Crack Baby - 'Gestation Period of a Smurf' (2000)

 Finally found this in a pile of old CDs and junk...I used to go see this band at the community center when I was very young. I don't know what's in the water, but my tiny town had at least three super confrontational bands that blended Black Flag-style hardcore with grunge. These guys were the tightest musicians for sure, and some of these tracks still slap. I'll never get tired of hearing 'I DON'T NEED YOUR FUCKIN RULES' lol. 

I misplaced the tracklist, so I'm going to just guess. It should be noted that the ska song ('Rudy Can't You Wait') was probably written about one of my friends.

I'll fill in the other tracks if I find the list.

Tracklist:

1. Stupid Reason

2. Fed Up

3.

4. Stupid Reason (Radio Edit)

5. Track 3 Radio Edit

6. Booger Off

7. Never Leaving

8. 

9. 

10. Blank Stare

11. Love Song

12. Next in Line

13. Black Market Babies

14. Do I Smell Bacon?

15. Loose Stools

16. Rudy Can't You Wait?

17. 

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MX-80 Sound - 'Big Hits and Hard Attack'

Ok, really, this is the real reason I started doing this blog again. I wanted to post this record, realizing I never did a few years back when I was heavy into these fellas.

Coming out of the oasis of Bloomington, IN (basically the ONLY good thing in Indiana, and a pretty strange place), this band is a combination of influences that I really don't like. I hear a lot of Captain Beefheart, whom I despise, and also maybe some Frank Zappa, who is ok but not my favorite, Velvet Underground, who I also hate, and an assortment of 70's radio rock. Somehow, all this ends up being awesome, and completely unlike anything else, no matter how many people say they 'sound just like Sonic Youth.'

This kind of music just doesn't happen anymore. Here you have some college dudes in the middle of nowhere, just making music and playing for their friends, without ANY real musical worldview. So out of touch with everything going on in '76 that they sound current in 2016. It's fitting that they were discovered by The Residents, who also put out the bulk of their material on their Ralph Records, after Island dropped the band.

Since I can't really relate their sound to anything else other than their influences (which really doesn't cut it), this might get a little detailed.

So, you've got scratchy, 'angular' guitar work that sounds half-improvised, but always inspired. It's also really unpretentious...it never feels like the band is 'trying' to be weird, or experimental, they're just weirdos. You can tell there's a lot of early heavy metal influence in the guitar work as well. And yes, some parts sound strikingly similar to Sonic Youth drones, but more interesting, I would argue.

The bass player is ALWAYS busy, and actually has some of the 'lead' riffs while the guitar fucks around. Best, however, are the drums, which are SO FUCKING HEAVY. It sounds like an old jazz kit being played as hard and fast as possible. Like, I don't even really know, I was just smiling at this guy's playing the whole album, it's way funkier than you'd think for this type of music, and also REALLY idiosyncratic, maybe a little like Primus.

Primus is actually a good comparison, come to think of it. Except the vocals aren't super fucking annoying, and the songs don't feel as laborious.

Speaking of the vocalist, who sounds a little like Jesse Michaels from Operation Ivy, except crazy, he is VERY good at his limited style. He's not the best singer, but he doesn't just get the fuck out of the way like most noise-rock vocalists. If he's not conversationally joking about PCB's and kidnapping girls, he's honking on his out-of-tune saxophone.

I could just go on. I don't even know how many times I laughed at the bizarre jokes in the lyrics. Rich Stim has perfect comedic timing in the way that only the Dead Milkmen or The Frogs perfected.  When he does get serious, it's more creepy than anything, and makes the band seem sort of menacing, like their live shows must have been totally out of control.

Aaaaanyways, their second album, 'Out of the Tunnel,' and the third, 'Crowd Control,' are also very good. Their later stuff is spotty, but I'm glad they're still slightly active. Definitely my favorite band on Ralph Records, which is pretty insane considering their roster includes Tuxedomoon, Snakefinger, and of course The Residents.

NOTE: My version also includes their first EP, as 2 long tracks at the beginning of the album. It's good, but 'Hard Attack' is where it's at.

