eBay Wars #1

THE EXPLOITED

DEATH BEFORE DISHONOUR

(1987)

You  may well wonder or laugh. “An eBay war for that”? Well it wasn’t an intense bidding war as such by any stretch. But where eBay is concerned, it’s always a war unless you’re the only bidder.  And I’m far from being an eBay Field Marshall, bidding expert, champion, or someone who spends lots of dosh on eBay. Cos I ain’t. I’ll have a bit of a look. I’ll seek out stuff I want, naturally. But I’ll keep very much on the lower scale of things. 

I friend burnt this for me on CD quite a long time ago.  Wasn’t that interested at first, but then it grew on me, as albums sometimes do. I played it not so long ago, and I thought, “wouldn’t mind getting that on vinyl if I see a copy”. Then, trawling eBay just having a look recently,  I happened to see a copy that had a low start price. I kept an eye on it for a few days, it had a couple of bids that went up in  very small increments. On the last day I set myself a (low) limit and bid. “Outbid”. I went up by very small increments. Outbid. The price I needed to win didn’t show up. Then I went “aaaah, fuck it”. I worked out what the “hidden” limit on the bid was and outbid it by 5 cents.  Winning bid. So I waited until the next day. (The bids closed at  10pm Saturday night and I wasn’t gonna just sit around the computer waiting). So for a reasonable price (which was THE ceiling I’d set for this) including postage, it was mine.  I have to say I was pleased that I’d trumped someone by 5 cents. Cos if they had of really wanted it they would have kept bidding (well that’s my line of thinking anyway). 

   

Obviously I wouldn’t have bid for this if I didn’t like it. This is actually one of the Exploited’s better albums I reckon, and quite underrated. For some though perhaps too “metal, and is perhaps the album that was the turning point of their (slightly more metal based) future direction. Can’t say it’s overly metal myself though – it’s an Exploited punk record through and through. It’s not short on the great hallmark of any Exploited album, the requisite Wattie bile and anger, and of course this was largely fuelled by and directed at Maggie Thatcher. This record chugs along like a giant unstoppable mohawked Mack fucking truck. Perhaps not overtly “punk” in the same way “Punk’s not Dead” or “Troops of Tomorrow” were, it’s a great fifth album which sees them change the formula a bit.

They cover a bit of ground here – from the opening bludgeon of “Anti UK” and “Power Struggle”, there’s melody and plenty of singalong choruses within the chugging rifferama which is present throughout, and there’s enough guitar solos to make things interesting but not too over the top. “Police Informer” contains a sample from the 80’s classic Terminator (Schwarzenegger’s “Fuck You asshole”).  I guess in its  own way “Death Before Dishonour” is like The Terminator – it just keeps going – and of course there is a bit of an 80’s theme lyrically and thematically; “Barry Prossit” (80’s cop bashing victim) and “Don’t really care” (about the dole in Thatcher’s Britain).   “Driving me insane” lends a bit more melody, and the closing track “Sexual favours” featuring female backup vocal” adds a different flavour.

Package wise  I like this one a lot. The cover pic of a decaying Maggie Thatcher embracing the grim reaper is great, and is a bit of a period piece statement on the time. Its part of the reason I was after this on vinyl, I think it’s a fantastic cover. The inner sleeve is also great, and classic for the time – pics of the band on one side, typewriter font lyrics on the other.

Production wise they have a bit of a reverbish sludgy sound here – which isn’t actually a bad thing, and I reckon it works well.  There’s more of a “heavy” sound as opposed to the more flat out speed of some of the earlier offerings. There’s plenty of energy on the vinyl (particularly for a record that’s 25 years old. And not scratched, but in reasonable condition for its age, as a lot of punk records are).

I’ve listened to this again quite a bit now since I got it, so it was worth it. One ticked off the list. As I say, I’m not one to fork out massive amounts of money on eBay, can’t afford to unfortunately, so these kindsa eBay “victories” as some people term them, are a bit sweeter because for me they’re affordable as well as desirable.  I mean, we all know that there’s lots of vinyl that go for ridiculous prices but who can afford them? Like a first press of the Negative Approach EP – in the hundreds and hundreds. And then do you play it or look at it or put it away after you’ve forked out hundreds? Shit, I’ve been collecting vinyl for a long time, and in many respects I’m not a true “collector” (My collection, although not by any means insubstantial, is far skinnier than I would like).  As I say though, at least it’s functional – they get played.          

