The Devil is Electric - It Sounds Better in the Basement (Reviewed By Mike Patton)

  It's Friday so it's guest review day and today that guest is Vista Blue's Mike Patton. (https://wearevistablue.bandcamp.com/)  Mike's chosen a song by The Devil Is Electric, and the song appeared on the 2001 album, I've Never Trusted A Revolutionary That Was Afraid To Dance.

  Cheers Mike.....

  This song always takes me back to when I lived in New Orleans. Between 2000 and 2005 or so, I was playing a lot of shows with my bands The Robinsons and Sally Stitches, and I was booking another 5-6 shows a month for other bands, at local venues, houses, and even my garage.

It was a great time to be involved with the DIY scene, and there were constantly great bands on tour who just wanted to play. With some of the bands, we'd do NOLA one night, Baton Rouge the next, and try to do something like a kickball game in between.

This song perfectly sums up that time, when it was always about the music, not the money, about friends, and not fame. And to this day, I'd always rather play in a basement than play on "some dumb stage."

Kill-A-Watts - Shopping Mall Moron

 

  Recent updates have concentrated pretty much solely on new music but as the latest Just Some Punk Songs show was a garage punk special and it seems to have gone down so well with those that have listened to it, I'll post one of the songs from the show as today's update. If you want to listen to the whole show you can find it saved here : https://www.mixcloud.com/mick-fletcher/just-some-punk-songs-garage-special/ 

  Kill-A-Watts are from Wauwatosa, Wisconsin and you can find their music name your price on Bandcamp : https://kill-a-watts.bandcamp.com/  The song I played on Sunday's show and which I'm posting below was on their Electrorock album. It was released on Rip Off Records in 2001 and the line up at that time was Ryan King (lead guitar/vocals), Jennifurball (rhythm guitar), Melissa (bass/vocals) and Mechadrum (drums).

  The album as a whole is a blast. Fast paced, raw and catchy, it's guaranteed to have you bouncing round your room. There's a dozen short sharp blasts of top notch garage rock n roll, including this one. This is Shopping Mall Moron....

 

The Cleats - Just Wanna Be

 

 
  The Cleats were from Edmonton, Canada and were contemporaries of The Wednesday Night Heroes (with whom they released a split 7" on Longshot Music in 2001). Also in 2001, they released an album called Lost Voices, Broken Strings which featured a dozen old school sing a long punk songs in the vein of bands like The Clash and Stiff Little Fingers (the album finishes with a version of the SLF classic Alternative Ulster).

  I don't really know anything else about them other than that I think they split after guitarist Chris Venner left to go to medical school so if anyone has more info please feel free to add it to the comments section.

  If you want to hear more, most of their songs seem to be on Youtube. Here's one of them, this is Just Wanna Be.......
 

Big D & The Kids Table - L.A.X

 
  An old favourite today, this is a song that blew me away when I first heard it. I think my reaction could have been "How the hell can Mike Davies get away with playing a song on Radio 1 that contains so many fucks!" The impressive swearing aside though, it's one hell of a catchy tune.

  Big D And The Kids Table are a collective of musicians from Boston, Massachusetts, that coalesced whilst at college back in 1995. Fronted by David McWane, they lay claim to being modern day American gypsies who make music because they've no choice, they're addicted musicians. They aren't afraid to mix differing styles of music; punk, ska, reggae, thrash, stroll and several other variations all come together in a heady melting pot. Energetic, fun and experimentation are some of the words I'd use to describe them.

  Their back catalogue is an Aladdin's cave of treasures, a few of their most recent offerings can be perused here : https://bigdandthekidstable.bandcamp.com/ 
https://stompandstroll.bandcamp.com/album/stomp
http://bandcamp.silversprocket.net/album/how-it-goes

  Given the energy they bring to their records and the number of talented musicians involved, it's no surprise that their live shows are a blast, they're certainly one of the more enjoyable bands I've seen.

  This one's from way back in 2001. It was on a split ep with Five Knuckle that came out on Household Name Records (which also featured the Big D song President, another great tune) and it's called LA.X


Hey, elitists from L.A.; Los Angeles, California
You know who you are
You drive in fancy cars
Your allowance exceeds my rent
Well listen to what I have to say
Remind yourselves every day
Let's get the message on its way

Well first of all,
Fuck your fucking attitudes
How can you be so fucking rude?
You fucking look at me like when girls are jealous
And fuck your fucking L.A. bars
You're all a bunch of wannabe superstars
Yeah, fuck your fucking act
You're a bunch of dressed up fucking rats

You get anything you want
Mommy's jobless fucking runt
You're fucking lounging in daddy's fucking mansion
And all your fucking stupid names
Blair and Tavis, that's fucking lame
Z-A-C does not spell Zack,
What the fuck is with all that?

