UNDER THE MUCK

26 Years of Nothing

2011-04-06T15:48:00.003-04:00

Disfear
Misanthropic Generation
2003

Disfear bassist Henrik Frykman passed away last week after a battle with cancer. If you're not familiar with Disfear, they play crushing d-beat punk and feature among the current lineup former At the Gates and The Crown vocalist Thomas Lindberg and former Entombed guitarist and bassist Uffe Cederlund on guitar. So take those bands and imagine them playing Motorhead covers and you get a general idea of what you're up against here. Fucking great. Rest in peace, Henrik.

Misanthropic Generation

You Look Like A Gorilla

2011-03-06T16:03:00.004-05:00

The Mopes
Lowdown, Two-Bit Sidewinder
1998

The Mopes were a bit of a 90s pop-punk supergroup, featuring Queers bassist B-Face, Screeching Weasel guitarists Dan Vapid and John Jughead, and Squirtgun drummer Dan Lumley. Their first ep is sort of like beach-party punk. It's a lot of fun, and if you like any of the bands these guys were in, you'll like this too.

Lowdown, Two-Bit Sidewinder

(The Advantage of) Temporary Baldness

2011-03-04T18:45:00.005-05:00

Hurl
A Place Called Today
1996

Hurl had the best drummer of any band ever associated with emo.

A Place Called Today

Birthday Party of Madness

2011-03-04T18:26:00.004-05:00

Burger King Diamond
Upon The Red Wings of Phallic Delusion
2005

Swedish metal gods Burger King Diamond are all but unknown in the US, but in their native Sweden they headline festivals and sell out arenas, preaching the gospel of old school heavy metal with a hot beef injection of black metal imagery and King Diamond worship. Also most of their songs are about fast food. Frontman Sven Hellhammer has been struggling with the current state of the music business, but both this album and their follow up Kiss The Goat: The Anthology are available on iTunes. Hear the blazing leads from dueling guitarists Christofer Bartlett and Nocturno Frost, the thundering bass work from Culto Kathaarian, and of course the competent drumming of one Ásbjörn. HAIL!

Upon The Red Wings of Phallic Delusion

Cut Into Pieces

2011-02-23T15:45:00.003-05:00

Vengeance Rising
Once Dead
1990

Vengeance Rising were one of the few Christian death metal bands back in the late 80s/early 90s. This is their second album, and I enjoy it immensely. The unusual subject matter really adds to the charm. Roger Martinez's vocals fall into one of my favorite styles for this kind of music, the strained rasp (as compared to the high- or low-growl). Think of Martin Van Drunen of Pestilence/Asphyx/Hail of Bullets and you get the idea. Musically, VR is pretty standard thrashy death metal of the time, but that's not a bad thing by any means.

It's interesting to note that after finding themselves in massive debt, the band split. Martinez reformed with new guys, put out a few more records, and eventually turned his back on Christianity and his earlier evangelical work. As a result, the later Vengeance Rising records feature more traditional satanic and athiest death metal topics, and for some reason his voice moved into that lower growly register. At some point the rest of the band reformed with a different singer, calling themselves Once Dead since Martinez owned the name Vengeance Rising. It's all very convoluted.

Regardless, this is a killer record.

Once Dead

George Walker Bush, Texas Ranger

2011-01-25T14:36:00.005-05:00

Sadville
Make Ready The Cross
2007

Ok everyone, I'm back in action over here at Casa de Muck. Let's do this.

Sadville hailed from Tennessee, from Knoxville or Cookeville, depending on which band member you ask. Their style should be familiar to many readers of this blog: crushing, crusty metal with a healthy dose of sludge and grind. A little His Hero is Gone, a little Thou, you know the deal. You won't be disappointed.

Rumor is there's been idle chatter about the band reforming, but don't say you heard it from me. Or do, I guess. See if I care.

Make Ready The Cross

I'm still here

2011-01-09T16:08:00.001-05:00

I've been pretty busy for the last coupl'a months, so the blog has been neglected, but don't delete me from your bookmarks just yet. I've got a kid due in like 2 weeks and all kinds of craziness, but I do have records lined up to post. Be patient, friends.

Everybody's A Liar

2010-11-13T01:46:00.003-05:00

The Brood
In Spite of It All

There was a band called The Brood that formed sometime in the mid-80s that featured a few guys who would later be in Suicidal Tendencies. This isn't that band. These guys/gals also formed in the mid-80s, but were pretty far removed from the California crossover scene. An old friend of mine turned me on to these guys when we were talking about The Dwarves once. He told me The Brood weren't too far removed from early Dwarves. Upon first listen, I thought he was nuts, but then I realized he meant early Dwarves. Like Horror Stories-era Dwarves. So yeah, he was totally right. Warbly, creepy, sleazy garage rock, slathered in reverb.

In Spite of It All

Funeral Song for Earth

2010-11-10T15:05:00.004-05:00

Boris Mikulic
Philia Phobia
1991

Sorry I haven't been posting. I've got crap to do sometimes.

Anyway, here's a pretty good industrial record from Boris Mikulic, aka Herman Gillis from Belgian art rock band Poésie Noire. I was big into tape trading through the Prodigy internet service back in the early 90s, and the other day I found some tapes at my mom's house. One of them was labeled "Al J. Bands and etc." and featured a side A of a bunch of Al Jourgenson's and some of the other Wax Trax dudes' projects, which at that time were often hard to track down. It had some live RevCo stuff, 1000 Homo DJs, Acidhorse, some Ministry b-sides, that sort of thing. Some good stuff. At any rate, the B-side of this tape had Boris Mikulic, and I had 100% forgotten about it. It's pretty good! It's a weird kind of industrial, and sometimes it veers off into noise in a way that is actually annoying, but overall I like it. One song is like heavy metal guitar behind the sounds of a couple boning. It's kind of corny.

But whatever, here's the record.

Philia Phobia

Seemingly Endless Time

2010-09-25T00:58:00.008-04:00

Death Angel
Act III
1990

Death Angel were of the second wave of Bay Area thrash, and they released three albums in their initial run. Many people love The Ultra-Violence and Frolic Through the Park. I am not one of them. I think both of those albums are decent, with The Ultra-Violence being the better of the two, but neither are on par with records by Exodus, Testament, or many other second- and third-tier thrash bands of the time. They are corny and sloppy at times in a way that is not charming (in contrast, check Exodus's Bonded By Blood, which is both corny and sloppy, and still mops the floor with 99% of other thrash records). But on Act III, Death Angel got their shit together in a huge way, producing one of my favorite thrash records ever. This record is so good that not even the bullshit funk metal on "Discontinued" can bring it down. There are two ballads, and they're both good. I'm sayin! The opening track, "Seemingly Endless Time", sets the tone for this one and shows that these guys are done fucking around. They're tight as shit, firing on all cylinders for the duration (except for the funk shit, obv).

Then they broke up. They regrouped as The Organization, then regrouped again as Swarm (maybe some other time), then finally, in 2004 or so, regrouped as Death Angel. And what did they do next? Release two shitty records.

BUT, against all odds, they released Relentless Retribution this month, and it fucking destroys. There is one shitty ballad (sounds like Nickleback), and a coupl'a songs are a little too chunky and groovy for my tastes, but overall, it's a killer record, full of great thrash riffing and tight-as-shit melodies. So I figured it was appropriate that I celebrate their return to awesomeness by posting their masterpiece (forgiving the funk, obv).

So, again, I know you guys love those first two records. Please explain to me what I'm missing! Why do I love the early Exodus stuff, but not the early Death Angel records?

Act III

You & Me (Less than Zero)

2010-09-15T14:24:00.003-04:00

Various
Less Than Zero OST
1987

I've been on a bit of a Danzig kick for a week or so. It started as a Samhain kick, and then before I knew it I was full on into the Danzig years. I'm trying to listen to everything after Danzig III with an open mind, as I've never paid any attention to that stuff. Love those first three records, though.

Anyway, this soundtrack features Glenn Danzig in full-on schmaltzy night club singer mode, doing a sort of precursor to Lucifuge's "Blood and Tears". The Power Fury orchestra backing Sir Glenn is the original lineup of Danzig, minus Eerie Von and plus George Drakoulias.

Other notable tracks here are Slayer's cover of "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" (seriously), The Bangles' fantastic "Hazy Shade of Winter" cover, and Poison fucking "Rock'n'Roll" right in the pooper. Public Enemy's "Bring the Noise" is here without Scott Ian whiting it up. Oh shit, "Goin' Back to Cali" is on here too, so it's got that going for it.

All in all, this is a typical shitty soundtrack, but the Danzig and Slayer tracks are shit you gotta hear.

Less than Zero

Since I turned on the spam filter, I get no comments.

2010-09-10T21:58:00.002-04:00

Come on dudes. 231 people have downloaded that Belladonna record I posted some time back. 103 people have downloaded the Poison Girls record. 687 people downloaded the Masters of Reality record. 6 people downloaded the Xentrix record.

Is everyone just googling album titles and mediafire and ganking links? Surely some of you are actually downloading from the actual blog, right? Let me know what you think about this crap lest I get tired of doing it and start a blog of ambient noise tracks or something.

Oh speaking of which, I started a little blog to post some ambient tracks I make from existing tracks. You can find it here: ssoonnggss.

The Separating Fault

2010-09-09T16:20:00.004-04:00

Elf Power
When The Red King Comes
1997

You have probably heard of Elf Power, an indie rock band from Athens, GA. They are (were?) a part of the Elephant Six collective, of which Olivia Tremor Control, Neutral Milk Hotel, and Of Montreal were also a part. They've been pumping out good quirky, sometimes lo-fi-leaning, sometimes lush and bright indie pop for 15 years now, and pretty much each album falls somewhere on the pretty good to great spectrum. This particular album, however, is really something special. It's very lo-fi, full of fuzz, and borderline psychedelic at times. It's a concept album about the Red King and his kingdom, so it's basically like a few triumphant narratives away from power metal subject matter, which is kind of unusual for this kind of music. But the lyrics fit the music so well, and I can't even put my finger on why.

This record won me over on Elf Power in a huge way, and I'd spent a good 3 or 4 years talking serious shit about them before I heard it. Without going into massive detail, let me just say I hated these guys on a personal level due to an incident at a friend's house (a place known as The Landfill, where plenty of Athens bands played in the late 90s. Where my Athens duders at? Holla.) that involved a friend of mine barfing in some dude's car and passing out in the parking lot next door. This eventually led to Elf Power carrying my friend off and one of them calling me a "bad friend," words that sting almost as much now as they did then.

But then I downloaded "The Separating Fault" one night while drunk and everything suddenly became ok, because holy shit it's good. The whole record is. You can trust me. I'm a good friend.

When The Red King Comes

Tear You Down Build Me Up

2010-09-03T23:35:00.005-04:00

Ocelot
The Quiet Storm
2002

Ocelot might've been a year or two too early. The kicked a shit-ton of ass around Atlanta in the early aughts, but broke up before they really made a splash on a national level. I saw them in 2002 headline a show with Maserati and Explosions in the Sky as the openers. That's balls, right?

But anyway, this is a great instrumental rock record. These guys knew what they were doing. Drummer Alex Lambert has been in a handful of Atlanta bands, though imo none as good as Ocelot. I don't really know what the rest of the guys have done. Like 7 years ago I used to see bassist Brian Harris working at a pizza joint in Atlanta. Guiarist Kenyon Tavares was (maybe still is) the bartender at The Local, one of the better bars in Atlanta. Also there was a stretch where I saw him at literally every single show I went to, even the first Pitchfork Festival, way the fuck up in Chicago. Speaking of which, if you google "ocelot the quiet storm" the first result is a fairly badly written review I wrote of this record way back for Pitchfork. I can't really write for shit now, but back then I really couldn't write for shit.

At any rate, this is a little different than the usual crap I post, but it comes highly recommended.

