Music Sucks

20 years after they invented a musical genre with their inaugural 88 Song EP, Mike Mahan, Seth Putnam and Tim Morse dusted off the cobwebs and re-recorded the twenty-minute blast of blur that started their (in)famous ride as one of the most polarizing bands in heavy music history. Per Mr. Putnam:

"Since 2008 was the 20th anniversary of Anal Cunt, we got the original lineup back together and only did shows with this lineup all year and only did songs from the 1988-1990 period. This CD was recorded the way original Anal Cunt stuff should be recorded. We just borrowed a recorder from someone, pressed play and didn't stop until we were done. We didn't stop the recorder to take any breaks, or re-record mistakes or anything gay like that. What you get here is over 21 minutes of pure, raw Anal Cunt style blurcore. We tried recording it a couple of days earlier on some gay computer recorder which Tim assured me would be fine, but ended up sounding like Richard Simmons trying to pick which Polyphonic Spree song he wanted to hear on the jukebox at a gay bar. So we threw that recording away, and tried again 2 days later with a different recorder that Tim borrowed from someone else. It sounds exactly the way the original lineup of Anal Cunt is supposed to sound, like a ferocious, violent, holocaust. The only thing that sucks about it a little is the little recorder couldn't handle my vocals like it should, so it's a little weaker than it sounded in the room when we recorded it, but it came out good enough. If you like the sound of Anal Cunt's Another E.P. then you'll love this - because it is much heavier, and more like an audio sledgehammer to your face.  If you didn't like the sound of Another E.P. then go inject some more of Bruce Vilanch's cum into your veins, faggot."

I'm fine with admitting I was a pretty hardcore A.C. fan back in the day, I was one of those sorry souls who slapped down three bucks at Newbury Comics every time they released a new 7" even though I knew it was going to be the exact same power chord noisecore. Sure, the 7MON split was over-produced, Another E.P. was under-produced, the Meat Shits split interspersed some surf rock riffs and the Unplugged E.P. was, well, unplugged, but all in all it was the same ol' noisy stuff. So at least I knew what I was gonna get with 110 Song CD. Not quite a feedback-laden lo-fi assault as Another E.P. (my personal fave from the blur era), it's still a respectable throwback to the good ol' days by guys who were pushing 40 at the time for chrissakes. Tight and fucking insane as ever, it's too bad there will probably never again be a band who randomly mashed two dozen riffs together and made a career recording it over and over again. Enjoy.

Wicked Sick

Everglade

I'm sure L7 would be tickled fucking clitoris pink to be sandwiched between two of the most misogynistic bands in musical history (spoiler alert... Anal Cunt post up next) but I've had this fucking song in my head for like the last two days and figured it needed some recognition. Solid sludgy grunge from a 50% attractive girl group (was that the typical ratio or what?), for some weird reason I am convinced it sounds like a Go-Go's single played at 33 rpm. I actually had the whole Bricks Are Heavy album this song sleazed from but it was quasi-reluctantly sold in the broke-ass post-college CD purge of 1994. Still, "Pretend We're Dead" is easily the feminine foursome's finest four minutes, a strangely catchy post-metal dirge that would have been a lot stronger without the endlessly looped whispery vocal overdubs. Sure, it's terribly overproduced for the grungy/indie attitude they're trying to portray but at the least it's still four women rocking out (and shit, sometime vocalist Suzi Gardner offered the hottie background vox on Black Flag's "Slip It In" to which I probably/definitely jerked off once or twice to). As far as this import Japanese single goes, it's worth a listen - accompanying five live tracks (two solid from Bricks and three weak from 1990's forgettable Smell The Magic) is "I Used To Love Him," a barely humorous parody of Guns 'N' Roses "I Used To Love Her" (was the idiotic furor over that lame-ass song still relevant in '92?) and the only original B-side from Bricks, "Lopsided Head". I'm surprised I wrote as much as I did about this CD-single, I think the funniest thing now that I'm listening to it is how much whomever chick is singing on "I Used To Love Him" sounds exactly like Axl Rose. Shit I gotta go to bed. Enjoy.

