New York Archives - Page 2 of 2

STAR KILLER Strikes With Intense New EP

Posted on September 27, 2010 by sexyarmpit

All of a sudden I had an ominous feeling overcome me while listening to Star Killer‘s debut EP. Much like in the TV series V or the film Independence Day, there’s a foreboding sense that these New York rockers are warning us that their approach is imminent. Of course there’s not actually a UFO looming over my town, but listening to Star Killer’s music feels just as monumental.

Packing a futuristic tone in freight, Star Killer’s sound soars into the outer rim. Star Killer’s approach to rock and metal creatively infuses aspects of Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, Korn, P.O.D, and industrial bands like KMFDM. Allow me to go more in-depth with each song, meanwhile, download your very own EP for your iPod here for free.

“As The Sky is Falling” is the powerful, mind probing opener. The song rises with a blaring scream followed by driving guitars mixed with ethereal sounds. The beautifully layered vocals and background vocals recall Depeche Mode. There’s a cinematic quality to Star Killers’ tracks and it’s no coincedence that lead singer and Edison NJ-born, Jasin Cadic, also co-wrote the screenplay to the film The Perfect Age of Rock n Roll. So, if Mad Max 4 is looking for a soundtrack, Star Killer is the band for the job.

Similarly, the chugging bass and guitars evoke revenge and desperation on “Out of Range.” The track features a mesmerizing chorus that is like an amped up, modern day “Another Brick in the Wall” by Pink Floyd. My favorite track, “Too Wrong,” is soaked in an up tempo alien plasma surrounded by industrial sounds, grinding guitars, earth shattering drums, and a danceable beat. The guitars are like a runaway locomotive in the tanked up mosher “Picture Perfect.” With it’s tremendous bassline and Cadic’s venomous vocals, this track is highly combustible.

For the last track I found myself marching around my room to the intro of “The Hunt.” If you weren’t planning on trying to kill a T-1000, you will be after you hear this song. It’s pulsating beat will have you running toward the nearest inter dimensional portal. Stick around for the whispering conclusion, it’s really creepy.

The explosive element of the songs on the Star Killer EP might very well be the product of caffeine. We had the chance to speak with Cadic and he stressed to us the importance of coffee in the studio while recording: “…some nights the coffee intake was definitely on the unhealthy side,” he joked.

We also asked Cadic what he was listening to on his iPod during their time in the studio and he was more than happy to oblige. If you’re curious to know how Star Killer managed to slide in some infectious beats in the songs, they may have been under the influence of Kanye’s 808’s and Heartbreak. Cadic balanced it out by citing Black Light Burns’ Cruel Melody, and one of his favorites of all time, Killing Joke’s 2003 self titled album with Dave Grohl on drums.

Star Killer is very much a collaborative effort between it’s 4 members, all of whom are close friends and have previously worked together. They recorded this adamantium assembly of tracks at their own studio as well as Jupiter 4 Studios in Rockaway, New York. All songs were written, produced, and mixed by Star Killer, with engineer Steve Schalk. Much like how KISS created the band they dreamed of seeing, Cadic is proud of Star Killer and considers them the band he would “…be at every show for and buy every album they release.”

Download their FREE EP and stay tuned to their official site http://www.starkillerband.com/
Follow them on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/starkillernyc
Reverb Nation Profile: http://www.reverbnation.com/starkillernyc

New Jersey’s Great Pop Culture Moments Vol.46: Derek Jeter’s Taco Hole

Posted on August 31, 2010 by sexyarmpit

Derek Jeter promoted his imaginary restaurant when he hosted a December 2001 episode of Saturday Night Live. The hysterical commercial jingle was sung to the tune of The Beach Boys’ “Kokomo.”

“I think you’ll agree that we’re one of the top 5 Mexican Restaurants in all of Northern New Jersey. It’s Derek Jeter’s Taco Hole off Route 3 in Nutley, New Jersey next to the Kinko’s and El Duqe’s Shoe Repair.”

“Thaaaat’s where I wanna go…Derek Jeter’s Taco Hole!”

http://www.hulu.com/embed/AGYeDvA4BRn3Vsb802tY8w

Jersey’s Got The Most Haters?

