Roots, pt. 5: The Comfy Men

C-Mac, Marty Skeels, Alex Halatsis, Arran Rogerson, Paul Igaz

The Next four years were pretty empty musically.  There were some bands that kept the end of high school interesting that I will discuss in more detail later such as Down/B, the Hispanics, and The Tangles, but once I left Basking Ridge it almost seemed like my days as a musician were over.  That was of course until my first visit to Alameda.

The previous Summer was when that small Bay Area's music scene really began to blossom and I was lucky enough to visit Paul Igaz and Alex Halatsis in the early days and get back to playing some music.  The musicians involved were the three of us plus Marty Skeels and Arran Rogerson.  It should be by now known that the other four went onto become Flash Gilmore & The Funbeatles, one of the finest bands of our time.  This record was made in about one day, I think the second time we played together over Winter break 2007-2008.

It should be noted that the greatest inspiration of this music was not good friends, partying, or seeing "America done right" for the first time, but rather an odd invention designed by Paul:  The Manstroller.  Yes, a stroller for men.  It was constructed out of a regular shopping cart-stroller hybrid and adapted into its new form by Halatsis, Igaz, myself, and local legend Jordan Pollard.

Pollard removes a bar.

I remove another bar.

The Manstroller gave this record - like the Funbeates' Debauchery Playground, a unique 8-track piece, its title, image, and general idea.  It was recorded in Paul's basement, one of the best-sounding locations in which I have ever played music on an analogue 4-track and contains a healthy balance of original songs, improvisations, and classic covers.  The titles are, as is the band name, unofficial and I only name them for reference, and that they are widely agreed upon, rather than the nebulous and forgotten tracks on The Power of Rawk.  Other band name ideas included the Robots and my personal FAvoite, The Gadzooks.

We open with "I Don't Know" demonstrates the band's power of creating a song out of nothing and not caring if it makes sense, so long as it sounds great.  Would you believe?

Next up is the classic title track.  This has been a beloved classic of the Alameda scene since its debut and was even redone true to form by the Funbeatles. It's got some great riffs, and I think is my best work, personally on the album.

Following a cover of "You Shook Me All Night Long" is "When We're 80" a pervy creep-emo send-up about lusting for a much younger girl - especially considering this is a song by 20 year-olds.  It is also quite memorable and catchy.

We moved into more experimental territory with the next track, an improvised song with vocals I call "Where Did She Go?" and then an interesting cover of "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, pt. 1" with great synthesizer from Marty and Alex's aggressive goof-punk that define the record distracting from my sloppiness on the bass.

The record is then closed with two jams.  The first one being quite short with some crazy vocal yelps and a return to the guitar for Marty, and the second being the longest track (though still less than 6 minutes) that I would not hesitate to describe as krauty.

In a lot of ways this band never ended.  With Sam Rogerson in my old place they recorded another record about a year later before becoming the Beatles and later Flash Gilmore and the Funbeatles.  I was a fixture of their audience and played with them on occasion with this band practically reforming for the creation of their song "Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead" and the idea of a few more.  Then that ended and we had Sunfighter, The Comfort Creatures, The Darflers, The Perennial Babymen of Alameda, the Last Nights, and many more.

DOWNLOAD:  The Comfy Men - Manstrollin' (2008)

Next up:  Pre-Super River days in Los Angeles with Ways.

Roots, part 4: Love Athena

I was originally going to outline the storied history of BATWÖLF here, but I have opted to end with an article about all the lost bands in one - the ones whose recordings are missing, probably permanently, or never even existed.  So today instead we have what is probably the highlight of this series:  Pudge Athena.

