get in the car in about a half hour and drive to san francisco with a banjo on my knee.

wanna get shot to hell, wanna get dead

up up down down

next on my mix is the epic Wrong which is my favorite song on the album. thats how you should make cds by the way. start off with both barrells, which in this case was band girls money, then follow with something with a quick start like Wanna Get Dead and then comes your best hitter who can go long, wrong.

“did the system lift your star too high.”

ive done most of my packing and the good thing about driving is you can just load up the trunk with ridiculous items like ipod alarm clock radio. 500 cds. four different jackets. cans of beefaroni. four pairs of shoes. a loaf of bread.

everybody’s fault but mine bats cleanup. its ominious bass opening creeps you out and that riff returns and the kids arent making riffs like this out there in the top 40 and you really should reward people who do this. its not easy.

fine her name wasnt anna kournikova but i started calling her that because i wanted her to leave but she wouldnt leave and i kept saying to myselef are you crazy youre demanding that this gorgeous girl get away from you but dude i had to pack!

i paid my rent in case i was trapped up there in a snowdrift and told the old lady that the housesitter didnt speak english.

star time bats fifth to show off how deep this lineup is. people asked me about the fact that its “only” 37 minutes long. and i never told them this but i wanted to say to each of them, id rather have a solid 37 minutes than 20 minutes of quality and 40 minutes of filler.

tsar doesnt have any filler.

my brothers are all proud rockers.

to the left you have leah face from vacant.cc who ive been reading for a very long time so its an honor to see her reading stiff which was a huge success and i want to thank everyone who got it.

all of the autographed ones sold out fast but the unsigned ones are still on sale at the busblog store.

conqueror worm is a weird space song about a worm.

when people ask you about ’05 tell them that bush admitted to spying on america and tsar wrote a song about a worm that ends so beautifully you cant even believe it.

which is then followed by Straight which makes this a great record all of a sudden.

ive got a chemical smile, im a moustashe man.

im straight.

stray-eight.

people say theyre straight but they bend like a hook.

what? i mean what? can you really say that? and this is where the dual guitar attack gets you. nobody has this. and a real guitar solo thats really two guitar solos. then the break down and then the return. the glorious return.

the return of rock.

listen to those seven songs for seven days in that order, and i promise you that you’ll hear the return of rock.

hell in 1999 i was looking for a little action, dropping out of school and working for the xbi.

and even if i dont know where i am, dude i know where im at.

shalom.

next up batting ninth if you can believe it is tsars new single love explosion. i talked with jeff after the troubador show and he told me that the video for love explosion is exactly what hes always wanted, so i cant wait to see it.

i wonder who will play the horns in the video?

which lets us finish the cd with the matt welch co-written you cant always want what you get, and again where are you hearing this sort of guitar these days? its the return of rock. and when you add those seven songs with kathy fong, destoyers, i dont wanna break up and teen wizards you dont even need you and jim, which is why tsar hasnt really played that one much, which is shocking since it was their closer for years.

ok so thats rockblogging rock stars. as the horns of this song send us out i wanna send shoutouts to mark in frisco who i will drink with tonight at the 500 club and jessica from elgin roots who i will party with and her two friends from chicago. and i hope the rain doesnt get me before i get there so im out.

leah + the saugeen stripper is right behind Christmas + zulieka + black helicopters

tsar

juliette and the licksw/juliette lewis & the licks
troubador
west hollywood
11/20/05

tsar is the hottest band in america. hands down. thats not even in debate.

the question is why arent they getting any radio play outside of tinsel town.

the quartet fresh from touring canada and the pacific northwest took a two by four to the immaculate preconceptions of the lovely lesbians waiting to adore their juliette and turned half of them straight

in tiny puddles of glee.

mixing classic cuts with should-be hits from band girls money, jeff whalen and his posse took the stage precisely at 9:30pm and literally stopped time.