Posted on June 2, 2009 by sexyarmpit

From the Associated Press:

NJ Tops List in Anti-Semitic Hate Crimes

PARAMUS, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey had more anti-Semitic incidents reported in 2008 than any other state. The ADL says there were 238 incidents reported in the Garden State compared to 247 in 2007. California was second with 226 incidents reported and New York was third with 207. ADL regional director Etzion Neuer says the number of reports in New Jersey could be inflated compared to others because New Jersey has a large Jewish population. Information from: The Record of Bergen County, www.northjersey.com

He’s Dolph Ziggler and He Needs Google Maps

Posted on May 6, 2009 by sexyarmpit

WWE Superstar Dolph Ziggler, who formerly paraded around as a male cheerleader in The Spirit Squad, has proven himself a capable singles competitor on Friday Night Smackdown. Ziggler impressed me so much in such a short time and has soared high above another WWE Superstar who was supposedly destined for mega-success. Who is that other wrestler? Why it’s…(mic drops from rafters)…MISSSTTTEEERRR KENNEDY! Kennedy! Drawing comparisons between these two comes to me as easy as vomit travels up into my mouth whenever I see Vicki Guerrero.

Mr. Kennedy vs. Dolph Ziggler

It would be hard to determine a winner in this bout since both of these WWE Superstars sport bleach blonde hair, elicit strong crowd reactions, and introduce themselves repeatedly. In this competition, Kennedy excels thanks to the experience factor and cemented fan base, while Ziggler edges out Kennedy in mat versatility and ability to draw heat from the crowd. Ziggler’s determination will skyrocket him to the top of the WWE, but not before he pays his dues in matches against jobbers like M.V.P. who’s been riding off the fame of View host Sherri Shepard. Ziggler doesn’t need Joy Behar to get people to notice him, he’ll grab your attention whether you like it or not.

In this clip from WWE Smackdown, Ziggler refers to New York as New Jersey, “…I am gonna win the United States Championship tonight, right here in NEW JERSEY!” This is the ultimate sin to the ears of New Yorkers, especially those in the crowd packed into the world’s most famous arena, Madison Square Garden! May I call that a “Ziggler Zinger?” Oh, but of course we Jersey folks have to suck it up every single time a band or a singer shouts “How you doin’ New York?” when they’re in The Meadowlands in East Rutherford, NJ and when that same band is performing in Atlantic City greeting the crowd with a geographically erroneous “What’s up Philadelphia?” Why does Jersey always get the shaft? Right on Dolph Ziggler, you tell ’em where they’re at! After his “Hi, my name is Dolph Ziggler” intro, he should add a “What’s up New Jersey?” to his gimmick regardless of what state he’s wrestling in. Referring to all the states as New Jersey seems to be the supreme slap in the face. Regardless of good or bad press, thanks for name dropping NJ, Ziggler, we’ll take it!

New Jersey’s Great Pop Culture Moments Vol.17: NJ’s Commemorative Quarter

Posted on February 16, 2009 by sexyarmpit

For President’s Day, and in honor of the stimulus package getting passed, let’s take a look at currency kicked with a dash of Jersey. According to Wikipedia, in 1997, Bill Clinton signed the 50 States Commemorative Coin Program Act into law. The US Mint honored all 50 states with their own commemorative quarter. The coinage raked in quite a bit of dough for the government just based on collectors alone.

New Jersey’s quarter was the 3rd release in the state quarter series, which wasn’t too shabby. Delaware and Pennsylvania were the only states that preceded the Garden State’s. NJ’s coin features George Washington’s army crossing the Delaware on his way to surprise the Hessians and wreck house in the Revolutionary War. We’ve all seen this before. The reverse side design is inspired by the 1851 Emmanuel Leutze painting Washington Crossing the Delaware. I really thought NJ could’ve sprung to throw an original design on there rather than a painting we’ve been looking at for over 150 years.

According to usmint.gov, this quarter was the first circulating coin to feature George Washington on both sides. (I guess they had no idea that I have GW’s silhouette tattooed on both of my asscheeks.) I find it ridiculous that it took a board of 15 people (descriptively referred to as the New Jersey Commemorative Coin Design Commission) “who were selected for their backgrounds in history, art, and numismatics,” and Christine Todd Whitman all to approve a coin design! Talk about overkill.

For those who aren’t on board with the stimulus package, why don’t you lobby for another set of state quarters, but a series more accurate to modern times? New Jersey’s will obviously feature refineries, toxic swamps, and the Jersey Devil smiling giddily giving a thumbs up. California’s would naturally feature Dutch from Predator puffing on a cigar resting his machine gun on his shoulder as the Hollywood sign rests on the hills behind him. What’s up with New York you ask? Gozer the Gozerian is shooting laser beams right at us from high atop Dana Barret’s apartment building with terror dogs on each side of her. Florida? C’mon that’s a no brainer! Scrooge McDuck. Now I’d buy those for a quarter!

