March 8, 2010

My Friends Are Getting Famous


Various Artists
Punk USA
1994

Ben Weasel put together this stellar punk comp for Lookout! Records back in 1994, and to my ears at the time, it was just about the best thing ever. I was (and am) a huge Screeching Weasel fan, not to mention The Queers, Jawbreaker, and The Vindictives, but there are still plenty of great bands on here that I'd never heard prior to this comp too. The Face to Face song completely ripped my head off the first time I heard it, even though I got pretty bored with their sound rather quickly once I delved into their recorded output at the time. Pink Lincolns and Moral Crux are each incredibly underrated, and their songs here are both great.

Coupl'a notes on some of these bands:
-I think Thankless Dogs featured Johnny Thunders' brother.
-Rattail Grenadier featured Mass Giorgini and Dan Lumley, both future members of Squirtgun and Screeching Weasel.
-I love the song by 8 Bark here but have never been able to find any other music by them. If you've got anything, please please please upload it.


I should also note that there was a track by Garden Variety (which forgive me I don't know the name of) that was sandwiched between the last two tracks, and it was really one of the best songs on the record. It was not listed on the album anywhere. I just noticed that it's missing from my album in iTunes, so it's not in the zip I'm uploading. I'm not sure why this is the case, since I ripped this album myself from my cd (but I have no idea where that cd is now). I'm going to try to find my cd and re-rip it and re-upload it, but if it doesn't happen, then that means I sold the cd or something. It really is a shame though, because the song was awesome, and Garden Variety were a fantastic band.

Punk USA

EDIT: So thanks to Tom Jones in the comment section (presumably the Tom Jones), I can now inform you that Thankless Dogs does not include Johnny Thunders' brother, but rather a guy who goes by the name Charlie Thunders. So that clears that up. And in case you haven't noticed, 30% of the time I'm making things up, and the other 70% of the time I'm misinformed.

7 comments:

bruce said...

thankless dogs did not have johnny thunders brother

cdb said...

Hmm. I wish I could remember where I read that. I see that one of the guys goes by Charlie Thunders, so I'm sure that's the source of the confusion, but I didn't know that until just now. I do specifically remember reading somewhere that Johnny Thunders brother was in the band. Clearly whoever informed of this is an ignoramus. I'll edit the post.

keeferooni said...

8 Bark has what is debatably the best song on the whole comp. Based on that opinion I hunted down a CD (got it thru Gavin, I think) and later a 10" of one or two of the members' new band (V Reverse) after 8 Bark broke up.

Unfortunately, none of any of that material comes close to their song here. At least as far as I can remember. I'll dig up the CD and rip it for you soon-ish.

tiktok said...
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cdb said...

Oh sweet. Thanks Keefe. Sorry to hear it's not as good as that track, but I'd love to hear it nonetheless.

James Joyce said...

Car vs. Driver played with 8 Bark and the band I started with Matt Mauldin pre-Chocokiss played with V-Reverse. I have the 8-Bark "Scam" LP, which is great, but not the first, which I believe is self-titled. You should be able to find those records somewhere around, though.

keeferooni said...

Alright Cory, a sendspace link has been... sent.

As the completist dork that I am compelled to be, I have also dug up some other interesting things in the process of ripping the 8 Bark CD:

I.D. Under -Douglas Ward's first punk band:
http://rocketsciencerecords.blogspot.com/2008/08/id-under-lords-of-nothing-underdog.html

And, 97 Shiki - Douglas Ward's current band:
http://97-shiki.com.