Saturday, October 31, 2020

The Mummies - (You Must Fight To Live) On The Planet Of The Apes

Today is Halloween, so here's a date-appropriate record to share.

Do you like old tyme rock 'n' roll? The kind that dumb-ass white kids used to make when girls wouldn't pay attention to them? Then this is for you. It's the Mummies, a quartet of dorks from south of San Francisco who created Budget Rock around 30 years ago and will still whip you right in the ass with their blazing sounds. They hated CDs, and lord knows that they probably dislike the likes of yours truly sharing a very influential record digitally.

I picked up the "On The Planet Of The Apes" 7" mostly because of the reference. I think I played the title track on my radio show once or twice, but almost certainly sold it/traded it more than 15 years ago. It's a bummer, because this has a lot of prime Mummies slapped on its seven inches of vinyl. "White Caps" spans two parts across the A- and B-sides, and there's a cover of the Beatles' "I'm Down" on the back end. There's a little Margaret Keane art on the A-side label, and that Sympathy patch on the B...always a sign of quality.

Records come and records go, and you just try not to regret the ones you sent off to their next home. I'll be damned, though, if I don't get a little choked up thinking about how easily I let my Mummies records go. I mean, how could 20-year-old me NOT appreciate a bunch of fellas playing grimy garage and surf whilst draped in toilet paper? I was way too fucking serious back in those days. Chalk it up to capricious youth, a fundamentalist upbringing devoid of Halloween, or too much hardcore orthodoxy. At any rate, it'll cost me a lot more than the $3 to $10 I originally paid to bring these back to my life.



Click here to download.


Friday, October 30, 2020

Regulations - Electric Guitar

I can't believe it's been 15 years since this came out. What a banger.

I knew a little bit about Regulations before I snagged their first 7", "Destroy", back in 2003. I knew it was three of the members of E.T.A. I knew it was coming out on Busted Heads in Sweden, a counterpart to 625 Productions in the Bay Area, or Havoc in Minneapolis, or Amendment down in Virginia, all of which were putting out amazing, modern thrash. And I knew they were from the cradle of modern Swedish punk, Umeå, an incestuous, delightful hive of some of the most progressive DIY punk and hardcore on the planet. They were setting trends; we were lapping it all up.

But I didn't know that what I'd hear was more of a throwback to the early 80s, more influenced by the Lower East Side than skateboards. It was so amazingly fresh, due in no small part to the bass sound developed by this dude Robert who'd signed on with the trio of ex-E.T.A.'ers. It was fast but clean, something you could dance AND sing along to. It kinda felt magical.

Regulations records came in fits and starts. They'd released another, self-titled 7" on Malmö's Putrid Filth Conspiracy. Then, in 2005, Havoc put out a 12" & CD, collecting both 7"s and a new mini-album, "Electric Guitar", in support of their first North American tour. I listened to that record non-stop all summer long, into the fall, through into 2006 and beyond. After all, if you're going to let kids channel a band like the Dils and lock them in a house through a long Scandinavian winter, you're probably going to get something worth listening to.



Click here to download.

Thursday, October 29, 2020

Kino Lorber in November

Mel Gibson as Max in "Mad Max" (George Miller, 1979)

I find myself going back and buying from the folks at Kino Lorber a lot this year. They release and distribute a lot of really interesting genre and indie films, as well as some amazing historical artifacts. They also do a ton of sales, which obviously gets my attention. So I figured it's time to chat a bit about their upcoming releases for November. There are some rad reissues headed our way, along with a few great sounding documentaries.

November 3
I think we'd gotten a promo copy for in-store play of "Discord" sometime back in 1998 when I worked at this bookstore. It grabbed my attention because DJ Spooky was performing on the record, although I knew nothin about the composer. It was my first conscious exposure to Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto; I'd discover later that I'd unknowingly heard his work before via the scores for "The Last Emperor", "Aile De Honnêamise" ("The Wings of Honneamise"), and "Wild Palms". It lead me to check out Yellow Magic Orchestra, "Neo Geo", modern composition in general.
So, obviously, I'd like to see "Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda", Stephen Nomura Schible's 2017 documentary about the Oscar and Grammy winner. Shot in the period between the release of "Three" and "async", "Coda" explores Sakamoto's recovery from cancer, his activism, and his creation of art in the autumn of his life. It sounds cool as hell. Also included is Schible's concert film from 2018, "async at the Park Avenue Armory", featuring one of the first live performances of Sakamoto's most recent studio album.
"Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President" has been running on CNN since early September, and it's no understatement to say it'd be nice to have someone running the executive brand who's into being kind to the world and who likes Bob Dylan. I've yet to watch Mary Wharton's documentary about the 39th President's relationship to rock 'n' roll. But as someone who's always had the highest respect for President Carter, someone from Georgia who grew up listening to Little Feat and the Allman Brothers, and someone who wants desperately to cocoon on Election Day, this seems like a pretty good watch. Wharton previously directed an episode of "American Masters" on Joan Baez back in 2009 that I remember being pretty good, and the work that CNN Films releases is strong, so I feel pretty comfortable suggesting watching this one.
November 10
Kino Studio Classics has been slowly reissuing the films of Clint Eastwood with 2K and 4K restorations, making them must haves if you're a Blu-ray collector. Their latest round features Clint's directing debut, 1971's "Play Misty For Me", along with 1972's "The Beguiled" (Don Siegel) and 1975's "The Eiger Sanction". All three of these are great; "Eiger" is one of those mid-70s Euro thrillers that are imminently watchable, and "The Beguiled" was remade by Sofia Coppola in 2017 to some strong acclaim. In my house, however, we mark out hard for "Misty".
"Misty" freaks me out more than "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" or "Halloween". It's one of the movies that make me jump everytime I see it. Mrs. Mallory Archer herself, Jessica Walter, is a perfect foil to Clint's DJ Dave Garver, and Donna Mills is tremendous as the woman caught in the middle. The music is top notch, from Errol Garner's "Misty" serving as title inspiration to cameos from Cannonball Adderly, Johnny Otis, and Joe Zawinul at the Monterey Jazz Festival. Best of all, it was shot in Mrs. Ape's hometown, and was lensed by longtime Eastwood collaborator Bruce Surtees. In short, it's a fantastic Hitchcock homage for Clint's first directorial gig. This has a ton of extras included: a 2K restoration, interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, a making-of documentary. And, HEY! It has an o-card! I'm pretty psyched. Just don't tell the missus: she'll be getting this for her birthday.
November 17
Code Red is one of the KL-distributed imprints, and they are a fount of trashy cinema. A lot of their releases are licensed from overseas, and are pretty bare bones, in terms of extras. I'm actually hyped at this reissue, with new art, of their 2017 release of "So Sweet, So Dead", aka "The Slasher", aka "Rivelazioni di un maniaco sessuale al capo della squadra mobile". Directed by Robert Bianchi Montero, and starring Stewart Granger, this 1972 giallo about a serial killer targeting unfaithful wives was best known in the States for being re-edited as a porno called "Penetration". The change here from the 2017 release is in the title and the cover art, adopting the artwork from the Italian poster. If you copped this a few years back, there's no reason to rebuy. BUT if you don't already own this, and are looking for a tense, well acted horror movie, this is one to snag.
November 24
Zine dorks rejoice! Scott Crawford, whose debut documentary "Salad Days" is a big favorite of mine, is back with a look at Detroit's favorite rock 'n' roll mag, Creem Magazine. CREEM was the champion of the underbelly of pop music throughout the 70s; undercapitalized and geographically separate from the industry scenes in L.A. and New York, it fostered writers like Robert Christgau, Richard Meltzer, and Peter Laughner, and was memorably led by Lester Bangs from 1971 to 1976. If Rolling Stone provided legitimacy to its cover subjects, Creem ensured they'd stay hip.
"CREEM: America's Only Rock 'n' Roll Magazine" has been streaming since the start of COVID-19, but debuts on the 24th with this DVD-only release. Most of the folks you'd expect to see in a doc like this make appearances: Alice Cooper, Wayne Kramer, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley. Musicians like Thurston Moore and Michael Stipe pop in, no doubt to provide the 70s reader perspective. In different hands, this could end up like a VH-1 special from the 90s. But I've seen Crawford at work before, and I'm interested in his take on this writer's paradise.
Finally, a classic I'm sworn to buy every fucking time they reissue it. I've owned no less than a half dozen copies of "Mad Max" over the years: VHS, laserdisc, DVD, Blu-ray, Blu-ray box set, UMD. Shoot, if I'd ever owned a Beta machine, I'd probably have copped it on Beta. My current watching copy is the Collector's Edition released by Scream Factory a few years back. Kino Studio Classics is releasing the first ever 4K UHD version of George Miller's classic. There's been no mention yet as to any restoration that's been undertaken on the print itself, but, like with that Scream Factory release, we get both the original Aussie soundtrack and American theatrical dub, both in gleaming lossless mono. In fact, it appears that all of the extras from the 2015 Collector's Edition get reprised in this 2020 UHD/Blu-ray combo. The additions? A new interview with George Miller, a "Trailers from Hell" featurette, and new cover art based on the French and American theatrical posters. Like I said above, I took a vow when I was young to support any and all releases of "Mad Max", so, even though I don't currently own an Ultra HDTV or a 4K Blu-ray player, I'll be preordering this bad boy.