MX-80 Sound - 'Big Hits and Hard Attack'

Tracklist:

1. Train to Loveland / You Turn Me On / SCP / Til Death Do Us Part
2. Myonga Von Bontee / Boy Trouble - Girl Trouble / Tidal Wave
3. Man on the Move
4. Kid Stuff
5. Fascination
6. Summer '77
7. PCB's
8. Crushed Ice
9. Tidal Wave
10. Theme from 'Checkmate'
11. Facts-Facts
12. You're Not Alone
13. Civilized / Demeyes
14. Afterbirth / Aftermath
15. Sad Girls (Bonus Track)

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Rare proto-punk megapost

While doing my proto-punk, punk and post-punk radio show, I often came across some fairly rare releases (not PHYSICAL, but y'know). Some of these took weeks of searching to dig up. Now, I'm dropping a bunch of 'em on you. This post is for the proto-punk stuff, obviously, which would be from the early 60's to the mid-70's.

Heavy Goods Vehicle - 'Keeper of the Sands'

Loud, super-stoned and super-slowed blues rock, in the tradition of Black Sabbath and Pentagram. Maybe a little bluesier than either of those bands, but just as noisy. This album totally sounds like garbage, probably demo recordings of some kind, but it's pretty great because it sounds like they're breaking the tape deck with their volume. Includes a completely incomprehensible cover of 'Wild Thing' that somehow manages to be sloppier than the original. Maybe more proto-doom-metal than proto-punk, but it's got the spirit.

NOTE: The only proper tracklist for this I could find was COMPLETELY different from what I have, so I'm just listing the tracks alphabetically.

Tracklist:

1. 1976
2. Capitalist Blues
3. Feed Back (1976)
4. Heavy Goods Vehicle
5. Heavy Music
6. I'm a Man
7. July Morning
8. Keeper of the Sands (Intro)
9. Lucifer
10. Race with the Devil
11. Time to Cry
12. Wild Thing

DL

Pi Corp - 'Lost in the Cosmic Void'

Early artifact from the same Ohio scene that produced Rocket From The Tombs, Vertical Slit, Pere Ubu and the electric eels. It's fairly dissimilar from those releases, being more like early Pink Floyd I guess. But, the experimentation and gleefully noisy interludes definitely get it an inclusion in the proto-punk 'genre.' Plus, I think a few members went on to be in 'real' punk bands, so yeah. It sounds like a live recording, and honestly it isn't too great, but it's historical. My favorite tracks are 'Together,' which kinda sounds like a simplified Black Sabbath jam with weird echoed-out yelling over it, and 'Shiiit,' which is a psych-rock jam filtered through basement recording.

Tracklist:

1. Introid
2. The Dirge
3. Drumola
4. Together
5. Devil Weed
6. Just Another Song
7. LSD 1
8. Space War
9. Shiiit
10. Telarama Boogie
11. Organ Over Easy

DL

Doug Snyder and Bob Thompson - 'Daily Dance'

This one's pretty amazing. Supposedly, these guys went home after an early Iggy and the Stooges show and started writing these noisy, semi-structured jams. They were also from Ohio, although a more rural part. The 'songs' contain no vocals, just super blown-out heavy guitar and equally distorted, frenzied drumming. It actually has a feel not unlike the band Sleep, but obviously less structured. The two guys also regrouped in the late 90's to cut another LP, but I've never heard it. This one was independently released in '73, in a 500-copy run.

Tracklist:

1. Daily Dance
2. Living with the Crocodiles
3. Time Overlaps Itself
4. Soul and Universe
5. Hit and Run
6. Truth is a Pathless Land
7. Teenage Emergency

DL

Gudibrallan - 'II'

Swedish bang that DEFINITELY sounds a little closer to the punk era, and this goes way back to '71. Although usually listed as prog-rock, don't think it's gonna be a bunch of flutes and weird time signatures. It's actually more like the early Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart style of prog-rock, where it's just fucked up sounding. I guess there are elements of Swedish folk music here, but I don't know that stuff well enough to pick it out. There is definitely some wild saxophone and lots of yelling though. Somehow, this is the band's second album, too.

