I don't throw around the term "essential" much, but Boston's pre-punk degenerates, the Nervous Eaters are just that. Many of you know their song "Just Head" from KBD comps, or covered by the New Bomb Turks (in my opinion the Turks pretty much took that song and based their band's sound on it), but this CD includes their unreleased tracks and an interview as well as their two 45s. The CD comes with a huge booklet (that I didn't scan) with interviews and photos so it's worth seeking out, but if you're not wanting to shell out the $40 this CD is going for now, download this 1973-1975 retrospective of Boston's greatest rock 'n' roll band! (and I'm not forgetting about DMZ). You Smell Like Fish
To me Budgie's "Impeckable" is their last great record. Some of you may not like the slower stuff on here, but Tony Bourge and Burke Shelly can write a catchy ballad such as "All At Sea" just as well as heavy rockers like "Melt the Ice Away" -both fanfuckingtastic Impeckable tunes. If you checked out my post of Budgie's "If I Were Britania..." you know what to expect here. Perhaps there's still no "Nude Disintegrating Parachute Woman" tracks, and sure there's a few near misses, but It WILL grow on you if you give it chance. Of course, I got this import in the early 90s, so I've had plenty of time. Some sellers have the CD going for $99 on Amazon, so get it here 'till it's reissued and remastered! Scans/liner notes included.
It's a shame not more people listen to the first couple Lucifer's Friend records and it's especially too bad that this pre-Lucifer's Friend album (same dudes, different name) is so hard to come by (at least for a reasonable price). What's it sound like? Well, it's a bit mellower at times, and it's not as "proggy" as the next album, but there is some great barnstormer Rock 'n' Roll as well though. Is there anything as Earth shaking as "Ride in the Sky"? No, but "Open Up Your Mind" rocks in a B.O.C. meets The Who and later Electric Prunes kinda way, while "Everybody" sounds like Moby Grape with balls. There's some great stuff here and despite a couple throwaways, it's a pretty solid album.
No surprise that I love The Bubble Puppy, but it wasn't till recently that I found out they put out a second LP after moving to L.A. and changing their name to Demian. It's more 70s rock than the previous record with nothing as fuzzed out as "Hot Smoke and Sassafrass" nor as dreamy and catchy as "Beginning". Still, it's a pretty cool album with a reworking of "Todd's Tune" and the opening track "Face in the Crowd" being a solid 70s rock stomper with a hooky guitar melody. David Fore went on to New Wave band D-Day and still plays music. This CD is around 27 bucks from private sellers on amazon, so check it out here:
Anyways, this is the first stuff The Jack Saints ever recorded using a Tascam 4 track when we were still living in Palm Springs/Palm Desert/Indio back in 1995. It's the same lineup as Solarfeast -minus Chris. So hey, another desert rock "rarity"! These tunes are lo-fi sludge rock with a bit of Helios Creed thrown in. I guess. I still like the songs, and I like the lo-finess of it all (but probably most of you wont). Anyways, anyone who ever liked our band will be surprised by the less-garage-more-rock sound we had back then, but from the artwork and "Getting High With Larry Hagman" you can tell that we were already starting morph into a more garage rock outfit. "Horse Thief" is my favorite tune on this, and we weren't being ironic when we covered Ozzy's "Rock and Roll Rebel". I still love that song. I'm pretty sure "Great Great Green Grocery" was inspired by Lee Harvey Oswald Band's "Bowels of Rock and Roll". Bonus Track: "Ether Eye Land". Bad vocals..we never did redo them and the track wasn't on the original cassette that we gave to like 5 people... Our first show was with Josh Homme's band "Gravel Path" and Fatso Jetson. Well, Give it a listen - or don't. I got one more desert thing to post, then back to the good stuff!
Hey, it's my old band! It was 1991 and punk just "broke" so in a sort of protest, Nick (who I still play with in various bands) and I decided it was time to start playing heavier stuff again. We teamed up with Chris Cockrell (From Kyuss and Evolution's End) and our drummer John Hall (who quit soon after when he couldn't take Chris's getting near black out drunk at shows -ha!). Eventually we got Tony Tornay (Fatso Jetson, Chuck Dukowski Sextet) and recorded this CD with Brant Bjork on he and Tony's label. We recorded and mixed everything in a couple days. The bass shoulda been mixed better, and we shoulda had our shit together more, but whatever. Live, we usually played in front of a 16mm projection of educational films of space and Egypt (I was/am really into Hawkwind, Butthole Surfers and Ed Hall) and took lots of drugs. It was a fun time. I wrote the music to Rats, Puppy Has Ludes, and Bad Mitten Sex Kitten. Nick wrote Exode, Voodoo Spell (my favorite track) and Chris wrote the rest (Helping Hands being my 2nd favorite track).
