Bullet LaVolta - The Gun didn't know I was Loaded.

Their imfamous demo that was turned into a cd in 92' with a few extras. The guitar sound on this just kicks arse.

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Phil..... RIP

25 years have passed so fast.

Rondos - Red Attack (1980)

Formed in 1978, in Rotterdam, and ending in 1980 the Rondos all too short career left far too few releases. They're often grouped in the same model as Crass, which isn't a stretch from a political stand point, but musically they're more akin to Wire.

Consisting of: -

Johannes van der Weert - vocals
Maarten van Gent - guitar, vocals
Allie van Altena - guitar, vocals
Frank - bass
Willem ter Weele - drums

They were part of a music collective called Red Rock which also included Rode Wig, Sovjets and Tandstickorshocks. All the bands lived in an old bunker called, erm da bunker. The Rondos released music on their own label and this is their only album. It's really really good.

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Rain Like the Sound of Trains - Waiting for the Water ep (1996)

For more information on the band, check out my first post here.

Waiting for the Water was the bands last release and is a straight continuation of their previous releases, but also happens to be my favourite release. Four tracks, and not a bad one between them.

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Tank ......

<3

Snuff

Great band......should have been bigger!!

Dont take it from me
you know I'm just guessing
It wasnt a clue
I dont know the way
You've got a brain
maybe its time to use it

Fire it up, a little warm running
Chocs away, go & meet whats coming
You aint a fool, there aint a limit
Fire it up, find out whats in it

Caught between worlds
no there aint a warning
Dont take it from me
I dont know the way
You've got a brain
maybe its time to use it

Fire it up, a little warm running
Chocs away, go & meet whats coming
You aint a fool, there aint a limit
Fire it up, find out whats in it

Chocs away, a little warm running
Fire it up go & meet whats coming
You aint a fool, there aint a limit
Fire it up, find out whats in it

Over hyped and rightly so......

As the heading says, as few of those legendary releases that appear everywhere and are over-hyped ...rightly so; they all rock.

Front Page

I defy anyone not to love this release.

Coming out of  Norway, this is their first 7''which was pressed in the enormous quantity of 500, hence the astronomic prices asked. They were : -

Morten Milde - Vocals
Kalle Storm Anderson - Guitar
Steiner Karlson - Guitar
Ulf Svendsen - Bass
Chris Neilsen - Drums

They released a second 7'' and two albums 'Qualified' in 1980 on Rose music and 'Special Edition' in '82 on CBS. Does anyone have good quality recordings of their albums??

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The Molls

This was one of those records you heard and your jaw just dropped and you immediatley added it to your wants list. A band consisting of: -

Vulff-Lazar (Bill Koff) - electric bassoon, vocals
Rob Davis - guitar, ARP 2600
Tristam Lozaw - bass guitar
Jon Coe - keys
Peter Prescott - drums (later of Mission of Burma)

Described as artsy-space-rock, the A side is pure punk, the B side falls well into this description. This was their only release.

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Mystery Dates

A band hailing from San Antonio Texas who were notorious in my circle of friends. This is their first release issued in '82 on Beehive records. They had a second a year later and another in '96 long after the band split. The singer was in the Vamps who reportedly supported the Pistols in '78 and he went on to Sons of Hercules. The drummer later played with the Hickoids.

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Chainsaw

New wave of British Heavy Metal time......... This could easily pass as punk now-a-days, but back then it was against the law to like it. It sounds as good now as it did then, if not better.

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Patrick - Immigrant (198x)

Another Sunderland way band. I remember seeing these guys a few times at the Bunker/Station and possibly Riverside. They always managed to impress. This is their single release, at least I don't recall others, I was told they had a demo tape, but I never managed to track this down.

This is a good 7'', it's punk in the broader sense, but by the time of this release the band had become more sophisticated and this is reflected in the music. A band consisting of: -

Phil McCarran- Vocals
John Collison - Guitar
Booga - Bass
Jim Tate - Drums

If anyone can fill in any blanks, or help in supplying other material, please drop me a line/comment. I borrowed the pic below from elsewhere.

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Thanks to anon for directing me to this video: -

Captain Sensible - The Universe of Geoffrey Brown (1993)

Captain Sensible is a genius in my book, a quintessential English song writer, right up there with Ray Davis, Robin Hitchcock or Andy Partridge. Sadly he'll never get that recognition, or be placed in such luminous company, as he'll always been seen as the buffoon in the hat who wears dresses and gets his cock out on stage.