Jessica Walter and Clint Eastwood in "Play Misty For Me" (Clint Eastwood, 1971)

This is just a small sample of what Kino Lorber has releasing in November. Between their in-house releases and distributed labels, there are a total of 45 film & TV releases this month. That seems to be pretty typical for them. As with the other video houses I write about, I suggest buying direct, because they always seem to offer better discounts than anywhere else in the world, and their free shipping threshold is $50. They also get new releases in my hands anywhere from three to 10 days before the street date, which is nice as hell. So, you know, check 'em out.

Wednesday, October 28, 2020

Sunspring - Orange

I wish I had something super clever or apt to write about Sunspring. But the fact is that this lives in my collection as a curiosity more so than anything else. I find the story of the Slamdek Record Company to be incredibly inspiring, and I always enjoyed anything that came out that Louisville punk/HC/indie axis. But my playback of "Orange" while writing this is probably the first time I've listened to these songs in about 10 years, and I can see why. It's rare I'd be looking for this sort of early 90s noisy Southern hardcore: not brutal enough for Victory, not fast enough for Revelation...just inspired by Revolution Summer, collage, and copious amounts of caffeine.

The songs here date primarily from the first few years of Sunspring's existence. It collects "The Sun Cassette" (1991), "Action Eleven" (1992), and some compilation tracks. About half the tracks feature a drum machine. Bandleader K. Scott Ritcher later parlayed his creative side and obsessions into several records as the Metroschifter, a pair of runs at political office in Louisville, and graphic design for a number of classic emo and hardcore records from the turn of the millenium. I hear he lives in Stockholm now and does music for European commericals; smart man.



Click here to download.

Tuesday, October 27, 2020

Calamity Jane - Martha Jane Cannary

Here's some early 90s PNW punk rock for yr brain on a Tuesday. I knew about Calamity Jane from "Stars Kill Rock" and Tim/Kerr's Wipers tribute comp, so when I saw this stashed on a low shelf in a junk shop not far from me, I said, "hell, yeah", even though I couldn't recall at the time what they actually sounded like. As far as I'm concerned, it was a pretty good get. It's grimy, heavy, noisy...hailing from the same sonic places as their contemporaries in Mudhoney, Scrawl, and the Fluid. The more I listen to it, the more I hear them go to the same territory as a band like War on Women, who I just simply adore.

I'm vexed as to why this, their only full-length, ended up on a short-lived UK label, instead of one of the numerous West Coast labels releasing this kind of rock in 1992. Calamity Jane released a 7" with Sympathy for the Record Industry in 1991, and had a couple of appearances on Tim/Kerr. But it seems like a terrible experience with fans while opening for Nirvana in Argentina took the wind out of CJ's sails. It sucks; it seems like, just months later, they might have taken the same sort of leap as L7 or 7 Year Bitch.

TLDR: I thoroughly enjoy this record.



Click here to download.

Monday, October 26, 2020

G.I.S.M. and their Relapse reissue

G.I.S.M., aka Grubby Incest Stripper Mastitis, aka Grand Imperialism Social Murder

My very first exposure to the Japanese hardcore legends known as G.I.S.M. was, like so many other American punx, via their track on R Radical's landmark comp, 1984's "International P.E.A.C.E. Benefit Compilation". Slotted as the second track on Side A, between Articles of Faith and Neon Christ, the Tokyo quartet supplied the lead track from the previous year's debut LP. "Endless Blockads for the Pussyfooter" was so different from anything I'd heard up to that point. It felt more like some insane amalgam of hardcore, metal, glam, and noise collage made by lunatic punx, with crazy leads and solos by Randy Uchida and that wild-ass echoing vocal by Sakevi. Of course, none of their other work really ever turned up around me. If it showed up in Baltimore, it'd typically get picked up immediately by someone who lived closer to the store. So I'd hear more the legend than experience the music. Hearing a second or third generation tape, or a crackly bootleg 12", was akin to sharing old VHS tapes of Bo Jackson with a younger football fan. I definitely wanted to experience more. Now, the internet has been good to me, in as much as I've tracked down all their early releases digitally. It's not the same as slapping a record on the turntable, but it serves as an apéritif, whetting my appetite for the day that I eventually come across a copy of "Detestation".

