NATIONAL [PREFERRED TERM] MONTH, PT 3

If you're going to celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month (or whatever you want to call it), and you're going to touch on culture or music, you're going to need a longer month. I won't be able to get to every band that merits posting, so I'll start with the ones that you might not be familiar with. Los Saicos have been here before (last posted three years ago) but they merit reposting no matter the circumstances. If you were to just see the photo above, they look like any other mid-sixties band. Now, take a look at the photo below. How'd you like to go against them in a battle of the bands? Think it's just that photo? Listen to them.

Here's what I remember about their backstory. They got a quick start thanks to lucking into a TV appearance (or was it more then one?), barely knew how to play, recorded six singles and then called it quits. No dispute, no drama. They just stopped playing. How many bands can you name that should have called it quits after their first twelve songs? How many can you name that, out of twelve songs, had one called "Camisa de Fuerza" ("Straightjacket") and another "Demolicion" ("Demolition")? Shit, listen to the first thirty seconds of "Fugitivo de Alcatraz" and tell me that isn't primordial Stooges. Even the band shot above, that prop they've got dangling over the car door (or should I say beat ass rusty old truck door) is all you need to know. For real.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Los Saicos - Camisa de Fuerza mp3 at Laoficinalive
Los Saicos - Fugitivo de Alcatraz mp3 at Berceuse Electrique
Los Saicos - Salvaje mp3 at Tape Wrecks
Los Saicos - Cemetenterio (streaming) at YouTube
Los Saicos - Demolicion (streaming) at YouTube
Los Saicos - Ana mp3 at Tumblr
Los Saicos - Besando A Otras mp3 at Tumblr
Los Saicos - Complete discography (streaming) at YouTube 12 songs
Video:
Was Punk Rock Born in Peru? - Los Saicos documentary at YouTube 13 minutes
Saicomania trailer at YouTube
Los Saicos - El Entierro De Los Gatos (live, Spain, 2010) at YouTube
Visit:
Where did punk begin? A cinema in Peru at The Guardian UK
Los Saicos at Wikipedia

YOUNG, LOUD AND AUSSIE

I've got a thing for bands with a single minded vision. I'm not sure if that includes the Hard-Ons, because what seems like a vision might just be an accident. No matter, I also dig bands that make extreme music that is repelling to, well, straights. The Hard-Ons do that, well. Intentional or not. These three, from 1988, clock in at two minutes and thirty-one seconds. That's for all three songs. They're short, fast, loud, in-your-face, and you can barely understand the lyrics. No matter, they'll clear out the suits but quick. That's good enough.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
The Hard-Ons - Fuck Society mp3 at Internet Archive
The Hard-Ons - Nerds mp3 at Internet Archive
The Hard-Ons - Yuppies Suck mp3 at Internet Archive

AND LOOK GOOD DOING IT

Here we go, the grand marshals, the Creepy Creeps. Long overdue, this one. These guys aren't really Halloween all year round, they're so Halloween, they don't have to be Halloween, that's how Halloween they are. The whole concept of the band playing exclusively in weirdly cool matching outfits and playing a blend of garage, surf, and old school Northwest punk; isn't that what it's all about? WTF-ness, loud, messy and anonymous? Oh hell yeah. I'll buy a beer just so I can spill it.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
The Creepy Creeps - Fink About It (Full LP) at What Are Blood Wings Go there to get it, look for "Download" button at the bottom of the post.
Video:
Play the Sonics:
The Creepy Creeps - The Witch at YouTube
The Creepy Creeps - Boss Hoss at YouTube
And others:
The Creepy Creeps at the Casbah, 2015 at YouTube
The Creepy Creeps @ Adams Avenue Street Fair 2015 at YouTube
Their alter egos:
Creepxotica at Tiki Oasis 2013 at YouTube

THE NEEDED FIX

Every once in a while I look at the stats to see if many of the old links are being visited on that particular day. Today someone had clicked a few times on an old post about the Weirdos (I notice these things). This is for them, the clicker. Because the links were dead on that old post, and I think you, whoever you are, should hear the Weirdos. Everybody should hear the Weirdos.

Los Angeles, 1977. The Weirdos were among the most active bands in the still motley scene. They could seem aggressive, but not really in a fist pumping way. More stealth. They kinda fucked with your head, particularly that first year or so, when there really wasn't much basis for comparison. Just a suffocatingly huge control group. And then, this.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
The Weirdos - Destroy All Music mp3 at Killed By Death Go there to get it.
The Weirdos - Life of Crime mp3 at Killed By Death Ditto
The Weirdos - Why Do You Exist mp3 at Killed By Death Ditto
The Weirdos - We Got the Neutron Bomb at Killed By Death Go here to get it.
The Weirdos - Solitary Confinement mp3 at Killed By Death Ditto

YOUR PASSPORT TO JAZZ

I got kind of freaked out a couple of hours ago. After watching a live video of the reformed Stooges (semi-recent stuff with Mike Watt on bass and James Williamson on guitar), I was thinking about doing yet another Stooges thing. Then I started thinking that they were like Chuck Berry to many of us, that familiar. almost too familiar. Here's where it gets hairy. I thought "Oh shit, there are probably kids out there, coming off like musical know-it-alls in their particular crowds, that don't have the slightest idea who Chuck Berry is." I had to calm myself, and that meant backtracking to my state prior to that perilous thought. So, Stooges it was.

