Feeds/Punk

From S23Wiki

Feeds / Punk

[edit] Punknews.org

Dragonforce: "Heroes of Our Time"

Dragonforce have posted a new song from their upcoming album. The record is titled Ultra Beatdown and is due out August 26, 2008 (art.)

You can check out the song on their myspace page.

One wonders how long it will take before this track takes over as the "gold standard" for Guitar Hero experts. [?]

Pete Wentz responds to Gym Class Heroes incident

Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy, who also runs Decaydance has responded to the arrest of Decaydance act Gym Class Heroes in St.Louis in his blog.

You know what? You call my friend a "n_gger", I dont even give a fuck what happens to you. I dont want to see you in this scene. I dont want to see you at shows. You are who we write songs about. You are who we think about when we hate. Radiohead, "Karma Police" over and over again in my head.

What a joke. You are fucking pathetic and anyone that disagrees should put their white hood on too. I don't want your ticket money. I don't want your cd sales. Id rather be poor and unknown.

I wasn't there and all I have to go on is the account of one of my best friends and all I ever want to do is support them. There is no further need for me to blow this out of proportion. I hate hearing people called that word. It makes me cringe. Thats all. Kind of like at the end of the Chapelle show when people were laughing at the racist jokes rather than at the satire of them.

Gym Class Heroes lead singer Travis McCoy was arrested last night in St. Louis, MO on one charge of third-degree assault. The band was just one song into their Warped Tour set when an audience member called McCoy a racial slur. McCoy responded by alledgedly hitting the assailant with his microphone. [?]

Alexisonfire at "a crossroads?"

Though the band has not explicitly defined their status, Alexisonfire's Wade McNeill recently discussed the status of the band, particularly in light of his bandmate and his side projects. McNeill recently released his debut as Black Lungs and Dallas Green has been touring extensively as City and Colour.

We'll see what happens... Alexis hasn't broken up, but we'll see what happens. We are at a crossroads now.

You can find the rest of the interview here.

The band has just two shows booked for the summer as both Dallas and Wade tour on their albums. [?]

Happy Independence Day!

Well, we celebrated Canada Day so now it's time to celebrate America's Independence Day. Before I say anything else, take a moment to scroll down the page and click the "Rock The Vote" banner and register to vote. Today celebrates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain.

To that end, here's a quote from Thomas Jefferson:

I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them but to inform their discretion.

In any case, to help you celebrate, we've got a song which will probably be the National Anthem by 2050. We've included the "karaoke" version so you can sing along [?]

None More Black change venue

Due to the venue double booking, None More Black have been forced to move their Saturday show with The Ergs and Bearface. The band explained:

As of now the mill creek tavern is double booked with Joe Frasier's birthday bash. However, wikipedia says his birthday is january 12th... They decided to tell us [at the last minute], so we are currently workng on a new venue.

Since then, the promoters have confirmed that the show will now take place at The Barbary in the Fishtown district of Philadelphia. The show will still kick off at 5pm with the same lineup. [?]

Beat Union: "Pressure Zone"

Beat Union have launched the latest video from their 2008 album, Disconnected. The Birmingham, UK-based band will be supporting the record on the entirety of Warped this summer.

[?]

Genghis Tron: "Things Don't Look Good" (Rob Crow Remix)

Genghis Tron have released the first remix from their five 12-inch LP remix series. The set will include remixes of all the songs from the band's 2008 Relapse debut, Board Up the House. Each will be limited to 1,000 copies, pressed on coloured vinyl and released on one of five labels: Temporary Residence Ltd., Lovepump United, Relapse Records, Anticon Records, and Crucial Blast Records.

For the remixes, the band has enlisted a influential list of collaborators including Justin Broadrick of Jesu/Godflesh, Rob Crow of Pinback, Dntel of The Postal Service, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Ulver,Telefon Tel Aviv, Steve Moore, Danny Lohner, Subtle, Odd Nosdam, Circle, Tim Heckler, and many more.

The first single includes remix work from Pinback's Rob Crow. You can check it out here. [?]

