I Can Move Just About Anything

"Scumbait" in this case refers to labels that would brag about low pressing numbers (like the old Noiseville ads that didn't even bother mentioning anything about the bands, merely putting "only 300 pressed!" or "800 pressed!" as a description) as bait to record collectors, something that hit a peak back in the late 80's/early 90's, just in case anyone thinks that record-flipping is something new... so what do we have here: a pretty boring sleeve, although the liner notes are alright, and while this was released in 1990, most of the tracks reek of afterthoughts and 80's leftovers... Feedtime is described in the notes as "quite possibly the greatest band in the world from 1985 until 1988, and the best Australian band since AC/DC", which is pretty much right on the money (although X weren't that bad either). The Feedtime track is okay, and probably better than "Take The Buick", the other Feedtime U.S. 7" compilation track with a similar title... the Bastards track was apparently their first ever, and sounds downright poppy alongside the likes of some of their other stuff like "Shit For Brains" and "Hole". Oddly enough, it's similar to some of Feedtime's more pensive LP tracks... unlike some people, "Drunks Theme" was never one of my favorite Drunks With Guns songs, but since it's got the great bassline and awesome snare sound that a lot of great Drunks tracks have, I'm not complaining. Keep in mind, I've still got the first Drunks 7" lined up to be ripped and posted eventually... the Venom P. Stinger track isn't all that interesting, so I left it off. You can still probably track down one of these records yourself (I mean, 1500 copies made, that's more than the last Saliva record sold) if you really need to hear it.




Bastards -

"Parade"

Drunks With Guns -

"Drunks Theme"

Feedtime -

"Plymouth Car Is a Limousine"

I've Been Painting Crosses On Your Garden Gate

Away From The Pulsebeat was a shitty fanzine out of New Jersey back in the late '80s, pretty much in the same category as Chemical Imbalance in that they included a 7" with each issue and generally followed along with whatever Forced Exposure and Conflict were doing in their reviews section. AFTPB's "thing", apparently discovered mid-stream, was that every record from Australia was great, much like that other '80s zine from Ohio, the one that gave everything on 4AD a great review, although you can't remember the name of it because it sucked anyway.

My copy of AFTPB #2 is long gone (*wait, I found my copy-- it still totally blows), but I've still got the 7" that came with it. Though most of the artists on the 7" are pretty swank, the material doesn't quite live up to prospects (the Redd Kross cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Rhiannon" is downright laughable). Still, I don't think the Feedtime track is available anywhere else, and the Nikki Sudden track hits a nice little uptick at around the two minute mark. This record's been flopping around in a box without a plastic bag or picture sleeve for 20-plus years now, just like when I first bought it, so be aware that it can be a bit crackly in parts.


Nikki Sudden -

"Flower Bed Romance"

Feedtime -

"Take the Buick"

You Know Your Way Ain't The Way I Do

"I did see them once, in late 1996.... people who saw them on that tour with the replacement drummer said they weren't a patch on what they used to be, but they blew my head off. It's what they mean by Suction: head down, hammer down, no talking between songs, simplistic barrage." --Rick Stanley (Dropkick Records), "Cold Mechanical Ecstasy: A Brief Oral History of feedtime", Z Gun #3

"The sound of feedtime was pretty much the definition of our limitations." --Tom (original feedtime drummer), Z Gun #3

It's probably not even worth talking about which of Feedtime's three original albums from the '80s was better, because all three were amazing, although I'd probably have to give the edge to "Shovel" (LP #2) if I really had to choose. Not that "Suction" (LP #3, not counting "Cooper-S" which was all covers) was anything less than brilliant, especially since it includes "I'll Be Rested" and "Pumping a Line", two of my favorite Feedtime tracks ever.

My copy of "Suction" was already pretty beat up when I first bought it used, and some of the crackling shows through when you listen to the quieter parts through headphones (something that's not even noticeable through speakers out in the open, or in your car when you're driving around). Still, it's always been hard to pass up buying any Feedtime vinyl I've ever stumbled upon no matter what condition it was in, just because this stuff wasn't as easy to find back then, and the chances of finding any shop owners who gave a shit about Feedtime (great as they were) back then were few and far between. Maybe it's not so easy to understand now, but in my post-hardcore, post-Oi!, post-AC/DC world of the mid-to-late '80s, hearing a Feedtime record (whose music contains all three of those elements, just for starters) for the first time was reason enough to jump around like a friggin' mental case.




Feedtime -

(these files are now listen-only)

"Motorbike Girl"

"Drag Your Dog"

"Pumping a Line"

"I'll Be Rested"

"Valve Frank"

Some People They Don't Like Rock n Roll

The last time I wrote about Feedtime I wound up comparing them to a train, which is something that just about everyone else has done (or "Motörhead meets Wire" or some dumb-ass obvious shit like that). So rather than the usual writerly dancing around this time, I'll just say that this is one of the greatest records ever made, and leave it at that.

Seriously, this fucker's filthy.




Feedtime -

"Shovel"

"Fractured"

"Nobody's Fault But Mine"

"Love Me"

"Baby Baby"

"Nice"

"Rock n Roll"

(these files are now listen-only)

More Than One Bob

Feedtime, of course, is legendary, or at least they should be. Their sound is a relentless, machine-like pounding, like a freight train that passes and even after it's gone you can still feel the vibrations coming up from the ground through your feet. Most of the basic elements of "rock" are there if you look-- rhythm and melody, even harmonies, somewhat. Feedtime can sound like the blues, they can sound like punk rock, they can sound like surf music or even Motorhead, but it's all the same sound, it's just whatever way you choose to hear it. I think that's the beauty of Feedtime, really.

On this split, Feedtime and King Snake Roost take turns covering each other's songs ("There is no a or b side. Both are e sides"). If it's a glorious, sludgy racket you're looking for, here it is.


Feedtime -

"Buffalo Bob"

King Snake Roost -

"More Than Love"

(these files are now listen-only)