POISON IDEA LIVE AND IAN MACKAYE 12"

POISON IDEA, A.V.O., HOSTILE OBJECTS, DARK HORSE

16.5.2014, Bald Faced Stag Hotel Sydney, Australia

There’s a big turnout tonight for Portland Oregon’s Poison Idea who are making their first trip to Australia in their 30+ year history.

All the support bands put in solid sets. Dark Horse with their crusty doom laden hardcore. Hostile Objects with their sonic hardcore thrash assault.  A.V.O (who have reformed to support idols Poison Idea) with their Oi! infused old school hardcore.

By the time Poison Idea come on the room is heaving. They start with “Hangover Heart Attack” – which was a great way to kick off the set, (and which I hoped they’d start with). Then they’re straight into “The Temple” from War All the time. Then it’s the classic cop hating anthem “The Badge”. They crank through a great cross section of their best known stuff; there’s a reasonable amount from Feel the Darkness which everyone wants to hear – the rock and roll punk powerhouse that is “Just to get away”, “Taken by surprise” of course “Plastic Bomb”, all of which were a highlight of the set. All the while a bandanna’d Jerry A’s (in)famous largesse is commanding, yet relaxed. It’s his band, and they power on with him, all with a work-like  ethic and little fuss. Eric “The Vegetable” Olsen, (from the mid/late 80’s line up), recently returned to the band,  also cuts a  commanding figure by virtue of his height (and punk uniform – Discharge T-shirt and docs), standing rooted to the spot hammering out power chords and solos. The other guitarist is head down,  complementing  Vegetable’s melodies and leads. Likewise the rhythm section – the female bass player keeps precision time banging her head like a metronome with the drummer’s solid beats. The whole band is spot on with all the songs, along with Jerry’s throaty roar.

In the middle of the set they threw in an unexpected cover of Roky Erikson’s   “You’re gonna miss me” which I didn’t recognise at first – didn’t know they covered it, and it seemed a little out of place, and slowed things up just a tad.  Not that it was bad, just a little..... unanticipated. Things are back on track with “Getting the Fear”, and “Say Goodbye”, the opening cut from Blank Blackout Vacant. (PI always have great opening songs on all of their albums, quite a few of which were in tonight’s set). There were a couple of cuts from Kings of Punk, and they closed with “Marked for Life” and “Alan’s on Fire”.

The crowd  loved it and was singing along. Great set -  you couldn’t have really asked for more from PI. The only real bit of a complaint from me, I guess was there was no encore.  The band themselves seem to be having a great time – their initial date in Melbourne was extended to two dates, after which they were back here in  Sydney for a second and final show, and then back to Melbourne again.   

 

POISON IDEA

Ian Mackaye 12” EP

1989

This is the one of the only Poison Idea record not to  see a CD reissue (All you pretentious record collector scum, correct me if I’m wrong. And I’m only calling you that ‘coz I’m jealous you’ve got more records than me).

Even though it exists in various formats – it has been reissued on vinyl a few times, mainly as the “Filthkick” EP, (minus two songs), it has yet to see an official re release as the “Ian Mackaye” EP in the current Poison Idea reissue series. It was a Compilation of the Filthkick 7" EP, Getting the Fear/4 A.M. 12" and a new track. Originally released on the UK label In Your Face records, which was run by one of the guys in Heresy.  Some came with a limited edition sticker on the front.

This 6 track 12” 33rpm is a solid blast of  scorching Posion Idea punk rifferama from start to finish. Opens with the killer “Hangover Heartattack”, onto Drug Revival thend “Ballad of a Pre-Op”.  Side two has the riffy “Getting the Fear” which features a trippy type middle bit, “4am", and Jerry A’s “ Nota love song”, “Burned for the last time”. This is great tough mid- period  Poison Idea with a different feel  - post (I think) War all the Time and pre- Feel the Darkness. Most of the songs feature Eric “The Vegetable” Olsen’s solos which add a different flavour here and compliment Pig’s own lead and rhythym guitar.  Also captures a unique line up of the band.

