http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-07/25.shtml#karate

Sad stuff - I enjoyed almost all karate records I heard. Also, they were great live.

A shame indeed.

Their later records (post 'The Bed is in the Ocean') kind of bored me, but yeah, they were unreal live.

Hey... sugar... use earplugs.

Earplugs.

el capitan danjou wrote:Also, they were great live.

I saw them once, hoping to hear them play Karate songs, because I really liked the first 2 records.
What I heard was Karate pretending to be a jazz band. They did a Mingus tune, and Coltrane, and other shit that should be left to bands capable of playing that style of music.
Maybe I should have posted this in the "worst live bands ever" thread, because that was one of the worst shows I've ever seen.

hey, at least i didn't go with ralph machio and pat morita.

The Kid wrote:What I heard was Karate pretending to be a jazz band.

Karate was a band that always sounded great when you read about it.

I am a big Karate fan. Even the jazzy stuff. This is truly sad news. I saw them live at Schuba's and thought they were great. I do have to admit that the first 2 albums kick major ass over their subsequent output.