Used Bin Forever!

2008-03-20T17:39:00.003-04:00

DON'T FRET

I haven't deserted UBF. I'm just moving to a new house, and all my wax is boxed.

I'll be back online soon. Hang tight.

2008-03-06T21:27:00.011-05:00

EMBASSY

My fave of all the Embassy sweets. Three solid knockers from a band whose sound was scraped off Guy's side of Fugazi and translated through postwar-style recordings. Their LP was fun and all their splits were moving but I suppose this s/t 7" was the keenest and least-hammy of the catalogue.

Only frustration is a big, dumb POP at the end of the first song, which is probably their prize tune. Bleck. But it's not that bad, actually.

You could go here and download a pop-free version (along with other songs, including their LP), but I swear, if you want a brighter, bigger sound, you're better off taking what I've got. Less mud; more clean explosion and slicker (in a good way) overall. Promise.

I'm also pleased to announce I've recently recovered my old Embassy patch, which I spent half an hour sewing onto a hooded sweatshirt I'll likely never wear in public. Plus, I think the icy weather is over in my part of the globe. I'll likely come back soon and edit out this stupid drivel with more worthwhile typing.

TITLE: s/t
LABEL: Auricle
YEAR: 1994
TRACKS:
Whispers Of No Small Intent / The Many Faces Of / Rachael Pomea

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PLACEBO COMPILATION

I've upset at least six Reversal of Man fans since the comments of my last post. I said they were OK, but that's about all. Well dry the tears and take a muscle relaxer, here's an early cut from them Floridians; a deep cut for those of you lacking their discography. I lack it. Because I think they're just OK.

Alright, calm down, I added that last sentence just to jab your guts up.

Prevail starts this one off with, by a mile, their best song, musically. The content is based on a band member's experience selling beer to a minor, getting busted forthwith, being sentenced to drug counseling sessions, and getting freaked the heck out by the testimonies of the bedrugged users he, a straight edge fella, sat among.

Order of Importance contributes a slow, blubby, throaty, screamy shake that, eh, I'm just not into. Just not my style of hardcore. The song is, unsurprisingly, about fighting the syrup of conformity. Enjoy.

Side B packs the all-stars. Your favorite, Reversal of Man, does "Assembly," a song with pretty much the same message as the Order Of Importance track. This one, however, zeroes-in more on teachers, parents, clergy and their influence over conformity, which the band fears.

Inkwell is the last at bat with a number about rape, which I'll not joke about. I think it's specifically about instances where the victim ends up catching some blame or preconscious partnership in the act.

More, better Inkwell to come...

TITLE: Placebo Compilation
LABEL: Concurrent
YEAR: 199_
TRACKS:
Prevail - Nine / Order Of Importance - (Untitled) / Reversal Of Man - Assembly / Inkwell - Wash

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T TAURI

Ahh, T Tauri's 1996 7". Downright treble-y, like a secretary's fingernails down the driest chalkboard in the most echoey warehouse in the world. Alright, that's an extreme exaggeration, this recording's actually pretty fun. For friends of Harriet the Spy's production values, here's a new pal to play with. The guitar sound twins it, too.

Hadn't listened to this one in a long, long time. Years. It either held up or improved with age, because I've listened to it several times since I digitized it earlier this evening.

Far as effect, T Tauri always brings to mind Festival of Dead Deer, Crimson Curse, the VSS (with whom T Tauri split a 7") and, damnit, there's another band with a similar style of warbled singing. It's probably Uwharria. Their vocalist packs twenty words into a single syllable.

Anyway...

TITLE: s/t
LABEL: Blackbeand and Placenta
YEAR: 1996
TRACKS:
Bring On The New Dionysus / The Mote's Battle / Brevity

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HAL AL SHEDAD / INKWELL

Smoke rolls off my turntable every time I play through the Hal Al side of this split. They were a remarkable band with enough craft and talent to uphold a split 7" with Wilson Phillips, or, heck, even Yanni.

Not to compare Inkwell to either, because the first song on their side is, I think, their best. Fast stuff. Spastic good (as opposed to bad). It's a song about the status quo being as garbage-laden and doomful as it's ever been, and we're all about to shit-can the concept of a soul. But not in a Christian way. Nu-uh.

Back to Hal Al. Saw 'em one time, just once, and hot damn was it on fire. I have a special place in my heart for trios, because it seems like each player plays with a little extra to make up for the missing leg, that, turns out, they never needed. So Hal Al hobbled along with strange, off-time-y paces and swept past "the competition" and, seriously, finished the '90s in the top ten. What a good, able group.

TITLE: The Musical Stylings Of...
LABEL: Lunchbox
YEAR: 1995
TRACKS:
The Hal Al Shedad - Supercolliding-Superconductor / The Hal Al Shedad - Atrophic Revolutions / Inkwell - Messenger / Inkwell - Savior

Here's all the music discussed in this post.

2008-02-24T14:47:00.028-05:00

ISRAFEL (V/A)

Another one of those comps you could hold upside down by its shoes and out from its pockets would spill a mess of white, green, yellow and red xeroxed inserts; each being the label's catalogue, or a wanky poem, or another wanky poem, or a list of animal rights orgs, or a vegan recipe, or messily hand- or type-written lyrics from each band featured. Consistently too much to keep up with.

But for a good cause, the Israfel 12" comp came out on Bloomington, Ind.'s Ape Records in 1997. It classed together a pretty decent list of the day's stars and lesser-sos, which for me, were of the genre's last era to care for. The class of 1998 and on were far less enchanting, save for members who footed onto slightly different tweaks, such as Party Of Helicopters and others so esteemed.

This comp's best pops are Panoply's opening track and the later-on Twenty Seven Hours screamer, a band which many of you have asked me for more of. Let's see, who else. Ah, Serotonin were always favorited in the south, as were Floridians Reversal of Man. But I gotta confess, my attitude toward ROM has always been summed up with a lethargic, "Eh, yeah. They're alright." Similarly metallic or harsh moments on this collection are even lesser enjoyed (although I should say I'm speaking of a very specific 'harsh,' not pertaining to the fantastics I've praised on this website in the past), but such is a minority of the content. Most of this is pretty darn alright.

Israfel was, as explained on one of the few thousand inserts this thing came with, a benefit LP that took "roughly two years" to assemble. Its proceeds were to offset medical expenses and otherwise for a family in Indianappolis with two little girls diagnosed with Werdnigg-Hoffman Disease, a degenerative of the spine, muscles and nerves, according to Ape Records. They didn't pull through, but the funds raised, however little, would've given a bit of help to their parents, who had two other kids to care for and a subsequent shortage of hand-ups.

Hehe, but might I also mention a few angered rants within the comp booklet rallying protest against bands that use grotesque imagery on their album covers or merch. Think of Drop Dead or something. "Don't let your favorite band do your thinking for you," the insert states. "Question the information they present to you, the sincerity of their message, and the medium they use."

Grab the LP right here.

