Something I Learned Today

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:

“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:

“This is how they do rock and roll in Cedar Rapids, Iowa” proclaims the The Horrors bio and I’ll take their word for it. Hell, I wish this was how the did r’n'r in my town - a wild rock&blues&rockabilly stew that sticks in your throat. The Horrors appeared on the scene in 1998 with a noisy live split 7″ with the Pee-Pees before hitting the big time in 2000 with their debut LP on In The Red. Skronky, sleazy, out of tune, man the debut was a mess. Enjoyable and rocking, but still a mess. In 2003 the band returned with Vent. This was an album that delivered on the promise that lay hidden beneath the feedback and slop of the first LP. Produced by Greg Cartwright the sound is easier on the ears but still full of grit. Vent was one of my favorite albums of 2003. Fans of the Oblivians, Doo Rag, and the Hunches will dig this . A couple to stomp to:

from 2003’s Vent LP
The Horrors - Swoop Down.mp3
The Horrors - Briar Patch.mp3

from 2000’s self-titled release
The Horrors - The Next Train That I See.mp3
The Horrors - Dot Com Stomp.mp3

A track from their 1998 split 7″
The Horrors - Every Inch of my Love.mp3

>> Buy The Horrors releases@Midheaven
>> Band bio at ITR
>> Horrors homepage

photo courtesy In The Red

I’m scratching my head trying to come up with concise and accurate way of describing the Cheater Slicks sound to those unfamiliar. You know, something about two guitars and a drummer, or how the there’s a melodic undercurrent buried under the noise and sludge, or shit, just the reputed loudness of the band. Screw it, I’ll just go with the self description from the band’s website:

Cheater Slicks is a three-man garbage band from Columbus, Ohio, who play dissolute, pounding rock for drunks, burnouts and other losers in life with little else to cling to. Tom Shannon (gtr, vocs), Dave Shannon (gtr), and Dana Hatch (drms, vocs) have held onto their desperate delusions for nigh on 18 years, releasing 8 or 9 albums and occasionally touring the toilets of North America and Europe, generally living on hope.

Personally my favorite albums are the Forgive Thee double set(1997), the Skidmarks compilation (1998), and Refried Dreams (1999). Their most recent is 2002’s Yer Last Record. Tough to pick only a couple, but here goes:

Cheater Slicks - Spanish Rose.mp3
from 1995’s Don’t Like You

Cheater Slicks - In This Town.mp3
A desolate sounding cut from from Refried Dreams.

Cheater Slicks - Dark Night.mp3
from the unreleased first album in 1989. Issued as part of the Skidmarks compilation

Cheater Slicks - Ghost.mp3
fulfilling a request, from Forgive Thee This is a long one at 7+ minutes

>>>> Buy Cheater Slicks releases

Here’s a band that I’ve been meaning to write about since day one. I’ll let the critics and other music snobs debate the merits and the historical impact of the New Bomb Turks. Regardless of what they say I’m pretty sure you’re gonna have to look long and hard to find a band that rocked harder in the 90’s. From 1992 - 1995 the Turks released a couple of smoking punk rock albums (Destroy Oh Boy! and Information Superhighway Revisited) and more singles than a collector nerd can keep up with (check out the list). No shit, the New Bomb Turks have three singles and odds and ends compilation discs out. Quite a feat, and that still doesn’t capture everything. Sure, the later albums on Epitaph and Gearhead weren’t as remarkable as the first two, but even the weakest albums had their moments thanks to vocalist Eric Davidson and that loud & gritty guitar sound rendered by Jim Weber. Shit, I don’t have enough space to post all of my favorites. I thought it would be easier to dish out some of the covers they performed, but I still had some hard choices to make. The results:

covering their punk rock roots (Nervous Eaters, The Left, The Queers)
New Bomb Turks - Just Head.mp3
New Bomb Turks - Fuck It.mp3
New Bomb Turks - This Place Sucks.mp3

covering their contemporaries: (Gaunt, Thee Headcoates)
New Bomb Turks - Jim Motherfucker.mp3
New Bomb Turks - Youngblood.mp3

covering their elders: (Aerosmith, Rolling Stones)
New Bomb Turks - Chip Away The Stone.mp3
New Bomb Turks - Jivin’ Sister Family.mp3

Stuff:
>> Buy New Bomb Turks releases
>> Supposedly a DVD is in the works. Any info?
>> As far as I know the band isn’t “officially” broken up, they’re just taking a break. They played a show in Cleveland a month or so ago.

