DIS-

If you've read the comments prompted by my last post on the Raymond Brake, then you're anxious or curious about a band called Dis-. Here's the post I promised on their The Historically Troubled Third Album, released in 1996 on Sonic Bubblegum/Cargo Records.

Want some notes? I pulled this from the My Pal God Records website:

Dis- was a rock trio from Milwaukee, Wisconsin that broke up suddenly after the release of this record, their third. The Cd version of this record was released on Sonic Bubblegum and the covers were lovingly printed at Third Termite Press. This was the only Dis- record released in Lp format, after two Cds for Twelve Inch records. These days, Chris Fuller is a member of Sixto with Chris Manfrin and Craig Hutler of Travis.

"The Historically Troubled Third Album" was without a doubt the strongest and most interesting Dis- album, and it is a shame that things had to end for Dis- right in the middle of a period of time where they were becoming something very unique and compelling.

Here's a zip of the album.

And here's a link to a Myspace page a fan made for the band.

TITLE: The Historically Troubled Third Album
LABEL: Cargo/Sonic Bubblegum
YEAR: 1996
TRACKS:
I'm Not Sagan
The Day We Danced In Your Swimsuit
Werewolves
Do All the Good Ones Have Muslim Names?
Hamartia, My Ass
Before Her Reformation
You May Get All the Ladies But I Got My Shit Together
Archivist of Smoke
West Allis Book of the Dead
Another Friend You Fuck
Here's To Evil, Clink
Please Stop Blaming Your Personal Problems On Films

THE RAYMOND BRAKE

I got a couple emails (and a word in the comment box) after my last post regarding a band thrown in the mix: The Raymond Brake, and rightly so: they're swell.

Funny thing is, as someone in the comments section pointed out, not a heapin' helpin' of folk know much about them, even in the band's home state of NC, and I should know because it's my home state as well. Shame, too, because all the scragglies still touting Polvo and Archers and the Grifters and such (all grand inspirations to the RB) should be touting the Raymond Brake also. Their second and final full-length, Piles of Dirty Winters, is proof to outrun the other should've-beens.

They were still youngins, barely of consumption age, as they penned this warm nugget in 1995. Maybe such is to account for the songs' summery vibe and fearlessness of being catchy and straight-on, which the art-urged adults (and in some instances the portending youths) run from. The RB were working with a sincere, natural leg-up.

And...well hey, screw it. The music is a helluva a lot more effective than my babble so get into this zip file of the album, and support its label, Simple Machines.

UBF'S BOMBASTIC INDIE SWIRL

I feel like you and I are on the same page with a few things. Like indie rock. Can we talk about this? When I thinka 'indie rock,' it ain't the Shins, Arcade Fire or the Decemberists that strike me. It may a lot of folks, but not me. Ya know? I think of a different kind of sound; the kind you were likely to pick off the 'alternative' rack of tapes at that musty store near the college with the Tullycraft and GBV decorations slapped about its walls; a bunch of snide-named bands on shoestring labels with noisy demeanors and knotty tones; the kind of bands the leather-jacketed punks made fun of you for digging; the bands whose members probably had a better grip on punk rock than the attention hounds in spikes. And look, I'm really trying not to come off as being totally pansified or Spin-esquely stupid or a college snob (I graduated long ago!). Heck, a lotta you might hate this stuff. But I just got to thinking about it all the other night after hearing again and again about my town's "DJ" situation, them spinning "only the best indie rock around," completely devoid of any such historical knowledge, which may or may not be all that important in the grande scheme, but if you're gonna flaunt your indie status, c'mon, scratch my back while you're at it. It all just made me long for, say, the potent era that was the early to mid '90s.

So I made a minor mix of faves sized to fill up a CD-R. This IS NOT intended to showcase under-under-underground obscurities you've never heard of; most of what's included had a place in many an indie fan's collection. For those less initiated, I guess this is a good primer. If anything seems suspicious or un-indie by your standards (i.e. the presence of Damien Lovelock), well, don't complain; you should concentrate on what you're having for dinner tonight. Burn this one to disc and have a nice car ride with it on your way to Taceau Belle.

