A Texas Trip

CCaasseettee Rip

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I've had this tape since high school (22 years ago?? Ohmygod!) so excuse any dropouts. I think it's fine, but I played it a LOT.
Obviously I got this tape for the butthole surfers, who in 1987 were one of my favorite bands. I gotta say though, the Stickmen with Rayguns tracks were what I listened to the most. I also remember asking for them at record stores and never finding anyone who knew who the fuck they were. It wasn't 'till years later that I heard my roomate playing a 7" and said "this sounds like stickmen with rayguns", and it turned out to me the Bobby Soxx 7" (do you self a favor and google Bobby Soxx and read some stories about one of the most wacked out front men in punk history).
This was also my first exposure to recorded Daniel Johnston -I had the snub TV thing on video - (Oops! I meant "Cutting Edge" -Mike) but here Gibby has totally "Butthole Surferized" his performance into nightmarish proportions.
Steve Fitch I still don't know much about and haven't heard anything since. He's got some records out and is currently selling all his publishing rights on MySpace. It may be worth it, cuz his "In the Neighborhood" is an amazing lead off to this classic acid drenched Texas nightmare.

It's Better to Regret Things You HAVE Downloaded Than to Regret Thing's You HAVEN'T Download

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A Blog the Jerk! Psychedelic-Pop comp!

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That's right! Songs sure to make your day better. I sliced my hand up pretty good last night when my glass cocktail shaker exploded on me whilst making a manhattan. I made myself this 60s psyche/folk type comp to cheer me up and ease my throbbing finger and fuck if it didn't do the trick.
If you like catchy fun songs, download this 21 track comp. If you want a full album of something on the comp and it isn't in print, let me know and I'll post it!

Epistle To Mushrooms

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The A.G.'s

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This CD is long gone, but hopefully it will be back in print in the future. Maybe some of you who haven't heard this amazingly fun and catchy band will demand this CD go back into print. 'Till then check out one of the best Angry Samoans and Ramones influenced groups EVER.
If you want a history (and you know you do) check it out here.
My favorite part of this CD is the one-two punch of "Whippets" and "Pirate's Cove Sucks". Also listen to "I Hate Girls" which sounds like Chixdiggit -a few years before Chixdiggit! Great cover of GG Allin's "NYC Tonight" too. Brilliant.

The Replacements Stink

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Kinghorse

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If you've seen my "Skate Rock" post, you know how much skate video soundtrack music inspired me as a young idiot. Well, I first heard Kinghorse on such a skate video. I could be wrong, but I think the video was Speed Freaks, and it was during Art or Steve Godoy's part. Coincdentally, that was also the first time I heard mention of Radio Birdman - a future favorite.
I bought the Kinghorse CD right away and for the first and last time in my life, I actually took up the offer to "send a S.A.S.E. for lyric sheet". Awesomely enough It came back with a super nice letter from singer, Sean Garrison. If I run across it, I'll scan it and add a link.
Danzig produced the record, and either the band or label put his name in big bold letters on the back, but I was sold at the Pushead cover.If you're into stuff like Wurm, Overkill and St. Vitus you may just dig Louisville, Kentucky's Kinghorse. Then again, maybe you're already a fan.
Buy it new on Amazon for $47.98 or...

Greatest Gift

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Popinjays

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I try to keep things diverse around the 'ol blog HQ, and it's about time I posted some twee pop music to balance things out.
In high school I couldn't get enough of bands like the Primitives and the Shop Assistants. I also was listening to C.O.C., the Butthole Surfers, Dinosaur, and Samhain a lot back then too...but man, do I love some C86-type music. Play me anything with Amelia Fletcher singing and I'll like it. Call me a nancy if you want, I'll just drown you out with some Talulah Gosh.
I first saw Liverpool's Popinjays on MTV's Sunday night alternaive rock show, 120 minutes. It took me a while to find their CD but when I did I loved it. Catchy as hell, and tho' their single is still my favorite track on the record, their album keeps up the sweet and sugary catchiness all the way through. There's some depth to their music - don't get me wrong - but its their hooks and Wendy Robinson's great vocals that keep me listening all these years later.
(I also included their EP "Vote Elvis" released - I think - right before the full album came out. I don't like it so much tho')

Twee As Fuck!

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Condemned to Death

VINYL RIP

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Another band out of the old Vats of San Francisco, Condemned to Death lasted just a couple years but put out this great 7" and an LP (that featured Scotty from Verbal Abuse on vocals).
You can get more detailed info from your friends from Kill From The Heart, but all that matters is that this seven song 7" is one of my favorite early S.F. punk singles. Download it and see why!

Dismember Me

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SGM

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Holy shit, this is a blast from my past. I bought this at Poobahs record store in Pasadena cira 1989 because the band thanked the Melvins on the back cover. Jack Endino was producing every lame-o band back then, so his name didn't help the sale...but he produced it, if you care.
I've written about records "growing on me" ad nauseum, but this one is different. The first thing that struck me about SGM was the terrible singer, Mike Loser. Fuck, why would anyone wanna listen to singing like that?? A few months later, I wore the record out so much, I bought the record again -on cassette tape. The best thing about SGM? MIKE LOSER'S VOCALS. I guess I just had to get used to 'em.
SGM were young, and their songs aren't PC (though it's hard to tell with Mike Loser's gnarled screams), but then they basically give a "fuck you" to rednecks and fascists in their liner notes. This record is SO '80s they even have a jokey "rap" song.
I included some scans and you can actually see how much use I got out of the record (the mp3s are from a diff source, don't worry). Anyways, turn it up and give it a chance. Most of it doesn't sound dated, and most of it rules!!

