I rewatched Ryan Kruger's Street Trash sequel this weekend, and it put ten Althone back on my radar. LOVE this track. You can support the band at any of the links on their Link Tree HERE.
Watch:
I'd been waiting for Writer/Director Joshua Erkman's debut, A Desert, since March. Co-written with Bossi Baker, these two gentlemen have indeed delivered what will no doubt be one of my favorite films of the year. Subtle, creepy, emotional and WEIRD in all the best ways.
Plus, pretty sure this is the biggest role The Jesus Lizard's frontman David Yow has had in a film, and he NAILS it. A Desert is currently a $6.99 rental on Prime, and it is worth every penny.
Read:
Another book I picked up last week at the comic shop* was something I stumbled across on the racks from a while ago - April 30th, to be exact. Planet Death issue 0:
When I found this, the cover and interior art immediately made me think of 80s-era Dark Horse Comics. Don't let this pristine jpg I grabbed online fool you - Planet Death 0 was printed on a wonderfully sturdy newsprint stock. One that, according to the afterward by the publisher, they actually had to seek out and purchase the entire stock to procure it. This is a wonderfully tactile reading experience.
Seeing the "Bad Idea" imprint name, I assumed I was supporting a local or super-indie book, and while this is indie, it's not 100% indie. The creator is Derek Kolstad, the screenwriter behind John Wick. So yeah, there's some inertia here. Apparently, this was the largest order for an indie comic since Image's fabled launch, with this issue bringing in 655,000 copies ordered. So much for helping the underdog!
Seriously though, I'd still consider this an underdog. Everything that isn't the Big 2 kind of is, and if you want to expand that definition's net a bit further, Bad Idea and Planet Death are still largely unknown and have no name recognition beyond the John Wick DNA. Still, as popular as the Wick movies are, there are very few Screenwriters who achieve the kind of recognition that can help carry a small comic company into the black.
But Planet Death is cool, super cool, and while a lot of why I feel that way may be linked to nostalgia, I still think its gritty Cyber-Punk space marine feel will appeal to a lot of comic fans. The first issue lands July 9th, and I'll definitely be grabbing that. From there, the afterward makes it clear the subsequent issues will be released when they are complete and perfect, and that sounds great to me. I'm looking forward to this, but I don't necessarily want another monthly book, nor do I feel like this will require a regular schedule. The story seems like it will work on it's own terms. Here's the solicitation from League of Comic Geeks
"Millions of miles from home, hundreds of ships descend into the stormy atmosphere of a hostile frozen world. On board, an army of resolute men and women brace for the coming assault. They are an invasion force, on an impossible mission — destroy the devastating enemy weapon garrisoned below. Corporal Scott and his battalion are in the vanguard but the human forces are no match for their brutal alien adversaries. Scott’s battalion is dead within moments. He is its lone survivor. The landing force annihilated, the battle is lost. Against overwhelming odds, Scott dares the unthinkable — cross behind enemy lines, survive the lethal landscape, evade capture by ruthless enemies, resist natural predators, face human deserters and finish the mission singlehandedly. Locked in his suit of full combat battle armor, sustained only by what he can carry, and driven by Earth’s wrath, Scott must do by himself what an entire army could not. Destroy the weapon. Return home."
* See? All that and I still ended up needed two days to talk about it all.
Playlist:
Faith No More - Angel Dust
Mr. Bungle - Eponymous
Deafheaven - Lonely People With Power
GBH - City Baby Attacked By Rats
LARD - Pure Chewing Satisfaction
Mothers of Invention - Freak Out!
ten Athlone - Street Trash E.P.
ten Athlone - Travelator
Amigo the Devil - Born Against
The Cops - Free Electricity
Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue
The Jeff Healey Band - Road House (The Lost Soundtrack)
Anthrax - Worship Music
Billy Idol - Rebel Yell
Judas Priest - Painkiller
Perturbator - Lustful Sacraments
• Ace of Swords
• Three of Cups
The Spark of Essence. A Breakthrough of Intellect. Solid Emotional Outcome.
Sounds a lot like a three-step plan to get my ass back in gear. I've been slowly dipping my toe back into Shadow Play, but I've had a lot of distractions. This coming weekend is a trip to Chicago, after that, I'm calling it now: Full Immersion!!!