TITLE: Israfel
LABEL: Ape
YEAR: 1997
TRACKS:
The Panoply Academy Glee Club- Lingo / Architects of the New Christ Rebellion - This Time Will Not Pass So Easily / Criswell - Utica Crib / Harriet The Spy - Barnyard Chase / Thenceforward - Care 2 Try / The Locust - Kill Roger Hedgecock / Inept - For Hand Outs / The Weak Link Breaks - Hea (???) / Old Hearts Club - Red Lipstick and Drama / Twenty Seven Hours - Coaxial / Serotonin - Multi-Faceted / Eurich - Odeta Myself / The Judas Iscariot - Cessation Talk, Madeline Murray O'Hair / Reversal of Man - (Unlisted)

-

RESOL

How could the folks not request another Resol post? With sonic grains of Born Against, Eddy, Unherd and other peers, they splattered Raleigh, N.C., with one of the day's better catalogues, including but not limited to a great split 7" with Greensboro's Blownapart Bastards (search my archives).

I've gone through this before, but a little while back, Resol's Tom Corbitt got up with me and gave me a dish on the locale's incest:

"There's a lot of backstory and cross-pollination on the Raleigh scene back then. Charlie was also in Fragrant Cloud and John was in Stewface. The first incarnation was called Bored Beyond Belief and had a different drummer (we played with Colin Seven, but he hooked up with Tonie [Joy] and started Universal Order of Armageddon). Charlie and John went on to form Dart 360 with Chad from Mold (who was in Gnosis) and on and on."

And I highly advise you read an interview with Tom, in which he recalls Resol's show in Wilmington, N.C., with Silk and some "white funk bands." Really, read it.

Here's Resol's full-length, Sorry, Out Of Ervice.

TITLE: Sorry, Out of Ervice
LABEL: ?
YEAR: 199_
TRACKS:
Troff / Stardust Lounge / Turn Off the Fat Guy / Dick Street / Comet / Global Foodie / Fred Lobster / Mapped / Jaundice / Frustration

-

MANDELA STRIKE FORCE

And since I took a week off--hey, sometimes you gotta--here's a supplement birthed by request!

The first time I wrote about Mandela, back in March, 2007, I said:

...on my last Assfactor 4-related post, a commenter described their day as a time "when we called bands 'emo,' and it wasn't a negative thing." Well hey, alright, fair enough, I dug those days. It was the early-to-mid '90s leg of the sound. There were "who is really emo?" arguments flying left and right between the purists and the liberals, and amidst it all was a roster of bands who were pretty unlistenable. But...

Bands like Harriet the Spy, Portraits of Past, Great Unraveling, Unwound, Salvo Rain, UOA and whoever else of bizarre, non-straightforwardness that may have acquired the "emo" tag, however arguable, made the process of sifting through the many bad bands darn well worth it.

Mandela Strike Force were among the day's good memories. They could be discordant without trying too hard, they employed blues-y chords with invention, they were melodic without the crybaby-ness, they layered eletronic noise-y-ness free of pretense, and they stuffed every song with intelligent subtlety. Mandela's members, which included Don Devore, were in other bands like Frail, Goodbye Blue Monday, with some Lilys interaction, and later, Ink & Dagger.

Here's their unsinkable 1995 7".

TITLE: The Sound of Revolution In Stereo
LABEL: Ladder
YEAR: 1995
TRACKS:
What? (Or How the Grapevine Works Sometimes)
Did You Need It Specially Engraved?
The Power of Posi-Thinking
The Mathematical Invasion of Everything

2008-02-11T22:17:00.001-05:00

GHOST DANCE 2x7"

Two king-size legends this week, starting with one that used to go for a trillion duckets on eBay every time, before the nowaday when none of the kids-with-rich-parents seem to know who any of these bands really are, thus if I listed this one right now, I'd get one bid at most, and bid it adieu for roughly five crummy bucks. Like the one I just looked up. The seller tried giving it a Buy-It-Now option for $15.99, and received not a single bid.

But money doesn't matter, which is why I hung with this one through the thick cash and thin chances. She's a classic, straight from the mad-at-dad-but-I-love-him-still style of cough[emo]cough. 'Scuse me.

The Ghost Dance 2x7" sorta became an insert artwork template for the day's typewritten acts, who primarily rode Slave Cut, Council, Inchworm and Repercussion out of the midwest, northeast or plain ol' west (the heads of the southeast were, portion for portion, a little different).

Its line-up was definitely the day's board of commissioners, rife with a murky, mucky production that sounds immediately post-war (and we're talkin' your grandpa's war), save for the actual, well, genre. And the word "production" really had nothing to do with anything at this point, which I love.

We're rambling, but for everyone who requested this one, I'm sorry for being so lazy. For some reason, I looked at this double 7" and saw a workload. So I sucked in, rolled up the sleeves, burped and here we are. And you've got another one coming up after this...

TITLE: Ghost Dance
LABEL: Slave Cut
YEAR: 1994
TRACKS:
Indian Summer - Pills / From Ashes Of... - Theme For Memory / Third Rail Rhyme - Double Helix / Embassy - His Years / Cap'n Jazz - Bluegrass / Braid - Elephant / Embassy - How Can You

-

EUCALPYTUS 2x7"

This is kinda the other one, if you know what I mean. The 'part two,' I guess.

Although sharing a couple bands--Embassy and Indian Summer, who were everywhere--the audio quality is cleaner, the artwork became the second template, the Current track is holy shit good, and it, too, fetched your top dollar on eBay before you went extinct.

In retrospect, I think I dig this one more, although at the time I think it took me a little longer to warm up to it with Ghost Dance still in the room. And although I just hit on Current's jam, it's Boilermaker who actually brings the dessert. It's a big song with a big sound captured darn well by Gar Wood, who seemed to've hit record on nearly every San Diego-area recording to boom in the early '90s. (And Gordie, if you're reading, I want my CD back!)

To me, its label, Tree Records, marked the period when the light, at its brightest, began dimming down. They came on the scene when all applicants' eyes and ears were sewn to this sound, and they happened to be in the center of the room with Eucalpytus, Owltian Mia, the Post Marked Stamps 7" series and Ethel Meserve.

Then I remember getting an email that the label was folding up, going splat. It's about this time I started seeing all these new names, new bands that, I dunno, just didn't seem the same. They all seemed real sarcastic and "revolutionary" in a ha-ha kind of way. Orchid. City of Caterpillar. Neil Perry. Not terrible bands, but they were the next wave and I wasn't riding. Although I did love Orchid for a minute. And I suppose I still do. But not many others.

TITLE: Eucalyptus
LABEL: Tree
YEAR: 1996
TRACKS:
Indian Summer - Touch The Wing Of An Angel, Doesn't Mean You Can Fly / Current - Bastille / Allure - I Think I Can / Shroomunion - Rain Dance Flood Come Rain / Boilermaker - Slingshot / Embassy - Blackness / Julia - I Will Not Be Ignored

Here's all the music discussed in this post.