it was like the matrix except with better music

instead of bullets musical notes sped across the frozen audience and instead of the world rotating, all that moved were the camera angles until the universe nearly imploded and dan mashed his foot on the effect pedal

and then POW

atoms were split, lions layed down with lambs, good and evil frenched kissed in the vip section of the whosit and juliettes nipples hardened in her dressing room

a new child was borned named emmaunelle

this one minus the kidney problems

he sprouted wings collected his arrow and took aim up westhollywood accompanied only with the devil winds from santa ana

drunk with power and might and the promise of a few days off Tsar took no prisoners assualting our senses with rock slash roll, with generous doses of the former and a smidge of the latter.

the chick from the sopranos who died in the show and ended up in the hell called “joey” nearly spilt her drink.

jeff koganuts koga front and center wore a flack jacket and ducked under the flame of majesty as he snapped pictures of the event and late late last night posted his findings on blogging.la but left out the part where his hair had turned white and his rod had lenghtened and curled.

caterpillars evolved into elephants

moths turned into midgets

and the dreams and wishes of rock fans everywhere came to fruition on a stage once rocked by the doors, kiss, the eagles, and spinal tap; who it turned out, played there only as an preminition to what was to be the tsar show that you missed last night in los angeles.

some have taken me up on my invitation to witness the revolution and they came out believers in the Truth

some have chosen to continue to waltz to the dance of the dead

all i can do skywrite across the stratosphere

i cant make a horse drink.

but trust me when i tell you that theres a reason why karisa j left her hottub on the wesssside and why the lipsticked lesbians of hollywood left temple early and lined up on santa monica blvd to bathe in the holy spirt of rock

yes it was to see juliette lewis jump into the crowd not once but twice during her encore

but it was to find out what the fuck that crazy sound was, that buzz, that unchained melody, that careless whisper, that silent scream

its name is tsar

and they kiss girls too.

meet me in chicago on saturday night + hi gwen’s nipple + the doo dah was hot

the anticipated Tsar roundup

tsar band girls money Billboard

Masterfully mixing glam showmanship with gritty Sunset Strip attitude, Tsar’s “Band Girls Money” is one of the best rock albums so far this year.

Full of glossy vocals, playful lyrics and infectious guitar riffs, it delivers one power-pop punch after another on such songs as “Superdeformed,” and “Conquerer Worm.”

The title track/lead single is featured in a national Napster/Nestle Crunch ad campaign; that could give Tsar enough exposure to grab the brass ring. – Katy Kroll

Glide Magazine

Reeking with a combination of the rebellion of The Stooges and the glam-pop swagger of T-Rex, TSAR resurrects the seventies underground with “fuck you” arrogance. Formed in Los Angeles, TSAR released their critical acclaimed self-titled debut on Hollywood Records in 2000. After moving to TVT Records founding members, vocalist Jeff Whalen and guitarist Daniel Kern commissioned a new drummer, Check Byler and bass player Derrick Forget. The change in rhythm section revitalized and altered the make-up of the band.

Unlike the Weezer-esque timbre of the first record, this sophomore set is in your face with very little over-the-top production; just straight rock and roll. The songs on Band-Girls-Money are short, sweet, and tight with a poppy sashay reminiscent of Dream Police-era Cheap Trick. Front man Jeff Whalen struts through each track backed by raunchy guitar riffs and torrential drumming. If TSAR has a message it would clearly be one of defiance as they lyrically rail against the “system.” However, this LA quartet is not nearly as political as they are campy and fun.

