The Achtungs - Full Of Hate

Over to Finland today for a blast of raw garage punk n roll from The Achtungs. After creating a buzz in their home country with last years s/t ep they're hopefully going to kick up a racket overseas with the release on Total Punk Records of their energetic and catchy as hell new single, Full Of Hate.......

The Fall - The Remainderer (Rare Promotional Version)

Probably no introductions needed when you're posting a song by The Fall as I'm sure everyone knows that Mark E Smith and his revolving door of musicians have been releasing top quality music since 1977's Bingo Master's Breakout single. Some of you however may not realise that they're as active and as inventive as ever. Despite a back catalogue that comprises around 30 studio albums (and innumerable singles), the ideas ain't dried up yet. Definitely one of my favourite bands since i bought their Fiery Jack single upon it's release 30 odd years ago, I still eagerly look forward to their new albums (which fortunately are pretty much an annual event). Here's a different version of the title track from their latest ep, this is The Remainderer.....

Martin And The Brownshirts - Taxi Driver

Today's song was re released last year but it originally came out in 1978 and was by Chester band Martin And The Brownshirts. Formed in 1977 by a group of teenagers who were inspired by the likes of The Tubes and Frank Zappa they wrote their most famous song the day after seeing the Robert Di Niro movie of the same name at the cinema. They didn't last much longer, they'd always suffered problems with violence and racism at their gigs, largely due to their name, this despite having no right wing leanings themselves (they even played several rock against racism gigs). They changed their name to The Co-Starz but their musical style changed too, later the vocalist and drummer played with The Montellas. This however is their "hit" Taxi Driver......

Slushy - she's going away

I first came across Chicago band Slushy when they released their debut single Candy/Pocket last year. Describing themselves as "sugar-fried bop-pop" the duo certainly have a knack of turning out retro sounding fuzzed up catchy tunes. Formed in 2010 they're now ready to release their debut album, Pastime Gardens, and if you're in need of a blast of summer go check it out. This is She's Going Away, if you like it you can snap it up here : http://slushy.bandcamp.com/track/shes-going-away-now-2

Anorexia - Rapist In The Park

An obscurity today from 1980 from a band called Anorexia who seemingly at one time had Wham as an opening act for them on several occasions. Formed in 1977 in Watford, Hertfordshire it took 3 years until they self financed the release of their debut ep (which contained Rapist In The Park, I'm A Square and Pets and was a favourite of John Peel). Featuring the distinctive vocals of Kim Glenister and Andrew Leigh's wailing sax it's the epitome of the era's diy attitude. This is the non pc titled Rapist In The Park......

The Gaggers - instant low

As promised back in February when i posted a song by Botox Rats, here's one by London's premier punk n rollers The Gaggers. Formed in 2009 after the members came from 1977 via time machine and featuring the distinctive vocals of Terminal Gagger (Marco Palumbo Rodrigues) they released their debut single, Fix Me Up, shortly after. Since then there's been a handful of singles, a split with The Stitches and a couple of albums, 2011's Rip You Apart and the long awaited new album, Blame You. Self confessed workaholics, the members of the band have also featured in a multitude of other acts including Dagger Dicks, Botox Rats, Shanghai Wires, Disco Lepers, Miscalculations etc. This is the recent single, Instant Low, and it's a beauty......

THE ABOUT BLANKS - BUTLINS WAS A GAS

After a couple of days in Switzerland, today the blog pays a visit to Germany to feature a new song from Berlin punks The About Blanks. Incorporating snotty vocals and snappy song titles over a pogotastic '77 inspired back beat the band have been building up an impressive catalogue of work ever since 2010's She's A Nosebleed debut ep. 2011 saw the release of their 12 Boring Blasts album and after too long a wait, their 2nd album, Ignore This Product, is brought to you by the excellent P Trash Records. New to the band? Don't worry, you can get the new 4 track ep for free here: http://s280081873.online.de/THE_ABOUT_BLANKS_IGNORE_THIS_PRODUCT_FREE_EP.rar

From the new album (and the ep), this is Butlin's Was A Gas.......

Chin Chin - Why am i so lonely?

