VOID - Potion For Bad Dreams
unreleased 1983 Columbia, Maryland
Straight up, I nicked this over at Punk Not Profit and I thank them for it as I haven't seen it anywhere else.
Okay, so this is the same Void who produced what is, to these ears, the perfect hardcore record. Their side of the split with The Faith (which I couldn't listen to after Void) has every ingredient for what I consider 'Mhm! That's good hardcore!': Fast tempos with shaky meter on the drums (is the record warped? WHO CARES), young, extremely pissed vocals and guitar going bonkers while the bass keeps it all together. It's the kind of music that ONLY young people can do right. It's just a complete impulse drive; technical talent is a hindrance. Technical talent will have you second guessing and courting the DEATH of good hardcore: thinking.
No, the Void side of that record has none of that. It's wild and crazy and filled with killer 'I just found out the world is total fucked and that sucks' lyrics. It's just 100% perfect.
So here comes this very strange album recorded, but not released, just a mere year and a half after that fabled slab. The differences are both astounding and non-existent. Allow me to explain...
Void were probably always a metal band at heart, they just hadn't figured out where to put their fingers yet. On 'Potion For Bad Dreams' half the band figured it out. The other half didn't. The results are completely weird! Bubba Dupree, the east coast answer to Greg Ginn on the first LP, and bassist Chris Stover have made dramatic technical progress adding elements of post-punk/funk, Motorhead chugging, and..ah...glam metal to the stew. Drummer Sean Finnegan (who recently passed into the mosh pit in the sky, R.I.P.) bought some roto-toms and has definitely learned some tricks but, thankfully, his meter is still pretty uneven and thusly keeps a link to the previous LP. Jeff Weiffenbach, one of my favorite hardcore singers, period, hasn't changed AT ALL. As different and varied as this record gets, Weiffenbach still sounds like a 15 year old singing to himself in a mirror to his favorite record. He's off key, he has no clue how to sing to the track, he howls like a drunk on top of a bar, still all about the pitch shifter effect (like on 'Organized Sports' from the first record). These are compliments!
Now, the record itself is like an audio example of four individuals going in different musical directions. Some tracks sound like proto-cock rock, others like mid period Die Kreuzen, there's even a tune that could have been on M-etallica's 'Kill 'Em Awl'. 'Next Time' is almost beyond classification. Ultimately, had they decided to release it, it would have been right at home on 'metal-era' SST between '83-'85 right down to what passed as 'almost good' production (gated drums, spoken mumbling background vocals, etc.).
Now, whether or not that's a good thing is entirely debatable, but if you know the material I'm talking about, you'll be well prepared for 'Potion'. Personally, this album doesn't hold a candle to the first LP, but some of it is far better than expected. 'Spiral Staircase' is awesome in my book, as is 'Red Death' (the album version gets cut off, the guys at Punk Not Profit kindly added a full version from another demo) and 'Breakaway'. Despite the goof troop intro, 'Start The Night' is pretty good, too. Well, check it out and let's shoot the shit about it!
Black, Jewish and Link In Comments
Void - Potion For Bad Dreams
ReplyDeletehttp://www.megaupload.com/?d=B0N2EQ0Z
First time I've heard this in eons. Definitely some varied influences tearing away at each other-- much like my opinion of it. Not that I find it hard to digest 'r' nuthin' cuz I tap my foot to Power Electronics stuff... but some cohesiveness is lacking. I'll spin it a few more times to see if I latch onto the Big Picture.
ReplyDeleteNaw, I think you're right, there isn't much to latch on to. But it is interesting. Had they picked a direction and gone with it, the would probably be a household name today, in the way that say, Corrosion Of Conformity (who were heavily Void influenced) are - for better or.. worse. if they had ditched the cheesy hard rock stuff and stuck with the slightly arty Motorhead by way of Black Flag circa 'Loose Nut' thing the better tracks have going here, it would've been classic!
ReplyDeleteMy kid goes to school with Chris Stover's (bassist) daughter.
ReplyDeletehttp://loresviscera.blogspot.com/2008/01/void.html
I'm enjoying this more & more-- think it might be the proper combination of cocktails. "Start the Night" is so fucking ridiculous it rules! That opening riff that sounds almost like something the Raspberries would be proud of, devolving into Mission of Burma-cum-Sabbath art-wank. Finnegan is the star on this-- the drumming is fantastic! And yes, I do hear some Die Kreuzen (early) style ugly/beauty that never did anything but good for anybody.
ReplyDeleteYeah! Finnegans drums, to me, were one the trademark sounds of Void! He was just so SPASTIC! The first record sounds like it was left out in the sun, and 'Potion' still keeps a bit of that. I wish Bubba hadn't grown so much as a player, but some of his choices are pretty cool. I can't get enough of 'Spiral Staircase'. I think I may do a Squirm version! To think, my disdain for Dischord (sorry, I never liked Minor Threat) kept me from Void till LAST YEAR.
ReplyDeleteWell, better late then never.
CLASSIC!!!!
ReplyDeleteno more, no less...
i absolutely love this fucking album! i can't think of any song that i skip and i wake up in the morning hoping that this will get a legit release!
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