2008-02-04T21:52:00.000-05:00

NEW RADIANT STORM KING

Today's unseasonably nice weather sucked me back to the sunny '90s, when Pavement-alikes and Bailter Space-rs dripped in warm goo! Whatever that means, but it sounds about right. Gooey, warm soundz, potent and whumpy, before Pro Tools strolled in and ruined everything.

The first song on this New Radiant Storm King 7"--a 1993 humdinger--is what I'm referring to (and hopefully no informed employee drops by and tells me that this was, in fact, recorded by robots). It's the lighter side of moody that gives what K.J. Jansen calls the "punch in the gut," which really lingers into the b-side.

If this stuff hits you the right way, and it's your first time with this band, then holy damn might I recommend their 1996er, Hurricane Necklace. Some of the indie-90s best songwriting--fact--although you're not going to go bad with any of them.

A lengthy bio on this Mass. band--too lengthy for this place--can be read here.

And having released an album in 2006, they're pretty much still around.

TITLE: Subway Token (Save My Soul)
LABEL: Chunk
YEAR: 1993
TRACKS:
Subway Token (Save My Soul) / Rival Time (Viral Mind) / The Lord Is Coming

-

DAMBUILDERS

Somehow always known as 'the indie band with the violin,' the Dambuilders were the pluckiest of their genre; warm (that word again) and, well, kinda friendly.

Seriously, their pizzacato-y music makes 'em sound like nice people, which, if you're like me, makes it fully appealing (great, now I'm going to get some tainting comment like 'Whatever, I booked a show for these guys back in '95 and they were total dongs').

Beyond this 7", I really recommend their 1994 EP, Tough Guy Problem, which, psst, you can pick up from Amazon for a buck. The sound is in the same seat, which I do prefer to their latter material, which I also value.

Here's a bio written by Jason Ankeny for Allmusic:

Formed in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1989, the alternative pop band the Dambuilders originally comprised vocalist/bassist Dave Derby and guitarist Eric Masunaga, both formerly of the Exactones. Shortly after forming, the duo recorded a demo, dubbed A Young Person's Guide, which mysteriously made its way to Europe, where it landed at the offices of the Berlin-based label Cuacha; with only minor remixing, the label soon released the tapes as an LP, and the band subsequently toured Germany. Upon returning to the U.S., the Dambuilders relocated to Boston, issuing the single "Pop Song Equals Food" in 1991; later that year, they also released their sophomore album, Geek Lust. The band's ranks soon swelled to include violinist/vocalist Joan Wassar and drummer Kevin March, and with the new lineup firmly in place they cut a handful of singles, another LP for Cuacha (1992's Islington Porn Tapes) and an EP for the SpinArt label, 1993's Tough Guy Problem. After signing with the major label EastWest, the Dambuilders resurfaced in 1994 with the album Encendedor, followed a year later by Ruby Red. The 1996 collection God Dambuilders Bless America assembled 15 tracks -- single sides, LP cuts and the like -- from their ongoing '50 Songs for 50 States' project; the all-new Against the Stars appeared the next summer.

TITLE: s/t
LABEL: Rockville
YEAR: 1993
TRACKS:
New Jersey / Wyoming / Oregon

-

PAUL NEWMAN

My cyber friend Twistworthy, who periodically updates the Thousands of Records blog (to your right on my blogroll), released this record on his label in 1997, which marked my entry to Austin, Texas' Paul Newman.

The a-side of this 7" is a good ambassador for the better part of their catalogue, a series of dark, thematic instrumentals led by two talented bass players. They're almost sound-track-y.

But that doesn't describe everything.

The b-side is a dark spin, Girls Against Boys style, with a lot of yelping that makes 'em sound like an entirely different band. Kinda like Girls Against Boys--a very good thing. Even the song title, "Clear Baby," has that effect.

Anyway, Jason Ankeny must be a star around here, because he wrote this bio too:

Austin, TX-based instrumental post-rock quartet Paul Newman formed in late 1995, named not in honor of the Hollywood icon but rather bassist Paul A. Newman; guitarist Craig McCaffrey and drummer Anthony Nozero completed the original lineup, which expanded to a four-piece with the addition of second bassist Eddie Robert in mid-1996. The following spring Paul Newman issued their debut seven-inch "...Please Wait During the Silence" on the Twistworthy label before signing to Trance Syndicate to release the full-length Frames per Second in early 1998. Only Love Can Break Your Heart followed later that same year, but after Trance Syndicate closed shop, the group moved to the My Pal God imprint for 2000's Machine Is Not Broken. Nozero concurrently played in Drums and Tuba.

TITLE: s/t
LABEL: Twistworthy
YEAR: 1997
TRACKS:
Please Wait During the Silence / Clear Baby

Here's all the music discussed in this post.

2008-01-28T19:46:00.000-05:00

CAPTAIN SPEKY

You don't deserve this entire album unless you buy it, which is why I want it to sell and why I'm giving you my virtual 7" version in the meantime. This mess is irresistable, and the now-insiders will beam feet-to-sky when I now-reveal that Captain Speky was the project to immediately follow Wilmington, N.C.'s Cornelius, and trekked on in precisely the same manner before evolving to Zuexeus a short time later.

Captain Speky is Cornelius in space, essentially (before I continue, note that this is not the Japanese Cornelius, so scram if that's who you seek). This time, leftover riffs from the erstwhile Cornelius trio, along with blinking new ideas, scrambled and reassembled under guitarist/singer Chris Murray's total governance--that meant drums, bass, guitars, vocals, production and anything else creative control entailed (save for a few tracks engineered by Seth Moody at Baby Ace Studios).

What happened was one of the most distinct albums I own (which is actually a discography, but the flow is perfect). The songwriting is thoroughly consistent, catchy, rumbling, warp-driven and motion smeared. The intro track, which I've included as the intro track to this week's download, is one of my favorite jams Murray has written to date (note that the later-to-come Zuexeus had a holy shitload of shimmery rock songs as well).

I so completely encourage you to buy the entire album, which is still for-cheap at Assorted Porkchops. If I've asked anything of you, support that label. Captain Speky's discog is a fantastic starting place. Heck, it packs 20 songs.

There are explosions in space!

TITLE: (songs from) Vs.
LABEL: Assorted Porkchops
YEAR: 1997
TRACKS:
We'll Leave The Light On For You, Valiant Thor / This Song Is... / Pollyanna

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THREE STUDIES FOR A CRUCIFIXION / HARRIET THE SPY

If you can handle the production values here, you can drive the Grave Digger without a helmet, no sweat. Particularly on the Three Studies' side, which Jamie Stillman captured with his wreckless, whumpy, Impact-O-Phonic-like 4-track tape. The sound is as close as we'll ever get to a lumpy monster falling down the stairs, in a good way.

The Three Studies' songs are...good. Chaotic for sure. Any melody is well hidden, and the listener gets clawed to shreds finding it.