Love Athena's history started off real ugly.  It began one night in the Fall of 2003 when the core trio of The Shears auditioned drummer Peter Cross.  Suspicious something was going on, Alec got a ride over from Sam's mom (which she no longer remembers, if you can believe that) as the four were playing.  We reminded him that he was brought in temporarily and explained we had no intention of ousting him.  Rather we thought a switch to guitar would be beneficial for everyone involved, especially as he has been bringing a guitar to practice each time for quite a while and Sam's interest in keyboards was growing.  After a few songs as a quintet, sounding better than ever before Alex exited in tears and took the name The Shears with him.  It began a dark period between the musicians, but also a new band known as Love Athena.

That was some intense stuff and no fun to write, but that's my side of the story and it always has been.

Most of the practices from then until late Winter were held at Cross's house in Upper Montclair and we came up with a lot of great songs, even as egos were beginning to battle more and more.  We played one show at the Bloomfield Ave. Café in December and another in Alex Dinsmore's garage afterwards.  There was also a show in Sam's basement, but I don't remember if we played.  That night got really dark too.  Really dark.  This was such an awful time, mostly, to be completely honest.

Cross proved to be unreliable and a poor personality match for the band and that spring we brought in classmate Will Floyd on drums.  He was a lot better, not to say Cross was weak, but I can't remember.  I believe it was with him that we recorded the five demos for the planned album Modern Art and the Spaceage Supersuit.

DOWNLOAD:   Love Athena - Modern Art and the Spaceage Supersuit demos (2004)

"A Shot In The Dark" was one of our first forays into synth-heavy arrangements and one of our best songs.  The lyrics, while mostly abstract and at times allegedly ripped off from a friend of Alec's who recorded with Sam are some of the most personal.  Though at a high frequency the synth part is incredibly catchy and moving and make up for some of my goofier moves on the bass.  Aidan's guitar style is defined here and it, along with the steady beat keep this from falling into the then-trendy disco-punk sound.  This is also perhaps the only song from this era with harmonies.

"Autograph" is a rawer and more aggressive take than heard on ¡Swing Pad! and the positively monstrous guitars and heavy drumming make it a superior version in my opinion, to say nothing of the improved vocals, though the clean guitar lead does more to distract than enhance the song.  Luckily, it's pretty low int he mix.

"Morning Glory" also benefits from this rawer performance and production.  Both extended lead guitar and vocals do a lot more for the song as does the faster tempo, which makes it a more fun listen, but less hypnotic than time suggests would have been idea.

"Strawberry Shit" was really something else, and probably the closest thing we came to prog, though 90s indie, funk, and even screamo come into the mix as well... oh and vocoder.  I think there are five-different sections and as weird as this song is it's exciting and definitely the most fun out of these five.  I say this a lot, but there's really nothing else out there like this song at all and you'll need to hear it a lot before you believe it.

Ending this set is "Flying Guillitines" which is another older song that goes back to the days of the Shears, and possibly even Hurtu.  Aidan based the riff off "Stairway to Heaven" if you can believe that.  That Hüsker Dü-esque riff and its accompanying bass line are the charms of this track as the lyrics are more weepy teenage boy stuff in line with The Power of Rawk's "11" and the whole thing gets a little repetitive.  Definitely the sloppiest performance of the five too, but it was always fun to play, probably was cool live too!

The Summer of 2004 slowed things down a bit, but Sam and I kept working on new material with more and more keyboards and dynamics.  Unfortunately, none was ever recorded, but I remember it being some of the finest music I would be involved with making for many, many years.  Ego-related tensions grew and grew until a massive falling out at the end of the Summer.  I went onto Down/B with Jason Paskow, Tim Baumgarten, and Taylor Green, the Hispanics with Tim King, Adriand Ricelli, and Alex Talbot, and then The Tangles with Will Lulofs and Jeff Nazareno before heading out to Boston for school.

NEXT:  Alameda's the Comfy Men.

