Something I Learned Today

A quick one to round out the week, More Songs About Plants and Trees was a pro-conservation compilation released on graphic artist John Yates Allied Recordings in 1990. 4 bands, 4 tracks, and a crapload of environmentalist mailing addresses make for a rather uninspiring compilation, but shit, it was in my “to do” pile and the Antischism track is pretty fucking great. Side 1 includes a poppy and melodic track San Francisco’s Cringer and pretty mediocre number from the Lookouts. The flipside was always more my speed - screaming anarcho hardcore from South Carolina’s Antischism and solid doomcore from NYC’s Nausea.

Cringer - Burn Down The Forest.mp3
The Lookouts - Once Upon a Time.mp3
Antischism - Greedy Bastards.mp3
Nausea - Here Today….mp3

For a wild couple of years the Dwarves were arguably the most entertaining, offensive, and dangerous band anywhere to be found. I view the band’s arc as mirroring a bell curve: the humble beginning making campy 60’s inspired garage before transitioning to the lunatic sounds of Toolin’ For A Warm Teabag and Blood, Guts & Pussy, followed by the inevitable sink to mediocrity. Living in the sticks I never had a chance to appreciate their brand of mayhem live, though their antics were recounted in almost every ‘zine of the day. Apparently Blag Dahlia and the Dwarves are still kicking around, though I hopped off the train after the whole Subpop fiasco. If you haven’t done so already, get a hold of Blood, Guts & Pussy, perhaps the best 11 minute LP you’ll ever listen to. The Free Cocaine CD, which compiles Toolin’, Lucifer’s Crank, and assorted outtakes from the 1988 era, is also a worthwhile listen. The last two Subpop LP’s (Thank Heaven for Little Girls & Sugarfix) are more polished and by the numbers. Despite missing that early energy each has a couple of decent tracks. Take a listen:

From the Free Cocaine compilation
Dwarves - Sit on My Face.mp3
Dwarves - Free Cocaine.mp3

From Blood, Guts, & Pussy
Dwarves - Fuck You Up & Get High.mp3
Dwarves - What Hit You.mp3

From Thank Heaven…
Dwarves - Dairy Queen.mp3

From Sugarfix
Dwarves - Anybody Out There.mp3

Notes:

As promised several weeks back, here finally is the mysterious Lee Harvey Oswald Band. Apparently Lee Harvey Oswald was a side project featuring Didjits frontman Rick Sims and graphic artist David Landis (can’t verify) hiding behind makeup, wigs, and pseudonyms (Dredge and Zowie Fenderblast). The music is less Didjits mayhem and more NY Dolls inspired sludgy glam rock, featuring distorted vocals, dirty production, and odd covers (Wings “Junior’s Farm”, and The Amboy Dukes “You Speak Sunshine, I Breath Fire” among them). Or, as TrouserPress describes them: Urge Overkill practicing to be an MC5 cover band

The band’a=s albums can be uneven, varying from balls out rockers to pure dreck. (i.e. the cover of “Locomotion” an example of the latter) 1996’s Blastronaut is more polished and poppy than 1994’s A Taste of Prison and features a more tracks with Sims on vocals. You decide if that is good or bad. Check it out:

from 1996’s Blastronaut
Lee Harvey Oswald Band - Rocket 69.mp3
Lee Harvey Oswald Band - Morphodite.mp3

from 1994’s A Taste Of Prison
Lee Harvey Oswald Band - Tinglers.mp3
Lee Harvey Oswald Band - Jesus Never Lived On Mars.mp3

from 1990’s Lee Harvey Oswald Band 12″
Lee Harvey Oswald - Steamroller Doggie.mp3

End:

As much as I hate to admit it, the Weird Lovemakers were a band I took a chance on simply because of the name. I mean, how could I resist? Most of the time these gambles don’t pay off, but this one was a definite score. Tucson’s Weird Lovemakers play high energy, high speed songs that are short, catchy, and sometimes just downright strange. Between 1994 and 2000 these guys released 5 albums of adolescent geek rock, two of which I didn’t know existed until I began researching this post. Guitarist Jason Willis and drummer Gerard Schumacher are currently keeping time with the very cool Knockout Pills. Enjoy

