Spike Jonze's «Where the wild Things are». I love it.
Reading:
«Am Tisch. Die kulinarische Bohème oder die Entdeckung der Lebenslust.» ("At the table. The culinary bohème or the discovery of the lust of life"") by Susanne Kippenberger. In short biographical essays, Kippenberger portrays chefs and savourers alike, writing a witty piece of the cultural history of food and eating and the enjoying of it. A very dumb and equally popular quote implies that "writing about music is like dancing about architecture": Kippenbergers "Am Tisch" can be read as one formidable mockery of that phrase.
Portland’s finest: POISON IDEA with one hell of a song, E-13 with a great song, LOCKJAW with one hell of a song and then FINAL WARNING with one hell of a song (wish their 7″ was as good as this smasher!). I used to like tis comp back then, but now I love it. It never sounded as good as with one full bottle of good italian red wine from the region of Piemont in the head.
For more of these bands, make use of the search function.
Nuff said. Stop not-drinking!!!
Flex says the first pressing was on black vinyl and had b&w sleeves. All I can say is that I ordered this from Pig directly upon its release and the tan sleeve & gold vinyl was what I got. This is not the 2nd pressing, no way. Nah.
Finally, here’s the long overdue repost of one of the best compilation albums I can think of. First posted August 2nd in 2006. Flawless. If you find a flaw, you can keep it.
Re-ripped in super-hifi-nuclear-stereo. Delete your old files. You can get the complete album by simply clicking this link here.
I sometimes wonder why this comp never made it to the fame it deserves. NOT SO HUMDRUM was in fact the 2nd in a series of 3 comp LP’s from Australias Abberant Records, the 1st one being FLOWERS IN THE DUST BIN (1983) and the last one WHY MARCH WHEN YOU CAN RIOT (1986). Because of the sheer greatness of this comps, I’m here making accessible the whole 2nd comp first. You will soon learn that there’s not one weak song and bands like SUICIDE SQUAD (who had a nice 7″ with the old singer), ROCKS (no further introduction needed) or EXSERTS (who had a disappointing LP) rarely ever or never at all sounded so good. But again – to me there’s no weak stuff on this comp, the standouts being “New World In The Morning” by Suicide Squad, “Migraine Headache” by ROCKS and “When the chips are down” by HAPPY HATE ME NOTS. And more.
Collectors notice: There were actually two pressings of NOT SO HUMDRUM! The original pressing had the great booklet-cover and was on Abberant Records, as said before. And then there was a license pressing from France (!) from 1984 too and this was released on Ripost Records. It has a totaly different cover which I love so much for the stinking green alone. You’ll find both covers pictured here, for the nerd-factor. When I have more time, I might add more pix.
If the copyright owners or their mothers don’t like this post here, please drop me a line and I’ll take the mp3 files off. I know it’s kind of strange to make full LP’s downloadable without permission, but it’s a labor of love!
GRB from Spain. One EP and a demo (that will be posted soon) – and I guess that pretty much was it.
The songs are fast, melodic and extremely original. Although RAPED TEENAGERS come to mind quickly, this is still totally unique. The mosquito guitar, the singing, the rhythm and the compositions are something you just cannot create again. Spain had its fair share of great bands and if you ask me, the best of them appeared in the mid 80s. GRB, HHH or SUBTERRANEAN KIDS always were dear to me and when I later discovered the first wave of spanish Hardcore Punk (on the famous PUNK QUE PUNK comp LP that might need a posting too), I enjoyed much of it, but really – this is the shit. “Cristianos” is one of the hits of the century, with the incredible guitar intro. Think of PEGGIO PUNX with a bit more of a mosquitouse guitar and sped up – there you go! But all the songs totally rip and shred and if this EP has one fault then it’s this: It’s too darn short!
