Talk To Frank is a government campaign to educate kids about drugs. We’ve previously reported on the tactics they use to communicate with the hopped-up British youth. Their latest campaign, Drug Mugs, shows you how using crystal meth will fuck up your face. Just upload your pretty picture and they send you an animated, 3D image of you as a meth gremlin. We’ve been wondering how long it would take for someone to high-techify the classic Faces of Meth and have to admit we’re pretty pleased to have beat you Yanks to the punch for once. Email us your drug mugs and we’ll put the best ones on the photoblog. Fiending for more? Read our Drugs Issue.
Archive for February, 2007
LONDON - DRUG MUGS
TODAY ON VBS
The VBS original series Thumbs Up keeps on truckin’ today. In this episode, David and Harry hit the Dolphin, a perfect Shangri-La of the hitchhiking world. It’s the kind of ride that comes along once in a lifetime, given by a true benefactor of the road warriors who still have the balls to hitch in America. By this point, if you don’t already know his background, you may be saying to yourself, “I love Thumbs Up but who the fuck, really, is David Choe?”
INTERVIEW – FINDLAY BROWN
Findlay Brown is a 27-year-old singer-songwritery guy whose debut album, Separated by the Sea, is out this week on Peacefrog. If you like Love, Nick Drake, Captain Beefheart and that whole psychedelic folky acoustic thing, it’s basically your new favourite record. Normally this kind of wimpy bedroom music is made by timid speccy nerds, but Findlay’s actually a strapping, handsome guy who’s taken a lot of acid, worked in a chocolate factory and used to do bare-knuckle fighting with gypsies when he was growing up in York. Even better, his next single "Losing the Will to Survive" has been remixed into a tripped-out krautrock orgy by Beyond The Wizard’s Sleeve AKA Erol Alkan and Richard Norris.
INTERVIEW - LIGHTSPEED CHAMPION
Lightspeed Champion is the new alias of Devonte ‘Dev’ Hynes, formerly of defunct dance-thrashers Test-Icicles. Dev just recorded an album with Bright Eyes producer Mike Mogis which, he says, sounds like "losing your virginity for the fifth time." His record company touts him as a mad genius with an extraterrestrial look, but he’s really a modest, down-to-earth dude who draws comics, geeks out about hip-hop, is allergic to everything, and might be the unlikeliest star of country music ever.
TODAY ON VBS
Good shit on VBS today. First and foremost, a new episode of Epicly Later’d. This one stars heartthrob genius skater Kevin "Spanky" Long. Check it out. We are also putting up part 1 of Practice Space with The Rapture today. Nice guys, funny stuff. Soft Focus featuring Henry Rollins trucks along in an incandescent blur of classic convo, and part 4 of the VBS News feature on Bolivian Marching Powder blows by in a white, cloudy puff.
DEAR VICE - FAN LETTERS
Here’s a quick round-up of all the nice correspondence we’ve been getting from readers in our letterbox and inbox. There’s a pretty mixed bag! As ever, there’s the nutters who love cutting out pictures in magazines and sticking them on pieces of card (a skill we’re desperately short of in the office). But this month some of the mail we’ve received has been a lot more "out there"…
WILL OLDHAM’S WILLIAMSBURG HORROR
Here’s a link we got a kick out of yesterday. It’s this kid Jeffrey Lewis doing a funny song about Will Oldham (don’t forget, he was our very first guest on the VBS series Soft Focus).
WILL OLDHAM’S WILLIAMSBURG HORROR
Here’s a link we got a kick out of yesterday. It’s this kid Jeffrey Lewis doing a funny song about Will Oldham (don’t forget, he was our very first guest on the VBS series Soft Focus).
WILL OLDHAM’S WILLIAMSBURG HORROR
Here’s a link we got a kick out of yesterday. It’s this kid Jeffrey Lewis doing a funny song about Will Oldham (don’t forget, he was our very first guest on the VBS series Soft Focus).
WILL OLDHAM’S WILLIAMSBURG HORROR
Here’s a link we got a kick out of yesterday. It’s this kid Jeffrey Lewis doing a funny song about Will Oldham (don’t forget, he was our very first guest on the VBS series Soft Focus).
TODAY ON VBS
Delivering a daily dose of televisual tonic, today VBS gets down and gets drunk on Moonshine with the Gullah people in Americana. On Live At The Old Blue Last we showcase The Rumble Strips, a lovely young band following the proud tradition (Specials, Dexy’s) of hard-talking Brit bands with horns. Henry Rollins continues to regale us with angry anecdotes on our aimless rambling chat show Soft Focus. And our dapper VBS News correspondent Trace Crutchfield continues his exposé on Bolivian marching powder. Kristen Schaal ponders boobs on Dos & Don’ts & Friends. And last but not least, Music World presents the second part of the extraordinary Black Lips Live in Tijuana sessions.
MELBOURNE - JAPANTHER
Japanther is the beast of a band consisting of Matt Reilly and Ian Vanek. Over three years ago we described them as sounding as though “Iron Maiden, Throbbing Gristle and Lightning Bolt gave birth to a squealing little baby with flaming guitars for arms” and we’re really pleased to report that they haven’t toned down a bit. They are about to head to Australia for some more shows and countless apple bongs.
LONDON - ROLL DEEP VIDEO
We’ve just arrived back from the Old Blue Last where Roll Deep have been shooting a video for their new single "Celebrate That". It’s looking pretty dodgy - breakdancers, body poppers and girls with way too much makeup. But it’s high concept for a grime video. The song is all about celebrating the fact that their album went silver, so there’s a bit of pass the parcel with their silver disc in the vid, which is certainly an interesting idea.
