An oldie today from Dundee punks The Eddies. They formed in 1994 and despite numerous line up changes have gigged regularly ever since, sharing a stage with many of punk's greatest names. They've released a couple of albums, PANIC (1999) and Who Are You? (2001).
Despite the line up changes and the ravages of over 20 years together, they're still bringing their brand of sweaty, in your face music to an appreciative audience. They weren't lying when they claimed that they were Punk For Life.....
An oldie from 1998 today from Chicago band The Broadways. They formed in 1996 following the demise of Slapstick and featured Brendan Kelly (vocals/bass), Dan Hanaway (guitar/vocals), Chris McCaughan (guitar/vocals) and Rob DePaola (drums).
They were best known for the album Broken Star, which was released on Asian Man Records in 1998 and which was unapologetically raw and concerned itself lyrically with social and political issues. Later that year they split, Kelly and McCaughan formed The Lawrence Arms whilst Hanaway and DePaola formed The Honor System.
A post break up compilation of both previously unreleased and old material entitled Broken Van came out on Asian Man in 2000 and there were a couple of reunion shows. Kelly also featured in The Falcon and Brendan Kelly And The Wandering Birds.
Today's song is my favourite from The Broadways, it was the opening track on Broken Star and it's a frustrated but ultimately doomed plea to stop commercialising everything. This is 15 Minutes.....
all down the streets the signs read cheaper and better technology this capitalist vision is my nightmare, put up a sign in my face what the fuck happened to this place? i think we made a wrong turn now look at the lovely concrete i drove to my stupid job today, got stopped at an intersection 15 minutes of my life just rolled away i looked at the guy next to me he didn't seem so happy no ones happy but everyone's too busy to see let's go shopping today drive our fancy cars to the fancy malls and for lunch we'll have big macs i wish i could turn the clock back to when i was ten when i wasn't scared of everything and everything wasn't so fucking crowded and i wonder if my kids will ever see a horizon untouched by billboards and shopping malls and i wonder if this crazy world thinks i'm the one who's crazy what if i'm the one who's crazy? what if i'm the one who's crazy? i'm not crazy just frustrated
The Nerds were an Italian "scum punk" band from Voghera who formed in 1997 and who lined up The Boss (vocals), King Taccio (bass), Marco Ferrarese (aka Monkey Motherfucker) (guitar) and El Pollios (drums).
In 2007 they changed their name to The Nerds Rock Inferno.
I received the I Don't Like You single in the post last week (thanks Angelo!) and it's definitely worthy of a place in this blog. 4 tracks of raw and rocking punk rock, it includes a cover of The Angry Samoans' The Todd Killings and the song you'll find below....
Airbomb got together in 1996 in Romford, London and took their name from a loud firework. Influences range from The Ramones, Rancid and The Misfits to more metal oriented acts like Motorhead and Twisted Sister.
1998 saw the release of debut album Look Out! and they followed it up in 2005 with P.N.U.K.
No spring chickens, they were just a bunch of veterans of their local punk scene who wanted to put out some quality punk music. I think it's fair to say they did just that.
A catchy as hell tribute to The Selecter's Pauline Black today from The 'Tone. It came out in 1998 on the I Know It's Alright ep on Rugger Bugger Records. Featuring on the ep were Dan Bernstein (vocals/guitar), Bob Butler (bass/vocals), Ben Corrigan (guitar/vocals), Paul Ayriss (drums/vocals) and Dave "Fingers" Eve (organ). Other bands the members played in include Schwartzeneggar, Thatcher On Acid and Hard Skin.
The band mixed elements of ska, mod and punk and released a couple of albums (Wide Eyes & Nonsense... Grinding Gum And Molars (1999) and Here's Another Reason... To Believe In Rock 'n' Roll (2001)). The Wide Eyes.... album was a collection of the best songs from their early singles and splits. You can listen to Here's Another Reason here : http://noidearecords.bandcamp.com/album/heres-another-reason-to-believe-in-rocknroll.
A nostalgic walk down memory lane, this is Pauline.....
don't look in the freezer , there's something nasty inside. don't look in the freezer , you wont like what you find. BECAUSE DADDY'S MURDERED MUMMY , CHOPPED HER UP IN BITS COS DADDY'S MURDERED MUMY , PUT HER IN THE FRIDGE.........
