various artists - No-Fi Trash: A Floppy Cow Records Compilation

I'm not going to say that I have a thing for circa-"turn of the millenium" punk samplers, but I'm not not going to say it, either.

This one came to us from Switzerland, by way of a seller in San Diego, who may have gotten it via Suburban Home Records, then someone who probably received it in some mailorder sometime in the past 20+ years. It has a sampling of the finest names of the era: "Very Emergency"-era Promise Ring, one of my favorite Hot Water Music cuts, the same from the Get Up Kids. There are those who I liked in small does (Sarge, the Anniversary) and those who I avoided wherever I could (Lagwagon, Useless ID). Then there is the vanguard of the early aughts pop punk explosion: New Found Glory, Alister,  and No Motiv.

Truth be told, I dropped the buck on this because there was a Tugboat Annie track that I didn't already own. Totally worth it.

Discogs

Click here to download.

various artists - The Hope Machine

Here's a (at the time of this post) 23-year-old cross section of Long Island DIY, courtesy of a label that, sadly, seems to have not made it through COVID intact. Rok Lok put out an early Loma Prieta record, and did a tape release for my buddy Nick's project about 12 years later. It's a small world that felt a lot bigger back then.

Geez, a lot of these folks ended up playing CCAS back in the day: Latterman, Nakatomi Plaza, The Number Twelve Looks Like You, De La Hoya. A hundred fliers flicker through my mind's eye.

The way the memories have faded, it makes me wish I'd done more party drugs, so I'd have a better excuse for faulty recollections of hazy summer nights. It makes me wish I'd spent a few more weekends in vans on I-95, rather than working a straight job or going back to school. At the risk of wistfulness, I sometimes think of the paths not taken, and where they might have lead. Maybe I would have been in one of these bands, immortalized to be rediscovered nearly a quarter century later.

Discogs

Click here to download.

various artists - Lyricist Lounge 2

I guess there's still some shit to talk about Rawkus, 20+ years after the fact, but goddamn, they could put together a solid ass comp.

This isn't on the level of the first release...hell, most comps aren't. But there's still a great cross section of millennial hip-hop, headlined by Ghostface Killah, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Kool G Rap, and Dilated Peoples. Oh, and Biggie leads off with "16 Bars", as good a selling point in 2000 as you could find.

I'm racking my brain, trying to figure out how I managed to not own a copy of this until 2022, when I found it in a stack of backpack hip-hop CDs at a Value Village. "Supreme Clientele", "Black On Both Sides", "Amplified"; they all came out around the same time, they were all records I bought new from work the week they dropped. Did we not buy Rawkus releases at the record store I worked at that year? Maybe not.

Still, not much of an excuse. A mistake that was easily corrected for $2.

Discogs

Click here to download.

various artists - Sweet 16's Turned 31: A Tribute To Bob Seger

I only bought this b/c it had a Sweep The Leg Johnny track on it. I don't like Bob Seger, I don't know any of the other bands on this EP, I've never otherwise heard of Urinine Records. But it looks like this was kind of a thing for Urinine, getting indie rock bands to do tribute EPs to 70s and 80s rockers.

So, there you have it. Four indie rock/math rock/post hardcore bands from the turn of the millenium, covering four of the Silver Bullet Band's greatest hits. It's a thing...clearly.

Discogs

Click here to download.

various artists - Slightest Indication Of Change

Rabbit rabbit, as the kids have said from time to time. It's the first of the month, so get your check and get up.

"Slightest Indication Of Change" is the seventh release from Slowdance Records, a perfectly cromulent label from San Diego whose six year output covered a pretty wide swath of what was going on in the world of independent rock back at the turn of the millenium. Their first release was a Boilermaker/Three Mile Pilot split 7" that still gets the occasional spin on the turntable at Ape Central; they also did a tour split with my buddy Ben and Braid vocalist Bob Nanna that I've never managed to lay my hands on.

So it was that I snagged a copy of this shortly after its release in 2000, mainly b/c it had a Kind Of Like Spitting cut on it I didn't own, plus anything from Piebald and Small Brown Bike at that time was going to pique my interest and get my money. I'd heard Jejune and No Knife before, via splits with other bands I'd liked, and even the likes of the Casket Lottery and the Six Parts Seven weren't completely unknown to me back then. This was, and remains, a great snapshot of the more tuneful part of the touring scene pre-9/11, where the boundaries of genre remained blurred and everyone still played basements and dive bars and hadn't gotten publicists yet.

Discogs

Click here to download.

