Dead Man

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

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

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