His records always take me to a happier time when life was simpler, images of crumpets on the lawn or the crack of leather on willow come to mind when I listen to him. This album is his crowning glory, a truly wonderful concept album displaying everything that Ray does best; pop songs with great hooks and a guitar virtuosity that is seldom rivalled.

This is the story of Geoffrey Brown whose sedate suburban life is thrown into turmoil when he's contacted by aliens who try to warn him of the earths pending demise. He endures the ridicule of friends and family only to be redeemed in the end. There's also a slant on how we treat people as commodities to be devoured by an increasingly salacious press.

This is Sensible at his best, all 60's psychedelia and swirling guitars, a sweeter man you couldn't wish to meet and a better album he'll be hard pushed to beat. Enjoy.

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Jones Very - Words and Ways (1989)

After the breakup of Articles of Faith Vic Bondi released a solo album and worked on Microsofts encarta project as well as teaching. He then formed Jones Very, named after the Salem poet, with Jeffrey Goddard and Jamie Van Bramer. They lasted a few years and threw out a handful of recordings, this being the first.

If you know Vic Bondi you'll know what to expect. Vic deserves so much more credit than the scant praise he receives, the man is a great stalwart of punk/hardcore.

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Marching Plague - Rock n Roll Asshole 7'' (1983)

Since I mentioned them, here's the Marching Plague 7'' released in '83 on CIA records.

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Fearless Iranians From Hell - st (1986)

It might seem daft now, but these guys scared people back then; people dressed in masks advocating violence, middle class America was freaked. Iran back then was the Al-Qaeda of it's day.

Formed from remnants of Marching Plague, an ex Butthole Surfer with a crazed Iranian singer. They lasted until the early 90's and released some good records. although they drifted in a more metal direction. This, their first 7'', wasn't metal....it's a raging slab of hardcore with "blow up the embassy" and "iranian klan" being stand out tracks. I didn't really know what to make of these back in the 80's, were they a piss take? As soon as you hear it you forget all that and enjoy the music.

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The Dischords - st (1982)

One of those infamous records you chased for years, but never manage to grab.

Formed in 1980 in Montreal by Guitarist Dave Valente and Drummer Frank Heidt they recruited childhood friends, and brothers,  Tim and Terry Hindley. They started as a covers band taking their lead from the British bands and Ramones. They soon developed a reputation as an exciting live band and gathered a good local following.

The band also had a reputation as being violent and this carried over to their shows where fights were common place. They were big on the local scene, but rarely made it outside of their own ground to gig. By 1983 they'd split. This record was recorded in '82, with no picture sleeve, and only 1000 copies.

There's reportedly a demo recorded in 82, but, sadly,I don't have it. Anyway, this is a great slab of punk rock, enjoy.

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Burning Airlines - Mission: Control! (1999)

Speaking of J Robbins; during the last days of Jawbox he and Bill Barbot had been jamming with Pete Moffett and even toyed with the idea of bringing him into the band, but events moved on and Jawbox split up.

The next logical step was to continue what had been a jamming session into a band and 'hey presto' we have Burning Airlines. They promptly released a 7'', followed closely by this album. Soon after Bill Barbot left the band due to real life commitments and was replaced by Mike Harbin.

Things were looking ok and the band was touring extensively when in 2001 September 11th occurred and venues refused to book, or promote the band, due to the name. They'd actually taken the name from a Brian Eno song, but none the less this appeared to be a killing blow and they split in 2002.

They also released a second album in 2001 called Identikit and a couple of split singles, all of which are worth tracking down.

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Government Issue - Strange Wine ep (1989)

Ahhhh Government Issue......I love this band and the more time that passes the better they seem to get; they never date.

Formed in 1980 and taking their name from a line in a Black Market Baby song they released their first 7'' in 1981 on Dischord; a record that took me years to get into. They had a huge revolving door of personnel for a number of years until they hit their best line up, in my opinion, of: -

John Stabb - Vocals
Tom Lyle - Guitar
J Robbins - Bass
Pete Moffett - Drums

They released 6 albums, a number of 7'' and a few live albums.......this being classed as one of them although that's not strictly true as three of the tracks were recorded in the studio. I remember when they stayed ay my house and Tom Lyle asked me which was my favourite GI album, I answered Fun Just Never Ends, Stabb said this was his fave as well. Tom seemed perplexed as to why this was my favourite, but at the time it was the riffs; he's a great guitar player.