The Anasazi ‎– Calculating Components And Compound Formulas For Mass Population Reconstruction ... ... A.K.A. Measurement & Control

A week of great potential has emerged here in the northwestern corner of the empire. Cher boi's DVD-ROM drive in the ancient MacBook Pro has gone to the great recycling center in the sky, meaning it's come time to, at the very least, to replace the drive, if not the entire computer. Do they still make laptops with an internal disc drive? Or should I just chip up the $50-$100 to get an external drive, and keep using this here steel-encased marvel of late-aughts Apple technology?

The missus and I have also been engaged in serious talks to relocate back to our homeland of Charm City in the next few months. Let's face it; it's REALLY - FUCKING - EXPENSIVE to live in our corner of paradise, and last month's heat dome laid plain a number of the disadvantages to remaining here. So, here I am, packing boxes at 2 in the morning, with the portable air conditioner working it's lil heart out, and "Bob's Burgers" playing in the background. 100+ years worth of pulp paperbacks and out of print cookbooks, collected over the past five years, all going into 12 x 12 x 12 double walled cardboard.

The Anasazi sounded like the future 21 years ago. Made up of former members of Jenny Piccolo and Casey from Yaphet Kotto, it was the sort of progressive hardcore band that I was taken in by.  It, too, goes into a box, one of the last things I ripped before the drive gave up the ghost, now to be immortalized in 320kbps bit rate, on a blog unbound by time or location.

Discogs

Click here to download.

New Bomb Turks - Nightmare Scenario (the old and the new)

Typically, I'm reluctant to share a record when there's a perfectly good alternative to purchase; in this case, for a wonderful cause. But here's a chance to compare, contrast, and see how goddamned good the original version is.

Back in August, Columbus' pride and joy, the New Bomb Turks, created their own Bandcamp page, and posted the original mixes of 2000's "Nightmare Scenario". Their fifth LP, as well as third and final release for Epitaph, "Nightmare Scenario" was the first Turks record I ever purchased. I know, I know...but they weren't playing basement shows or getting written up in HeartattaCk or Profane Existence. I just didn't know any better at the time.

As the story goes, the team of Davidson, Weber, Reber, and new drummer Sam Brown (ex-Gaunt) embarked to Detroit for a four day recording sesh with Jim Diamond, master of ceremonies of legendary studio Ghetto Recorders. As Lance Forth notes on the Bandcamp:

Over four days and nights, the band enjoyed their easiest and most fun recording session – the only break being a jaunt over to a bar to see a reunited Real Kids, their first show in years, which floored the band and only added more mezcal to the fire.

Final mixes were left to Jim Diamond, and by the time he forwarded them to the band, overdub ideas had hatched, and about half the record was remixed with local studio wiz, Jeff Graham, in Columbus. A middle ground was eventually found, and what resulted was Nightmare Scenario (Epitaph Records, 2000) – the fifth album in their six album/three compilation catalog, and the one the band believe is their best.

Did 22-year-old me have any clue any of this was going on? Hell, no. I just had finally discovered a band on Epitaph worth hearing. "Automatic Teller" and "Spanish Fly By Night" are still on my list of garage rock DJ go-to's, getting tons of spins on the radio and at parties. I liked what I heard, I still like it...

...but I gotta say, I think I like this one more. Diamond's mixes are raw as hell, like tossing lighter fluid onto a hot grill. It's been 20 years since the initial release, but here's a record that sounds alive, vital, like the spit you shoot into the eye of someone who's been kicking the hell out of you.

The "Diamond Edition" got released back on Bandcamp Friday in August, and I'm kinda bummed I've missed it for four months until now. Old pal Henry Owings revamped the original Eric Wheeler photograph for a all-new, spare cover. All proceeds generated by the digital release will be donated to Black Queer & Intersectional Collective and Columbus Freedom Fund. So, it's really a simple thing: download the original, long out-of-print, then go drop a bit of coin towards a pair of good causes. It's the holidays, for cripes' sake. And let's hope 2021 sees a physical release!

Discogs

Click here to download "Nightmare Scenario".

Click here to download "Nightmare Scenario (Diamond Edition)".

Social Coma - self-titled

I bought this when it came out because it was the band Mark McCoy was in between Charles Bronson and Das Oath, so I figured it'd have to be pretty good. And it was. It's Mark on guitar, Jeff Jelen (MK Ultra) on bass, Simon Czerwinskyj (Long Live Nothing) on drums, and a woman named Christina on vocals. It's 11:37 of power violence gloriousness that originally came out as a 21 song, self-released demo tape, then was paired down to a 15 song 7" on NAT Records in Japan. This here was ripped from the Youth Attack reissue that came out in 2000 as the second release on Youth Attack. It also is, coincidentally, one of the only records I've ever been able to successfully rip from that stupid-ass Ion turntable I wasted $80 on.