Today's song is from a band that came from my old home town of Lancaster. Dr And The Crippens formed in 1987 and were together for around 4 years during which time they gained plenty of attention for their live shows in which the killer hardcore tunes would be complimented by an array of flamboyant costumes and stage props (including an exploding head!).
Recording wise, they released the albums Fired From The Circus (1998) and Raphanadosis (1989), both on Manic Ears Records. There was also the 1992 Live Hearts album which compiled various live performances from the previous year's German tour. Amongst their other releases were the Live ep, the Avant Gardening 12", a Japanese split ep with Juntess and 1991's Turn To Gas 7" (this latter ep featured a great version of The Clash's I'm So Bored With The USA). They also recorded a couple of well received John Peel Sessions.
Members of the band included the splendidly named Max Von Reinheart (vocals), Tom Crippen (guitar/vocals), Wayne Crippenski (bass/vocals), Jesus Van Gogh (drums/vocals), BB Kablamo (drums) and Emily Danger (who guested as vocalist on today's song and who has a band named after her).
Nowadays, bassist Wayne Crippenski has reverted to plain old Wayne Elliott but he was kind enough to write a piece about the song you'll see posted below...
"Funny how Freezer became our most popular song as we only put it back in the set about 3 weeks before we recorded Fired From The Circus. The lyrics were written by me after a time when I'd got half way to the shop to buy some grub and remembered I hadn't looked in the freezer. It's loosely based on the horror movie Asylum where dismembered body parts are stored in a chest freezer. I was stockpiling Ramones style lyrics with the aim of putting something in that style together. The tune was written by our original guitarist/vocalist Andy Fox. He'd only heard a couple of da brudders tunes prior to joining so we lent him their first 3 albums, gave him some lyrics and off he went. He left the band around the time co-founder Ben and I discovered Poison Idea and went more HC. The female vocalist on Freezer was a French girl called Geraldine that we met down the pub. She said that she was in a band so we asked her along to the studio not realising she was a bass player not a vocalist. Cracking job she did though! Live it became a sing a long fave and is almost a punk standard in the North West these days with several bands covering it in their sets. D Liberate are the latest and earned themselves a repeat gig recently when the promoter heard them soundcheck with it. Just need Green Day to do it now as the publishing cash would be handy!"
Coming soon will be a list of Wayne's 10 favourite songs but until then, this is probably his best known, Don't Look In The Freezer.....
New York City's Gorilla Biscuits were formed in 1987 and were one of hardcore punk's greatest acts. The line up featured Anthony Civorelli (vocals), Walter Schreifels (guitar), Alex Brown (guitar), Arthur Smilios (bass) and Luke Abbey (drums). Despite being straight edge they took their name from the street term for Quaaludes.
1988 saw the release of a self titled 7" ep (from which today's song is taken), whilst the following year saw the Start Today full length, both were on Revelation Records. Similar in style to Minor Threat but lyrically there was less preaching of the straight edge mantra. Sputnikmusic describes them thus "raw energy with just the right amount of melody....motivating and lyrically intelligent."
Schreifels left in 1990 to form Quicksand (he later formed Rival Schools), the band carried on until 1992 when most of the remaining members formed CIV. They reunited in 2005 and have occasionally toured since then.
This is No Reason Why.......
You're always on my back about what I mean to do and all your talk is bothering me just wait until I'm through I walk down to the corner store to catch up with my friends They're puffin smoke high on dope, will this shit ever end?
I go down to the matinee such stupid shit I see as middle class suburban kids grubbing money off of me Tough guys staring picking fights with new kids & with old These attitudes help nobody the guilty should be told and we'll tell 'em
No Reason Why - to beat up on a poser skin No Reason Why - to keep the little kids from getting in No Reason Why - to take advantage of the people you know No Reason Why - there's just no reason why.
Today's song came out in 2012 as a 1 sided 7" single. By The Outrights, it was a giveaway to celebrate the band's first show in 12 years. 100 copies were pressed (80 with red covers, 20 blue) before Eccentric Pop repressed a couple hundred more. The song was originally the b side of their 1998 single, Come Back Baby, which came out on Zombie Stomp Records. You can find the song here : https://eccentricpoprecords.bandcamp.com/album/cant-have-you-7-single.