Harriet the Spy's side is, as any fan would expect, a tornado of Stillman-sounding levels, playful guitars, wild, Clikatat-style drumming and shrilly singing about self-important scenesters and their haircuts.

"This Music Festival Sucks" is one of my favorite HTS tunes, stabbing to death the attention-hungry show promoter who desperately wants your "respect."

TITLE: Three Studies For A Crucifixion / Harriet The Spy (split)
LABEL: Donut Friends
YEAR: 1996
TRACKS:
TSFAC - No Refund Policy / TSFAC - Operation: Dandelion / TSFAC- Certificate of Marathoid Behavior / HTS- This Music Festival Sucks / HTS - Bucky Beaver

-

THREE PENNY OPERA

They had one drum beat for the most part, and while they were no where near as good as their forebearers, Shotmaker, I grew to love this 7" for each count.

You know, it's actually the "Blitzkrieg Bop" drumbeat--a way of describing it I've never thought of until just now--that sets everything in place. It's bouncy, dark and solid. The guitars are grumbly and skill-less, and--jesus, was Three Penny Opera the incidental Ramones of the '90s house show circuit? Really, I've never had such a thought until right now, and I'd initially set out to write this a completely different way. But gee, I, I--what a connection! It's nearly accurate!

Before I get too silly with all this, here's Mario Mesquita Borges' write-up on TPO for Allmusic, which failed to mention the members' Shotmaker ties:

Canadian hardcore rockers Three Penny Opera assembled in the spring of 1997 in Ottawa under the initiative of brothers Adam (guitar, vocals) and drummer Hayden Menzies. Following the addition of Shawn Stapleton, Brian Martin (bass), and Matt Deline (vocals), the group started playing their first live shows, eventually enjoying an always exciting reaction from their audiences. In 1999, after the release of a four-song record, the band issued their first self-titled album, Three Penny Opera, through the Troubleman record label.

TITLE: 2GTEG25H2g4503344
LABEL: Spectra Sonic Sound
YEAR: 1997
TRACKS:
Kids New Gang / 1000 Miles / Seperate Directions / Observation

Here's all the music discussed in this post.

2008-01-21T21:07:00.000-05:00

NIPPLE ERECTORS

A party-mode break from my usual wares, and one of the most fun posts I've done in months:

An alright-quality boot, some would say; a thrilling punk charm, the smarter would boast. The Nipple Erectors cradled Shane MacGowan from London, 1977, on through 1980, before thinning out his teeth in the Pogues.

Here's from their unofficial Myspace page:

The Nipple Erectors were a British punk rock band formed in The Arsenal, London in 1977 and notable as Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan's first musical group. Initially consisting of vocalist/songwriter MacGowan (known at the time as 'Shane O'Hooligan'), bassist/songwriter/original Punk Artist Shanne Bradley, guitarist/ Artist Roger Towndrow and drummer Arcane Vendetta; the band released four singles and there was one bootleg live album between 1978 and 1981. Although initially inspired by the The Stooges, the Nipple Erectors split from traditional 'punk sound' by establishing elements of rockabilly, R&B and pop into their music. The band renamed themselves The Nips following the release of their first single, King of the Bop — as many radio stations had refused to play their music and several venues had refused to book them due to the allegedly sexist nature of the band's name. It was also at this point that Towndrow and Arcane departed, replaced by an ever-changing series of musicians — most notably future ((The Pretenders)) drummer Gerry Maccleduff, ((Pogues)) James Fearnley, ((Skrewdriver)) drummer Grinny,((The Damned)) ((Culture Club)) drummer Jon Moss.

I've never been the DJ type (hey, I don't want my records smelling like ashtrays), but in some brain pocket is a list of songs I'd absolutely crank at a bar. Both here are on it. Then I'd watch the entire, cringeworthy "punk scene" in my Rancid-fan infested town turn their lip piercings to me in disgust as they all mouth, "What's this woosie crap? Doesn't sound like Social Distortion to mee!"

Quick related story, real funny, I was listening to fIREHOSE in the store I used to work at, some kid strolls in with his creepers and freshly applied Dead Kennedys logo on his jacket, looks up at the speaker, turns to me, goes "pssh," then walks out.

Real subtle, but I love such interactions.

TITLE: The Lost EP
LABEL: (none)
YEAR: 2002 (recorded in 1978)
TRACKS:
So Pissed Off / Starvordale Rd N-5

-

PIPE

A great Indianburn for early '90s Chapel Hill, Pipe had the big, alt screech of Mudhoney-level snot, the floor-rolling of New Bomb Turks and needly stare of Rocket From The Crypt. Big and boomy and blasty and sandpapery.

Take it, Allmusic's Chris Parker:

Formed in that music crucible, Chapel Hill, Pipe forged a ragged rock sound that drew on both the raw garage of '70s bands like the Sonics, punk's irreverent attitude and the post-punk/indie rock attack of the '80s underground. In 1992, with a lineup of Ron Liberti (vocals), Mike Kenlan (guitar), Dave Alworth (bass), and former Superchunk drummer Chuck Garrison, the band released the six-song Ball Peen EP (Sonic Bubblegum). But Kenlan, who with Garrison also played in Small (later changed to Small 23), left Pipe to concentrate on his other band. Clifton Lee Mann, the bassist of the area's legendary '80s punkabilly band, Bad Checks, was recruited to play guitar until a permanent replacement could be found. But Mann and Liberti found they worked well together splitting the music and lyric writing duties, so Mann stayed on as the full-time guitarist, and the band's new lineup recorded their first single, "You're Soaking in It," in 1993 on Amish Records, followed by their first full-length, Six Days to Bellus (Jesus Christ) in 1994. A riotous album of rumbling rock, it had a lot more in common with the Dead Boys than Nirvana and grunge. The band toured with Bad Brains, and upon returning home, began work on their second full-length. International Cement (Jesus Christ) was released in 1995, along with the "Raceway Park" single, again on Amish Records. The band toured with local faves Polvo and Archers of Loaf, but upon returning home, Alworth quit the band and moved to Seattle. Greg Adams replaced him on bass and they started work on their third album, Slowboy, released on Merge in 1997. (Merge then also re-released their two earlier albums and several singles.) A fully realized effort, Slowboy puts the sludge, motor oil, and road dirt back into garage rock. However, their tour with kindred spirits the New Bomb Turks proved ill-fated. Playing in Louisville, Garrison broke his hand signaling an early end to the tour. During Garrison's recovery, Mann crushed the tip of his left ring finger, sidelining him for six months. With the band's momentum flagging and nursing his injury, Mann quit and was replaced with original band guitarist Kenlan, but this lineup only survived a few shows before collapsing in the fall of 1999. Liberti and Mann reunited in 2000 with the Ghost of the British Soldier Who Loved to Rock (shortened to the Ghost of Rock). Kenlan joined Ashley Stove on guitar in 2001.

Ready yourself for my favorite version of any Replacements song.