The Quiet Storm

I Turned Into A Martian

2010-08-31T16:14:00.004-04:00

The Undead
12 Hits From Hell Uncovered
2007

You know that The Undead is early Misfits guitarist Bobby Steele's long-running project. The Misfits famously lambasted Steele on a widely circulated bootleg by changing the lyrics to "I Turned Into A Martian" to "Bobby Steele's an asshole/fucking cunt," and "Bobby Steele, The Undead suck/they fucking suck!" etc. I wonder if The Misfits had become the biggest band on the planet (like, say, Metallica), would Bobby Steele be super bitter and bring them up in every single interview and still refer to them as "my old band" like 30 years later (like, say Dave Mustaine). But I digress.

The Undead were never that good, but they weren't that bad either. Steele named a live album Live Slayer, which is pretty funny. You gotta give him credit for that, right? But he also always felt it necessary to remind everyone that he was in The Misfits, which is why, I guess, in 2007 he yanked out a full-album cover of The Misits' never-released 12 Hits From Hell album, the only full-length of theirs that he appeared on. It's not very good, but that should not stop you from listening to it. I mean, honestly, if I didn't listen to things just because they kind of sucked, I'd only have like 4 albums on my hard drive.

12 Hits From Hell Uncovered

Big Green Monsters

2010-08-27T23:49:00.004-04:00

Various
Make The Collector Nerd Sweat
1989

Here's a classic late-80s punk comp for your ears. This is the shit that was going around when I was first getting into punk rock, and to this day few sounds bring back the nostalgic feeling of being in 8th grade like Jeff Ott's voice over some gnarly Crimpshrine rockout.

But anyway, you know these bands. Mr. T Experience, Crimpshrine, Samiam, Jawbreaker, and The Offspring are household names (in my household anyway). Oh and nevermind the crap they did in the mid-90s, the Offspring song here smokes. The Lookouts featured Larry Livermore from Lookout Records (smart move naming your label after your band, btw), and also Tre Cool on drums. Plaid Retina could'a been contenders. They started out as a sort of crossover thrash band but evolved into great third-tier punk rock. It's a shame they never busted through to the big leagues. Their song here, "Freebird", is actually CCR's "Fortunate Son."

Oh and "Speed" is hands down the best song Samiam ever recorded. Hot shit right there.

The others are bands lost to the sands of punk rock time, but all in all this is a fucking great comp and you're a big dumb twag if you don't download it.

Make The Collector Nerd Sweat

Back in the Real World

2010-08-21T00:05:00.006-04:00

Xentrix
Shattered Existence
1989

If you ask me, there are 3 reasons why Xentrix never got popular:

1. Their most well-known song is a cover of "Ghostbusters".
2. They're from England (go ahead and name 1 really good English thrash band).
3. Their name is Xentrix. I mean come on.

Anyway, while not consistently great, they can be very good at times, delivering workhorse thrash that sounds not unlike a more generic version of the bay area stuff (Exodus, Testament, and of course Metallica). Solid production too, which is kind of rare for these third-tier thrash bands.

This is their debut. I really think you're gonna like it.

Shattered Existence

Over the Edge

2010-08-04T14:34:00.003-04:00

Alice 'n Chains
demo
1987

Here's a fun little relic of the hair metal era. This pre-grunge-fame version of Alice in Chains featured Layne Stayley and some other dudes. At some point this band folded, Stayley met up with Jerry Cantrell, who was playing in a hair metal band called Diamond Lie at the time. Through a series of events, Stayley joined Diamond Lie, who then changed their name to Alice in Chains. A coupl'a years later they got famous. THE END.

Well not really obv.

Anyway, this demo blows, but "Over the Edge" is pretty rockin'. I wish Diamond Lie had recorded a demo before changing their name, cause I'd love to hear the full AiC lineup doing hair metal. I'd probably like it better than their regular records. Anyway.

Alice 'n Chains demo

so very hot

2010-07-07T15:04:00.003-04:00

Summer vacay in full effect. I'll be back in a few weeks. Got any requests? Drop them in the comments.

2010-06-25T14:42:00.009-04:00

Various Artists
A Sides Part One 1979-1982
A Sides Part Two 1982-1984
1992

As promised, here are the two Crass Records singles collections. I got these both in 1993, a time when I was really exploring punk rock beyond the usual "popular" punk bands. I was getting into some of the newer American bands (Screeching Weasel especially, a favorite to this day), a few old hardcore bands (Youth of Today, Gorilla Biscuits, the bands on that one live NY hardcore comp...what was that called? It had Token Entry, Rest in Pieces, No for an Answer and one other band if I recall), and was just starting to discover some of the stuff from England. I'd been a fan of the Buzzcocks and the Damned for a while, but had just recently become pretty obsessed with Crass. When I stumbled across part one of this comp, there were just enough recognizable names on the disc to get me to plunk down my money. I knew Conflict (I had their live album, Turning Rebellion into Money and a 7") and Captain Sensible. Cool artwork, done deal.

Turns out this stuff was a pretty different breed from the punk, English or American, that I was familiar with at the time. Stuff like Honey Bane, Poison Girls, and The Snipers sounded really out there to my young ears. There's not a song on this one I don't like (though I do usually skip the Annie Anxiety track if I'm being honest). When I posted The Poison Girls record a while back, I mentioned their song on this comp. It's great, and sort of sounds like it could've fit onto side 2 of Alice Cooper's Welcome to my Nightmare. For real.

I finally found the second volume while I was on vacation with my family in Florida. The only band I recognized on this one was MDC, but I loved the first one so much I knew I wouldn't be disappointed, and I was right. Anthrax, Omega Tribe, Sleeping Dogs, and Hit Parade all blew me away, and the Lack of Knowledge song on here is probably one of my favorite punk songs ever. Just a really awesome song.

Anyway, I'll admit now what I wouldn't then: the politics these bands were spouting were completely lost on me. I knew there was a general anti-system, anti-capitalism, anti-government stance, and that was enough. I've managed to tune out most of the politics in the music I like over the years (there are some bands I couldn't tolerate otherwise), so the fact that Crass Records considered itself a political movement as much as a punk label matters not at all to me, one way or the other. I liked the songs, the art was great, and it fed into my teenage angst at the time just fine.

For some of these bands, the songs here are all I've heard. Aside from the bands I've already posted, I've got music by Lack of Knowledge, Conflict, Rudimentary Peni, MDC, Omega Tribe, Hit Parade, and Zounds. For the most part, none of it has grabbed me the way these tracks did when I first heard them. Something about these collections, their general weirdness, and the totally foreign imagery and language scratched me right where I itched when I was 15, and so they still do now. Maybe you'll dig it too.

A Sides Part One 1979-1982
A Sides Part Two 1982-1984

The Parents of God

2010-06-19T00:32:00.005-04:00

The Snipers
Three Piece Suite
1980

I don't know much about The Snipers. I think this might be their only release, though I'm pretty sure there's an unreleased full length floating around out there that you can stumble across. I first heard "The Parents of God" on the Crass Records comp A Sides Part One, which I bought at Camelot Records at one of the local malls back in 1994. That comp and it's sequel are two records that hit me very hard at the time and still pull in big waves of nostalgia when I put them on (like right now, for example). Next week I'll post them both. I've already posted stuff from Anthrax, Poison Girls, and Flux (of Pink Indians), all of which I first heard on these comps.

Anyway, here are 3 songs from The Snipers, sounding like a Crass Records version of early stuff by The Cure, only lazier and weirder. "Killing An Arab" comes to mind. Check it out.

Three Piece Suite

twits and tumbles

2010-05-22T10:09:00.002-04:00

So I was doing the twitter thing for a bit, but I checked out tumblr and I like it a lot more for these purposes. Follow me at over there if you're into that sort of thing. I post cool pictures I come across, youtube videos, just whatever.

Injun

2010-05-18T13:42:00.002-04:00

Belladonna
Belladonna
1995

As you've no doubt heard by now, Joey Belladonna has joined Anthrax for the third time. On the one hand, I feel like the revolving door lineup this band has is really pathetic and they should really consider hanging it up. On the other hand, I fucking love Belladonna-era Anthrax, so if they're gonna keep chugging along, I'd just assume it be with him up front instead of John Bush (who I never liked with Anthrax or Armored Saint) or Dan Nelson (who sounded a little too Phil Anselmo for my tastes, in the little bit that I heard of his voice). Once, before Nelson joined, there were rumors that former Ugly Kid Joe frontman Whitford Crane was going to join, and I have to admit I was sort of jazzed at that prospect. But that was forever ago.

At any rate, I hope they get some new music out there soon, and I hope it smokes, and I hope Belladonna's voice sounds great, and Charlie writes some crushing riffs, and they cool it with the groovy hard rock bullshit they were doing by the end with Bush. I want a killer return to form from these guys. Bad.

But enough of that shit. Here's Joey's solo debut from 1995, a relatively limp record that is still better than most of the Bush-era Anthrax stuff. When this starts, you're gonna be like, "oh yeah, here we go." The opening drums are big and beefy and sound like shit's gonna be all up in your face. But the guitar tone is oddly hollow, and most of the songs are too slow. It was 1995 after all. But anyway, it's a neat artifact, and some of it's pretty good I guess. Also there are song titles like "Power Trip", "Rob You Blind", "Two Faced" and "Mixed Emotions". I guess you could call this Joey's breakup album.

If nothing else I should get plenty of hits on the ol' blog here for people doing google searches for "Belladonna". You know who I'm talking about.

Belladonna

My Way

2010-05-07T23:17:00.007-04:00

Low Pop Suicide
On The Cross of Commerce
1992

Man, what a fucking great record this is. Though they never had much of an impact at all, Low Pop Suicide boasted a few hefty credentials. Bassist Dave Allen was in Gang of Four and Shriekback, while drummer Jeff Ward played with Ministry, Revolting Cocks, Nine Inch Nails, 1000 Homo DJs, and Lard before taking his own life in 1993. (Side note: Ward's brother Jason Ward is the bassist for Flotsam and Jetsam, and on their 2008 live album Once in a Death Time, they cover Lard's "Forkboy" as a sort of tribute to Jeff Ward. It's pretty good. I'll post it some time.) Also, before this full length, they released an ep that was, if memory serves, produced by Trent Reznor.

The album isn't as industrial as you might expect, though. There's some noisy industrial flourishes, but this is all live-band, heavy drumming, and mostly crushing guitars. The production has a 90s chorusy sheen to it that suits the music, and guitarist/vocalist/primary songwriter Rick Boston's warbly, strained vocals are a cut above a lot of the 90s alternative crap. There are a few dreamy, almost shoe-gazey tracks breaking up the heavier ones too.

Some of the stuff I post here has been discovered on the internet, or was stumbled upon in dollar bins over the years and that sort of thing. This is one of the ones I bought when it came out and that has never fallen out of favor. I bought this and The Disengagement ep upon their release and listened to the hell out of both. Great stuff that's sort of hard to categorize.

The final minute of "My Way" will blow your balls off.

On The Cross of Commerce

Crepe Paper Hearts

2010-05-01T00:56:00.003-04:00

Hickey
Us Vs. Them
1995

Hickey are legendary, so they probably don't belong on this blog, but here this 7" is anyway. All of their stuff is available for download here, but this 7" was my introduction to the band, so I figured I'd throw it up here. The opening track is my favorite thing they ever did, and it's hands down one of the punkest things I've ever heard.

I won't bother trying to write up a big thing about Hickey or Matty Luv or the bands that came before and after. Look up the Voodoo Glow Skulls prank. It's a good one. But they were are lot more than that, and their status at the time is hard to put into words.

Us Vs. Them

Dead Man

2010-04-27T14:18:00.005-04:00

Dragonwyck
Chapter 2
1971

Dragonwyck is a band who has benefited quite a bit from the Internet age. They formed in Cleveland in 1969, recorded 2 albums that they never released, and basically made a reputation for themselves with their live show. As far as I understand, the albums they recorded, of which Chapter 2 is logically the second, exist only as a handful of acetate copies out there somewhere. There have been a couple of reissues (or just issues I guess) in recent times, but they seem to survive mostly on blogs. I stumbled across this record a couple of years ago, and while it's not one I rock on a daily basis, it's the kind of thing I put on every coupl'a months and say "Damn this is good. Why don't I listen to it more often?" So here's me doing my part to spread the word.

