I see a lot of varied admiration for GG Allin's stuff on the ol' interweb. Most folk are okay to admit to cherishing the early Jabber days of a young, confused New Englandah belting out some off-color snotcore while some cite his final Murder Junkies material as the tightest. Few however, recommend (or even recognize) the absolute depths of alcoholism, drug abuse, loneliness and misery showcased on his 1989 Suicide Sessions release. The third (and last) album from his contract with Homestead Records, ol' Gerard Cosloy didn't even bother pressing this one to wax, it oozed out as a cassette-only release and would have probably fallen into general obscurity had GG not died and it not been re-packaged years later by Awareness Records (paired with the sadly tepid Anti-Social Personality Disorder). I know "I Live To Be Hated" kinda became a staple of his live shows near the end but really, that is probably the one track on this album which had any live playability other than "Dagger In My Heart" (which I still think is one of the most approachable songs he ever wrote) and I've never heard that played live. From what I gather, Sessions was supposed to be a Scumfuc reunion album, but with all the aliases his former bandmates have used it's tough to tell. Regardless, Suicide Sessions is a masterpiece. Its absolutely nonexistent production elevates it to legendary status with a grittiness and feedback that bands like Eyehategod feverishly strive for in the studio. Each track overflows with an assault of EQ levels so far off the map that some points simply turn into a wall of noise. And if you remember GG from that era it's a perfect sonic snapshot of a man's spiral downward. From the pounding repetitiveness of "Cornhole Lust" and "Shit On My Prick" to the weird "Lilliana Phone Fucker" and absolutely bizarre "I'm Dying, I'm Dying, I'm Dead," GG was at his apex of being a fucked-up scum and absolutely not giving a fuck - all that would change with his arrest less then a year after the album's release. For me, while I like some of the post-prison stuff GG made, Sessions was a real high point to the end of an era. I dig seeing a total id at work; same reason I like watching junkies on Intervention; not because they're potentially getting clean but for the first 45 minutes where they are constantly high and could not give less a fuck about anything around them. I'm amazed the guy was able to cobble together 17 tracks in a basement somewhere (which is really where it sounds like it was recorded) in between a daily regimen of bottles and lines. To me, it's his best. You can find relatively good rips of Suicide Sessions all over the internet but I haven't yet seen any direct from the cassette so here ya go. For anyone who cares, the Awareness re-release cuts out the long dirge "Jailed Again" (which may have prompted the moniker Best Of The 'Suicide Sessions' that Aware-One uses) most likely due to CD timing restraints so enjoy if you've never heard it in all its lo-fi glory. Keep an ear out for some great half-second snippets of GG and the band chatting between songs - classic shit.
7/29/14 update: Just re-upped a brand new 320kbps rip of the original Homestead cassette. Removed a lot of the tinny high-end from the previous rip - sounds pretty devastating. Enjoy.
Currently watching: Subconscious Cruelty
Currently listening to: The Dismemberment Plan Emergency & I