TITLE Yr. Soaking In It
LABEL: Amish
YEAR: 1993 (?)
TRACKS:
You're Soaking In It / Trouble (Replacements)

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GIRLS AGAINST BOYS

Their accessible / mysterious / weirdo / sunglassed / sexy / snot string makes Girls Against Boys one of my all-time all-time all-time faves. I can't think of another band that sounds like these guys. 1994's Venus Luxure No. 1 Baby is an easy top-20-ever for me.

My start with GVSB was rough though. They stepped on my Jordans back in the day when all on my wish list was catchy punk or catchy indie, and this was on the bright side of neither. GVSB sounded, eh, weird to me. Uncomfortable. Intruding.

Had the same experience with Afghan Whigs. They felt too, hnnn, creepy? But somewhere along the line, the creep appeal whooshed over me like Dracula's cape, and I overdosed on both groups. I'm not sure who's the better, and I'm not sure why I'm even comparing the two, because they fall into two unique moods, and each are very distinct. At present, GVSB is the prevailing vibe with their two, rocky bassists, fine-touch guitaristry and slithering voice. Allmusic writer John Bush likens singer Scott McCloud's singing to Mark E. Smith, and calls it "wheezy."

For those not yet in on GVSB, I think this 7" is a better starting spot than their full-lengths, because you get their idea without yet hearing their extremes. If you're enchanted by this single, go for Venus Luxure next, then House of GVSB. After that, get weird and skip around.

TITLE: Sexy Sam b/w I'm From France
LABEL: Touch and Go
YEAR: 1993
TRACKS:
Sexy Sam / I'm From France

Here's all the music discussed in this week's post.

2008-01-15T20:54:00.000-05:00

REPUBLIC OF FREEDOM FIGHTERS / 27 HOURS

Just as the average naked woman is nothing the average physician hasn't seen before, the Republic of Freedom Fighters' side of this split is nothing you particular folks haven't already heard, but hey, that's completely alright. It's good stuff. They're among the league of those inspired by the beat that starts out the Universal Order of Armageddon LP; the same beat that later twisted through the tenures of Shotmaker, Four Hundred Years and bands I tend to favor a little bit more, like Salvo Rain.

I woulda posted their entire LP here, but I'm going to have to think it over. The vinyl looks clean as a whistle, but for some reason, it sounds like Pop Rocks. It's a great LP, but eh...we'll see.

Back to the 7", I used to crack up at the insert. It says, "Hello, Madison, Wisconsin! My name is Jeremy Riishede. I play bass guitar for Render Useless. American beer is wicked (and cheap). I'm faced!" Then it goes on to give out his home address.

Can anyone tell me the story behind this? Was it just play between friends or was it some full on rivalry?

The b-side is a bunch of old friends from Wilmington, N.C., called 27 Hours, and I think they're the victors here. A sad memory kinda wells up on the replay, as my old screamin' buddy T.J. here passed away a few years back. He was a fun guy who had great taste and he's darn missed.

Anyway, here's to a great four-track era rasper, just what this blog is all about.

TITLE: RFF / 27 Hours split
LABEL: Fall Records
YEAR: 1996 (?)
TRACKS:
RFF - Kranek Attack / 27 Hours - Us + 17

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LINCOLN

Undeniable classic. Undeniable. Never get tired of it. Lincoln recorded 'er in May of 1993 at WGNS for Art Monk Construction, who released it in early 1994. It's of the Fugazi-impact era as painted by Hoover, and, well, generally Hoover but Lincoln oh my god they did it well. Art Monk had a lot of potent releases, but to my knowledge, they never cleared this bar. Do I like it more than their split 7" with, hehe, Hoover? Not sure, but at any rate...

Something about the sound quality here. The mud guitars and drum boom are a hot, alcoholic, married couple. It's murky in the right way, and works so smoothly over and under and around the vocals that are sincerely talented in a completely oblivious way.

Also, I think I inadvertently kept with the spirit of this recording's packaging, as I've just re-noticed this text in the insert: "This particular pressing was messed up. ...Side 'Waterboy' is actually 'Sugarloaf' and visa versa. You see, the labels were switched."

I fell victim. Didn't notice. So however I labeled the Lincoln mp3s here, just reverse the titles on your own. Hey, not my fault.

Anyway, here's a secret message to the insiders: What's it gonna baaaayyy!

TITLE: s/t
LABEL: Art Monk Construction
YEAR: 1994
TRACKS:
Sugarloaf / Waterboy

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GLENDALE

I bought this the same time, maybe even the same day, that I purchased the Lincoln 7", and as you'd guess, it's more Hoover rock done not quite as well as Lincoln, but well all the damn same.

Glendale was a gearhead's band. They're the type who, in the liner notes, unveil what type of amps they used in the recording. Glendale did this. Further, they even detailed the brand of pickups in their fucking axes, which, wouldn't you guess, they also described in catalogue-grade detail.

Heck, here's a sample: "I have a Marshall 4 x 12 straightface. 1970 re-issue greenback. Loaded with Celestions or some shit. I've been thinking of installin' this sweet Humbucker from Jay's old SG..."

This 7" also came outta WGNS, recorded in February, 1994. Staying spiritedly informative, the liner notes also offer a band bio. Here 'tis:

Good things never last too long. Such is the case with Glendale. Sometime in October of 1993, four bands disbanded, sending four musicians out to form another unit to rock the planet. J. Demko ended his short tenure with Junction, J. Marinelli's band, Yentl, disbanded, and State College's own Donora and Blowout Kit broke up at just about the same time. Thus Glendale was formed. A dozen or so shows, a recording, and 5 months later, Glendale is just a memory. Fucked up, huh? Well, I enjoyed the road trips and bathroom humor I endured while accompanying these fellas. Now I must sink back into my pitiful, mundane existence of stuffing records and writing letters. Calgon take me away!

TITLE: s/t
LABEL: Art Monk Construction
YEAR: 1994
TRACKS:
Matchbox Martyr / Brown Recluse

Here's all the music discussed in this post.

2008-01-08T21:09:00.000-05:00

LYNNFIELD PIONEERS

Here's the full 7" from which Mike Lupica played a cut on Anti-Static a couple months back, for it must be heard in its whumpy entirety.

From Allmusic:

Named in honor of their high school football team, the self-described "hip-hop-no-wave" unit Lynnfield Pioneers comprised singer/Moog manipulator Dan Cook, guitarist Mike Janson and drummer John Paul Jones. Formed in 1995, the Pioneers soon debuted with the The Newport E.P., issued on the Lampshop label; a series of singles followed, earning the group a strong underground buzz which led to their signing with Matador, which issued the trio's first full-length emerge in 1997.

This 7" is, at the first several glances and up to this day, outside the "hip-hop-no-wave" circle, but indubitably beat-heavy and nasty to no end; a sturdy, fine ambassador of the 'fuck the levels, just hit record' mentality that made the mid '90s such a wonderful cake.

