Mannny man oh man. To quote The Cramps on their track "She Said," LAST NIGHT I GOT MESSED UP. Hungry Tiger Too is a bar in Southeast Portland that sells PBR and Corn Dogs for a dollar on Wednesdays. With my current work schedule, Wednesday happens to fall on my "Friday" of my work weekend. It has a sweet back patio with various tables and couches that are often hard to get unless you go relatively early. I only mention all this because my body is still in shock from last night and I ask that if anyone is reading this that they can see past all the nonsense that may ensue in this particular post.
At work this work, we got in several classic titles at an affordable price that is very kind to the wallet.
We got the Silver Apples self-titled debut album that is typically considered "Psychedelic," but is really anything but. The band consists of two members utilizing a large drum kit as featured on the liner notes of the cd reissue and some of the earliest use
of synthesizers. Originally released in 1968, this particular album would ulti
mately lead to the starting of far more electronic groups t
hen actual punk rock. Suicide's Alan Vega even spoke very fondly of the Silver Apples in many interviews, which shouldn't be too surprising to those familiar with Suicide. This album is pretty freaky, especially with the droney monotone vocals. Not really much to say about this, because I'm pretty sure most people are familiar with this album.
We also got in Shuggie Otis's classic LP, Freedom Flight, that features the song "Strawberry Letter 23." This song was made most famous by The Brother Johnson, and has been used
in Jackie Brown (so I've been told, never seen it). Strawberry Letter 23 is the fucking jam of the century, end of story. If you haven't heard the original, you need to fucking check yourself before you fucking wreck your-fucking-self. This album plays like more of a black dude playing rock music, although there are strong hints of funk throughout the album. Cop this album before you die. Essential.
Demon Fuzz - AFREAKA! is one of those albums that you can tell is going to be badass based purely off the cover, and I know that these things shouldn't be a basis of purchasing an LP, but in some cases you know it's going to be good. Another good case
and point of this is the Skull Snaps LP, but I'll save that for another time (basically a crazy funk LP with crazy drum breaks sampled a disgusting amount of times). Demon Fuzz is that crazy ass funk LP that the real crate digging DJ's sample. Fucking mad funk from the UK during 1970. The cover has some buff ass black dude wearing a ski mask that looks strikingly similar to the gimp in Pulp Fiction. See it for yourself.
Demon Fuzz
"The Gimp" from Pulp Fiction
There are a couple of other records I purchased that are mad funky, but I'll save that for another time my friends.
Tonight NoBunny is playing PDX, me and my buddy Renn are going to get real silly before hand. I might even get a little saucy tonight.
I'll leave you with a video of "Strawberry Letter 23."
Today at work I decided to purchase 2 albums out of sheer curiosity based off of a customers suggestions. Both these particular titles landed in the hands of 2 different customers sometime ago, and I found the album covers to be remarkable and decided I would purchase them if we ever got them restocked.
The first title is by none other then Bo Diddley. I'm sure you're wondering what might be so curious about a Bo Diddley album that everyone hasn't already heard before on a previous outing. I assure you, this particular title is something else. The album cover has a very Psychedelic aesthetic to it and has Bo Diddley wearing a very peculiar outfit consisting of leather chaps, very reminiscent to an S & M outfit. The album is Bo Diddley: The Black Gladiator. The album only recieved a poor 2 (out of 5) star rating courtesy of All Music Guide, but sometimes the writers and editors at AMG have no fucking idea what they are talking about. The story goes that Bo Diddley went on to make a series of Funk albums inspired by Sly and the Family Stone beginning with this particular album. The very first track is titled "Elephant Man," which is a song about Bo Diddley claiming to have invented the Elephant by assembling it piece by piece until he was finally finished. Talk about some fucking crazy ass shit. I called my buddy, Devin, asking him whether or not he had heard the album, being the big Bo Diddley fan that he was, and he told me that he went somewhere off the deep end sometime in his career. I feel comfortable in saying that this album is an exception to this statement. The album maintains a very funky vibe while drawing from all the blues dynamics that became a staple of Bo Diddley's early works. The album has all the right call and response type funk vocals where Bo preaches to his fellow sisters and they respond very righteously. Below is a picture taken from the back cover of the album. Frightening.