And you think you're so fucking impressive
You can get your name on the fucking guestlist
Raise your nose to the people in line
Give the doorman a fucking high five

And they go

Do my shoes match my shirt?
Does my shirt clash with my pants?
Do my pants match my eyes?
Do my eyes look good tonight?
Will this place be cool enough?
Your hair looks so, so tough
This looks so good for us
Tonight my money's gonna buy me love


And fuck all of your deceiving
What's your fake heart fake fucking bleeding?
And all the girls you lay to your mat
Are the same fucking girls you fucking laugh at
And fuck your fucking fake ass world
And all your handed out fucking thrills
Some of us, we have to work hard
Just to get our little part
And maybe your clan is not in Boston
But my friends are fucking awesome
And we'll keep on doing our best
Even though our lives are a mess

Even though my life is a mess, yeah

And we go

Will this check support this tour?
Will this tour lose my job?
Without my job where's the rent?
Should we all just call it quits?
The dinner dates sure cost a lot
When 28 bucks is all you got
And your life is at a stop
And all your dreams are all self-taught


And this is the difference between our lives
No wonder tonight you feel alright
And I'm sorry if my mind is occupied
I'm trying to forget to wonder why


We're built up from nothing
I'm trying to forget to wonder why

Stinking Polecats - Claire

 

  Getting together in 1996 in Piacenza, Italy, Stinking Polecats were a Ramones/Screeching Weasel/Lookout Records influenced pop punk band. They self released a single, Love?!, in 1997 and followed it up with a split ep with Home Alone. Uk label Irritation Records put out the following years debut album These Are Just Stoopid Songs Played By Morons.

  A second album, A Song For Your Boyfriend, came out in 2000 on Wynona Records and there was also the 2003 Pretty Girl single as well as several splits with the likes of The Fairlanes, Travoltas, The Automatics, Destructos and Retarded. The latter, a 2001 ep on Bad Man Records, features the song I've posted below.

  They split in 2006 but vocalist Chris Polecat can nowadays be found fronting Tough, another Italian band who aren't afraid to let their love of The Ramones shine through. You can check them out here : http://tough.bandcamp.com/

  An upbeat, old school pop punk love song that features killer backing vocals, this is Claire.....

Aus-Rotten - The Second Rape

 
  The term punk is an all encompassing, catch all term for a wide range of music. Tomorrow I'll be posting a top 10 list by a band that released my favourite pop punk album of 2014 but today something very different features. Punk is often at it's best when addressing social or political issues, this is one such case (and I think the song very definitely benefits from having the lyrics added to the video).

  Aus-Rotten were an Anarcho-punk band who formed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1991. Their name comes from a German term meaning to destroy, exterminate or eradicate and was used in connection with the Nazi's persecution of Jews in World War 2. Unsurprisingly they were heavily influenced by the British bands that were early genre pioneers a decade or so previously. Bands such as Crass, Subhumans, Conflict, Flux Of Pink Indians, Chumbawamba etc. Their songs, mostly written by vocalist Dave Trenga, dealt with feminist issues, homophobia, religion, animal rights, immigration and consumerism and did so in a powerful and direct way.

  Announcing themselves with the 1992 demo, We Are Denied, They Deny It, they released 3 albums before calling it a day in 2001 (The System Works For Them ('96), ...And Now Back To Our Programming ('98) and The Rotten Agenda ('01) ). Their 1994 ep, Fuck Nazi Sympathy, sold over 25,000 copies making it Havoc Records' best selling release. There was also a compilation called Not One Single Fucking Hit.

  The song I'm posting today is taken from their final album and as well as Trenga on vocals it also features ex Spitboy singer Adrienne Droogas and is a hard hitting condemnation of society and the justice system. The Second Rape.....

 

Randy - If We Unite

 

  Another day, another great song, this one is from a band who were mainly active between 1994-2005 but who still seem to be together even if they haven't released anything for a while.

 From Pitea, which is a town in Norrbotten County, Sweden, Randy got together in 1992. Consisting of Stefan Granberg (vocals, guitar), Fredrik Granberg (drums), Johan Brandstrom (guitar, vocals) and Johan Gustafsson (who replaced original member Patrik Trydvall on bass in 1997), they released some of the era's best music. Never afraid to address political and social issues they were very much a band that delivered a message as well as a damn good tune. They featured on some of punk's top labels of the time, Burning Heart, Epitaph, Fat Wreck Chords... and gradually matured from being fast, furious but still catchy as hell towards a more considered but equally as impressive sound.