Roots, part 1: Hurtu - The Power of Rawk

In late 2002 or early 2003 with the departure of Adrian Ricelli, Xyster dissolved and left Aidan McEneaney, Sam Deutsch, and myself to become Hurtu.  This was a brief period before the addition of Alec Signorino and the name change to the Shears.  In the summer of 2003 Deutsch and the McEneaneys recorded the EPs ¡Swing Pad! and Smokin' in the Girls Room with stand-in drummers Tin Nelson and Jeff Ziga (former Affirmative Action Jackson and Knives Out, later founder of Little Baby's Ice Cream).  While those recordings were mostly tight and professional, this is a noise-lo-fi mess.  Afterwards, with the departure of Signorino for "The New Shears," the core trio became Love Athena, working with drummers Peter Cross and Will Floyd.  Both band's work will be posted later with a more in-depth history.




















It was a tumultuous time and this recorded document crudely captures this unique transitional band, perhaps at its worst, but should be interesting for fans of outsider music, especially that made by teenagers.  It has a rare combination of teenage stupidity and art-damaged pretension, to the point where distributors Barfbag Records features several warnings, such as "Explicit Content," a warning about long gaps of silence, and another about the extremely violent threats dispersed throughout the record (though no one complains when Wu Tang does it).  There was never a track list and some of these songs may have never had titles at all.  Some did and those are recorded and here is the analyisis.

So with that that album begins with "1:  You Wanna Die?," the first of four of the threatening tracks performed by Aidan in his heavy metal singer alter-ego.  They are all some of the of the most explicit and hilarious manifestations about early-teen angst and this first track is the only one with full musical accompaniment, making it one of the album's most listenable "songs."  Batwölf may or may not have played it live.  The character is first introduced and luckily the music hides the other members' laughter.

"2:  Creep Street" is an instrumental that goes back to the earliest days of Xyster originally composed by myself, Tommy Holden, and Adrian Ricelli.  As the Popes, Aidan and I recorded that as well in a professional setting in the Summer of 2002.  IT owes a heavy debt to the Fall's "Mansion" and is one of the best places to hear the use of cheap multi pedals.

"3:  The Power of Rawk III" is another instrumental based on "What Is Love?" with a blistering lead from Sam that used to be my favorite song on the album.  It doesn't really hold up as well, I must admit.

"4:  Parallel Lines" is yet another instrumental, also led by Sam's guitar.  It gained its title later when lyrics were added and was eventually recorded as such on the ¡Swing Pad! EP, to be shared next time.

Track five is another threat from Aidan, this time directed towards me.  The laughs are not a problem and his love of prolonging torture and saying "Shut up, bitch!" is exposed as well as his misunderstanding of the word "arsenal."

Six's drum track is one of the coolest sounds on the whole record and the bass playing on this fuzzed-out reggae track is solid, but otherwise it's a failed experiment, though I have to admit a bold one, mixing such elements together.  It's bad teenage heartbreak, but has to be heard to believed, tough I suppose it may not be too different from nu-metal, especially 311...  That was not the intention.

Next up is "Flavia," a long comedy jam.  It is the only song recorded completely live with guitar, bass, and drums, and even more surprisingly only one of two songs featuring Deutsch on vocals.  IT's an absurd love song to a girl who may not have deserved such treatment.

"Lost on Gilligan's Island" I think had the most potential to be a great song.  It's lyrics are still kind of funny, in a really cute way, I can't remember exactly what I was going for, but I think it just came to me title first.  It's a mess but the idea is there and it has the best home-made feeling to it with my "wait, stop" beginning the song.  The drums are more shambolic than I still think is possible, but there is some tune and a lot of playfulness yet if you stripped it of that it's some top-notch noise rock.  The actual song section concludes with piano credited to Ben Folds and the following "silence" is actually Aidan talking shit on Nirvana.  If you can get through the whole thing you still won't believe it was for real.

The ninth track is maybe the best-realized song, a sludge-metal, on which I think I played everything.  It's simple and I think it would be cool to play again.  Some find it boring and the timing of each instrument sucks, but there is one moment where the solo is absolutely transcendent.