The other album I purchased today is by Melvin Jackson and it's titled Funky Skull. The title track starts off the album, and it has Melvin Jackson playing an upright Bass through an amplifier with various effects including distortion. This particular album plays like a Jazz album mixed with Funk/Soul Elements, but I wouldn't consider it a Jazz-Funk fusion album. It plays on the lighter side of Funk through most the album, but has its moments, especially on the opening track "Funky Skull." The upright Bass noodlings sound very odd and strangely funky on this opening track due to the various effects being applied. I wouldn't want to place this album in either the Funk/Soul or Jazz section in a record store, because I feel it literally falls in between the two genres. This album would be definitely good to spin at a bar if I were to DJ again in the near future. Great background/good vibey type tunes that has enough soul to make that girls ass shake (or in some instances clap) all night. After a nights worth of drinking you'll find yourself calling Melving Jackson, "Jackie Good-Vibes," as you stumble out of the bar with your coked out mistress as you wave down the next car that looks like a cab, praying to god you have a rubber waiting for you on your night stand.
NOW BACK TO PUNK MOTHER FUCKER
Yesterday at Green Noise records, I saw an LP that I have been putting off purchasing for a very long time despite its importance in the punk community. The album is by the punk outfit from Belgium known as The Kids. No, not "The Real Kids," but The Kids. The Kids play like a Rolling Stones fucked up on speed and without all the Rock & Roll royalty bullshit. This is great pub ass punk, that's fast at times, but very melodic and plays like a Rock record through and through. Snotty at times, and aggressive guitar work, I find this album to be pretty immediately accessible upon the first few listens. For whatever reason, I was never really taken with this album when I had heard the clips online, but the last time I visited Adam at Oasis Pizza, he played this particular album and it sounded far different than I could remember. That's why when I saw it again after a good solid year or so of staring at the cover, I decided to finally buy it. Seve describes the kids as one of his Top 5 favorite records, and with such a bold statement like that, I didn't know how I could turn it down. The album has a Ramones worship type sound to it, but has more gnarl type vocals that make it sound tough (and believe me, the Ramones are TUFF!).
Just yesterday I got my new Personal & The Pizza's new 7" on Bubbledumb records. The new 7" has the song "Brass Knuckles" on it, which I think is their best jam yet. It's a Ramones worship riff and has similarly inspired lyrics. Most of their tunes are Stooges/Ramones rips, but about pizza. I wanted to write this post in praise of Bubbledumb Records and their numerous releases. All of their releases thus far are top notch, and I feel capture the musicians finest moments.
The Trashies - Life Sucks LP is the very first release on this label, and it's pretty lo-fi type toilet rock. Not exactly in the same vein as GG (a lot more playful), but there are several homages to him throughout the album (including him saying, "I hate you mother fuckers" from Todd Philips Hated). I feel like most people often overlook this particular release primarily due to the fact that there are still copies of this record floating around, and people only like "super lmtd edition shit spackled vinyl" brosef. The song "Plasma Date" (as featured on the Myspace page) is probable the finest moment of the album, but "I'm High, So What?" and "Sweat Pants Boner" are also pretty awesome jams. The Trashies seem to be very reminiscent of Pere Ubu, particularly with the vocals. Probable not my most favorite release, but a good album for $9.99.
The second release is the infamous NoBunny LP that got everyone in a shit fit. For those of you who don't know, this LP was originally being sold directly from Bubbledumb, who is run completely by Dave, and more or less out of his apartment. This prooved to be a very difficult project that required Dave to glue photo copied album covers on pre-existing discount bargin bin record sleeves, spray painting them, and then putting the records in. While most people wouldn't find this particular project to be an issue, the demand and hype behind the album resulted in flooded orders by record junkies (who we know are way worse then other junkies). In addition, many of the LPs were pressed at United Pressing Plant, which is a notorious pressing plant for pressing records on shitty vinyl and then shipping out warped records. Some copies of this album appear on pink vinyl, and I would someday love to own a copy of the original Bubbledumb press (I have the 1-2-3-4 GO! reissue, and this marks the only Bubbledumb release I don't have). This record came out in early 2008, and some people claim to still not have copies of this particular record, although I think some people are just trying to benefit from an unfortunate situation (since Dave tries and ships out all the remaining orders). This particular record is the primary reason why most people consider Bubbledumb Records to be a poorly run label, even though every release afterwards has gone pretty smoothly. In my personal opinion, the only reason why people still bitch is because they can't get their grubby hands on the new Bubbledumb releases and that means "poor distribution." I find that claim to be pretty funny considering I've somehow managed to get a hold of everything else released thus far with relative ease and I live in Portland.
