When I fulfilled an adolescent dream and interviewed Jackyl’s Jesse James Dupree earlier this year, he told me that he was anticipating some controversy for the band’s cover of Mother’s Finest’s song “Just Like a Negro.” It’s obviously a little weird to have a bunch of white dudes doing a track with that title, and doubly so when you consider that Jackyl are southern and might be seen as, um, I think the correct terms are “crackers” and “honkeys.”

But Dupree felt confident that anyone who knew the facts behind the cover would realize Jackyl aren’t a bunch of redneck racists. He even re-wrote the lyrics with Mother’s Finest bassist Wyzard so that they’d make sense for a caucasian to sing:

“…the lyrics basically say that music makes all the colors run together and that it was the brothers who invented rock n’ roll – Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Fats Domino…  That’s all the song is – a tribute to that, and the fact that music breaks down the barriers.”

He also told me that he had hoped to get Sevendust’s Lajon Witherspoon to do some guest vocals on the track, but it didn’t work out for whatever reason. What he didn’t tell me, and what I didn’t know at that time ’cause I hadn’t heard the album yet, was that he did end up getting a guest for the track — the “DMC” from Run DMC, Darryl Matthews McDaniels.

And, honestly, this song is still pretty awful. I mean, watching Dupree try to dance while DMC raps is kinda funny, but I’d never actively listen to this track. That being said, I’d still argue that it’s the least worst rap metal song of the century so far. I’ll take Jackyl over Limp Bizkit and their ilk any day of the week and twice on Sundays.

Jackyl’s latest, When Moonshine and Dynamite Collide, is out now.

-AR

We’ve gotten a lot of e-mails these past few days about My Darkest Days’ video for “Porn Star Dancing.” I don’t know why the sudden interest in this clip — it’s been around for weeks, we just never posted about it before. In any case, the song and video feature guest appearances by Ludacris, Nickelback’s Chad Horseface (seriously, he looks like Sarah Jessica Parker with a goatee, and SJP looks like a horse), and… Mr. Zakk Wylde.

And people seem really, really put off by Wylde’s presence. One reader even declared that he was “losing respect” for Zakk. And I’m totally confused by all the outrage. Has no one else heard what Zakk has been doing for the past decade? Did everyone miss his guest spot with Dope? People are talking about this as though Picasso rose from the dead to design posters for Vampires Suck or something. I mean, it’s not like Zakk’s artistic credibility was still in good standing, y’know? This is just one more nail in the coffin that holds his coolness.

Click to read more…

A few hours ago authorities evacuated Times Square for the second time in a week after someone found a “suspicious cooler” on the street. Of course, everyone was just being overly cautious, but as long as it doesn’t infringe on my civil rights, there’s nothing necessarily wrong with that. I think Vince was in Michigan when 9/11 went down, but I was here, and if I never see another tank rolling down my street again or run all over the city because there’s no cell service and I need to make sure that all of my friends and family are still alive, well, I’ll be good.

While I nurse my PTSD, here are some happier, metalier things that happened this week:

• We’re streaming Keep of Kalessin’s new album, Reptilian. We also debuted new music by Lamb of God and The Funeral Pyre.
• We also also also debuted new videos by Soulfly and Cancer Bats.
• We also also also also debuted our new cooking show, Cooking Contaminated.
• Cynic’s Paul Masvidal discussed the shape of silence, Periphery’s Bulb taught you how to get that “big” studio tone, As I Lay Dying’s Nick Hipa had some questions about L O S T, Matt from Rumpelstiltskin Grinder fondly recalled Maryland Deathfest, and Batillus bassist Willi Stabenau gave us a studio update.
• We talked to Darkest Hour’s Mike Schleibaum, Reign Supreme’s Jay Pepito,  Jackyl’s Jesse James Dupree, and unveiled part one of our massive two-part interview with Buzz Osborne.
• We checked out the latest release by The Howling Wind.
• Does the fact that Mike Portnoy is touring with Avenged Sevenfold make you wanna see ‘em?
• We don’t want Joey Belladonna to return to Anthrax. Seriously.
• Sergeant D. wants to know if u mosh 4 Christ???
• Damnocracy’s Evan Seinfeld and his porno Howdy Doody also do bar mitzvahs.
• We wish there was really such a thing as a Slayer burrito.

Next week brings even more betterer br00tal goodness – interviews, debuts, guest blogs, all that shit. It’s gonna get real up in this bitch. See ya then.

-AR

I’m going to be completely honest with you: I wanted to interview Jackyl vocalist Jesse James Dupree because I wanted to meet the man whose obituary will lead with the phrase “Was well-known for his chainsaw solos.” Dupree is a really good singer and Jackyl have some totally kick-ass songs, but, really, I just wanted to know what this dude who one day said “Fuck guitar solos, I can do that shit with my motherfuckin’ chainsaw” was like.

Really, really nice, and incredibly funny, as it turns out. He and I could not be from more different worlds, but even when he said a couple of things that I thought were questionable – I’m also wary of anyone who uses the phrase “the real America” – he was just such a incredibly cool dude that I didn’t care. I like to concentrate on what people similar, not different, y’know? And Jesse James Dupree and I are very similar, in that we both think that the idea of a chainsaw solo is completely fucking awesome.