The music has bits of folk, psych, prog, and just plain ol' rock and roll. There's some big Moody Blues influence, but there's a little Who, early Pink Floyd, Amboy Dukes, etc. They sound more England than Cleveland, that's for sure. But hey, it's great stuff.

Chapter 2

Blood I Bleed

2010-04-22T13:41:00.003-04:00

Détente
Recognize No Authority
1986

The other day, friend and frequent poster in the comment section here on the blog JoyAnna Banana sent me an e-mail inquiring about metal bands with women in them. Turns out there are a few! Détente featured a woman named Dawn Crosby on vocals, delivering a thrash squeal that would make Nuclear Assault's John Connelly proud. On guitar is a guy named Ross Robinson who made a name for himself in the 90s by producing a bunch of really awful records, including Sepultura's Roots, some Korn records, and Vanilla Ice's forgotten rap-metal record Hard to Swallow (and it was, btw, hard to swallow). Also, one of the drummers for Machinehead was in this band at one point too.

Anyway, their lineup could be described as a revolving door, and Crosby died in 1996. Some version of the band has carried on with a different singer or two, and I think they just recently released another record, but I haven't heard it. This one's pretty good though.

Recognize No Authority

I Will Never Die

2010-04-10T01:11:00.005-04:00

Turbonegro
Never is Forever
1994

You probably don't know this, but I once played in a Turbonegro cover band. It was an absolute blast. I played 2 shows with them in the Rune Rebellion slot, and they went on to play 2 shows without me after I tragically broke my ankle and couldn't rock out for a bit. Our set mostly came from Ass Cobra and Apocalypse Dudes, with a coupl'a newer (at the time) songs thrown in. I don't think we did anything from the albums before Ass Cobra, but I specifically remember suggesting "I Will Never Die" as a possible cut. Of course I was outvoted for whatever reason. It's a great song.

To get to the point, Turbonegro is a great band. It's almost a shame they're called Turbonegro and dress like they do, because they are all too often dismissed as a novelty or, even worse, taken seriously and offensively. Yes, I realize their original/non-us name is TRBNGR or Turboneger, either of which seem more offensive than the already vaguely offensive Turbonegro. But I trust the band when they say their motivations were actually anti-racism, and I mean shit I listen to Burzum and Peste Noire and plenty of other "questionable" black metal, so whatever. I've typed far too much on this topic.

Never is Forever is a great record, showing the band before they went balls-out punk on Ass Cobra. There's a poppy element to this record that they never touched on again. Just whatever download it or don't I'm tired of typing about it.

Never is Forever

Unrequited Blood

2010-03-31T13:56:00.002-04:00

Assück
Misery Index
1997

Some days you want to chill out to the fullest. Maybe fix yourself a drink, crack open the window and let some of that beautiful sunshine and spring air in. Put on the Doobie Brothers, maybe do a j. You know, really just commune with the elements and totally mellow out on some no-jive, no-nonsense cool out time with Skunk, Mike and the boys. Take it minute by minute, so to speak.

Other days, you just gotta crank Assück.

Misery Index

Hell's Motel

2010-03-24T13:50:00.004-04:00

MD.45
The Craving
1996/2004

In 1996, Dave Mustaine wanted to do something that sounded different from Megadeth, so he grabbed Lee Ving and Kelly LeMieux from Fear and Jimmy Degrasso from Suicidal Tendencies and slapped down this record. Nevermind the fact that in 1996, Megadeth didn't even sound like Megadeth, but whatevski.

Then, in 2004, as he was remastering the old Megadeth records, Mustaine decided to remaster this one too. Only, lord have mercy, the vocal and harmonica tracks Ving laid down were now mysteriously missing! How could such a thing have happened!? What in the world is a narcissistic, myopic, megalomaniac to do? Why re-record the vocals himself of course. So now it sort of sounds like a lost Megadeth record, or a record of songs cut from mid-90s Megadeth records or something.

None of this is to say that the record is bad, or that the 04 version is better or worse than the 96 version. The riffs are at times kind of bluesy, which suits Ving's "I can't really sing, but I'm too drunk to care" vocal style. But the remastered version is much beefier, and Mustaine's voice suits some of the more straightforward metal songs a little better.

At any rate, here's both versions.

The Craving

Cattle Mutilation

2010-03-17T14:51:00.004-04:00

Rigor Mortis
Freaks
1989

Rigor Mortis featured future Ministry guitarist Mike Scaccia, something that's evident from the first notes on Freaks. Scaccia left Rigor Mortis in 1991 to join Ministry, and he's played off and on with Al ever since (though most notably on Psalm 69). He's an incredibly fast riffer. If you've heard Ministry's "TV Song" or "TV II", then you've heard some signature Scaccia speed. That shit's all over this EP. Also in the ranks is Casey Orr, who you might better know as Beefcake the Mighty from GWAR.

This is a killer thrash record. Get it.

edit: I got a report that the zip was corrupt, so I just re-uploaded it. Someone let me know if there are any more problems.

Freaks

My Friends Are Getting Famous

2010-03-08T13:41:00.004-05:00

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.

Jump Mama Jump

2010-03-03T14:02:00.002-05:00

Poison Girls
Hex
1979

This is a weird little record from a weird band. Poison Girls formed in the mid-70s, and their singer, who went by the name Vi Subversa, was in her 40s at the time w/ two kids. Apparently she heard her kids listening to punk rock and said, "Hey, this stuff ain't half bad," and decided to give it a go. She was born in 1935, which sort of blows my mind. And you know what? She sounds like she was born in 1935.

Anyway, Poison Girls were a part of the whole Crass Records thing, which may be good or bad depending on your perspective. From the music standpoint, I tend to think it's a good thing (ie I like a lot of those bands). Things get into shakier territory when the politics of it all gets involved, but we'll save that for some other blog. But musically this falls into the dark shadows of punk's weirder side. It kind of meanders and noodles, and the vocals often fall into a kind of beat poetry rhythm, but it's pretty cool anyway. Unfortunately, this record doesn't have my favorite track of theirs, "Promenade Immortelle", which sounds like an outake from Alice Cooper's Welcome to my Nightmare. It's on a Crass Records comp I've got, though, so maybe I'll post it some time.

Hex

Grande Days

2010-02-23T16:11:00.001-05:00

Most People Are Dicks

2010-02-15T13:55:00.004-05:00

Ludichrist
Immaculate Deception
1987

Ludichrist were a corny hardcore/metal crossover band from New York. This is a frustrating album, because there are some real nuggets of greatness throughout, but sometimes they try to be groovy or whatever, and those parts are really bad. Also, many claim this album features the very first metal/hip-hop combo in the song "Green Eggs and Ham," because, you know, the world really needed rapping over bad metal riffs, not to mention a heavy version of "Green Eggs and Ham."

But, you know, don't let all that discourage you. When they cut the bullshit and play fast, this stuff is good, and with 19 songs, surely you can find some good ones. Plus, some of this stuff is pretty funny ("Green Eggs and Ham" notwithstanding). Oh, by the way, after Ludichrist broke up, the singer and guitarist (Tommy Christ and Glen Cummings, respectively) grabbed a new rhythm section and renamed themselves Scatterbrain, who you might remember from their minor Headbanger's Ball hit "Don't Call Me Dude." If anyone out there has the first Scatterbrain record and can upload it for me, please leave me a comment. There's a good song on there w/ John Connelly from Nuclear Assault guesting.

edit: holy shit I forgot to mention that "Green Eggs and Ham" goes into RUN-DMC's "Rock Box" about half-way through, and given that that song came out in 1984, it sort of calls into question the whole "first rap/metal song" thing.

Immaculate Deception

Storybook

2010-01-18T15:19:00.006-05:00

Levelhead
Spooky?
1994 (?)
Vinyl rip

No cover for this one, so that boss flyer will have to stand in. Levelhead was a great pop punk band out of Marietta, Georgia, one of the northside Atl suburbs. My old band Round Ear Spock played with them a few times, and I always loved them. This 7" in particular got worn out on my record player. If I'm not mistaken, we played with them, Total Chaos, and the Voodoo Glow Skulls once, but one of the Voodoo Glow Skulls got super sick and they canceled, so Total Chaos did too, leaving us two local bands to hold down the fort. The Somber Reptile let everyone in for free, and we tore it up. I didn't really like those other bands anyway.

So if you like this record, head over to Beyond Failure and search for their unreleased full-length. Also, bassist Matt Monroe is in a band called Callsign who aren't too far off from Levelhead, though not as poppy. You can hear them here.

Spooky?

Flaming Heart

2010-01-06T15:04:00.006-05:00

DiAnno
DiAnno
1984

Gogmagog
I Will Be There
1985

Iron Maiden's first two records are punky, rough-around-the-edges metal with a leather-and-studs biker vein running through them, so you'd expect that, seeing how polished and sophisticated (for lack of a better word) their material became with Bruce Dickinson, Paul DiAnno was bringing that tougher sound to the table. So it would stand to reason that his post-Maiden music would be tough, aggressive, and pretty rocking.

Funny how that worked out.

Here's his first post-Maiden record, a cheese-slathered mix of mid-80s rock and synthesizer power-balladry. If you're a fan of 80s inspirational soundtrack rock (and who isn't?), then you'll dig this. Some of it's pretty crappy, but it's interesting if nothing else.

As a bonus, I'm also throwing in Gogmagog's I Will Be There ep, which also featured DiAnno on vocals, former Maiden drummer Clive Burr, and future Maiden guitarist Jannick Gers. This ep isn't too far off from the DiAnno record, but all three songs are good. It's much catchier and not quite as cheesy. It's a shame this is the only thing they ever released.

DiAnno and I Will Be There

Night of the Swords

2009-12-16T14:14:00.004-05:00

The Crown
The Burning
1995

I recently found out that The Crown, one of my favorite Swedish death metal bands, has reformed. They have a new singer, but I'm actually cool with that, because my favorite album of theirs is Crowned in Terror, which features Thomas Lindberg (At The Gates, Disfear, etc) on vocals instead of Johan Lindstrand, who was the band's usual vocalist. They even rerecorded the album w/ Lindstrand on vocals once he rejoined, but that version and the album the did after that just don't have the same oomph the earlier stuff had, in my humble opinion. Lindstrand's post-The Crown band, One Man Army and the Undead Quartet suffers from both a stupid name and boring music.

So anyway, I'm pretty jazzed about a new album from The Crown, and the new vocalist, Jonas Stålhammar of God Macabre, sounds great to me. You can hear samples on their website.

I figured this news was good enough reason to post the band's debut from way back in 1995 when they were called Crown of Thorns. After two albums, another band with the same name got ill about it and our Crown of Thorns lost the thumb war or whatever they used to settle the situation, and thus renamed themselves The Crown.

The Burning

Lay Down and Die, Goodbye

2009-11-27T14:06:00.002-05:00

Alice Cooper
Easy Action
1970

Tomorrow marks the 1-year anniversary of this blog, so I since my first post was Alice Cooper's first album, Pretties For You, I thought I'd take this moment to post the band's second release, Easy Action. They were still in the weirdo-psychedellic phase in 1970, though some of the more garagey aspects had dropped away. The next album would be Love it to Death, where they toned down the psychedelia even more (though there's still plenty of weird to be found throughout the band's entire catalog), and reach classic-rock superstardom with "I'm Eighteen". This album has some great Beatles-esque stuff mixed in, too, though, and the production is a little more refined than on Pretties. They never really did the sweeter sounding harmony-laden thing after this album. The lyrical content is still bizarre, though. Oh, and Michael Bruce sings two tracks here, marking the last time anyone besides Alice himself sang lead.

The title is from a line in West Side Story, a musical and film the band liked so much they borrowed heavily from it on 1972's School's Out.

But yeah, just like I said when I posted their debut, let me just stress that if all you know of Alice Cooper is the stuff they play on the radio, give this album a chance. They were a really odd band, especially on the first two albums.

