Halloween is cool and all... always good to see devils and the usual shit... but sometimes you just need to see some fucked up shit to make it all worthwhile. Our very own sir shanksalot with his devil-giving-birth-to-sarah-palin outfit. Seriously fucked up shit...
I have an Amebix tattoo... not that I like them THAT much - I just like the 'No Gods, No Masters' thing.... I was a fan in the 80's tho. Rumors are flying that they are reforming..... would I go see 'em? probably. Heres a dodgy you tube vid of 'Arise'..., and also an epic interview with them and Disorder in a squat... punk rock!!
The sixth annual Bike Kill (aka Bike Kill 666) took place in Brooklyn yesterday, with bicycle clubs--or gangs, if you will--getting together for various events, including tall bike jousting and six-pack drinking contests. Jim Kiernan was on the scene, and noted the apocalyptic names of the clubs, like Black Label Bike Club, Cutthroats Bike Club, Skidmarxxx, Rogue Bike Club, Rat Patrol: "Lots of facial/head/neck & hand tattoos, fistfights, LOTS of public drinking and a fair amount of fireworks and illicit chemicals thrown in for good measure."
Bed-Stuy Banana assessed, "Despite the gale force winds and misty rains, there was the usual large turn out of freaks, geeks, kids, punks, drunks, and bicycle fanatics. The wide selection of wheel chairs were mostly unused, which means either people hadn't drank enough beer or they'd been incredibly lucky."
Revered post-punk act The Nightingales formed in 1979 out of the ashes of The Prefects, one of Birmingham's original punk bands. Despite opening for the Buzzcocks, the Clash, Subway Sect, etc the Prefects' total recorded output amounted to two Peel Sessions (released posthumously). The Nightingales fared better, releasing three albums and close to a dozen EPs during the 80s, as well as recording umpteen further Peel Sessions. Singer Robert Lloyd reformed the band a few years ago and they released the Out Of True album in 2006. It was so good it made my MRR year-end top 10. For a band to reform and actually improve on its earlier output is a rare thing indeed. The Nightingales have yet another new record out this year and are touring in the US. They're playing in San Francisco soon (yeah my band is opening but I had planned this post before I found that out) so get excited.
Local hero of mine Mike Giant moved back to town - the dude is a graf/tattoo legend who has moved onto the finer arts but continues to push things forward. One of my gig regrets is not getting tattooed by him while he was still slinging ink. He has a an amazing show up at white walls gallery in SF right now. Welcome back Mike!!
I dig the Cro Mags good enough, but didn't think I'd be too into reading John Joseph's autobiography. Wrong. A great read front to back.... I've sent this out to folks who couldn't give two fucks about the hardcore scene.... it's just a great read. The dude is a legend.
Footage from SMA's 1991 video debunker featuring 2 of my all time favorite Santa Cruz Skaters, Corey Chrysler and Nick Foster. Not shown here, but after their part, there's a short segment of the popo arresting a few skaters. One of those is an old friend and a snippit from the newspaper is below.
There were many memorable moments on the Airfix Kits/Young Offenders Portland mini-tour. Hanging out with Fred the Barber was great. Losing an improperly dressed Northhampton Steve for two days was classic. I did enjoy listening to him ramble on about not bringing a jacket out of principle that his new one had just been stolen right before we left. But the absolute highlight for me was running into the infamous skater Pat Quirk. The Q-Man showed up to see Pete the Ox drum for the Young Offenders. Luckily, someone had a camera.
For the uninitiated, here's an interview with the Q-Man where he encourages us all to "Join the Skate Army"
The year was 1987. Wedged in between the Pogues and Davy D, Journeyman John Peel was bringing unsuspecting Englishmen another nugget of hardcore by way of the almighty Cro-Mags.
PS. If you're interested in some great toliet reading of the pulp non-fiction variety, Brooksy and I would both recommend picking up John Joseph's biography entitled The Evolution Of A Cro-Magnon. You will not be dissapointed.