Tours: Dead Hearts / Know The Score / Energy

Dead Hearts, Know the Score and Energy will be hitting the road together beginning in August.

[?]

Video of the Week: Smoke or Fire (courtesy of Nation Underground.org)

This week we have another clip from our bothers-in-arms over at National Underground which showcases Smoke or Fire. The video features the band performing the track "What Separates Us" at last year's Fest 6 in Gainesville, FL.

The song comes from the band's most recent release, This Sinking Ship, released last year via Fat Wreck Chords. [?]

Upcoming vinyl releases

You're the lucky reader of the 41st edition of the Punknews.org Vinyl File. This column aims to keep you informed with upcoming releases as well as spotlighting interesting releases, your favorite bands' own collections and labels with a history of vinyl releases worth talking about. As always, Vinyl File is brought to you by Ben Conoley. [?]

Interviews: Dan Andriano (Alkaline Trio)

This Tuesday marked the release of the latest album from Alkaline Trio. Agony & Irony is the band's first for their new label, Epic Records, and also marks their first appearance on a major label. Punknews reviewer Michael Dauphin recently chatted with the band's bassist and co-vocalist Dan Adriano about the new album, the band's new skate shoe, and more.

[?]

Your Favorite Albums of 2008 (so far)

Starting this month and every month till December, we'll be publishing a list of your favorite albums for the previous month. Since this is our first run through this, we're going to open the feature with the top ten of the year so far. Leading the pack is the Gaslight Anthem and other popular releases include albums from The Mountain Goats, Vampire Weekend, Alkaline Trio, Pennywise, Less Than Jake and more.

The cut off for voting will always be the first Tuesday of the next month, so you can get your votes in up till that day.

[?]

Tours: Harvey Milk

Harvey Milk have announced European and US tour dates this summer.
[?]

Tours: Static Radio NJ

Static Radio NJ have announced their summer touring plans. The shows are in advance of the band's upcoming full length, An Evening of Bad Decisions, due out September 09, 2008 but also available at the band's upcoming shows.

[?]

Win a limited 7-inch from Alkaline Trio

Today we've got limited 7-inch from Alkaline Trio for five winners to give away. The disc includes the band's single, "Help Me," as well as a the b-side, a cover of Tegan And Sara's "Wake Up Exhausted."

[?]

[edit] Punk Vinyl Vault

R.I.P. Lord Alfred Hayes

Wow, this week isn't a very good one. First we lose Scotty, and now Lord Alfred Hayes!

Koga just IM'd me to let me know and pointed me to this link. I never got to see Lord Alfred wrestle as far as I can remember. I remember him as an announcer on the old WWF programs where I was always entertained as a teenager. The articles give a good history of his career in the business. R.I.P. Lord Alfred, you'll be missed.

[?]

Goodbye Scotty

Actor James Doohan, most famous for his role as Scotty on Star Trek, passed away. I used to watch the show when I was a little kid and saw all the movies. More recently, while still gainfully employed, I picked up the DVD sets of the original series and the first three movies and watched them all and they are still really enjoyable to this day.

Last year Doohan got his star on the Hollywood walk of fame, which was nice to see happen finally, and while he was still alive.

[?]

Selections from The Punk Vault [United Mutation]

United Mutation - Fugitive Family 7" (1983 D.S.I./Dischord Records)

United Mutation was a band I hadn't heard of until their label, D.S.I., sent me one of their 7"s in the mail to review in Spontaneous Combustion. I liked it and eventually went backwards and found myself a copy of this record, partially because I liked them, and partially because it was a half-Dischord release and I am a fanatical Dischord collector.

This was a single that I had planned on doing a feature on, but didn't know much of the band's history. It was one of those bands that I was hoping I would find someone who was in the band to share their story. Luckily for me, someone in the band found me! Jay Fox, bassist for United Mutation, contacted me recently and was kind enough to share the United Mutation story with me.