The mp3s, as always, are at the bottom. Up here, you get the music vid:

TITLE: Yos To Go
LABEL: Lampshop Records
YEAR: 1996
TRACKS:
Yos To Go / Shopping / One Hand

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SEAM

A request I really should've posted before it became a request. A few days after I secured my driver's license and was able to take my-own-self to the downtown record store, my pal T.J. behind the counter pushed this one on me. He was very persistent, but it's been a personal classic (what does that mean?) ever since.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love repetition (Har har; get it?). "Granny 9X," this one's opener, tumbles the same few chords over and over again for a 7"-side's worth of mounting catchiness that throws on the layers and is pure hot lava in the gut.

The b-side is the catchiest "Look Back In Anger" cover you'll ever hear, bearing the easily identified Mac McCaughan on vocals--and hmm--didn't he play drums on this too? Can't remember, but I'm fairly certain.

Anywayhoohow, this comes from Seam's days in their Chapel Hill, N.C. playpen; naturally, youthfully noisier and slushy when set aside their smoother (but oh so damn good) sounds that followed their move to Chicago. The Problem With Me. Whew, what an album. That first damn song. Man.

Here's a well-done history on the band.

TITLE: s/t
LABEL: Merge / City Sland
YEAR: 1991
TRACKS:
Granny 9X / Look Back In Anger

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VITAPUP

Only one request came in for this, but you're getting Vitapup again because, well, it's one of the funnest, most fun 7"s bending the shelf. I'm not kidding. Every note, squeal, laugh and unsynched mess is huge and sounds like a late-night party, and I don't mean party in that legwarmer, nu-wave, red ties and black shirts mularky. This is more like cheap guitars, combo amps, cracked cymbals, spilled beer at practice and wittier writing than I'm able to produce right now. It's been a long, hard day.

But I care for you, and want nothing more than to see your pearly whites through a big, Twizzlers smile.

Grab on and enjoy. I'm gonna go put on that Seam song real quick.

TITLE: s/t
LABEL: Mute America
YEAR: 1995
TRACKS:
I Need It / Fuck My Head

Here's all the music discussed in this post.

2008-01-01T16:47:00.000-05:00

THE EPISODE

From Used Bin Forever on Thursday, October 26, 2006:

After disbanding in 1996, [Action Patrol's singer] Dave Grant, bassist-turned-guitarist Tom Baisden and drummer Rich Green formed The Episode, who neighbored AP, stylistically, but couldn't quite deliver the same greats. To my knowledge, they only released one album.

I still hang onto the editorial part of that first sentence, but not like I used to. I picked up their eight-song s/t as soon as it came out in 1998, and after a few semi-enjoyable spins, I shelved it. Action Patrol, I thought, was so much better. The Episode wasn't bad, no, not remotely. But something was missing from their sound. It didn't have--I dunno something. The crazy, snotty factor? That was probably it.

But I never sold the record, just in case something, at some point, popped and I was able to find a new bond with it. Well, about three months ago, I pulled it off the shelf and HOLY CRAP WHAT WAS I THINKING ALL THESE YEARS? What's wrong with this recording at all? I had no complaints, and I replayed it time after time and again. The difference was only in that it was darker and more (here comes that word) sentimental. It wasn't AP's blast of confetti. The Episode was in a different mood, and hey, maybe because they were a different project and AP was dead. So simple.

The Episode is certainly not their former selves, but they're good, and AP fans lacking this release need it. The old spirit resurfaces in "Ronald Reagan Memorial Wing." And the rest is boss too.

I'll close by saying that I really hate it when 'critics' review a band based on what their older band sounded like, and boy am I guilty here. Why not go back and rewrite it? Ehe, well...

TITLE: s/t
LABEL: Whirled
YEAR: 1998
TRACKS:
My Cartography Internship / Ronald Reagan Memorial Wing / All The Chickens In Hong Kong / Good Fear [Up 1/4%] / Mercy Trophy / Enameled / Fleering / Palindrome

-

PINK COLLAR JOBS

A repost based on an accumulation of requests. Great western N.C. scrummy, suffrage-y, four-track punk, and very nice people. Here's what I wrote about Pink Collar Jobs on Friday, December 8, 2006:

The ideology of Boone, NC's Pink Collar Jobs' was made pretty clear through their lightly sarcastic moniker. Comprised of two babes and two jocks (take a joke), PCJ were one of the best mid '90s punk bands in North Carolina, punching out homophobia, sexism, war, drug abuse and whitey through supremely catchy budget punk. My old trio played a couple house shows with them around '96 and they were easily one of the nicest music gangs I've ever met. Last I heard from any of them, [guitarist/vocalist] Jason and [guitarist/vocalist] Lynn were continuing the fight in Dead Things (this band actually did long tours on nothing but bicycles and borrowed equipment), meanwhile my information on [drummer] Landon and [bassist] Julie is years of out date.

RUSTWEILER...

...was the band on the flipside of this split, and, as I wrote in that same post, were pretty much the same brand of political punk, with a just smidgen more of Born Against in the songwriting. I feel funny not having more info than I do, as many of my old friends were buddy-buddy with them. They were from Illinois, their music flooded my mix tapes and their logo had some prime real estate on my high school Eastpak (I wonder where that patch got off to).

PCJ and Rustweiler released a split 7" in '95 (I think), which got it on with my turntable on the daily. These are easily some of the most memorable punk melodies to come out NC in the '90s, and while Rustweiler is great too, there was too much competition in IL for me to say the same for them (though they were still top-shelf).

The digitizing process of this record marked my first time hearing it in a good seven-or-so years. I love how it held up over time.

TITLE: Pink Collar Jobs / Rustweiler (split)
LABEL: (none)
YEAR: 1995 (?)
TRACKS:
Pink Collar Jobs - In The Kitchen / Pink Collar Jobs - Dead On The Floor /
Rustweiler - Soapbox Ministers / Rustweiler - Dead Poets Society

Here's all the music discussed in this post.

2007-12-31T10:46:00.000-05:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Many more excitements are planned at UBF into the new year. Got plenty of posts lined up and, and, and some in-demand re-ups that many of you missed the first time around. My new year's resolution: Convince more of you to leave comments--not ultimately for my happiness, but so I can read your thoughts on the bands that dominated the development of my personality (not to sound cheesy), and for the featured bands' members who drop by, so they can see they're remembered and appreciated at virtually religious levels (not to sound cheesy).

Had some downtime at work the other day, and I wrote an incomplete thought of an editorial. A sort of 'year end' thing:

To issue the kind of comment that has led to fisticuffs, this past year was not a good one for music. Nor was the year before. That’s not to say I didn’t buy a couple new releases and enjoy them at high volume—CPC Gangbangs, Dr. Powerful and the cool Satelliters creamed my limbic region—but all in all, it was a sort of mess of glass jewelry, funny-ha-ha leg-warmer fashion, flat production values and imaginative rut, head to toe in derivative sounds done all the wrong ways.

