South Oaks - kill_the_humans (July 2018)

This EP took a looooong time to make. It didn’t take long to record, just syncing all of our calendars proved to be the hardest part. 

By November 2016 we had written 12 songs and planned to record our first full length album. But life got in the way and we didn’t actually get into the studio till June of 2017. We recorded 6 songs that day and intended to get right back into the studio to record the other 6, but it just didn’t happen for a multitude of reasons. So we decided to just go forward with the 6 we recorded and hold the other 6 for a future EP.

It then took another whole year to record overdubs, vocals and to mix and master. We finally released it back in July 2018. We’re happy with it…but damn…was that an ordeal.

Hopefully we’ll get to the remaining 6 in a more timely fashion.

You can download South Oaks - kill_the_humans for FREE at our bandcamp page or by clicking the link below…

[DOWNLOAD] South Oaks - kill_the_humans (2018)

1- Back of My Mind

2- Robot Rebellion

3- Emotions In Motion

4- Knights of Light

5- Cut and Run

6- Renwick Ruins

As always, we made a video for each song. Here they are…

"Back of My Mind"

"Robot Rebellion"

"Emotions In Motion"

"Knights of Light"

"Cut and Run"

"Renwick Ruins"

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SOUTH OAKS

Jim Burns - vocals

Frank Fusco - guitar

Kevin Purcell - bass

Steve Johnson - drums 

Random Photo: Eggplant Queens at MyLow Studio (2009)

South Oaks - ( ( ( transmissions ) ) ) - (Sep. 2015)

This project actually started a year ago when we were asked to contribute a song for a Long Island band compilation. We went into My Low Studio in September of 2014 and recorded “Planet X”. A year later, the comp still hasn’t seen the light of day so we included it on this release. 

Eric Hoffman was the drummer on “Planet X”, but our schedule of getting together once a year proved to be too demanding so he bowed out for the ( ( ( transmissions ) ) ) session. His logical replacement was Steve Johnson (Eggplant Queens, Whatsoever). Steve was already our engineer (and owner of My Low Studios) and probably our biggest fan. Plus…he’s a pretty good drummer to boot.

For the most part, the songs on ( ( ( transmissions ) ) ) are in keeping with the traditional South Oaks sound. Two songs, though, are a bit of a departure…or break new ground (however you choose to see it). “Reflection On The Sea” is kind of pop oriented…sad pop, that is. It’s a little out of our comfort zone but yet it totally sounds like us. Our last outing had “Echoes of Laughter”, which was also a departure, so maybe that’s our thing.

The other new-type of song is “APOLLO IV”, a bass solo (essentially). Jim brought that one to the table and he’s also the performer. It’s named after his Apollo IV bass, which he composed it on and only feels comfortable playing it on. The thing is, the electronics inside the bass crapped out a while ago so we were forced to record it with a mic, acoustically. Alone, it was a little compromised sonically and didn’t sound like the rest of the album. But then we added some atmospheric noise in the background and it just gelled – that electro/acoustic thing.

My opinion; this is our strongest recording yet. But I always fall in love the the last thing I worked on. What do you think?

You can download ( ( ( transmissions ) ) ) for FREE at our bandcamp page or by clicking the link below…

[DOWNLOAD] South Oaks - ( ( ( transmissions ) ) ) - (2015)

01- APOLLO IV (†)

02- Planet X *

03- Last Laugh

04- Sword of Damocles

05- Belief

06- Reflection On The Sea

07- Grand Design

08- Forever and Ever After That

We always like to celebrate our new releases with a video for each song. Here they are…

"APOLLO IV"

"Planet X"

"Last Laugh"

"Sword of Damocles"

"Belief"

"Reflection On The Sea"

"Grand Design"

"Forever and Ever After That"

Follow South Oaks on Facebook.

SOUTH OAKS

Jim Burns - vocals

Frank Fusco - guitar

Kevin Purcell - bass

Steve Johnson - drums

Steve's crazy drum chart

Eggplant Queens @ Hank's Saloon (11/21/14)

I missed their last show so I caught this one. Lotsa fun.

"Elf Song"

"O.R.D."

"Bellmore, LI" 

Eggplant Queens @ Bowery Electric (10/12/14)

The return of Eggplant Queens! Welcome back boys.

I missed this show but I grabbed these photos off Facebook.

Random Photo: Eggplant Queens (Sept. 2014)

They're Back!

South Oaks - and of tomorrow… (May 2014)

We had fun recording the last EP so we did it again. Jim, Kevin and I each contributed two songs and worked on them via email, because we live too far from each other. Once we added our own parts and got them in a good place we went back to Steve Johnson's studio (My Low Studio). Again, like last time, we didn't practice beforehand, just straight to record. We recorded the basic tracks live, then I went back for some guitar overdubs and Jim went back for final vocals.

