DINGLEVAULT - OH NO YOU DIDN'T! "DANCE HITS OF THE 50's & 60's"

It's march(or late march), meaning the barely present gauze of a 2012 winter is over. No sledding this year, actually only one snow that stuck for half a day! What gives!? I never felt in winter mode fully and now it's dunn over with! Oh well. Springtimez are here, get sick and stuffy early so you're not stuck indoors when summer springs out.

Today we got a UNRELEASED gem from 2008 by a wee band called Oh No You Didn't!(!!!). Easily the most influential and go-to dudes of  the time frame of 2006-2009 in Belleville, they were the initial spark of awesomeness that not only started booking diverse and all ages shows that drew a wide crowd, but their eclectic mix of punk, funk, surf, hardcore, noise, jazz, and free-from freakout made them praised by all sides. (guess it helps they were super cool dudes also)

This was actually a band going back to 2004/2005 with a different lineup and around when I first started going to shows. Even then it was "DAMN YOU'VE GOT TO SEE OH NO YOU DIDN'T I THINK THEY'RE PLAYING THIS", but they ceased playing when one of their members moved to Columbia, MO. It wasn't till 2006ish when John Birkner(now famous for Shaved Women, French Fry Guys, Trauma Harness with a buttload of defunct bands) took over bass and they started back up again. Their live shows generally consisted of the entire crowd dancing/acting as a whole, so even the meeker who were worried about being judged for dancing could have fun, in fact ONYD's entire mantra was to unify all show-goers into the same positive mindset and perception, mixing ethos similar to Bad Brains(minus the sexisim), Minutemen, and Fugazi. Jeff Hursey, the main brainz behind the band booked at a local art space regularly and his shows definitely were gasoline to the fire of the local scene in Belleville, with tremendous amounts of people and bands making it out. So anytime they played it was always guaranteed to be a good time, and it just so happened they played quite a bit, if that says anything. Even when they were tacked on lamer shows with lame bands and lamer people it was still a great time.

           These recordings were actually made in late 2007/2008 and originally meant to be released on Caffeine Tambourine, but the release never came to fruition. In the last track of audio you can hear various chatter from all sorts of people in bands from that time frame who were over to do group vocals on some of the songs.

Unfortunately they dissolved sometime in late 2008, mainly due to tension and problems with one particular member, but these things cannot be helped. Their last show ended in shambles with a sloppy cover of "Bikeage" by the Descendents, the band themselves all in a bad mood and four people from the crowd fighting over the mic trying to sing along. I thought that was going to be the last time I saw them but luckily they did a awesome reunion set at ITR's last show that made up for the embittered last show, and definitely the highlight of the entire event.

Anywhoo, of all the tracks, one is actually missing, and if I end up getting it I'll be sure to add it to the fray. There's a good chance this might have a physical release of some sort, as it never received one initially, included hopefully a showcase of some of their live footage which adds another dimension to the band. For the time being, check it out on bandcamp here.(photo cred to jason tasso & dustin brown) Also, below is a composite video of some of their live assault all pressed into a musik viddy.


Reeses Video

Oh No You Didnt | Myspace Video

DING054 - ADAM KING, ADAM KING

Release 054 is a solo 1-2 punch by Belleville-area native Adam King, who's a proactive dude currently behind all kinds of cool stuff ongoing in the IL zone. "Adam King"(I could just say self-titled, but that's boring!!!) is a bare bones five song gust to kick off the season for those of you in a mid-pace walk still accepting it's springtime. The cassette starts with a cover of Jeff Mangum's "Engine", before jutting into the ship-swaying "Big Mouth". Avast mateys! hold the ship-side steady because that's the end of side A. Side B get's harrowing as "Dirge" and "What is Stolen is Lost Forever" hit a more melancholy note before the instrumental "Stained Glass" Ends the entire hurrah in a nodding whisper.
            You can buy the BLOOD RED cassette directly from Dingle right here. This puppy is only limited to 25 copies, so act now to get your hands on the original pressing!(?) Who knows what could be in the future as well with such a short run(???). You can also listen/stream/download it right here via dingle's bandcamp! ker-pow!

DINGLEVAULT: EVIL ILLEGAL - "SCRATCHBOOK"

Yeah! Well good news all around, we've got a slew of releases coming out in the spring, most of which are already very far down the pipeline. Keep yr. eyes out for them making their way around in April.

That being said, got yet another internet re-issue of one of the best local bands to spring out of Belleville, Evil Illegal! The band themselves had broken up in early 2006, but the records definitely hold up and demonstrate their intensity and appeal. The original release of this was one of the first ones on Dingle in 2007, back when it was all just free paper CD-Rs. Thankfully we've taken some babysteps up the ladder of label evolution and aren't doing too much of that anymore(or are we?)

Starting in some timeframe around 2004, Evil Illegal was comprised of dudes from both Belleville and Mascoutah IL. The core lineup was Jon Maguire, Brandon Brewer, and Erik Wolfe, but in early days I think that fluctuated with a bass player and second guitar before going back to simply guitar/drum. They played across the Belleville area and extended into St. Louis as well, and from my memories going to shows in early high school they were definitely the most engaging and entertaining band you could catch. By the time I already had gotten into them they were fairly "locally" popular and had developed a flock of girls in the front row of their shows wearing cut up Evil Illegal t-shirts, better days indeed. Most people I knew weren't explicitly into them at the time because most belleville bands were ska or high school punk in the circle of show-goers I was around, but Evil Illegal definitely holds up much more than any of those other bands have for me. The band collapsed sometime in 2006 and Jon and Brandon went on to form The Mhurs(who are still active in STL now, without Brandon however). Erik focused on Illegal Tone Recordings, which he started around the timeframe of Evil Illegal's final year and continued it up till recently, and in 2008 started a band with Brandon called Yamada Taro, then starting Egg Chef in summer 2009. All the tracks stand up strong even now, sometimes you even forget this band was just guitar and drum due to how aggressive the music can get. Check it out, reference a friend to it, pretend it's your band! whatever. Listen to it here, and check out a video of em' playing the former all ages Main Street Jazz & Blues(now known as the 21+ and less fun Blue Agave)

DINGLE MOVED!

Hey Everyone! Small update on Dingle's end, we're now officially located in Belleville, IL opposed to our hometown of Millstadt, so all mail, hate mail, stuff can be sent to the following address!

the cheddr den.

21 W. Garfield

Belleville, IL

62220

Send away!(?)