Jackyl have a new album out tomorrow, aptly titled When Moonshine and Dynamite Collide. It includes a single called “My Moonshine Kicks Your Cocaine’s Ass.” If you don’t love that, you need to pull the stick out of your ass. On the eve of the album’s release, I sat down with Dupree to discuss all things Jackyl. Read the full transcript of our chat after the jump.

Click to read more…

The winners of last week’s funny photo caption contest each receive a shirt by Rodney Githens of Vertebrae 33. All for the price of typing something stupid into a web browser. Sweet deal if you ask me. The winners:

• coop: “Varg Vikernes acting like the ‘stereotypical negro’.”
• Stephen H. Martin: “After hearing the team captain make reference to ‘posting up in the paint’, Tim was sure to make varsity this year.”

Yes, you read the headline to this post correctly; we’re giving away a chainsaw signed by Jackyl‘s Jesse James Dupree. If you’re wondering what the fuck a chainsaw’s got to do with this site and why on earth anyone would be signing it, congrats, you’ve made me feel old. This here chainsaw is made by Jonsered and it looks pretty sweet to me, though admittedly I have no fucking clue; it’s pictured here. Be sure to pick up a copy of Jackyl’s new CD, When Moonshine and Dynamite Collide, when it comes out on May 4th. To win just come up with a funny caption to the below photo [sent to us by Voltron Futura], and be sure to register with or include a real email address. ‘Cause this baby’s heavy and therefore expensive to ship, this week’s contest is open to U.S. residents only — and because it’s a friggin’ chainsaw, you gotta be 21 to win it. Read all of the official contest rules here.

UPDATE: Since this contest is also posted on other sites, new rules for selecting winners are as follows: one MS winner will be chosen at random and thrown into the finalist batch from which one entry will be chosen by the band.

Our friend Allyson at Bring Back Glam has been reporting from Rocklahoma all week. She’s obviously a big fan of the event, given that a) she runs a site all about glam and b) she wrote the text for the Rocklahoma coffee table book that came out last year.

But she’s been making (perfectly valid) complaints about this year’s fest for the past ten months, taking issue in particular with this year’s line-up. And as it turns out, she was totally correct: attendance at this summer’s edition of the event was apparently abysmal.

Check out this photo Allyson took of the crowd. This was at dusk; if it was Ozzfest, everyone who skipped the second stage would be starting to pile in right about this time. No such luck for Great White, even though there was absolutely no chance of being burned alive at the outdoor venue:

Click to read more…

Rocklahoma, the three FIVE day hair metal festival in Pryor, Oklahoma, kicks off its second annual event tomorrow. Hard to believe it’s been a year since last year’s massively successful event, but it has, and this year’s lineup is even more extensive than the last.

Pretty much every hair band ever — both those still on the touring circuit and a bunch of recent reunions — are playing. This year’s headliners are Queensryche, Warrant, Triumph, Bret Michaels and Ratt. Even bands that were peripheral but related to the ’80s hair scene have joined in the party, such as Extreme, Living Colour, Jackyl and Armored Saint. There are also two sidestages with a smattering of lower-level national and regional bands, though the Rocklahoma website makes this info hard to find.

Apparrently 100,000 people attended last year’s event; this seems crazy to me, but I guess it speaks to this music’s longevity. New MetalSucks columnist Michael S. Robinson plans to write a piece about this topic later in the week.

Any of our readers going to Rocklahoma? I know at least one person who is SUPER psyched!

-VN

The headline “JACKYL Frontman Returns With Second Solo Outing” on Blabbermouth last night totally startled me; I had no idea that Jesse James Dupree had a first solo album – or, for that matter, that Jackyl were even still around in any capacity. And I don’t really have much to say about the revelation that Dupree feels some need to make records without Jackyl; I mean, a) I’m not sure any of you give a shit and b) I myself don’t really give a shit. ‘Cause at the end of the day, you have to wonder why Dupree even bothers making solo albums – does he feel upstaged sometimes by the other members of Jackyl? Are there musical experiments he feels he can’t try within the oubliette of that band? Who knows?

ANYWAY, thinking about Dupree did get me thinking about those chainsaw solos that pretty much overshadowed every other aspect of his band (“Which ones are Jackyl again?” “The ones with the singer who does the chainsaw solo.” “Oh yeah!”). I always assumed that these mini-masterpieces of the aural equivalent of found art were just studio tricks – and even though Dupree apparently does try to recreate them live (at least according to some “fans” on the net), I can’t find any video of said recreation.

I did, however, find the below video of Dupree sawing a stool in half at last year’s Rocklahoma. Truth be told, the clip is only half as amusing as the description posted with it:

“Anyone who knows Jackyl knows that Jesse James Dupree always ends to the show with the ‘Lumberjack Song’ where he actually PLAYS the chainsaw as an instrument. Well, he also always chainsaws a bench and throws it. This is a video of that.”

Gentlemen, start yer engines…

-AR

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