Featuring on the recording are Marco Argiro (guitar/vocals), Travis Wood (bass/backing vocals) and Chad Voight (drums).
The band got together in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 1994. Still at school, they managed a few US tours, sharing stages with the likes of Against All Authority, New Found Glory, Discount, Guttermouth, Mr T Experience etc. Influenced by a combination of rock n roll (Chuck Berry, The Kinks, The Sonics, Ramones, The Jam) and sci fi & horror b movies, they released a couple of albums; 1996's The Attack Of The Outrights and 1999's The Outrights (album number 1 was mainly about girls whilst number 2 concerned itself more with zombies and blood sucking freaks).
They split in 2000 but 2012 saw them back together again, aside from the one sided single, they also featured on a split ep alongside The Parasites, Braceface and The Jetty Boys and they released The Zombie Stomp as a Halloween single.
A great example of 90's pop n roll this is Can't Have You.....
Today's song was one of my favourites from the 90's, it came out in 1998 on Lookout! Records and was on Over The James which was the 4th album by Richmond, Virginia's, Avail. (They actually formed in Reston, Virginia but were mainly based in Richmond and many of their songs were influenced by the city).
Forming in 1987, they released 6 studio albums in total, the first being 1992's Satiate, this was followed by 3 on Lookout! (Dixie, 4AM Friday and Over The James) and then a couple on Fat Wreck Chords (One Wrench, Front Porch Stories). Though they didn't officially split up, they haven't played together since 2008.
I'm sure most of you are already familiar with them and do I won't bother writing a longer intro, I'll just mention again what a great song this is and post the lyrics in case you feel like singing along!
This is Scuffle Town.....
There's kepone in the river But the river's still Flowing east Ethyl dozed the planet In an attempt to keep The downtown clean Still it's a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful day And the sun is still shining, shining, shining, shining OVER THE JAMES Oregon Hill is at end time VCU crept up and lit the torch West ave. honkeys don't forget That trains still run north Still it's a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful day And the sun is still shining, shining, shining, shining OVER THE JAMES Third per-capita Third per-capita yeah Third per-capita Next year Number one it's a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful day And the sun is still shining, shining, shining, shining OVER THE JAMES
"Mick - watch that hector Jaime shit. Don't forget about the west coast on your pop punk ride. Arizona had rad bands. weird love makers?! Never get over you skis. Love what you're doing."
So said the message that popped up in my in box (cheers Ke nny). Ok, thought I, let's investigate further and hope they aren't crap. Luckily that certainly wasn't the case and so......... Whilst ploughing through some of the info that appears online concerning The Weird
Lovemakers I discovered that they operated with a no veto policy. This ensured that each band member had a voice and an outlet for their creativity. This in turn led to a wide diversity of sound in their material. They also operated a Never Decline, Never Request rule which saw them become one of Tucson's most popular bands as they rarely turned down an
invitation to gig. During their active years, around '94-2000, they put out an album (in '96) called Electric Chump and one (in '98) called Flu Shot (from which today's song comes). There were also various singles, splits, cassettes, live and compilation albums. The best known line up consisted of Hector Jaime (vocals, bass), Greg Petix (vocals, guitar), Gerard Schumacher (drums, vocals) and Jason Willis (guitar, vocals). If you want to read more there's a long interview with them over on Razorcake : http://www.razorcake.org/interviews/interview-with-the-weird-lovemakers-originally-appeared-in-issue-03 This is a catchy and pretty great song called 1,2,3 (I'm Ready) (For Your Love)......
Sometimes you've just got to leave her behind............
A band today who were from Honolulu, Hawaii who list amongst their influences The Queers and so must have been pretty happy when their idols decided to do a cover of the song I'm posting today.
The Catalogues, "Hawaii's first pop punk band" began life in 1993 with the aim of putting out lots of records and touring. They failed to achieve this but they did spend a pretty productive day together when they recorded, mixed and mastered a demo which they titled Viva Los Muertos! They also managed to get a 5 track ep released on Mutant Pop Records. The band went their separate ways in 1998, singer/guitarist Les Hernandez is currently with horror punk band The Quintessentials.