5 months into the blog without an all girl Swiss band and then you get them on consecutive days. Formed in Biel in 1982 and consisting of Karin (guitar/vocals), Esther (bass/vocals) and Marie-Anne (drums/vocals), Chin Chin learnt to play their instruments as they went along, they didn't even have a proper singer, Carol joining after extensive auditioning but she didn't hang around long before they reverted to a 3 piece. Their wide array of influences included The Clash, X Ray Spex, The Ronettes, Bowie and T Rex. Their debut single was 1984's We Don't Want To Be Prisoners but it was the following year's album, Sound Of The Westway, that was their magnum opus. It's success lead to international exposure and to them signing to Scotland's 53rd and 3rd label (home of such bands as The Shop Assistants and Talulah Gosh) who released their Stop! Your Crying ep in 1988. From their album, this is Why Am I So Lonely......

Liliput - Split

Switzerland's finest musical export on the blog today. Formed in 1978 in Zurich, Kleenex were an inventive  all female post punk band who's self titled ep caught the attention of John Peel and then Rough Trade who promptly signed them up. A couple of great singles ( Ain't You/Hedi's Head, You/U) came out under their original moniker before the threat of legal action from tissue company Kimberly-Clark forced a change of name to Liliput. Undeterred they put out a couple more singles before unleashing their wonderful self titled 1982 debut album. Unfortunately by the time the following year's Some Songs album came out the band had parted ways. There'd been numerous line up changes throughout the band's history but tiring of touring and then the pregnancy of vocalist Astrid Spirig brought things to an end. There's a great compilation of their material that was released in the 90's that you should track down. There's several songs I could post here but I'll choose one of the tracks on a single that took pride of place in my collection back in the day, if you want to sing along the lyrics are below, this is Split........

Hotch-potch, Hugger-mugger, Bow-wow, Hara-kiri, Hoo-poo, Huzza,
Hicc-up, Hum-drum, Hexa-pod, Hell-cat, Helter-skelter, Hop-scotch

HOLIDAY - Missiles on the Roof

Do you remember that at the 2012 London Olympics, as a security measure they had missiles on rooftops in case of a terrorist attack? Manchester's Holiday do, in fact they wrote a song on the subject. It's the lead track on their s/t debut ep you can get it name your price here :  http://holiday.bandcamp.com/album/holiday-ep . Featuring ex members of The Great St. Louis and Grover and purporting to write "happy songs about unhappy things" I know pretty much nothing about them except that this song, Missiles On The Roof, is excellent. Enjoy.......

Black Market Baby - Drunk & Disorderly

 “Black Market Baby was adored. I loved them. We all loved them." Ian MacKaye (Minor Threat, Fugazi)

The best thing about compiling this blog is that it means I have to track down songs that i've not heard before, I've come across some great ones that have previously gone under my radar. It's always great when people recommend songs to me (it can be a nightmare too because if I don't like them i need to nicely ignore their recommendation!), fortunately the song suggested today by Christopher Brown is definitely worthy of inclusion. Black Market Baby formed in Washington DC in 1980, comprised of Boyd Farrell (ex The Snitch), Paul Cleary (Snitch and Trenchmouth), Keith Campbell (D.Ceats) and Tommy Carr (Penetrators) they were influenced by the likes of Sham 69 and also added a bit of hardcore into the mix without sacrificing the catchiness of punk. This song, Drunk And Disorderly was released as a single in 1990, 4 years after it was recorded and 2 years after they split up (though they did reunite during the mid 90's for a while)......

NOFX - Cool and Unusual Punishment

Almost 5 months since it's inception and the blog has tended to steer clear of the heavyweights of the punk scene in favour of lesser known but equally deserving acts. My favourite songs of all time are probably White Man and Stay Free by The Clash, Wasted Life by SLF, The Classical by The Fall, She's The One by The Ramones, Vulnerability by Operation Ivy etc etc etc but you've all heard them so there's not much point in posting them. Today though, inspired by the question "what's your favourite NOFX song?" that I saw on a group I'm going to add a song by one of punks bigger names. Formed in 1983, from L.A., currently on vocalist Fat Mike's Fat Wreck Chords label, a hefty back catalogue blah blah blah....they've got an impressive body of work to chose from but my favourite song? I doubt very much it'll top any poll but I'd go for their tale of bondage and depravity in Japan, featuring simple but great guitar breaks, this is Cool and Unusual Punishment.....