I stuffed it into a zip file for you. The track sequence is below.

Monsterland - Insulation [from Destroy What You Love (Seed, 1993)]
Ashley Stove - Duckwriter [from Four Finger Moon (Jesus Christ, 1995)]
Vitapup - Fuck My Head [from s/t 7" (Mute America, 1995)]
Noise Addict - Brinsley [from Meet the Real You (Grand Royal, 1996)]
Bailter Space - Shield [from Capsul (Turnbuckle, 1997)]
Vitreous Humor - Applaud Water [from The Vitreous Humor Self-Titled EP (Crank!, 1995)]
3Ds - Grimace [from Swarthy Songs For Swabs (First Warning, 1991)]
Small (23) - Recharged [from True Zero Hook (Alias, 1993)]
Smudge - Ingrown [from Manilow (Shake, 1994)]
Raymond Brake - Philistine [from Piles of Dirty Winters (Simple Machines, 1995)]
Goodbye, Blue Monday - Chicago Coin [from s/t 7" (Spectra Sonic Sound/File 13, 1996)]
Pitchblende - Sawed Off City [from Kill Atom Smasher (Fist Puppet, 1993)]
Flower - Spiral [from Concrete (Bear, 1988)]
Polvo - Bend or Break [from Cor Crane Secret (Merge, 1992)]
Small (23) - Toastmaster [from Chin Music (Alias, 1994)]
Damien Lovelock - Ghost Town [from Survival of the Fittest compilation (Rykodisc, 1990)]
Superchunk - Swallow That [from On the Mouth (Matador, 1993)]

Ooh! And not 'til afterward did I realize how moody this mix is. Ooh!

COMPILATION DAY!

Uh huh. Three 7" comps means a whole lotta music for your wantin' ear holes, and you're getting such a stack of fine, fine favorites (of mine) from the early-to-mid '90s four-track machine era. In other words, this is to be a good post.

Do the reading and at the bottom of the post you'll find a link to a zip file with the three records discussed.

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FIRST LAST
(Chumpire, 1996)

I really hope Greg from Chumpire doesn't mind me posting his releases, because I do it out of total fondness. He's issued some of the best mid-'90s low-rent scream punk I have in my collection, much of the sound falling in with the greats of my neighborhood, such as Assfactor 4, Unherd, Action Patrol and Cornelius.

In 1996, he released a comp of recordings from the Chumpire stable (based in PA), most of them carrying a 1994 copyright. Between the four bands present--Chase Squad, Kline's Island, Burning Ambitions and the legendary OX--there's definitely a puissance far above-average for the day, and the consistency of this comp (or anything on Chumpire) makes it one of awesome-ass note.

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THE 26TH
(Council Records, 1995)

Here's a Michigan-based comp with five oh-so Michigan-sounding bands. The little towns of MI, notably Kalamazoo, really had a moment in the mid-'90s and there's no denying there was a specific vibe and quality surrounding its noisemakers. The stuff was moody but inspired enough to come off with more authenticity than any dipshit nu-emo group running their mouths today. This, the Michigan collective of '95 and around it, was the good stuff

Constatine Sankathi might've been the most prized of these bands, followed closely by Ordination of Aaron and Current. One of the scene's biggest herders was Council Records, who until 2005 was still releasing material. But it couldn't beat its golden age, characterized by the aforesaid and others featured on a comp called The 26th. It bears my favorite squealer of the Constatine Sankathi catalogue. And if you want the sorta 'defining' example of the 'mid '90s Michigan sound' I mentioned, the Mainspring song is a good citation. The other bands included are Bev Clone, Nema and Wallside. Five bands total.

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STUPID BY THE GRACE OF GOD
(Assorted Porkchops, 1991)

Being a North Carolinian, South Carolina is nestled right under my ass. But that ain't to say SC didn't heave up some of the greatest punkers of the '90s, notably the unsinkable Assfactor 4 and Salvo Rain. But before AF4's and SR's heydays was a comp called Stupid By the Grace of God, which featured four state faves circa 1991: Tonka, Bedlam Hour, Toast and Unherd.