  There's plenty of songs that I could have chosen to highlight but I'm going with my favourite track off 2001's Human Atom Bombs, this is If We Unite.....


Vaya con dios
Punk rock amigos
I see the dreams glow in your eyes
I see lovers down by the coal mine
I see an empty so called paradise
I see the sun, I see the skyline
I see the sun, I see the light
Let's honour those who died for freedom
Who died struggling in the fight
Industrial workers of the world, Joe Hill
The days of ?39 when time stood still
The anarchists, the Bolsheviks, killed
In Kronstadt

If we unite we can take them
Grab them hard and then shake them
If we unite we can break them
Oh baby! wouldn't that be nice - wouldn't that be nice

Vaya con dios
Punk rock amigos
Oh my loved one my heart of gold
I've seen you walking through Arctic winters
Somehow your skin never gets cold
Let's honour those who died for freedom
Who died for trying, who died for life
Who died for living, who died for dying
Who died for trying to organize
Look ma, look what they've done
The sun over Kurdistan is gone
And there's someone up there right now
Taking down the stars

If we unite we can take them
Grab them hard and then shake them
If we unite we can take them
Oh baby! wouldn't that be nice - wouldn't that be nice

Vaya con dios
Senoritas
May this system come to an end
That turns the people 'gainst each other
Brother against brother and friend against friend
They're leaving this town tonight
7:40 on a ray of light
I dreamed I saw you standing next to Angela Davis, baby

If we unite we can take them
Grab them hard and then shake them
If we unite we can break them
Oh wouldn't that be nice - wouldn't that be nice

If we unite we can take them
Grab them hard and then shake them
If we unite we can break them
Oh wouldn't that be nice - wouldn't that be nice

Nerve Agents - But i Might Die Tonight

 Today's update features a cover of an old Cat Stevens song by Californian hardcore act The Nerve Agents. Formed in 1998 by Andy Outbreak (drums) and Eric Ozenne (vocals), they were a raucous, chaotic ball of energy who's live shows often led to audience members needing medical treatment due to the enthusiasm on display in the pit. As far as recorded output went, they released a self titled ep in 1998 and a split with Kill Your Idols in 2000 as well as a brace of albums (2000's Days Of The White Owl and 2001's The Butterfly Collection. They burned bright, building up a rabidly loyal fanbase but then split in 2002 amid rumoured tensions caused by Outbreak's involvement with The Distillers as well as the pending birth of Ozenne's daughter. From their Hellcat Records album, The Butterfly Collection, this is But I Might Die Tonight.....

I don't want to work away 
Doing just what they all say 
Work hard boy and you'll find 
One day you'll have a job like mine 

'Cause I know for sure 
Nobody should be that poor 
To say yes or sink low 
Because you happen to say so, say so, you say so 

I don't want to work away 
Doing just what they all say 
Work hard boy and you'll find 
One day you'll have a job like mine, job like mine, a job like mine 

Be wise, look ahead 
Use your eyes he said 
Be straight, think right 
But I might die tonight! 

Tina & The Total Babes - Waiting For You

Another awesome old(ish) song today, this time by powerpop punk 'n' roll (or whatever you want to class it as) act Tina & The Total Babes. Fronted by the legendary Tina Lucchesi, who has also featured in several other great bands (including The Trashwomen, Bobbyteens, Midnite Snax, Top Ten, Deadly Weapons and Cyclops etc...), the Total Babes hailed from Minneapolis and featured Jacques Wait (guitar), Johnny O'Halloran (bass) and Travis Ramin (drums). 2001 saw the release, on Sympathy For The Record Industry, of their sole album, She's So Tuff. As if singing (and playing the drums in several of her bands) wasn't enough, Tina also put out releases by the likes of Bitchschool, Riff Randells and The Fevers on her own Lipstick Records. A fine example of the Total Babes' top notch rocking sound, this is Waiting For You.....

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.....

The Foamers - Football

"It's not a war
It's just a game of football
So what you fighting for
What you fighting for?"

Forming in a Surrey pub in 1996, The Foamers were regulars on the UK scene for the best part of a decade. Mixing punk, oi and ska they released a couple of albums and a few singles, this song was the title track of an ep that came out in 2001. Calling for peace on the terraces, this is Football.....