Tracklist:

1. T-Doja
2. Sosse
3. Terjes Klagan
4. Sprutan
5. Sommar Uti Hagen
6. John Boy
7. Berusa Er
8. Hispan
9. Visa Om Jungfrun

DL

Society's Fault 3-28-14

Another one of these thangs...enjoy.

Society's Fault 3-28-14 by Bizarrojerry on Mixcloud

Society's Fault 3-21-14 WIDR WEEK

We aren't very enthusiastic about asking for donations these days, but oh well. Sometimes we're funny. Regardless, there is quite a bit more talking than usual in this podcast, but we still crammed in a bunch of good music.

Society's Fault 3-21-14 WIDR WEEK by Bizarrojerry on Mixcloud

Society's Fault 3-14-14

Last week's program. Heavy on the surf-punk, particularly the group Falling Idols, which Sublime famously covered. Turns out, they featured a young guy who would go on to sing for The Vandals on their most beloved releases....

Society's Fault 3-14-14 by Bizarrojerry on Mixcloud

'Society's Faults' and 'Society's Funks'

Yeahhhhh it's been a while...kind of killed this blog off for a bit, but I dunno, maybe I've got enough weird shit saved up to do a few more posts now.

Anyhow, here are our radio broadcasts for the past...3 months? Or something.

Society's Funk 1-17-14

Society's Funk 1-17-14 by Bizarrojerry on Mixcloud

Society's Fault 2-7-14

Society's Fault 2-7-14 by Bizarrojerry on Mixcloud

Society's Fault 2-14-14 VALENTINE'S DAY SHOW

Society's Fault 2-14-14 VALENTINE'S DAY SHOW by Bizarrojerry on Mixcloud

Society's Fault 2-21-14

Society's Fault 2-21-14 by Bizarrojerry on Mixcloud

Society's Fault 2-28-14

Society's Fault 2-28-14 by Bizarrojerry on Mixcloud

Society's Funk and Society's Fault

Woops...been a bit since I posted on here. I've got a backlog of radio programs for ya. Freshly updated on the Mixcloud. Two of them are the mini-show Society's Funk that seems to happen when Jake's absent, and one is the regular shit. Enjoy.

Society's Funk 12-13-13 by Bizarrojerry on Mixcloud

Society's Funk 12-20-13 by Bizarrojerry on Mixcloud

Society's Fault 1-3-14 by Bizarrojerry on Mixcloud

Society's Fault 11-22-13

Had a hard drive crash, so instead of digging up a bunch of new shit you probably don't care about, we did a 'classics' kinda show...lots of our favorite tracks from the past couple of years, and a few tunes we hate also.

Society's Fault 11-22-13 by Bizarrojerry on Mixcloud

Society's Fault 11-1-13 SPOOKY SHOW #2

Even FURTHER past the holiday, here's the second Halloween show we did. This one, in my opinion, might be even better. So, if you're still in the mood for some scary shit, check it out...otherwise, the next podcast will be back to the regs.

Society's Fault 11-1-13 SPOOKY SHOW #2 by Bizarrojerry on Mixcloud

Society's Fault 10-25-13 SPOOKY SHOW #1

Welllll, it's a little late, but DEAL WITH IT. Here's the Halloween edition of Society's Fault. We actually had so much spooky material that it turned into two shows, the second of which you will hear next week. This one's got classics like the obvious 'Halloween' by Dead Kennedys, and some deep cuts like 'Ow, My Finger!' by the Screamin' Mee-Mees...also, PLENTY of horror movie clips and trailers, and satanic nonsense! Enjoy...if you DARE!

Society's Fault 10-25-13 SPOOKY SHOW #1 by Bizarrojerry on Mixcloud

Society's Fault 10-18-13

Here's some new stuff for ya...loads of things we've never played before, including Drug Squad, which is a group of the Pink Fairies' roadies who make even crazier proto punk than they did! A few 'horror' tracks in preparation for the obligatory Halloween show, which you will hear next week.

Society's Fault 10-18-13 by Bizarrojerry on Mixcloud

Films 14 - October part 2

Alright, a week later and I've watched like 20 more movies, so here are some reviews. These are, of course, low-budget horror films in the spirit of the season.

