Something I Learned Today

I swear to God, I’m planning on posting something soon. The past week has been tied up between out of town visitors and illness. The visitors are gone so maybe I can finally get back at my PC and stereo in the next day or so.

After I posted the first Life Sentence LP last spring the requests started rolling in for the whole of the second LP. So here it is, no use fighting it anymore. No Experience Necessary was the 1989 follow up to the classic debut LP. Anyone expecting a repeat of that LP will be disappointed, as that thick guitar sound is missing. Lots of speed and annoying guitar leads on this one. I can still groove on about 1/3 of this thing, the remainder sounds pretty boring these days. I’ve posted my favorites below, but you can download the whole thing as a .rar archive here

Life Sentence - Win, Lose, or Sue.mp3
Life Sentence - No Experience Necessary.mp3
Life Sentence - Gun Control.mp3
Life Sentence - Sins in the Pulpit.mp3

Shut up, punk! 3 tracks from the inimatable Rev. Paul Bearer and Sheer Terror. After the last podcast I got a jones for more Sheer Terror, and the Live at CBGB’s 7″ may be the best, most succint introduction to the band available. You get two originals (later included on the band’s Just Can’t Hate Enough and Thanks fer Nuthin’ LP’s) a Cure cover, and some no-holds barred commentary that may be too tough for the sensitive types. This one was put out on Blackout in 1989, and has been reissued as part of the Bulldog Edition double CD set. My favorite of the late 80’s New York Hardcore bands, if only for Bearer’s fuck you attitude. Those wanting to hear more of Bearer waxing poetic and berating the audience should track down the No Really, Go Fuck Yourself LP

Sheer Terror - The Spoiler.mp3
Sheer Terror - Just Can’t Hate Enough.mp3
Sheer Terror - Boys Don’t Cry.mp3

My second stab at a podcast, this time with some annoying chatter from yours truly. At some point I’ll set up an RSS feed for just the podcasts.

Download the file (right click, save as - 72 minutes, 66 MB, 128kbps)

Playlist:
1. Dicks - Dead in a Motel Room
2. Soul Side - God City
3. Verbal Assault - Trial
4. 411 - Face the Flag
5. Cause For Alarm - Time Will Tell
6. MOTO - Dance Dance Dance Dance Dance to the Radio
7. Rhythm Pigs - Radio Silence
8. Skinnies - Out of Order
9. Huns - Glad He’s Dead
10. Fear - Now Your Dead
11. Misfits - Bullet
12. Dow Jones & The Industrials - Can’t Stand The Midwest
13. Mecht Mensch - Grinder
14. Red Meat - The Circle
15. Angry Red Planet - Curling
16. NNB - Slack
17. Coyote Men - Primitive Urge
18. Oblivians - Hey Mama, Look At Sis
19. Revelators - Don’t Look At Me When I’m Looking At You
20. Didjits - Baby, Ür a Dräg
21. Humpers - Plastique Valentine
22. Bastards - Shit For Brains
23. Guzzard - Glued
24. Gin Mill - Ex-patriot
25. Dare to Defy - Shut The Gates of Mercy
26. Sheer Terror - Rock Bottom on the Kitchen Floor
27. God & Texas - 1979 Under God

I have absolutely no musical ability, but if I could play anything it would be guitar. And if I could play guitar, I would love to have the ability to deliver the goods like Austin, TX one man band John Schooley. Hailing out of the Missouri backwoods, Schooley spent the second half of 90’s laying down raw chords of nasty garage slop as part of The Revelators. After the Revelators split Schooley picked up with the Hard Feelings, taking on lead vocals in addition to guitar. While none of the bands three LP’s approach the singular greatness of The Revelators We Told You Not To Cross Us, there are plenty of individual moments that showcase the Hard Feelings fusion of 50’s greaser rock, 60’s soul, and 70’s punk energy. What sets this apart for me from the vast pool of garagepunk & roots bands is the filthy slide guitar freakouts that Schooley delivers. Check “Who’s That Knockin’?” or “Fox in the Henhouse”. Walter Daniels blowin’ harp ain’t a bad thing either. The Hard Feelings are currently in limbo, but John Schooley’s One Man Band is going strong