The most money I paid for a record was for the French version of 'A Taste Of Pink' by UK band the Prisoners. It's impossible to fit this band neatly into any one genre....sure they were lauded by the mod revivalists, the Medway garage heads dug 'em and band like the Charlatans and Kula Shaker just stole riffs from them. They dressed like mods, and also Star Trek (?...see video above) The band played little clubs with bands like Thee Milkshakes, yet had a cleaner, crisper more evolved sound. The band's lineup was: Graham Day (vocals and guitar), Jamie/James Taylor (hammond organ), Allan Crockford (bass) and Johnny Symons (drums). The band release four great albums, although their fourth 'In From The Cold' they have disowned due to fancy production (it's still a great record, even with all the horns). The band split in '86, although did one or two gigs in the 90's. Since splitting up the members of The Prisoners have featured in a wide range of bands. James Taylor and Allan Crockford formed mainstream jazz funk band the James Taylor Quartet in 1986, although Allan Crockford is no longer part of their line-up. The Solarflares, who released four albums before splitting up in 2004, were Graham Day and Allan Crockford basically reprising The Prisoners sound along with drummer Simon "Wolf" Howard and Mr Parsley on organ. Other bands who have featured former members of The Prisoners are Planet, The Buff Medways, The Prime Movers, Thee Mighty Caesars and The Stabilisers . Presently Day fronts Graham Day & the Gaolers, who released their first album, Soundtrack to the Daily Grind, in November 2007 and another this year. I love this band like a child of my own....you should too....
It doesn't get much more fruity than Adam And The Ants...and I know all the cool kids talk about 'Dirk Wheres White Sox', but 'Kings Of The Wild Frontier' is the jam. The b-sides of that era still stand the test of time (Beat My Guest, Fall in). When I was a kid EVERYONE liked him, me and my mate James Thomas got sent to the headmaster for singing the song 'Sex'. Years later, when Adam Ant got into acting he was at my school with the Royal Shakespeare company and we yelled "Adam Ant' at him, and he replied 'it's Stuart Goddard'...whatever mate, always Adam Ant to me. He got fat and went mental and threatened people in the pub with a gun a while back which is a a bummer...but the vids are still there....
I don't hold too much sway to what the bespeckaled garage rock record nerd tweakers are salivatiing over, a lot of it is super lo-fi weirdo rock that I can't dig. I heard a lot of bleating about Eddie Current Suppression Ring from Australia, but couldn't find the goddamn records - but then Goner released their LP 'Primary Colors' domestically. This record has totally side-swiped me - since picking up in Portland last week I have listened to it almost constantly. I have always been a fan of Oz rock, from ACDC (who are still my favorite band...more on them soon), through Rose Tattoo, Saints then the tweaked murder punk of Razar, News, Thought Criminals etc. The Suppression Ring take elements of all the above and mix it with the Fall and Velvet Underground. This shit is punk as fuck but has a stoned darkness that has me hitting the repeat button. As with most Oz bands they look like a bunch of geezers down the pub. Check the 'Which Way To Go' video of them at the beach. Genius.