We did a live version of C.O.C.'s "Mad World" at the end of the record. We were jumping around a lot and I unplugged myself, so I patched in the second part of my "solo". Anyways, we all were big fans of the first two C.O.C. records.
Well, for Kyuss Kompletists this is a must-have. Anyone else? Download at your own risk. I like some of it.
Thanks to Mr Phreek for scanning the art for this. Check out his BLOG.
When my first bands were playing out at generator parties in the desert, Uncle Paul was one of those "eccentric older punk dudes" that would play some acoustic stuff in between bands. His biggest claim to fame was that along with Rafe/Brian (who went on to for Polyphemus) he formed Target 13, the Posh Boy band that recorded the minor suck-up hit "Rodney on the Rocks". This tape captures the best of Uncle Paul's songs from 1977-1991. Some of it is rough(especially the first track), some of it isn't my cup of tea, but there's some shit on here that should have been KBD classics. "Drop a Bomb" and "Night of the Living/Dead" both from 1978 are my favorites, and his 1987 rendition of "White Lightning" is also pretty great. Also noteworthy is that 1991's "I Command You to Dance" features Mario and Gary of Yawning Man. This is a tape rip, so you get Side A and Side B. Sorry, but that's how it is with tapes!
I just got back from visiting friends and family down in Palm Springs, so I thought I'd post some "desert rock" (not Kyuss rip off bands, but actual bands from the desert) over the next few days.
In the early - mid 90s, one of my favorite local bands was Polyphemus. I uploaded Polyphemus's debut album already (the one I prefer), but here's their slicker, poppier sophomore effort. I doesn't capture their live psychedelic/garage/noisepop energy, but there's some great catchy tunes on this.
I'll skip Chainsaw's lengthy and interesting BIO since it's included in my scans. All you need to know is that they started in 1977 and by all reports were an amazing, aggro live band. The record's pretty good too!
I found the CD for $1, so I don't have to rip my vinyl reissue now! Whooo!
Fronted by Deep Wound's Charlie Nakajima, and featuring J Mascis on drums, it's not quite the incredible record it should have been. I heard some of their shows were amazing, but the production here is pretty lacking. The title track, "Menacing Relm" sounds evil enough, and there's a bit of indie rock, metal and folk going on throughout the rest, and while there are some highlights, it doesn't ever add up to what could have been. If you're a fan of either two bands, or like stuff like Drunk Injuns, check it out though!
If you've never heard GBV or aren't sure if you like them or not then stop here. Go get Bee Thousand, Mag Earwhig!, Under the Bushes Under the Stars, Alien Lanes, Earthquake Glue, Half Smiles of the Decomposed...well you get the point. If however, you heard their Ric Ocasek produced "Do The Collapse" and were disappointed, check out this 9 song EP that came out around the time. 6 songs are produced by Ocasek, but only "Hold on Hope" was released on the full length (a couple songs have appeared elsewhere in earlier rougher forms). If a few of these songs were included on Do the Collapse, it would have been a much better album.
Terry, AKA Mr. California is the only musician on my blog who has played in my living room, sued the COOP where I work, and was signed to my roommates label. He may have burnt many bridges here in S.F. (he now lives in Cleveland) but what - People expected more out of this moron? If you haven't heard Mr. California yet, you're in for a damn treat. Spazzy, funny, juvenile, schizophrenic and did I mention 52 tracks? Sounding a bit like a mix of the Nig Heist, The Residents, Zoogz Rift, the Meat Men and early Sebadoh, highlights include "Rise Up", "Cinnamon Roll", and "Butterfly".
I first heard of Died Pretty, when their song "Winterland" was played on MTVs 120 minutes in the late '80s. Musically they're sort of in the same league as other Aussie artists of the time: Hoodoo Gurus, Lime Spiders, etc... except (and unfortunately) a lot more radio friendly at times. Some songs I love, while others I'm just not into at all -but the songs I like, I REALLY like. Decide for yourself, and at least play Winterland with headphones on and volume turned up. It's an amazing track.
Also, this was produced by Rob Younger of Radio Birdman/New Christs!