Apparently, I'll be able to dine on a physical copy on December 4, as Relapse Records is taking preorders right now for the first ever authorized reissue of the first G.I.S.M. album. A split release with Japan's Beast Arts, this is an authentic recreation of the original 1983 Dogma/City Rocker release. What's new is the obi strip that comes on the 12", as well as a new CD reissue featuring three additional tracks, AND a first-time-ever release on cassette. The limited edition 12" on white and cassette with clear shell are already sold out, but the black vinyl, black cassette, and CD are still available, along with some really dope looking t-shirts and a zip-up hoodie.

If you're at all into Japanese hardcore, metal, or independent music, you know what a big deal this release is. And the idea that Sakevi is working with Relapse on this reissue suggests that we might get some additional reissues of their two later LPs, as well as comp tracks, which is totally exciting. So, don't sleep on this; slap that "preorder" button, tout en suite! But don't take my word for it. Go ahead and sample this RIGHT NOW!


Sunday, October 25, 2020

various artists - Germs of Perfection: A Tribute To Bad Religion

Here's another Spin Magazine comp, this time featuring covers of Bad Religion. As tribute comps go, it's pretty solid. You get 12 artists covering a wide range of B.A. songs, along with a cut from their "Dissent of Man" album. And Spin lined up some decent names for the comp: Ted Leo, Tegan & Sara, Frank Turner, and the Weakerthans are just some of the headliners here. I remember thinking this was a lot more interesting to me than the new Bad Religion record, which had come out a month before this download-only release.

I have some really ambivalent feelings in general towards Bad Religion. I think it's cool that Greg Graffin and Jay Bentley have continued to keep the band going for nearly 40 years. But I'm struggling to think of a Bad Religion record I've been excited to hear since "No Substance". I had no clue that they had released a new record in 2019, or that Greg Hetson hadn't been in the band for seven years. I'm grateful that B.A. is the foundation for the whole Epitaph/Anti- apparatus, without which we wouldn't have gotten some great Tom Waits records, the last two Pianos Become the Teeth albums, and a fair amount of other good-ass records. It's going to sound rude, and there will be a ton of people who disagree, but they've always struck me as a starter band for punks.

Fuck, that was rude.

Anyway, that's a couple hundred words on a band I'm very "meh" about. The comp's good, though. Let's listen to that.



Click here to download.

Saturday, October 24, 2020

Big Youth - The Chanting Dread Inna Fine Style

What we have here is the CD reissue of an American collection from 1982 of Big Youth, toaster extraordinaire, and his A-sides issued on his Negusa Negast. As best as I can tell, it's the Soul Syndicate backing him on most of these cuts, with drop-ins from the likes of Augustus Pablo, Carlton Barrett, and Dougie Bryan. I don't know if you can call this a greatest hits, per se, but it's pretty hot. I love the original cover art from the 1982 Heartbeat release; why they redesigned it, and gave it that darker, 90s look, is beyond me.

This was one of those $3 Goodwill finds that I picked up at 50% off sticker after it'd sat on the shelves for several weeks. I love it when I come across these things; it's boggling to me that something like this could still be there, two months after going into the store. There aren't a lot of joys in this world right now, but turning up a cool record like this, long out of print, is one of the ones I have left.



Click here to download.

Friday, October 23, 2020

The Criterion Collection in November

From "The Irishman" (Martin Scorsese, 2019)

I've been thinking a lot about the long-time effects of COVID-19 on film exhibition. I know, I know; me and everyone else. I'm really not sure it'll have any effect on my own viewing habits. There's only been a small handful of movies I've had to see in in a theatre in the past five years. Even movies like the last two "Avengers" releases or the last two "Star Wars" films, movies that, in my 20s and 30s, I would have broken my neck to see opening night, have been easy to wait out for a home video release. What I'd love to see is for programming to become less corporatized. I think it'd be good for theatres to become home for the best of the best. Let all but the most cinematic end up on a streaming platform. Save the movie theatre experience for the likes of a "Parasite", a revival of "The Godfather", for any of this month's Criterion releases. That would get me back into a theatre, mask and all.

