various artists - Chunklet Issue #12: The Money Shot!

I hold Mrs. Mummy responsible for my most recent missed deadline. She was the one who kept my attention focused on laundry and food preparation; she shook her most bodacious ta-tas, flicked her eyelashes, wiggled her bum in a most enticing way. What was I to do? Blogging was farthest from my mind! Who amongst you could be strong under such circumstances?

Today's treat: the giveaway that came with issue #12 of esteemed Athens/Atlanta zine Chunklet, published & compiled by close, personal pal Henry O. Owings. H2O was, in his early days, a proto-shitposter extraordinaire. He gave the likes of yours truly a mentor and role model to emulate; be clever and funny and talk mad shit and support great music and play the occasional round of Whirlyball. Amongst the 22 tracks contained herein are contributions from Arcwelder, Elf Power, Man or Astro-man?, Six Finger Satellite, and Harvey Milk. It's a veritable "who's who" of late 90s indie rock, with nary a superstar to be found.

It's the kind of shit I can still sop up with a biscuit.

Discogs

Click here to download.

various artists - REV110: Revelation Records 2004 Collection

You can call me out if I sound like a dick, but by 2004, Revelation Records, a record label I had always held in very high esteem, just wasn't throwing its fastball anymore. Just five years earlier, they'd released a number of outstanding records, all branching out from Rev's hardcore roots while remaining in fidelity to the underlying ethos. Farside's "The Monroe Doctrine", the Sparkmarker anthology, the first Judas Factor full length, Kiss It Goodbye's "Choke" EP, and Himsa's "Ground Breaking Ceremony" all came out in '99, and, for me, represented the ways you could evolve hardcore.

But by 2004, that wasn't the case for me. Which is why this sat in a box for a decade plus before I broke it back out to revisit a few months back. Granted, the scene had changed a bunch in the intervening five years. But Curl Up And Die and Since By Men just didn't hit the same way as their predecessors. The idea of a Dag Nasty reunion full length was a lot cooler than the actual full length. The best contemporary bands here were Long Island's On The Might Of Princes, whose last LP had been released by Revelation in 2003, and Oakland's Pitch Black, who played a sort of West Coast punk that wouldn't be out of a place on Epitaph or even a major label in 2004.

If the dating on Discogs is to be believed, it was just a lean year for Revelation. While their distribution wing was still going strong, this sampler and a Since By Man EP were the only records they put out in 2004. The following year, they'd release the Judge discography, the Bold discography, a Shai Hulud rarities disc, and the most excellent "Generations" compilation, arguably one of the best comps from that era. In 2006 came their first releases from Shook Ones, Sinking Ships, Self Defense Family (as End Of A Year), and Down To Nothing.

Discogs

Click here to download.

various artists - Mojo Presents: Panic (15 Tracks Of Riotous '80s Indie Insurrection)

Let the record show that I am quite disgusted with myself.

I hate that I'm posting this late. Sure, it's still Monday when I post this, but I try to keep two or three posts in the queue at all times, and I've been blowing it lately. Such is summer; it's nice here, even as we edge closer and closer to the start of the wet season.

These are the songs your older cousin, the one who spent a semester abroad while you were wrapping up middle school, put on the mixtape she made for your 13th birthday. It reminds me of phrases like "Distributed by the Cartel" or "reviewed in Sounds". It''s not even a typical sampling of what was happening in the mid-80s. Hell, I love that it's a compilation including Robert Wyatt, the Mekons, Billy Bragg AND Girls At Out Best. Brilliant stuff.

Discogs

Click here to download.

various artists - Duke Reid' Treasure Chest

I meant to post this last week, but the heat caused my brain to short circuit. Which is ironic, because some Duke Reid-produced rocksteady is pretty much the perfect antidote to a hot August night.

I've racked my brain for something interesting to write about this, but, like a lot of Heartbeat comps, I find this just washes over me.like a warm breeze. So I'll mostly let the music speak for itself. There are a bunch of bona-fide all-timers here; "The Tide Is High", "Lala Means I Love You", "Ranglin On Bond St.", and "My Best Girl". All in all, a hell of a good buy at $4.