'Twisted Issues' - 1988

This might be THE coolest punk film of all time. And that's coming from someone who grew up on shit like 'Repo Man' and 'Suburbia' (the cool one, not the shitty 90's one.) Yes, it's shot-on-video, and uses members of the Gainesville, FL punk scene as actors, but if those aren't immediate turnoffs for you, then you should definitely check this out. What started as a documentary on Florida punk turned into a splatter-film involving a power struggle between two bizarre godlike characters (one who spends his time watching TV and taking turns with his girlfriend at murdering each other), a resurrected straight-edge skater, and plenty of stoned and drunk debauchery. It's much more intelligent than your average SOV flick, and a hell of a lot more fun, too. And, it's got a GREAT soundtrack of mid-80's Gainesville punk. Look out for the 'butt people.' You'll see what I mean. Oh yeah, get it from director Charles Pinion himself because he's a swell dude.

'The Bloody Video Horror That Made Me Puke On My Aunt Gertrude' - 1989

Yes, that's the real title of those messy SOV flick. And, as most other reviews will tell you, it's not really all that bloody, and it's just barely a horror film. It's got awful production values and REALLY bad acting, but that's not a reason to avoid it. In my opinion, this is is the movie 'Clerks' would have been if Randall had written and directed it instead of Kevin Smith. It concerns a snarky, lazy video store employee who rents out some equipment to a weird middle-eastern guy who uses it to make a snuff film. Then, for some reason, he accidentally leaves his video in the recorder. To cover his tracks, he kills the young man's boss. Said boss had trouble with the mob, so the video store guy assumes it's the mob who killed his boss, so HE kills a mob guy. There are some ridiculous plot twists I won't give away, but suffice to say most of the film consists of the lazy dude saying mean shit to his boss and being a dick to customers. Whatever the case, from the typed cast list at the beginning to the half-assed ending, this is a film that really doesn't care if you like it or not. I love stuff like this, because when else but the 80's could movies like this end up on the shelves of video stores? It's about an hour-ten, and I didn't feel like I totally wasted a night by watching it. In fact, I'll probably watch it again. Oh yeah, the director also did that awful 'Vampiyaz' movie that Something Awful made fun of a while back. The more you know.

'Things' - 1989

This is what happens when drunk, stoned and demented backwoods Canadian dudes make a splatter-horror film. It has nothing to do with the 'real' world, and makes about as much sense as 'Eraserhead,' but with a room of friends, you can't go wrong with this one. So, you've got a couple guys from 'New York' (yeah, sure) who visit one of their brothers in backwoods Canada. His wife is pregnant, so they need to be quiet, which doesn't really make sense because it seems like they are visiting for a weekend of beer-drinking and partying. Then, she gives birth to some weird insect creatures (which subsequently kill her) and all hell breaks loose. Well, kind of. See, none of the characters really appear to give a shit about this, and they continue to drink, say weird things, make sandwiches, and play tricks on each other the whole time. One guy disappears 'into the 4th dimension' but is back later for no reason. Another guy gets killed at least a few times, but is unphased by it. And, the whole thing is scored with some seriously weird synth music. Yeah. It's fucked. Definitely one of the strangest things I've ever seen, and perfect if you want a horror movie but don't want to deal with all the gore, because it's really not that bad. It's also the first straight-to-video horror flick to come out of Canada, which the director seems REALLY proud of.

'Alien Dead' - 1980

Early effort from trash-god Fred Olen Ray, who also did 'Scalps.'  and like a million other trashy horror flicks. Unfortunately, this one isn't nearly as weird or well-done as 'Scalps,' and it was actually pretty boring. I fell asleep and didn't catch the ending. Oh well. From what I remember, it has to do with some rednecks huntin' gators and instead finding some weird radioactive aliens who kill them. That's about it. There are lots of better films with similar plots, but if you're a fan of Ray's work, it's worth checking out.