In the age of cookie cutter garage rock bands, TSAR stand alone as totally unique by revitalizing a sub-genre of rock-n-roll that time had almost forgotten. – Tony Engelhart

Miami New Times

“We’re a hall of mirrors,” says Tsar’s candy-voiced singer Jeff Whalen. He must mean vanity mirrors — Tsar is one of a few rock bands wearing makeup these days for something other than gothic effect — because this retro-glam LA quartet can be a tricky beast to identify. With one foot in the Bay City Rollers’ toy shop and the other in the Dead Boys’ gutter, the new Band-Girls-Money is harder than the band’s 2000 self-titled debut, but the tunes are still top-down driving music, acutely infectious and liable to drive up the demand among men for platform boots and lip gloss. – Andrew Marcus

Music Emmissions

Glam is back indeed. I was really into Tsar’s self-titled debut album from back in 2000 and was kinda curious what happened to them. While it may be unfair to completely call Tsar “Glam”, they do take many influences from past artists. Regardless, Tsar is back with the dreaded sophomore album and succeed quite easily. The band rocks out hard on the title track, ushering you into the album. It’s along the lines of something The (International) Noise Conspiracy would do, with just as much energy. They follow it up with “Wanna Get Dead”, a fantastic power-pop track with the chugga-chugga guitars and a very melodic chorus. It’s tracks like “Wrong” that give the Tsar boys the glam feel. A very polished and poppy track that glimmers like nobodies business. Band-Girls-Money is a great album, maybe not quite as polished and complete as their debut but a fine album as well. Call Tsar glam, call them power-pop, whatever, bottom-line is that Tsar does rock hard and deserve some airplay and some attention. You can never go wrong with good, raunchy guitars and slick vocals. Four Stars – Dennis Scanland

LA Weekly Spaceland 7/8/05

No power ballads! We like that. Instead, a lotta very, very tuff yet heart-tugging true-rock glitter & grime, showing no mercy and steeding swift like the clock does tick. Tsar — Great Rock Hopes five years ago/lost their major-label deal/didn’t puss out/etc. — are now pumped ’n’ primed to be the Genuine Rock Stars they were born to be. Witness this Comeback Special, where they came on All Young Dudes/Banana Splits/sassy funny fun rock smack in the middle of saggy Silver Lake, a Tsar of wild, wild youth and unchained melody. Fun, yet Tsar have a lot at stake — you can hear it in the dark depth of their tunes and the wry passion of their performance.

So, runny mascara, big puffy lips, hands on hips, billowing fog and a Kiss-my-cheese flashing logo: Tsar mainman Jeff Whalen enters the stage draped in American flag like a cape, nice snotty bit of symbolism for this, yes, great rock unit brimming with actual triffic melodic (no BS) songs and a mind-blowing technical facility (tight!) for bringing the real goods back for a generation in true need, like a rocket fulla glammy-punky Captain Americas high on pop clichés and smart enough to have alchemized the juice.

As Whalen puffs his cigs and twitches and roars and preens and cajoles and tears his hair and rips his lungs & heart out, and his comparatively stoic lead-guitar buddy Daniel Kern applies the sonic sizzle (along with the warhorse-not-drayhorse new rhythm section of Chuck Byler, drums, and Derrick Forget, bass & vocals & pouts), the band just plain blows through a nonstop, hi-hi-NRG set of things mostly taken from the ace new Band–Girls–Money, and it’s — okay, it’s like the Archies meet the Ramones, or ELO humping BTO, and a grand finale of Buzzcocks briefing BOC. Whalen’s songcraft is such seriously persuasive stuff, each song’s an overture ensconcing every classic pop-punk experience you ever had, and fooling you into figuring you never heard it before.

They think ambitious, yet they aren’t pretench-ish. Watching them smoke these tunes onstage was exhilarating, inspiring and, most important, very, very funny. – John Payne

Alternative Addiction

Tsar’s 2000 debut was an excellent yet poorly marketed album. Combining elements of bubblegum pop with a harder edge it wildly underachieved. As a consequence the label dropped the band-a bitter irony when you consider the lack of effort put in by Hollywood records- a decision compounded by the fact that they were none too impressed with the follow up.

Apparently its lack of radio friendly attributes sent Tsar packing into the great corporate dustbin. TVT records had the common sense to ransack the bin to release this worthy second effort.

Whereas the debut was as smooth as a baby’s backside with Rob Cavallo’s production dominating, “Band Girls Money” is as rough as wiping the same baby’s backside with sandpaper.