Easy Action

Test the Steel

2009-11-16T14:02:00.005-05:00

Powermad
Absolute Power
1989

Here's another prime piece of forgotten thrash for you. These guys are pretty talented, I gotta say. Great rhythms and top-notch wanking on the gitter. Joel Dubay's vocals aren't too far off from Flotsam and Jetsam's Eric A.K., though he tends to alternate the higher-pitched, clearer style vocals with a more traditional 80s gruff thrash vocal style. Powermad is from Minneapolis. Off hand I can't think of another metal band from Minneapolis. I first heard these guys around the time this album came out because they used to advertise in Metal Edge and Circus and those type of magazines, and my old friend Ryan ordered their cassette based on one of those ads. We thought they sounded a lot like Metallica, though I don't necessarily hear that any more.

Hey, you know, listening to this record for some reason reminded me of a conversation I had years ago with my buddy Eric about the difference between thrash metal and speed metal. At the time I maintained that it was a difference in vocals: gruff vocals meant it was thrash, clear or high-pitched vocals meant speed metal. I don't really feel that way any more, and so I ask you: is there any difference between speed and thrash, or are they just two names for the same thing (with speed metal falling out of favor over the years)?

Absolute Power

R.I.P. Jerry Fuchs

2009-11-08T18:42:00.002-05:00

An incredibly nice guy and an incredible talent. You will be missed.

Under the Rose

2009-11-07T00:34:00.010-05:00

Kiss
Music from the Elder
1981

I'll try to keep this brief, but understand my love for this record is almost unparalleled. Let's look at the facts:
1. I love KISS. I mean, they are seriously my absolute favorite band ever. No one else is even close.
2. I love Bob Ezrin, particularly his work in the 70s, when he was pushing bands up and up and producing these huge, ambitious projects (some of which were total failures, *cough*maybe like this one*cough*)
3. I love it when bands do weirdo records that are totally out of sync with the rest of their catalog, as this blog is a testament to.

So maybe you can understand why this album is so dear to me. I love it. I mean, it's like a desert island album for me. Not like a "so bad it's good" thing, either. I genuinely love it.

Some background for the uninitiated: Kiss was at an all-time low in the late 70s. Peter Criss had left, and they'd just released the two worst-selling records of their career, the wrongly maligned Dynasty and the rightly maligned Unmasked. Peter hadn't played much on either of those, but they'd finally officially replaced him with the phenomenal Eric Carr (The Fox) and had promised fans a return to the straight-up rock'n'roll of their earlier records. Eric Carr was just the kick in the pants they needed, too. He was a much heavier drummer than his predecessor (and probably the most talented guy to ever play in Kiss), and they were in the perfect position to reclaim their glory. They called in Bob Ezrin, who'd produced the wildly successful Destroyer to helm the board, and Ezrin inexplicably convinced them to do a concept record. He was hot off of doing Pink Floyd's The Wall. That's the only explanation. The record bombed so hard it's a wonder the band persevered. They didn't even tour for it. Given the way future members were treated, it's a wonder Eric Carr wasn't fired on the spot. Ace Frehly had had enough at this point and bolted for a solo career.

At any rate, this album was downright legendary when I was a kid. It was out of print (or, barring that, very, very hard to find) and was widely considered a joke. My brother tracked it down through a mail-order company, and was so disgusted by it that he purposely scratched it and sent it back. They knew the deal, though, and promptly sent it right back, and that very album is sitting in my record bin a foot or so away from me as I type.

So why the beef? It doesn't sound like Kiss. It's not particularly rock'n'roll, really. Gene Simmons once said that it sounded like a bad Genesis record. Paul Stanley, clearly exhibiting the better taste of the two, once said that it was a good record, just not a good Kiss record. But it was the perfect soundtrack to my young-life of being obsessed with The Legend of Zelda and The Hobbit and crap like that. That's definitely the vibe I get. Does it sound like Kiss? Not really. Is it a failure? Probably. But I still love these songs, and I truly wish the band would treat this album with a tad more respect. Some of these songs are just incredible. "The Oath" is one of the heaviest songs in the band's catalog, certainly the heaviest up to that point. "Just A Boy" is good for reasons I can't quite explain. And "Escape from the Island" is the first Kiss instrumental since their debut record 8 years (and 8 albums, not including live and solo records [which brings up a crazy point about how prolific this band was in the 70s. From 1972 to 1980 they released 8 studio albums, 2 live albums, and 4 solo albums for a total of 14 records in 8 years]) earlier.

Oh, by the way, maybe you're familiar with the 33 1/3 book series (books dedicated to specific albums, written by music journalists, musicians, etc). There are like 70 of them at this point, but back in 2005 they were gearing up to do the second or third run and sent out a call for idea submissions, and I promptly threw my hat in the ring for this record. For the intitial screening (which preceded the official pitch), the editor, David Barker, responded with something along the lines of, "Yeah, huh, not many people like that album." Needless to say, my book isn't on the shelves.

But I demand this record be given a second chance. And I guess I didn't keep this brief after all. But trust me, there's a lot of stuff in my head that I didn't type.

Music from the Elder

Let's Get Hurt

2009-11-02T14:37:00.005-05:00

Teengenerate
Get Action!
1994

Last weekend I went to see AC/DC with a friend of mine, and beforehand we were talking about punk rock. The conversation wound its way to the New Bomb Turks, which led me to ask my friend if he'd heard Teengenerate. He had not. It occurred to me that though these guys were pretty well known back in the 90s, their abrupt breakup (a friend asked one of them why they were breaking up when they played their final show in Atlanta, and the response was hilariously excited "I DON'T KNOW!") and the fact that they were from Japan means they've sort of dropped off the radar. Guitar Wolf perseveres, but the far superior Teengenerate drifts of in the sands of punk rock time.

So anyway, this is the punkest record released by any band in between The Dwarves' Blood Guts and Pussy and Turbonegro's Ass Cobra (or the 2003 re-issue of Ass Cobra for that matter). Maybe it's punker than Ass Cobra, actually. At any rate, if you don't have this, get it. Oh, they were originally called American Soul Spiders, and The New Bomb Turks wrote a song about them that appeared on their Drunk on Cock ep, which also included a cover of The Queers' "This Place Sucks". Get Action! has a cover of The Queers' "Kicked Out of the Webelos". So see, it sort of all comes full circle. Or something.

Final note: Some day I'll post 5 4 Baby 3 2 1, the unreleased album by an old garage punk band I was in called The Drummonds, and you'll see just how far Teengenerate worship can get you (the answer, of course, is not very far, which is why the album never got released).

Get Action!

Ain't Nothin' To Do

2009-10-22T10:04:00.004-04:00

Nine Pound Hammer
"Radar Love" b/w "Ain't Nothin' To Do"
1995
Vinyl Rip

The greatest redneck punk band in history covering two songs that are awesome in their own right, Golden Earring's "Radar Love" and The Dead Boys' "Ain't Nothin' To Do". Forget all the cowboy-hat wearing, rebel-flag sporting, faux-country posewads; this is the real deal. It's a shame Nine Pound Hammer called it a day shortly after this, paving the way for the far inferior Nashville Pussy, and then the equally inferior reunited version of Nine Pound Hammer. So maybe it's not a shame they called it a day, but rather a shame they didn't stay down. Or maybe I'm just selfish.

At any rate, chug a beer, download this, crank it, play air guitar, and go smash something. Or, you know, be a pussy. The choice is yours.

"Radar Love" b/w "Ain't Nothin' To Do"

Science and Trucking

2009-10-20T13:49:00.005-04:00

Textbook
A Garden to Tear Apart
unreleased

Shameless self promotion alert!

Textbook started back in 2003 or so, with an original lineup featuring three former members of Flux Capacitor (Jeremy Spake, Shane Secor, and Brian Crow) and some other dude on drums. Eventually that other dude was replaced by Gregory Case. Around this time, Brian was playing with me in a band called Atlantic (with another former member of Flux Capacitor, incidentally). He jumped ship to focus on Textbook exclusively, and eventually Atlantic folded. Fast-forward a year or so and Shane and Textbook decided to part ways amicably, and lo and behold, I get called up as his replacement.

I was in Textbook for roughly 1 year before we went on hiatus due to a great career opportunity for Jeremy. That 8-month hiatus turned into a year-long hiatus, then a year-and-a-half, and long story short, we never reformed. So here is our never-released full-length debut. Being in the band for only a short time, I'm in a bit of a unique position. I play on 2 of these 9 songs; the rest were recorded with Shane before I joined. So I'm really coming to you as a fan of this record, not just a dude promoting his own shit. If you like heavy post-punk, somewhere between Jawbox and Deadguy, then I think you'll dig this record. I do, anyway.

Oh, and btw, Shane Secor is in a pretty good newer style punk band called 40 Hells, which initially featured both Brian Crow and Gregory Case in its ranks. And yes, I'm aware of the humor in my band going on hiatus and two of the guys making a new band with an old-member and not me. It's really funny. Ha ha.

A Garden to Tear Apart

Kill The King

2009-10-16T23:22:00.004-04:00

Masters of Reality
Masters of Reality
1988

Chris Goss is the unsung hero of the desert rock scene that gave us Kyuss and its many offspring. Goss produced the three Kyuss records that matter, and his influence is strong even on current Queens of the Stone Age stuff. That whole oddball, bluesy rock thing w/ the smooth vocals over top that QOTSA does is lifted from Goss's playbook. You already know all of this, I'm sure, so I'll get to the point.

Masters of Reality is Goss's band. They've had a revolving door of a lineup over the years (that's included all the usual suspects [Homme, Oliveri, Lanegan, Catching] as well as Ginger Fucking Baker) and have released 6 or 8 records or so. This is the first album, and it's nuts that this came out 21 years ago. Awesome heavy blues rock that is a hundred times better than anything termed "blues rock" should be. "The Candy Song" was a minor Headbanger's Ball hit. Dig it.

Masters of Reality

Doctor Phibes Rises Again

2009-09-19T01:25:00.004-04:00

Kryst The Conqueror
Deliver Us From Evil
Unreleased

Ok. Oof. This is a rough one. Let's just power through it.

After The Misfits disbanded, Jerry Only and Doyle formed this weird metal band called Kryst The Conqueror. Jeff Scott Soto, at the time known as the guy who sang on the first coupl'a Yngwie Malmsteen records and later as one of the dudes who fronted Journey, did the vocals. The bottom line is, he sucks shit on this record. But until the legal dispute between Danzig and the Caiafa bros was resolved, this was "The Misfits". Once they regained control of the name, they basically found a new singer (drummer Dr. Chud was already on board), and released American Psycho (which, at the risk of losing readers, is a record I love).

They never got around to releasing this, though an EP was released that had some of this stuff on it. The bottom line is that knowing this is two of the guys from The Misfits definitely knocks it down a few pegs. HOWEVER, if it wasn't, this is exactly the sort of dumb shit I'd post on this blog anyway. It's corny metal, full of triumphant melodies and silly dark vocals and lyrics. It's not good, but come on, it's not that bad either.

I think they were trying to be a Christian band too, which is totally wtf.

But hey! Whatever, you know I dig this kind of corniness. And a coupl'a these songs are really similar to stuff The Misfits 2.0 did, particularly "Doctor Phibes Rises Again", of which the opening portion appeared as the opening track for American Psycho, only renamed "The Abominable Dr. Phibes". Come on, you know you want to give this one a try.

Deliver Us From Evil

I've Got Gingivitis

2009-09-16T13:44:00.006-04:00

Show Business Giants
Let's Have A Talk With The Dead
1995

Nomeansno guitarist Tom Holliston invites a revolving door of guest musicians to perform in his side-project Show Business Giants. He's released a half-a-dozen records or so, and this record has always been a favorite of mine. Style-wise, it's a mish-mash of punk, lounge, faux-cock-rock, goofy folk, and just all kinds of other oddball weirdness. And it's really funny, too, particularly "Sound Check" and "The Other Side of Mr. Sulu". If you're a fan of Nomeansno, you should definitely hear this, as you can definitely tell it's one of the same dudes, and and the other two guys play on here too.