November 10
There's an off week between the release of "Parasite" and the first release in November. So, you'll have plenty of time to dive into the extras on that "Parasite" set, to watch the black & white version as well as the color release, and to revisit the Bong Joon Ho filmography. Go on, get it out of your system. It's good for you.
This week's release has me asking, "Why don't I know about Claudia Weill?" To be fair, there weren't a lot of teachers repping women in cinema when I went to school 20 years ago, and Weill's filmography is a lot less extensive than, say, a Tamra Davis or an Ida Lupino. But her two features, 1978's "Girlfriends" and 1980's "It's My Turn", are still well regarded, if underseen, and her story and direction on the former earned her admission to the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. It set a blueprint for making independent film, utilizing grants from both the NEA and the AFI to get made over the course of nearly three years. It was named to the National Film Registry in 2019. So, yeah, it's a work worth knowing.
Weill sat with director of photography Fred Murphy to supervise the 4K digital transfer and restoration of this indie classic, presented here for the first time. There are also two early short films by Weill on the disc, dating from 1970 and 1972. The cast and crew interviews look pretty great as well. There's a one on one between Weill and Joey Soloway ("Transparent", "Six Feet Under"), as well as a separate interview with the Criterion team. There's also an interview with screenwriter Vicki Polon, who worked with Weill to shape her story into the script. And there's a feature on the cast, with lead Melanie Mayron, Bob Balaban, and Christopher Guest all dropping in to talk about the movie. It's a great chance to discover something new.
November 17
I'll be honest (not that I've been lying until now): it's been a minute since I last saw "Moonstruck". It's odd, because Mrs. Ape and I have been slowly going through a lot of the romantic comedies from the 80s that one or both of us haven't seen, and while we've both seen it, this seems like something we'd come across and say, "Let's watch Nicolas Cage romance Cher!" We make weird statements in our house.
Anyway, Cher correctly won the Oscar for this role, and the remainder of the cast is top notch: Cage, Olympia Dukakis, Danny Aiello, Vincent Gardinia, John Mahoney. Screenwriter John Patrick Shanley also wrote "Joe Versus the Volcano", another beloved rom-com in our house. While Norman Jewison directed a lot of movies I don't care about, he helmed this, "Send Me No Flowers", and "The Cincinnati Kid", and he's in his mid-90s, so, you know, mazel tov!
There are a ton of repeat features on this release. I see ones in common with the MGM DVD that's floating around my apartment somewhere. The real draw, in addition to the 4K digital scan, are a new interview with Shanley, an essay by Vox's Emily VanDerWerff, and a feature on the role of opera in the film with NYU professor Stefano Albertini. If you haven't seen this before, or don't own a copy, you should check it out. 
Well, Criterion's back with a new Jim Jarmusch release, and it's 1999's "Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai". His seventh feature was a go-to as we were coming down from boozing in my early 20s. Forest Whitaker is so cool as the ronin in a Mafia world. The RZA score is probably the most-underappreciated Wu-related release from the last millenium. And it's one of the last pre-Guiliani, pre-9/11, street level NYC movies; the city is such a great character in the film. A speaking of character: it's one of the last roles for Henry Silva, one of the greats of Euro crime.
I'm really glad to see this get the Criterion treatment; I haven't thought to watch it in about 10 years, so when it was announced, I was like, "YEAH!" Jarmusch oversaw the 4K restoration here; the Blu-ray even gets a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio refurbishment, which should sound dope on a decent soundsystem. RZA's score gets its own isolated audio track, a feature that isn't nearly as prevalent as it should be, as well as a video essay. Whitaker and Jarmusch regular Isaach De Bankolé also sit for a conversation with Michael B. Gillespie. This looks like no worse than the second-best crime movie to release via Criterion this month.
November 24
I have a few mixed feelings about the "Essential Fellini" set coming out here. On one hand, I already own the Fellini films I love. On the other...damn, what a way to celebrate the master's 100th birthday! It's 14 of his 27 films, from his 1950 debut of "Variety Lights" all the way to his penultimate film, 1987's "Intervista". Two of these have never been issued by Criterion before ("Intervista" and 1957's "Il bidone"), and a number of these had not been restored before this release.
The extras are where this set gets wild. His portion of the anthology film "Spirits of the Dead", "Toby Dammit", and his 1969 documentary for NBC, "Fellini: A Director's Notebook", both receive full restorations. There are sooooo many documentaries; I count nine, only one of which I've ever seen available on video. There's also a "La dolce vita"-era feature on Fellini that originally aired on Belgian TV. There's a metric fuck ton of archival material, video essays, trailers, commentaries: the whole nine yards, the whole ball of wax. Apparently, there are also TWO BOOKS in this thing, chock full of images and essays by smarter people than I. The set isn't as comprehensive as the "AK 100" set from a few years back, but it is the sort of thing I'll have no shame in requesting for Christmas.
I was dubious about "The Irishman" when it came out last year. A 3+ hour gangster opus from a beloved director whose last movie I enjoyed came out 15 years before, featuring the kinda-creepy de-aging software to make the likes of Pacino, Pesci, Deniro, and Keitel not look old as hell? It was ostensibly about Jimmy Hoffa? It was only going to stream? There's no way it could be good, right?
Here's one of those times I admit I was wrong. I subconsciously pooped on this because I didn't have Netflix when it came out, couldn't afford streaming, and thus had to lower the excitement of a Scorsese movie. I finally got around to watching it a few weeks ago, over the course of three days, and I really liked it. It was so good to be able to watch in leisure, and the worries about the integration of the visual effects were really overblown. Shit, truth be told: I really should have been into it because Pesci came back for it.
But do I need to own it? That's the $40 question. I suppose it's going to come down to how much I want to listen to Martin Scorsese discuss his craft. I really enjoyed the actor roundtable that's streaming on Netflix; I'm curious to see how that's been recut for this physical release. "The Evolution of Digital De-Aging" also looks like the kind of thing that would make this worth a purchase for me. It's a real toss up; I'm sure I'll end up ordering this, sleep deprived, during a sale in the near future.

In a perfect world, I'd end up preordering all five of these releases. There's so much about each disc that makes me want to dive in. This, however, is an imperfect world, and, hell, we may not even make it to November 10th as a nation. So I'm planning on hedging my bets. I'll let the missus know that I wouldn't mind a copy of "Ghost Dog" for the holidays, while hoping I pull in some bread from eBay and Discogs to cop her that Fellini set. After all, loving couples share things like movies, right? Provided we're still here and the power's on, we're back in thirty to talk up some Cronenberg, some Iñárritu, and reissues from Bresson and Greaves. Get stoked!

From "Juliet of the Spirits" (Federico Fellini, 1965)


Thursday, October 22, 2020

Crisis Of Faith - Land Of The Free

"Never be afraid to take a wag," is my mantra. Rarely does my instinct not pay off with something worth listening to.

I'd had the "Short, Fast and Loud Vol. 1" comp on my wantlist for a while, and I recently saw one for a fair price. I was almost ready to pull the trigger. Now, I've learned that I feel a lot better splitting the cost of shipping across multiple items; it's a lot less weird picking up German grind CDs when you're not adding the full price of bringing it in from Japan. Better to just throw in that Painkiller record, or a couple of quasi-bootleg cassettes, so one can justify the cost of postage. Anyway...

I come across "Land of the Free" in the seller's list. That it's on Lost & Found jumps out at me first. There's a lot of hidden gold in their archives, some of which still hasn't been reissued. I inspect further, noting they were on a split with Chokehold. Things are looking better. And the price is right: $6, and its all mine. Who am I to say no? I smash that "add to cart", and within days, it's in my hand. Thanks, knotmusic, for scratching my itch.

Six bucks got me some rather competent Canadian political hardcore from the early 90s. This is a prime, fourth band on a five-band bill at ABC Rio, bang-yr-head hardcore band, a far cry from more moshy contemporaries. The songs here hail from their aforementioned split with Chokehold, a self-released (?) 7" from the same year, and a song from a very random comp, where they were joined by Moss Icon, Culture Shock, and TVTV$. The 90s, man. Guitarist Adam Payne looks to be the only member of this trio to still be making music. It looks like he relocated to Vancouver at the turn of the millenium, and has put in time with the likes of the Bonitos and Bishops Green.



Click here to download.

Wednesday, October 21, 2020

Neanderthal - West Coast Power Violence

I never cease to be amazed how eight songs can be such a complete body of work.

Neanderthal was a short-lived hardcore band from Southern California, a side project featuring Matt from Infest and Eric from Man is the Bastard. Joe from Infest shows up on vocals for a couple of songs. They released a 7" on Slap A Ham, did a split with Rorschach on Vermiform, and appeared on the first "Bllleeeeaaauuurrrrgghhh!" comp. Their pedigree is impeccable, their output limited, their legacy...brilliant.

I got this in 2017 from Blogged and Quartered, a long-time inspiration for this blog, and a source for all the obscure hardcore that had its day five years before I was on the scene. I don't know if this is a straight rip from the Deep Six/Draw Blank 12", or if it's something Stormy compiled and remastered, but I've listened to it like I might not ever hear again. And that cover is a perfect visual for what you're going to hear.

Were they the first power violence band? Hell, I don't even know if they ever played out live. What I do know is that they were brutal, obscure, short, and to the point. It still makes everyone else look like suckers.

If you're stoked on this, it's worth tracking down a copy of the Exit Unit 7" from the same year. It's Matt and Joe, along with Bob from Low Threat Profile/Lack of Interest on drums. It comes from the same place, as one would probably expect.

Play loud. Smash everything.