This album was the result of Rudi Protrudi moving to Los Angles and jumping the shark. Overly and poorly produced; less garage and more Cult-esque biker rock. A definite low point in the Fuzztones great career. Is it a shit sandwich? No, there's a couple good tracks and if it wasn't from the same guy who gave us Lysergic Emenations, it might not be half bad for the time - and better than most 1980s Sunset Strip fodder.
I loved Scared of Chaka. Fast, catchy and for some reason underrated. We played with them a couple times when they came through San Francisco and everyone I knew liked 'em as much as me. There's no sane reason that their best album, Masonic Youth, should be out of print. It's as good as any early Dickies or Dead Kennedy's record. Maybe one day it will be considered as classic.
Just Cross was the band I was in in High School (we weren't a Christian band!). Before this I had started a few other bands with friends: The Fetal Pigs, Drunk and Disorderly, Ann Jillian's Breast, Naked Nuns on LSD...I remember the names but I think the bands were basically just me and a couple friends talking about starting a band and coming up with funny song titles and jaming maybe once or twice. Just Cross was the band that actually "almost played out". This was late '87 or early '88 I think. I'm playing guitar, so was my friend Billy. Hugo was on drums, John was singing. All you can hear is vocals and drumming on this boom box recording, but I dunno, I kinda like it for it's raw fucked-upness. I don't know if I wrote the music to this song or not, but it sounds a little like we're trying to do some kind of Dayglo Abortions thing, so maybe I did. John's singing about our friend Danny who turned into a wanna be gangster one day... Just Cross "Throwing Rocks Through Windows"
I got this bit of holiday cheer when it came out, and I've played it every December since. It may be lacking John K, but there's plenty Billy West to go around. It's out of print, so enjoy! Happy Happy Joy Joy!
When our band The Jack Saints started out, we'd been in a more Sabbath/Hawkwind influenced group down in the desert where we're from. We were listening to Fitz of Depression "give it a Twist" and the Fuckboyz "Love American Gladiator Style" ep and wanting to get back into playing more punk rock stuff. The first Jack Saints recordings were heavier and weirder than what we started sounding like after we moved to S.F., and that's largely due to our friendship and fanship of the Loudmouths. The great thing about S.F. was that you could go see the Loudmouths or the Idiots and then go see a heavier local band like Lost Goat or Acid King and many of the same people would be there. We never made a conscious decision to drop our slower, heavier sound, but those Loudmouths shows were such a ton of crazy drunken good times, that was the scene we gravitated more towards. If spitting, drinking, and skateboarding is your thing, check 'em out! These are all their singles, ripped for me by Beth Loudmouth. I'll prolly post their two full lengths at some point in the future. (I included some cover art, but I couldn't find a couple of my singles)
Someone offered my $400 for ths 7" once. I turned it down because then I could no longer tell the tale of how I found this thing at a Palm Springs Thrift Store back in 1991 for .25 cents. I actually forgot I had it for many years, when our friend Bowy from Belgium was pawing through my singles and said "You have bummer bitch?" Oh yeah, I guess I do...and it's not even bagged. Somewhere in those 7 years since I got it, I knew the song more from the KBD comp than my actual singe. Anyways, that's my story. If you've never heard "Bummer Bitch", download it here in all its sleezy, funny, punk rock glory.
I'm not one of those people who claim I liked a band waaaaay back unless I did. I didn't know who Manilla Road were 'till last year, and I'd never heard of Hubble Bubble 'till the Bloodstains bootleg came out in the '90s. Who cares? There's always bands you miss. This OZ record on the other hand I picked up somewhere many years ago (probably for the kick ass cover) and it became one of my all time favorite metal records. By now it's been on lots of blogs and they have new fans springing up all over the place. That's a good thing, because all of their records are grossly underrated. Many of you already know this one, but if you don't, go read about 'em here.
(Not my rip, but includes my scans of jacket and T-Shirt order form insert!)
My blog is for friends and is about sharing music we love, not about ripping off bands or labels. I own everything I post (unless noted), and I encourage everyone to buy it if they like it, so it doesn't end up on a crashed hard drive or in a spool of dvd-r's somewhere.
If you're in a band or are a label and you want something removed, or replaced with song samples instead of full songs, just let me know.
Most of these albums are out of print, some you can find used for .99 cents, others "collectors" are selling for way too much money. You won't find stuff you can buy at your local f.y.e. or wal-mart.
p.s. Leave comments if you like a post so I know I'm not just blogging into the wind! Thnaks!
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