Also, I just realized this is the second Nomeansno side project I've posted, which probably makes me look like some Nomeansno superfan, but I'm actually not. I've got a coupl'a their records, but but you know, that's it.

Let's Have A Talk With The Dead

About the links

2009-09-14T09:27:00.002-04:00

Sendspace drops a file after 30 days w/ no downloads, so most of the files here are gonna expire after a coupl'a months. I'm gonna be going through all the old posts and re-uploading stuff and replacing the links, but if there's something you want and it's gone, just shoot me an e-mail and I'll get on it. I just replaced the link for The Oswalds Don't Panic! 7".

I may switch to mediafire instead of sendspace. They're supposed to be pretty good, right?

Snot Nose Brat

2009-09-07T15:24:00.005-04:00

Tone Deaf Pig-Dogs/No Class
Saved By The Bail
1996

I still haven't bothered to learn how to use my scanner, so that live shot of The Tone Deaf Pig-Dogs up there will have to stand in for the actual cover of this split disc. TDPG were another of the local Atlanta bands tearing shit up in the mid-90s (see this post). They were like a sponge, constantly absorbing members of other bands (members of A Quart Low [who morphed into The Oswalds], Smedley and the Space Cadets, and Round Ear Spock all played in this band at one point or another), but their sound wasn't as new-school or pop-punk as any of the bands they borrowed members from. Fairly straight-forward punk with a nod towards 50s rock and greaser attitude is what you get here. Singer Mike Nickerson's snotty snarl always puts a smile on my face.

Two of the members of this band, Nickerson and bassist Dom Totino, currently play together in a really good jangly rock band called The Letmedowns, but more importantly they've resurrected the Pig-Dogs name for a reunion show this Thursday, September 10th, at Lenny's in Atlanta. Rounding out the lineup for this reunion are Elliot Goff, who I think played in 12 Ounces at one point, and Keefe Justice, who played with The Close, played with The Oswalds for at least one of their reunion shows back in the late 90s, and has been in a slew of other bands, including Minced Oath and Das Assjugend, both with me. So if you're in the Atlanta area, for pete's sake come out and check this one out. It'll be a fun old-school time.

Oh, and of course this is a split disc with No Class, who I believe were from Alabama. I'm not going to lie; I don't think I've ever listened to their half of the disc. That's not a slight on them or anything. I've just never gotten around to it. Let me know if it's any good.

Saved By The Bail

The Stonecutter

2009-09-02T13:44:00.006-04:00

Flux
Uncarved Block
1987

When the American punk bands of the late 70s and 80s got a few albums into their careers, they tended to start noodling with heavy metal. When British punk bands of the late 70s and 80s got a few albums into their careers, they started going into all weirdo tribal dance music. Consider Flux of Pink Indians, whose debut, Strive to Survive Causing the Least Suffering Possible is a prime piece of anarcho-punk, and whose sophomore album, The Fucking Cunts Treat Us Like Pricks is just about the most chaotic, noisiest punk record I've ever heard. By 1987, though, they'd shortened their name, toned down their message, and started beating on bongos and pots and pans and stuff. This was their last album, but not because it blows or anything, though I'm not sure how their fans (all 15 of them) took this shift in style. I dig it, anyway.

Uncarved Block

Misanthropy for Beginners

2009-08-31T13:52:00.004-04:00

This is just a little mix I threw together for a friend, but I figured I'd go ahead and post it here, even though it doesn't really fit my usual format here. I didn't make a cover for it or anything. But it's a few doom metal songs and a bunch of American black metal. Enjoy.

Misanthropy for Beginners: A Doom and Black Metal Mix
1. Suma- Let The Churches Burn
2. Lurker of Chalice- Granite
3. Wolves in the Throne Room- Behold The Vastness and Sorrow
4. Thou- I Was Ignored, And Judged, And Cast Down
5. Krieg- II
6. Krallice- Timehusk
7. Skepticism- The Rising Of The Flames
8. Nachtmystium- Life Of Fire
9. Weakling- This Entire Fucking Battlefield

Misanthropy for Beginners

Not Straight Edge

2009-08-19T13:58:00.003-04:00

Plain Wrap!
Original Music for a Generic World
1985

A lot of my early exposure to punk rock came from the GA Tech student-run radio station WREK's weekly punk show Coup de Grace. Between it and their metal show, Wrekage (mentioned a time or two already on this blog), WREK had a huge influence on the development of my musical taste. I used to tape each show weekly, and then compile the songs onto 90-minute mix tapes and listen to them over and over. I wish I still had some. I have one tape of Coup de Grace still (an all-covers show), but alas no tape player.

One of the songs that I played endlessly was Plain Wrap!'s "Not Straight Edge", though for the longest time I thought it was "Non-Straight Edge". Not that it makes much of a difference. At any rate, these guys play super-energetic, poppy, new-wave punk of the mid-80s variety. This is a fun, energetic record. Recommended.

Oh, these guys have recently reunited to play some shows, though I'm not sure they've made it outside of California. But if you seem 'em coming around, go check them out. I know I will.

Original Music for a Generic World

Wonderfully Colored Plastic War Toys

2009-08-06T14:55:00.005-04:00

Dead Milkmen
Soul Rotation
1992

When the Dead Milkmen dropped this record, their legions of fans immediately shat the bed. This was a band that was massively popular in underground circles, with the punks and skaters, the college rock dudes, even some of the goths and metalheads all having one of the ubiquitous smiling cow t-shirts. My first exposure to them was before I was even into punk at all, when someone let me hear "Bitchin' Camaro" and "Rastabilly" and inexplicably told me it was early Anthrax. What did I know.

Anyway, Soul Rotation isn't funny. At all. That's it's biggest misstep. Even when they weren't hilarious, the Milkmen were consistently chuckle-worthy, or at the very least you could tell they were trying. On this record, the lyrics are occasionally odd, but not really in a humorous way. So there's that. Another weird thing is that Joe Jack Talcum (or Butterfly Fairweather as he went by on this record) sings more songs than Rodney Anonymous (H.P Hovercraft on this record).

But the music is really great. The simple punk sound of their early records is gone, replaced by melodic pop, funk, even a little ska. There are a coupl'a punkish songs here, but it's different. Anyway, I've always stood by it, even though the band never really recovered from the perceived quality drop (Not Richard, But Dick was a pretty good return to their earlier irreverence, but Stoney's Extra Stout (Pig) was terrible). What was side 2 (starting with the excellent "Silly Dreams") is stronger than side 1, FYI.

Soul Rotation

The Drought

2009-07-28T14:51:00.006-04:00

The Organization
Savor the Flavor
1995

Death Angel were trying to distance themselves from the gorier, darker images of thrash metal almost from the get-go. I saw an interview some time ago on youtube (which I just tried to find again to no avail) with frontman Mark Osequeda where he's practically still a teenager and he talks about how the name isn't intended to be as dark or scary as people make it out to be. By the time "A Room With a View" from Act III (which, slight forays into funk-rock territory notwithstanding, is a thrash masterpiece that no collection should be without) was in Headbanger's Ball rotation, they were calling themselves D.A. So it's on surprise that after the band dissolved in the late 80s, their reformation took on a totally different tone.

The Organization is Death Angel minus Osequeda. Just look at that cover up there. Pretty shitty, isn't it? But even with the stupid album title and terrible cover, this record isn't nearly as bad as you're expecting. While it doesn't sound like the mighty thrash of our Filipino friends' hey-day, it still offers some solid heavy alt-metal, 90s style. Not unlike Anthrax's early John Bush material, this record is a bit of a mish-mash of melodic rock, metal, alternative, and grunge (do people still use that term?), and it isn't quite sure what it wants to be, but when the grooving is kept to a minimum and they focus on straight-ahead rocking, the results are mostly positive. The production is really nice, too, offering a good 90s sheen without sounding too dated.

The Organization released 2 record (I think), and this is the second. I haven't heard the first.

Savor the Flavor

Realm of Death

2009-07-27T15:00:00.004-04:00

Evil Army
Evil Army
2006

Vacation's over, time to get back to stuffing your earholes with tunes. Evil Army's self-titled record is a little more recent than most of the stuff I post, but it's really fantastic, so I'm posting it anyway. Think of a cross between GBH and SOD and you get the general idea. Thrashed out punk with blazing solos; lo-fi death rock played at lightening speeds; however you want to describe it, it's worthy of a headbang.

Evil Army

Too hot to post

2009-06-26T15:22:00.001-04:00

I'll be back soon with more mucky posts.

Police Truck

2009-06-06T00:35:00.003-04:00

Various Artists
Virus 100
1992

As of this writing, Jello Biafra's Alternative Tentacles has released over 400 albums, constantly skewing to the weird. Admittedly, I don't like a lot of what they release, but boy do I appreciate their presence and voice in the underground music world. Over the years, a ton of really cool stuff has come out bearing their (admittedly awesome) logo. But back in 1992, they reached the milestone of their 100th release. And what better way to celebrate it than to make it a tribute album to the band that started it all, Dead Kennedys.

As with most tribute records, this one is incredibly hit or miss. Stylistically it runs from punk, grindcore, and metal to rockabilly and hip-hop. Some interpretations are by-the-numbers, while some use the original only as a jump-off to something wholly original. I won't bother pointing out the ones I think blow cod, but I will point out the great stuff here: Didjits' "Police Truck" is fuggin' awesome, and only goes to solidify how criminally underrated they are. Les Thugs' "Moon Over Marin" is a fantastic super-melodic interpretation of one of DK's poppier (at least musically) tracks. Both Napalm Death and Sepultura throw down some seriously intense punk/grind/metal shit. And Nomeansno's a capella version of "Forward to Death" is borderline genius. Oh oh and Mojo Nixon's "Winnebago Warrior" is great too. Aaaand Faith No More's lounge interpretation of "Let's Lynch the Landlord".

Ok cool you know just dl and listen and delete the tracks you don't like or whatever.
Virus 100

Souls of Sacrifice

2009-05-29T15:08:00.005-04:00

Devastation
Idolatry
1991

If you're a fan of Seasons in the Abyss era Slayer, then download Devsatations's Idolaty right now. Go ahead and skip the next paragraph and come back to it once you've got the download started. If you're not a fan of Seasons in the Abyss era Slayer, then kindly show yourself out.

Corpus Christi, Texas's Devastation never broke through to the big leagues, but the only thing I can figure is that this album sounds too much like Slayer for some people (aside from Rodney Dunsmore's desperate, raspy vocals, which are a far cry from Mr. Araya's bark). This is top-tier playing from a second-tier band. This was their final record, but they reformed a year or so ago and reissued it w/ new artwork and three all-new tracks by the new lineup. I have not heard them, and apparently the remaster job is a real brick of shit. Too bad.

Do yourself a favor.
Idolatry

Here Comes The Wrecking Crew

2009-05-25T12:35:00.003-04:00

Black Death
Black Death
1984

Cleveland, Ohio's Black Death might be the first all African-American metal band, putting their own twist on the term Black Metal. Of course, they don't play Black Metal, though, so maybe that joke isn't really funny. At any rate, coming off like the bastard punk child of Thin Lizzy and Motorhead, with a little King Diamond thrown in for good measure, Black Death will rip your limbs off and beat you with them. It's sloppy and corny, but it destroys none the less.

Black Death

Porno Slut

2009-05-18T15:00:00.005-04:00

The Exploited
The Massacre
1990

The Exploited are famous for their early output, classics like Punks Not Dead and Let's Start A War (Said Maggie One Day), but for my money, their later, more metal stuff is way better. This record has been my favorite Exploited record since it first came out. The oi/street punk leanings of the early work is gone, replaced by thick distorted guitars, faster tempos, and a nice beefy production. There are elements of thrash and hardcore in here too, but the lyrics are still the same ol' Exploited you've come to love (see "Don't Pay The Poll Tax", and "Boys In Blue" for prime examples). My impression is that a lot of punks sort of grew up and forgot about The Exploited, but the thing is The Exploited grew up too. This record is killer, and they've cranked out 2 solid ones since.