Not only is Popular Favorites one of my top albums of the ’90’s, it’s pretty damn close to joining that hallowed ground reserved for “desert island discs” and other such nonsense. Yep, I can listen to this one over and over again. Hardly a surprise given the mythic quality taken on by the Oblivians since their demise in the late ’90s. From 1993 to 1997 the Memphis trio of Jack, Greg and Eric “Oblivian” graced us with releases full of sleazy, fuzzy fun. Mixing soul, 60’s garage, post-war blues, gospel and even some kraut rock into their standardrock and roll framework the Oblivians defined the new “garage” sound of the 90’s. It isn’t fair to lump all their releases into one post, so I’ll focus on Popular Favorites. 14 tracks of fuzzed out mayhem, released by Crypt in 1996. It is probably their most immediate and most satisfying moment, though you could hardly go wrong picking up the earlier Soul Food or the incredible gospel punk of 9 Songs w/ Mr. Quintron. My favorite cuts:

tracks to pin your ears back
Oblivians - Christina.mp3
Oblivians - Pinstripe Willie.mp3

a couple designed to get you up and moving
Oblivians - Hey Mama, Look At Sis.mp3
Oblivians - Do The Milkshake.mp3

Some time towards the end of the ’90’s the city of Buffalo started producing some mighty cool rock and roll the likes of which upstate NY had not seen before. Bands like the Blowtops, the Baseball Furies, the Tyrades and a host of others all built around the Big Neck Records scene. My favorite of these were the Baseball Furies. Playing a raw and snotty brand of punk rock the Furies garnered quite a bit of recognition in the underground garage/punk scene.

Forming in 1996, the Furies have released 3 singles, a 10″, and two LP’s. Each release has been another step in the bands evolutionary process. While the early releases were noisy and dangerous sounding, the recent albums have been marked by cleaner production and a calmer, more melodic sound. The band relocated to Chicago a couple of years ago, but continue to deliver the goods. Their latest release is 2004’s Let It Be. A couple of tracks from various releases:

Baseball Furies - Last Man.mp3
the closing track from 1999’s 10″ All American Psycho, released on Flying Bomb records.

Baseball Furies - I Hate Your Secret Club.mp3
released as a 7″ on Estrus, and as part of the 2002 LP Greater Than Ever

Baseball Furies - Taking Turns At Ground Zero.mp3
the lead track from 2004’s Let it Be LP.

Etc:
>> More mp3’s from All American Psycho can be found on the Flying Bomb sounds page
>> A couple of mp3’s from the band’s 7″’s and Greater Than Ever are available at the bands page on Big Neck
>> Photo courtesy of Fallout Records
>> Buy Baseball Furies releases

Perhaps I should be grateful that The Revelators only had that one album to their name. It’s so damn greasy, raw and slinky that I doubt they could top it. Additional albums most likely would have dropped the bar and caused my appreciation of the original product to deteriorate (i.e. - New Bomb Turks). Nope, two singles and one album are all the remains of Columbia, Missouri’s Revelators. Following the mold cast by earlier trailblazers the Gories, Oblivians, and Jack O’ Fire the Revelators combined elements of primitive R’n'R, rockabilly, blues, and punk into a fiery stew of hot covers and cool originals.

Formed in Columbia, MO in 1995, the band released their first 7″ on Crypt. The release was unremarkable save for the name - The Revelators Versus: The Prozac-Poppin’ Whinin’ Sissies. Their only album, 1997’s We Told You Not To Cross Us was a vast improvement - better production, energetic originals, smoking guitar (courtesy John Schooley), and choice covers of Link Wray, Billy Boy Arnold, and Sonny Burgess. 16 tracks in all. A couple of samples:

Revelators - Serve The Man.mp3
a re-recorded version of the A side of the first single

Revelators - Come Back Bay.mp3
It’s a cover of a Billy Boy Arnold tune, but it plays like an original what with that guitar freakout and all.