"Crop Circles," on the other hand, is probably the biggest mess on the album with horrible over-driven bass leading the whole thing and deafening clipping drums.  Maybe some potential in there too, but who cares?  If you can hear anything resembling music in there you will know for sure that this is Sonic Youth-aping, but hey apparently that's what everyone wants, so you'll probably like it.  I, however, hate it and I love outsider music like this.  Actually, Aidan's screams are kind of cool, mine too, or Sam's whatever that is...

The unnamed eleventh track is also somewhat well-realized in terms of instruments playing together (though the drums could use some work).  It sounds like it was recorded live, and I vaguely remember that being the case.  I felt pretty good about this one at the time, and structurally, I still do though the lyrics are god-awful weepy teenage boy garbage, but I was trying!  I noticed I had drowned out my vocals, so they cranked up a little high to compensate and all three of us sang on this one and Sam's may be the most pleasant sound on the whole album.  Aidan's have a real unusual rhythm that I still think is pretty cool too.  I was the only person who had any faith in this song, but it's really a pretty decent grunge rocker, theoretically.  With the right pedal it could have even been "Mudhoney-esque"

Twelve is the return of the heavy metal singer and is the best view into the deranged mind of a 12 year old boy with its mix of homophobia and homoeroticism.  If you can get over that it's probably the funniest one, especially when he talks about cutting off your penis and feeding it to his dog.  Then it takes the left turn with "ever since you signed up for the army" and it's self referential qualities which just grow and grow.  What's real and what is just black humor?  Either way it's gonna BURRRRRN YOOUUUU!

"13:  Smokey Bear Plays With Matches" is another old one.  The concept/lyrics came from Jonathan Lee in Mr. Clark's Comm. Arts class in spring 2001 and the music was from Panaphobia members Bo Liu and Doug Chee.  All that time makes this probably the strongest song on the album.  A loud, heavy, noise-blues tune which is the most apparent result of teenagers imitating Captain Beefheart probably ever recorded.  If any track needs to be heard on this album, it's this one.

In conclusion I accept, and grow tired of the heavy metal singer's threats, and he is eaten apart by his insecurities as I turn into him.  It's pretty jail.  Think about it.

I don't know what machine this was recorded on, but it was a cheap digital 12-track.  Production began at the Deutsch's West Orange McMansion and concluded after they relocated to a townhouse in the Cedars, Basking Ridge.  The guitars were a Mostrite Ventures II, a Fender Cyclone II, an Epphone Explorer and possibly an Epiphone Casino.  Basses were an Ibanez Jazz and Precision hybrid and a Fender P.  Drums and amps were a mixed bag and at some point everybody played every instrument, that was important to me.

Ultimately this album is pretty unlistenable, but it did live up to my artistic vision as something of a historical document.  I think it stands up to other teenage outsider music like The Shaggs Philosophy of the World or Todd's With Love... From Me To You or the younger crowd of Eyeball Skeleton, but is a lot more fun and with a far, far greater awareness of the whole expanse of rock music.  Just look at the artists I reference here, this is not in retrospect.  This is a fact, the experimental/noise rock of Can, Sonic Youth, Captain Beefheart, etc was as much an influence as Weezer, Mudhoney, and At The Drive-In as the lo-fi challenges of Sebadoh, Guided by Voices, and Pavement.  I put this out here because it needs to be heard and be out in the universe.  It's just too funny not to.  You have enjoyed worse, I know that for a fact.

YOU WANNA DIE!? 

Next time:  The Shears.

Days in Aftermath

Srsly Jay Reatard being dead. I can't believe it. I feel bad about not writing about it in the past few days, but I suppose this is where a positive attitude falls short. Great musician, great performer.

Hey, You Wanna Buy Some Speed?