Today I couldn't pick a favourite, I love all their releases and they travel with me everywhere in some way, shape or form. Sadly they split up in 1989. I'd love to see them reform and start recording again; a hardcore band who evolved into something truly special.

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The Damned - Live at the Lyceum (1981)

It's the Damned and they're live......that about sums it up really. Enjoy!

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...for the record it was London July 12th.

STD - Another Dead Asshole 7'' (1984)

I still have this record stored away somewhere. I read a review in Flipside or MMR, as I often did, and threw it on my wants list...it arrived pretty quickly afterwards.

Hailing from Knoxville (TN) this is a really good record IMO, sadly as it was released in 1984 it failed to make a decent splash. By '84 it could be argued that hardcore was running out of steam consqeuently this flew under most peoples radars. All of the 6 tracks have something to offer and had it been a year or two earlier they might have gone on to record more.

I always believed they released a demo tape in '83, if anyone has it, please hook me up.

Their version of Folsom Prison Blues rocks.

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Disorder - 7''

No, not that Disorder, this is the original one from Sunderland. These, like Genocide Exit, were a must have, even if they were mackems. Here you can find both of their 7'' and an unreleased track that was destined to become a third single.

Air Raid released in 1980 on Ace records and Reality Crisis released in '81 on the Durham bookshop label :)

They were formed in 1978 by: -

Mark Rough - vocals
Steven Halstead - Guitar
David O'Leary - Bass
Malcolm Comb - Drums

They split in 1981 due to the age old "musical differences" and reformed last year for a few gigs. I could kick myself as I had a copy of Air Raid in picture sleeve and I sold it for £40 a good few years ago; it's now worth hundreds as there were only 750 copies made in total and only 100 with a sleeve. This band have been hyped to death on various boots and "vinyl gem" sites...and I'm happy to say, rightly so; they were great.

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Genocide Exit - Future Vibes ep

I hate my memory, it's way past its sell by date, consequently I can't recall allot about this band. They're local, but I can't remember if they're from Durham or Sunderland way. I also can't remember when this single was released, I want to say 1979, but it might have been '80.

I can tell you that when I was a nipper this was a "must have" record among my friends. It's a classic early piece of punk and should appear on more lists etc. They were likened to Penetration, maybe coz they have a female singer, maybe coz they're from the North East.

This record is still a "MUST HAVE" in my opinion and I'd completely forgotten about it until last year, as my records have been locked away for 20 years gathering dust, so it was great hearing it again. This was released on the excellent local record label Slam.

If there's anyone out there that can supply more information on the band, please contact me as I'd love to fill in the blanks. The band deserves it. 

You need this.

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Mike Watt

Hmmmmm where to start with Watt, so many recordings and so varied, but all displaying a great, great bass player and song writer.

He came to prominence with the Minutemen who purveyed short, punky, jazzy songs and were very prolific. Sadly their career was cut all too short with the untimely death of D Boon in '85. What the world missed out on with this groups demise can only be imagined; I'd loved to have seen where they would have taken their music.

He formed Firehose as a way to continue and cope with the death of his friend, they fell apart in the early 90's. He was married to Kira Roessler (Black Flag) and formed dos with her and they released a number of interesting, if patchy, albums. He's played with Porno for Pyros, Sonic Youth and the Stooges to name a few. The man has a goldmine of music that needs to be mined. I'll post a couple of things later on, but for now here's a taster of the man and his musical background.

Blues for Bukowski with Chris Murphy below is a song I can't stop playing....genius.

Minutemen

fIREHOSE

dos

Solo

Pinups (Adolescents) - st (1993)

Not an official Adolescents release, but it's Steve Soto, Rikk and Frank Agnew and Tony Montana doing a covers album under the Pinups title.

It's not a release that was destined to set the world on fire, but should receive praise for trying to pull some hidden gems back into the public eye. These include "I wanna be me" by the Pistols; always a firm favourite of mine along with satellite and did you no wrong. Slaughter & the Dogs "the bitch", The Viletones "screaming fist", F-words "do the nihl". There's also a very dodgy version of "harmony in my head"....tsk tsk along with many more.


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