The Massacre

Mouse in my Beer

2009-05-05T15:08:00.005-04:00

The Oswalds
Don't Panic
1995
Vinyl Rip

First and foremost, let me point out that the above image is not actually the cover of this 7", though that image is on the cover. There's a scanner sitting 2 feet from me, but I've yet to install it/figure out how to use it, so I don't have the cover for this one at the ready. My bad.

The Oswalds were a big part of the 90s punk scene in Atlanta, and along with bands such as The Tone-Deaf Pig Dogs, Smedley and the Space Cadets, Stopper, Suspect Device, Victim 9, Obnoxious Kids, and my own band Round Ear Spock spent several years playing shows around town, most notably at a hole-in-the-wall called The Somber Reptile. These were good times. In my personal opinion, The Oswalds were the best band in this little scene. They mixed the speed and humor of NoFX and the pop-punk of The Queers with a twist of hardcore and metal, especially in the later days. There were some talented dudes in this band, such as drummer Mike Green, who is now in Light Pupil Dilate, and Mike Brennan, now in the mighty Javelina. Those two bands don't really give any indication as to what The Oswalds sound like, though, so keep that in mind. This is basic 90s new-school punk, but it's fun and exciting, if a little juvenile, and they put on a hell of a good show. They had a whole album's worth of material that never got released, and though I had a crappy ripped-from-a-cassette version of that stuff on cd once, I have no idea what happened to it. If I ever track the rest of their stuff down, I'll let you know. Oh, and they had a cassette-only release prior to this 7" called Aim Low, but I don't have it any more either.

The "Little Bit O' Soul" cover was a bad choice, I'll give you that, but "Mouse In My Beer" and "sXe Sucks" are unstoppable, and "(Every Kitchen Needs A) Riot Grrrl" is cute too. It's also funny, given that last track, to note that after The Oswalds disbanded, several members reformed in the much crustier, heavier 12 Ounces (who I'll post another day) who had a much more political and socially conscious lyrical bent.

Don't Panic

Escape and Run

2009-04-29T10:29:00.004-04:00

7 Seconds
Ourselves
1988

By the late 80s, 7 Seconds' sharp hardcore edge had been dulled considerably. Gone were the fast tempos and crunchy guitars, and in their place were shimmery, overprocessed guitar jangles and catchy, mid-tempo melodies. But hey, that's all right. Their transition album was New Wind, which, while a departure from their earlier sound, still managed to produce a coupl'a their best tracks (most notably "Still Believe" and the title track). Ourselves, the third record after Walk Together, Rock Together, is the most fully realized of their indie-pop sound. Frankly, Kevin Seconds voice is pretty well suited to this style anyway. And while it's hard to compare it to the aforementioned posi-core masterpiece, it is still very good for what it is. With a different production, this album could've been an influential piece of emo-core history (I definitely hear a little Texas is the Reason in "Escape and Run"...or I guess the other way around...whatever). One odd note is how the band seems to be publicly saying goodbye to their hardcore roots on the final track on this album, "Seven Years", which not only features the refrain "Why'd it take so long? It's time to move along," but also revives the line "If we can walk together, why can't we rock together." And then they dropped the pop thing and went back to playing hardcore like 3 years later for their next album, Out the Shizzy. So maybe what was meant to be closing the door on their hardcore years was actually closing the door on this little jangle pop experiment.

Either way, this is a good album from a somewhat wrongly maligned time in 7 Seconds' career. Listen w/ an open mind.

Ourselves

Atomic Harvest

2009-04-23T15:47:00.005-04:00

Anti-Nowhere League
The Perfect Crime
1987

The last two records I've posted have included words like "fantastic", "great", and "pleasantly surprised" in their descriptions. Let me contrast those two entries with this one, Anti-Nowhere League's sophomore release, The Perfect Crime. It's not very good. If you've been paying attention to this blog, you know I'm generally a fan of albums by bands that are, for whatever reason, different than the rest of their catalog. In this case, ANL traded in their street-punk origins for slick synths and catchy, sing-a-long choruses. It's not a total failure; a few of these songs are really good. But they can't decide if they want to be Big Country/Midnight Oil-esque new wave rock, Bauhaus style goth rock, or cheesy 80s soundtrack pop. There's a little of all three in just about every song. Still, "Crime", "The Shining", and "System" are all pretty good.

Anyway, the band broke up during/after this record and didn't reform until Metallica covered one of their earlier punk gems, "So What", on their Garage, Inc. comp.

I had this on cassette back in the day and sold it for 1 dollar at Wax'n'Facts in Atlanta.

The Perfect Crime

Stoned in the Bathroom

2009-04-18T14:04:00.007-04:00

Chubby Checker
Chubby Checker
1971

This is going to blow your mind. A friend of mine turned me on to this record just last week by pointing me to Cousin Mike's blog, and I haven't been so pleasantly surprised in some time. You know the name Chubby Checker, right? He's the guy who did "The Twist", "Let's Twist Again", "Twist it Up", "The Peppermint Twist", "Twist and Shout", "Twist of Cain", "Twisted Sister", and was the inspiration for the 1996 Jan de Bont film Twister. But after his pop career faded, and before he resigned himself to the oldies circuit, he apparently decided to experiment a little (in more ways than one, presumably). This psych/garage/blues record never got a US release, but was recorded in Holland and released on a few budget labels over there. Nine of the Eleven songs were written by Checker himself, and let me just stress how good this stuff is. The first two tracks will convince you.

Check out Cousin Mike, too. Tons of great stuff there.

Chubby Checker

What's In A Name?

2009-04-11T00:16:00.004-04:00

Bullet LaVolta
Swandive
1991

In 1991, I went with a few friends to see Prong and C.O.C. While we were driving up to the club, one of the guys in the car informs us that C.O.C. had revamped their lineup and changed their sound. We had no idea. We were all pretty disappointed by the new C.O.C., and unfortunately my friend Corey's curfew meant that we actually left literally moments before Prong's first song (I could hear them playing as we got into the car, and I was crushed). But the night wasn't a complete loss, because the first band on the bill was this odd punk/metal/rock band called Bullet LaVolta. The thing about Bullet LaVolta, though, is that I've struggled since that time to accurately describe their sound. When I say punk/metal/rock, you get a certain image in your mind, I'm sure. Well they don't sound anything like that. They are technically proficient, yet the songs are straightforward and melodic. They are full of piss and vinegar, but they're certainly not your simple three-chords-and-three-minutes affairs. Grunge? Alternative? I really just don't know. I could see some similarities, maybe, to early Smashing Pumpkins, but way cleaned up and way more technical. Allmusic tries to peg them as emo, and I can tell you flat out that that's 100% incorrect. But the point is, this is a fantastic record. Like really fantastic.

They put out two full-lengths, and ep, and a live record, and this one (their second full-length) is by far the best. None of their records are in print now. Guitarist Clay Tarver went on to play with Chavez, and other guitarist Corey Brennan (not the same Corey who's curfew caused me to miss Prong, though that Corey did go on to play in a pretty popular acousticy-folk duo you might've, possibly, heard of) played with the Lemonheads. Their singer, Yukkie Gipe, is now in a garage band called The Konks, but they don't do much for me. It's nothing personal, Yukkie.

Swandive

Structure and Function

2009-04-04T01:12:00.005-04:00

The Vindictives
Hypno-Punko
1999

All right, so The Vindictives were poised to take the pop-punk torch from The Queers (who took it from Screeching Weasel, but then, I guess, gave it back a few years later), but they kind of fizzled before they could do anything with it. I don't know all the details, but severe depression was involved. Regardless, they certainly never made the most of the opportunities they had. Whatever. In 99 they released their only full-length, and it's the sort of almost-genius that makes you wonder what they could've done if they'd made it just a little farther along on the popularity/monetary scale. Hypno-Punko is not just a concept album, it's a concept. And though it never quite hits the high point it aims for, "In Pursuit" comes close, and some of the harmonies are flat-out bonkers. You can cut out some of the filler and end up with a phenomenal average-length record. I'm not sure why they decided to add all the crap. I mean, if we're being honest here, this record doesn't hold a candle to their singles (and there are a shitload of them). But hey! Listen to the "I Will Not"s in succession and feel PUNK. That's what I do.

Remind me to tell you some time of the trip I was on when I bought this record. It involved three states, a sink found on the side of the road with a face drawn in the bowl, an incredibly hot girl singing Jefferson Airplane at karaoke, Ricobenes, and an early 90s Mercury Grand Marquis.

Hypno-Punko

CC Ryder

2009-03-27T23:43:00.005-04:00

Iron Maiden
Maiden Voyage
1970

Last weekend I was with my family at my wife's parents' house. My father-in-law and I were talking about music a little, which is rare because honestly we don't relate at all on this kind of thing. But there we were. Somehow or another we get on the subject of Iron Butterfly, and he tells me that when he was in Vietnam, his nickname was Iron Butterfly because he was such a fan of "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida", which, of course, he identified by asking "what was that one song they did that was like 30 minutes long?" It was painted on the side of his plane or something, anyway. So I'd decided that I was going to post Iron Butterfly's "Metamorphosis" in honor of the guy, and so I could tell this little story here, but as I listened to the record again I was reminded that Iron Butterfly mostly sucked aside from the aforementioned opus. I should track down In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida and give it a chance some time. I think my brother had it back in the day. So anyway, instead, you're getting Iron Maiden, who sound like what I want Iron Butterfly to sound like when I think about them. C'est la vie.

This is, of course, not the same Iron Maiden you're thinking of. These guys formed in the late 60s in Essex, England, and played bluesy hard-rock. The funny thing, though, is to listen to some of these tracks and imagine them done by the more famous Iron Maiden. The first track in particular features a plodding rhythm that would make Steve Harris proud. Also, "Liar" could've been reinterpreted to fit in nicely on one of the first two Maiden records. At any rate, this stuff could be seen as another version of the same downtrodden rock that Black Sabbath played, but it's got more of a loose, Pentagram feel rather than the thicker, fuzzier stuff that eventually evolved into doom and stoner metal. Think Jethro Tull, a less motorcycled-out Steppenwolf maybe. I dunno. It's pretty good, though. Better than Iron Butterfly at the very least.

Maiden Voyage

Killing Kranium

2009-03-26T15:03:00.004-04:00

Necropolis
Contemplating Slaughter
1988

When I was in middle school, Necropolis were big shit in the Atlanta metal scene. At least, that was my impression from hearing them on the local metal show and hearing older metal dudes talking about them. I was a little young to ever catch them live. Actually, I think they carried on into the early/mid 90s, but by that time I was too punk to pay attention, so I may've just missed them when I had the chance. At any rate, this is classic third-tier thrash, influenced by Exodus and maybe some early Megadeth. Sloppier and more poorly produced than the big guys, but no less fun. I was listening to this in the car the other day and thinking about the huge divide between the "big four" and the rest of the thrash world in the late 80s. If someone didn't know what thrash was, and you played them Master of Puppets or Reign in Blood or whatever, you'd really be giving them a false impression of the genre. This right here is what most thrash sounded like.

I have no idea how popular this band was nationally, but I suspect not very. But they were played every Friday night on WREKage, the metal show that still airs on Georgia Tech's college station (WREK 91.1).

Contemplating Slaughter

Crash Landing

2009-03-20T15:18:00.006-04:00

Seduce
Too Much Ain't Enough
1988

Seduce was Detroit's answer to the glitzy Sunset Strip glam bands. If you've seen The Decline of a Western Civilization II: The Metal Years, then you saw singer/bassist Mark Andrews driving a classic convertible through Hollywood, talking about Seduce's role in the scene. But like many of the segments in that film, the whole thing is staged. The truth is, Seduce was grittier and darker than the Hollywood glam bands, more akin to Appetite for Destruction or Shout at the Devil. Motley Crue is a fairly good comparison timeline-wise too, since Seduce got their start in the very early 80s, long before the pop-metal bands that made it big. Why these guys never made it, I'll never understand, because this is one hell of a good record. In fact, it stands with the two aforementioned records as the only of the late 80s "hair metal" scene that I've consistently listened to over the years without ever feeling like I was too punk for it, too metal for it, or just too cool for it. A power trio in the true sense, Seduce on this record is full of ballsy riffs, wailing solos, and bluesy vocals. And yes, the cover is kind of cheesy, but whatever, it was 1988.