The Scabs - Amory Building

Let's have an oldie today. Featuring Exeter University students James Young (vocals), John Salmons (guitar/organ), Steve Pardoe (bass), Patrick Cunningham (drums) and Simon Grant (saxophone), The Scabs released their sole ep in 1979. Recorded in 4 hours in a crappy West London studio it went on to become a highly collectible classic. Only together for around 18 months, a couple of them went onto form ska/pop band The M5's. This is the ep's lead track, Amory Building.....

Down And Outs - yesterday's heroes

  Influenced by the likes of The Clash, Cock Sparrer, Leatherface and Downtown Struts, Liverpool's Down And Outs are "just 3 mates making music and playing a few gigs now and again." Forming in November 2003 they've released 4 albums of gritty, down to earth punk tunes. Their debut was 2004's Boys From The Blackstuff ( http://downandouts.bandcamp.com/album/boys-from-the-blackstuff ), this was followed in 2008 by Friday Nights Monday Mornings ( http://downandouts.bandcamp.com/album/friday-nights-monday-mornings ), 2012's Forgotten Streets ( http://downandouts.bandcamp.com/album/forgotten-streets ) and 2013's Lifeline ( http://downandouts.bandcamp.com/album/lifeline ). The first free of those albums are available name your price. There's also (amongst other split releases and singles) a very good covers ep comprising Janie Jones, Bikeage and Razors In The Night ( http://downandouts.bandcamp.com/album/covers-7-came-free-with-the-forever-punk-pre-orders ). From their latest disc, this is Yesterday's Heroes.....

Sometimes joy and sometimes pain, there's sometimes sun but mostly rain 
From birth to death we accept it's they way it goes 
You can't defect and you can't choose, you sometimes win but mostly lose 
This ear is glued to this transistor radio 

The black, the green 
White light shines inbetween 
It takes me to a place I used to know and love 

They were yesterday's heroes, but the fire's still burning bright tonight, allright 

Through decades memory starts to fade, we moved into a modern age
These parasites are rewriting history

Positive Junk - Suicide (A Better Way)

  I didn't intend to post 3 cover versions this week but as they've been the songs that have aurally assaulted my ears and demanded inclusion I've just gone with the flow. Today's update is from a ska/punk 3 piece from Coventry who are currently unsigned but have made their excellent Do It Kill Yourself! ep available for free here :  ( http://positivejunk.bandcamp.com/album/do-it-kill-yourself ). As they say, they've been massively influenced by the music of Choking Victim and The Infested and this release is a fitting tribute to those acts. Currently they're finishing the recording of an album which I'm excitedly looking forward to hearing, in the meantime this is their version of Choking Victim's Suicide (A Better Way)....

Scraper - kill from the heart

  A big thank you to Kevin McGovern who brought today's song to my attention in his excellent Fear And Loathing In Long Beach digital zine ( http://longbeachloathing.blogspot.co.uk/ ). It's a cover of an old classic by The Dicks and it's by San Francisco 3 piece Scraper. Formed in 2011 by Billy Schmidt (vocals), Noah Charnow (bass) and drummer Chelsea Woodard (Woodard has since been replaced by Moses Rios), they released their debut s/t album in 2013. Fear And Loathing say "the guttural and grisly poetic melodies crawl through the cracks of the hyper-distorted tidal waves.....and will set your misanthropic libido on fire." I just say this is a great cover of a great song, this is Kill From The Heart.....

Social Distortion - 1945

California's Social Distortion came into existence at the end of the 70's so can rightly be called punk veterans. Featuring the distinctive vocals of frontman/guitarist Mike Ness they've released 7 studio albums and can cite influences including from Johnny Cash, The Clash, Bob Dylan, Hank Williams and Eddie Cochrane. This is an early single and it concerns the American bombing of Hiroshima, this is 1945.....