Halfway through 2007, I traded my music retail and music-writing jobs for a proper news reporting gig, redirecting my sights to government affairs (i.e. “Private developer proposes road project to DOT,” or “New economic director has vision of more industry”). As much as I didn’t care about new music in the first half of 2007, I had zero concern for it in the latter. The new Xiu Xiu album? Who cares. Was there even one? I don’t know, I was busy working.

The last substantial coat of excitement I had for new music flaked off almost entirely by the get-go of 2006, or maybe even mid-2005. Everything that came out seemed less and less hopeful, more and more same ol’ same ol’. The goofy new-wave caricature (CSS, LCD Soundsystem and other sons and daughters and revisions of the no-better Faint or Radio 4) that inundated ‘indie’ music also smothered the new release racks, blinding me from looking on for other, more genuine works (which is all purely a matter of taste vs. taste and how far I’m willing to go with my machete through the brush in the quest for discovering the lumps of bright music overshadowed by the big mushrooms growing off the flourishing dung so praised by Spin Magazine or Pitchfork Media, two editorial music entities so potent that it takes days for the cringe to wear off my face, and boy ol’ boy have they perpetuated the current sonic holocaust).

Point is, today’s crew of great bands and albums will still be there for me to find later, just like the old, bypassed bands I’ve had a blast dredging up over the past few years. As I’ve discovered (for myself) the erstwhile fantastiques like Kim Fowley and The Litter from the ‘60s, Damien Lovelock’s solo work and Plan 9 from the ‘80s, I’ve also had the time of my life (truly) revisiting the music I loved as I knew it, and for me, it was of the ‘90s, which prompted the simple pleasure of doing Used Bin Forever.

On an irregular, weekly basis, I’ll take a few out-of-print, phenomenally wonderful 7”s (and the occasional full-length) from my collection, digitize them, write what I know about them, and post them online for passers-by to enjoy, or at times, get reacquainted with.

For example, when I posted Harriet the Spy’s fabled God Gave Us Music and the Courage to Sing 10”, visitors did many a jubilant dance in the comments section. There were a few who said they had never heard this record but were glad they finally got to, but mostly, it was a group of old appreciators who were overjoyed to hear the record again. It is, honestly, an influential disc. Its blasty, no-budget recording quality testifies its muscle-y slug even more, considering that most poopy bands active right now wouldn’t be caught dead with anything less than shimmering Pro Tools production that, if you ask me, doesn’t sound like real music.

Used Bin Forever and the many other sites like it care more for what’s in that chasm of time when bands formed for fun and had a lot of great ideas that didn’t lean on a superstar record deal or related appeal whatsoever. They knew music could speak for itself without the interpretive assistance of a clueless engineer wielding his paycheck and million dollar microphones. Bands that handled their own such affairs were much better off, even if they weren’t thinking about that at all and just hit record on a four-track machine for the fun of recording original, unique music. The puffy cloud it all formed was solid enough to support the weight of bands that would otherwise have no chance at all at reaching potential fans; bands like Half Japanese.

When punk rock—oddly the most accessible form of the era’s broad roster of anti-normal music—cannonaded the notions of the mid-‘70s, such was pretty much an inevitable boom. To make a really crude analogy, it’s like sitting in a roomful of dignitaries and finger food, and you’ve just slashed the cheese ball down to size, and it’s all building to a nasty pressure in your stomach, and sooner than later, you’ll have to let loose a haunting gust of wind from your ass (that’s the best analogy I had on hand). That’s what happened: For years and years, untamed kids swallowed the worst radio music and disco fashions and could take it no longer; the pressure built and BOOM, the dignitaries break for the door holding their noses. Punk rock was out to level the room.

On a landscape relatively miles and miles away, the dignitaries were gathering once more, shaking off the scare of 1977 and setting up new plantations, at which they would flourish for the most part through the next decade. Sure, hardcore was there and it was fast and maniacal but it didn’t garner the same major league press that punk did when it detonated years before. Hardcore was important for the coming indie splash, however, because when its timekeepers decided the genre had made its point and it was time to try something new, it naturally slowed down and branched off to different kinds of expression. Some kinds were considerably slower, but just as noisy. The fuck-yous to the industry remained intact through no-budget home recordings and records released without the help of a label. Primarily, the only labels involved were independent, and often ‘owned’ by bands, which didn’t thrive on its income.

Underground music tried a lot of things to reach listeners and satisfy its own respective urges. Some led to financial success or stability (Matador, Touch and Go and Sub Pop for example), but most led to nothing more than a landfill of great 7” EPs that’re almost entirely out of print and would take a search team to uncover. What happened to all the great 7”s released in the post-hardcore period of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s? My guess, 1) they’re shrouded in dust in basements across the globe, 2) they’re actually in a landfill, 3) they cost a dollar each at the surviving independent record stores, 4) they were lost in fires, 5) appreciators still own them and enjoy them thoroughly.

I’m number 5, and so are thousands of other kids; a volcanic pressure of love that resulted in the population of music blogs that developed on the Internet in recent years. I’m not going to blab any more on the loose and generalized history of mp3 sites or underground rock or really anything else. I’m gonna close. But in doing so, I want to thank the surviving appreciators out there who have made use of UBF and have restored some sort of music collection that has nothing to do with this lost direction of today’s success-conscious music market (special exceptions granted, I know there are great new bands out there, there always are). The past’s sounds only seem to get better as the present day’s incontinence worsens. Again, taste vs. taste, but, well, whatever.

-

Man, that really was cheesy. Now unleash the critical turd toss and inform me that I don't know dick about nothing. Anyway, I'll be back in a day or two to ruffle 2008 with more from the 1990s. Got a whole lot to feature.

2007-12-23T18:47:00.000-05:00

RIGHTS RESERVED / ASSFACTOR 4

Hairy holidays, everybodies! In light of repeat requests, here are some great re-ups for you to unwrap and enjoy alongside a bottle of your favorite winter warmer (Cottonwood's "Low Down Brown" has been doing me good lately. No, they're not my corporate sponsor, just a good N.C.-based brewery).

The Rights Reserved / Assfactor 4 split has garnered a ton of petitions for another round, so here's one on me, and here's words from my first post on this 7", from February 2007:

Refer to my older Assfactor 4 post or their Wikipedia page for the info you need, should you need it at all. In brief, AF4 was from Cola, SC, and easily one of my top three fave hardcore bands ever.

Onto the flipside.

Rights Reserved were from Durham, NC and in the same league as Eagle Bravo, Salvo Rain, Resol and Cornelius. They kicked off in the late '80s as a quick-paced hardcore band, but grabbed a sound more their own in the early '90s. In that time they recorded this split with AF4 and released a couple other EPs before the Assorted Porkchops label issued their great full-length LP in 1996. I can see fans of a selected Hot Snakes catalogue taking a real shine to it.

While this split doesn't capture the final product of the band's evolution as found on the LP, these two jams from '93 are high up by any measure. Love the bass sound too. Some Rights Reserved personnel shared time in Eagle Bravo (another classic NC fave), some went on to form Manamid, and one is currently spitting rhymes in Kerbloki. As for the AF4 songs, the recording predates the unparalleled magic kicked up by Sometimes I Suck and everything to follow, but I don't think that band ever had a bad moment. Man, what a band. In concluuuusion, this is just an all-'round fantastic 7".