'Slaughterhouse' - 1987

One of my all-time favorite slashers. This film scared the shit out of me when I was ten, but now it's just kinda silly in the way that 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2' is. In fact, it's pretty similar to that film thematically, though not as funny and original. It's about a fat, mentally handicapped guy named Buddy whose dad runs a failing slaughterhouse. While his dad wants to keep things 'old-fashioned,' some slaughterhouse corporate fatcats (I guess there's probably such a thing...?) are trying to buy him out and turn it into a 'modern' slaughterhouse. Or something like that. The dad foolishly gives Buddy a giant butcher knife for his birthday (oh, dad!) and Buddy proceeds to kill all his dad's enemies, and any teenagers that get in his way (and there are plenty.) A good-time, down-home slasher for ya if you've watched things like 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' and 'Friday the 13th' too many times.

'Terror Toons' - 2002

Okay, finally into some more 'recent' stuff I guess. I tend to only watch older stuff, so I steered clear of this one for a while (especially since it's a no-budget horror film about evil puppets) but oh man was I wrong to do so. This is one of the most original trash-flicks I've seen in a long time, and director Joe Castro does incredibly with the little he has. The story is pretty simple...a girl's parents are gone for the weekend, so she watches a cartoon video while her sister parties with dudes. The cartoons come out of the TV and kill them all. Hilarity ensues. And yes, this is a hilarious film, and intentionally so. It's also very weird and colorful, and has been described as a bizarro-world version of a Tex Avery cartoon (live-action style, that is.) It's got lots of old-school computer animation and off-color jokes. It reminds me of something Charles Band would cook up, if he was smoking PCP nonstop.alien d

Society's Fault 10-11-13

More of that Societal goodness for ya. If you're a Velvet Underground fan, I'm sorry to say we take them down a few pegs in this episode....we trash-talk Lou Reed for a bit, then play some of his pre-Velvet tracks. If you've never heard his awful surf-rock band The Beachnuts, you're in for a 'treat.' Also, who knew he used to be able to sing?!

Also in this episode, some cuts from Charles Pinion's deranged low-budget punk film 'Twisted Issues.' More on that later.

Society's Fault 10-11-13 by Bizarrojerry on Mixcloud

Society's Fault 10-4-13

Jake, myself and guest host Golden Joe of Arctic Paradise give you another blast of punk rock and the music that inspired it, including prog-rockers Felt, out of whom the Dickies formed. Also present is some German hardcore, and a Butthole Surfers deep cut. Dig dat shit dawg.

Society's Fault 10-4-13 by Bizarrojerry on Mixcloud

Society's Fault 9-27-13

Guest host Golden Joe of the Arctic Paradise steps in to take Jake's place, and we crank out some lost classics including Jack Ruby and the first Misfits single. Also, some Indiana punk courtesy of Rattail Grenadier and Squirtgun.

Society's Fault 9-27-13 by Bizarrojerry on Mixcloud

Society's Fault 9-20-13

Jake and myself are back for another edition of Society's Fault, the smart-assed proto-punk, punk and post-punk program. Lots of music from Detroit this time around, including the obscure Mutzie and Cold Cock.

Society's Fault 9-20-13 by Bizarrojerry on Mixcloud

Society's Fault 9-13-13

FRIDAY THE 13TH!!! OMG!!!

...but it's just another episode of our proto-punk, punk and post-punk radio program. The unearthed classics are just POURING in this time, with stuff like Fred 'Sonic' Smith's post-MC5 group the Sonic Rendezvous band, minimal synth weirdos Iron Curtain, and some KBD-style hardcore. Enjoy.

Society's Fault 9-13-13 by Bizarrojerry on Mixcloud

Society's Fault 8-30-13

Another Society's Fault for ya...apologies for the delay, I had to take last week off. Lots of 'classic' stuff this time around, but the one we did this past Friday was pretty much ALL weird shit. Enjoy.

Society's Fault 8-30-13 by Bizarrojerry on Mixcloud

Society's Fault 8-23-13

More new stuff, more trash-talking from your favorite punk radio losers Rotweiler and Jake. Oh yeah, the best track might be 'Mr. Cool' by Killer Kane Band. It's a total ripoff of Alice Cooper's 'Eighteen' and features future W.A.S.P. members. Good stuff.

Society's Fault 8-23-13 by Bizarrojerry on Mixcloud