United Mutation formed out of the foundations of a bedroom garage band called DARK SELF IMAGE (DSI). Dark Self Image was basically an outlet for us to play; our Singer (Noel Hollingshead) wrote a whole bunch of crazy poetry and we would get high and jam while he narrated. This outlet later got bigger with addition of real amps and drums. Our first drummer, Steve Kirkland, was a neighbor, but quickly quit to play more normal music. We then started the first real band which featured Mike Brown on drums, Noel on vocals, John Fox on guitar, Bob Otte on guitar and John Hardin on guitar/vocals. This line up lasted until fall 1981. At this point Noel moved away, John H. moved to New Mexico at the first of '82,and Bob quit, which left us with just Mike who didn't (and doesn't ) drive so he couldn't really commit to the band at that point.

We played our first gig Christmas '81 with Sean Sumner (later of Death Piggy) on drums. He was at the time playing in PBI, which featured Steve Hansgen (later in some DCHC bands of note). This was a typical NOVA (Northern Virginia for the uninitiated - ed) house party, but it did instill in the Fairfax scene that there was a real hardcore band in town.

At about the same time we met Mike Salkind (the Aborted) who later became our drummer. In early July we went into Inner Ear studio and recorded our first demo (featured on both Freaks Out and the Lost & Found CD). This featured Sean Sumner on drums as Mike wasn't ready to record at the time. We also continued playing parties in NOVA now using Mike Salkind on drums until John H. left. At this point Mike Brown re-entered the picture as our singer. This was the beginning of United Mutation.

We played our first party as UM Halloween of '82 with Media Disease (later Malefice, MFD, Mainline, etc.) We also recorded our next demo, featuring Mike B on vocals and Mike S on drums, recorded at Inner Ear and produced by Bert Quiroz (Double-O, Second Wind). The tracks on Mixed Nuts Don't Crack came from this session. We ended up the year by losing Mike S on drums; he went on to play drums in NO TREND. We ended up getting Bill Fox, a schoolmate of Mike's, on drums and later recorded the Fugitive Family EP, and also played the 9:30 club.

Billy left the band to join DSI brother band Malefice, as he was more into that style of punk. We then got Steve Kirkland back in the band as the rock scene was not too hip to having black drummers in white hair bands. Needless to say we were quite happy to have him back. We went back into Inner Ear and recorded our next demo with Steve and Mike B; this landed us a track on Fountain Of Youth records comp, Bouncing Babies ("Infinite Regression") as well as a couple of tracks that ended up on Freaks Out.

This was to become our most prolific period. We returned into Inner Ear to record the Rainbow Person EP, which was well received by the punk press. We also started playing out a bit more, landing gigs with bands such as Dead Kennedys, Butthole Surfers, MDC, Flipper, Meatmen as well as numerous slots opening for local acts and smaller national acts.

This went on up till about 1988, when John Fox left the band to work on DSI Records full time. Mike joined Second Wind, featuring Bert and Rich from Double O and Steve Hansgen. Steve and I started FLUFFY with John Cobbett from Malefice, which lasted about one gig, and then started Fat Louie, which featured Brian Malone on trombone and a guy named Mike (???) on guitar. This later fused into BULLHEAD after Mike quit.

At this point we got John Fox back on guitar and could have gone back into UM but decided to change the theme of our music to a more psychedelic hardcore then just the standard UM stuff. Bullhead started out as just myself, Steve, and John, and later incorporated Mike B on guitar/vocals and Brian M on Trombone. This format was somewhere between Hardcore and Hawkwind; it also generated a bunch of weird gigs around DC/VA region. We later lost Steve (again) due to work issues.

After we got longtime UM fan Ken Bidjje Cavanaugh (Bells Of) on drums, we later went into WGNS studios and recorded the only studio Bullhead tracks. This period found us doing more UM and less Hawkwind, and eventually we ended up doing some UM shows in the mid '90's. Bidjje left around '95 and Steve joined up again for some full blown UM reunions as well as a yet to be released demo recorded at Cue Studios in NOVA.

