Archive for December, 2005
2005 in Review (aka Another Crappy Year End List)
At this point your probably sick to death of another “Best of 2005″ list. I know I am, but I’m not letting that stop me. Actually, this isn’t so much a “best of” list. Rather, this is pretty much a listing of all of the new releases I picked up over the past 12 months. Not much here, and most of what I actually I do buy these days is a known commodity. Kids, house payments, etc. really cut into my ability to speculate. So this is it, in no particular order
Easy Action - I’m Waiting.mp3
I finally picked up Friends of Rock’n'Roll a couple of weeks ago, and I wasn’t disappointed. 10 tracks of Easy Action’s noisy Detroit rawk and John Brannon’s raw, ravaged vocals. This is the lead track and sets the tone nicely.
A-Frames - Negative.mp3
After repeated listens I still can’t put Black Forest above their previous LP, 2. Somehow this latest batch from the A-Frames is more abrasive sounding than previous releases. There’s some excellent tracks, but there is some definite fat that could have been trimmed.
Miss Alex White and the Red Orchestra - Out of Style.mp3
Everyone recommended this In The Red LP which is why I picked it up. I’m not crazy about it, but it has moments when White’s vocals push it over the top. I think I prefer White’s other band the Hot Machines a bit more, but that’s splitting hairs.
Bassholes - Daughter.mp3
7 years between albums almost guarantees some level disappointment for fans, which was my first reaction when hearing the album. It’s not as sonically pleasing as When My Blue Moon Turns Red, but after repeated listens I could appreciate the songs and overall tone for what is - a solid roots rock album from Don Howland and Bim Thomas. This pairs nicely with Long Way Blues.
John Schooley And His One Man Band - Drive You Faster.mp3
Absolutely the best work John Schooley has done since the Revelators first LP. This album is chock fulla greasy guitar, dirty wailing harp, and a hellish drum racket. Fucking awesome. This is one of the four originals (7 covers) on the CD
Blowtops - Insected Mind.mp3
There are times on Insected Mind where the Blowtops sound like a cartoonish circus band, but overall the new album and lineup is a sonic improvement over the past couple of releases. A weird blend of garage, punk and even some industrial that manages to effectively put the creep on.
Vaz - Tri-Panic Express.mp3
The Lie That Matches The Furniture is much less immediately engaging than 2003’s Dying to Meet You, which is what Vaz promised/warned their fans. I’m still digesting this one in all of its densely structured glory. It’s good, but lacking in the spaced out goodness that made their previous albums so enjoyable
Unsane - Make Them Prey.mp3
Blood Run is the first Unsane record in 7 years, but you wouldn’t know it - it sounds and looks like it could fit in between the bands Scattered, Smothered, and Covered and Occupational Hazard. Punishing, like all Unsane material. Listening to this straight through is an exhausting undertaking.
Lightning Bolt - Captain Caveman.mp3
Lightning Bolt makes my head spin - and hurt. Hypermagic Mountain is riff heavy distorto bass and drum overload at its finest. ‘Nuff said.
Bob Mould - Surveyors and Cranes.mp3
There was much ado made about Body of Song being Mould’s return to form, and there is a great deal of truth in those statements. A solid album, not his best but not his worst. This falls somewhere between Last Dog and Pony Show and Workbook. “Surveyors and Cranes”
is from the deluxe boxed version of BOS. I would personally have replaced “Missing You” with this one on the main disc, but nobody asked me
Queens of the Stoneage - Someone’s In the Wolf.mp3
What can I say, I’m a sucker for Josh Homme’s voice and guitar. Lullabies To Paralyze took awhile to grow on me, being sludgier and more low-key sounding than previous efforts. It’s decent, but I’ll still take their debut over this one any day. The track here, “Something’s in the Wolf” clocks in at 7+ minutes, about 2 minutes too long, but the trippy riff is what first sold me on the album.
So, what were your top albums for 2005?