Discogs


Click here to download.

Tuesday, October 20, 2020

Cinema Sewer Vol. 7 is here!


I am a huge fan of Canadian film historian, artist, scribe, and all-around good-natured pervert Robin Bougie. His long-running zine, Cinema Sewer, is the Cashiers du Cinema of exploitation. It's evident, within minutes of cracking your first issue, that this is not just a labor of love. It's street-level scholarship of the corners of film that don't get a lot of proper attention. When the ol' Ape writes about movies here, he's doing a really cruddy imitation of Msr. Bougie, sans the wonderful artwork.


As I'm not Twitter, I missed the announcement in September that Robin had recently released the seventh collection of Cinema Sewer via his StoreEnvy site. His six previous releases have compiled the first 29 issues of the zine, but Vol. 7 is a real special release. The softcover compiles issues 30 and 31 of Cinema Sewer, along with an additional 90 new pages of never-before-seen interviews, rants, comics, hard-to-find classic movie advertising, and graphic illustrations by Bougie and a bevvy of his talented illustrative contemporaries. It's also the first time Robin's released a hardcover edition of a Cinema Sewer collection. In addition to the above, collectors get a limited edition autograph plate signed by Robin, as well as the mysterious 64-page sequential art monstrosity BUTTLORDS, created by Bougie and illustrator Maxine Frank, who have previously collaborated on Maximum Superexcitment. The hardcover is a limited edition, and you can snag both in a specially-priced combo pack to save a few bucks.

Click here to pick up a copy, as well as back issues and previous Cinema Sewer collections. If you're outside of North America, visit the good folks at FAB Press.

Monday, October 19, 2020

The Fall-Outs - s/t

Monday is here, and I need something to start the week off right. So let's kick off with one of the great underappreciated Seattle records. Here's the self-titled Fall-Outs LP.

I wrote about this back in 2009, so I guess it's technically a re-up, but let's pretend it's not, shall we? After all, the writing in that post was straight up garbage, and 11 years have sweetened the taste of this here slab even more. "The Fall-Outs" was just the second release on Steve Turner's (Green River, Mudhoney) Super Electro Sound Recordings, a label chock full of great garage punk and Art Chantry layouts. The Fall-Outs had already been kicking around for seven years when this came out; a tape, a pair of 7"s, and a split all proceeded this release. Guitarist Dave Holmes and drummer Dino Lencioni were joined by Turner here. The result was outstanding.

Of course, I wouldn't experience it for another 8 years. I know I'd heard it in the interim; my buddy Greg, who was a monster Sub Pop fan, stuck in the Baltimore suburbs, had asked me to special order a copy of the 1995 CD issue, and had sung its praises. I wouldn't really hear it, though, until I started working at Reptilian, which kept a copy underneath the counter and played it at least twice a week. It reminded me of the line from "The Simpsons": "Too crazy for Boys Town; too young for Crazy Town." It had a poppier sound than the likes of New Bomb Turks, Mono Men, or the Makers, to name three contemporaries. But it also had an edge to it that ran in the blood of Washington garage bands.

The Fall-Outs were done by the time I got hip to them. They'd made a pair of additional LPs, released a few more singles, and slowly faded into history. Estrus put out their 3rd LP in 2004; I have no clue if it'd been recorded in the previous century, or if they'd reunited for one last run. I still feel like they deserved a lot better. I'd rather listen to this than the Strokes any day.



Click here to download.

Sunday, October 18, 2020

various artists - SPIN Presents Newermind: A Tribute Album

I don't recall the circumstances of downloading this initially. I'm fairly certain, based on the release date, that I had a subscription to the print edition of Spin. But there's no one artist here that I was a fan of, and a couple people here (coughamandapalmercough) that I downright loathe. I don't recall it being sponcon, or having someone whose blog I read recommending it, or a bud saying, "Hey, that Surfer Blood cover of 'Territorial Pissings' is worth hearing." Nothing about this lines up.

Yet the folder date on the ol' hard drive tells me I downloaded it within a few days of its release on the Spin website. And I see I've listened to it through at least twice. It's an interesting mix of Nirvana contemporaries (Meat Puppets, the Vaselines), direct descendents (JEFF the Brotherhood, Titus Andronicus), and straight up oddness (Butch Walker, Charles Bradley). It's odd to me that Spin never really did more of this sort of online-only release; it would have given them a leg up on the likes of Pitchfork at a time when they were quickly reaching print irrelevance.



Click here to download.

Saturday, October 17, 2020

"The Beastmaster"...in glorious 4K UHD

Marc Singer and Tanya Roberts in "The Beastmaster" (Don Coscarelli, 1982)

Mediafire is acting the damned fool, so I think it's a good time to shout out Vinegar Syndrome for their lead title for November. Yes, I'll do a full workup on the entire lineup, but this one's so good, it deserves its own spotlight.

If you grew up in the 80s, and had basic cable, then you definitely watched "The Beastmaster" on WTBS. It's a nexus of genre perfection: a sword & sorcery tale, directed by Don Coscarelli ("Phantasm", "John Dies at the End"), and starring a perfectly cast Marc Singer in his signature role. It is quintessentially 80s, and I'm not ashamed to say it shaped my tastes that linger today. Does it have moments of horrifying gore? Check. Some tangental T&A? Check. A character actor icon, chewing the scenery like they're starving? Check. Much better production value than you'd ever expect. Check and check. It was one of the first R-rated movies I ever saw (if not the first), and I think I've owned at least half a dozen copies across all formats.

When Vinegar Syndrome announced their 4K restoration and upcoming UHD/Blu-ray release, I immediately plunked down for a pre-order. And why? Let's start with that restoration. "Beastmaster" has never been released domestically on Blu-ray until now, so the timing for a cleanup of John Alcott's cinematography from the original 35mm interpositive is just right. VS has already shown what they can do in restoring films in the past year with their releases of "Rad" and "Tammy and the T-Rex"; for those of us with memories of rabbit ears and fuzzy images, the anticipation to see a perfect copy is overwhelming.

The few extras announced so far are also blowing my mind. Coscarelli and co. have sat down with both current and contemporary materials to put together a multi-part making-of documentary; based on his previous commentaries and documentary appearances, this should be just as entertaining as the film itself. The discs come with a 40-page bound book about the film, as well as some mind-melting artwork for the covers by longtime VS designer Earl Kess. It's all a far cry from Umbrella's 2018 Australian Blu-ray release or the old Anchor Bay DVDs.

In short, this is a gotta have. It's not a cheap release, either: at $59.98, it's the most expensive single title from Vinegar Syndrome to date. It's currently on preorder at vinegarsyndrome.com for $39.99. As far as I can tell, that's the only place to grab a copy at this point. So get on your horse, pre-order now, and come back in a couple weeks when we talk Black Friday at Vinegar Syndrome.

