Can't Rub It Off Even If I Try

A twin-guitar Australian* death ray done up Am Rep style, meaning you should be prepared to get smacked in the head by this. If you're still not convinced, give the first track ("Rub") a listen-- what the hell, it's only about 50 seconds long, right?-- and see if that doesn't float your boat. "At the 7th Street Entry we dropped some acid; did anybody see it?", or so the guy says in "Smoked", and if there ever was a song that shoulda been a locked groove, that's the one right there.

A big-holed 7-inch that plays on 33; now that's just fucken weird.

*okay, maybe not




Vertigo -

"Rub"

"Snakes"

"Smoked"

(these files are now listen-only)

Don't Shake Hands With The Wrong Ones

I tend to prefer the noiser Kleenex Girl Wonder/Boyracer style of lo-fi pop over the really twee stuff, and Sportsguitar fall on the right side of that equation. Good if you like Portastatic, too.

I love how the recorder (or whatever that flute-sounding thing is) starts out really sweet and cheerful during "A Short Day", and then turns all distorted and really fucking annoying. Shit like that makes me laugh. This 45 is brilliant, and Sportsguitar are geniuses. I think they were on Matador, too, though it's hard to tell because Matador keeps such a low profile. Maybe they should send more of their records to Chromewaves and Brooklyn Vegan, or try starting up a YouTube channel, I don't know.




Sportsguitar -

"He's So Funny"

"A Short Day"

"Police Academy"

(these files are now listen-only)

I Thought I Had The Right Idea

I bought this Meanies 7" back in the mid-90's, and for the longest time I thought The Meanies were just some Chapel Hill indie rock band or something, because they had a record on Merge and there's no other address on it and I never actually bothered to flip the record over. It wasn't until years later when I bought another record of theirs (and then went back and listened to the b-side of this one) that I found out The Meanies were Australian, and they were actually total Ramones-core! Stupid me, I guess.

So anyway, I like "Rhyming Logic" a lot (the hook is great, and the "Rarrr!" and the cowbell-sounding thing that starts the song off is just too cool), so much so that I even used to put it on mix tapes and stuff, back when people really did that sort of thing (actual cassettes, not just mp3 files). There was one time back around '96 that I put my first and only show together (Nevertheless, The Differents, and I think Farmertan if I remember correctly) and it looked like I was going to get to pick the music that played between bands, so I spent a day putting a tape together and "Rhyming Logic" was one of the songs I put on it, along with Yo La Tengo's cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams", and Couch Flambeau, and a bunch of other stuff, but they ended up using some other music instead. Good thing, because if they'd played my tape, people woulda walked out.




The Meanies -

"Rhyming Logic"

(this file is now listen-only)

Thought You Were Running Out Of Time

Records that helped pull me away from hardcore and onto other things is sort of a recurring theme around here, and Man Sized Action's "Five Story Garage" is definitely one of those records. The power and melody that Man Sized Action command on this record is undeniable, though similar in a lot of ways to the other Chicago/Mpls bands of that time (Hüsker Dü, Naked Raygun, Bloodsport, Strike Under, Rifle Sport, that whole lot). I think what made "Five Story Garage" stick out for me was how Man Sized Action filled their songs with great big power pop-like hooks over wiry guitar lines that sprayed in all directions, giving them a catchy, other-worldly type sound that separated them from all the other bands.

You'll see on the back cover that Brian Paulson played guitar on this record; of course, you can now find his name on the back of a whole bunch of records that I like, including Slint, Wilco, and even (gulp) the Jayhawks and Two Dollar Pistols.

I have a Naked Raygun live tape where during their set Jeff Pezzati says, "The next time we play here, we would like to have microphones that don't smell like either Hüsker Dü or Man Sized." Can you even comprehend a show with Hüsker Dü, Man Sized Action, and Naked Raygun all on the same bill?

J Stmbl of Last Days of Man on Earth posted this record a couple of years ago and I think the files are still active, so if you want all of the songs besides just the three I'm posting here, head on over to his place.




Man Sized Action -

"On The Phone"

"Can't Get Enough"

"Replica"

(these files are now listen-only)

Safe To Swim Weekend

I just got back from the second day of the Safe To Swim Weekend festival in Danbury, and I figured I'd throw up a photo or two and write a quick blurb about a couple of the bands that I liked...




TXT PSTLZ is Bruce Wingate's new band (or his old band, the Brunch Mummies, depending upon how you look at it), Bruce of course being ex of Adrenalin O.D., as well as the fairly awesome Shyster Shyster and Flywheel. TXT PSTLZ play old-fashioned crunchy, punchy punk rock, adding an exclamation point with some great covers. You coulda knocked me right over when they launched into Spoon's "Car Radio", and then followed it up with Cheap Trick's "He's a Whore"... I mean, that's an inside-the-park home run right there, pal. My thanks to Bruce for the couple of CDs he gave me, and to Jim Testa for bringing me copy of the Adrenalin O.D. "Wacky Hi-Jinks" CD re-issue (which he wrote the liner notes for), even though it isn't due to be out for another month... woo hoo! I got a freebie!