In a sense created by a record executive, Speed, Glue & Shinki was more or less Japan's first successful super session, and a particularly visually alarming one full of 6-foot plus Eurasians. Journeyman guitarist Shinki Chen, often hailed as Japan's Jimi Hendrix was a mainstay of Japanese sessions, but had failed to make any great music on his own. Vice-heavy bassist Masayoshi "Glue" Kabe had been a founding member of the naturally most cracked-out Groups Sounds band the Golden Cups. The only exception was drummer/vocalist/songwriter Joey "Speed" Smith a virtually unknown half-American Filipino national who at the time was fronting an R&B band playing department stores. With a loud, messy blues concotion that would have sounded msot at home in Detroit only years earlier, the three recorded perhaps the most drugged-out music of all time.

This debut album ranked by Julian Cope as the greatest Japrock album (tied with the Flower Travellin' Band's Satori) is a thirty-five minute tribute to drugs and the futen lifestyle. Immediately in "Mr. Walking Drugstore Man," the band shows that while they are excellent musicians, their life truly does revolve around getting high. While the stringed section's command of English may not have been near that of Smith's, it is doubtful they, especially Kabe would object to their content. While the love of drugs is explicit, so is everything else. "Big Headed Woman" is the rock 'n' roll suicide suggestion the PMRC spent most of the eighties searching for, and a funny one at that. The group's assertion of the futen lifestyle runs rampant especially in the anthemic "Ode to the Bad People" to which we all should relate to.

Tempo changes, the instruments run wild, it's a loud mess, but probably the tightest, most deliberate one you will ever hear. This is punk rock.


Speed, Glue & Shinki - Eve (1971)

What's Going On and What Will Be

Sorry I've been away for a while - I have recently moved from Venice (sort of) back to Westchester and was, as a result, without home internet for a while.

Anyway, back to beeswax... Of all the great artists to bring 60s-influenced psychedelia back in the 80s none was as into the 60s Swinging London look and sound as Milwaukee's Plasticland.

I am not totally sure what that Great Lakes region city was like at the time, but it may have had a burgeoning scene along with the Violent Femmes, who I believe had some loose connections to the band. If anyone can enlighten me and out other readers on that topic, it would be appreciated. Regardless of how big it may have been it is not remembered as widely as Hoboken, Los Angeles, Seattle, Boston or other indie rock hotbeds of the time. Plasticland was no better known in the national scene though and their first self-titled album was actually released initially only on a French label. It is too bad though as their hard acid sound would have found an audience with fans of Paisley Underground or, perhaps even more so those misfit early Flaming Lips.

This album is one so in touch with the sixties that it could have only come out of the eighties that and the punk rock influence that only is apparent in the group's energy and short song lengths. Likewise, it is a bit prescient of groups like Mudhoney's use of 60s-style feedback - especially when coupled with Glenn Rehse's voice which is not too different from that of Mark Arm's. The album is structured well and from the ass-kicking opener "Alexander" it would be hard to switch to something else afterward. "Her Decay" is another particular standout and was the first I heard of the band from listening to "Jet Fighter" Radio on Pandora. Needless to say this is perfect for fans of not only 60s psych, but any kind of 80s sixties revival style, be it acid rock, garage, or even jangle pop.


Plasticland - Plasticland (1985)

They Weren't Kidding When They Called It "Obsession"

...and that is because all the featured artists have gotten bigger and bigger over the past year and a half. While not all of them have gotten proper re-issues, their names are out there and their music is on the blogosphere. I will continue this with the Quarteto Nova Era EP. There is not much more I can add to it - Brazilian, stands up to their contemporaries, shame there wasn't more from them despite making it into the 70s. Every song is good. A friend of mine bought a copy of this extremely rare find on eBay. The rest of us can get it here.