I'm glad I did, because otherwise I wouldn't have revisited "Funhouse", the song from the album of the same name. A couple minutes into it it occurred to me that it's essentially loud, jerky, funky, jazz. You should check it out again, especially those of you who like the Stooges, but won't set a foot near jazz, What the fuck are you afraid of anyway? Some of it is crazier than anything from your safe harbor collection, Listen to that song, "Funhouse", particularly Ron Asheton's guitar, and keep in mind that he was a John Coltrane fiend, Steve McKay's sax is also worth isolating. After that, check that Eric Dolphy cut. They don't sound anything alike, but there is something that connects them. It's that "I know what I'm playing, I hope you know what you're playing. Meet you back here in a minute" thing.

If you don't even know the Stooges, for God's sake, would you catch up already? There's a couple of their popular favorites down there, and a lot more in older posts.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~ 

Listen:

The Stooges - Funhouse mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu
Eric Dolphy - Mandrake mp3 at Pixieradio
The Stooges - I Wanna Be Your Dog mp3 at Mustard Relics
Iggy and the Stooges - Raw Power (mono) mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu
Visit:
Earlier Stooges posts Scroll down

WITH SAID WITCH

The Sonics should require no introduction, right? Their first two LPs are nothing short of essential. Seriously. There's no other way to put it. A few things to dig about them: one is Gerry Roslie's voice. It's what took them from just another instrumental combo to raw pounding rock 'n' roll riot. It's a medical marvel that he can still speak. It's all there on "Psycho". And that drum sound? The whole kit was recorded with a single microphone. And all of that thrashing and bshing and what not. You don't have to bring all of that proto-punk stuff into the equation. Throw the word out the window. What you still have is really one of the truly great American rock 'n' roll bands. I don't think they ever had a song that made the national charts, regional charts perhaps; they were really hot shit in the Northwest.

I was turned on to them by my friend Frank Gutch, who spent formative years up there in the Northwest. When he told me about them I was nineteen, and he was the twenty-something owner of a record store, A couple years ago, he wrote a thing about a show he went to back in the day, a battle of the bands, the Sonics versus the Wailers. Just reading that pairing gives me goosebumps. Read his account here. Before I get really carried away, the reason for this post is because the Sonics just finished recording thirteen new songs. Naysayers may say that the EP released a few years back wasn't anything special. The Sonics weren't that hot on it either. But, according to Sonics sax man Rob Lind, "on this album we decide to get back to hard fast rock 'n' roll,”  Here's hoping. That would be awesome.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Eat it up:
The Sonics - Psycho mp3 at Bag of Songs
The Sonics - Strychnine mp3 at Gimmetinnitus
The Sonics - The Witch mp3 at Tinyvices
The Sonics - Boss Hoss mp3 at Api.ning.com (?)
The Sonics - Money mp3 at Girl Juke Box
The Sonics - Maintaining My Cool mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Fan club record:
The Sonics - Introduction to the Sonics mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Other audio:
Interview with Sonics guitarist Larry Parypa (1998) at Beware of the Blog This is excellent. Click on blue and white arrow button to hear audio.
Visit:
The Sonics Official site
The Sonics vs the Wailers - Battle of the Bands! by Frank Gutch Jr., at Indie Musicology 

OI DUDE...

Hadn't heard this one in a while, and, I gotta say, when I did it put me smack dab back in my late teens, pouring through NY Rocker, looking for the ad to mail order straight legged black jeans from Trash & Vaudeville (really, hard to imagine but back then it was the only place you could find them). I was still living at home, had a $75 Honda 90 for transport, and in it, that is punk rock, deep. It changed the way I looked at things going forward, and I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that really is its legacy. Not the music, not the spiked hair and not the straight legged black jeans. Mark Perry knew that, way back then. He was the editor [sic] of Sniffin' Glue, one of the UK's earliest punk zines, and lead singer of Alternative TV.