C'mon C'mon C'mon C'mon

Allin Autobiography

How else to start off the year right then with some essential literature penned by punk rock's preeminent Public Animal #1? Introducing the closest thing to a memoir about the infamous scumfuc, GG's autobiographical "America's Favorite Son." Written much like a schizophrenic diary (Allin has the annoying habit of casually traversing from the first to third person) it is somewhat difficult to read at times - the single-spaced typewritten pages are murder on the eyes (as is GG's antipathy for punctuation). Regardless, it is still a fascinating book, a must-have for any serious fan. Spanning from early childhood to his 1989 arrest in Ann Arbor, the stories are both hilarious and sobering. GG names names and doesn't censor the details for anyone's benefit, even his own. The Jabbers stuff is fantastic - the stories of the band struggling to stay together once GG decided to do his own thing are a real treat. My only complaint with "America's Favorite Son" is the lack of detail once GG began to devolve in the late 80's. Of course this is easily explained by the increase in his boozing and blackouts during that time but I wish more than a couple pages were dedicated to the recording of Freaks, Faggots Drunks & Junkies (heck, Suicide Sessions is mentioned only in passing). GG must've eventually sold his typewriter as the last 30 or so pages are handwritten (and I was complaining about the typewriter?) - I am happy to report that someone with a lot of patience has actually transcribed the entire book into a much more legible PDF format. And what a cover photo to boot. I included in the download file a few bonus PDFs. One is of a 1991 xeroxed press book distributed by Allin while he was floating around the country skirting parole. I got it via G-O-D from the excellent Media Christ blog who actually got his signed copy from Allin himself. A lot of the material we've seen before but it's still a cool compilation to peruse through. For completists out there, I also included a PDF of Evan Cohen's "I Was A Murder Junkie" to cover the last 5 months of GG's all-to-short life. So kick your feet up by the fire, grab yourself a steaming mug of Jim Beam and drift off into literary bliss.

Manchester Memoirs

See ya in 2015...

Recorded during rehearsals for the famous Fillmore East Band Of Gypsys concert 45 years (!) ago, Hendrix, Cox and Miles put down their beers for a few minutes and jammed out one of the cooler holiday medleys from the era. "Little Drummer Boy", "Silent Night" and "Auld Lang Syne" all recieve their acid rock due and Hendrix (as usual) turns what was probably an impromptu jam into a single for the ages. The 7-minute "extended mix" made available just a few years ago is the definitive version so it's the one I included. Enjoy.

MMXV

Ole Gravy Leg

Banking a sharp 180º degree turn from last post comes a solid slab of lo-fi dirge metal from obscure Erie, PA sludgers Village Of Dead Roads. Allegedly recorded in one live take, their debut full-length trudges along like a drunken rhino; slow and repetitive yet still managing to pull off some really inspired moments. The sluggish breakdowns in "Blind Albino" (slickly overdubbed with some bad-ass obscure movie samples - Bad Lieutenant maybe?) are completely addictive and could happily go on forever. My favorite track is "Ole Gravy Leg" - a song that totally fulfilled my expectations the first time I heard it. The riffage, brutal outro breakdown... everything fits to an absolute tee. Almost a perfect song. My only complaint with Dwelling In Doubt are the way-too-many "skit" tracks of noise-ish nonsense. Just get with the fucking music motherfuckers. Enjoy.

Abjection

Somethin' A Little Different...

The few and far between purveyors of this blog will probably be blindsided by the fact that I am actually a massive Bee Gees fan. Tucked in between Beck and Begging For Incest are two dozen CDs of my favorite UK-via-Queensland pop trio. I thought I'd upload two hidden treasures in their extensive discography, completely overshadowed today by the billion-selling disco era LPs which forever defined the band from the late 70's on. 1968's Idea is a somewhat psychedelic offering which finds the Gibb brothers still searching for their own sound. Some tracks sound exactly like the Beatles (to such an extent my girlfriend asked if they actually were unreleased Fab Four tracks) while others venture into Jefferson Airplane/Mamas & The Papas territory. At the end of the day though, the songs that stand out are clearly Bee Gees songs. Some readers may recognize "I Started A Joke" from Faith No More's excellent Who Cares A Lot? version - while "I've Gotta Get A Message To You" is pure Bee Gees with an epic harmony chorus straight out of their later years together. "When The Swallows Fly" and the title track are also stand outs. Which brings me to 1974's Mr. Natural. Another quirky album cover aside (the Bee Gees were the undisputed champions of awful cover concepts) - get past the sappy opener "Charade" and you will be in proto-disco heaven. Backed by the producer (Arif Mardin) and back-up band that would help jettison them into worldwide fame a few years later with Saturday Night Fever (among other LPs), the Bee Gees locked down their unique mix of funk, blues and pop with this album. Ranging from delicate ballads ("Voices" and "I Can't Let You Go") to funky R&B ("Throw A Penny" and "Mr. Natural") to dance floor classics crying for a strobe light ("Down The Road" and "Heavy Breathing") it's a great party record will easily embed itself in your annoying I-can't-stop-humming-these-songs repertoire. Shit, who am I kidding, I fucking love almost every album these guys made but these two records top 'em all. Enjoy.