Failure's Art are from Danbury, and their set was way more rocked than I woulda guessed based on the recorded stuff of theirs that I've heard. I wouldn't want to say they sounded like Dinosaur Jr., or amped-up shoegaze (the sorta obvious comparisons that the local newspaper guy reached for), except that I was hoping to refresh my memory later by buying a CD or something from them after their set-- only when I asked them, they told me they didn't bring anything with them... Next time, I guess. Bonus points, though, for the Deadguy t-shirt the bass player was wearing.

I Just Sit Around

I might be pushing it by posting two Punchbuggy albums within hours of each other, but that was the plan from the beginning anyway. Besides, Punchbuggy's "All Nite Christian Rollerskate" ranks alongside Bender's "Funny Kar" as two of the most underrated pop-punk albums of the 90's (both from Canada, too), though as usual my list is probably a bit flawed. I'll admit that I don't have Punchbuggy's middle two CDs, "Grand Opening Going Out Of Business Sale" and "My Norwegian Cousin"-- I've only heard bits and pieces of them-- but if I were you I'd get on that shit right away.

It used to bother me that Punchbuggy took "I'm Around", the one track with the tiniest guitar sound, and made it the opening track on the record, but I've gotten over it since then and I hardly notice it now. Besides, it's a cool song. Otherwise, "All Nite Christian Rollerskate" is chock full of hits, which made it tough to whittle down to the eight tracks I'm posting here, but (whew) somehow I managed.




Punchbuggy -

"I'm Around"

"Trigger"

"Shy"

"Couch Tour"

"Tell Me"

"Average Joe"

"If I Ever"

"Pat Benatar"

(these files are now listen-only)

I Want You More Than Leprosy

Of all the Canadian pop-punk bands who went for the brass ring, got all wimpy, and wiped out hard, Punchbuggy is practically my all-time favorite. That's not saying much, I know, but I'm a sucker for any good, anthemic rock song that has a cool-sounding chorus, which is something that Punchbuggy's got going on in spades with songs like "Make It Up To You" (from 1998's "My Norwegian Cousin") and "Same" (from 2002's "The Great Divide"). I think Punchbuggy even won a song contest with "Same," and as a prize got to tour Europe or make a video or something. Or maybe I'm thinking of "Lucky Me, Lucky You", which appeared in the movie "Freddy Got Fingered". Either way, that's The Great White North for you, where Alan Thicke's career is the measuring stick for success and catching your big break means getting to be in a movie with Tom Green.

If you're wondering how the heck does Punchbuggy rate while the Doughboys aren't gettin' cut any slack around here, well, that's just how it goes sometimes. Maybe it's because Punchbuggy had a better sense of humor, though that doesn't mean I'll be looking to buy any Posehn records soon, either. In any case, "The Great Divide" is Punchbuggy's big sellout album that didn't sell, and while a couple of the songs here are a lot more "indie rock" than "punk", Punchbuggy could still write an awesome pop-punk hook when they wanted to, and "Same" is still smooth as hell.




Punchbuggy -

"Same"

"Kids Say"

"Want You More"

"Lucky Me Lucky You"

"The Great Divide"

(these files are now listen-only)

Remember When The Doughboys Played at Gilman And They Broke Up On Your Lawn

A lot of people would say the Doughboys are the best Canadian punk band ever. I prefer Slow or Chixdiggit myself, but then I'm not the expert, the guys with the Tragically Hip and Barenaked Ladies tapes are.

Anyway, this EP collects three songs that the Doughboys demo'ed in 1987 and then re-recorded for their first LP, "Whatever". I like these versions much better; arrangement-wise, the two songs I'm posting here aren't all that different from the versions that ended up on "Whatever" (the demo of "Stranger From Within" has an additional acoustic guitar intro), but sonics-wise they're a hell of a lot crunchier.

This record has the thickest vinyl I've ever seen for a 7-inch-- it's like a dinner plate, for crying out loud. It would be cool if it was glow-in-the-dark vinyl, too, like that M.O.T.O. 7" which is almost the same color, but you can't have everything, I guess.

I posted a bunch of vinyl rips from "Whatever" back in March, by the way; you can find them by clicking on the "Doughboys" tag at the bottom of this post.




Doughboys -

"The Forecast"

"Stranger From Within"

(these files are now listen-only)

I'm The King Of Rock There Is None Higher

Why aren't there more bands doing shit like this? (Probably because they'd end up killing themselves.)