Glad I got this one (a few years ago now).  Can’t say I own loads of Poison Idea vinyl, unfortunately – there’s plenty of it to collect. Interestingly, I haven’t seen this go for silly prices on ebay, so try and get yourself one.

PUNK ROCK 'N' FRICKEN ROLL VINYL ONLY 

chrismccousin@gmail.com

THE CYANIDE PILLS

THE CYANIDE PILLS

STILL BORED 

Red Vinyl

Damaged Goods (2013)

This one was on the list from last year, just didn’t manage to get it in 2013. I had checked out a few songs, thought they sounded pretty good, and put it on the “I’ll get that one sometime” list. I finally tracked down an import recently. 

Worth the wait, I think. This is a cracker, and it got back to back runs on the turntable for quite a few days, and is still on high rotation. This is great ’77 inspired stuff. The opening salvo of  Can’t get it up, (tongue in cheek, I assume), Up against the wall, and Johnny Thunders lived in Leeds had melodies revolving around in my noggin for about a week. Gotta love a song that not only mentions Johnny but gives a bit of a history lesson as well. Things slow up a bit with Teargas, but are back on track with the infectious Apathy. I’m often suspicious of songs that contain the word “dub”, but Lock up Dub manages to successfully marry melody with reggae/dub beat, and is another one that gets stuck in your head. Good to see a successful departure from the punk/powerpop mould, and a nod back to The Ruts and ’77 era influenced reggae/punk  perhaps.

The next couple of songs sit firmly in powerpop territory (They even have a new non album single Waiting for you to call me that has “70’s powerpop” as a heading on the front). Whilst there’s nothing wrong their powerpop efforts here - they’re all still solid tracks, it’s the punkier numbers that are more my preference. The album is consistent though, and it’s a strong listen from start to finish. I just hope they don’t fuck things up and embrace the powerpop side of things too overtly in the future or they could  be in danger of turning into the Strokes. Not to worry, the foot gets back on the accelerator a bit more  with Formica and more so with Nonbeliever. Don’t turn right lifts side two right up for my ears with its rawer approach. Still Bored closes with the buzzy Never gonna give it up, and if they stick to that manifesto, things’ll continue to be great. 

I’ve read a few reviews that mention comparisons with the Buzzcocks, which I don’t understand. Yes, there are a few love themed songs, but there’s no overriding unrequited love theme ala Pete Shelley. For my money they echo closer to original ‘77 snotty power punk poppers The Boys, which is no bad thing.  

Package wise this is a pretty neat record. The cover is prefab retro (at least done well). It even comes complete with faux-fading (where the record inside would fade the cover in a circular mark) and I had to look twice – I thought the seller backhanded me a crappy 2^nd hand or inferior copy. I like the cover though, the yellow and red contrasting colours, works well with their theme.  Red vinyl is a bonus, and the sound is full, but not glossy or slick, and captures everything quite well. Unfortunately, there’s no inner sleeve/lyric sheet, which as you may have guessed, is bit of a bugbear of mine. All round, pretty fricken’  good. Ya gotta love it when ya get a record that looks and sounds good, and ya wanna keep giving it a spin, and this comes up on all those fronts. Great stuff.    

PUNK- ROCK’N’FRICKENROLL VINYL ONLY chrismccousin@gmail.com

NEW TOE TO TOE 7"

TOE TO TOE

STILL FIGHTING 7”

Old School Cartel

New 3 Track single from Sydney Australia’s long standing hardcore crew. It’s been a while between drinks for TTT and this bridges the gap between the next long player.

This is good ‘ol old school hardcore, as you’d expect. All three are strong tracks, and feature guest vocals which give an extra dimension, if you like. Side one has Hope & Sorrow featuring Sick of It All’s Lou Koller, and Underdog featuring Craig Ahead. Side two has Fearless Heart featuring Freddy Cricien from Madball, and is perhaps the most flat out of the three.

Nice cover with the old school tattoo theme.  Soundwise there’s plenty of clout and punch, and everything is audible in the mix. There’s a download code included which gives you extra songs as well; some live and alternate mixes of old songs, and some other recordings which are a bit different from TTT’s usual stuff.

You can get this 7” here:     oldschoolcartel.bigcartel.com

You can also get TTT’s last long player Arturo Gatti on limited release red vinyl as well.

