Salvage Job

The following are posts from my old Blogger site. This is all I managed to dig up from Google's cache so far. Some links are in the comments, some are not-- so pay attention! PASS FOR ALL = sln2008




V/A - Break the Rules #8
Splitting from his partnership with Incognito, Peter P., who compiled the Back to Front compilations, started his own label, Insekten, to put out his new series, Break the Rules. The series picks up where Back to Front left off (with #7). - from Lipstickkillers.Com.

I've always been attracted to the duality of compilations:
1. I often get exposed to bands I've never heard, get obsessed, dig up all their shit and...
2. Use the comp (and its many brothers) as beer/rent money when everything is learned/stolen/acquired.

This one refuses to budge from the shelf however, and the reason is simple: As far as rare 77-style punk rock goes, it's the fucking bomb!

Being a Canuck Hockey Puck, I was of course, quite delighted to see the "Out of the Womb" tracks by Dayglo Abortions presented here in all their shambolic magnificence-- aside from these tracks, I've never been much of a fan of their turgid, jokey heavy metal-- and this is coming from a guy who's far more likely to be rockin' the Repulsion instead of the Ruts. There's a pro-marijuana rant from Accident on the East Lancs (Punks is Hippies indeed) and a none-too-PC slab (Stop! You'll make Camille Paglia cry!) from the Xterminators ("Occasional Lay"... bet this wouldn't go over too well in the squat these days). These are merely the tracks that came up on shuffle while I wrote this, believe me, there's not a dodgy track to be heard.

The Goods:

PF Commando - Go Go Go
PF Commando - Suburban Kid
Snuky Tate - New Time
Xtraverts - Blank Generation
Jack & The Rippers - No Desire
Dayglo Abortions - Used to Be In Love
Dayglo Abortions - Suicide
Dayglo Abortions - 1967
Mass Media - Kent Agent
TV-War - I'm the Nightmare
Hitler SS - Slave
Xterminators - Occasional Lay
Hærverk - Loven Slår
Hærverk - Ingen Visjoner
Accident On The East Lancs - We Want it Legalised
Xpress - Junked Up Judy
Just Urbain - Burning
Kriminella Gitarrer - Vardad Klädsel
Eppu Normaali - Poliisi Pamputtaa Tass
Miranda's - Dentist Blues
Kidz Next Door - Kidz Next Door

It can be acquired in the popular mp3 format here.



RUDE KIDS - Worst of... a Pardonless Collection

Sweden's Rude Kids have the dubious (?) distinction of being the first punk band from their country to be signed to a major label. You prolly know their smash hits like "Raggare is a Bunch of Motherfuckers" (aimed at a notorious street-gang of the time, though I'd like to make like a KBD compiler and tell you "Raggare" means "Werewolf" in Swedish or sumpthin'), "Absolute Ruler" and their response to the Stranglers' "All Quiet on the Eastern Front", "Stranglers (If it's So Quiet Why Don't You Play?)" from the Kbd comps etc., blah blah. However, as this 22-track collection proves, there was a shitload of meat left on the bone. Coming from a country where our closest neighbors often assume we live in igloos, I can definitely empathize with "We Got Polar Bears on Our Streets" (and laugh), and I'm tellin' ya, the bad joke of "Next Time I'll Beat Bjorn Borg" (a tennis player from the 70's young'uns) is redeemed by the catchiest damn riff you ever done heard.

Link in comments.

S.D.S. x 4

S.D.S. (Societic [sic sic sic!!] Death Slaughter) was a band from Gifu City, Japan formed in 1987 by guitarist Shibuya Assholer. They put out four EP's, two splits (one with Misery, the other with Hong Kong Knife) and a best of compilation.

Despite what I've read on various internet resources, this band didn't so much develop from primitive Japcore into a thrash/crossover-type band as they simply found something they liked, and ran with it and ran with it and ran with it. Take for example, my fave:



"Digital Evil in Your Life" (1999) where certainly there's a heavy Amebix influence (complete with a "The Moor"-style intro) but more than anything, a fascination with a cheap delay pedal that gives the vocals that "guy singing through a vacuum tube" sound. I guess it's meant to sound "robotic" to tie in with the "Digital Evil" theme, but I certainly wouldn't bet the farm on it. "V.E.N.O.M." wouldn't sound out of place on a latter day Disclose LP with its guitar-riff-as-static aesthetic... actually there's no shortage of that throughout their catalog. The "Ameber" EP released a year prior, is more in the straight-up thrash vein, and isn't quite as convincing as S.D.S. are when they stick to the punk basics. The other stuff included in this folder is the tracks from their split with Misery, and the "Never Arise" 7-inch (buzzsaw guitar hell!).

Get 'em here.



JEFFREY LEE PIERCE - Ramblin' Jeffrey Lee

It's hard not to gush like a jackoff fanboy when it comes to certain artists-- Jeffrey Lee Pierce is one of 'em. His work with the Gun Club, particularly the original lineup, is un-fucking-touchable. "Fire of Love" is one of the top 5 or 6 albums ever made with its mix of voodoo blues, primeval folk/country and vigorous punk rock. Unfortunately, his/their flame burnt far too brightly to sustain itself for any length of time, and JLP spent the rest of his seemingly unhappy life stumbling through some good and not-so-good Gun Club lineups, drug abuse and finally, some patchy solo albums.

"Ramblin' Jeffrey Lee" is the best of the lot with JLP returning to what he knew best: lowdown, filthy rock 'n' roll and the Scuzzy White Boy's Approximation of Delta Blues. For example, his take on Charley Patton's immortal "Pony Blues"-- reverential to be sure, but you can tell how wounded this man was and how them blues poured right through his fingers onto those acoustic guitar strings. For the millionth time, FUCK "Slughand" Crapton-- Pierce dwarfs his entire oeuvre so completely with this single performance that I almost feel sorry for the talentless schmuck. Pierce also does a bang-up job on Skip James' "Hardtime Killin' Floor Blues" eerily transporting you back 80 years in time to a street corner somewhere in Mississippi. He is accompanied by Cyprus Grove & Willie Love (who strike me as hacks-- but could not give a shit in this instance) on the electric tracks, the best of which is a fun-kay version of Frankie Lee Sims' "Long Gone".

To sum up, for Pierce/Gun Club fans, this is imperative.

Look in the comments.