Flavor in your ear #1

I never used to ride with headphones, instead opting for the sounds of nature, my freewheel, or listening for cars. But now that I live in a place where I rarely see other riders or cars, I might as well listen to some good shit while I’m out there. Plus, I have been trying to ramp up the riding lately and I’m so disgustingly slow and out of shape that I’ve really been leaning on music and audio books to get me through hard solo rides. This seemed like a good excuse to do some old school blogging about what’s been in my ears lately and hopefully make it a semi regular thing. Let’s dig in, shall we:

Twenty One Children is a punk three piece from Soweto South Africa and it pulls on all my nostalgic heartstrings. I don’t know if their song Warriors was inspired by the movie, Judge, or Blitz. But I like to think it was all three, and that makes me happy.

A little on the heavier side, JIVEBOMB has been getting me through some climbs lately. Gram Parsons once said that everyone should visit Baltimore to round out their gray color palette. This band brings all the black and blue post-hardcore vibes from the streets of Baltimore.

I’m a fairly big fan of the band Lucero. They are probably the one band I’ve seen the most times live. Rock and roll about the road and mix in some drinking and sad boy shit. They have spoke to me since they made a BMX video with Props way back when..

They are playing in Phoenix soon and I’ll be there. So I’ve been putting this old live album in the rotation lately.

I love crushing audio books. There’s something about being able to absorb knowledge and story telling while also doing other mindless tasks (like a road ride) that appeals to me. One of my go-to books for when I need the motivation to do hard things is Kiss Or Kill by Mark Twight.

“I ruined relationships to get used to the feeling of failure and sacrifice (it was much easier than holding on). I trained in the gym on an empty diet to learn how far I could push myself without food or water. I imitated and plagiarized the heroes who lived and died before me. I spoke only strong words and ignored weakness at every turn. I subdued my fears. I was opinionated and direct. I became a man either well loved or truly hated. I was ready for anything.“

Old school stories from the bleeding edge of mountaineering told through a punk rock/fuck you lens. It’s not for everybody. Maybe that’s why I like it so much.

MIRL: Music In Real Life – It’s always the best way to hear it and now that I live way down here in Bisbee, AZ it’s pretty easy to stumble upon new stuff on a regular basis. This photo is from a Sunday morning show featuring 20 ft Neon Jesus performing and Faith Kelly having herself a time. Ya never know what you are gonna find while looking for a Bloody Mary.