The Quarteto Nova Era EP (1968)

Love, Rock 'n' Roll Style

These days more and more people are realizing that the MC5's "Miss X" is the ultimate rock 'n' roll love song. While listening to an original copy of High Time, my friend Paul first made that comment, and upon the slight amount of though needed I realized he was right. Just weeks ago while watching the first episode of Eastbound & Down I saw that show's brilliant producers agreed. ...Enough to make Wayne Kramer the show's composer, so if you still haven't watched that show, there's yet another reason. So, in effect this entry is dedicated to my friends Tommy and Mike who made my love of the show possible... at least at the time at which it happened.

Rob Tyner's voice is at its soulful best and the band channels all its energy into a more focused and elegant sound than previously heard. Like the rest of the album it is rawer than the previous album, but still cleaner and more accessible than Kick Out The Jams. "Miss X" stands out as one for the ages and its sincerity will pull at the heart strings of any true rock fan. Written entirely by Kramer it justifies why he is the man most synonomous with the group even more than the mere fact that he unlike Rob Tyner and Fred "Sonic" Smith are gone and he is still around. I have looked for video footage of them performing this song, curious as to how it would translate and what would be done about the piano and organ parts, but no luck. If you have any link to such footage please share!

This is an essential record for all curious about Detroit rock as it is often considered their best and other classic songs include the opener "Sister Anne," "Poison," and "Future/Now." After a live album and one that was jsut too clean and pithy the MC5's swansong at last captured their legacy. It is perhaps the greatest testament to everything great that the Detroit protopunkers achieved.


The MC5 - High Time (1971)

Blasting Off To Jimmy's House!

All great things start somewhere. The greatest thing in Rock 'n' Roll started right here in 1987.

Well, maybe not since Guided by Voices did release an EP, Forever Since Breakfast prior, but this is the first whole album. Pollard started off his prolific career with a series of scarcely available (essential you had to know the band personally) albums, most of which are quite good - though obviously not up to the transcendent beauty of the later work. This really is a noble debut despite that Pollard and cohorts had not yet found their exact voice and at times the songs are noticeably (to the untrained ear) a little derivative. R.E.M. in particular is an undeniable influence, especially on the albums two best cuts "Hey, Hey, Spaceman," in which Pollard's vocals are unusually Stipe-esque and the DIY anthem of "Hank's Little Fingers." The whole album really does forshadow the band's whole career with exellence in songwriting and eccentricities such as the remarkably short lengths and stylistic splicing. Unlike some other early albums, this one even got some presence on the career-spanning best of with closer "Captain's Dead." Pollard's exploration into a more diverse oeuvre is even evident in the epic "Portrait Destroyed by Fire" and instrumental "Crux." The Lo-Fi art was only in its nascent stages here perhaps due to Tobin Sprout's temporary absence (he was living in Florida, but had already passed through the ranks), but considering the commonality of cheap recording by the time this was made widely available, that is negligible.

Do not be put off by the band's obscurity at the time of its release - this is just as worthy as any other GbV album and has enough classics to keep it in rotation. It is available only as part of Box. The question "What keeps Big Daddy happy?" is in reference to Jimmy Pollard's pet rooster on the cover (great story about the photo). It is the same line from "Don't Stop Now."


Guided By Voices - Devil Between My Toes (1987)

Come Hither To Me Under The Canopy

They say that Jonathan Fire*Eater's lack of success was due to their over-hyping from new label Dreamworks. Despite a track on the Dead Man On Campus soundtrack, it is quite hard to believe that today as the only people that remember them are hipsters aged 28-35. Not long after discovering the offshoot Walkmen and wanting roughly the same thing, only better, I discovered them and have never manged to succede in finding any material copies of their work.

I suppose the world would not yet ready for a quintet of good-looking, privileged, and very hip New Yorkers for another four years. Regardless, they were a remarkably talented band that really set the stage for what would be going on a few years later. After meeting at St. Alban's School in the D.C. area the members all dropped out of college and moved to New York to form this band. The group developed a unique sound with a vintage tone lead by Farfisa organ and a heavy beat that reflected a contemporary attitude and modern influences as well. They released two even rarer independent (I have not heard them) albums before being signed to Dreamworks. With Calvin Klein using them as models and opening for the likes of blur and Pulp the deal was remarkably generous worth over a million and including complete creative control and a dental plan. The complete creative control really paid off... for us, the listener.

