A Night Out with The Nolan Gate

While the future of United By Rocket Science may be in question, there are times when I feel it necessary to post material relative to Dave and my exchanges and experiences.
This past Saturday was just such an occassion when our friends The Nolan Gate played a rare show at Warwick, NY's Tuscan Cafe. The long running Nolan Gate which features old friends
Tom Farkas - Bass, Growls, Paul Andres - Guitar, Vocals and Dave's brother
Darin  - Drums have quietly been making deafening noise for decades under their current moniker and their original namesake Mothman.

The Tuscan Cafe quickly began to swell as my wife and I finished our respective burritos. As the band assembled I found myself surrounded by friends, family, loved ones and complete strangers. Before the night was over. I was most happy to hear how my wife, 
(A woman I originally found common ground with through our mutual love for Slayer, Motorhead and other Gods of noise.) remarked on just how good it was to see our friends gathered at The Nolan Gate .Separately, Tom, Paul and Darin are some of the best musicians I've lent my heavily damaged ears too. Together, they form on of the best trios out there. Loud, Heavy and very, very necessary. Below is documented evidence of this rare occurrence. J.D.

The Nolan Gate / Mothman

Skull Practitioners - S/T 1 Cassette Demo

It's not often that a cassette tape shows up in the mail. Instantly returning me to my days in Queens when I'd be hard at work on the latest issue of Unite.

These days, I often find myself standing in wonderment, admiring how perfectly this ancient technology fits my mailbox. Then wondering how in the hell will I find a way to listen to it. This weeks arrival delivered more than a digital download and some nostalgia for me though. It was the sounds within that produced the real reward.
New York's Skull Practioners, a relatively new trio featuring 3/5 of the band DBCR (Review Here.)
are poised for noise. Recently featured as
The Deli's NYC Record of the Month!
(And rightfully so.) The four track cassette serves as a perfect introduction to the bands sound. One that seems to develop and unravel simultaneously.
The trio's sound blends components of Psych, Surf and Post Punk to form a somewhat loose and experimental garage banger that is sonically dissonant. While the third track "Foreign Wives" got the biggest rise out of this listener. It's the addition of "Nelson D" (recorded live at Brooklyn's Grand Victory) that really puts the bands musical ability and promise on display. Add to it the trip inducing artwork of Renato Cascioli and you've really got a strong foundation to build on. I'll definitely keep my eyes and ears open for these cats. Until then, go check out their bandcamp and bust out that cassette player. James Damion

Skull Pactitioners  Bandcamp