[DOWNLOAD] South Oaks - and of tomorrow… (2014)
01- Keep Your Judgment Day
02- When Humans Roamed The Earth
03- Halo of Stars
04- See With My Hands
05- Echoes of Laughter
06- Free To Follow

And to coincide with the EP release, I cut a video for each song…

"Keep Your Judgment Day"

"When Humans Roamed The Earth"

"Halo of Stars"

"See With My Hands"

"Echoes of Laughter"

"Free To Follow"

You can also download and of tomorrow… free at the South Oaks bandcamp page.

Follow South Oaks on Facebook.

SOUTH OAKS
Jim Burns - vocals
Frank Fusco - guitar
Kevin Purcell - bass
Eric Hoffman - drums

Eggplant Queens - "Day Tripper" @ My Low Studio (Aug. 2013)

Keeping the theme of my last post, here's 4 out of 6 Eggplant Queens jamming out on The Beatles "Day Tripper".

"Day Tripper" (Beatles cover)

South Oaks - EP (2013)

In January 2012, I reunited the Barking Spiders just to record our old songs properly (read about Barking Spiders - Fresh For The Kill here). It was a pleasant enough experience that we decided to work on some new material to record. But given that we all live in different parts of two states, we opted to work on the songs via email. Kevin and Jim would share bass tracks and I'd share guitar tracks and from there we built upon the songs, emailing back and forth.

Eight months later, of on and off work, we had composed 5 original songs and 1 cover (Funkadelic's "Super Stupid"). 6 songs felt about right to go back to Steve Johnson's My Low Studio and commit them to hard drive. No practice beforehand, just straight to record. I went back a few weeks later to overdub some guitar solos and Jim went back to redo some vocals, then we mixed it.

Being that 20+ years had past since we last wrote music together, we no longer sounded like Barking Spiders. So we changed our name to South Oaks (named after a mental institution near our hometown). On February 12th, 2013, we released our self-titled EP...

[DOWNLOAD] South Oaks - South Oaks EP (2013)
01- Ghost Dream
02- Jaws of Life
03- Eulogy For A Cowboy
04- You've Never Suffered
05- Modern Clown
06- Super Stupid (Funkadelic cover)

And to coincide with the EP release, I cut a video for each song…

"Ghost Dream"


"Jaws of Life"


"Eulogy For A Cowboy"


"You've Never Suffered"


"Modern Clown"


"Super Stupid" (Funkadelic cover)


You can also download the EP at the South Oaks bandcamp page.

SOUTH OAKS
Jim Burns - vocals
Frank Fusco - guitar
Kevin Purcell - bass
Eric Hoffman - drums

Rat Bastard - Don't You Boys Know I've Got That Not So Fresh Feeling? (1994-96) (remastered)

Look what I got in the mail!… A remastered version of Rat Bastard's first two demos, Don't You Boys Know Any Nice Songs?! and That Not So Fresh Feeling. I think remastered is the correct term here, maybe not. Joe Kollar took the original DAT tapes to My Low Studio and transferred them with the help of Steve Johnson. You can download the original "tape > CD" version here and compare it to the "DAT > CD" version below.

[DOWNLOAD] Rat Bastard - Don't You Boys Know I've Got That Not So Fresh Feeling? Demos & Other Crap - Mach I 1994-1996 (remastered)
01- Wet Paint
02- Phony Bitch
03- Neighborhood Magic
04- I Don't Wanna
05- Break Another One
06- Blind In One Eye
07- Little Pieces
08- Subtle Quiet
09- My Gun
10- School Bus Yellow
11- Vanilla Swirl
12- Hello...I Am Death
13- My Day Off (live)
14- Sleeping In Graveyards (live)
15- Handjob (live)
16- Little Pieces (live)
17- Walking On Sunshine (live)

RAT BASTARD - MACH I
Dave Jemmott - vocals
Joe Kollar - guitar
Kevin Purcell - bass
John Hoffman - drums

An Eggplant Queens Christmas @ KJ Farrells, Bellmore, NY (12/25/12)

Here's some photos of the joyous occasion...

Eggplant Queens @ The Pool House, Bellmore, NY (7/20/12)

Eggplant Queens "Come Together" at the 4th Annual Rock To Cure Cancer in honor of Joey Ramone to benefit Lymphoma Research Foundation.

Eggplant Queens @ The Scene (7/11/12)

On July 11th of 2012, Eggplant Queens played a strip club. Photos by Mark Paris.