Some records are almost too good to be posted just like that. This is one of them. HEADCLEANERS last 7″ and the band’s high point. I doubt that there’s ever been such an effective use of double-vocals. A bit on the sloppy side, drumwise (weird – I used to think they were soooo tight!), but everything is just perfect the way it is. Oostralia’s RUPTURE did a phantastic job with their cover of “With Medication”, by the way. I don’t know of any other HEADCLEANERS covers right now. Make sure you check out the split post of the mighty HUVUDTVÄTTS/ PICNIC BOYS split EP.
Outstanding, essential – and almost too good to post! Oh yes, and a Pushead cover, haha.
And here’s the 2nd GIRLSCHOOL 7″. What a great guitarist Kelly was (she died of cancer in 2007)! As you can imagine, my eyes were glued to her when I saw GIRLSCHOOL in 1981 – I guess along with Blondie, Nina Hagen, Joan Jett and that blonde girl in the first FRIDAY THE 13th movie, she was one of the great loves of my life.
This version of “Emergency” I always liked best. Slower, heavier, gloomier. “Furniture Fire” is another of those unsung hits and sure has one of the best song titles I heard. Although the lead part in “Furniture Fire” is an obvious and shamless KINKS rip off (“You really got me”), Kelly had a unique style that eventually got adapted to that of Fast Eddie Clark (MOTÖRHEAD). I mean, that’s what malicious tongues always said, that it was basically the Bronze label’s manager who shaped GIRLSCHOOL. They were designed to be a female MOTÖRHEAD. Well, however much calculation and intention might have been involved, you sure can say that both bands had quite a bit in common. GIRLSCHOOL’s first two LPs and of course the incredible “St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” EP (which GIRLSCHOOL recorded together with their partners MOTÖRHEAD) sounded like they had come out directly of the MOTÖRHEAD factory. Which is not a bad thing, really.
GIRLSCHOOL! Boy they were so exciting when you were a teen in 1980. Hard and fast music coming from women. That was so fucking marvelous and I’m not only talking about the erotically contexted phantasies that sprung out of these pictures (girls with long guitars and such, you know). Everything seemed possible, so it seems in the backsight, and who knows, maybe we really felt like that instead of just getting nasty ideas. I guess it’s kinda difficult to explain the sensation of the gender-factor in rock music of the late 70s / early 80s, as today we’re all bombarded by tits & ass.
What sticks out on this first release of GIRLSCHOOL is singer Di Williams voice and guitarists Kelly Johnson’s solo parts – apart from that, this humble beginning of the band had little in common with what would come up next …… “It could be better” is the winner here. Reminds me of the RUNAWAYS a bit, but it sure ain’t as punky as I wish it would be. Nevertheless a fine record from when we all were a bit smarter than we are today.
Pictured is the more commonly found french version of the 7″.
And here’s a video from shortly after, when the band had already incorporated the MOTÖRHEADISM into their sound. This guitar riff … fuck me Jesus, this is just too great:
PS: As it appears, the video ain’t there when you use Firefox. Use Safari instead, if you’re a Mac user.
Who wouldn’t remember how controversially this slab was received. I got the advance tape only a few days after the final mixing of what would be the last ANTI-CIMEX record was done. The tape also contained a rough mix version and although I haven’t cared to dig it up since many many years, I remember that the latter sounded really dirty and punky.
So what do I think of this twelver now, more than twenty years after its release and a couple hundred clones later? It fucking destroys!!! The sound is so tense and the brutality level so high, I can’t fucking believe it! Everybody (including me) used to slag the EP off for the Metal elements (a.k.a. guitar wanking), but c’mon – that’s what makes this perfect! Sweden’s kings blast off with a Prelude (in E-minor, they say), before cracking your skull open with “Criminal Trap”. “Time to ?” is short & brutal and “Make my Day” is a total powerhouse. “Smell of Silence” closes side a and leaves you time to breath, before the somewhat lenghty “Pain Killer” does not kill, but create a headache, that’s for sure. Some silence then, some weird intro – and the manic “Set me free” sets us all free. The best track on this EP!