I don't remember if Killed By Death, the hosting blog of these golden oldies, disables direct linking or not. But you'll probably want to go there anyways. That site is chocked full of early punk goodies; some you'll know well, some worthy obscurities, and a hell of a lot that probably shouldn't have ever been released. But that's part of it. Anyone could do it, and anybody did.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Alternative TV - How Much Longer mp3 at Killed By Death
Alternative TV - You Bastard mp3 at Killed By Death
More (a couple Cali-centric searches):
Dangerhouse Records posts at Killed By Death The Avengers, X, the Deadbeats, the Weirdos and the Randoms
Slash Records posts at Killed By Death The Germs and the Plugz
Visit:
Alternative TV, aka ATV, at Wikipedia
Sniffin' Glue at Wikipedia

THE FRATERNAL ORDER OF MESSY HAIR

Of the whole mid-70's New York music scene there's probably no more intriguing pairing than that of Richard Hell and Johnny Thunders in the original Heartbreakers. Though no official recordings of the band with both of them exist (that I'm aware of anyway) there is a bootleg of a demo that they did in 1975. While the Thunders penned songs (with him singing) sound like a low-fi version of the later Hell-less Heartbreakers, there's a few cuts that Hell sings that are worth hearing, particularly if you are a Richard Hell fiend. As with most rock n' roll, it's all about the geetar. On Hell's major label debut, Blank Generation, the guitar duties are handled by Robert Quine, an excellent guitarist, but in a completely different universe than Thunders. Quine was a serious musician and attended the Berklee College of Music. Thunders was schooled on smack and rock n' roll. A textbook case of apples & oranges. To hear Hell singing "Blank Generation" and "Love Comes in Spurts". with Thunders playing is as close to a "what could have been" revelation as there is, at least in the realm of the embryonic NY punk scene.

Program Notes:
For those not skilled with zips and full LP mp3's, I started the NY gluttony below with a few mp3s from the later Heartbreakers (without Richard Hell) and a few of Richard Hell and the Voidoids (including the later versions of "Blank Generation" and "Love Comes in Spurts" with Quine). Then comes the more challenging special interest stuff. The Heartbreakers demo is a full LP rip, and may take a little more know-how to download than a single mp3, but if I can figure it out, you can. (Dig around, it's pretty intuitive.) Same goes for the rest of them. Next up is an albums worth of the later live Heartbreakers (without Hell) from 76-77. Following that, a five song 1973 Neon Boys EP, that has Hell and a pre-Television Tom Verlaine. The Television "Poor Circulation" LP is live stuff, demos and rehearsal tapes from 73-75, again with Hell and Verlaine, this time with Richard Lloyd. If, by now, you're able to figure out how these things are to download, there's a shitload of Hell and Television downloads of rare live stuff at Know Your Conjurer's Richard Hell & Television Mega-Post.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Mp3s:
The Heartbreakers - Born To Lose mp3 at Town Full of Losers
The Hearbreakers - Chinese Rocks mp3 at Event Magic
The Heartbreakers - I Wanna Be Loved mp3 at Tsiou
The Heartbreakers - It's Not Enough mp3 at Naturalismo
The Heartbreakers - Do You Love Me (demo) mp3 at Voiciferouslam
Richard Hell & the Voidoids - Liars Beware mp3 at Linmod
Richard Hell & the Voidoids - Blank Generation mp3 at BlahBlahBlahScience
Richard Hell & the Voidoids - Love Comes in Spurts mp3 at Quarlo
LP Rips:
The Heartbreakers (with Richard Hell) 1975 SBS Studio demos, 10 song rip at (Son of) Exile On Moan St. (Click on the blue "Download Now" button)
The Heartbreakers (without Hell) Lost Live Tapes (76-77) LP at Teenage Dogs In Trouble
Neon Boys (Richard Hell & Tom Verlaine) - 5 Song EP (1973) zip at Know Your Conjurer
Television (with Hell & Verlaine) - Poor Circulation bootleg rip at T.U.B.E.
Richard Hell & Television Mega-Post at Know Your Conjurer

AN UNHOLY GRAIL

You're looking at the very first UK independent punk release, the Buzzcocks' 1976 Spiral Scratch EP. As such, it was a sort of template, and it was about as no frills as it gets. Recorded, pressed, and sold by the band, meant it was also one of the first to need distribution. That's when it became apparent that there were other factors of DIY music that might not have been taken into consideration. (We've got a record. Now what?) Once that was set up, exporting punk records was the next step, and before the Sex Pistols had even found a place in the U.S. record store bins, the Buzzcock's Spiral Scratch showed up.

The four song EP was recorded in three hours, and took two hours to mix. Only 1,000 were originally pressed, yet as Simon Reynolds, in his book Rip It Up and Start Again, wrote "People were buying Spiral Scratch...for the sheer fact of its existence, its existence as a cultural landmark and portent of revolution." My brother bought it, without hearing it, for that very reason. Because, there in the bins of Tower Records, was a homemade 45 from the other side of the world. (No stranger to private pressings found in thrift stores, he knew that earnestness went a long way in negating technical shortcomings.) It became our first real taste of UK punk, and a marked rawness that contrasted with the Ramones major label package.

The Buzzcocks reunite with Devoto, 1978, only two years after his exit. Devoto points out "This is not nostalgia." The Buzzcocks went on without him, touring as late as 2010.

The Buzzcocks would, like the Ramones, evolve quickly. With Howard DeVoto leaving the band after Spiral Scratch (and on to form Magazine), the Buzzcocks got a little more polished and signed to a major, and are still clunking around today. But that record has never lost it's significance. Enough so, that it has its own Wikipedia entry.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

From Spiral Scratch:
Buzzcocks - Breakdown mp3 at 7 Inch Punk
Buzzcocks - Boredom mp3 at 7 Inch Punk
Later:
Buzzcocks - You Tear Me Up mp3 at Undomondo
Buzzcocks - Promises mp3 at Pogo a Go-Go
Buzzcocks - Ever Fallen In Love mp3 (somewhat tinny) at Ryan's Smashing Life
Buzzcocks - Oh Shit mp3 at Cyberinsekt
Buzzcocks - Why Can't I Touch it mp3 at The Punk Guy
Buzzcocks - Hollow Inside mp3 at Clumsy and Shy
Magazine - Shot By Both Sides mp3 at Popdose
Video:
Buzzcocks - Live footage ('76, music dubbed) at YouTube
Buzzcocks w/ Howard DeVoto - I Can't Control Myself (Live '78, Manchester, UK) video at YouTube
Buzzcocks - Ever Fallen in Love (Live '78, Manchester, UK) video at YouTube
Buzzcocks - I Don't Mind video ('77) video at YouTube
Magazine - Shot By Both Sides ('78) video at YouTube
The Troggs - I Can't Control Myself video at YouTube
Read:
Spiral Scratch page at Wikipedia
The Buzzcocks' official site
What the hell, some covers:
Wilco - Ever Fallen in Love (live) mp3 at Cover Me
Noisetttes - Ever Fallen In Love mp3 at Lost In your Inbox
Uke Punk - Breakdown video at YouTube
WTF:
Never Mind the Buzzcocks, UK game show video at YouTube

BUT THEY LOOK SO BLAH

For whatever reason, I always kinda lumped Wire (from the UK) in the same category as the Middle Class (from Fullerton, CA). Though they sounded different, there were too many similarities between the two bands to ignore. Both were four piece bands; utilizing a guitar, bass, drums and vocals line up; and played really short songs. Both started in 1976 (though the Middle Class didn't record until a couple years later). Neither band paid a lot of attention to punk dress codes, instead going for a relatively utilitarian look. Both bands, while not really headline grabbing in their prime, are now recognized as far more influential than most of their respective punk scene contemporaries. And, both bands have records that I wished I still owned. (I hope my landlord appreciates the timely rent check some twenty years ago.)

Here's four from Wire's first, Pink Flag, and the entire first EP from the Middle Class. (It is now safe to take out your safety pins.)

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Wire - 12XU mp3 (right click to save) at The Golden Lanterns [??]
Wire - Reuters mp3 (right click to save) at MFR
Wire - Ex Lion Tamer mp3 (right click to save) at Let's Sexy Fighting
Wire -Three Girl Rhumba mp3 (right click to save) at Merry Swankster
Pink Flag, the Wire website

The Middle Class - Out of Vogue mp3 (right click to save) at Killed By Death
The Middle Class - You Belong mp3 (right click to save) at Killed By Death
The Middle Class - Situations mp3 (right click to save) at Killed By Death
The Middle Class - Insurgence mp3 (right click to save) at Killed By Death
The Middle Class - Homeland LP and compilation LP downloads at I Heard It Before
Suddenly in Vogue [About the Middle Class] at the OC Weekly
Alice Bag's L.A. Punk Rock 1976-1981 photo album
Photos: Wire by Annette Green, the Middle Class by Alice Bag

HERE'S TO THE ALSO RANS

Some records seem to be everywhere when they come out. Even though the pressings were limited, because of small demand, you end up seeing them everywhere right after they're released. This is especially true when they're punk records, about 500 pressed and maybe about 200 record buying punks in the scene when the record comes out. So it was that the Xterminators 45 (which came out about 1979) was overlooked by a lot of people in the San Diego scene. Coming out on Radio Active Records, it was released at roughly the same time as records by label mates the Injections and the Executives. (Who had money for three 45's and beer?)

The Xterminators were on the bill of a lot of shows back then, but rarely headlined. This made the demand for the record even less, especially when the Injections were the token notorious band of the label. And they were pretty humble guys too, definitely not a group that had "a look" or contingent associated with them. I'm not sure if I remember the complete line-up correctly: Doug "DT" Black sang and Terry Horn was the bassist (both pictured above, Horn in the shades), a guy named Juan Ruiz (kind of a scene outsider) was the guitarist and, if memory serves, Danny Ramirez was the drummer (could be wrong on that...). With DT and Terry the only scene regulars, they weren't a band that was highly visible as a unit off stage. Therein another reason why the record never went anywhere...back then.

Fast forward about 25 years and I'm on the receiving end of a call from a punk collector trying to get his hands on any San Diego punk records, the more limited the pressing the better. I passed his phone number on to DT and he's soon selling what remaining copies he had in his possession for something like 50 or 75 bucks. And shortly after that, the songs appear on a German compilation of rare punk singles. Punk record collectors (well any record collector really), are a bunch I've never completely understood, but I will enjoy the fruits of their labor any day of the week. So when the blog Killed By Death posted the Xterminators a few days ago, I wasted no time procuring a little San Diego punk rock history.

Hearing these songs again, unincumbered by scenester factors, I have to say, that they sound a hell of a lot more interesting than they did back then. DT's vocals sound nothing like his regular speaking voice today, but that's not neccessarily what gets me. I had totally forgotten that "Microvave Radiation" had a synthesiser on it (leading one commenter on Killed By Death to compare the sound to the Screamers), and the guitar on "Occasional Lay" sounds like a less produced Derwood Andrews (from the first Generation X album), with a few late song Clash-type chord changes. Regardless, I can't be objective. If you were around back then, you'd probably dig these. If not, there's always the comment section...

The Xterminators - Microwave Radiation and Occasional Lay mp3s at Killed By Death

(Yeah, I know, collectors like to disable direct mp3 links. Oi dude, whatever...)

Photos by Harold Gee

ARI GROWED UP

Though it's been thirty years since the first Slits LP Cut, there's no mistaking the voice and the phrasing on the song "Ask Ma" from the upcoming Trapped Animal. Even if the sound isn't as all together organic as the first album (who can follow up using dropped silverware as a rhythm?), and there is more than a touch of electronically produced sounds, the feel (from the one song I've heard, at least) is still full-on Slits. And, surprisingly, even with all the time that has passed, it isn't as removed from the early work as you'd expect. But there's no mistaking that it is an update, and not a reunion.

It's comforting that Ari Up, punky reggae's Pippy Longstocking, hasn't changed much since the early days of the Slits. She exudes all of the characteristics of being comfortable in one's own skin. (And if it works, why change it, right?) Turns out, even with constant moving around, living in jungles and becoming a mother, she's still the same gangly wide-eyed girl she's always been. She's like the six year old that rides up on their bike while you're working on your car and says "Whatcha doing?" Without an ounce of fanboy (too old for that anyways), I have to say, I really missed her.

.

The Slits - Ask Ma mp3 at LimeWire

The Slits - The World of Grown-Ups (Live 2008) mp3 at Pitchfork

The Slits - I Heard It Through the Grapevine mp3 at One Sweet Song

Ari Up's bio, in her own words, at Pitchfork

The Slits on MySpace (w/semi-recent videos)

SERENDIPITOUS SCORING

[NOTE: After testing the mp3 links in this post, I realized that the the hosting site Pogo A Go-Go has disabled direct links, which is his perogative. Rest assured though, all of the tunes can be found and downloaded at his site: Pogo A Go-Go, with links to specific posts below. In other words, I'll be damned if I'm going to delete this post after going through the hassle of writing it...]
.

Every once in a while, in need of something to post, I'll start browsing blogs that I haven't been to in a while and find a few mp3s that scream "download me now you hack, or you'll forget where you saw me!" Today's screaming mp3s come from Pogo A Go-Go. There's plenty to devour there, and some, well, some of that screaming variety. Case in point: "A Different Story", by the Subway Sect. The Subway Sect were contemporaries of the Sex Pistols (they were in the early punk fanzine Sniffin' Glue for cryin' out loud!) and that whole first wave of UK punk, but were already leaning toward a post-punk kinda "I'll let those guys bang out the chords, I'm a little smarter than that..." type of sound. Despite the fact that they may have thought themselves above three chord simpletons, they came and went after only two proper 45s (a comp of stuff came out later).

.

Fil, the host of Pogo A Go-Go, demonstrating that he's clearly got his head on straight, is currently ranting about some really messed up venture called "The Rock n' Roll Experience." It's some really fucked up hoity-toity thing where you can pay a few thousand dollars and go to Hawaii to jam (and play golf) with "rock legends" like Gerald Casale (Devo), Earl Slick (one time guitarist for Bowie), Al Jardine (the second lamest Beach Boy, after Mike Love) and Glen fucking Matlock (yeah, a former Sex Pistol). Oh yeah, there's also Clem Burke (the drummer from Blondie) and, it pains me to even mention it, Wayne Kramer (from the MC5). Get out your sticks kids, it's definitely time to draw the line. (Remember the scene in Animal House when John Belushi, as Bluto, says "...Neidermeyer? Dead!!"? It's kinda like that...)

.

Showing his kindred soul side, Fil writes:

"Dearest Friends, this is a travesty. This is not rock 'n' roll. This is balding, fiftysomething, system analysts with their remaining strands of hair scraped behind their heads into dork handles. This is Euro trustafarian brats decked out in Bench and Von Dutch. This is the annoying, botox-injected fucker who cut me off today in his Porsche Boxter. This is whore meets john." Sting like a bee!

.

Besides Subway Sect's cut, he's also posted "The Great Rock n' Roll Swindle" which has always been credited to the Sex Pistols, but was actually the music of Pistols Steve Jones and Paul Cook, with all of the people auditioning to be Johnny Rotten's replacement trading vocals (including the wonderful stylings of Edward "Who Killed Bambi" Tudor-Pole, who was chosen to be Rotten's successor). And, to take us back to a time before trustafarians, he's also posted Chuck "I see see London, I see France" Berry's "Johnny B. Goode".

.

Proving he's not a one trick pony, Fil's previous post featured five vintage ska tunes, including Daddy Livingstone's "Rudy, A Message To You" (covered during the Two-Tone era by the Specials). And an earlier post has Mudhoney's "This Gift". A whole bagful of stuff over there; this is just the few I found in a matter of minutes.

.

Subway Sect - A Different Story mp3 found on this post

Sex Pistols - The Great Rock n' Roll Swindle mp3 found on this post
Chuck Berry - Johnny B. Goode mp3 found on this post
Daddy Livingstone - Rudy, A Message To You mp3 found on this post
Mudhoney - This Gift mp3 found on this post
All found on Pogo A Go-Go

STAY CLASSY SAN DIEGO

Looking back at 1977, it still amazes me how much happened, how fast it happened and how it changed the game forever. It was pivotal year, no doubt about it, and it wasn't just in terms of how the whole punk rock/DIY revolution changed the way the music business operated. It was the movement that defined who the tools and non-tools of the music industry were.

The Zeros, a band always included in the '77-'78 roll call of original Southern California punk bands, weren't tools. There were unbeholden to the music industry, which wasn't unusual at the time. What set the Zeros apart is that they were never really beholden to punk rock either. Though they didn't reject the punk tag, they were a rock n' roll band, pure and simple. From their first record in 1977 all the way through to their last recording in 1999. Like Sweden's Nomads (who did a remarkably loud-yet-faithful cover of the Zeros' "Wimp"), they had their own sound and their own disarming look. No spiked hair, no torn clothes, no studs.

Through different eras of the band, you only had to look at the covers they did to get an indication of what wound their watches: Bo Diddley, Mitch Ryder, Bobby Freeman, the Sonics, the New York Dolls, the Seeds, and the Standells. And every cover they played had the distinctive Zeros sound, somewhere between Johnny Thunders and the Ramones.

Their first 45, "Don't Push Me Around" b/w "Wimp" seems, lyrically, to be the stuff of JD's in training. Keep in mind, these guys were kids, between 16 and 19, when they began recording. They were documenting their own still-evolving attitude, and I-could-give-a-fuck swagger.

.

Their earliest hometown appearance came on a local San Diego morning talk show, Sun Up (they were actually from Chula Vista, which is about 8 miles south). View the clip and take a look at the faces, the knock-kneed stances, feet practically glued to the floor; these are clearly kids. And this was just a scant few months after their first L.A. appearance, sandwiched between two other debuting bands, the Germs and the Weirdos.

The clip is from the fall of 1977, and they're lip-syncing both sides of their 45. It was just days before their first San Diego appearance, what would be the first San Diego punk rock show, with the Dils and the Hitmakers (the latter, a band that featured two ex-Dils and future Crawdaddy/Nashville Rambler Ron Silva). Things would progress quickly in the ensuing months, with regular gigs in L.A. and quick trips to San Francisco (Lead singer/guitarist Javier Escovedo would later write "I was the only one who could drive and had to motor my station wagon from Chula Vista up to The City, play the show, then drive right back so Robert, Baba and Hector could attend school the next day".)

.

Their sound started to coalesce and by the time of their second 45, they had fully developed what would be the two sides of the band (on this record literally). While the B-side, "Beat Your Heart Out" showed their pop-influenced love song side, "Wild Weekend," the A-side, continued the theme of youthful defiance, with a stepped up pace and, lyrically, a line-drawing of the age card that ranks up there with the Who's "My Generation". The scene is set, on a Friday night, with the parents gone, a six pack of beer, and a girl:

.

Baby, baby, I can't let go,
We got the Seeds on the stereo,
If they walked in now,
Man, I'd get get hung,
but I don't care,
Fuck them, I'm young,

It gonna be a wild weekend,
and I just know it,
I'm feelin' crazy,
and I gotta show it.

It's 1:33 of unadulterated rock n' roll bliss, ending with a twelve second guitar solo straight out of the Johnny Thunders songbook. "Wild Weekend" was on my top ten list in Substitute (my short lived fanzine) in 1978 and it still ranks up there as one of my favorite songs of any era, thirty years later.

The Zeros on Sun Up: "Don't Push Me Around" and "Wimp" (and short interview) video here(Some faulty video until :28, but the clip is 7:14 long)

The Zeros - Wild Weekend and Beat Your Heart Out MP3s at Last Days of Man on Earth (Dig around on the Last Days site; there's a lot of good stuff)

The Zeros bio (by Javier Escovedo 1991) at the Mod Pop Punk Archives

WE'RE GOING TO TAKE A SHORT BREAK WHILE WE MOP UP GARY'S VOCAL CHORDS.

Frank Gutch gave me my first fix. He was the owner of Scratching the Surface, a record store that opened just as us knucklehead kids were getting our punk rock wings. Frank was slightly older than us and a long time record store employee cum music geek (and I mean that in a most complimentary tone). No ego whatsoever, he was council to those of us that were, in a matter of speaking, outgrowing Creem magazine. He was into all sorts of music and seemed to have a special fondness for overlooked bands (Big Star, the Flamin' Groovies, etc.). And he was a stealth ring leader as well, offering, by way of encouragement, a sort of DIY transfusion. Having just opened his own record store, he was the bearer of the "yeah, you should do it" attitude that was the catalyst that prompted not only the first punk show in San Diego, but the first punk zine as well.

The zine I speak of was Substitute, a thin (16 pages) fanzine I put out with my friend Jaccqui Ramirez. Frank, writing as Izen Timothy Zorr, was given a column to write about whatever he wanted, and in magazine that was very "now", he chose to write about the Northwest sound of the mid-late sixties. The Northwest sound, the garage era in particular, was one he championed all the time, even naming his column "Boss Hoss" after the song by the Sonics.

The Sonics - The Witch mp3 at The Culture of Me

All sorts of people contributed to early punk scenes, and while some contributions are apparent (and recognized), others are not. Amongst all the other ways Frank contributed to the early San Diego scene (and there's many more than listed), it was he who pushed the Wailers and the Sonics, absolute demi-gods of the Northwest sound, on us unsuspecting punk rock wannabees. And that is a long-winded way of saying, whenever I hear the Sonics, I think of Frank.

Which brings us to "Psycho." Listen to the whole thing or, better yet, consider it essential and download it. But do listen to the whole thing, particularly the fade out. See if you don't go running for a mop.

The Sonics - Psycho mp3 and Have Love Will Travel mp3 at Raven Sings the Blues

I KNOW JUST WHAT YOU KIDS NEED.

Though an introduction to the Monks may seem a little elementary to some, it may be a good time to reflect as, alas, Monk Time may be over (in a live sense anyway). Banjo thrasher Dave Day died on January 10, after touring as recently as last fall with the band.

The piece below is old, from 2000. I was asked to write for Woodstock.com about "..music the kids like, you know, like Limp Bizkit" (this was just after the third Woodstock festival in 1999, in which Limp Bizkit were featured). My sensibilities trashed, it left no question about what to turn in as my first paid piece ever: the profile below of the Monks. The writing's pretty bad, but it was written with the expectation of being rejected (which, surprisingly, it wasn't). I haven't changed a word.

Originally posted Woodstock.com on March 20, 2000:

Drawing disbelieving stares walking down the street. Attacked on stage. Simultaneously loved and hated. Playing short stripped down songs with few lyrics and no solos delivered raw, frantic, and venomous. It was punk rock, but it wasn't the Sex Pistols in 1977. Served up in 1965, in Germany by five Americans, it was the Monks.

Starting innocently enough as a few servicemen playing music for kicks, they evolved into punk rock pioneers without even knowing it. While stationed in Germany in 1964, Gary Burger, Larry Clark, Dave Day, Roger Johnston and Eddie Shaw began playing together as the Torquays. When their commitment to the Army was over, they were convinced that there were enough venues in Germany for them to continue playing there. They were one of a hoard of bands playing the same small clubs and beer halls. But playing Stones and Beatles covers (among others) started to wear thin. Something had to change. .

A combination of unrelated variables often breeds something unique. They knew little German, so they cut lyrics to a minimum. Having met not in a club, but in the Army, they all had different musical tastes. A new sound was in order. They substituted a six-string banjo (with makeshift pickups) for one of the guitars. To sound more primitive, they stripped the drummer of his cymbals, now relegated to use only for accents. Feedback was tossed in. They concentrated less on melodies and more on the beat.

The Monks - Monk Time mp3 (from The Rising Storm)

They were realistic enough to realize that life was more than love songs. They wrote a few sets worth of their own, with titles such as "Shut Up" and "I Hate You". After discarding Fried Potatoes and Molten Lead as names, they agreed upon the Monks. A Monk look was in order, so they shaved the top of their heads and wore all black, with ropes around their necks.

So they went about, playing clubs almost exclusively in Germany, with only a few dates outside the country (in Sweden). They were aggressive onstage. They caused unrest in the audience, sometimes inciting verbal and onstage attacks from both Germans and American GIs serving overseas.

They were signed to Polydor and released "Black Monk Time" (and the single "Complication" b/w Oh, How To Do Now") in 1966. Twelve demented originals, and no covers, it was the bulk of their material. Spit, rather than served, it was very unlike the hit records of the time. They continued to tour, now almost nightly, for a year and half. They were the Monks 24 hours a day. They released two more singles and bowed to pressures to conform to the mainstream, in Shaw's words "to join the rest of the human race". In 1967, before a planned tour of Hong Kong, Tokyo and other cities in the Far East, the touring took its toll. Band conflicts and infighting convinced them to throw in the towel. It was a couple of explosive years, one classic album, and then a burn out.

As rare it is, "Black Monk Time" on vinyl is now very sought after by record collectors. It was re-released in 1997, by Henry Rollins and Rick Rubin, on their Infinite Zero label. In late 1999, before a euphoric new fan base, the Monks reformed for two gigs, at Cavestomp, in New York City. (2000)

The Monks - Oh How To Do Now mp3 at The Pharmacy

NOTE: As of 1/2007 Black Monk Time is out of print as a domestic release and is available only as an import. It can be found through a link on The Monks Official Website.

Five O'Clock World

If their bio on Subpop's site is to be believed, Pissed Jeans are office zombies by day, wild men by night. It goes on about the "straight" world they inhabit during the day (one as an insurance claims adjuster another as an account manager), inferring that their co-workers are clueless about their night job as a band. Whether or not it was even relevant, but intrigued by their anti-social band name, I skipped right to the download.

.

It's a pretty mean racket. Imagine My War-era Greg Ginn (playing uncharacteristically sloppy), sitting in with Flipper, with Darby Crash singing. Derivative as hell, but considering that the source material is a few decades old, and that they do seem to have a good grasp on it, you have to give the the benefit of the doubt. After all, even if only for this one song, they made dirty noisy sloppy post-hardcore sludge that begs to be played loud. And it sticks in your head. That is a good thing. They should quit their day jobs.

.

Pissed Jeans - I've Still Got You (Ice Cream) MP3

Pissed Jeans rather lame band web page

Pissed Jeans' page at Subpop

Interview @ Blastitude.com

WHAT WE DO WAS SECRET

Photo: John Denny (Weirdos), Darby Crash (Germs) and Tomata du Plenty (Screamers) singing back-up vocals for Black Randy and the Metrosquad at the Masque, ca 1978. Original full size photo by Douglas Cavanaugh, can be found on Kristian Hoffman's site here.

The context in which the 77-78 era of California punk rock is experienced is everything. A lot of online sources get things a little skewed, some do a little research and get it right, and some "I was there" sites give interesting first-hand accounts.

One thing that needs to be remembered is, first and foremost, it was an full-on DIY phenomenon. People with little or no experience put out records and fanzines, and they were every bit as essential to the scenes as the bands were. There were no web pages, no MySpace, no Pro Tools, no mp3's or YouTube. Just scrappy kids that couldn't take the crap they were being fed any longer. Take DIY out of the equation, add thirty years and try not to choke on the words "punk's not dead."

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:

The Alley Cats-Nothin Means Nothing Anymore/Give Me a Little Pain (Dangerhouse) [1]

The Bags-Survive/Babylonian Gorgon (Dangerhouse) [2]

Black Randy & the Metrosquad-Trouble at the Cup/Loner With a Boner/Sperm Bank Baby(Dangerhouse) [2]

The Controllers-(The Original) Neutron Bomb (What Records) [2]

The Deadbeats-Kill the Hippies/Brainless/Final Ride/Deadbeat (Dangerhose) [4]
The Dils-Class War/Mr. Big (Dangerhouse) [2]

The Germs-Lexicon Devil/No God/Circle One (Slash) [2]

The Eyes-Don’t Talk To Me (What Records) [2]

The Skulls-Victims (What Records) [2]

The Weirdos-We Got the Neutron Bomb (Dangerhouse) [5]

The Zeros-Don't Push Me Around/Beat Your Heart Out/Hand Grenade Heart [Demo]/Cosmetic Couple [Demo] (Bomp) [3]
The hosts:
1. Good Bad Music For Bad, Bad Times
2. Killed By Death
3. Pop Zeus

4. Last Days of Man on Earth

5. Something I Learned Today

Compilations of Dangerhouse bands (and two Weirdos comps) are available at Frontier Records.

Recommended reading: "We Got the Neutron Bomb" by Brendan Mullen and Mark Spitz