This is the song that attracted the attention of The Queers, it was covered on their classic Don't Back Down album, this is Another Girl.....
"Saw him yesterday at the record shop
caught him looking at me, didn't want him to stop..."
Regular visitors to this blog will know of my love for rough and ready 3 chord rock n roll with female vocals. There's been plenty of such songs already posted and no doubt there'll be lots more to come, starting with this one.
Bitchschool were a garage punk band from California who got together after the demise of Loli And The Chones and featured brother and sister Chris and Michelle Santamaria as well as Jessica Mirmak. Not to be confused with the band of the same name who come from Portland, this Bitchschool just had the one release, an ep which came out on Tina Lucchesi's Lipstick Records in 1998 and featured 3 tracks : Bitchschool, Record Shop and I'll Be Good To You. They also contributed a cover of Nick Gilder's Runaways In The Night to the California Ain't Fun No More compilation.
Simple but highly effective, here's a tale of budding romance at the Record Shop.....
The last couple of updates have seen some top notch hardcore tinged punk rock from the USA, today I'm posting more of the same but this time by a band that hails from Birmingham, England. Rotunda started life in 1996 as a 4 piece but went on to beef things up a bit by adding a second guitarist. They took their name from Birmingham's Rotunda (it's a cylindrical 266 ft tall high rise building in the city centre). Mixing up hardcore punk with a dash of oi, the band don't shy away from political comment in their songs, as is evident in the track I've chosen to post. In 2011 they released their debut album, Chalk It Up, which is available free here : http://rotunda.bandcamp.com/ . Owing a debt to Repo Man (in a similar way to I Am A Cancer by Smogtown does), this is Neutron Bomb......
The original version of today's song, by Patrick Fitzgerald, is an early punk classic and has been covered on several occasions by the likes of Chumbawamba and Tim Armstrong to name but a couple. The version I'm posting is from a split album by Bad News and District which was released in 1998. District, comprising Burn Harper, Joey Mosy, Marc Ader and Pascal Briggs, were together between 1995-2005 before joining forces with members of The Revolvers and changing their name to 2nd District. From Bochum, Germany, they released several singles and eps as well as the aforementioned split album with Bad News and an album of their own, 2004's Don't Mess With The Hard Punx and a compilation (My Dad's A Punk). Their sound was good old fashioned '77 style punk rock, here's their cover of Safety Pin Stuck In My Heart.....
One of the best gigs i went to was in a student union place in Lancaster called The Sugar House and it was by a band who formed in 1987 called Mega City Four. They came from Farnborough, England, and originally consisted of vocalist/guitarist Wiz (Darren Brown), his brother Danny (guitar/vocals), Gerry Bryant (bass/vocals) and Chris Jones (drums). Playing catchy punk infused indie anthems they soon became a big hit on the live circuit and released a host of singles/albums up until they split in the early part of 1996. Tragically, in December 2006, Wiz died after collapsing with a brain haemorrhage.A trust, The Forward 4 Wiz trust was set up in his name ( http://www.f4wt.org/about-2/ ). Today's song, their debut, is dedicated to his memory, this is Miles Apart.....
There's been several songs on here so far from the 90's and they've all been pretty much from American bands. Unfortunately the UK punk scene at that time wasn't as healthy although there were still bands that kept plodding away, often in the face of an indifferent general public. One such band was London 3 piece Travis Cut. Renowned for the speed they changed drummers, they even named their compilation album Another Day Another Drummer (you should try and track it down it's great), they formed in the early '90's and released 3 albums (Serial Incompetence, Seventh Inning Stretch and Shambles) as well as loads of singles and eps. This song, Another Dumb Punk Rock Song About A Girl, was on their 2nd album and was released in 1998.....
A while ago I asked for suggestions for great songs that I could add to the blog. The sound of silence in reply was deafening so you had to keep putting up with my picks. And then Kevin Patrick McGovern (vocalist with The Prostitutes no less) made a few suggestions. This was one and very good it is too : Indiana's The Problematics released an album, The Kids All Suck, and a handful of singles in the mid to late 90's. This is I Guess I'm Not Cool Enough For You.....