Revelators - Hillbilly Wolf.mp3
The Revelators take Link Wray’s boogie and turn it into a menacing stomp.

Notes:

Over the past week or so we’ve had an influx of Japanese visitor here on SiLT. To all of the new folks I’d like to say “konnichiwa” (hopefully spelled correctly). This presents an ideal opportunity to dish on one of my favorite Japanese bands: Teengenerate. Forming from the ashes of the American Soul Spiders, Teengenerate began kicking out their enthusiastic brand of 3 chord trash punk in the early 90’s. Wearing their unabashed love of ’70’s punk and American R’n'R on their sleeve, Teengenerate released scads of singles mixing originals and cool covers from the likes of Fun Things, Queers, Pagans, Nervous Eaters, Kids, etc. Despite having only one proper album (1994’s Get Action! ) Teengenerate became a cult favorite during their mid-90’s run, and remain as a lasting icon of the garage punk movement. Some choice cuts:

Teengenerate - Let’s Get Hurt.mp3
from 1994’s Get Action! LP, this one would later be covered by fellow Japanese garage rockers Guitar Wolf

Teengenerate - Don’t Come Close To Me.mp3
I’ve always assumed this one is a cover, but I can’t find any writing credit to indicate as such. Who cares - it’s a prime cut of Stooge/Birdman inspired tuneage. Included on the singles comp Smash Hits!

Teengenerate - Bloody Belgium.mp3
A cover of the Kids classic “Bloody Belgium”, from an entire 7″ of Kids covers (the others tracks are “This Is Rock and Roll” and “Do you Wanna Know?”)

Notes:
Human Tornado.mp3 available from Crypt Records Radio
Teengenerate discography from GrunnenRocks
Buy Get Action!
Buy Smash Hits!

If there’s anything I love more than getting comments on a post it’s receiving email from readers, friends, etc. Seriously - I dig hearing from people who read this thing and dig the music or just want to say hello ( true even if I sometimes forget to respond). Please, keep it coming.

I mention that because I received an interesting email the other day letting me know that a new Easy Action album is imminent. The writer was baffled how I could have overlooked not only Easy Action, but also John Brannon’s earlier efforts in the Laughing Hyenas and Negative Approach. How could I overlook these bands while talking about the likes of TSOL? Well, you have to dig but I’ve done my due diligence:

And yes, TSOL are sissies  

So at this point it only makes sense I to talk about Brannon’s latest group. Detroit’s Easy Action crossed my radar in the late ’90’s after a couple of 7″ releases on Reptilian Records. I’ve long been a fan of Brannon’s throat-shredding howl, even through the later, less intense Hyena output. This new material was a kick in the teeth: aggressive, noisy, rock highlighted by thick guitar, pounding rhythms and the unmistakeable vocals. In short, somewhere between NA and the Hyenas. 2001 saw the release of a self-titled album on Reptilian. I honestly thought the band had gone under until the 2004’s “Dead of Night/Worse for You” appeared on Empirical. Now we have the news of new album (Friends of Rock and Roll) and some touring to follow, so keep your eyes peeled. A couple of tracks:

Easy Action - What’s The Deal.mp3
Big rock action here on the first track from the LP. Musically this sounds like the interim step from Negative Approach to the Laughing Hyenas, rather than the successor the Hyenas.

Easy Action - If There Is Something.mp3
The last track on the album is a cover of an early Roxy Music track. Soaring guitar, powerful vocals, and the overwhelming sense of finality make this is a perfect album closer.

Easy Action - Dead of Night.mp3
The A-side to the 2004 single, this has a definite Hyenas feel to it. If I didn’t know any better I would guess that it was Larissa Strickland playing guitar. This and the flipside “Worse for You” aren’t as “up” as the album, but that’s not a bad thing. This material is whetting my appetite for the new album.