I don't really know what's left to say about this record? "I Am A Girlfriend" is probable my favorite jam, but "Mess Me Up" is also another Nobunny classic. The cover of "Somewhere New" by the Yolks is a good cover, however I find the original to be a thousand times better. Great Ramones worship type music that is so much more than that at the same time. Classic of our time for sure. 1-2-3-4 Go! Records decided to reissue the Nobunny LP (in the same year of it's release) due to the dilema behind the record and the high demand the record had and was selling for on ebay. I landed my hands on the reissue that was on yellow/gold wax (300 copies) included with a live NoBunny cd titled Live Love.
The third release on Bubbledumb is the Eric and The Happy Thoughts 7" that is a pretty remarkable piece of music. This is one of the very few groups that despite all the static and lo-fi dynamics that make up this 7" that I can actually hear through it and completely adore. "Never Gonna Do It" and "Indiana Girls" are the two better tracks, although "Ride, Ride, Ride" is still a very good track on its own as well. This record is pure pop. Simple chord progressions that rely whole heartedly on the wonderful melodies. I really do enjoy this record.
The fourth release on Bubbledumb is my favorite and happens to be the very reason for finding Bubbledumb records oh so long ago. Sometime ago in 2008, I stumbled upon the Hunx & His Punx myspace where I had heard "Hey Rocky" for this first time. I thought to myself that it was a wonderful song and that I'd love to pick up the record someday. Unfortunately, Hunx hadn't done any deals at this point with any labels and the "Hey Rocky" single wouldn't come out till close to a year later. Hunx would release his Rob's House "Gimme Gimme Back Your Love/You Don't Like Rock And Roll" single and Bachelor "Crusin" single prior to this release. In addition to this single, I have every Hunx single to date, and he has been one of my favorite new artists to come from this current Garage/Punk craze as of late. Great Ramones worship punk fused with the Ronnettes sung by the gayest/punkest guy in Rock and Roll. I fucking love it. I finally met Hunx at the PDX East End show a about three weeks ago where he recognized me from myspace and asked, "Are you Kerbstomp?" I was pretty shocked that he would even recognize me. That gave me a pretty good laugh, and ended up buying a T-Shirt and a pin for $12 bucks. Easily the best Hunx song in my book and probable my favorite Bubbledumb release to date.
While I don't have the Poppets 7" yet (yea, so I lied I don't exactly have ALL the releases), I do plan on getting my hands on one VERY soon assuming that Green Noise gets it. Either way, I'll end up searching around online for it until I can find one. From what I've heard on myspace, this 7" sounds to be very promising. The most recent release (done in conjunction with the Poppets) is the new "Brass Knuckles" 7" by Personal and the Pizza's. I've already touched on this one I know, but hot damn is this song sweet. I cannot wait to see these guys at SMMR BMMR (assuming they are still planning on playing), and I also have every release of these guys to date. I ordered this 7" directly from Personal, and he included a nice hand written letter with it. They also have an extremely limited tour 7" split with Coconut Coolouts that I plan on getting from them hopefully directly after their tour with them, because the song from this upcoming 7" is golden too. Check out the video below, it's the music video to "Brass Knuckles"!
I received an email today from Exiled Records saying that they had just got the African Psychedelic obscuro classic Chrissy Zebby Tembo & Ngozi Family - My Ancestors back in stock after being out of print for a year. Originally released in 1974, this album has been hailed by collectors as one of the finest fuzz-psych albums to emerge from Africa. Recent reissues of the album began surfacing on eBay demanding $100-200 dolllars (for a reissue!). So when Lindsey at Exiled Records emailed me, I decided to swoop by on my lunch break to score this album. I would often talk to both Lindsey and Scott about how I had wanted the album and that they should email if ever a used copy would surface. The one I purchased appears to be an altogether different pressing, demanding a higher price tag.
About the music... The album is layered in fuzzed out guitars reminiscent of (in my mind) the Count Five in a lot of respects. Cheery vocal me
lodies sung in an African accent with great psychedelic guitar noodling. The track "Oh Yeh Yeh" from this album appeared on the African Psych compilation put out by Shadoks (label) Love, Peace and Poetry: African Psych. The label has made other entries in the series including a Turkish, Japanese, Mexican, South American and American obscure psych reissues. All of them are pretty exceptional, but being the enthusiast that I am, I can't help but track down the actual full length albums of these artists featured on these comps.