In 1998, Mike Clayberg (Malefice, MFD,) and I put together Mainline, which featured Kent Stax (Scream) on drums, Keith Campbell (BMB) on guitar, and Sean Epstein (Sisters of Morrissey) on vocals. This got us a few gigs and a demo from Inner Ear, which has yet to be released.

In 1999 Mike and I started a new group, the Wooleybacks, featuring Sean on Vocals, Alex Daniels (SWIZ), and Bob Craver (52 Pick-up, Slim Nickey etc.) on guitar. This line-up was working on an X style of drinking man's Punk. This landed us a handful of gigs. At the same time I was working with Bidjje and John Fox on an all-Hawkwind Cover band. This band featured John Stanton on lead guitar (Redeemers) and Bill Turney on synth, theremin, and keys.

Since the final demise of UM....

Mike Brown has been working on his own musical projects, and has release a couple of disc's under the name of Monkey Style. Mike is also spending a lot of his time doing artwork professionally. You can find him at UC Studios online.

John Fox has not been playing any music for the most part. Though has been helping with the launching of Living Nightengale Records.

Billy Fox is living and working in the NYC area, and is playing mainly jazz and Latin music.

Steve Kirkland has disappeared and no one knows where he is living or working.

Ken(Bidjje) Cavanaugh is living and working in the DC area, and is still playing drums, working on a series of different music projects.

Mike Salkind is living in Colorado Springs CO, and is still playing drums, mostly with the band Eggamuffin.

Currently I am playing with two different band projects in Denver CO, The Jane Wymans/Anesthesia, and Birdmanray. These bands are regularly playing shows in the Colorado area. As well as recording new music.

Anesthesia were included on the first release from LivingNightengale Records "White Cold Days" music from the Antarctic Music Scene, which is a compilation of bands from McMurdo Station, Antarctica. This is available from www.livingnightengale.com or from www.antarcticconnection.com

Thank you Jay for the great information! I'm not sure the status of their old recordings, whether or not they are available somewhere. I'm pretty sure Lost and Found Records vanished so that stuff is likely out of print these days.

Listen to "Passout" from the record

[?]

The many flavors of: Adolescents - Welcome to Reality 7"

Another record I am particularly fond of, the Adolescents 7" on Frontier Records, had its share of variations over the years and it is even still in print to this day. This little 3 song slab of wax is a mandatory part of any punk rock record collection, so let's get down to business shall we?

The first pressing was on black vinyl and came with a picture sleeve. I'm not sure how many were pressed, it would be at least 1000 but likely a couple thousand.

It was then sold for many years on black vinyl without a picture sleeve. I think it was mostly done through mailorder as I never remember seeing them in stores much back then.

Somewhere around 1990 or so, it was reissued again in a picture sleeve and came on purple vinyl. The sleeve is identical to the first pressing except on the back there is a white block and the records were numbered with a stamp. There was a couple thousand of them pressed.

Lastly, and most recently, it was pressed yet again on colored vinyl, this time red. The numbering continues and this is the version you can currently buy.

So there you have it, the many flavors of the Adolescents - Welcome to Reality 7". There should be (at least) one in every home!

[?]

New items in the Spontaneous Combustion shop

On top of the newly released green vinyl Government Issue 7"s, there now is a plethora of classic hardcore CDs for sale in the Spontaneous Combustion online shop. Please buy some of the stuff so I can eat this month.

[?]

Government Issue 7" out now on green vinyl

The green vinyl Government Issue 7" is now out and ready to order. There was 100 made and you can order them right here. Also there is a new Paypal shopping cart system for the online shop for US customers and for all customers, I can finally accept credit card payments via Paypal.

[?]

Selections from The Punk Vault [Toxic Reasons]

Toxic Reasons - Ghost Town 7" (1981 Risky Records)

NOTE: Since this originally was posted, Ed Pittman contacted me and shared a little bit of history of how the band started, which will be at the end of this original post.