Bedlam Hour was the region's first-rate funny-posi-core gang. Toast was--well I don't know much about Toast, but I can tell you that the great Unherd and Tonka bore parts to merge into the kingly Assfactor 4, one of my absolute favorite bands ever.

(Thanks to Salvo Rain man Greg for correcting a factual mistake here, which has since been set straight. I can be stupid at times. Often, even.)

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Here's a link to the zip file, you impatient things! The zip contains all three 7" comps. And if I may, burn them all onto the same cd-r--it moves well!

THE HAMICKS and THE HASSASSINS and STUNTMAN

Alright, three posts on this unseasonally brisk and blustery day! Gotta make up for my absences. So here we go. Do the required reading and you'll find, at the bottom of the post, a link to a zip file with all three 7"s featured in this jumbo-sized edition.

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The Hamicks (1996)

The futuristic, catchy spookiness of the Hamicks' music is, to me, easily described as Edvard Graham Lewis from Wire holding the Jam at laser-gun point and forcing them to play their rock his way, and I think you'll know where I'm coming from when you hear this 7", called Go! Dot to Dot on Big Jerk Records.

Everything factual I know about the Hamicks, I learned from Allmusic.com. They say:

With their recording debut of Erase and Start from Scratch in 1993, The Hamicks experimented with the sound of "80's-reto" {sic} by putting full usage of their Moog keyboards, spaced out vocals, robotic guitars and theremins. On top of their lyrical subject matter of science fiction to technology to masturbation, The Hamicks released three additional seven-inches before Framed Records put out the CD-EP in 1997. But after six years of calling Austin, Texas their home, The Hamicks eventually relocated to Chicago, Illinois in 1999.

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THE Hassassins (1992/1994)

In October of 1992, The Hassassins mashed some buttons on a 2-track recorder and walked out of the garage with a couple o' clangy, mysterious instrumentals, which were issued as a 7" a couple years later.

The vibe comes off as a soundtrack to some dark occurence or somethingruther, and despite (or perhaps because of) the lo-fidelity, there's a lot sound to be heard between three humble instruments.

I really like this good stuff.

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Stuntman (1994)

Yes, that Sean Lennon played bass in this squeal-y, indie, not-bad-at-all quartet. I rescued this one from a box of 7"s that were on sale after being damaged by a hurricane sometime late last century. I based my purchase only on the fact that it was twenty-five cents and the cover looked neat. I noticed S. Lennon's credit on the back cover a few days later and consulted the WWW to verify it was the same guy. 'Twas!

The vinyl itself was battling some hurricane-inflicted water damage and mildew, so it took a few rubdowns to get 'er up to playable status. It still bears a few crackles here and there, BUT it kinda compliments the shreddy production which I LOVE...

...See, while I expected Stuntman to suck (I don't know why, but the Lennon association just made me suspicious), these songs are really damn good and gritty if you're into Archers of Loaf, Small, early Superchunk, Vitapup, Seaweed and so forth. I've been playing the hell outta this one lately, and due to the very minimal info one can find on the Web, it's maybe perhaps one a lotta potential fans haven't heard, so...Oh! And they had a full-length on Link Records, though I'm unsure of the line-up (I'm not even sure if it's the same band, but it probably is).

Alright, HERE IS THE ZIP FILE WITH ALL THREE 7"s, and if anyone has any info to contribute, do so in the comment box.

JOE STUMBLE NEEDS YOUR HELP!

I'll have rockin' new posts going up tomorrow, but tonight and tomorrow and tomorrow and so on, a cause beckons you.

You know our buddy Joe Stumble, the president of Last Days of Man On Earth? Well, he's in a band called Left Arm, and, well, here's the situation in Joe's own words:

Left Arm (my band) was barred from a local awards-type festival featuring the "best bands in town" ["Best Garage Band" category] because our town is full of dumbshits. But we have found a loophole and are trying to exploit this loophole. Basically, if we are written in on the ballot and win...we get to play the awards ceremony which would be completely hilarious for us.

I'm all for such stuff, so if you are too, go here and vote and make it happen for Joe and Left Arm. I'll have a link for this thingy over there to your right under my "Good, Good Things" column. Good luck dudes! Kill 'em!