Whiskey
& Porn ::
Filthy
Jim releases audio homage to fast, scuzzy rock
The first night of spring break 2001, a friend and I decided to wander
down the street to an unidentified basement party.
An hour later, I was in a cyclone of elbows and lowered shoulders
churning to the head-banging, dischordant sounds of a haggard-looking
four-piece band performing under a pair of bare bulbs. As the frenzy
reached its crescendo, this moment of beer and white noise was punctuated
by an anonymous knee to my crotch.
Live :: Filthy Jim
with Saddlerash
10 p.m. Monday at The Taproom (801 New Hampshire St.), Lawrence
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The next morning, braced against my bathroom wall, I bid a pained
fairwell to a stream of urine and blood; my introduction to the seamy
sounds of Filthy Jim was one neither I nor my bladder would be forgetting
soon.
On April 1st, long-time fans of these Lawrence sleaze-rockers' live
show, or those with aversions to internal injuries, the Filthy Jim
experience will available in safe, take-home form.
Whiskey and Porn, the band's debut album, is best enjoyed "at a loud
volume, drunk," says bassist Troy Richardson.
"It's good to have sex to," adds guitarist Steve Hammond.
Circumstantial listening activities aside, Whiskey and Porn is a brutal,
26-minute homage to all the bad things that feel so great about fast,
scuzzy rock n' roll. All 12 tracks come and go with the urgency of
a suckerpunch, seething with the piss and vinegar of the Stooges,
the depraved grit of the Melvins, and just a touch of Motley Crue's
sing-a-long scum.
After being offered a free analog recording opportunity by a co-worker
of guitarist Seth Cole during his job with Lawrence Taxi, Filthy Jim
stopped in Brooklyn, NY, while on tour to record at Reverse Engineering.
"They record more jazz there, but it was pretty good because it made
it more ambient and raw, which is what we wanted," says Cole.
As Hammond pokes drummer Paul Brooks' head with a tape measure, declaring
the longest of his dreadlocks to be an astonishing seventeen inches
long, Filthy Jim's devotion to the details, both in recording and
other aspects, is fully revealed.
While in search of proper distribution for the album, the band found
interest from both the Aces and Eights and Owned and Operated labels,
who wanted the band to record the album at The Blasting Room in Fort
Collins, Colo.
Filthy Jim, however, tired of sitting on their previous studio work,
was intent on having the original recordings released.
"We searched and searched for a label and had interest from several,"
said Richardson.
Finally, the band was able to reach an agreement with Tour Horse Records
in Dallas, Texas, which agreed to release the album as-is.
To celebrate the album's release, Filthy Jim will be throwing a CD
release party at the downstairs section of The Taproom (801 New Hampshire
St.), Lawrence.
"Whoever wants to rock, we'll take 'em," said Hammond.
Saddlerash, Cole's and Hammond's down-home country side-project, will
open the show at 10 p.m. Whiskey and Porn will be available at Love
Garden Sounds (926 1/2 Massachussettes), Lawrence, and through the
band's website, www.filthyjim.com
 More
filthiness here
www.kansan.com
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