Discogs

Click here to download.

various artists - Mojo Presents: Brotherhood

I am not a particular fan of the Black Keys. I came by the opinion honestly; I've owned, at one time or another, most of their records through "El Camino". I'm pretty sure they played the Ottobar at least once while I worked there. And they play a brand of heavy blues that should fit well with my tastes. Yet for the money spent and the decibels incurred, I just don't rate them very highly. Taste being subjective and all, you know?

So it's with a bit of reluctance that I share this, Mojo's companion release to the Black Keys' 2010 album "Brothers". Not that it's bad, but it doesn't get the ol' blood pumping like I feel it should. There are parts that I can co-sign; a live recording of "Have Love Will Travel" by the Sonics from 1964, a deep cut Nathaniel Meyer track, a Captain Beefheart track. But, on the whole, it's a lot of Black Keys rarities, as well as some related bands, and that ain't my cup of tea.

But let's not let that get between us, friendo. One man's trash is another's treasure. So I hope you dig this one.

Discogs

Click here to download.

various artists - Mojo Presents: Sticky Soul Fingers (A Rolling Stones Tribute)

I came to a decision recently, and it is this: this Mojo release, cover dated January 2012, is pretty indispensible. A soulful recreation of "Sticky Fingers", it's less a simple re-reading of the classic Stones record, 40 years on, and more an expression of how inspiring it was to these artists. Some of the arrangements are far away from the Jagger/Richards compositions, and that's for the best. I've owned too many tribute records where those offering encomium stuck with a straightforward cover not too different from what you'd hear from in the original release. But Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings performing "Wild Horses" is a great example of how to put your own stank on a classic. "Sister Morphine", played here by Ren Harvieu, takes on new meaning when in the hands of someone who's not been chasing the dragon. And the Bamboos tackle my favorite "SF" track, laying some serious funk on "Can't You Hear Me Knocking".

Yeah, it's a proper tribute, this one. Plus, you get a bonus reading of "Angie". Not bad for a freebie.

Discogs

Click here to download.

various artists - Gern Blandsten: The First Nine Years

Gern Blandsten was one of my favorite labels of the 90s and aughts. Along with labels like Ebullition, Vermiform, Lengua Armada, and Gravity, the records Charles Maggio put out made up the deep underground of my teens and early twenties, a very strong counterpoint to the punk from Epitaph and Fat that was creeping above ground, or even the sounds bubbling out of Revelation or Victory. In short, when I picked up a Rorschach record, a Native Nod 7", or a Chisel release, I knew it was something very distinctive from anything I'd turn up at a Borders or Sam Goody. And, like all the great HC labels of the 80s, it was very locally focused and made up of friends all growing together. This was achievable and approachable.

This survey works back through the history books, leading off with the likes of Radio 4, the World / Inferno Friendship Society, and Ted Leo, all of whom would gain greater acclaim post-9/11. Dälek's hard progessive hip-hop flows into the Yah Mos big, emotive hardcore sound which flows into the math rock of the Impossible Five. By the final third of this sampler, the listener is back in the ruins of ABC No Rio and the basements of north New Jersey, mixing Weston's pop punk with the Dischord-colored post hardcore of Garden Variety and the proto-screamo of Native Nod. These bands were all on the same bills together; it was all punk, and it was a great time to see six wildly different musical styles for $6 in a high school gym or a church hall.

Discogs

Click here to download.

various artists - Mojo Presents: Glam Nuggets (15 Wham Bam Rarities From The Boogie Children!)

If you know glam, you probably have heard a good number, if not all, of these. If you're more the "Bowie is glam, right?" type, that's totally fine; this is a good place to start.

There are, of course, Bowie-adjacent songs present, with contributions from Mick Ronson and Dana Gillespie's performance of "Andy Warhol". There's also a trio of clear proto-punk cuts: the umpteenth appearance of "Personality Crisis" is most welcome, while reminding folks of or introducing them to the (Hammersmith) Gorillas and Hollywood Brats is a must. Any talk of the era must include Sparks and Suzi Quatro, both of whom chime in with classic cuts.