Toxic Reasons started in Dayton, OH in 1979. The founding members were Bruce Stuckey (bass & vocals); Joel Agne (guitar & vocals); Ed Pittman (lead vocals);Mark Patterson (drums).In 1981,Mark Patterson left the band and was replaced by James J. Pearson (J.J.) on drums,and Joel Agne was replaced by Rob Lucjak (Snott) on rhythm guitar,and Greg Stout on bass,Bruce switched to lead guitar.Though the band was from Dayton,J.J. was from Canada. They used this Can-Am Connection to make their logo which featured the Canadian and US flags combined. I think it made some unsuspecting folks think they were a foreign band.

They released the now sought-after War Hero 7" in 1980 and that is the only record featuring all the original founding members. One year later they did this record after singing to Risky Records during a tour. They ended up moving to San Francisco shortly after that. They recorded their first (and best) album in Indianapolis with Paul Mahern of the Zero Boys. Shortly after the album's release, lead singer Ed Pittman left the band, leaving the rest of the guys to carry on without him.

What happened next is a story that is all too familiar, they kept at it, and sounded more and more metal. I saw them once in 1987, and had it not been for the completely shitty and young White Zombie being the opening act, and thus blowing them offstage in the suck department, at the time it was one of the worst bands I had seen. It would be years before I would forgive them enough to actually give their records a chance and find out that early Toxic Reasons were a really good band who put out 3 damn good records. After a few lackluster releases, the band fell apart and packed it in.

Where are they now? That I do not know. I do know in 1999 they did a "20 year anniversary" reunion show. About two years ago or so, Beer City Records reissued the Independence album with all new cover art. The rest of their catalog remains out of print with the exception of a foreign release that compiles rare tracks called Dedication.

The song featured here would end up in a different version on their Independence album, but this is the superior version. I also happen to really like the cover to this one.

As always, if you have any additional information, or were in Toxic Reasons, please get in touch.

UPDATE: Ed Pittman, original vocalist for Toxic Reasons, had a little bit of history to share with my readers, which is:

Toxic Reasons got together approx. September of 1979. I was visiting friends at an apartment complex one evening when I decided to walk down and get a Pepsi at FHE Pool House. The acid id eaten was starting to kick in. I had only walked a few doors down when I heard two guitars blasting "God Save the Queen".

I walked up and knocked, Bruce Stuckey answered wearing his guitar. I asked are you guys playing the Pistols? The answer was yes. Bruce invited me in, I warned him I had just taken some acid. He said great, so had they. This is how I met Bruce Stuckey and Joel Agne. They were in a cover band called Exodus. I went to a couple of their practices and decided to steal them if I could. Before their next show, I talked them into going to see DOA in Dayton with me. DOA blew our heads off, and Randy Rampage invited us to an after hours where we drank many beers and got schooled on the coolness of punk rock.

Bruce and Joel had a show to do with Exodus the next week. It turned into hillbilly quaalude hell. Following that nightmare, the three of us got into my vega wagon and before we could leave the parking lot Bruce and Joel said "fuck this stupid shit we wanna play punk rock". They weren't sure about me as a singer until the first time we rehearsed and I just started jumping like a crazy man and singing Pistols songs they knew. The first drummer we tried out and kept was Mark Patterson, a recent graduate of the high school jazz band.
He was great. He was into punk and only 17, however when he showed up the first time he told us he thought we were playing psychedelic music because our name was Toxic Raisins. Once we got the name straight the music came naturally. I think we wrote "War Hero", Somebody Help Me" and "Ghost Town" that first week or two. We played these at our first show in November 1979 in Dayton along with Pistols and Clash covers. Bruce was the bass player then, with Joel Agne on guitar and Mark on drums.

Listen to "Ghost Town" from the record

[?]

Subhumans, From Ashes Rise, I Attack 7/10/05

Last night I went to the Logan Square Auditorium for a show. It was the Subhumans (UK), World Inferno Friendship Society, From Ashes Rise, and I Attack. Senor Citizen was supposed to go with me, but due to his being swamped with work and having a deadline looming, he no-showed. I'll forgive him though as his deadline was super important. This left me to fend for myself and attend the show alone. Lucky for me, I ran into a couple people I knew and ended up having a really fun evening.