From 1996’s Electric Chump
Weird Lovemakers - I Hate Rock & Roll.mp3
Weird Lovemakers - Smells Like Rain.mp3

From 1998’s Flu Shot
Weird Lovemakers - Jet Boy Helena.mp3
Weird Lovemakers - Gotta Gotta Get Some.mp3

Notes:

Hell yeah, I loved the Didjits. In the early 90’s Rick Sims and company satisfied virtually all of my rock needs. Those unfamiliar with this Illinois 3 piece should hurry down to the local record store and pick up any of their albums, pronto. (personal faves are 1993’s Que Sirhan Sirhan and 1990’s Hornet Pinata). You’ll be treated to some adrenaline fueled rawk action. The band’s allmusic.com bio provides a spot on take:

(the Didjits) sound was mostly speed-blur garage-band punk with a dash of AC/DC-esque hard rock, but their true inspirations were rock & roll wildmen like Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard, not to mention the guitar heroics of Chuck Berry. Most Didjits albums were virtual catalogs of rock & roll sleaze and vice — sex, booze, drugs, violence, death, Satan, and the like — all rolled into a smart-alecky, Midwestern white-trash act.

The Didjits split in 1994. Sims would briefly join the Supersuckers for their 1995 Sacrilicious LP, in addition to appearing on Fred Schneider’s Just Fred disc. In 1997 Sims revived the whole “sharp dressed frontman with an attitude problem” as the leader of the Gaza Strippers (currently in limbo). The songs below aren’t necessarily the best of the Didjits catalog - it would be too tough to pare my favorites down. Instead I’ve chosen to post the bands singles:

from 1989’s Lovesicle 7″
Didjits - Goodbye Mr. Policeman.mp3
Didjits - One Dead Hippie.mp3

from 1991’s Fuck the Pigs 7″
Didjits - Headless.mp3
Didjits - Give it Back.mp3 (Dickies Cover)

from 1993’s Subpop Singles Club 7″
Didjits - Dear Junkie.mp3
Didjits - Skull Baby.mp3 (live)
Didjits - Fire In The Hole.mp3 (live)

Stuff:

15 years after their inception and I still think of Pegboy as the “new” band for guitarist John Haggerty. Haggerty’s 1990 departure from Chicago legends Naked Raygun pretty much sounded the death knell for that band. Haggerty however picked up where he left off, teaming up with ex-Bhopal Stiffs Larry Damore and Steve Saylors (and brother Joe Haggerty on drums ) to form Pegboy. The material they would release was at times poppier than Raygun, but carried a dark, muscular sound that killed any cloying sweetness. Sure, Damore was no Jeff Pezzati on vocals, but Pegboy nonetheless produced an impressive catalog that goes toe to toe with the later Raygun material. My personal favorites are 1993’s Fore 12″ (with interim bass player Steve Albini) and the band’s fantastic swan song Cha Cha Damore. The Touch&Go website states the band disbanded in 2000, but I think they’ve done a couple of reunion shows since. The tracks below are from the 7″ appearances:

from 1991’s Field of Darkness 7″
Pegboy - Field of Darkness.mp3
Pegboy - Walk on By.mp3

from 1996’s split 7″ with Kepone
Pegboy - Dangermare.mp3

Stuff:

“Bleeding punk”,”The most dangerous band in the world” and “Drunken, depraved, and fucked up punk rock” are just a couple of the phrases I’ve come across describing the inimitable Candy Snatchers. Based around the core of vocalist Larry May and guitarist Matthew Odietus, the Candy Snatchers have been on a wild drunken bender for the past 13 years or so. In that time they’ve managed to release a ton of singles, splits, and full length albums, including their latest singles comp Ugly On The Outside. The Candy Snatchers wear their influences on their sleeves, covering the likes of The Saints, Ramones, Kids, Stooges, and the Rubber City Rebels. Their sound is a mash of the best elements of the aforementioned bands along with a healthy dose of sleaze, a couple pints of blood, and some low grade trucker’s crank. And booze, lots of booze. The secret ingredient is the raucous voice of May, which shifts from “croon” to “scream” on a dime. I had a hard time whittling down the list, but here are some of my favorites:

from 1996’s self-titled LP
Candy Snatchers - Haunted Road.mp3
Candy Snatchers - Motion.mp3

from 1998’s Human Zoo! LP
Candy Snatchers - 30 Grams To Life.mp3
Candy Snatchers - Such a Fool.mp3

from 1997’s Pissed Off, Ripped Off, Screwed LP
Candy Snatchers - Fuck My Family.mp3

