Wetshaving Mofo

"Wetshaving" sounds vaguely pornographic, I know, but I'm just talking about old-school shaving techniques. When you're as hairy as me, this stuff is important. I like growing a beard in the winter but most of the rest of the year I need to shave. For years I used the electric razor for my face, with a cartridge razor and some Barbasol afterwards for the neck and general cleanup. And for years I hated shaving and ended up with razor rash and a face that felt like it was on fire. I finally decided to give wetshaving a go a few years ago and it's a whole different experience.

For starters, I'm not spending a small fortune on cartridges anymore because I'm using a safety razor. The double-edged blades I use cost less than 20 bucks for 100, and I get three shaves per side, so that's six shaves per blade. Go ahead and add it up and compare it to the minimum of $14 a month I'd have to spend on cartridges for the Fusion (assuming I shaved no more than three times a week). Granted, I drop some coin on shave cream, usually the GR or the far less expensive Proraso, but when using a badger-hair brush (another pricey investment but one that lasts years) you don't use very much cream so it's not so bad. Then I wind things up with an aftershave balm (whatever you do, don't use anything with alcohol in it - it dries out your skin, which is exactly the opposite of what you want post-shave).

Now, it's not really necessary to use a safety razor to get a killer shave. In fact, the safety razor, while not dangerous (hence the word "safety"), takes a while to master. Unlike the cartridge razors, it doesn't pivot, so you have to develop a deft hand around those tough curves. Plus you can't push down the way you can with a cartridge razor or you'll slice your face up - it can take a week or so to develop the light touch necessary for shaving with a safety razor. Well worth it in my opinion, not only for the money saved but for the satisfaction of shaving like an old-school bad-ass mofo.

But if you don't want to screw around with the safety razor, the Gillette Fusion is a great razor, even if the cartridges are breathtakingly expensive. But what you cannot do without is a kick-ass badger hair shaving brush. A good one, like the Vulfix #2234, will run you around 60 bucks, but it's money well spent. Hot water, a good brush, and a quality cream are the three most important elements of a bad-ass shave.

Most people will tell you to shave after showering - the hot water softens up your beard nicely. And that's great advice, no doubt, but the problem is I don't like shaving after showering. Instead I splash my face with a lot of hot water, and soak my brush (you can soak it in a sink full of hot water or a shaving mug, or one of these nifty Moss Scuttles, which is a shaving mug with an outer chamber that keeps your shave cream warm). (To use the Moss Scuttle, you fill both the outer chamber and the bowl itself with hot water. Soak your brush in the bowl. Then when you're ready to apply the cream, empty both chambers, and fill only the outer chamber back up with hot water. Then lather the brush in the bowl). After 30-60 seconds or so I take the brush out and give it a quick, light flick to get the excess water off - but not too hard, because you want the brush hairs to retain a decent amount of water. I put about a fingertip's worth of shave cream in the center of the brush, then work up a lather in the scuttle (you can do this in the palm of your hand if you don't have a mug).

After splashing some more hot water on my face I work the lather into my beard with the brush and let it sit for at least thirty seconds. Then I shave with the grain. Rinse, apply more hot water and cream, and shave sideways across the grain. Rinse, more water and cream, and against the grain. Three passes might be too much for some guys but with a beard like mine I have no choice. And when I make that final pass against the grain I end up with a face as smooth as glass.

After the final pass I do a little touch up with the razor where needed , then rinse my face with ice cold water to close the pores. Pat dry with a towel, apply aftershave and call it macaroni.

Even if you don't switch to a safety razor, I guarantee your shaves will improve if you use a good brush and cream. Trust me. Quit beating the hell out of your face with that electric thing that pulls the hair out, or that pile of shit disposable razor that's cutting you to ribbons and giving you razor zits up and down your neck. Consider this a PSA, brothers. You'll thank me, and so will your wives and girlfriends.

If you want to learn more about wetshaving, check out Corey Greenberg's kick-ass blog, especially this primer.