Friday, October 16, 2020

Danzig - Death Had No Name

Here's another one I got from all-time great blog [shiny grey monotone], a site I visit daily because I know when they do post, it'll be quality. If you enjoy what I post here, then they are a must follow.

It took me a very long time to appreciate the Misfits and, by extension, Glenn Danzig. Chalk it up to getting into punk during that short period where all the Misfits records were out of print. Or blame it on only having one friend who was into Danzig's eponymous band, and us only listening to Fugazi and Nirvana and the Breeders when we drove around getting baked. Or maybe it just had to do with the fact that owning a Misfits t-shirt was punk 101, and I was always trying too hard not to look like a poseur. It wasn't until my late 20s that I was willing to listen to Jersey's finest, and even then, it took a mixtape that led off with "Where Eagles Dare" for me to get it.

Which is a damned shame, because I let myself miss out on the joys of one of the best crooners of the past 40 years. As I was chasing old Dischord releases and devouring Pushead's recommendations from Thrasher back issues, I was also discovering vocal jazz and pop from the 40s thru the 60s: Sinatra, Dean-o, Nina, Chet. I found I loved hearing someone sing their ass off as much as I loved circle pitting and singing along. I had the chance to hear one of the modern equivalents, singing about demons and succubi and the Devil. I couldn't get past the corniness to experience the soul.

So, about "Death Had No Name": this 7", resembling a Sub Pop Singles Club release, came out in 1991, in a pressing of 1,000 pieces...or so the back cover says. There were 500 on yellow, 500 on blue. The title track was a "Danzig"-era recording that wouldn't get a legitimate release for another 16 years until 2007's "The Lost Tracks of Danzig". It shows up in a ton of the Danzig bootlegs out there, but always as a live version. The B-sides are a ton of fun. As far as I can tell, both date from the 1987 rehearsal tapes that would come out as "Demos '88" in 1990. "Possession", as noted in the SGM post, rips the version that appeared on the Danzig debut. And "Trouble"? Sure, it's on the nose to have Danzig do a song popularized by Elvis. But I like it. If nothing else, it's an excellent mixtape curiosity.

Where does this leave us? It's possible I've downloaded a few Danzig records I don't own in the past month or so. And I've been contemplating picking up a copy of "Danzig Sings Elvis" a lot. Tell me I'm wrong.



Click here to download.

Thursday, October 15, 2020

Pussy Galore - Exile on Main St

Do I really need to say anything about this? I owned a 5th generation copy of a bootleg that I lovingly wore out. It's the third release from one of the all-time great noise rock bands of all time, covering my favorite Stones record. It's the tribute record by which all others must be judged, and found wanting. I hear Keith Richards had to have his blood replaced again after hearing it. It's an hour of glorious, junky, trashy sound, and, honestly, it makes me happy just to know it exists. The world can't be that bad when we make art like this.

I'm using a vinyl cover below because I prefer how it looks to the O.G. tape release. Sue me.

Oh, yeah, looks like you can get a copy for a mere $175.00 right now on Discogs. Punch. That. Purchase. Button.



Click here to download.

Wednesday, October 14, 2020

various artists - Ego Trip's The Big Playback

I don't write much about hip-hop, because there are a million and one cats who know more about the culture and can do it better. But it occurred to me the other day that it's been more than 20 years since Ego Trip was a thing. And there's never been a better collection of heads who have captured my attention for the five elements.

When the crew of Sacha, Elliot, Gabe, Brent, and Chairman Mao put together "The Big Playback" in 2001, it reminded me of the "Killed By Death" comps. It provided a roadmap to the early, low pressing hip-hop records I'd never get access to. I'd been obsessed with the early days of New York hip-hop and L.A. electro, and by the time this was released, I'd been spending more on reissues of old Profile sides than I was on what was actually charting. I'd never be able to afford a first pressing of "Beat Bop", but I could actually listen to it.

So...standouts here. The aforementioned Rammelzee vs. K-Rob cut is one I still love listening to. Sure, I don't have the Basquiat artwork, but what are you going to do? The first Marley Marl A-side also appears here; his beats for Roxanne Shante and Cold Chillin', and production work on "Mama Said Knock You Out" were crucial exposures to hip-hop for a young Ape Mummy. Likewise with Grandmaster Caz; I'd had a copy of the Rhino reissue of "Wild Style" for a while, but his Tuff City sides never came back in print, so it's rad to hear something "new" from one of the classic DJs. Even a track like "Get Retarded" by MC EZ & Troup sounds great...and that's before finding out that it's a super-young Craig Mack on the mic. All new flava in ya ear, indeed.



Click here to download.

Monday, October 12, 2020

Black Flag - The Complete 1982 Demos Plus More!

See, I told you I'd be right back to some dumb punk rock shit.

The Black Flag/Unicorn/MCA injunction is one of my favorite stories about the music business. Flag signs a deal with Unicorn Records to co-release "Damaged", gaining Black Flag access to better distribution. Al Bergamo at MCA, Unicorn's parent company, hears (about) "Damaged", decides it's "anti-parent", and blocks it from release. SST restickers the 25,000 LP run on Unicorn. Unicorn files suit against Black Flag for breach of contract, leading to contempt of court charges against Greg Ginn and Chuck Dukowski and a three year embargo against any releases under the Black Flag name.

So it came to be that it took three years, and two lineups, until the Flag would fly again. Robo left his drum stool shortly after recording "Damaged", and in his place would sit Chuck Biscuits, formerly of D.O.A. While nothing official was ever released from this five-piece, they did record a number of demos, collected here on this bootleg CD-R. We get a mix of tracks from "My War" and "Slip It In", featuring Rollins on vocals, Ginn and Cadena on guitars, Dukowski on bass, and Biscuits on drums. I really prefer the '82 quintet. I think Bill Stevenson's drumming continues to get better over time, but Biscuits was at the top of his game on these demos. Hank still hasn't dove full-blown into LSD poet, and Dez on second guitar allows Greg Ginn to go wild, while still retaining an underpinning on the songs. It's also the Dukowski's last recordings with the band before the Duke would move onto SWA. In short, it's a leaner, meaner version of a pair of classic hardcore/grunge records that wouldn't come out for another two years.

And, because I'm a giver, I've left on the 1984 Radio Tokyo sessions that typically appear on CD versions of the 1982 demos. It's three songs from "My War" and an interview, featuring bearded Henry Rollins, stoned Greg Ginn, Kira Roessler on bass and Bill on drums. It's a cool tack on, considering Kira didn't otherwise record any of the "My War" cuts, and I'm always a fan of a "live in the studio" session.



Click here to download.

Sunday, October 11, 2020

Hakim Bey - T.A.Z.