TITLE: (Rights Reserved / Assfactor 4 split)
LABEL: Fallen Squirrel
YEAR: 1993
TRACKS:
Rights Reserved - Hey Day / Rights Reserved - Persimmon / Assfactor 4 - Why I Walk; Dail Dinwiddie Has A Posse

-

HARRIET THE SPY

Another in-demand work ready for repost. It was actually my 100th post back in April 2007. Here's what I wrote then, with particularly campy and embarassing prose. What was I thinking?:

Many of you will know this one well, but in light of the feedback I've received, and what I gather a lot of you frequent visitors are into, Harriet the Spy was pretty much an inevitable inclusion here.

It's that unsteady, warbling riff at the outset of this 10" that never fails to give me chills, amp me up, make long for them days, wish I wrote music like this and deem Harriet the Spy the best band in the room. Seriously. Their sound was a soup of squeals, childrens' cereal, wumpy low end, broken plexiglass and great ideas, regardless of whether or not you thought so. They weren't another gang of Midwesterners trying for the Promise Ring sound. They didn't want to be Swing Kids either. They wanted to throw eggs, pop strings, curse in front of the neighbors and call into work. That was their sound, thank god. Shit was awesome.

This, the God Gave Us Music and the Courage To Sing 10" EP, was just unbeatable. It's so much better than the bulk of what I own from that period, being the mid '90s--and I own a lot of it.

Its label, Double Agent Records, offers a free download of most/all of the 10" (haven't checked it out, it's a zip file, and I don't need it since I already own this), BUT I think my digitization, straight from the bass-heaven plastic, sounds nice and full. I didn't do it my way for nothing! I suggest you grab my rip of the 10" as long as it's available. And if you need to know, Harriet the Spy, alongside contemporaries The Man I Fell In Love With, birthed the likes of The Party of Helicopters. Jamie Stillman (drummer for HTS, guitarist for POH) is currently pounding away in Teeth of the Hydra.

TITLE: God Gave Us Music and the Courage to Sing
LABEL: Double Agent
YEAR: 1997
TRACKS:
Retro Y Retardo
I Hate America (But I Think I'll Stay)
Fucking Me, Fucking You
Bloody Nose Please
Sneaking Peaks at the Will
The Jealous Wrath of Baby Jesus
Fluffed Up On Puff Balls
The Invasion of the Rats

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POP DEFECT

I first posted this in November of '06, and I figured I'd reconvey that this 7" is one of my absolute favorites. It's just so great. Take a look at the cover for sake of christ. They've gotta be one of the best trios I know of.

Here's stuff from their website:

POPDeFECT has released seven singles, three EP's, a 10", three CDs, six compilation tracks and been the subjects of "Live With This", a full length documentary film chronicling their tours across America. They have recorded songs for two different movies as well and appeared in a television pilot as the "House Band" (!) Bassist Charlie was even on TV's Jones and Jury program to stand trial for spitting beer on a wormy little photographer who dared come to one of their shows!! (He deserved it). Their last CD release, "LIVE IN BIG BEAR" showcases sixteen live tracks including a number of weird cover songs.

As I wrote in my first Pop Defect post from November 2006, one of those cover songs is "Can't Escape Myself" by the Sound (not to be confused with much lesser Sounds, from Sweden), which, other than being an album highlight, is a great bullet to go on their we-know-our-shit resume.

TITLE: Puro Desmadre b/w That Was It
LABEL: Flipside
YEAR: 1990
TRACKS:
Puro Desmadre / That Was It

Here's all the music featured in this post. Happy holidays.

2007-12-18T18:00:00.000-05:00

FRAGRANT CLOUD

Screamin' itchy N.C. fun from, of course, the mid '90s, mucking in a storm of noisiness that surfaces the accurate conclusion that this bears a piece of Resol and blew the same eardrums as Stewface, Blownapart Bastards, Rights Reserved, Tonka, Hardware and the rest they thank in their liner notes on this 7".
Much of the Raleigh line-up was, as former Resol bassist Tom Corbitt said recently, very 'cross pollinated.'

"There's a lot of back story and cross pollination on the Raleigh scene back then," he told UBF. "Charlie [of Resol] was also in Fragrant Cloud and John [of Resol] was in Stewface. The first incarnation was called Bored Beyond Belief and had a different drummer (we played a few times with Colin Seven but he hooked up with Tonie [Joy] and started Universal Order of Armageddon...). Charlie and John went on to the Dart 360 with Chad from Mold (who was in Gnosis) and on and on."

Enjoy Fragrant Cloud, another petal on the petunia, and thanks to Tom for the words.

TITLE: s/t
LABEL: Crisis Discs
YEAR: 199_
TRACKS:
A Cup Of Tea With Colin / Three Paws and One Foot / Don't Lean On Me

-

MALVA

Here's a repost of a great band I first featured back when nobody gave a spit, understandably. Actually, a member of the band was the only to leave a comment on the post. But hey, with heads still way above water, let's have at another spin with a fresh rip.

Malva, German, was a 60/40-Council/Gravity blend, rife with circus-y drumming, benefit-comp-era epicness and eastern European accents hiding in the murk. The songwriting is every bit as good as Constatine Sankathi or Ordination of Aaron or whoever we had at the time, and so happy I was to find this 7" in a "hurricane-damaged records" sale box at the local shop around 1996or7, and shame it is more folks haven't absorbed this one.

Malva still has a web presence full of old fliers and, I've just noticed, a few mp3s. Love them.

TITLE: Das Leben Ist Kein Picknick
LABEL: Equality Records
YEAR: 1995
TRACKS:
Remain Without Assistance / Gran Ossesione / Weightless

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JOBY'S OPINION

The first track is one of my faves from the N.C. songbook, bearing all the gruff I love in Archers of Loaf, all the mystique that made Superchunk's Foolish so alluring and all the weird curves that make me bug-eyed at the fact that more people don't know Hardvark. Just a darn catching pop beat dressed in nearly tuned, four-track wonderland holepunch confetti. And the rest ain't bad either.

Mike Lupica featured Joby's Opinion on his Anti Static podcast a while back--it's a fantastic downloadable radio show featuring fine, fine 7" cuts from the '90s "avalanche," as he's put it--and from its homepage he linked an old Joby's Opinion discog, which gives you a good idea of how thorough these Chapel Hill-based boys were in establishing a catalogue.

I have a couple other Joby's Opinions stashed away, but dammit, I can't find 'em! Good thing I could avail this one to y'alls. It's truly good.

TITLE: I Have A Book
LABEL: Friction Media
YEAR: 1994
TRACKS:
Slag Off / Turn Knob Slowly For Maximum Vend / Tennessee Driver / Chinese Jet Pilot

Here's all the music discussed in this post.