Taking their lead from anyone from the New York Dolls, Cheap Trick and Brit glam rockers The Sweet through to Red Kross, Tsar cook up a tasty pot of trashy hard rock. The smooth pomp of the debut is wrenched aside and in its place comes a raging lip stick wearing pit-bull with a sweet tooth. Songs like the revved up title track, the catchy trash pop of “The Love Explosion” and the T-Rex influenced
“Superdeformed” exemplify rock in its lowest denominator. The faint hearted should step aside now and leave Tsar to swagger on down the sunset strip, with sweat, honesty and a touch of eyeliner. three and a half stars – Mike

Not Lame

2005 release from this band that totally POPPED Not Lamers back in 1998…and then the major dropped. Old Story, New Ending. This is not the power pop style that many may be hoping for, but this smoking gun of pop slinger kicks out the jams with explosively raw riffs, shiny hooks and jackhammer choruses. One of the best, hard rocking, kick ass rock-via-pop albums of 2005. Yes, not for folks quesy about volume, but if you do like it loud is glam pop of the finest sort. “A trash-glam masterpiece. `Band-Girls-Money` is made to be played at the Rainbow Room while…Slash sprawls unconscious across the bar.” – Boulder Weekly. “Think punk, glam and British Invasion–Cheap Trick, New York Dolls, Sweet and the Beatles.” -Knight-Ridder Newspapers. “TSAR pounds and swings the boogie harder and sweeter than ever.”-Village Voice. It`s not the old Tsar, but the new one is *still* Extremely Highly Recommended! (site includes 4 downloadable mp3s)

ModernRock.com

How odd that a rock band can be an anachronism in this day and age.

In the case of Tsar, TVT Records’ newest family member, they’re emerging onto the national scene in an era of Mancunian moping and Gang of Four idolatry.

Somehow, tried-and-true rock ‘n’ roll fundamentals have been fallen by the wayside. Tsar is that rare band that isn’t easily categorized, or easily swayed by trends.

“My brothers are all proud rockers,” sings frontman Jeff Whalen in the blistering “Startime,” one of ten songs on Tsar’s debut, Band-Girls-Money. Part glam sex-pose, part punk sneer, part pop craftsmanship, Band-Girls-Money synthesizes decades of music history and combines with contemporary zeal to create three-minute bursts of energy.

The savvy listener will hear traces of power pop legends Cheap Trick and Sweet, as well as the three-chord attack of the Dead Boys, the glam appeal of T-Rex and the Dolls, and the showmanship of Alive-era KISS. Whalen, the band’s primary songwriter, has a pure bubblegum past – and you can hear that, too. His favorite bands are The Monkees, The Archies and Tommy James. “I have a belief that all really great bands are not the genre the people associate them with. They’re actually pop bands. It’s always the bands with good songs that outlast any trends or styles.”

Combine Whalen’s countless hours with such a record collection with Tsar’s here-and-now sound and you’ve got music that’s utterly contemporary, completely free of stereotype and above all pure rock. “With us, it’s kind of impossible to say what kind of music we are other than rock and roll,” he says.

Seeing them play live is the best way to appreciate this well-oiled sonic machine. In their native city of LA, crowds have grown to appreciate the band’s energetic gigs. A “Tsar” sign straight out of a Vegas chorus line’s dressing room flashes behind the four members’ sweaty performance. The PA system strains under the force of dual guitar distortion and a pummeled bass. It’s rock showmanship. Short songs and long on emotion.

“You wanna get that rock and roll desire,” explains Whalen of performing on stage. “It’s really powerful. It involves embracing the ludicrousness of what’s happening. I’m going to stand up here and dance around and everybody’s gonna look at me. The times you really enjoy the show are the times you really don’t know what you’re doing and nothing is planned. When it’s working, it’s a great symbiosis.”

so the question is, why havent you gotten band girls money yet?

buzznet will make a book of yr buzznet pics + did zulieka deliver? + fook the people