THE CRAMPS - NEW(ISH) VINYL PART 2

RARE TRACKS Demo, Rehearsals, B-Sides, Soundtracks continued

In the previous post there were a few little errors so let’s clear things up and set the record (ahem) straight, shall we?

I mentioned to the back cover pic which, in which I referred to “Candy Fur”. The bassist circa 1986 was actually Fur Dixon, not “Candy Fur”. I kind of got mixed up with Candy Del Mar who followed Fur. As I said, there was no recorded output during brief Fur’s tenure, live or otherwise, but there is some great footage of her with the band on youtube;

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdoed3V7OB4‎

The live songs were actually previously released on the relatively hard to find CD release of “Smell of Female” which does feature Kid Congo, more or less. (He is credited on the release, but the band found some of his guitar parts unusable). It’s a shame they weren’t on the original vinyl release. They’re two of the wildest cuts on “Rare tracks” and Kid’s fuzz guitar goes off!

For your edification and amusement, here is the tracklist, and I’ve provided some extra info on the songs which doesn’t come with the records.

A1		Blue Moon Baby  (B-Side to “Can your pussy do the dog?” 7” & 12” 1985)
A2		Georgia Lee Brown (B-Side to “Can your pussy do the dog?” 12” 1985)
A3		Give Me A Woman (B Side to “What’s inside a girl” 12”  1990)
A4		Get Off The Road (B Side to “What’s inside a girl” 7” & 12” 1990)
A5		Confessions Of A Psycho Cat  (B-Side to “Ultra Twist” 7”& 12” 1994)
A6		No Club Lone Wolf Cat  (B-Side to “Ultra Twist” 12” 1994)
B1		I Walked All Night (B-Side to “Like a Bad Girl should” 12” 1997)
B2		Peter Gunn (Bonus track on “Big Beat from Badsville” CD rerelease 2001)
B3		Wilder Wilder Faster Faster (B-Side to “Eyeball in my Martini” 7” & 12” 1991)
B4		Twist And Shout – (From “Songs The Lord taught us sessions”, and featured  on  the CD rerelease)
B5		Her Love Rubbed Off B-Side to (Bikini Girls with machine guns” 12” 1990)
B6		Beat Out My Love (B-Side to “Creature from the Black Leather Lagoon” 12” 1990)
B7		Jelly Roll Rock (From “Blues Fix” EP 1992)
C1		Jailhouse Rock (B-Side to “Creature from the Black Leather Lagoon” 7” & 12” 1990)
C2		Jackyard Back Off (B-Side to “Bikini Girls with machine guns” 7” & 12” 1990)
C3		Beautiful Gardens (Live 1983, from “Smell of Female” sessions CD rerelease)
C4		She Said (Live 1983, from “Smell of Female” sessions CD rerelease)
C5		Surfin Dead (From “Smell of Female” CD rerelease, and Return of the Living Dead soundtrack)
C6		Rumble Blue (‘81 Rehearsal)
D1		Lonesome Town (‘81 Rehearsal)
D2		Journey To The Centre Of A Girl (‘88 Rehearsal)
D3		Sweet Woman Blues (‘81 Rehearsal)
D4		Call Of The Wighat (‘82 A&M Studio)
D5		Jackyard Back Off (‘88 Rehearsal) The Cramps are/were/have been one of the most bootlegged bands out there. This one at least has been done with some love and care, and hopefully as a homage to the band.

NEW(ISH) CRAMPS COMPILATION

THE CRAMPS

RARE TRACKS Demo, Rehearsals, B-Sides, Soundtracks

 

I’ve always had a soft spot for The Cramps. They’re one of the (few) bands that I heard when I was first discovering non-commercial music way back when, that have retained an appeal for me. I’m still buying their records all these years later, and they feature on the playlist fairly regularly........... Perhaps I should grow up. Ha Ha.

This double LP collection was released in about 2012, but I only came across one in a record shop recently. I saw it in the rack, looked, went hmmmm.... and put it back. I kept glancing back to check no one else picked it up, then went “just go and get the fuckin’ thing”.

While I own most of the earlier vinyl stuff (up to 1990’S “Stay Sick”), I’m no tragic when it comes to The Cramps. This compilation is geared to the later period of the band, which I’m relatively unfamiliar with, but it’s a great romp,  and there’s something for every Cramps fan.