Atom bomb, TNT 
New disease, poor city 
Flying over Hiroshima, 1945 
The city looks small from way up here 
I wonder who'll survive

Atom bomb, TNT 
New disease, poor city 
A blinding flash hotter than the sun 
Dead bodies lie across the path
The radiation colors the air 
Finishing one by one

Atom bomb, TNT 
New disease, poor city 
A blinding flash hotter than the sun 
Dead bodies lie across the path 
The radiation colors the air 
Finishing one by one

S.I.B - Listless

Back in 1980 in Italy there was a band called R.N.A. Transfert who were a covers band playing songs by the likes of Iggy Pop, The Police, The Heartbreakers etc but bored of this guitarist Red G. Seventeen, Dirk and Sifney left and formed a punk band called Red Brigades. They were joined a few weeks later by female vocalist Tracy Crazy and then by rhythm guitarist S S Hirschmann. Finding it difficult to get gigs in Italy whilst called Red Brigades they changed their name to S.I.B. (short for Swelling Itching Brain which was a song by Devo). In April 1981 they recorded their only album, The Third World War, but a year or so after this they split due to musical differences. From the album, this is their 80 second masterpiece, Listless.....

Circus Jerks - Wasted (Clowns Are)

  Tribute bands are everywhere nowadays, mostly they play faithful covers of old favourites and some can do pretty well out of it. Ocasionally one comes along that puts a new twist on things, case in point being Los Angeles 12 piece Circus Jerks. Featuring members with names such as Dick Jerk, Bozo Hetson, and Klown Morris, I know pretty much nothing about them other that they seem to have their tongues inserted firmly in their cheeks and energetically perform songs with titles including Clown Rape, Live Fast Die Clown, Clown Up My Ass, Barnum Hills and Wasted (Clowns Are), which you can hear below.....

Poison girls - Piano Lessons

Poison Girls were an Anarcho-Punk band who held strong political beliefs and challenged people to think for themselves. Formed in 1975 by the 40 year old Vi Subversa, Richard Famous, Lance d' Boyle and Bella Donna they were originally an experimental theatre based outfit who like many of their contemporaries were influenced by the exciting new punk movement. They went on to share a stage with Crass on many occasions (who they released a split single with in 1980) and continued touring round Europe throughout the 80's, releasing music that was often confrontational and thought provoking. From 1979, this was their first release, it was from a split with Fatal Microbes and is called Piano Lessons....

 We are having piano lessons
Practice your piano
Practice makes perfect

They are marching past the window
They are marching down your street
They have noticed that expensive car
And your freezer full of meat
And how you can't, rest without
The guard dog at your feet

They are drilling in the playground
They are training on the green
There's a million of them out there
And their guns are made of steel
You don't know them, but they know you
And their bayonets are real

We are having piano
We are having piano
We are having piano lessons

They've learned all their lessons
You taught them all they know
You shouted out the orders
And you told them where to go
So don't complain, when they return
The treatment blow by blow

Or will you come with us
On the run with us
With the wild girls on the run
Or will you stay behind
And take to guns...

They're marching past the window
Down your suburban street
They have emptied out the corner shop
They've eaten all the meat
So watch out boys, because they've killed
The guard dog at your feet

We are having piano
We are having piano
We are having piano lessons

m.o.t.o. - shitty kids

 
  M.O.T.O. (which stands for Masters Of The Obvious) were formed in 1981 in New Orleans by Paul Caporino who since then has been the only constant amongst a multitude of line up changes and a relocation to New Hampshire. Their back catalogue is a hefty dose of garage punk/rock n roll and includes the highly rated 2002 release Kill Moto and a 31 track compilation titled Battle Of The Bands - Greatest Hits 1988-2005. Just to demonstrate that even after all these years they're still putting out great music, this is last years single, Shitty Kids......

Western Addiction - The Church of Black Flag

Somedays you just feel like rocking out. An ominous, rumbling guitar intro and then release the hounds of hell.....Western Addiction are another band from San Francisco, forming in 2003 and featuring Ken and Chicken from Dead To Me, they released an album on Fat Wreck Chords called Cognicide (from which today's song comes) before splitting in 2006. Reforming in 2013 they released an ep (listen here : http://westernaddiction.bandcamp.com/album/pines ) and hopefully there'll be more to come. This is The Church Of Black Flag......