Monotonix are the sickest fucking band I've ever seen. They set up on the floor in the middle of the crowd, but it doesn't really matter where they set up, because as they play they start mowing the whole place down and taking over the entire room, wall-to-wall. Trash cans fly around like beach balls at a Dead concert. The singer, Ami, will climb anything and everything, ripping down signs and knocking over anything that's in the way of where he wants to go. The drum kit gets moved around, from place to place, on top of things, on top of the bar, on top of people, all while the drummer, Ran, keeps playing away. You'll see the guitar player, Yonatan, sitting off in the corner playing his guitar (not plugged in, of course) while the opening bands are playing. He looks like he sleeps with his guitar. Plugged in, he's a perpetual motion riffing machine. The kick drum ends up on top of the bar. Yonatan stands on top of the bar with it, playing the kick drum part with his foot while continuing to build a thick, solid wall with his guitar. Nobody can understand what the singer is saying. He climbs the second floor balcony, looking like he wants to jump. People are falling down. Cans of beer fly around and break open. The entire time, the band doesn't stop playing for even a second as one killer song runs into another.

Now the drum kit gets carried outside, so the band continues to play out in the parking lot. Yonatan stands on top of someone's van and keeps playing. He's still plugged in, though you can barely hear his amp, which is back inside the club. The club security starts freaking out as the crowd follows the band further down the street. Eventually the song stops and Ami, who's now standing nearly six feet up on a concrete wall, tells the crowd to quiet down, saying, "Everyone, we will now go back inside the venue. Wait for me, as I will get down first. Then please follow my lead." Well, yes sir.




This is Montonix side from a split 7" with RTX that's part of the subscription-only Volcom Vinyl Club, or whatever. There's supposed to be only 500 purple ones, but mine's black (unless that looks purple to you), so maybe there's two editions. It just came out last month and it's most likely already close to being sold out, if the number on mine (417 of 500) is any indication.

I'm also including a song off their "Body Language" EP on Drag City, which I like a lot better.




Monotonix -

"Ride"
(from Monotonix/RTX split 7")

"Summers and Autumns"
(from "Body Language" EP on Drag City)

(both these files are now listen-only)

My Life Is Not a Nightmare But It Doesn't Match My Dreams

My brain might tell me otherwise, but there was still plenty of interesting hardcore to listen to in the mid-80's, especially when the straight edge bands started pumping life back into the scene around '85/'86 (until the whole Youth Crew thing got really dumb a few years later, but that's a whole 'nother story). But if you were a kid who every so often wanted to ROCK and still stay "hardcore", there was almost nothing but junk out there. The Boston bands, primarly DYS and SSD, had turned "going metal" into a joke; whenever one of the California punk bands, like Channel 3 or Bad Religion, slowed the tempos down they just ended up sounding like pussies; Decry's "rock" album, "Japanese", was one of the worst pieces of crap I'd ever heard; and when 7 Seconds brought their "New Wind" shit to Connecticut at the Anthrax and tried to "rock out", it was like someone took an awful dump on stage. Then-- holy shit, man-- I saw Kingface for the first time, and it was ROCK. Kingface brought something above and beyond what I was used to seeing at your average all-ages hardcore show, and I was definitely impressed.

I ended up seeing Kingface twice around '87 or so; once at the Anthrax and once at a place in Naugatuck called the Night Shift. I don't think they had a record out by then, but that didn't seem to bother them, because they played like they'd been together for years and had a stage presence like no other "punk" band I knew at the time. Some of the NYHC bands, like Underdog and Gorilla Biscuits, were starting to mix classic rock grooves into their hardcore, but Kingface beat them all to the punch and were just full-on hard rock-- heck, they even used to do a Van Halen cover. I'm pretty sure I had a conversation with Mark Ryan back then where he mentioned Kingface a few times, but even if it didn't happen, you can almost draw a direct line between "Like a King" and a lot of the stuff that Supertouch (the best band to ever come out of that mid-to-late 80's NYHC scene, in my opinion) started doing a year or so later.

"Crawl Into Tomorrow" has a 20-second harmonica intro (no shit!) which was a pain in the ass to try to rip cleanly and had me wishing that I could trim it out, but instead you'll find it here in all its glory. Kingface had some really hippy-dippy lyrics, too, something I think they were aware of, which might be why you can hear someone yelling for the singer to shut up twice in one of the songs. In any case, I put the three songs I'm posting here on my mp3 player so I could listen to them while I was driving around for the past couple of days, and back-to-back-to-back they make up one quality piece of rock, I can tell you that much.

One of the other things I remember about Kingface was that they used to open their shows with a song that sounded like Mark Sullivan was singing "dirty white car"; I didn't know the real words, of course, so sometimes I'd hum "dirty white car" to myself as I was walking around and stuff. Then their record came out, and the song wasn't on it! It wasn't until later (I think when they were interviewed in Suburban Voice, maybe) that I found out the song was called "Dirty Water" or something. I guess sometimes I'm not as smart as I think I am.




Kingface -

"Crawl Into Tomorrow"

"I Don't Want To Be Anything"

"Like a King"

(these files are now listen-only)