Sunday, February 22, 2009

You Can't Make Us Shut Up Just Because You Say We Stink



I'm not a total Parasites expert, obviously, seeing as they've got about two million records out and I only own about two or three. One thing Dave "Nikki" Parasite is known for is being able to write a really good pop-punk hook, which is definitely born out on the a-side here-- although the song does go on for a bit too long, thanks to the Fastbacks' Kurt Bloch, who enters the Guinness Book of World Records for longest guitar solo on a punk record, I think.

The b-side is a hopped-up cover of Charlie Chesterman's pre-Scruffy The Cat band, The Law, and even though it's a darn good cover, I won't be running off to listen to any Scruffy The Cat anytime soon.


click for enlarged view

Parasites -

"Letdown"

"Reason For Treason"

(these files are now listen-only)


click for enlarged view

8 comments:

Just Jules said...

Came through your blog through an older post you did - I guess I could say you got googled. I thought I'd leave a note letting you know I was here.

Brushback said...

Ummm, gee thanks, I guess?

Brushback said...

I'm so used to getting a bunch of extra traffic from, say, a message board thread, with a ton of people visiting and not one of them leaving a comment, that when one random person leaves a comment it throws me off a bit.

Anonymous said...

I go way back with "Nikki" AKA Dave...he was just another Jersey yob with a ramones fixation before he reinvented himself. Oddly enough, I believe I have a poster for the TV show, SWAT...that he gave me.

Brushback said...

Yeah, it's sort of weird to think of the Parasites as starting out on Mutha Records.

Anonymous said...

I forgot that Kurt Bloch had anything to do with them! There's a fairly maddening but decent account of the Parasites here:
http://www.dancofer.com/parasites.html
I love first-hand accounts that strip any delusions of grandeur from the poorly-oiled machine of "punk as a vocation", but still make me want to quit my job and sleep in a van again.

signs of heart attack said...

Hi guys the work you are doing with this site is excellent,it caught my eye,I think the site is full of good and interesting notes about The Parasites

Brushback said...

^^
dubious