1968                                                                     1974

Fingered

Not much out there about this Buffalo metalcore-ish deathcore four-piece - I'm not sure what spurred my discovery of this LP on iTunes but regardless, I went and downloaded it just the same. This record is a compilation of their two 2004 EPs The Hatred Spreads and Three Minutes Of Hate. Apparently self-released and completely obscure (were there actual CDs pressed?) it sounds well-rehearsed, well-produced and totally surprising that the band didn't seem to go anywhere. While there are moments that are token and tired, some parts are simply fucking awesome (the last 30 seconds of "Bloodlet" and "In The End" for example). And for being 10 years old, the fact that they sound even remotely pertinent today is a "win" in my book. Looks like most of the group stayed together long enough to reinvent themselves as a silly-named doom/death metal outfit called Darkapathy in 2012 who's bandcamp page got almost a minute of my fleeting attention. Enjoy.

3mh

Support Domestic Violence

Über-Photoshopped cover aside, Eminem's first wholehearted venture into hardcore hip-hop via the persona that would soon make him famous is a cool cultural snapshot of the ripple just before the storm... somewhat like the people who saw the hidden potential in Nirvana's Bleach. The EP that would get Dr. Dre's attention and soon catapult the name Marshall Bruce Mathers into the household vernacular is not nearly as good as the Slim Shady LP that would follow two years later but is also not quite as self-aggrandizing as his major label debut. You'll recognize most of the tracks - "If I Had...",  "Just The Two Of Us" (a.k.a. "'97 Bonnie & Clyde"), "Just Don't Give A Fuck" as well as their "clean" radio edits - the real gem of this album is "Low Down, Dirty". A huge, sluggish Too $hort-esque beat backs up some of the most ridiculously twisted lyrics from Detroit's soon-to-be-favorite son. Surprising how this one escaped Dre's souped-up production. Silly skits aside, the other notable track on this one is "No One's Iller" - somewhat forgettable but featuring a bunch of guys who I think turned into D12. Nothing epic but always cool to hear proto-Eminem before he was doing fucking GMC commercials. Enjoy.

 Murder, Murder, Murder, Kill, Kill, Kill

Satanic Winter

I was sold on their 2013 Anhedonia solely for the fact that they covered all 14 miserable minutes of one of my favorite Loinen songs - the inescapable "Lihaa" ("Flesh" for you non-Finnish speakers). Moscow's Thy Grave is a solid drone/sludge outfit harnessing the spirit of such wretched overlords as Otesanek and Thou with eager aplomb. They just released a couple tracks last week on a split CD with Torf (Ukraine stoners) and Sixpackgods (Finnish noise rock) but what really caught my attention was the band's amazing Talvisaatana demo from earlier this year. While the songs on the split CD are somewhat funeral doomy and not quite as bitter as I'd hoped, the demo versions are fucking awesome. Raw and underproduced - recorded on single mic, no after effects or whatever. The screaming lyrics sound a hell of a lot harsher as well. There's a live track thrown in to round it all out; fucking heavy-ass shit to wreck your brain. Check 'em out here.

Skrelnik

Deck The Balls

Who woulda thunk that the band with the most Christmas songs on my iPod was Korn. Go figure. Recorded during the 1994 Korn sessions, this unusual take on a traditional carol is no where nearly as funny as the band probably thinks it is nor as heavy as you hope it will be. I don't know who at Immortal thought this 12" single was a good idea (released 20 years ago this month!) - my best guess is someone was trying to repeat what the band managed to pull off with "Shoots And Ladders." Epic fail. Anyways, most of the song (the record offers clean and "Blatant FCC Violation" versions) features an inexplicably emotive Jonathan Davis sulking through a parody of "The Night Before Christmas" (dude, it's a holiday story, not fucking "Kill You"). Be forewarned, the lyrics are awful. Groan-inducing terrible, even for way back in '94. The tune wraps up with a quick 30 seconds of "Twist"-esque jabber over a somewhat heavier, albeit obviously freestyled outro. It sounds like the band is just phoning it in on this one, but still good for a dry smile as you spike the egg nog tomorrow. Enjoy.

Reefer And Beer...