from 2000’s Fought Back and Lost
The Hard Feelings - (We Need Another) Vietnam.mp3
The Hard Feelings - Who’s That Knockin’.mp3
The Hard Feelings - Fox in the Henhouse.mp3

from 2001’s You Won’t Like It … ‘Cuz It’s Rockn’Roll!
The Hard Feelings - The Boss is Me.mp3
The Hard Feelings - Hollywood Lives Laid Bare.mp3

from 2003’s Rebels Against The Future
The Hard Feelings - You Said a Bad Word.mp3

from 2003 single on Tear It Up
The Hard Feelings - 100 Miles An Hour.mp3

Notes:
>> Official sites forThe Hard Feelings and John Schooley. And MySpace too.
>> Buy some Hard Feelings releases

So here’s my first stab at a podcast, consisting of Boston area bands inspired by all the comments in response to the F.U.’s post below. I am by no means trying to pass myself off as an authority on the bands and the scene in question, just trying to group my favorite bands and songs from a deep and diverse scene. This is great shit. Hopefully I didn’t fuck this up (advice welcome). If you want more of these things let me know. Grab the file here (right click, save as):

Podcast #1 - Boston Hardcore & Punk 1978-1987 (68 minutes, 63 MB, 128 Kbps)

Playlist:
Last Rights - Chunks
The Freeze - Nazi Fun
Jerry’s Kids - Machine Gun
F.U.’s - Boston’s Finest
SS Decontrol - Fight Them
DYS - Stand Proud
Impact Unit - My Friend The Pit
Gang Green - Rabies
Negative FX - Together
Seige - Walls
Sorry - Doomed From The Start
Mission of Burma - Peking Spring
The Proletariat - Decorations
The Freeze - Trouble If You Hide
Nervous Eaters - Get Stuffed
La Peste - Better Off Dead
Lemonheads - Hate Your Friends
Stranglehold - She’s Not Leaving
Unnatural Axe - The Creeper
Moving Targets - Always Calling
Volcano Suns - Cans
Psycho - Kids Are For Tricks
Cancerous Growth - Corporation Vegetable
Deathwish - Condemned
Jerry’s Kids - Vietnam Syndrome
Gang Green - Sold Out
F.U.’s - Me Generation
Last Rights - So Ends Our Night
Moving Targets - Waiting For The End
The Proletariat - Recollections
Mission of Burma - Dirt
The Real Kids - Reggae, Reggae

Thought about posting about The Gears a couple of months back only to find the excellent Last Days of Man on Earth had just posted The Gears 7″. Six months later and I’ve looped back around, ready to dish out a couple of tracks from the CD reissue of the band’s 1980 LP Rockin’ At Ground Zero on Dionysus. The press release sums it up:

“Rockin’ at Ground Zero” is by far the most rockin’ album to come out of the final days of the original Los Angeles punk rock explosion of 1977-1980. Here’s a band that wanted to have FUN; get drunk, do drugs, get laid and make some damned good music! They were ahead of the curve and made a super-musical concoction by mixing together styles that were a direct or indirect influence on the original punk scene, surf and rockabilly groups and even The Ramones

So there you go. While there are a couple of duds on this, the majority is melodic punk with a greaser rock undercurrent. Bonus points for tacking on the band’s 1979 7″.

The Gears - Baby Runaround.mp3
The Gears - Don’t Be Afraid To Pogo.mp3
The Gears - The Last Chord.mp3
The Gears - Heartbeat Baby.mp3

I prefer the version of “Hard Rock” from Bloodstains Across California to the remixed version on the CD
The Gears - Hard Rock.mp3

Notes:
>> The Gears on MySpace
>> Buy Rockin’ At Ground Zero