I got to the club and waited in the hot stairwell up to the auditorium as they took tickets/money, frisked people (more like a body cavity search, it was insane how thorough they were frisking people), and stamped the hands of those of legal drinking age. Due to the chaos of all these things happening at once, and not being run very efficiently, I somehow ended up getting in free. I had money in hand but didn't know who to give it to, I was simply stamped for being of age, frisked (more like mauled) and sent up the next set of stairs into the show. I have to say I was very happy having saved 10 bucks seeing as how it is a lot of money to me in these lean times.

I Attack

I Attack were first and played some energetic young hardcore. Punk Vault reader and all around good guy, Rob V, sings for them and I was glad to be able to see his band play after meeting him at the Obanion's night at The Note a few weeks ago. They played at least a half hour as people were still filing into the venue and the people that were there seemed to be enjoying their sound. There were some kids from their neighborhood there dancing and the security kept running over there to break it up. It was apparent that the security for this venue were very over-zealous and didn't quite understand when you see kids bumping into each other, they are likely dancing and not fighting.

From Ashes Rise

From Ashes Rise were next and to put it simply, I'd say they not only blazed through a tight, powerful set, but they stole the show. In most cases you'd be hard pressed to ever hear me say that a newer band blew away one of my classic punk bands, but From Ashes Rise did just that. I thought their set felt a bit short, but perhaps it was just my hoping they'd play more because I was really digging it.

From Ashes Rise

World Inferno Friendship Society were third and not only do they have one of the most ridiculous band names but they have some of the hardest to describe music I've heard in quite some time. It was like a demented mixture of circus music, Irish drinking songs, and ska. They had like 8 people in their band, including a cute female bass player who was quite easy on the eyes. I didn't care at all for their music but they seemed to have a pretty good amount of people in the audience that were into them. I sat up in the balcony, which was reserved for the bands only but thanks to my pal Dave S. I not only got to take a load off my feet, but I had a supply of free bottled water and someone to hang out with and talk to at the show! Thanks Dave!

Subhumans

Subhumans

Subhumans

Finally the Subhumans took the stage and they were pretty much exactly how I saw them in the 90s, which was very entertaining. They plowed through all "the hits" and the crowd ate it up and were way into it. I think aside from the members of the Subhumans, I was the oldest one in the crowd, who were mostly made up of teens/early 20s and looked awfully happy to be dancing to the sounds of a great old punk band.

The show got out pretty early, around 10. I stayed and chatted with Dave and Rob a bit before taking off and Rob gave me a copy of the I Attack record for the vault which I'll be listening to this week. It was a fun show and a fun evening and well worth the drive down in the heat.

[?]

Still plenty of Gmail

I still have plenty of Gmail invites to give away if anyone wants one. Just leave a comment or email me at punkvault[at]gmail[dot]com if you want one.

[?]

Will work for food!

Still no luck on the job hunt. It is getting scary and I may have to seriously consider changing careers as moving is not an option. The thing is, I have no idea what else I'd rather be doing aside from writing for the WWE or something like that. I keep watching the bank account shrink and thanks to my car deciding it wanted to break, I'm even lower on cash. Luckily it was under 100 bucks, the battery went bad but it is still an expense I didn't need right now. When it rains it pours I guess.

This Sunday, the Subhumans (UK) are playing with From Ashes Rise at Logan Square Auditorium. I'm planning on going, however I'm not having the best luck finding someone to go with me. I scraped together enough cash to pay my admission, but there won't be any drinking or eating on my nite out. I haven't been to that place in well over a decade so I don't even remember what the layout was but hopefully I can snap a few good pictures while I am there.

I just waiting on bags so I can assemble these green vinyl Government Issue 7"s. The record will be available for sale probably on Monday. There is 100 of these made and since I'm out of sleeves after words, there is very little chance I'll ever press up any more. There is going to be a new mail order page on the Spontaneous Combustion site complete with a paypal shopping cart system so people can order online quickly and easily.