Too Much Ain't Enough

Gorehog

2009-03-09T14:42:00.004-04:00

Broken Hope
Swamped in Gore
1991

Last weekend I attended the Scion Rock Festival in Atlanta. As the evening was winding down, I found myself watching Cryptopsy play. A deep sense of boredom set in as I watched their swashbuckling bassist and mall-core guitarist playing loopy technical death-core whatever they are now. I found myself longing for some good old fashioned gore-obsessed death metal. The kind Chicago's Broken Hope played.

Swamped in Gore

Fats

2009-03-06T23:31:00.004-05:00

Thin Lizzy
Renegade
1981

You know Thin Lizzy from "The Boys are Back in Town" and "Jailbreak" and maybe "Whiskey in the Jar", but what you might not realize is that they released twelve records, and they were all friggin' great. By 1981, they'd gotten simultaneously heavier and slicker, producing tracks like the opener "Angel of Death", a sort of hard rock "Sympathy for the Devil" and the nu-blues "Fats", which features a lengthy piano solo. "Mexican Blood" combines southwestern acoustic strumming with new-wave keyboards and steel drums. It's just crazy. And of course, Phil Lynott's storytelling vocal style is as awesome as ever. Allmusic will have you believe that this record blows, but don't listen to them. They're idiots. Just download it fer pete's sake.

Renegade

Death Rider

2009-02-26T22:48:00.005-05:00

Attack
Destinies of War
1989

I don't know why there are three different covers for this record, but there are. And two of them are awesome. At any rate, this is fairly standard power metal stuff here, basically what you'd expect from those two viking-warrior covers. But that doesn't mean it's not good. Fans of Helloween, Iron Maiden, Lords of the Crimson Alliance, heck, even Dragonforce, should definitely check these guys out. Oh, and the track "Death Rider", which I used for the title of this entry, is not a cover of the Anthrax song. Sorry.

Destinies of War

Punks for Profit Redo

2009-02-26T22:08:00.002-05:00

Life Sentence
Life Sentence
1986

I should've done my homework before I posted this record last week. After posting it it occurred to me that the vinyl rip I had wasn't the best, and I dug around and found a *much* better copy. Enjoy.

Life Sentence's debut full length album is bittersweet. These guys could've gone on to do wonderful things, but a bitter split occurred after this record, and legal battles, drug problems, homelessness, and all sorts of drama usually reserved for more successful rock stars basically tore them apart and ruined any chance of punk rock stardom. It's a real shame too, because this record slays. It's like 7 Seconds with rock swagger; a killer mix of punk attitude, hardcore tempos, and rock and roll guitar solos. A few years after this album, a revamped lineup released a second album and a 7", but I've never heard or seen those records. Feel free to direct me to them if you've got 'em. But seriously, this band's history is convoluted and complicated, and would probably make a fascinating book that no one would read.

Life Sentence

I'm a Living Sickness

2009-02-16T16:07:00.005-05:00

Dwarves
Horror Stories
1986

Imagine the dankest, darkest bar you can think of, existing in the basement of some other dank, dark bar. It's filled with unsavory characters who are only there to fight, fuck, or both. The only beer on tap is Old Style, and if you tried to order anything with fruit juice in it, you'd be shown the door. There's only one waitress, and she's 63 years old and wearing a halter top. She could kick your ass without removing the cigarette from the corner of her lipstick-smeared mouth. The smoke haze is almost too thick to see through, but you can just make out a motley crew of mop-headed thugs in the corner, blasting away on instruments in between swigs of fortified wine. They're called The Dwarves, and 4 years later they'll release the punkest album of all time. But for now, in 1986, they're just happy assaulting you with sick, dirty garage rock.

Horror Stories

U-Stink-But-I-♥-U

2009-02-10T21:17:00.004-05:00

Billy and the Boingers
"U-Stink-But-I-♥-U" b/w "I'm A Boinger"
1987

I ripped this from the original flexi last week, and then coincidentally came across a reference to it on one of my favorite blogs, Beyond Failure. As such, I decided to go ahead and throw it up here. This flexi came inside the 1987 Bloom County collection Billy and the Boingers: Bootleg. Billy and the Boingers (née Deathtöngue, obviously a better name) featured "Wild" Bill Catt (aka Bill the Cat) on vocals and lead tongue, Opus Croakus on tuba, Hodge-Podge on drums, and Steve Dallas on guitar and vocals. In actuality, side a here is by Mucky Pup, while side b is by some band called The Harry Pitts band. Side A is the better track. Anyway, this is a funny little record from a comic that, in my mind, is tied for the #1 comic strip of all time slot with Calvin and Hobbes. Both are untouchable.

"U-Stink-But-I-♥-U" b/w "I'm A Boinger"

Let's Spend Some Time Together

2009-02-02T14:56:00.004-05:00

hose.got.cable
hose.got.cable
1995

Richmond, Virginia has a long history of producing kick-ass bands, and few were as kick-ass as hose.got.cable. Their name might not make any sense to me, but I certainly understand the raucous post-punk/hardcore assault contained in these 5 songs. They influenced a ton of emo, screamo, post-punk, math rock, post-hardcore, spazz-core, junk rock, wiggle-core, post-emo, physics-core, and itch rock bands. Ok I made up one or two of those. I mean, obviously math rock isn't a real genre.

hose.got.cable

Smash and Grab

2009-01-29T21:27:00.006-05:00

Chickenhead
Everything Must Go
1993
Vinyl Rip

I know next to nothing about Chickenhead aside from what's in the liner notes of this 7", but I can kind of sum it up by saying they were a punk band from Miami who stuck closely to the DIY ethics that were a big part of the punk scene in the early 90s (the label this record was put out on sold 7"s for a dollar plus a dollar for postage or some used stamps they could clean off and reuse). This was their only record, though there was a demo before this (which I've never heard) and I think they had a song on a Lookout! comp later on. This is punk as all shit and might make you crap your pants it's so good. Or, if like me, you're not wearing pants, it might make you crap someone else's. 6 songs in less than 6 minutes.

Everything Must Go

Slammin' Boys

2009-01-26T10:32:00.003-05:00

Iceland
Iceland
1990

The band is called Iceland, and the album is called Iceland, so I'm sure you can guess where they were from. That's right, France.

Iceland

In Search of Peace of Mind

2009-01-22T12:10:00.004-05:00

Scorpions
Lonesome Crow
1972

Many people don't realize it now, but Scorpions were awesome in the 70s. I don't mean to take anything away from "Rock You Like a Hurricane" or "No One Like You" (the latter of which is probably my favorite Scorpions tune, honestly), but their earlier work is just on a different plane. This is their debut, and it's all over the place, full of fuzzed out jams, barn-storming blues rock, and borderline psychedelic noodling. Think Led Zeppelin with more jamming, Black Sabbath with faster tempos, Blue Cheer with a little more polish, etc. Klaus Meine is still finding his voice here, and he definitely takes a back seat to the Schenker bros and the tight-as-shit rhythm section of Lothar Heimberg and Wolfgang Dziony (and this is the only Scorpions record they're on). Drop any reservations you might have and spin this a few times.

Lonesome Crow

Sharon Needles

2009-01-20T10:17:00.006-05:00

Earl Lee Grace
Blackgrass
1996

I was just getting ready to post The Dwarves debut record, Horror Stories, when I remembered this odd little record, a bluegrass record by Dwarves frontman Blag Dahlia. A few of these are Dwarves songs redone bluegrass style, but a few only appear here. The weirdest thing about this record is how good the performances are. All Dahlia handles is the vocals, but he threw together a great session band to lay down the music, and as a result, the vocals are the weakest part. His voice is too distinctively Blag to really work in this context, but it's an interesting little record nonetheless, and the instrumental tracks and the one with vocals by either Dee Lamnon or Karen Raymond (not sure which) could easily fit in on a "real" bluegrass record and no one would be the wiser. There's a fake little backstory in the liner notes about Earl Lee Grace, a 15-year-old banjo prodigy who randomly wandered into Blag's life just long enough to record this album. I wish I had the energy to dig through my cd bins to find it, cause it's pretty funny, but whatever. Funny side note, though, is that the Allmusic review doesn't get that this is a gag, and praises Grace's banjo skills, but points out he doesn't have the vocal chops to keep up with the music. Ha!

Blackgrass

ps. Track #3 is misspelled. It should be Viodinah. I didn't notice until I'd already uploaded and didn't feel like fixing it.

Total Goombah!

2009-01-13T21:37:00.004-05:00

The Hanson Brothers
Gross Misconduct
1992

This record isn't really rare or unknown or anything, I just came across it again for the first time in a few years and was quickly reminded how friggin incredible it is. In case you don't know, this is a Nomeansno side project that's simultaneously a tribute to The Ramones and the 1977 hockey film Slap Shot. In the 90s, there were a ton of bands trying to do straight up Ramones style punk rock, and none of them came close to The Hanson Brothers. Also, as a home brewer, I find "Blitzkrieg Hops" pretty funny, even though I'm normally against covers with silly lyric changes.

Gross Misconduct

Bought and Sold

2009-01-11T14:13:00.006-05:00

Prong
Force Fed
1988

Before they turned into a fairly mediocre industrial-metal band, Prong played superb sludgy thrash. I was a huge fan of the Victor/Kirkland/Parsons lineup that made their first three records, and while Troy Gregory was a cool enough guy and a talented bassist (he was Newstead's replacement in Flotsam and Jetsam before he too bailed for greener pastures), the dynamic was lost and the band essentially became an outlet for Tommy Victor. I never liked anything they did after Prove You Wrong, which is where the industrial stuff started. It does have a great cover of The Stranglers' "(Get A) Grip (On Yourself)", though.

But enough about that. Force Fed is bat-shit cool. Listen to "Senseless Abuse". The fast riff will blow your face clean off your head.

Force Fed

From Attitude to Action

2009-01-02T14:08:00.006-05:00

School of Violence
We The People...?
1988

This is some sloppy, poorly produced, hardcore-tinged thrash. If School of Violence were a hair faster and had a vocalist whose bark wasn't quite so metal (more on him in a minute), I'd be more tempted to call them crossover. There's a little d-beat punk in here too. But whatever, let's not split hairs all day. As far as I know this is their only record, which might be a bummer because I suspect they could've gotten better with a little more experience, not to mention better production. But maybe not. I found this in a dollar bin at the mall when I was in 10th grade or so. I later sold it to a dude named Todd for 5 bucks. I wonder what ever happened to that guy.

At any rate, according to this myspace page, School of Violence had a long revolving door of a career that featured once and future members of both Corrosion of Conformity and Warrior Soul. Keen ears will recognize Karl Agell, who sang on COC's Blind album, on vocals, though his style is considerably less polished here.

We the People...?

A Comment on Comments

2008-12-30T08:25:00.002-05:00

Hi.
Part of the fun of doing this kind of blog is talking about the stuff that gets posted. The stat-counter is telling me you guys are stopping by, and I have to assume at least one or two of you are downloading things. So what do you think of what you're hearing? Want more of a certain artist? Got an altogether different request? Go ahead and post a comment. Even if I don't have what you're looking for, someone else might. Also, I have shared little tidbits about when/where I first heard some of this stuff, and if you've got similar stories, it would be cool to hear. Don't be shy.
Thanks.

Flotzilla

2008-12-28T21:38:00.006-05:00

Flotsam and Jetsam
Doomsday for the Deceiver
1986

Flotsam and Jetsam's debut album is top-notch thrash, bolstered by the involvement of Jason Newstead, who not only played bass here but also wrote a good chunk of the songs, lyrics and all. Of course, he would leave shortly after for bigger and better things, and the band's sound never recovered. Their second album is good enough, but what should've been their breakthrough, 1990's When the Storm Comes Down was marred by terrible production and an all-to-serious tone. From then on, it was cult status at best, and like so many other bands from this era, they struggled to find their voice during the darkness of the 90s. I will hand it to them, though; they're one of the few thrash band outside the big four that never split up (Overkill's another one, fyi). There were a few multi-year gaps between albums, but they've been at it in one form or another the entire time.