Tap the Keg

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Faithful Breath

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I was tempted not to post this one, but it has sentimental value to me. This is why:

When I was in high school my grandma got me a video called "Shockwave" that featured Venom (I don't think she knew that I used to be a fan, but hated metal and was into punk rock at that point) and a bunch of other bands none of whom I'd ever heard of. One band, Faithful Breath, came out wearing viking costumes, and fuckin' RULED! Or at least I thought their outfits did, I can't remember what they played. A few years later I saw their LP "Rock Lions" used, and picked it up.
The cover was AMAZING, and the first track "Hurricane" is still one of my favorite classic metal tunes. The rest of the album? I hated it. Listening to it now I'm liking it more, but after they unleash the fucking fury in the opener, they kinda of meander through the rest of the record.

Faithful Breath started back in the late '60s and put out their first record in '74, which was way more of a "Yes" prog-style record. I like it better....but it don't have fuckin' "HURRICANE" on it!

Viking Rock

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Fuck Ups

VINYL RIP

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One of my biggest regrets was not getting to Lennon Studios in time to see the Fuck Ups at the Spike Memorial Fest last year. I'd seen Bad Postue before, so the Fuck Ups were THE band I had to see. Why the hell did they play so early??
Someone said "the singer was so drunk he was singing on the floor most the time". True or not, I would expect nothing less...unfortunately, and maybe not too surprisingly Bob Noxious passed away recently of liver failure. That makes me less sad than worried that I only have a few years left, since my boozing isn't going to quit any time soon...
Anyways, the Fuck Ups also featured members of Society Dog and Code of Honor...and although the COH/Sick Pleasure split is a classic, the Fuck Ups ep is one of my all-time favorite S.F. punk records.
I ripped this 7" about 6 years ago to post on alt.binaries.punk, but here it is again for the 'ol blog!

lots of 7" scans with the mp3s...and a Fuck Ups book of matches!
Fuck You

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Hubble Bubble

VINYL RIP

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I picked up Hubble Bubble's much lauded debut LP when it was reissued about 10 years ago, and it instantly hit me as one of the best and wildest punk rock records of the '70s. Download it HERE.
Hubble Bubble started back in 1974 by Plastic Bertrand ("Roger Junior" in Hubble Bubble). According to Wikipedia, the band broke up when the group's bass player was killed in an accident returning from a rehearsal. It's a shame, because these guys were fanfuckingtastic.
When I was in Belgium I picked up their second LP that I had no idea existed, and while toned down, the more pop-influenced songs really grew on me. Only a couple of tunes touch on the frantic spaced out noise of their debut, but if you like stuff like the Undertones, give it a spin. They also do a cool cover of Kim Fowly's "Motor Boat". Better than Steve McDonald's IMHO. Anyways, check out their self titled record first if you haven't already, then download this forgotten gem!

Use No Hooks

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Gone Surfin!

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Just got back from a weekend surf trip. This week I'm gonna get off my ass and rip some 12" and 7" vinyl though.
Nothing to upload right now, unless you want to download a CD comp I made for the trip:

Toes on the Nose

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The Sillies

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I first heard and heard of the Sillies in 2002 when a label my band was on put out a comp of their unreleased stuff.. I was an instant fan, and sometime later we got to play with them in San Francisco.
The Sillies got off to a great start by opening for fellow Detroit legends the Mc5 (by then the "new" MC5) in the summer of '77 to a crowd of 1,000 people.
The Sillies would go on to play local shows with tons of great bands and tour Canada with Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers (with Sillies singer Ben Waugh electrocuting Johnny Thunders after he stole Ben's gloves).
More info is on the net, and if you find the CD it comes with videos and a ton of pictures. The record label that put this out is no more, so for the curious here is the Sillies!

Sex For the Handicapped

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Environments

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The same year Earth's second album came out, I had just bought this CD used. To my amazement, Earth had chosen to "borrow" several elements in the design for their sophomore LP, including the text "special low frequency version". You could argue which of the albums is more listenable, but personally, I like them both.
The Environments series came out in the mid 70s when TM was all the rage. These albums supposedly could be used for sex, self-hypnosis, or swallowing rope and pulling it out you ass —or whatever weird hippy-dippy things people were doing back then.
There were eleven Syntonic Research Inc. "Environments" albums, but only 2 of them (so far as I know) have ever been on CD. This one is (I think) the only electric one, the others being modified sounds of nature recordings.
What I like most about this record is that it makes me think of Ray Bradbury stories...and it annoys the HELL out of people at loud volumes.


The Future of Music is Not Music

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France Gall

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I love France Gall. She was too young to understand the double entendres Serge Gainsberg had written for her to sing ("Les Sucettes" was about oral sex), nor was she aware of the sexually suggestive props in the video she made, but it was her inocence — not her sexuality— that made those early recordings so good.
I chose to upload her third album "1968" since it's my favorite. Only a few years later, but she's matured a lot — in singing style and subject matter. If you haven't heard them, check out her earlier stuff: Les Sucettes (1965) and Baby Pop (1966). They don't have the great LSD song included here ("Teenie Weenie Boppie")but they're excellent.

c'est ici!

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