My holiday weekend was pretty uneventful for the most part. I did get to go to RAT's bbq with my lady and our new dog and that was a lot of fun. The dog got sick on the 4th so I didn't even get to go out and see any fireworks shows.

[?]

Selections from The Punk Vault [The Savages Are Loose]

Various Artists - The Savages Are Loose LP (1986 Mystic Records)

In the mid to late 1980s, Mystic Records, having already put out countless compilations, decided to start a series of compilations from different cities across the USA. The first one was a compilation of mostly obscure Washington DC bands. Aside from Madhouse who already had a record out, most of the bands were relatively new and this was their first, and in some cases only, release on vinyl.

The real standout for me was from a band that until I got this compilation, I had never heard of and that was the Platinum Slugs. It turns out they put out a couple of records and I am looking for them if anyone can hook me up. The rest of the compilation was pretty standard fare hardcore bands.

After this record, more followed in the "Sound of USA Cities" series including Portland, OR and New York City. It wasn't long after those that Mystic went quiet for a number of years. This record is slated to be reissued on CD in the future and the others will likely follow.

Listen to "Easy Mark" by the Platinum Slugs from the record.

[?]

The many flavors of: Peace Corpse - Quincy EP

One of my all time favorite hardcore records came in a few different variations in the years that is was in print. I'll save the history for when I do a "selections from the vault" on this record (which I would do sooner if Bill Sassenberger from Toxic Ranch would get back in touch with me) and get right down to business.

The version we all know (and love, or at least should love) wasn't the first attempt at this record the band did. There was a completely different recording of the same 6 songs that made it as far as test pressings before they scrapped it and re-recorded the songs.

There were 5 of these test pressings made and needless to say these versions never saw the light of day anywhere, and won't. The songs were much slower and in some cases had different lyrics.

When the record finally did come out, the first pressing had orange letters on the sleeve and came on black vinyl. All copies of all pressings came with a lyric sheet.


It was then repressed on what Toxic Shock would call "crushed bone wax", which was white with black streaks. The color on the cover changed to pink on this pressing. At the time, there were not many color vinyl records that looked like this, at least not in punk rock land, so it seemed pretty special at the time.

A third and final pressing followed, this time on black vinyl with green lettering on the sleeve.

After that, the record was out of print for many years until it was released by Dr. Strange Records as the Toxic Shock 7"s compilation CD. I was glad to see the music made available again as to me this is one of the better hardcore 7"s. I love all six songs and the Pushead cover art was top notch, it was just an overall great package from top to bottom.

So there you have it, the many flavors of the Peace Corpse EP.

[?]

Selections from The Punk Vault [The Next]

The Next - Make it Quick 7" (1979 Sharp Records)

Texas is famous for its great (and in many cases relatively unknown) punk bands. From the more popular ones such as The Dicks, Big Boys, Butthole Surfers, DRI, and The Offenders, to the more obscure (except to record collectors) like Hugh Beaumont Experience, The Huns, Vomit Pigs, and The Next, the state has an impressive track record for great bands.

It was when this single was included on the Deep in the Throat of Texas compilation LP that I first heard it and fell in love with it. The record has 3 songs, and all of them are amazing early punk tracks full of attitude.

According to the liner notes of said compilation, The Next were from Austin Texas and formed in the wake of the Sex Pistols playing a show in San Antonio. The Next became a regular band performing at Raul's (and are included on the Live at Raul's compilation) probably because their singer, Ty Gavin, was a bartender at the club. In their small time together the band went through a few lineup changes and put out only two 7"s, this one and their second one titled Kick Ass (which I am in need of if anyone can help me out). According to what I've read, their sound changed quite a bit on the second single and it wasn't nearly as good. Where the members are now is anyone's guess.

As always if you have any additional information, or were a member of The Next, please get in touch.

Listen to "Monotony" from the record

[?]

Disrespect!

There are few things I hate more than when some new band forms, and they use the name of a much better band that came before them. Case in point, a friend of mine is dancing at a show at Gunther Murphys this Thursday night and one of the bands who is playing is called The Sleepers.