But anyway, Doomsday is their debut, and it's chock full of speedy rhythms, killer riffage, and Eric AK's oddly clear vocals. I suspect his voice is one of the things that turned a lot of people off from these guys, but it sounds great on this record, where a little cheesy squealing fits in just fine. If "Hammerhead" doesn't knock your socks off, then, man, I don't know what to tell you. Oh, and notice how the beginning of the title track sounds strikingly similar to Motley Crue's "God Bless the Children of the Beast". I'm not making accusations, just an observation.

I bought this on cassette when I was in 7th or 8th grade, and my mom, ever concerned about the influence this stuff was having on me, insisted we listen to it in the car on the ride home. I was sweating bullets, but thankfully there were no obvious references to satan, sex, or dirty words. I lived to head-bang another day, and Flotsam and Jetsam survived the mom test.

This record is essential.

Doomsday for the Deceiver

Oh, and by the way, this is the 20th anniversary remastered version (and it sounds *fantastic*) which features one of the band's demos tacked on at the end.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-24T09:45:00.002-05:00

Good Day for a Hanging

2008-12-22T13:56:00.005-05:00

Wasted Youth
Black Daze
1988

LA's Wasted Youth came out of the same scene that gave us The Adolescents, TSOL, Bad Religion, and The Vandals. Their debut, Reagan's In is a punk classic. But like many of their contemporaries, as the years went on, their lineup changed significantly, and as a result so did their sound. Black Daze is their final record, and it sounds a whole heck of a lot like a heavier early LA Guns. In other words, this is vaguely sleazy heavy metal that flirts with thrash on occasion, but mostly just melts your face with blazing guitar solos and wicked riffage. And vocalist Paolo Rossi is a dead ringer for Phil Lewis at times. They cover Van Halen's "I'm On Fire", and it's great, even if Rossi can't hit Roth's high notes. Oh, and this lineup has recently gotten a little notice because it featured Dave Kushner, who is now in Velvet Revolver, on bass and Queens of the Stone Age's Joey Castillo on drums. Both of those guys also played with Danzig at one point, though Kushner's tenure was brief.

At any rate, Wasted Youth were by no means the only band to attempt a transition into metal, but they were one of the more successful in my opinion. Of course successful to me and actual success are two very different things, so it's no real surprise this was their final record. The punks wouldn't stand for their bands going metal, and the metal heads didn't trust anything that came from the punks. It's sort of strange to think about now, but boy those scenes were at odds back then. But I digress...

Black Daze

Swords of Zeus/Maximum Suction

2008-12-18T21:51:00.006-05:00

Lords of the Crimson Alliance
Lords of the Crimson Alliance
1986

Grudge
Barbarians of the New Earth
1986

Lords of the Crimson Alliance are the stuff of legend between me and my good buddy Steve. He made reference to them when he signed my 10th grade yearbook (in 1993), and I have e-mails about them from him as recent as August of this year. These are not bookends to years of silence about The Lords, mind you, but just two examples that illustrate the 15+ years we've discussed this record. I won't go into detail regarding exactly how nerdy these conversations have become over the years; suffice to say, the band has been shrouded in mystery for us from day one.

Well, after digging around a bit, as best I can tell, Lords of the Crimson Alliance were in fact the band Grudge playing under a different name. Grudge operated Grudge Records, the label on which the only Lords album appeared (there was also a Grudge from Billings, MT in the early 00s who were not, to my knowledge, also Lords of the Crimson Alliance). Their sounds are pretty similar: classic heavy metal influenced by Judas Priest and Iron Maiden, with a healthy dose of hard rock punching through. It's unsophisticated, sure, but it rocks in the best way. There are plenty of similarities between these records, but they're not obviously the same band either. Lords of the Crimson Alliance adheres to the fantasy style favored by power metal bands, with lyrics about dragons and gods and what have you. The vocalist, Farcry (seriously), shrieks in a manner that could only happen in 1986. Grudge mixes in plenty of hard rock style lyrics (check out "White House Sluts"), and the vocals are a little gruffer, and are actually in the normal range for an adult human male. However, both albums feature almost identical narration, and the drums on both records sound suspiciously like a drum machine. But, you know, production style for hard rock in the 80s was brutal to drummers, so I'm not ready to say 100 percent that this isn't a live drummer. I will say he kind of blows, though, if it is actually a dude. Actually, as I listen to "White House Sluts" right now, I'm quite certain this is a drum machine. Huh.

At any rate, two albums of supreme metal/hard rock here. Check 'em both and decide for yourself: two great bands who both failed to capture anyone's attention, or one great band who failed twice.

Lords of the Crimson Alliance
Barbarians of the New Earth

Pray For Rock

2008-12-16T09:48:00.011-05:00

Ché
Sounds of Liberation
2000

Ché featured two ex-members of Kyuss; Drummer Brant Bjork handled guitar and vocals, while other drummer Alfredo Hernández handled drums. Bass was covered by Unida bassist Dave Dinsmore. If you're at all familiar w/ Bjork's solo work, then you already basically know what Ché sounds like. I think a bunch of these songs have been folded into the Brant Bjork and the Bros canon anyway and are played live by them frequently, which makes sense. We're talking groovy, straightforward, weed-smoke-clouded desert rock. At 2 instrumentals and 5 vocalized tracks, this is a quick 35-minute affair, but that just means it's ok to listen twice in a row. Standout tracks are "Adelante" and "The Day the Pirate Retired", but there's not a clunker in the bunch.

Oh, and my cd version of this has the cover and back reversed, with the band photo and upc side on the front and the logo and title on the back, so I've kept it that way. Just so you know.

Sounds of Liberation

Just Call Me Sky

2008-12-13T00:48:00.004-05:00

Naz Nomad and the Nightmares (The Damned)
Give Daddy The Knife Cindy
1984

Naz Nomad and the Nightmares was really just The Damned playing a bunch of old garage and rock covers. It's a pretty stark contrast to the stuff The Damned were doing in 1984, so maybe that's why they did it under a pseudonym. At any rate, this record has a bunch of covers and two originals that are pretty damn good. Timeline-wise, this falls in between Strawberries (1982) and Phantasmagoria (1985), and if I'm not mistaken is the last record to feature Captain Sensible until he rejoined in the 90s. It's a cool little fun project that never got a lot of attention as far as I know.

On a side note, The Damned just released a new record called So, Who's Paranoid?. It's got fantastic minimalist cover art, but the sound just isn't there. I'm trying to give it a fair shake, but it's not doing much for me right now.

Give Daddy The Knife Cindy

All Things Bright and Beautiful

2008-12-09T21:59:00.004-05:00

Anthrax
Capitalism is Cannibalism
1982

Not to be confused with the NY thrash band who obviously went on to much greater popularity, England's Anthrax were a prime example of the UK's anarcho-punk movement of the early 80s. They were one of the best bands to be a part of the whole Crass Records scene, and it's a real shame they were so short lived. This ep and one other ep were the only official releases (I'll post it some time), and then there were a coupl'a demos and some comp tracks. In 2007 all of this stuff was collected on a disc called One Last Drop which I don't have, but should, if for no other reason than for the incredible artwork.

Capitalism is Cannibalism

McDonaldland Massacre

2008-12-04T21:54:00.005-05:00

Coven
Blessed is the Black
1988

Seattle's Coven were one of a million minor-league thrash bands in the late 80s, but this album holds a special place in my heart due to "McDonaldland Massacre", which was a staple of my 7th grade year. It's easily the best track on the record, but there's still plenty of other good stuff here. I *love* the production on this record, which is kind of strange since it really sounds kind of crappy. But the drums in particular sound great to my ears on the fast parts (and trust me, this isn't all headbanging start to finish, though the fast songs tend to be better). I don't think these guys ever really built up any sort of national fan base, despite releasing two more albums after this one. Honestly, had they not stuck it out for two more records, I might be tempted to dismiss this record as a goof. But no, this was a real band full of dudes who were serious about metal. And god bless them for it. This is really for die-hard thrash metal fans, but even if your not one, give it a try.

Blessed is the Black

Bottom of the Barrel

2008-12-02T15:46:00.006-05:00

Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush
Tales of the Unexpected
1979

Canada's Mahogany Rush will forever be remembered as being about two steps away from a Jimi Hendrix cover band, but by 1979's Tales of the Unexpected, the first to feature guitarist, vocalist, and primary songwriter Frank Marino's name in the band name (I think), they'd really moved past that (despite the fact that there's a Hendrix cover on the record). Part of it is the time period, as this is steeped in late-70s arena rock and features some pretty heavy synthesizer noodling in the first and fourth tracks. But part of it is the strength of Marino's songwriting and skill on the guitar. Of the four studio tracks here, two are covers ("All Along the Watchtower" and a particularly cool version of The Beatles' "Norwegian Wood"). Of the two originals, the title track is definitely the standout. What begins as a low-key bluesy jam erupts into an 8-minute opus of rock-jazz-fusion wankery. You gotta hear it. The live side is good too, but you know, I've just never been into live records much.

My uncle was a big fan of these guys back in the day, and he had pretty good taste.

Tales of the Unexpected

Grain of Strength

2008-12-01T14:48:00.005-05:00

Rice
Fuck You, This is Rice
1994

Rice was a short-lived hardcore band from San Diego back in the early 90s. They were a super-group of sorts, though none of the members' other bands were all that noteworthy (drummer Matt Anderson was in Heroin, and there's an occasional horn blast from Rocket from the Crypt's Apollo 9, but beyond that it's bands I'm not too familiar with such as The Peechees). They were of the in-your-face political variety, a la Born Against, but with a slightly more tongue-in-cheek lyrical approach. Basically they mask lyrics about rice (the food) in typical hardcore terminology (see: "Stick Together", "All Steamed Up", and "Grain of Strength"). But silliness and short-life-span aside, they were pretty incredible, and even had their own dance for the circle pit, The Rice Picker.

Fuck You, This Is Rice

Controlled by Hatred

2008-11-30T14:08:00.004-05:00

No Mercy
Widespread Bloodshed- Love Runs Red
1987

No Mercy was a pretty great crossover band from Venice Beach in the mid 80s that just happened to feature Suicidal Tendencies' Mike Muir on vocals. They were considerably thrashier than ST's early work, and when half the band quit before they could record their second album, Muir essentially absorbed No Mercy into Suicidal Tendencies by bringing guitarist Mike Clark on board, creating the more metallic version of ST that continued through the late 80s and early 90s. A coupl'a these tracks were even re-recorded by Suicidal Tendencies for the Controlled by Hatred- Feel Like Shit...DeJa Vu comp. If you like early Suicidal Tendencies, then you're bound to like this, as it features the same raw punk energy, but is faster, a little more serious, and generally more metal. For the sake of a timeline and comparison, ST's Join the Army and this No Mercy record both came out in 1987.

If wikipedia is to be trusted, the Mikes have regrouped as No Mercy Fool! and are working on new material. I don't want any part of that, thank you very much.

Widespread Bloodshed- Love Runs Red

Sing Low, Sweet Cheerio

2008-11-28T23:24:00.004-05:00

Alice Cooper
Pretties for You
1969

If all you know of Alice Cooper is "School's Out", "I'm Eighteen", and "Hey Stoopid", then do yourself a favor and check out this record. This is the group's debut from 1969, originally released on Frank Zappa's Straight Records. It's a bizarre mix of psychedelic garage rock, warped Beatles-esque harmonies, and dark, theatrical schlock. "Reflected" was eventually rewritten as "Elected" on 1973's Billion Dollar Babies, but the rest of this is barely recognizable as the same band. Pretties for You and their sophomore release, Easy Action (which I'll post some other time), were out of print for years, and when they were finally re-released in the late 80s, I was excited to hear them. Boy, I was downright confused. Then again I was rocking "(He's Back) The Man Behind the Mask" around that time.

Pretties for You