Another fantastic album I purchased in the last
3 months also an African psych album is by The Peace - Black Power. Similar fuzzed out african psych with garage rock compositions. Songs also consist of minimal drums like the Zebby Tembo record, providing the album with a very
primal rock feel. The album artwork is fucking astonishing. Some say this group originates from Zambia, which I have read is a quite place that not many would consider the starting point for a psych/rock/funk group. It's been said that the band members formed while enlisted in the Zambian Air Force sometime in the early 1970's.
In my search for more (good) 80's hardcore, I stumbled upon Stalag 13, another Skate punk band from the Oxnard, CA hardcore scene. While bike riding through Southeast Portland heading to Northeast to visit my buddy Seve, I stumbled upon Discourage Records on Morrison. I almost didn't stop in at running the risk of spending money, which I did. I managed to get the 7" at Discourage for a mere $7. Pretty happy on this find because I was going to resort to finding this album online. Pretty sure this guy is out of print, so it was cool to find it locally on wax. Look at that record cover! Undeniable! It originally appeared on a 12" record, but was short enough to fit on a 7" record even at 45 rpms. Additionally, the guy at Discourage offered me a slice of free cheese pizza upon my purchase, further prooving my theory that PUNX LOVE PIZZA (ie: Personal and The Pizzas or just about any punk party you go to).
Another recent purchase was Youth Brigade (LA's) debut LP "Sound and Fury." I only got through the first side, but I liked what I heard very much. Great melodic hardcore with rap breakdowns. I believe Youth Brigade started BYO records (Better Youth Organization), which was the label of such bands like Agression (mentioned below), 7 Seconds and countless other groups. Speaking of Agression, I found an Agression - Bootleg Live @ Cbgb's at Crossroads for $2!! Originally it was priced at $30, but I think it was marked down incorrectly. Either way, it's a pretty rad LP, and also managed to score a copy of Lou Reed "Transformer" on wax on the same trip for $5.
I also picked up The Big Boys (2 LP set), Reagan Youth - Volumes 1 and 2, and 7 Seconds - The Crew on vinyl as well, but haven't really got the chance to listen to them yet.
Earlier this week, I was exposed to a genre of hardcore known as "Nardcore" from my buddy Seve. Nardcore is a sub genre of Hardcore Punk that originates from Oxnard, CA. Nardcore also happens to be the first genre of Punk to incorporate Skate/Surf imagery in the lyrics as well as their artwork.
Agression is considered the defining group of this particular genre, as is made apparent by their album cover of Don't Be Mistaken. Anyone familiar with late 80's or early 90's skating will be likely to identify the song "Intense Energy" from it's usage in early Thrasher type skate videos. I can see the stone-washed jean shorts and neon t-shirts now dipping in and out of someones backyard pool. Perha
ps a little reefer? Maybe, I dunno. Malt Liquor? Perhaps. Punk? Hell yes.
RKL (meaning Rich Kids on LSD) is another group that is emblematic of Nardcore punk. Jason Sears of RKL said their name came from a critique of group claiming that they were, "Just a bunch of Rich Kids on LSD," and that they'd never amount to anything more. Keep Laughing is generally considered their best outing and thus was the basis of my purchase. How can you deny a group name like Rich Kids on LSD? RKL was apart of the Mystic Records lineup that included countless number of other Nardcore groups, most notably Stalag 13 (which I'm looking for) and Dr. Know. Mystic Records is often referred to as "Mistake Records," most likely due to poor promotion, bad distribution and questionable contracts.
My final purchase was Gorilla Biscuits album Start Today, which origina
tes from New York and is considered pioneers of straight-edge hardcore next to Minor Threat and the likes. While I'm not straight-edge, I find good hardcore is simply irresistible. I've been meaning to pick this album ever since I was a sophomore in high school (I'm 21 now), and never got around to it. The album cover is so awesomely bad, how could I resist? In any case, this album is pretty goddamn top notch. The title track "Start Today" is fantastic, and has had the unfortunate pleasure to be covered by Fall Out Boy in Tony Hawk's Wasteland. Regardless, I'd check this one out for what it's worth.
Well well well. Looks like Stompy is now officially in the blog game. Stay tuned for fly beats and other pleasantries. Until then, we just gonna chill at the crib, strap up and wait. I got me an Ithica 37 12-gauge sawed off double shot gun with a five pound slide. Street sweeping. Pistol grip. Loki gave me the whole hook up. Let's do this.
both Lindsey and Scott about how I had wanted the album and that they should email if ever a used copy would surface. The one I purchased appears to be an altogether different pressing, demanding a higher price tag.