This is the church where Black Flag lives
Sentiments are born of desperation
Where good thoughts come from
Monuments in futility
Stress and anger, passion and humility
But we're above thumbs

This is the church where black flag resides
There's no profit, no success, just pride

Nil by mouth with prophetic paint
Autistic license, we're always poor and hungry
Art just doesn't pay
Finding beauty in ugliness
Compulsive strides are pensive and second best
This is on our chests

This is the church where black flag resides
There's no profit, no success and we're tired
We're tired!

This is the church free of cognicide
There's no profit, no success and we're tired,
In the church where Black Flag resides
There's no profit, no success, just pride

VKTMs - Midget

Some people probably think this blog is just thrown together with no thought as to what's going to be posted next and of course it pretty much is but today's song is connected to yesterday's in as much as that one was about someone in love with a tall girl whilst this one is about someone in love with a 3ft 3" guy. Vktms, from San Francisco, were together between 1978-1982 (and reformed in 1994). Blessed with powerful female vocalist Nyna Crawford they released a couple of eps and a single but didn't really get the recognition afforded to some of their contemporaries such as The Avengers but they were prolific on the live scene sharing a stage with a who's who of the punk scene (Dead Kennedys, DOA, Stranglers, Ramones, Johnny Thunders etc etc etc). Their s/t album came out in 1997. Tragically Nyna "Napalm" passed away from cancer in 2000. From their debut ep, this is Midget......

W.O.R.M. - Vertically Unchallenged Baby

  One band i used to enjoy catching live whenever they toured near my (old) hometown of Lancaster were W.O.R.M. Formed in 1992 in their native Chesterfield, they've been veterans of the UK punk circuit ever since. Featuring Danny on vocals and bass and Mark on drums, they've had a revolving door of guitarists and have churned out a decent sized body of hard edged pop punk. Whilst the USA has been blessed with too many to count pop punk bands in recent years, this side of the pond hasn't been as fertile so hats off to W.O.R.M. for hanging on in there and flying the flag for Blighty. From their best (in my opinion) album, Vertically Unchallenged Baby (free and remastered here : http://www.wormpunkband.co.uk/ ), this is the title track.....

Missing Monuments - Another Girl

Veteran of numerous bands, including the much missed Exploding Hearts, King Louis Bankston is currently the mastermind behind New Orleans power pop/punk n roll band Missing Monuments. Formed in 2009 they're now a 4 piece and are signed to the excellent Dirtnap Records who released their 2013 s/t album (their 2nd long player). Originally appearing on the (I'm Gonna) Love You Back To Live ep, this is the catchy as hell Another Girl.....

The Gamits - The KGB Are Still Looking For Me

I think a dose of quality pop punk is overdue so here's something from The Gamits. Formed in 1996 and hailing from Denver, Colorado, they split up in 2005 but got back together 4 years later. They've released split eps with Red City Radio and The Murderburgers as well as a solid body of their own work. This song, The KGB Are Still Looking For Me, was written during their tour of Russia after they heard on the news that the authorities had arrested a suspected American spy who had the same last name as vocalist Chris Fogal......

One Way System - Jerusalem

As I mentioned yesterday, today's music fans are lucky that a world of music is just a mouse click away whilst back before the advent of the internet it wasn't always easy to hear what was happening outside your own backyard. Today's song was originally released as a demo in 1982 on the compilation A Country Fit For Heroes by Fleetwood (north west England)'s One Way System. They had a run of "hits" in the indie singles and album charts, including a cover of Slade's Cum On Feel The Noize, they even toured the states with The Circle Jerks though the tour was cut short after Jerks singer Keith Morris broke his neck. They split in 1986 but after a decade they got back together again and are still gigging today. This is Jerusalem....