The bulk of the two record set features B-sides of  various singles and EP’s from 1985 -1994. The first record (Yellow Vinyl) is all B-sides from this period, with the exception of “Twist and Shout” from the “Songs The Lord Taught Us Sessions” Highlights of the B-sides are mid period cuts ”Blue Moon Baby” the flipside of “Can Your Pussy Do The Dog” and "Jackyard Backoff", the flipside from 1990’s “Bikini Girls with Machine Guns” (I remembered that one from a LONG time ago when I bought that 7” for a friend and wished I’d got one for myself). Interestingly, their take on “Peter Gunn” and “Jailhouse Rock” steer right away from the traditional (in The Cramps inimitable style) and veer on ridiculous, but you know they wouldn’t have it any other way.

 

 

Record Two (Black Vinyl) comprises only two  B –Sides, the rest is made up of  miscellaneous recordings. As I said, there’s something to please everyone. Although it doesn’t indicate it on the cover, there are some live cuts here. “Beautiful Gardens” is pleasingly and appropriately wild, as is “She said”, which is worth it for Lux’s monologue alone.  “Surfin’ Dead” is the soundtrack song (From Return of the Living Dead), which isn’t one of their more memorable songs. “Rumble Blue” is an ’81 rehearsal, and I assume it features the original (Bryan Gregory) line-up. The other rehearsal cuts -  “Lonesome Town”,” Journey to the Centre of a Girl”, and “Jackyard Backoff” (here for the second time) are unfortunately a bit tame for my liking, as is the studio cut of “Call of the Wighat”from ‘82 .                   

Package wise this is pretty damn good, particularly for a bootleg.  Containing 24 songs in all, it comes in a huge fold out poster cover with heaps of pics. For the die-hard fan there may yield nothing new picture wise, but it’s still pretty impressive, and showcase all eras of the Cramps in their various incarnations. In some ways misleading perhaps, the front cover features the Kid Congo era Line up, but I can’t be sure if he actually features on any of the songs here (my guess is the live songs though). The impressive back cover pic featuring short lived bassist Candy  Fur had no recorded output (studio or live).  One of the vinyls is coloured, the other one is plain black, and there are varying combinations available. The sound quality is pretty good, particularly the B-Sides, but the rehearsal and live stuff are perfectly passable for what they are as well.   The only real quibble I have is that there’s minimal info on the songs - most have no info- like what was the A-side of the song, what was the line up, when was it recorded etc. That info, accompanied by pics of the singles would have really topped off this collection.

All up, a great bookend to any Cramps collection. If your’e a hard-core Cramps collector, it’s worth getting, there may be something you don’t have, or just for the package alone, same if your’e more of a casual Cramps fan – it’ll keep you entertained. If your’e looking for an introduction (?) to The Cramps perhaps get one of the first Couple of LP’s and check’ em out.

RIP LUX

PUNK- ROCK’N’FRICKENROLL VINYL ONLY chrismccousin@gmail.com

 

NEGATIVE APPROACH7"

NEGATIVE APPROACH

SELF TITLED 7”

Touch And Go Records

Just goes to show how err, out of aah, touch one can be. I had kind of forgotten about American label Touch and Go, and was unsure how active they still were. Although this was reissued in 2010, I’ve only just found one now. Needless to say, I didn’t get one first time around, or last time around. Original first and second pressings sell now for ridiculous prices on ebay.

Legendary,classic, and influential detroit hardcore from ’82. Great stuff, Fast and short. This 10 song EP features the often-covered “Ready to Fight” – Can’t quite recall exactly who has covered it, but there has been quite a few bands (which followed in the wake of Negative Approach).

This reissue is (apparently) remastered. Not that I’d know, or can tell. It’s still a little rough around the edges, but that’s the appeal of it. The cover has also been revamped, the original “Linda Blair” styled photo has been replaced with a B&W line drawing as shown, that gives an updated feel as well. Also includes an (reproduction of the original) insert which is good value and kinda always makes a little hardcore 7” package complete.

This was a little on the expensive side, but worth it, and there are still a few around .............   

PUNK- ROCK’N’FRICKENROLL VINYL ONLY chrismccousin@gmail.com