I've been familiar with Hakim Bey for around 25 years now, probably as a natural extension of studying anarchism in my late teens and early 20s. There was (and still is) something attractive about his running with Burroughs, his presence in far-left culture from Leary's League for Spiritual Discovery all the way up through Occupy, and his ability to draw links between politics, crime, and art. His pedophilia, once it became more public, put me off in a big way.

So why share "T.A.Z."? Well, it's a weird-ass artifact from the mid-90s. "T.A.Z." is a spoken word record, scored and arranged by Bill Laswell on his Axiom label (a sub-label of Island Records). Like Laswell's Material work, the music here is grounded in dub, but moves continually into Eno-esque ambience and drone. I don't love Laswell, but this remains interesting to me.

And that's because of the readings from Temporary Autonomous Zone that comprise the spoken word portions of the record. There's theory at play here that, in practice, can make life still worth living, especially as our national culture devolves into fascism. Bey once spoke about the energy having been spent out of American activism; creation of a separatist structure outside the boundaries of control can be a recharge to activism. By attaching a finite time limit to its existence, one can also avoid the depression of what is intended as a permanent autonomous zone being destroyed.

I dunno...that's what I'm thinking about right now. Maybe tomorrow I'll have some dick jokes and I'll write about some dumb punk rock record. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯



Click here to download.

Saturday, October 10, 2020

Pope - JohnPaulGeorgeRingo

Like a lot of great bands, I discovered Leatherface just after they broke up. It was Jack Rabid and The Big Takeover (now in its 40th year!!!) that had banged that drum and served as John the Baptist to Frankie Stubbs' Jesus. So, of course, as soon as the impressionable 16-year-old Ape Mummy reads about Sunderland's finest, he goes looking for Leatherface records. Of which there are none available in mid-90s southwestern Virginia. Because small town record stores just don't carry the early Domino catalog.

And so it happened that it'd take another two years until I'd even hear the melodious tones of Mr. Stubbs, and that was via Pope, the band he started with bassist Andy Crighton after Leatherface. The 12" originally released by Rugger Bugger in the UK during Pope's short life-span would get a reissue on CD via the then-embyronic Tokyo label Snuffy Smile in 1996. By then, Frankie had moved on to his next trio, Jesse. But I found the CD during an early visit to Reptilian, and discovered that, even though it wasn't Leatherface, this absolutely lived up to the hype.

I kind of wish I still had that CD; it sells for a pretty penny these days on the secondary market. I believe this rip comes from BYO's 2001 reissue of "The Last" 12" on CD; the Pope songs were tacked onto the back end of that CD. It's the sort of passionate punk rock, in the vein of Stiff Little Fingers, that has inspired so many kids, myself included, to write from the heart, proficiency be damned.



Click here to download.

Friday, October 9, 2020

Christer Pettersson - Empatihaveri

Swedish thrash, bordering on power violence, named after a Swedish assassin, from the days when fascism was still taboo, a fringe idea that everyone would at least pay lip service to condemning.

This is not a blog about politics, but it is a political blog. I find it impossible to align with the art I love and want to share without taking on a fair amount of its ideals. And thus it is that I grew up a punk. And punk says everything is political.

It's less than a month until the American presidential election. The wall between truth and perception has never been higher. I've never been happier to be away from the East Coast. Earlier today, the FBI unraveled and stopped a plot to kidnap and assassinate the governor of Michigan. Last night, I watched the vice president talk loud and say nothing, while his counterpart in the debate bragged about her law & order bona fides. A senator today bragged about ending democracy on Twitter. The people in power seem determined to finalize their erosion of the American dream. This was the plan all along, to use the levers of government to undo that government.

There's so much going on, and I get why people can feel like we have little to no hope left. I can count the days where I've experienced the fulfillment of the American dream on both hands, and still have fingers left over. I wouldn't call myself disillusioned, because I shucked those illusions a long time ago. I can understand the fear that so many are experiencing; somehow, they got left behind in the chase for wealth accumulation. Their generation was subtracted in the math of late capitalism. And they're told that it's a brown person's fault, a yellow disease, that a rainbow stole their birthright.

I don't think we're completely lost as a nation. If nothing else, keeping your hope alive is the ultimate rebellion against control. It's the middle finger to those who benefit from the division currently being sown. The title of this 7" is "Empatihaveri". Translated from the original Swedish, it means "empathy". Hope and empathy are our weapons to fight hate and fear with. This record makes a pretty good soundtrack for that fight.


Click here to download.

Thursday, October 8, 2020

Vile Cherubs - The Man Who Has No Eats Has No Sweats

A comprehensive look at Tim Green and Seth Lorinczi's bands from 1979 to 1989 (from the Thee Evolution Revolution 7")

When you've listened to the Dischord catalog as much as I have, you get real excited when you discover something like Vile Cherubs.

Vile Cherubs seems to have played out from mid-1986 to mid-1988, leaving behind two demos and an LP, "Post-Humorous Relief", that was co-released in 1989 by Dischord. If it sounds to you like it has something in common with Nation of Ulysses, it's because future NoU/Fucking Champs guitarist Tim Green played guitar here as well. It's his first recorded output, along with regular collaborator and future Circus Lupus/Antimony/Quails guitarist Seth Lorinczi & Jesse Quits, soon to play bass for Capitol City Dusters.

I feel like you can draw a direct line from the regional garage 45s that make up the "Pebbles" comps to the demos that make up "The Man Who Has No Eats Has No Sweats". Seeing that Geoff Turner recorded these tracks at WGNS makes a lot of sense; it has more in common with his contemporary band, Senator Flux, than it does with, say, Ignition or Soul Side. I wish I had more trenchant insights for you here. I like it for the same reasons I like New Bomb Turks; it's a big ol' punk rock 'n' roll racket that I wish I'd heard of a lot sooner.



Click here to download.

Wednesday, October 7, 2020

various artists - Periscope (Another Yoyo Compilation)

I had wanted to post "Tulip", the second Yoyo comp, in this space. But I seem to have deleted it from my hard drive, and the hard copy is in a box in one of my storage units, and who knows when the Christ I'll find that, so here we are.

"Periscope (Another Yoyo Compilation)" is the third release sampling recordings from Pat Maley's Yoyo Studios. This one's as strong as the preceding volumes, with a mix of bands and performances you'd probably never find elsewhere in the world. On the noisier side, you get Mukilteo Fairies, Fitz of Depression, Copass Grinderz, and Bloodthirsty Butchers. If you're looking for something a bit more twee, then check in for Love As Laughter, Go Sailor, or Tattle Tale. Even a pair of indie rock/alternative luminaries make appearances. Beck shows up with a song pre-dating his "Mellow Gold" breakout. But the stand-out has got to be the otherwise unreleased Neutral Milk Hotel cut, "Bucket". It's a winner.

Please forgive the shitty genre tagging on these cuts. I think I ripped this when I was hopped up on goofballs or something.



Click here to download.

Tuesday, October 6, 2020

various artists - The Smitten Love Song Comp.