Another great shaving resource is the "Ask the Barber" section on the GR site. I love GR's products but most of them are out of my price range. I do buy the shave cream since it lasts so long and if you can get somebody to give you the aftershave as a gift, by all means do it. It lasts forever and it is terrific stuff.

There are plenty of places to buy shaving gear online but my favorite is Classic Shaving. Their prices are great, they always fill and ship orders quickly and their house shave cream is a really nice one at a very good price.

More Riverdales

The new Riverdales album is called Invasion USA and is out July 14th. The record release show is in Madison WI on July 25th - buy tickets HERE

I just put two new songs from the album up on our MySpace page - Atomic Brain and Prince Of Space.

Back In Business

The Riverdales played our first show in over 13 years last weekend at Reggie's and it was a great one (pics below taken by Christine "Krusty" Ullrich). There were a few bum chords and a false start or two but it was still a hell of a good show - the band had a great time and it sure seemed like the crowd did too. Our first go around in the 90s was pretty rocky at times but I always loved getting up on stage and playing in the band. I'm really looking forward to the rest of this year's shows.

The Riverdales were never as popular as Screeching Weasel but playing to a packed house singing along to those songs felt great and I can't wait to play Austin and Madison this summer. Tickets for Austin on June 20th are still available HERE. And Madison's gonna be a blast. The new album is fantastic and we'll be adding a bunch of the new songs to the set, plus Shot Baker and the Jetty Boys are supporting. The Majestic Theater is a beautiful old venue in downtown Madison and there are tons of great restaurants within walking distance. You can buy tickets for the Madison show on July 25th HERE - hope to see ya there!

A week before the show I got the prototype for the new Weaselrite - more on that in the weeks and months to come - and I had time to get it set up and modified to my tastes - it played like a dream. Big thanks to Pete Repellent for loaning me his cabinet. And to the Resistors and Hypnic Jerks for supporting us.

Finally, Asian Man Records put the first track from Invasion USA up on their MySpace page. It's called Agent For H.A.R.M. and you can hear it HERE

The Brain That Wouldn't Die

The release of the live Ben Weasel album, The Brain That Wouldn't Die, has been pushed back to June 23rd. Sorry about that! On the bright side, the official CD release of These Ones Are Bitter is available (it's on LP too).

Screeching Weasel Skateboard Redux

Just a reminder that those bad-ass Screeching Weasel skateboards are still available but going fast. They're limited to 51 so if you've got your heart set on one, giddyup!

You can buy 'em HERE

And here's what they look like:

Riverdales Record Release Show

Invasion USA record release show at the Majestic in Madison WI on Saturday July 25th with the Jetty Boys and Shot Baker. Buy tickets HERE

Heads up - this will likely be our last show of the year!

Great Band Alert

The Powerchords, out of Chula Vista, CA. Carla Monoxide had her finger on the pulse and hipped me to the MySpace page. "Think I'm Gonna" and "Dream Girl" are two of the best new tunes I've run across in a couple dozen moons.

Enjoy!

UPDATE: I bought the record at Amazon's mp3 store. Halfway through and this mofo smokes. Not a dud in the bunch so far. Do yourself a favor and pick it up!

Erika Hynes

Erika Hynes, owner of Little Type and my business partner in Monona Merch, died yesterday afternoon. I lost a business partner but I also lost one of my best friends. There's a lot I could say about her and maybe someday I will. But right now I just miss her.

Larry Livermore flew out to California to be with Erika and her husband Patrick when it became apparent that she wasn't going to make it. He was good enough to keep me appraised of the situation. When it was time for her to go he got online and read some comments from some of her pals. I was surprised she was even conscious and was holding out hope that maybe a miracle had happened and she'd gotten better. My wife knew better and I guess I did too but I wanted to believe.

Anyway, Larry couldn't say anything in front of her so most of us didn't know she was dying. But I think it was better that way because we weren't awkward at all - we were just our usual obnoxious selves, trying to out smart-ass each other for her benefit. I am very proud of us for that and extremely thankful to Larry for helping us say goodbye, especially in a way that I know she appreciated. She died less than an hour after he read our comments to her. Big thanks to Larry for letting us be with her, if only online, near the end. I can't express how much that means to me.