This is the freakout that's been going in the background of my brain for most of 2020. I know you feel me.

Discogs

Click here to download.

various artists - This Is Springfield, Not Shelbyville!

Ah, maybe these minstrels will sooth my jangled nerves.

Here's a turn of the century tribute to the Simpsons, featuring a strong nod to "This Is Boston, No L.A." and a grip of Tri-State hardcore and punk bands. My favs? How about Milhouse adapting "Firestorm" with Bart-inspired lyrics? Or Lifes Halt's thrash paean to the state's first Aquacar factory? Maybe it's Black Army Jacket's tribute to Poochy? They all tread a thin line between clever and stupid.

Whoops, wrong reference.

I'm not sure how I managed to miss this record's existence for almost 20 years. Is this just an excuse to post a .gif from Frinkiac? No chance, nerd. Does it fit thematically with yesterday's post? Sure. Is this a cheap ploy to get some more eyeballs and ears to the blog? Probably. Did it work? Who knows?

This blog is over.

Discogs

Click here to download.

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

Click here to download.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Live at All Tomorrow's Parties, 8 April 2000

I'll set aside the poetry for my second GSY!BE post. Am I feeling more hopeful? Only, perhaps, that the inevitable class war will kick off in the next six weeks or so.

What I remember about the first All Tomorrow's Parties was that it was one of the first Wire reunions, Shellac and Sigur Rós were playing, and that I was otherwise unthrilled by the lineup. ATP seemed like a good idea, though; let's go to a resort and watch a bunch of bands booked by another band play with 1,000 like-minded souls. Even if you're only hyped on 1 out of 4 bands, you'll probably get stoked on a few more, meet some folks, make out, drink, eat some weird pills, make some memories.

Within a couple years, friends would end up traveling to the UK every spring. The second-hand reports of Mission of Burma playing live, or watching Iggy & the Stooges play on the Queen Mary were mind-blowing. Who would have ever thought you'd get to actually see these bands grown up listening to? Even better was discovering the taste of some of your favorite artists. Yes, it's fun to see who My Bloody Valentine, or Matt Groening, or Belle and Sebastian would want to put into a lineup. Coachella's vibe was always a little more mercenary; this was fantasy camp for indie rock dorks.

So here's Godspeed from the first ATP. I really enjoy that they're not on the "offical" flier. They bookended the original festival series, playing the first and final shows, as well as seven others across the 12 year, four continent series. Any of the shows they played would have been a ripper, although I'll admit to wishing I'd seen them in 2011 in London, when they played in a lineup alongside Portishead, Swans, Beach House, and an Alan Moore/Stephen O'Malley performance. Dope show.

Click here to download.

125, Rue Montmartre - 125, Rue Montmartre

Still from "125, rue Montmartre" (1959)

This record came out right around the time I started getting really into Get Up Kids and Braid and embracing the whole "sad emo kid" stereotype. There was little chance of me catching it at the time; it was a white label release by two German labels. But I keep coming back to the 125, Rue Montmartre 7" regularly since downloading it over a decade ago. They were contemporaries of the better known Yage, and really only existed for two years. This falls in that sweet spot of Euro emo-core/screamo/skramz that would, within 5 years, be on that cutting edge of progressive punk and hardcore.

That is a ridiculous sentence. It would be less ridiculous to liken this to a more jangly Dahlia Seed. The incredible German reissue label Thirty Something Records co-released a discography 12" last year with Jason Teisinger's recently revived Belladonna Records. The first press has all but sold out, but there's a second pressing on coke bottle clear vinyl coming later this year. So treat this like a taster, and order that record now.

Discogs

Click here to download.

Post #100 - Fuck, 20 Years Ago Was A Long Time Back

Here we go. A truly momentous moment. 100 posts...a huge portion of which have come in the past month.

To celebrate this joyous occasion, I've put together this delightful comp. It's 20 songs from 20 years ago. Pretty simple, no? It was a shit year personally, but a pretty great year for music. It was the year I got turned onto Belle & Sebastian, Cat Power, and Death Cab for Cutie. It was the year of "Voodoo" and "Supreme Clientele", "The Moon and Antarctica" and "69 Love Songs". I went to University of Maryland for the year, and failed out within 9 months. I moved back to the Baltimore suburbs, started working as a buyer for a bookstore, began going to three shows a week.