The most fun part, as is the case with any good Mojo comp, is the trainspottery, the archeology. This is filled out with the one-and-dones, the mostly overlooked, the barely remembered. Despite coming out on big indies or major labels in the UK on initial release, it's fallen to labels like 7Ts, RPM, What's Your Rupture?, and Just Add Water to recover these classics that have gone missing in action. Brett Smiley's "Space Ace", a B-side from a single 45 release in 1974, would have NEVER hit my radar without first appearing on Grapefruit's "Oh! You Pretty Things" collection. JAW is the reason I heard Shakane for the first time; their "Gang Man" shows up here. And while the RAH Band continue to release music, more than 50 years after their first drop, there's zero chance I would have dove far enough into their catalog to dig out "The Crunch".

Oh, and there's a song from the Damned here, but not the one you are expecting.

Discogs

Click here to download.

various artists - Shreds Volume 2: American Underground '94

It's a cool idea that I have no clue how to replicate in 2025. Take a sampling of your favorite 7"s from the previous year, pull a song from each, put out a compilation with these vinyl-only tracks. It's like a playlist...except good! Mel Cheplowitz: the original influencer!

This second volume is quite good, led off by recent rediscovery Cub. One of my personal favs, Tugboat Annie, contribute with the A-side from their second Sonic Bubblegum 7". There are cuts by the nascent Plow United, who I thought were a mega-huge band in the pre-internet mid-90s, and by Beatnik Termites, who I knew from the classic PUNK USA comp and now cannot recall if I ever actually saw them play live. Tho it feels like I did.

And there are sixteen other songs here, the sort that, if you have any sort of 7" collection dating from this period, you've played a few times and then let collect dust. They're the sort of songs you feel smart for taking a chance on plucking them from the dollar bin. Punk rock, a dime a dozen, committed first to wax and then to five inches of aluminum.

Discogs

Click here to download.

various artists - Mojo Presents: Heavy Mod

What the hell do I know about the Mods? Not much; something about Vespas and amphetamine and soul music. Youth culture, loving the blues and jazz, preceding the skins. They made a few movies about 'em. I know a lot more about the mod revival (White Trash Soul recently posted some Purple Hearts demos that are just out of sight) due to its proximity to punk and 2 Tone. So I take this 17-year-old compilation's title with a grain of salt. Is this indeed "Heavy Mod"?

Well, look; I have no clue if the 13th Floor Elevators and David Axelrod were getting played on the same turntables as the Small Faces, the Who, and the Yardbirds. But as with all the Mojo freebies I've gotten, this one works for me. I really dig the sequencing here; there's a real flow present that stood out to me as I listened for the first time in a long time. I'd say this one hews closer to the sort of mix CD you aspire to make for a friend than the typical "free with magazine purchase" giveaway.

It's clearly a Phil Alexander joint. You get a good mix AND a really nice explanation why these were grouped together in the liner notes. It's something I've been missing on the few Mojo releases from 2023 & 2024 that I've turned up recently.

Discogs

Click here to download.

various artists - Tromeo & Juliet (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

When I saw the other day that James Gunn had yet another movie open #1 at the box office, I was reminded, yet again, that he made his bones writing "Tromeo & Juliet", Troma's beloved take on Shakespeare. So it led me to bust out this shiny slab of aluminum. I bought it b/c Troma and Unsane, I kept it b/c Motörhead and Superchunk and Meatmen and Wesley Willis. Hell, they even managed to wedge a song from Gunn's band, the Icons, on here.

This is not going to show up on a listical of iconic 90s soundtracks. But I'd suggest that it should be recognized as part of the canon. While there's little here that is exclusive to the soundtrack, it does offer a wide swath of "alternative" rock from the late 90s, from a deep cut from Sublime to music from the Ass Ponys and Supernova. Plus: Brujeria!

Discogs

Click here to download.