Happy New Year everyone, thanks for reading, commenting, emailing, etc. It’s been a blast! 3 comments
Christmas Vacation
a combination of sickness, family, and holiday overload means no posts until the weekend or so, unless I get an overwhelming urge to post something. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and all that bullshit
Descendents - Christmas Vacation.mp3
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2 commentsNunfuckers
I can’t think of a band name that better exemplifies the Christmas spirit than the Nunfuckers. Fulfilling a request from the Sons of Ishmael post, the Nunfuckers are another Ontario, CA band playing a similar style of goofy, hyper hardcore. Take a look at the cover of their lone 7″, 1987’s Dead and On The Floor. That drawing sums up the band and it’s sound better than I ever could (translation - I don’t know shit about the band). Be forewarned the sound is pretty rough - take it for what it’s worth:
Nunfuckers - Decimation.mp3
Nunfuckers - Moving On.mp3
Nunfuckers - Snap.mp3
Nunfuckers - My Shit.mp3
Nunfuckers - Up Your Ass With All Your Gossip.mp3
Nunfuckers - Social Butterfly.mp3
Nunfuckers - Blood Bath.mp3
Nunfuckers - Burning Chemicals.mp3
Nunfuckers - My Mom and Dad.mp3
Nunfuckers - Cheap Friends.mp3
Nunfuckers - Spoiled Brats.mp3
Sin 34
Someone made a request for Sin 34 a couple of weeks (months?) ago, and I figured it was high time that I obliged. The brief Sin 34 story goes like this - band forms in LA in 1981, releases a single and a LP in addition to countless compilation appearances before splitting in 1984. Former drummer Dave Markey offers the full story on his website. The Die Laughing 7″ featured here is pretty standard early ’80’s hardcore with some great basslines and the added twist of a female vocalist (Julie Lanfeld). My faves include “American America” and “Join The Race”. This 7″ and the band’s LP Do You Feel Safe? are both out of print and, according to the story above, most likely never to be reissued.
Sin 34 - American America.mp3
Sin 34 - Children Shall Not Be Heard.mp3
Sin 34 - The Uniform.mp3
Sin 34 - 12 Hour Trip.mp3
Sin 34 - Join The Race.mp3
>>GTA released Die Listening - 1981-1984 which compiles demos, comp tracks, and live material.
9 commentsV/A - Bands That Could Be God
This was one of those great used bin finds I would encounter sporadically years ago at the Record Archive in Rochester. How could I go wrong for $3, especially with tracks by Moving Targets and Deep Wound? Bands That Could Be God - The Conflict Compilation was the product of Gerard Cosloy (Conflict zine editor, Homestead Records founder, Matador exec, etc.) and Lou Giardino’s Radiobeat label. The comp features 9 relatively unknown (for 1984) bands from the Boston and Western Massachusetts region. Sounds range from hardcore (Outpatients, Deep Wound) to indie guitar rock (Busted Statues) to folksy pop (Salem 66) to just plain weird (Beanbag). Below are my favorites, but all of the individual tracks can be found here
manic, melodic thrash from the Moving Targets, much more chaotic than their later work.
Moving Targets - Changing Your Mind.mp3
Moving Targets - Waiting For The End.mp3
Moving Targets - Selfish.mp3
a fast one and a slow one from Deep Wound, this is their only official appearance beyond their 7″
Deep Wound - You’re False.mp3
Deep Wound - Time To Stand.mp3
underappreciated HC from Western Mass
Outpatients - Light Blue.mp3
Outpatients - Fight.mp3
melodic HC that reminds me of the DC sound.
Sorry - One More Step.mp3
Sorry - My Word.mp3
I don’t know anything about Busted Statues, but to me this sounds like a more jangly Wipers or Mission of Burma
Busted Statues - Blue Cheer.mp3
More Mystery Tracks
Four more mystery tracks that need identification. Today’s tracks come from Robbie (via Brian GTA) and Dave. Please take a listen and see if anything rings a bell. Correct identification will result in a crisp $100 bill*
“Vertigo”
British or Australian, based upon the singer’s accent. Melodic mid-tempo punk
“Society”
Canadian, perhaps? Mid-tempo stuff with a nice thick guitar sound
“Front Page”
The vocals almost remind me of the Victims or the Fun Things.