Keeping with the title, opening track "When the Curtain Calls For You," sets the stage (pun) for the rest of the album balancing eerie tones with high energy vintage underground rock 'n' roll much like "These Little Monkeys" does. The band goes into full-on eerieness on the classic "A Night In The Nursery" and has given the theme song to ever subsequent summer in "Bipolar Summer." This album is a masteripiece that deserves a quality re-issue and surpasses everything the band would do without Stuart Lupton in the Walkmen.


Jonathan Fire*Eater - Wolf Songs For Lambs (1997)

Tell Me, Where Does Your Mind Grow?

Okay, this is just the Three O'Clock in 1983

Before the Three O'Clock there was the Salvation Army. Essentially they were the same band, though. The group, which featured Michael Quercio(at times going by "Ricky Start") and Gregg (later known as Louis) Gutierrez formed in Carson and was forced to change their name by the actual religious/charity organization... but not before being signed to the Minutemen's New Allience label and releasing the "Happen Happened/Mind Gardens" single and a self-titled album (which had, excempting the titles, the same album art). The releases made some waves as the liner notes quote eventual Three O'Clock drummer Danny Benair recounting hearing "Mind Gardens" on Rodney on the ROQ while still a member of the Weirdos. It should be noted that the band was signed by New Allience in November 1981, when Quercio was a mere 18 years old.

The sound is wuite different from the band they originially formed into being more in tune with a garage/punk sound than the jangly new-wave psych at which The Three O'Clock would excel. The songwriting is all Quercio's despite Gutierrez' presence in the group - however those already familiar with the last two Three O'Clock records should make no assumptions as this has nothing in common with their clean, 80s sound. Though I am a fan of both Quercio eras, he had yet to come into himself at this point lyrically. The lyrics resemple more psychedelic rambling than the darly whimsical ambiguity of his later work. Despite this, the most exemplary tracks "She Turns to Flowers" and "Happen Happened" stand out as some of the finest. This collection which contains all of the band's work under the Salvation Army moniker is prime example of the early Paisley Underground sound. And why shouldn't it? This was around the time that Quercio coined that term in the first place.


Befour Three O'Clock - Happen Happened (1992)

It's Like Nearly I Puked In My Face!

grunge.

Mundhoney has been a big part of my life since 8th grade. Maybe even earlier as their appearance in the Chris Farley-David Spade vehicle Black Sheep made a pretty big impact on me as far back as 1997. Regardless, they are the best "grunge" band I know of. This album is a whole lot of fun for lovers of any rock 'n' roll. Like Paisley Underground, it needs to be remembered that most music scenes are likened by geography and attitude than sound really, and grunge was no exception. Mudhoney, unlike many of their peers like nirvana or Soundgarden come from the MC5/Stooges side of rock. Their sound relies most on distortion (as seen in the title) and energy than anything else.

Image was also a big part of grunge, whether they liked it or not and Mudhoney, via Sub Pop heads Jonaythan Poneman and Bruce Pavitt was the prototype. The band, consisting of college-euducated middle-class suburban kids was marketed to the famously frantic UK press as rural lumberjacks along with the rest of the label's roster. This, best chronicled in Our Band Could Be Your Life, presented the PNW groups as an oddity to the "sophisticated" European indie scene. When you pick up a legit copy of this the pictures inside will make this even more clear with the sometime shirtless band chugging cheap beer and dogpiling. This strategy in fact worked quite well and had much to do with the rise of grunge in the home country.