The other day I talked my mate Jason into parting with cash for one of my all time fave albums by the Night Kings. It came out in 1992 on Steve Turner from Mudhoney's super electro label. I never hear a peep about them but the whole album is sheer class. From Seattle and fronted by Rob Vasquez who had previously done time in the Night and Days, the band released a few 7"s (one or 2 on Subpop), then the LP 'Increase Our High' which for me is the jam. Less full throttle than some of the earlier Seattle bands they had a larconic almost stoner sound mixed with some 60's jangle which was totally unique. Maybe it was the time in my life when the LP came around, but I still feel good when this hits the turntable.... Night Kings - We're The Party
No posts for almost a week due to the Northwest blow out that has left you B&M crew battle torn and broken. Thanks Portland you were great, especially Fred The Barber, Ken Dirtnap, Mike Napkin, The Ranch and the East End. Thanks to everyone who came - I'm sure we'll cover some more Portland ground, but I for one was just blown away by the record stores, we only hit about 4, but they were all fantastic staffed by lovely folk and jammed packed full of great records. I spotted both of the Zambian psych records I talked about a few weeks back. One of my fave stores was Exiled Records on Hawthorn, packed full of obscure goodness and with a true fan behind the counter. A couple of us walked away with the record the dude was playing while we shopped - The Clean - Compilation LP. It seems everyone else was hip to this band except me....my loss. Amazing Indie punk from New Zealand circa 83...the missing link between the Wedding Present, The Fall and C86. The Clean were an influential first-wave punk band that formed in Dunedin, New Zealand in 1978. Led through a number of early rotating line-ups by brothers Hamish and David Kilgour, the band settled down to the well-known line-up with bassist Robert Scott. Early incarnations of the Clean included Peter Gutteridge on bass (who wrote "Point That Thing"), Doug Hood on vocals (who later worked with Toy Love and founded the "Looney Tours" touring company). The Clean soon forged a distinctive and quirky sound that relied heavily on organ melodies and simple, Ramones-style chord progressions. In 1981, a fan of the Clean founded the Flying Nun label to release their first single, "Tally Ho." A follow-up track off one of their early EPs, "Beatnik", also achieved success, as did the second single, "Getting Older". The Flying Nun label went on to be New Zealand's biggest independent record company, championing the Dunedin Sound, a loosely-connected style of music largely produced by bands from this southern city. Others artists on the label included The Chills, The Verlaines, The Bats, and Sneaky Feelings. The line-ups of these bands were often interrelated, with Peter Gutteridge being a founding member of the Chills, David Kilgour briefly in the Chills off-shoot band Time Flies, and Robert Scott being the founder of The Bats. During much of the 1980s, the Clean disbanded, and during this time the Kilgour brothers worked together on an experimental album and ep using the deliberately punning titles "The Great Unwashed" and "Clean Out Of Our Minds". Reforming in the late 1980s, the band explored a slightly poppier vein of music while still retaining their experimental edge. Although they released several chart-topping singles in their native country, the Clean are a little-known cult band outside of New Zealand, although their influence is surprisingly far-reaching. The Clean continue to produce music, with Flying Nun recently issuing a comprehensive collection of their previously hard-to-find singles. Output from the band has been sporadic over the years, with members involved in other projects and Hamish Kilgour living in New York. Other projects involving members of the band include The Bats and The Magick Heads (Scott), Stephen, The Heavy Eights (David Kilgour), and The Mad Scene (Hamish Kilgour). In June 2008 a live album recorded during the 2007 New Zealand tour, was released in New Zealand on Arch Hill Records, entitled 'Mashed'. The Clean are now putting the finishing touches to their new studio album, to be released later this year, also on Arch Hill. I will now be tracking down all their recorded output...thanks Exiled!
All this talk about Portland made me dig out my Wipers records,....jesus what a band! Here is a excerpt from a doc about Portland with the Wipers doing over the edge, as well as a bunch of Portland heads talking about how important they were...
More than half of the posters on this blog will be travelling up to Portland Or for the weekend this week to play some shows, buy some records and drink some booze. Portland has always had a stellar music legacy - Wipers, Dead Moon and of course Poison Idea. I was lucky enough to see Poison Idea in the 80's when they toured the UK and tore the place apart. I remember Pig Champion taking a cab down the street to the takeout place and later drinking a whole bottle of vodka in one go. There was no stage at TJs in Newport and the place was jammed, Jerry A held the crowd back on his own, standing a head above the crowd. At one point some skinhead got out of line so Jerry picked him up by the neck headbutted him then chased him outside. Legends. Here are the boys in their hometown doing Marked For Life.