Stuff:

Given the recent craziness at home and work I was looking for something quick and dirty to put out there, and The Brides fit the bill perfectly. This Chicago four piece unit released two snappy singles on Rip Off Records in 1997 and 1998 before closing up shop. Blink, and you missed them (which is what I did). A posthumous 3 song 7″ appeared in 2001, featuring one studio cut and two live tracks, one a cover of the Pagans “I, Juvenile”. All in all the Brides entire catalog works out to be 15 minutes of sneering, high energy action. Their first single “Pushed Around”/”Get To You” is essential. Here are the “A” sides:

The Brides - Pushed Around.mp3
The Brides - Bad Attitude.mp3
The Brides - Born in a Grave.mp3

By request I’ve added the “b” side to Born in A Grave:

The Brides - Radio Suicide.mp3
The Brides - I, Juvenile.mp3

>> The Rip Off releases are still available from Mordam or Interpunk

When I think of Norwegian rock superstars Turbonegro I can’t help but conjure images of Satan, makeup, and gay rodeos. Pure schtick. Anyone worried I’m going to post some mp3’s from any of the last three Turbonegro albums can rest easy. While they may be riding the crest of their popularity (saw ‘em on Viva La Bam fer crissakes) I lost interest once their image superceded their music. I was never a fan of bombastic glam gimmericky and the assfuck arena rock sound Turbonegro started peddling 8 years or so ago. No, I’m more interested in the vital albums released from 1992 through 1996. This incarnation of Turbonegro coined the term “deathpunk” and delivered the goods with tracks featuring crushing guitar, desperate vocals, and dark humor. I can’t listen to this and not think of latter day Poison Idea. Other’s have referred to Turbonegro as “Radio Birdman meets Venom in an institution for sexually abused retards” which is strangely fitting.

So what are my personal recommendations? If you can only buy one Turbonegro album, make it 1996’s Ass Cobra. If you got cash for two, pick up their first full length Hot Cars and Spent Contraceptives. 1994’s Never is Forever is a more melodic offering, but still aint shabby. Some samples:

from 1996’s Ass Cobra
Turbonegro - A Dazzling Display of Talent.mp3
Turbonegro - Turbonegro Hate The Kids.mp3

from 1994’s Never is Forever
Turbonegro - Timebomb.mp3
Turbonegro - (He’s A) Grunge Whore.mp3

from 1992’s Hot Cars and Spent Contraceptives
Turbonegro - Suburban Anti-Christ.mp3
Turbonegro - Vaya Con Satan.mp3

>> Buy Turbonegro releases
>> Photo and quote from the Turbonegro Archive
>> A Turbonegro discography from Grunnenrocks

Now here’s a couple from some blokes you can trust. Australia’s Cosmic Psychos come across as a couple of regular fellers whose primary obligation now is to their day jobs and family. When they are playing music however you’ll be treated to some solid 3-chord aggro thats full of fuzzy, distorted bass and acidic guitar riffs. And while they haven’t released a new album in close to 8 years, (1997’s Oh, What A Lovely Pie is the last)they have been known to play the occasional gig or even head over to the US and Europe for a small tour (it has been awhile though) Allmusic has a detailed and seemingly accurate overview of the band. Check it out here. As far as I can tell the band releases (on SubPop and AmRep) are still available. If you can find it, 2001’s retrospective 15 Years, A Million Beers is a fine place to start. Give us some wah-wah, dirty:

——————————————————————————–
from 1995’s Self-Totaled
Cosmic Psychos - Thank Your Mother For The Rabbits.mp3

from 1991’s Blokes You Can Trust
Cosmic Psychos - Hooray Fuck.mp3

from the US version of 1989’s Go The Hack
Cosmic Psychos - Can’t Come In (live).mp3

from the bands 1985 debut Down on the Farm
Cosmic Psychos - Custom Credit.mp3
——————————————————————————–

>> Buy Cosmic Psychos releases from Froogle
>> GrunnenRocks has the discography
>> Vinyl Mine has a splendid writeup on the Psychos from last fall