This EP was nothing but consequent after “Victims of a Bombraid”. It took things to a new level (if for a moment, you try to ignore the unearthly second RATTUS 12″). No idea whether this has ever been rereleased, but here it is in its full glory. Comment (this has got to become another 100+er!) – I’m wondering what the reactions will be like. Is it still such a no-goer for some?
Find more ANTI-CIMEX here and here. Now there’s only one still missing, I reckon.
Here’s one of the toughest to find Punk LPs from Japan. And one of the wildest. SWANKYS, who also had a couple of 7″s and a flexi, were basically GAI – why they changed the name, I don’t know. Did you ever realize that SWANKYS are in fact the missing link between HUBBLE BUBBLE and ANTI-CIMEX (or any other band of the pitiful style later called “Crust”)? Obviously, SWANKYS had a lot of fun fucking around with things and the result is highly infectious. The primitive stomping rhythm, the ultra distorted guitar, the basic bass lines and the manic vocals create so much energy and lustful enjoyment, it’s almost scary. Almost. The drum sound, man when the snare hits come in during the first song, it makes me wanna do things, you know. By far the best SWANKYS record. “Total total total Control – C.O.N.T.R.O.L.” Anybody ever had sex to this?
Oh yes, there seems to be a british copycat oopsy, tribute band of the almost same name around (like Wankys or something). How poor is that.
One day, I got a package from my penpal Mark W. Shelton of MANILLA ROAD. I opened it up and found this record inside. Man, I loved the cover and I still like it a lot. There’s this ancient tree with the following mystic message carved in: “For those people who live too well and are on the border line of heaven and hell. There is a beach for their lost souls and it’s known as the STYGIAN SHORE.” A beach for lost souls, how great is that?! Dude, the dinosaur, much more a nice chap (spot the tang in his mouth?) than a monster. And the the back cover piece. Think art!
The a-side has two rockers, the band’s theme song and the usual song about having sexual intercourse. Intercourse, c’mon. Hard Rock. Hard as a rock. Then flip the plastic over and – woosh! “Tidal Wave”, the beach song, so to speak – excellent, excellent tune. Totally NWOBHM influenced. “Don’t look now” is nice too, but I’d buy this EP for “Tidal Wave” only. I mean, seriously: How could you not love such records? Totally pointless in a way, simple and a go nowhere after all. But still so charming in its naivety and freshness. And definitely not a record, Peter KBD is going to make a post of his own with!
There’s been a posthumous STYGIAN SHORE LP recently, with a free 7″ inside. It’s not bad, really competent and somewhat heavier than this.
Excuse the double post, but I feel like a bit of Harshcore at the moment. Though the “core” is kinda dubious when it comes to BOMBANFALL. What a record. So wild, so uncompromising, so original! And one of my favourite singers ever. What a powerful fucking voice! What a barbaric EP! If the second song with it’s opening scream doesn’t make you wanna do nasty things to nice people ….. you’re probably a nice chap. And the closing song – total apocalypse, man. And so short, the songs, although they have all the ingredients to be long songs. Wow, I’m fucking chuffed.
Just upon the release of this 7″ (of which 500 were made, if memory serves – I had about twenty of them), the band changed the name to TWO MOON’S RISING (hence the sticker on the cover). I discussed a future release with the band on my label Off The Disk Records, but TWO MOON’S RISING asked for a shitload of money upfront to record another EP. Thomas, who handled the labels financial aspects, decided we couldn’t and wouldn’t pay so much. He was of course right – on the other hand, had we paid it, we’d have the possibility to see what these guys would have come up with next. Would they have followed their path, I’m pretty sure they’d gotten pretty huge.
Lyric sheet says 1987, but I’m pretty sure this came out in 1988.
For those of you who have not heard BOMBANFALL yet – get ready for a serious mindfuck. And no, there’s no asiktsfrihet concerning this band’s greatness.
PS: Martin, that’s the kind of records from Sweden you should be posting.
“For best results, play this record DRUNK”.