Perhaps in assumption that the proto-punk influence was apparent fromt he very beginning (or perhaps the MC5-like image ont he front cover), Mudhoney pays tribute to their more contemporary influences by covering Sonic Youth and Texas hardcore group the Dicks. These songs are pretty great, and as in most cases, Mudhoney outdoes Sonic Youth at their own game. Some of the best original cuts include "Sweet Young Thing Ain't Sweet No More," "Need," the epic masterpiece "In 'n' Out of Grace," and closer "Mudride." The band is pretty talented, especially drummer Danny Peters, who briefly was a member of Nirvan during a Mudhoney hiatus, and the guitar dynamic of Mark Arm and Steve Turner is one of the best of the 1980s. This is one to rock out to like you were still fourteen, which is exactly what my friends (particularly former bandmates) I do every time we hear this - especially with some watery domestic in the system. It jsut doesn't get much better than this.


Mudhoney - Superfuzz Bigmuff plus Early Singles (1988)

*It should be noted the early singles are the first half and the EP is second.

This House That You Have Spied

If you do not already have this album you need it immediately. This album is, in my opinion the best of the sixties. I love sixties music.

Following the almost as incredible Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators, which arguably is the first psychedelic album, this 1967 release begins to show just how far that style can go. The combined genius (yes, genius) of the remarkably young (~20) Roky Erickson, guitarist Stacey Sutherland, and electric jug-player and essentially bandleader Tommy Hall becomes even more apparent. The music spares nothing is going all-out with the psychedelia always delivered with energy and urgency that set the bar impossibly high for contenders and giving fellow Texans Janis Joplin and ZZ Top their ultimate aspirations. In fact, the groups eventual visit to San Francisco at the height of Haight-Ashbury proved their drug-influenced music squarely in another league even when in the world's LSD capitol.

The epic opening track "Slip Inside This House" is an unparalleled psychedelic journey and Erickson's lyrical flow can put any rapper to shame immediately. Followed by frequent song contributor Powell St. John's chilling (but why?) "Slide Machine," the album's power hardly could be accused of cooling down. Giving Erickson a break, Sutherland's "Nobody to Love" is a perfect 60s US rocker and the much debated Dylan cover "Baby Blue" is a perfect side-closer.

Luckily, the other side is just as strong, most notably with "I Had To Tell You," which outdoes the debut's "Splash 1" in proving how well the band could write pretty songs. While there are no hits like the previous album's "You're Gonna Miss Me" who cares? Trip out, rock out, and spaz out to this masterpiece immediately. Essential for all fans of music, especially Janis Joplin, ZZ Top, The Butthole Surfers, and/or other Texas rock.

The 13th Floor Elevators - Easter Everywhere (1967)

Time Will Heal Wounds, but I Will Kill You

Jay Readard - Blood Visions (2006)
That's the words and image of Jay Reatard, one of the few contemporary artists who "does it" for me. For the uninitiated, he plays a very raw and energetic form of garage-punk that highlights all the finest points of that style and adds even more. To many it may seem that continuing that loud/fast tradition may be fruitless, but Reatard proves that there is still some, though maybe not a lot of room for growth. His arrangements display a knowledge and creativity far beyond what is the norm in "punk" and give his simple songs more merit that one would expect. For the best example I would suggest the standout track "Oh It's Such a Shame" which has a beautiful ending of layered guitars and even some synths. Despite the high energy, aggression, stupidity, and immaturity you'll find in his music, Reatard certainly has strong songwriting chops. Some will say they were impressed with Built to Spill making "Nowhere Nothing Fuckup" a pleasant singalong but that's got nothing on "I won't stop until your dead/ Helping you and hurting me" from "Fading all Away" or a song about a family being bludgeoned to death becoming a fun song to bounce your head to ("My Family").

Jay Reatard is the only artists these days brining everything great about classic punk from the Ramones and the Damned up to the Descendants into the twenty first century.

He plays Harper's Ferry in Allston April 20. I'll be there.




I WILL write that Amon Düül II article.