“Forever’s Never Here”
new wave synths, no guitar, British sounding vocals. I’m clueless on this one
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Update:
It appears the first track is “Vertigo” by British band Open Sore from the Farewell to The Roxy compilation
*not really
6 commentsChild Molesters
You would think that with the proliferation of punk rock websites that I could turn up some band info on LA’s Child Molesters, but I can’t find anything of substance. Anyone familiar with the Killed By Death/Bloodstains series will know the band, as most of the material from the band’s early singles has been comped. Below are the bands first two singles in all of their sloppy, crude, anti-social glory. Also, two tracks from 1981’s 12″ Wir Lieben Die Jugendlich Madchen (a title I’m almost afraid to translate). All originally released on Ace & Duce, I think some of this has been reissued by SFTRI.
from 1978’s debut 7″
Child Molesters - (I’m The) Hillside Strangler.mp3
Child Molesters - Don’t Worry Kyoko.mp3
from 1979’s second 7″
Child Molesters - (I Wanna See Some) Wholesale Murder.mp3
Child Molesters - I’m Gonna Punch You (In the Face).mp3
from 1981’s Wir Lieben die Jugendlich Madchen 12″
Child Molesters - I’m So Fucked Up.mp3
Child Molesters - 13 Is My Lucky Number.mp3
Notes:
V/A - Half Skull
I don’t have much info on this record, but it’s a cool little 7″ comp. Half Skull was a released in 1984 on Insane Industries and features four SoCal bands doing there thing. The “big” names here are Decry and MIA, who both deliver the goods - melodic hardcore. I know nothing about the other bands, Basic Math and Love Canal, but their tracks are solid also. Please, someone, anyone, fill in the blanks here.
Basic Math - Onward.mp3
Decry - Warlords.mp3
Love Canal - Greatest Sports Legends.mp3
MIA - Turning Into What You Hate.mp3
Laughing Hyenas
Completing the string of inter-related posts I figured why not write another post on one of my Touch & Go faves, the Laughing Hyenas? The bands albums You Can’t Pray a Lie and Life of Crime are still in regular rotation in my house, though this set of tracks comes from the later era of the band. Covers - Stolen Tapes 92-94 isn’t an official release, rather a double 7″ boot of studio and live covers performed by the band. What you get is a studio version of the Scientists “Solid Gold Hell”, a live version of the Troggs “I Want You Right Now”, a studio take on the Rolling Stones “Under My Thumb” and a live cover of John Lee Hooker’s “Serves Me Right To Suffer”. Sure, this isn’t the Hyenas at there most potent. Still, you get a nice dose of Larissa Strickland’s guitar and John Brannon’s patented roar.
Laughing Hyenas - Solid Gold Hell.mp3
Laughing Hyenas - I Want You Right Now.mp3
Laughing Hyenas - Under My Thumb.mp3
Laughing Hyenas - Serves Me Right To Suffer.mp3
L-Seven
This one seemed like a perfect tie-in to the previous post, given the Dave Rice connection. L-Seven were an early Detroit “post punk” band, for lack of a better term. L-Seven existed from 1980 to 1983, featuring Rice on guitar and Larissa Strickland (pre Laughing Hyenas ). The band’s sole legacy is this 3 song 7″ on Touch & Go records. The bands sound didn’t fit with the other bands on the label, so T&G decided to release the record on the one-off ‘Special Forces’ sub-label. Anyone looking for in-depth band info should definitely check out the Punk Vault’s post on this record - tons of first-hand info. As for this record, well the tracks are all excellent, think along the lines of Fly On A Wire era Effigies with female vocals. “Clear Vision” is my favorite
L-Seven - Insanity.mp3
L-Seven - Secrets.mp3
L-Seven - Clear Vision.mp3
Notes:
