old punks web zine

MP3 Blog Archives Page 1 (song links dead)

Entry Twenty-Six : 6/30/2007: It's Bad Drumming, But It's Good Bad Drumming

The Shaggs: "My Pal Foot Foot" (from Philosophy Of The World) 

Beat Happening: "Down At The Sea" (from Beat Happening) 

I was going to post two songs with great drumming, but as I was listening to Beat Happening The Shaggs came to mind. Since nothing's better than bad, and the baddest were The Shaggs, I had to post this first. The Shaggs! F-Yeah!!  They were naive, aboriginal American folk artists from the late '60s who unintentionally invented the lo-fi music that's been Beat Happening's Calvin Johnson's bread and butter for years. Read their history. It's fascinating. Heather Lewis is a better drummer than Helen Wiggin, but in these tracks not by much. She's not as bad, but not as good either. Beat Happening became better musicians down their road, but so did the Shaggs.

Here's Foot-foot itself: Are Beat Happening and The Shaggs both sexual references?

Entry Twenty-Five : 6/23/2007: Hypno Punko - The Muscial!

The Vindictives: "Medication Time" (from Hypno-Punko)

The Vindictives:  "I Will Not, Pt. 1 (section A and B)" (from Hypno-Punko)

I didn't buy The Vindictives' 2001 release Hypno-Punko because Party Time For Assholes had all 25 songs on a single track, so good luck finding their versions of "Money Changes Everything" and "Radio, Radio". When I first looked at the track listing for Hypno-Punko I expected more tomfoolery at my expense, and muttered "no thank you" to the disc in hand.

It wasn't until January, 2006 that I finally picked it up, and my gawd do I love it. From the get-go I saw it as a musical about singer Joey Vindictives' victorious battle against a series of illnesses that, if I remember correctly, turned his insides into jelly. Here's how I picture it, song by song, and I'd throw in a few tracks from The Many Moods Of The Vindictives like "Control Me", Dummy Room" and "Apt. #2" to add time length and story girth. Joey Vindictive narrates the show.

"Medication Time": Curtain opens. Joey and band are center stage and go straight into the song.

"I Will Not, Pt. 1 (Section A and B)": Bass line starts, Joey walks out front stage. Curtain closes. Joey gives opening monologue and song intro, going from talking to speaking the opening lines of the song. A bagpipe player comes out from the side and starts playing, eventually joined by the band. The curtain opens. Joey moves behind curtain line and sings.

"I Will Not, Pt. 1 (Section C)": Curtain closes. Electronic voice and live band heard in darkness for shortened length of one minute.

"Structure And Function": Joey enters from side of stage, provides monologue and song intro. Curtain opens and the band performs. At the end Joey steps up and curtain closes behind.

"Mom's Message, Pt. 1": Joey looks up with a strange smile while his Mom's first answering machine message plays from a single high speaker, either to the side of the stage or above the audience. Afterwards he says someone short like "That's my mom...... she means well."

"Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive": Monologue and intro required. Maybe acknowledge song is a cover written in the mid-40s. Curtain opens and band plays. At the end Joey moves forward and curtain closes.

"Another Bad Day, Pt. 2": Joey gives monologue and intro while stand-up piano is rolled out. Taped audience reaction should come from speakers surrounding the audience.

"I Will Not, Pt. 2": Band intro plays behind curtain as Joey gives monologue. Music eventually gets louder, curtain opens and band plays. Ending shortened.

"Stupid Song": Band waits while Joey gives short monologue and intro. Band plays. At end Joey moves up and curtain closes.

"More Than Nothing": Joey gives monologue. Acoustic guitarist comes out from side and joins in when Joey starts singing. At end both walk off stage left and right.

"I Will Not, Pt. 3": Curtain opens with only singers on stage, performing loud, amplified harmonies that shake room. Near closing Joey steps in front of closing curtain.

"First On The Block": Joey gives monologue and intro. Curtain opens and band performs. At end curtain closes and lights go out.

"Mom's Message, Pt. 2": Mom's second message plays in darkened room. Lights go up with Joey in from of curtain and gives monologue and intro.

"First On The Block": Curtain opens, Joey steps back and band plays.

"I Will Not, Pt. 4": Band goes immediately into song. At end curtain slowly closes and lights dim.

"Mom's Message, Pt. 3": This is actually track 15 but I moved it to the end. It should close the show. After she speaks the light come up.

Entry Twenty-Four: 6/16/2007: Hola, Yo Soy Kenji Sato

Adam and the Ants: "Puerto-Rican" (From Complete Radio One Recordings)

Manic Hispanic: "Bored With You Esse" (From The Recline Of Mexican Civilization)

The other day at work I was trying to remember an old Italian expression, and I realized I had no idea if anyone there was Italian. In New York every fifth person was a paisan. In the working-class Long Island town I grew up in most everyone was some kind of ethnic European: Jewish, Italian, Irish, Polish and a few Greeks to confuse the issue. Here in SoCal I see mostly Asians and Mexicans. NYC has a proud Puerto Rican tradition, and I always equated speaking Spanish to being Puerto Rican.

Adam Ant's career had been mostly a riches of embarrassment, from his glam period, to his puffy pirate shirt and Indian war paint phase, to his surreal love of self. I can handle some of his songs, including this early one called "Puerto Rican", which sounds pretty racist to these ears. Musically it's strong, and a nice change from Ant's usual smear of pap.

Manic Hispanic are a superior Spanglish punk cover super-group out of Costa Mesa, CA, and every song they tackle they reproduce with pinpoint sonic accuracy. They're also very funny. Their contribution is a Clash cover, for you newbies.

Entry Twenty-Three: 6/09/2007: The Lillingtons

The Lillingtons: "X-Ray Specs" (from Death By Television)

The Lillingtons: "Lillington High" (from S--t Out Of Luck)

NoWhere, Wyoming legends The Lillingtons have been my favorite pop-punk band since 1996, when Death By Television appeared on Lookout, after a series of 7"s and comp appearances.  A copy hasn't left my gym bag since, and it's always been there when I needed it most. I did remove the three songs influenced by Bad Religion, because the sound isn't The Lillingtons to me, and I also don't like political pedophile bands led by a heroin addict and a college professor who jerks off on-line for teenagers. I have a collection of Lillingtons snot-punk songs titled S--t Out Of Luck, a tour edition limited to 300 copies. The energetic "Lillington High" opens and the equally peppy "Hooked On You" closes. The rest is lyrically what they imagined The Queers were writing at the time. It's only ok.

Kody does something to and with his guitar that produces the best post-Ramones wall of sound I've ever heard. The chord changes mesmerize me. I saw them play twice and hung out with them both times. Nice guys.

Entry Twenty-Two: 6/02/2007: Beater Sold For Salvage: The It Sounds Like Lust For Life Edition

Red Lorry Yellow Lorry: "Walking On Your Hands" (from Paint Your Wagon)

The Fall: "Clasp Hands" (from Fall Heads Roll)

After nine years and 78,000 miles I sold my 750cc Honda Magna(not my bike! Mine lived outdoors) to a salvage yard for what it costs to buy 160 quarts of chocolate almond milk at Trader Joe's. Commuting fifty miles a day in SoCal is no joy ride, and I've lost count of how many times something bad almost happened. Once something did happen and I thought both my feet were broken. That was a fun day. I felt statistically my number was due to be called, and when it comes up at 75 mph that can't be good.

Until recently I liked to ask other riders what they feared most running over on the highway. Riding in the dark, if you're paying attention, you might have just enough time to say "Oh Sh..." before you fly over the handlebars. My fear was a cinder block. Someone ruined it by replying "I don't fear hitting anything. I'm afraid of getting hit by a car from behind." Thanks for that new fear!!

Entry Twenty-One: 5/26/2007: Cock Freaking Sparrer

Cock Sparrer: "Because You're Young" (from Bloody Minded)

Cock Sparrer: "Bats Out" (from Bloody Minded)

Until I discovered Cock Sparrer my favorite Oi band was The Business, whose sell-out move from Oi to Hardcore soured me on Mickey Fitz and the boys. Sparrer, arguably the first Oi band, are the most talented and least pretentious of the bunch. If Real to you is a combination of The Road Warrior and Trainspotting you might think otherwise, but to me Oi is working class punk from working class guys about working class life, from the comedic to the deadly serious, and there's no more real band than Cock Sparrer.

"Because You're Young" highlights their acute understanding of responsibility and introspection. "Bats Out" is a song devoid of responsibility and introspection, but it's funny and it gives these Pub Rockers turned Oi pioneers a chance to kick it olde skool! Sparrer didn't play in England for years because they didn't want violence at their shows. Compare that to the sad little death spiral of Sham 69.

I received a clarification of Cock Sparrer's name via e-mail by the band's guitarist. I'm still confused. Here 'tis:

Cheers for now
Micky Beaufoy
CockSParrer Guitars

Entry Twenty: 5/19/2007: I'm In A Band. Wrote A Song About It. Like To Hear It? Here It Goes!

Because it's Diecinueve De Mayo I've posted Two Of Two For Tuesday Saturday! Today's post is of bands who wrote about being in a band. Ray Davies covered it more often and better than anyone, so he leads with "Top Of The Pops" from The Kink's sweet 1970 Lola vs. the Powerman & the Money-Go-Round, Pt. 1. Ben Weasel recorded a cover of "Strangers" from this album. The Ramones combined a few of their hits and added some surf to the mix for "Touring", a hidden nugget from 1992's Mondo Bizarro. Stan Ridgway penned the most honest and complete band history yet for his 2004 comeback solo album Snakebite: Blacktop Ballads & Fugitive Songs. Lastly we revisit Men At Work with "Intro/Walk On Water". The intro is slow and quiet but the song is peppy and as catchy as a sack of fishing hooks.
 

The Kinks: "Top Of The Pops" (From Lola Vs. Powerman And The Money-Go-Round, Pt. 1)

The Ramones: "Touring" (From Mondo Bizarro)

Stan Ridgway: "Talkin' Wall Of Voodoo Blues, Pt. 1" (From Snakebite)

Men Without Hats: "Intro/Walk On Water" (From Pop Goes The World)

Entry Nineteen: 5/13/2007: Men Without Hats

"Concoricci (Le Tango Es Voleurs)" (From Rhythm Of Youth) Rogepost Easy Share

"Where Do The Boys Go" (From Folk Of The 80's) Rogepost Easy Share

Welcome, link-bangers from Something I Learned Today! You came seeking rare Scumfuk Slo-Core 7"s and all I offer you today are Canadian synth-poppers Men Without Hats. While I agree with SILT commenter Paul S., "Who hasn’t thought about gunning down innocent people & going to prison while beating off?", I'm feeling new wavy and happy today. The birds are singing, the Prozac's fresh and the voices are taking Sunday off. Let's puke rainbows together!

Thanks again, SILT visitors. Next week I'll post the rare wax recording of GG Allin giving his "My mind is a machine gun. My body is the bullet. The audience is the target." speech to the UN General Assembly.

Entry Eighteen: 5/5/2007: Devo + Dylan = Arcade Fire

+=

"It Doesn't Matter To Me" (From Now It Can Be Told)

"Maggie's Farm" (From Live At Budokan)

"Windowsill" (From Neon Bible)

[A third track breaks protocol but I'm proving a point] The first few times I listen to something I'm pretty good at figuring out what it reminds me of. In this case, the tune of The Arcade Fire's "Windowsill" sounds like Devo's "It Doesn't Matter To Me", while the lyrics follow Bob Dylan's "Maggie's Farm". This is my own brand of Math Rock.

Devo was the first new wave band in the (then) modern sense. They should have quit after New Traditionalists. Gerald Casale is the most impotently bitter person alive. Bob... Dylan... wrote propaganda songs. The Arcade Fire are loved by people who take themselves very seriously because the world is a very serious place, so you should take them seriously too, very. Neon Bible isn't as good as Funeral but their novelty is novel and I approve with a slight nod of my head.

Entry Seventeen: 4/28/2007: Nine Pound Hammer

Nine Pound Hammer: "Hayseed Timebomb" (from Hayseed Timebomb)

Nine Pound Hammer: "Rub Your Daddy's Lucky Belly" (from Kentucky Breakdown)

Scanning recent entries I figured I'd better post something super punky if I want to maintain my street cred with  Thu Kidz (TM oldpunksglobalcorp) as being Hard... To The Core!! (TM oldpunksglobalcorp). So, I reached for my hammer. My Nine Pound Hammer! (oh, snap!)

Kentucky natives Nine Pound Hammer are neither country punk nor cowpunk, they're hillbilly hardcore, and if they're not the boot-stompinist, poop-kickinist band ever to rise from The South, my name ain't Corpuscle Garbanzo! Holy crap are Nine Pound Hammer the real deal. 1995's Hayseed Timebomb is a flawless record, equal to The Lazy Cowgirls' Ragged Soul and Doo Rag's Chuncked and Muddled. Their songs are parody but you best not be laughing out of superiority, or else you won't be leaving a show in Owensboro on your two feet. The lyrics for "Rub Your Daddy's Lucky Belly" are below, and it tells you everything you need to know about Nine Pound Hammer. The chorus is the greatest thing I've ever heard.

Entry Sixteen: 4/21/2007: Inside The Killer's Mind

Harry Chapin: "Sniper" (From Sniper And Other Love Songs)

Peter Gabriel: "Family Snapshot" (From Peter Gabriel's third self-titled album)

For a good long time the world will collectively scratch both its head and ass trying to figure out why mass murderer Seung-Hui Cho shot and killed 32 people. I'm enraged when I read he himself became the 33rd victim when he blew off his own face. Cho's corpse should be dumped in a pit to be devoured by maggots. I really don't care if Cho was born defective or made that way by outside forces - all that matters is that people like him are recognized and stopped before they can act. I'm a huge advocate of Honorable Suicide, and it should be injected into the collective consciousness as a last ditch alternative for anyone looking to harm others.

University Of Texas shooter Charles Whitman has come up, which reminded me to post the best song ever on the topic, Harry Chapin's "Sniper" from 1972. Don't let Harry's sunny reputation fool you. Few chronicled the self-loathing lives of the self-destructive as he did. The lyrics are below, and if you read along while you listen to the song I swear you'll get a chill down your spine. Harry wasn't a punk but he was more punk then you'll ever be.

Peter Gabriel wrote an equally fascinating character study, in this case the same narcissistic psychoses that infected Seung-Hui Cho. "Family Snapshot", from 1980, is about Arthur Bremer, who shot Alabama Governor George Wallace in 1972. Bremmer timed the shooting to get as much publicity as possible, making sure he did it in time for the early news. Lyrics are below.

"Family Snapshot"

The streets are lined with camera crews
Everywhere he goes is news
Today is different
Today is not the same
Today I make the action
Take snapshot into the light, snapshot into the light
I'm shooting into the light

Four miles down the cavalcade moves on
Driving into the sun
If I worked it out right
They won't see me or the gun

Two miles to go, they're clearing the road
The cheering has really begun
I've got my radio
I can hear what's going on

I've been waiting for this
I have been waiting for this
All you people in TV land
I will wake up your empty shells
Peak-time viewing blown in a flash
As I burn into your memory cells
'Cos I'm alive

They're coming 'round the corner with the bikers at the front
I'm wiping the sweat from my eyes
-It's a matter of time
-It's a matter of will
And the governor's car is not far behind
He's not the one I've got in mind
'Cos there he is-the man of the hour, standing in the limousine
"I don't really hate you
-I don't care what you do
We were made for each other
-Me and you
I want to be somebody
-You were like that too
If you don't get given you learn to take
And I will take you."

Holding my breath
Release the catch
And I let the bullet fly

All turned quiet-I have been here before
Lonely boy hiding behind the front door
Friends have all gone home
There's my toy gun on the floor
Come back Mum and Dad
You're growing apart
You know that I'm growing up sad
I need some attention
I shoot into the light

Entry Fifteen: 4/14/2007: Space Cookie

Space Cookie: "Rina" (From Your CD Collection Still Sucks)

Space Cookie: "Come On Down" (From Your CD Collection Still Sucks)

By design there's not a lot of information on Athens, GA's Space Cookie, not to to be confused with the urban dictionary definition of "any baked good with delicious pot in it". "Chief" was the singer, guitarist and runner-into-oblivion of mid-90's label Reservation Records, who did manage to put out records by Nashville Pussy and The Lazy Cowgirls before expiring - you know - Youth In Asia.

I like that Space Cookie wrote songs that constantly revved themselves up with gyroscoping bursts of energy. Listening to them sometimes I felt like I was touching a fork to an electrical socket. Bands like Toxic Reasons and MDC can do the same thing. Your CD Collection Still Sucks compiled their three singles. Like Stan Lee says, Alka-Seltzer!

Entry Fourteen: 4/7/2007: I Found That Indifference Rare

Boyd Rice and Daniel Miller: "Cleanliness And Order" (From Dark Scratcher)

Dark Day: "No, Nothing, Never" (From Exterminating Angel)

Back in my yoot, circa 1978, there was a radio show from Hofstra University's WRHU-FM called "The Post-Punk Progressive Pop Party". I had no idea what they were playing but boy-o-boy was it way cooler than anything in my collection. I'd love to have some of their play lists to know what was going on. I do remember them playing songs with disaffected lyrics - cold as ice and dry as Death Valley. I'm thinking they had every No Wave and post-No Wave record there was.

These two songs feature female singers with the emotional range of a lobotomized lobster. According to Boyd Rice's website he might have also invented fire and toaster pastries. Daniel Miller was The Normal, The Silicon Teens and Mute Records, so you'll recognize his playing on "Cleanliness And Order".  R.L. Crutchfield was a staple in the No Wave movement, first with DNA and later with his own band, Dark Day. "No, Nothing Never" is the better track of the two, and I'm glad the sadly departed Post-Punk Junk Blog posted "Cleanliness And Order" so I could do this post today.

Entry Thirteen: 3/31/2007: Architecture And Mortality

OMD: "The New Stone Age" (from Architecture And Morality)

OMD: "Maid Of Orleans" (from Architecture And Morality)

OMD are back together and touring their great 1981 album Architecture and Morality in Europe. I caught the original US tour for this back around 1982, and it was one of the best shows I've ever seen. Their myspace page... whenever I think of "myspace" I think "teenage diary". Architecture And Morality was their third UK release and second in the US. It was not uncommon for American releases of UK bands to be a "best of " compilations of earlier albums.

Architecture and Morality was their crowning achievement - a perfect balance between their trademark catchy and simple melodies, and a deeper, richer pallete their first two records could only suggest. To toss in a random Bowie reference, this was their Scary Monsters. I titled this post "Architecture And Mortality" because it proves accurate my memories of OMD admitting they were over-commercializing their sound for easy cash. Today OMD is rightly or wrongly remembered as a synth-pop band who wrote disposable dance music, but up until 1983's Dazzle Ships they were an electronic new wave band even a punk could love. I know I did, and I have more punk in my nose hairs then you do in your entire spleen.

Check out how "The New Stone Age" is so noisy and busy . "Maid Of Orleans" is a waltz, and Malcolm Cooper on drums goes a bit nuts in the middle. Sweet!

Doesn't Andy McClusky look like demigod Bruce Campbell?

Entry Twelve: 3/24/2007: Run For Your Life!

The Sisters Of Mercy: "Temple Of Love (Extended Version)" (from comp. CD)

The Violators: "Gangland" (from The No Future Years)

In college I knew a hippie-jock girl who yelled "Run For Your Life!" to joggers from the passenger seat of my car. It was new-age inspiration that made people run into things. In 1998 I had L5S1 disc surgery, making walking awkward and running an impossibility. A few years ago I took up walking and one day strapped on light leg weights. Eventually I worked up to 25 lbs. strapped to each leg, walking up to five miles. It was dumb, fun times until my knees gave out. Thanks to time and the help of a body pillow, a lumbar pillow and natural anti-inflammatories I can run again - twice a week for five miles. Hooray for me.

When I walked I found a few good CDs that helped keep up my pace. Steely Dan always had the right beat, and I found Ben Weasel's Fidatevi CD helpful. With running The Ramones always have the right tempo, but the two songs above are presently the wind beneath my wings (oh god, kill me now).

The Sisters Of Mercy magically snagged Ofra Haza to sing on "Temple Of Love".

Starting in 1982 The Violators put out two singles and a twelve inch, finally compiled in 2005 by archival masters Captain Oi! My god, they have a myspace page. Alternately inspired by Killing Joke and Siouxsie And The Banshees, depending on who sang, The Violators had some decent songs both punk and post-punk. Comparisons to Vice Squad are also valid. "Gangland" was their masterpiece, an ode to The Warriors. It's the best Killing Joke song Killing Joke never wrote.

Entry Eleven: 3/17/2007: To Be, Or Not To Be, Emo

Seven Storey Mountain: "Sorry" (from Based On A True Storey EP)

Seven Storey Mountain: "Politician" (from Based On A True Storey EP)

I bought this Seven Storey Mountain EP from a tiny store hidden in an industrial park in Northern Virginia called Lumberjack Distribution. They were second wave from wall to wall. Seven Storey Mountain have most likely distanced themselves from the emo label now associated almost exclusively with mopey kids sporting looks combining goth and the traditional Japanese punk rock look.

These two tracks kick punk rock ass. Take a listen, won't you?

Entry Ten: 3/10/2007: Do You, Or Do You Not, Wanna Be A Homosexual?

Sloppy Seconds: "I Don't Wanna Be A Homosexual" (from 7")

Screeching Weasel: "I Wanna Be A Homosexual" (from the Pervo-Devo 7")

The Sloppy Seconds single came out in 1990, and it's a classic of the Cock Sparrer/The Professionals school of Johnny B. Punk. "I Don't Wanna Be A Homosexual" caused trouble on theme alone, but read the lyrics below and you'll see it's pretty tame and actually clever. It opens with a snippet of Edith Massey from Female Trouble. That's also below. Screeching Weasel responded the next year with "I Wanna Be A Homosexual", with a spoken intro by Bruce LaBruce. All later versions have the intro edited out. Ben Weasel made it seem he was offended by the Sloppy Seconds single, but years later he admitted he knew there was no offense and he just had a good song in his head. All's well that ends well. Ah....

Ida: Have you met any nice boys in the salon?
Gator: They’re all pretty nice.
Ida: I mean any nice queer boys— do you fool with any of them?
Gator: Aunt Ida, you know I dig women.
Ida: Oh, don’t tell me that...
Gator: Christ, let’s not go through this again...
Ida: All those beauticians, and you don’t have any boy dates?
Gator: I don’t want any boy dates!
Ida: Oh, honey, I’d be so happy if you turned nellie...
Gator: Ain’t no way; I’m straight. I like a lot of queers, but I don’t dig their equipment, you know? I like women!
Ida: But you could change! Queers are just better. I’d be so happy if you was a fag, and had a nice beautician boyfriend... I’d never have to worry.
Gator: There ain’t nothing to worry about.
Ida: I worry that you’ll work in an office! Have children! Celebrate wedding anniversaries! The world of heterosexual is a sick and boring life!
 

Sloppy Seconds "I Don't Wanna Be A Homosexual"

People are telling me
That I'm missing out on the fun
'Cause I don't go anywhere
And I don't meet anyone

But I know how rumors fly
When you're a lonely guy
And I'm here to tell you it's a lie

There's strange things going on
At night most everywhere
You know those places well
And you've never seen me there

I walk by other men
And I don't notice them
But then those rumors start again

So I'm gonna tell the world
I don't wanna be a homosexual
I'm gonna find a girl
'Cause I don't wanna be a homosexual
I guess that it's okay
If other guys are gay
But my hormones are one-directional
And I don't wanna be a homosexual

Somebody tell me what I did to start this talk
Is it the way I look; is it the way I walk?

Is it the clothes I wear
That make the people stare?
Is it the way I comb my hair?

I'm only hoping maybe there will come a day
When I can make them understand that I'm not gay

But till that day is here
I guess I'll live in fear
And I curse the day I pierced my ear

There's nothing wrong with me
I don't wanna be a homosexual
Know what I want to be
And I don't wanna be a homosexual

Soft boys and closet queens
Think Judy Garland's keen
But I don't think she's nothing special
And I don't wanna be a homosexual

So now I'm wondering if maybe they're not right
I've gone all paranoid and I can't sleep at night

I went to see the shrink
What did the doctor think?
I swear to God I saw him wink

I pray that I am wrong
I don't wanna be a homosexual
Why did I write this song
If I don't wanna be a homosexual?

I hope it's not too late
For them to set me straight
I'm gonna see a real professional
'Cause I don't wanna be a homosexual

No
No, no, no, no
No, no, no, no, no
No, no, no, no, no, no

I don't wanna be a homosexual . . .

I don't wanna go with guys named Seamus
I don't wanna be rich and famous
I don't wanna go to a French art festival
I don't wannt be a homosexual

I guess that it's okay
If other guys are gay

Entry Ten: 3/03/2007: Leatherface: The Band, Not The Fat Guy With Bad Skin. OK, The Band With The Fat Guy With The Bad Skin.

Leatherface: "Springtime" (from Mush)

Leatherface: "Diddly Squat" (from Dog Disco)

Leatherface has been my favorite band for a dozen years now. They took whatever it is I loved about Husker Du and revved it up a few notches with two lead guitars that alternate between lead and chords, and between playing together and flying off in other directions. Frankie Stubb's gruff voice, a love or hate thing I'll admit, sings sentimental lyrics with the toughness of Fedor Emelianenko and the sincerity of a friendly barfly with only a life of disappointment and regret to look back on. Whatever genre they belong to is the one they created. Mush came out in 1992.

"Springtime" is an ode to the inner child. "Diddly Squat", possibly an unintended sequel, came out in 1994. Before you listen to "Springtime", read the lyrics and imagine what the song must sound like. You'll be wrong. "Diddly Squat" references an old adage: "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things". Stubb's sings “And for years I've tried to see the world as a child/And now I see a child as the world.”

 SPRINGTIME (Hammond/Stubbs)

There's a little bit of springtime in the back of my mind,
That remembers when there was a time
when we danced and laughed an spent some time drinking wine,
and somewhere in there,
There's a little child without a thought,
without a doubt that every cloud is silver lined.
He is warm and everything is new,
and everything is clean and everything is free
and there were still so many things to see.
So many things still left to be.
You're a very small drop in the middle of a big sea
of high and mighty things.
Your fascination for larger than life,
Your brand new appetite, as though we'd invented it.
We danced.
There's a little bit of springtime in the back of my mind,
That remembers things, perhaps as they should've been,
rather than lies, rather than the cruelty,
That sometimes we were guilty of and as everyone knows,
We were only young and really couldn't have known.
We were very young and it's nice to know there's a place to go
and still so many things left to see.
You're a drop in the middle of a big sea of high and mighty things.
Your fascination for larger than life,
Your brand new appetite.
As though we'd invented it.
We danced.
It could be the longest time and I'll remember it.
You don't know what's in store, when we laugh.
 

Entry Nine: 2/24/2007: Iggy Pop Can't Pronounce Baccaruda

The Barracudas: "Summer Fun" (from Drop Out)

Teddybears: "Punkrocker" (from Soft Machine)

The Barracudas scored #37 on the UK charts in 1980 with "Summer Fun", which starts with a classic car ad:

Announcer: I'm a Plymouth dealer. I'm a dealin' man, and right now I'm giving the best deal ever on that fast moving fastback the Plymouth Baccaruda.
Beatnik: Hey man, the name of the Plymouth fastback is the Barracuda.
Announcer: I know ... I can't pronounce Baccaruda.
Beatnik: Oh well, look man, try this ... Say Ba
Announcer: Ba
Beatnik: Ra
Announcer: Ra
Beatnik: Cu
Announcer: Cu
Beatnik: Da
Announcer: Da
Beatnik: Now put it all together!!
Announcer: BA-BA-RA-BA-CU-CU-DA-DA!
Beatnik: Well, it ain't Barracuda, man, but I think we got a hit record!!

I regularly drop in at Jay Leno's Garage to see his 350hp jet motorcycle and other insane vehicles he restores for fun. Before the videos the site often feeds a short commercial for Cadillac, and the singer sounds like Iggy Pop, but he's singing:

And I'm thinking, how cheesy is it to sing "I'm a Punkrocker". Well, that is Iggy Pop singing, so it's not cheesy. Crap, he's the only person who can sing that lyric and get away with it. Godzilla is King Of The Monsters, Muhammad Ali is The Greatest, and Iggy Pop is a Punk Rocker. We hold these truths to be self-evident. You can watch Iggy here in the video, looking good for a mummy with Peggy Lipton's hair.
 

Entry Eight: 2/17/2007: Ben Deily, From Lemonhead To Pod To Varsity Drag

The Pods: "Blackout" (from Where I'm Calling From)

The Pods: "Bleeding" (from Where I'm Calling From)

I had nothing against Evan Dando until I saw The Lemonheads around 1989. Ben Deily was out of the band and the show sucked, as it might as well have been The Evan Dando "I'm So Pretty" Tour. I don't know why Ben left. He dropped out for a while, coming back with his brother in The Pods, a fine yet short lived project. I swapped e-mails with him in the late '90s and Ben was circumspect on the matter. Listen to "Name In Vain" on this page and it's obvious Ben was devastated. Today he claims nothing bad happened and he's still best friends with Evan. As a practicing Buddhist this may be how Ben dealt with it. In the interim Ben became an award winning advertising creative type and formed a new band, Varsity Drag. It's all here at the funny and informative bendeily.com.

When I used to watch Conan O'Brien every night I would sometimes imagine a band I liked becoming famous after appearing on his show, thinking all it took was one such break to make things happen. I thought either "Blackout" or "Bleeding" would have killed. Wait for the strings to kick in on "Blackout", and then when the guitar roars at the end like a jet engine....oh, man. On "Bleeding" both the song and band take on huge proportions. The piano, strings and percussion are perfect together. No two songs I own soar as much as these two, and to me they are perfect compositions.

Entry Seven: 2/10/2007: The Two Great (Unintentional) Straight Edge Neo-con Anthems

7 Seconds: "Racism Sucks" (from Skins, Brains & Guts EP)

Minor Threat: "Guilty Of Being White" (from Discography CD)

Kevin Seconds has a blog, a radio show, runs a coffee shop and still performs as a solo act. "Racism Sucks" from the 1982 EP strikes a blow against the politically correct assumption that minorities are incapable of their own racism. Dig the great Chuck Berry wig-out near the end. Here's the offensive neo-conlicious lyrics, "Some black folks call the white race scum, 'cos they think we are the only ones / Who only live in prejudice, while a lot of those blacks live just the same / Do you really judge a man, by the color of his skin / You got the color, you got no right, to f--k up everybody else's life / Racism Sucks..."

Entry Six: 2/3/2007: Tesco Vee's Son Reveals His Pop's New Secret Location

Tesco Vee's Hate Police: "Divide And Conquer" (from Gonzo-Hate-Vibe)

Tesco Vee's Hate Police: "Jeff Boy R Dee" (from Gonzo-Hate-Vibe)

The son of The Meatmen's Tesco Vee created a myspace page for his sperm donor, which brings a tear to my eye as I pick up the phone to call Social Services. The Vermeulen family moved back to Michigan where eons ago Tesco put out the Touch & Go fanzine and planted some of the seed money that started the label of the same name. I met Tesco in the mid-'90s at a show in Baltimore and was invited to his annual Halloween party. Tesco proudly showed me his toy collection, his prize possession a rare, oversized Beverly Hillbillies truck. Later he opened a toy and junk store in a converted house in Maryland.