“New Pepsi Logo is an Atrocity!” says The Sexy Armpit.com

Posted on December 19, 2008 by sexyarmpit

Last night, I had the genius plan of going to Walmart. Going there is like getting ass from a girl who you know you really don’t want ass from but you convince yourself that you need it and it might not be that bad. Then the minute you leave her house you realize it was a huuuge mistake and the whole ordeal took much longer than it should have. The only good thing that comes out of the situation is that you realize you didn’t catch anything, HOORAY! Even though I probably would’ve rather caught something than waited on the check out line for 45 minutes to buy a can of soda.

As my silly “not based on real life” analogy comes to an abrupt halt, take a gander to the left and peep out this cool retro Pepsi can I found at Walmart last night. Out of all the cool cans that are part of Pepsi’s aluminum retro collection, this is closest to the one I grew up with. “Take the Pepsi Challenge” appears on a banner at the bottom. It brought back memories, especially considering the atrocity that is the latest Pepsi logo…if you can call it a logo. Why is it in this country we constantly feel the need to unnecessarily change things?

Finding this can at the bottom of the shelf in the soda aisle reminded me that I took some pictures of vintage soda art when I was in Las Vegas recently. In the waiting area of the New York, New York Roller Coaster, the walls feature some awesome murals of retro soft drinks. I was easily more enthralled by this artwork than I was the actual roller coaster, which completely sucked ass. It wasn’t a fun time at all and the wait time didn’t justify how shitty the ride was. Perhaps I’m just spoiled living right up the NJ Turnpike from Six Flags Great Adventure.

These murals are from the “soft drink renaissance” of art history. You may recall studying that period in college. Upon careful scrutiny, do you notice anything strange about this one? The messed up thing is that the Mountain Dew cup has the modern day logo rather than it’s retro look.

This mural features the Pepsi challenger race car and 3 classic soft drinks that have been lost to the ages: Pepsi Free, Pepsi Light, and Slice!

When The Sexy Armpit opens “The Soft Drink Hall of Fame,” these 2 pieces will surely be prime exhibits!

New York City: Champion of Scuzz

Posted on March 17, 2008 by sexyarmpit

It’s obvious that New York has always trumped New Jersey in their bitter rivalry for popularity. Although, in the battle for who’s scummier, smellier, and who has the better strip clubs, it’s usually a pretty close match up. A recent trip to NYC granted me the opportunity to hereby relinquish New Jersey’s contention in this silly grudge once and for all. WE SUBMIT!!!

I went to a bar in Manhattan where I took the risk of using the men’s room. As my tinkle started to trickle down into the urinal, I noticed a familiar title emblazoned on the brownish yellow urinal screen. I was actually paying attention to the urinal screen, so I figured I HAD to be drunk. But I wasn’t and the urinal screen said VAN WILDER! Van Wilder is one of my favorite movies and I doubted this promotional item was from the original Van Wilder, and my deduction was correct. After a close examination (yes folks, I DID make a closer examination…I may have actually made out with the bacteria, fly infested urinal, but I proved I was right)

The ribbon that used to be underneath the title VAN WILDER has worn off. It used to say The Rise of Taj. Regardless, according to IMDB The Rise of Taj went straight to DVD and was released for a short time theatrically on December 1st, 2006 and the DVD went on sale on March 27th, 2007. If my calculations are correct, promotional items for The Rise of Taj were probably put out at least a month ahead of time. I wonder how much longer they’ll leave this sickeningly old thing in there? I always knew NYC bathrooms were disgusting, but keeping that in the urinal for so long has to be violating some sort of health code.

I bet they have no idea that there’s some guy blogging about their urinal screen. Haha…it’s the little things. Secretly writing about their lack of changing their urinal screen really gives me the jollies for some reason. Probably cause I’m a sick fuck.

Perhaps they’re leaving the screen in there for the novelty factor, like an in-joke in a movie? Though the only people who are getting a little “rise” out of it are the people like me who appreciate obscure pop culture references that would’ve otherwise been lost to the ages. Or they’re just trying to be delightfully tacky. Something tells me that the actual DVD of The Rise of Taj will soon be worth as much as this 2-year old promotional urinal screen. I can see it making the ridiculously huge $5 bargain bins at Wal-Mart! Unless the bar owner can prove Justin Timberlake once pissed on it, I’m pretty sure it’s time to retire the Taj screen. DING, DING, DING!! Can we get Michael Buffer over here? HERE IS YOUR WINNER AND NEW INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPION OF SCUZZ: NEW YORK CITY!!!