I struggle to figure out how records like this get made. I've had a bit of experience trying to put compilations together, and they're a hellish beast with many heads that must get wrangled at any cost, all for little to no reward. But this, "The Smitten Love Song Comp.", came out, having acquired exclusive songs from legendary bands at the height of their creative powers, on a label whose other big release was...a Karp/Long Hind Legs split 7?

Nonetheless, this is a pretty stellar comp. I grabbed this for the Jawbreaker song, which wouldn't be otherwise available until 2002's release of the "Etc." singles comp. Unwound's "New Radio Hit" is one of my favorites from them. Cherubs do an noisy, clangy version of "I Want Candy" that was a fun play on the radio. Steel Pole Bath Tub do their thing as their final release before their awesome/ill-fated record for Slash/London Records. There are criminally underheard cuts from Engine Kid, godheadSilo, and Grifters. Even a band like Slug stands out in a way that'd elsewhere gotten lost for me.

It's a fine-ass curation, is what I'm saying. And, truth be told, a good-ass cover. Available on CD or the elusive 12"/7" combination.



Click here to download.

Monday, October 5, 2020

Re-up: Charm City Suicides - s/t

There are strange doings afoot here in Bodymore. To be fair, the birthday post was already written, and scheduled to post, and, fuck it, why wreck the schedule just to put in new news? My boss approached me with a proposition Friday. Suffice it to say, it scared the shit out me. I have no idea how to react except to jump in a give this new thing a shot...soldier up, as one might say. But it's weird, someone you respect looking you in the eye and telling you they believe in you. I've always had a hard time hearing it, even if I was always able to say the same thing in total sincerity. "I'm proud of you." "I believe in you." "I trust you." We live in cynical times, where every commenter would rather drop a glib line than honestly state how they feel. I watched Can't Hardly Wait tonight with the wife. We're both still full of the birthday buffet she put together for the family and I this morning. I feel like a big ol' fat ass, packed to the sinuses with creamed chipped beef and fresh cantaloupe. It gets harder to have true enthusiasm for these kinds of events every year; not due to the excitement of the event, mind you. Again, it's just hard to be truly joyful when life surrounds you with post-irony...insincerity...the wink and the nod. But fear not, here's where the music comes in, kids. There was a band around these parts a few years ago by the name of Charm City Suicides. They were the band that made you fall back in love with a live show. Their screamy, trashy garage sound was equal parts Oblivians, Black Flag & Sam and Dave. They were the perfect teenage band. They were honest and wore their attitudes, along with their hearts, on their sleeves. They fucking rocked. Like a lot of music, I talked mad shit on C.C.S. for the first couple of years I was aware of them. Then I saw them play a show in Fallston shortly before I was released, sometime in the fall of 2001. Like just about every other band I ever talked a bunch of crap about, Charm City Suicides knocked my dick in the dirt that night. Playing to a crowd of about 50 kids in a Republican-town V.F.W., they said a lot about the power of D.I.Y., of how proud and strong youth can be, and how it doesn't matter being cool, looking hot. It was angry and smart and I'm still stoked I got to see them three more times before breaking up in October 2002. During their last set ever, I pulled off the most perfect stage dive I've ever done. I haven't dove off a stage since. The record known as Charm City Suicides, "I", was originally released as an LP by Vermin Scum Records in 2001. This quickly went out of print, and bookended Vermin Scum's long record as the best label for Baltimore & Annapolis-local punk. Mark McCoy heard the LP and released a version on CD on Youth Attack! in time for C.C.S. to break up. That's the rip to be found here. Every town has a punk rock band full of piss, vinegar, three chords and the truth. For five years, Baltimore had Charm City Suicides. 

(Postscript: this blog was originally posted on my 31st birthday in 2008. A lot of water has passed under that bridge since then. I still love the Charm City Suicides.)



Click here to download.

Sunday, October 4, 2020

LaGrecia - On Parallels

I'm pretty certain I never saw LaGrecia live. If memory serves, the record was cut during the first None More Black break-up, with Jay on guitar/vocals, his ex-bandmate from Bound, Dana, on drums, and Sal from A Days Refrain on bass. It originated as a full-band version of Jay's OnGuard release in 2006, reprising one song from that little-heard session. They only lasted around a year; Jay left the band and restarted NMB.

The music is so much more anthemic than Jay's other projects; I think it's fair to draw a comparison to the songwriting in the Loved Ones or Gaslight Anthem. This is grown-ass, New Jersey punk rock, for when you finally settle down a bit and remember that Foreigner wrote some fucking jams, but you still like to sing along with the Ergs. You just want to holler along, pump your fist, drink a domestic pilsner to "On Parallels".

If you dig this, it's worth noting that Jay put out another record of this ilk under the wonderful moniker of "Former Member" in 2018. It's a little huskier, a little slower, but the songs are super strong, and the recording from Will Yip is on point, as should be expected.

Discogs


Click here to download.


Saturday, October 3, 2020

Re-up: Lifter Puller - Fiestas + Fiascos

Photo from the Village Voice

(Notes: I originally wrote this 11 years ago, almost to the day. There was a discography released as part of the "Vs. The End Of" book. I couldn't tell you where to find one, but I haven't exactly been looking. I have no idea what I was thinking selling my copy on vinyl of this, but I still have the CD. I still hold very fond memories of seeing their penultimate show at Brownie's in NYC, circa 2000, and just of that general time when we were all young, dumb, full of cum, and thought the world was our bitch.

This is a very not good piece of writing. Of course I stand by it.)

I can't exactly pinpoint when I was hipped to Lifter Puller, which is weird, because there's generally that "Wow!" moment with those bands that I've carried with me since I heard them. Maybe it was the guys from Dillinger 4 talking about playing with Lifter Puller on a riverboat in Punk Planet, or a mixtape from Bachman featuring the Rhymesayers crew dropping LP lyrics into 16 bars. I can tell you it wasn't an immediate thing; I think I had this CD for a month, occasionally listening, before I got it. But I DID get it.

Even though I know Craig Finn was telling stories, there is something unsavory and sordid about Fiestas + Fiascos. Even today it feels hyper-real...a codeine-laced mix of Nighthawks, Jim Carroll and Joe Strummer. This record makes copping dope sound sexy, and deals gone bad sound fun. You want to dance all night at the Nice Nice, then go home to your mattress laid out on the floor and drink shitty booze until 2 in the afternoon. This is the sound of bad choices.

Supposedly there's a Lifter Puller documentary and discography en route. It's not impossible to find F+F or Soft Rock out in eBay land. But enjoy this one while you wait.

Discogs


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Read This One

Post #400: Double Dagger - Ragged Rubble

It took from May to August 2000 to go from 100 to 200 posts. Then I hit 300 posts two days before Christmas 2000. And now I'm here, anot...

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