"Divide and Conquer" is a lighter look at pedophilia while "Jeff Boy R Dee" answers the age old question of how Tesco would change the lyrics of "Yummy Yummy Yummy" to be about Jeffrey Dahmer. For a while he sold Jeffrey Dahmer-themed chef's aprons. Dahmer wrote a country song - "Shaky Bakey Heart".

Entry Five: 1/27/2007: Women Around The World Of My Work (Working, Working)

The Queers: "Janelle, Janelle" (from Don't Back Down)

The Methadones: "Annie" (from Not Economically Viable)

Janell works at my day job, toiling in dealer incentives. She sits a foot from John and they synchronize data on computers so it looks like they're competing at a computer game. I burned her a copy of The Queer's "Janelle, Janelle" because it's her name in a song -- except for the extraneous "e". Two years later the disk still sits in her drawer, unheard. The Queer's at their poppiest, Beach Boys best.

Annie fixes our Xerox color copiers and is about the sweetest person around. There's a few great songs with Annie in the title but I chose The Methadones', whose members have come from every part of the Screeching Weasel family tree. Their third CD moved away from a Bad Religion vibe to an energetic power pop 90% The Parasites and 10% Sludgeworth. The CD is supposed to be based on the film Falling Down, but if you can hear a unifying theme or concept in the songs you're a better person than I am.

Entry Four: 1/20/2007: Mission Of Burma. Why'd You Have To Come Back And Ruin Everything.

Mission Of Burma: "Progress" (from Vs.)

Mission Of Burma: "Birthday" (from The Obliterati)

Mission Of Burma have a website where you can order a "No New McCarthy Era" mug. In a 2004 Spin interview, Roger Miller explains (italics mine), "We have a banner that we hang in front of the drum kit that says 'No New McCarthy Era', because we're basically in a McCarthy-era situation. We have a right wing administration feeding our fears. Now it's not Communists, it's Arab terrorists. But we're not a political band." If I had that mug I could have done a great spit-take with it while reading the last line. Oh, I imagine Mission Of Burma is as political as a band can be.

I myself sell mugs that read "No More Sarbanes-Oxley". I sat through a long, boring meeting on the subject at work and I never want to do that again.

Entry Three: 1/13/2007: The Single Cassette Theory Of Music Appreciation

They Might Be Giants: "Ana Ng" (from Lincoln)

Justin Hinds and The Dominoes: "Rub Up, Push Up" (from Club Ska '67)

In Gigantic, a 30 minute reach-around expanded to 104 for theatrical release, singer Frank Black (Lance Henriksen's namesake in Millennium) admits he didn't learn to love They Might Be Giants until he was forced to repeatedly listen to the only cassette in his car - They Might Be Giants. I was in the same boat with 1989's Lincoln, which is just as good as their 1986 debut. I liked them until I learned to love them this way.

I became a second wave British ska fanatic when The Specials et al. broke in 1979, but Jamaican first wave left me cold because all I was hearing were generic instrumentals that made me think everyone was exhausted. Third wave ska did little more than give high school band geeks something to do on weekends. I tripped over a few first wave $1.99 cassettes from Island Records, and with time I came to love this more than breathing.  There's no happier music than ska. I scat to with the opening of  "Rub Up, Push Up", then dance sitting my car.

Entry Two: 1/6/07: The Ugly Elf Mumbles Ulysses

The Fall: "Blindness" (from Fall Heads Roll)

The Fall: "Boxoctosis" (from The Real New Fall)

The ugly stick that beat Mark E. Smith was a petrified Sequoia

The Fall - punk's most prolific with the genre's most obsessive fans. The list of Fall compilations equals their endless stream of live and studio albums. New band members are probably given a variation on Marty McFly's "This is a blues riff in B, watch for the changes and try to keep up", except Smith's mumbling snippets of his  incoherent poetry slam epic tale of god knows what. Periodic "comeback" records are the ones that only repeat themselves 40%. On the whole it's the same idea being attacked at different angles, but it works on many levels and when they hit a variation that works it does so beautifully. "Blindness" was used in a Mitsubishi car ad, making me think the apocalypse truly was nigh. "Boxoctosis" has a few words you can actually sing along with.

Entry One: 1/1/07: First Things First

David Bowie: "Hang Onto Yourself" (from Ziggy Stardust)

Ramones: "I Don't Want To Go Down To The Basement" (demo)

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