I could have turned this into one of those amazing Fluxblog-style surveys of the year; it was the first year I intentionally expanded my listening habits, and my record collection still reflects that. This, however, is a punk-focused blog, and I wanted to stick to 20 songs, so, there you go. I think it's a pretty decent cross-section of what I was buying at Reptilian and learning about from Punk Planet and HeartattaCk. Here's what you're downloading:

1. Spazz, "Let's Fucking Go!"
2. Dillinger Four, "Music Is None of My Business"
3. Leatherface, "Watching You Sleep"
4. Alkaline Trio, "Radio"
5. Strike Anywhere, "Chorus of One"
6. The Briefs, "New Shoes"
7. The Fuses, "Solution R"
8. The Hives, "A Get Together To Tear It Apart"
9. Charles Bronson, "Couldn't Fuckin' Care Less"
10. American Nightmare, "Protest Song #00"
11. Assfactor 4, "Free Tibet and Pussy"
12. Hot Snakes, "Salton City"
13. Skull Kontrol, "Primitive Offerings" (HEY!)
14. Lifter Puller, "Space Humping $19.99"
15. Braid, "You're Lucky to be Alive"
16. Shellac, "Watch Song"
17. Midiron Blast Shaft, "With A Fine Tooth Comb-Over"
18. Vaz, "Statik Electrik"
19. Cutthroats 9, "Prey"
20. Pg.99, "By the Fireplace in White"

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll acknowledge the elephant in the room. I recognize that there's a real dearth of non-male, non-white voices in this mix. I had less broad taste 20 years ago. It's probably why I didn't date much back then. But this IS perfect to slap onto a C-60, throw into the tape deck, and play full blast while you bomb around a back road with your best friends, chain smoking and drinking Big Gulps and talking about how the whole of your world is still in front of you.

Anyway, enjoy the mix, and thanks for coming back. This is Primitive Offerings 100.

Click here to download.

Midiron Blast Shaft Starts Fires In Your Pants

It's nearly 3 AM here on the East Coast. My neighbor ran over to us about an hour and a half ago, screaming for us to call the fire department. Turns out he had fallen asleep with a lit cigarette in his hand. He awoke a short time later, surrounded by flame, with his bed ablaze. Somehow in the ensuing confusion, I lost my cell phone and two hours of desperately-needed sleep. I own a rowhome. For those of you unfamiliar, it's like a townhouse, in that it's connected to other houses on the same block, only it's older and isn't made out of pressboard & staples.

Here's Midiron Blast Shaft. No links tonight/this morning, cuz I'm feeling busted out. Maybe addendums tomorrow/this morning from work...










Midiron Blast Shaft - Starts Fires In Your Pants
(click record cover to DL)

RIYL: AmRep, stabbing your thigh with a knife, smoke inhalation

The Fuses are Lies

The one positive thing about feeling sorry for oneself is that, when you're a music fan, you'll always have a decent tune to listen to in your headphones... The Fuses were, to me, a band out of time and place during their short-lived Baltimore heyday. Their angular, tense punk rock definitely struck a chord at the turn of the decade. But I don't recall the Fuses ever touring or playing any further afield than New York City. By the end of 2002, they had temporarily split up, with their singer moving overseas to study in England. The drummer had a series of short stays in other local HC outfits, but he was married, and was soon only seen for the occasional Buzzcocks show. The bassist gave banjo lessons. The guitarist altogether disappeared. Stories like these go back to the garage punks of the early 60's. No matter how hard you want to hold on to the glories and joys of your youth, one eventually grows up and moves on, with only a few photos left, and a ringing of the ears.

Are Lies was released by Reptilian Records and looks to be, shockingly enough to me, out-of-print. In 2005, Shit Sandwich released an LP and 7" of newly recorded Fuses material. Does it make you want to jitter? Yeah, it really does. Well worth spending money on, especially when the alternative is watching it drift away with your 401(K).










The Fuses - Are Lies

RIYL: too much amphetamine, the Proletariat, anything on KBD Records.com

Skull Kontrol - Zzzzzz...

This is where our names come from...

It's been a little while, so I won't wax poetic. I wish I had been a slightly more hip person in my early 20's, instead of chasing whatever horseshit I listened to back then. I might have, instead of the obligatory Get Up Kids 7"s, rocked this record, even though I could never grow the mustache to go along with it.. This is totally bitchin' post-hardcore from ex-members of Born Against & the Monorchid. Skull Kontrol covers a Screamers track on this, their 2nd and final release. Still in print, available from Touch & Go and your local iTunes icon. Buy it.









Skull Kontrol - Zzzzzz...

RIYL: breaking glass, one testicle, the floor of ABC No Rio