The Dils - I Hate The Rich

Growing up in Northern England in the 70's I was around at the right time to experience the new, exciting music that was named punk rock. Actually, that isn't quite true, if I had have been a couple of years older and from a bigger city then i might have managed to latch onto things a little earlier. The first albums i bought were Machine Gun Etiquette, Inflammable Material and Give Em Enough Rope. I never got to see The Pistols or The Clash live though i did manage the likes of Siouxsie And The Banshees and PIL. Almost right time, almost right place, almost. Though as a 13 year old Grammar School boy i do remember listening to John Peel and eagerly devouring Sounds and the NME. Back in those days, London seemed an exotic place, a far away city with a rich and varied cornucopia of bands and gigs. The American punk scene was made up of bands like The Ramones, The Dead Kennedys and The Dickies, beneath that not much registered with me and I suspect this is the case with many other UK punk fans. So whilst many of the people reading this grew up on music from bands like The Dils, it probably wasn't till many years later that others, like myself, became aware of them. Forming in 1977 in Carlsbad, California (though soon relocating to San Francisco) and noted for their left wing politics they released only a fairly small amount of material but were influences on a multitude of impressionable youths. They split in 1980. This is their debut single, I Hate The Rich.....

I hate the rich
they should dig the ditch
I hate the rich
got a life without hitch, life without a hitch

I hate the rich
I don't want their money
I hate the rich
and it ain't so funny

look at the poor
crawling on the floor
look at the poor
always wanting more, always wanting more

look at the poor
all they need is money
look at the poor
now it ain't so funny

i hate the rich
look at the poor
i hate the rich
i hate them all

Little Flags - Never

I don't really know much about today's band except that they were from Southampton and their live shows looked pretty damn rocking. I had high hopes for them a few years ago but unfortunately they never really did anything. Little Flags were a female fronted hardcore punk band that if i remember rightly possibly only released a demo and maybe a single but I enjoyed all the tracks i heard by them and was disappointed that they just seemed to disappear from the scene. Frontwoman Hannah Graves nowadays spends her time as a body piercer in Berlin but aside from that all i know is that they came, they rocked and they went too soon. This is never....

The Partisans - I never needed you

One of my hopes regarding this blog is that by travelling back and forth in time maybe, just maybe, fans of 70's punk classics will discover some new bands to get into and vice versa. It would be nice to think that 15 year old Ausmuteants fans down in Australia could get their first exposure to The Partisans from flicking through these updates, maybe fans of The Partisans will have a listen to Bear Trade or Giorgio Murderer. Whatever, punk ain't dead right....
The Partisans, from Bridgend, South Wales, got together in 1978 whilst still teenagers. Like many of the bands from that era they hung around for a few years (till 1984) before reforming years later to take advantage of the renewed interest in live punk shows. A band I always thought should have been a bit bigger than they were, they had success in the UK indie charts with the likes of Police Story, 17 Years Of Hell and Blind Ambition but never really took off like some of their contemporaries. With it's up tempo driving beat, I Never Needed You is one of my favourites.....

I never wanted to find out the reason
Of what was really wrong inside
I just didn't want to know about it
cos all i needed to do was hide
But as the days went by
and all my friends wanted to find out
I just didn't want to know about it
cos all i needed to do was shout

I Never Needed You

As soon as i was told i was going to die
A different person entered me
Some people seemed to change overnight
Oh why cant they see?
I just couldn't seem to do no wrong
All i seemed to do was right
and then with only two monthes left
That's all i seemed to do was fight
And say....

Bear Trade - Son of the manse

  Hopefully today's song is going to introduce most of you to a band you haven't heard before, even more hopefully once their new album, Blood And Sand, comes out next week you'll all rush to check it out. Think Iron Chic, fronted by the vocalist from ONSIND, and you won't be a million miles away from Bear Trade. The north east of England outfit play a "stabby, chuggy, jaggy" brand of upbeat melodic punk rock, their aim is to have fun whilst enjoying their love of punk rock, gigging and drinking. Treat your ears, this is Son Of The Manse.......

In this hands he holds up a plan that he wrote today. Penned from his fathers values. Values of simple men. 
Oh preach to me boy, you come from better stock. You can't believe what we've learnt from our own, could be of any worth. 
So many people depend on you now, but not for what you did but what you said. 
Don't turn your back on me boy, don't turn your back. The worst of us couldn't handle what you struggled with all of your life, and the words that you said don't bring comfort. I love you boy. 
Darling it's all over now, this barrel has been scraped. In twenty year this will be trivial, maybe then you'll want me back. Darling don't lose sleep. 
Building a pyramid, waging a war. Keeping the sabbath. What would the primes say? I don't know. To live in misery living a lie. 
Primes should be proles