Flush It Friday: Duuuuuuuuuuuuval County
Jacksonville AKA Smash n Kill, FL.
I have been quite busy these last few weeks—particularly last week where I spent the majority of my time in Jacksonville, FL, preparing for and then running operations on an organizational event for an organization I am now, officially, no longer the director of. There is lots that could be said about how I, after 7 years, am no longer the director of that organization, about how I finally changed jobs this summer, about how I’ve been doing both jobs for the last few months, but I don’t know if I’ve really wrapped my head around it. It’s all for the best, of course, but when I think back to how different life was just two years ago… (Two years ago, the last time I was in Jacksonville, I was sitting in Intuition Ale Works on an October site-visit for the hotel for a conference that ended up being canceled by Tropical Storm Nicole.) Wednesday night, I was sitting at that same brewery, remembering that most of the beer wasn’t very good, having a very similar conversation with the same bartender as in 2022. The surreality (and many flights) had me dizzy.
In high school, we spent many of our weekends moshing around the various venues across that vast, endless city, totally immersed in the city’s hardcore scene. If I Should Die, Kids Like Us, Casey Jones, Evergreen Terrace, In Due Time, xTime To Diex, Anchors Away… I can barely remember them all, and I’m sure only a few of those have any online footprint these days. Most of you will, of course, have heard of two or three of those, but I wish you coulda heard xTime To Diex most of all. (Some of the members went on to become Anchors Away as the hardcore tides shifted away from heavy, moshy straightedge to a more ’80s-infused sound.) Dual vocals, huge breakdowns, ripping double-bass… they had the lot. They also had that unique flair for writing stupid but unforgettable choruses. Who knows how far spread about the world there are kids who, upon hearing the line, “If you wanna be a bear,” would, without even thinking or without hesitation, respond: “be a grizzly bear.” Mercifully, I still have my CD-r of the demo.
So, cheers to Duval County. Cheers to Chamblin’s Books. Cheers to James Weldon Johnson. Cheers to a hardcore scene frozen in time. Cheers to Shad Khan’s yacht. Cheers to finally tearing down the consumerist eyesore that was Riverfront. Cheers to the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. Cheers to the 904 Boys and Girls. Cheers to the Museum of Science and History. Cheers to Thee Imperial and The Pit and Caribbean Connection and Five Points and San Marco and Downtown and Jax Beaches and the Firebird Cafe and Orange Park and all the churches and VFW Halls. Cheers to them all.
Also, I had food poisoning this week, so I am in some sort of post-poison fugue state this morning. Forgive me.
Let’s flush!
Get Sticky With It on The Monday Press. Enjoy some Golden Roldies with This Toilet Tuesday.
Toilet Radio ep 528 with Joe n Jordan and a litany of Familiar Characters:
S. Ghoul dropped a crusty premiere from Italian group Othismos:
Brock Slamson keeps us all dissoriented with new ones from Gorging Shade, Still, and Thunraz:
That’s all we wrote, folks! Mosey on down to the comments and leave your GBUs.