What the fuck?! There already was a band called The Sleepers! They were from San Francisco and featured the late Ricky Williams on vocals. They were a really good band from the early punk days. A simple google search by these disrespectful humps would have easily shown them that name was previously taken! This is worse than when some crappy movie studio remakes some great and not really that old film (see Texas Chainsaw Massacre for an example) when there was nothing wrong with the original in the first place. They are just too lazy, or uninspired, or incapable of coming up with something original. The world does NOT need another Sleepers, the one we had was fine. Come up with your own name.

If some group of guys (or gals or some combination thereof) forms a band and can't be bothered or are too stupid to check to see if the great idea they had for a band name was already used, do you really think they possess enough creativity to come up with music that doesn't suck total ass? I think not. These guys aren't even from San Francisco, they are from Chicago. My city is occupied by fucking blasphemers! I mean come on, in this day and age pretty much the entire universe up to and including my dog has access to a computer somewhere that is on the internet. It takes all of about 30 seconds to do a google search (or 7 minutes if you are still using archaic dialup access), put forth the effort for crying out loud! This new "Sleepers" has a website, so someone associated with the obviously has access to a computer, so why didn't they bother to check to see if the name was used?!

Alright, end of rant. I hope they wise up and change their name. I'm sure the surviving members of The Sleepers (the REAL Sleepers) don't appreciate their name being taken.

[?]

Going Underground: American Punk 1979 - 1992

Going Underground: American Punk 1979 - 1992 Book
By George Hurchalla
Zuo Press

There's been a few different books about punk rock and its history, but not that many that really cover the hardcore years that were post-1980. The most notable one to cover this era is the American Hardcore book by Steven Blush, which while having some interesting information, was inherently flawed by the author spending too much time trying to put himself over, and trying to get across his agenda that punk died on a certain date and was full of scandal. It tainted what would have otherwise been a fantastic book.

That is where George Hurchalla comes in. George, only a few years older than me, has a great passion for punk rock even to this day. His only agenda was to share stories and history with interested people who might want to learn more about a very special time and a very special world that was the punk rock scene in American in the 1980s. It was fascinating to read the stories on how he came to discover punk and the various bands, venues, etc. Many of his stories were very similar to my own experiences back then, except unlike me, George traveled the country and experienced punk scenes in many different places in the US.

The book reads almost like a tour, Hurchalla does a wonderful job of weaving stories together that focus on different regions of the country. The information was culled from countless hours of reading old interviews, speaking to various band members from that time, and even from websites such as this one and the Spontaneous Combustion site! I was flattered to see my sites listed as a source of information.

Every scene touched on in this book was done justice and I learned a bunch of things about various bands and scenes that I didn't know before reading this book! I was particularly fond of the stuff on Husker Du, the Chicago scene, and the less recognized bands such as Electric Love Muffin from Philly. Unlike the "other hardcore book" there is no embellished drama and scandal, it just reports the facts, intertwined with Hurchalla's stories of how he came to discover the various bands and scenes. There is a good amount of pictures of bands, records and old flyers sprinkled in the book as well.

Weighing in at a little over 300 pages and the large size make it a book you wont finish in one sitting. The one fault of the book, if you could call it a fault, is that there wasn't more. I only say that because I found it so hard to put down, I was hooked and just kept reading and reading until my eyes couldn't take it anymore. When I was done, I was yearning for just a few more chapters, it was that good of a read.

As a person who was there for a good chunk of the time period this book covers, it was not only a wonderful trip down memory lane, but also served as an enhancement to my "punk rock education" as there was plenty of stories I've never heard before, and information I wasn't aware of. If someone who wasn't there at the time were to read this, they'd come out of it with a great understanding of what the world of punk rock was like back then and will hopefully appreciate it and respect it as much as the author, who's passion for the old punk scene never seemed to fade or sour like some people. I can't recommend this book enough, and hopefully there is more like it to come in the future.

Order the book from Amazon.com

[?]

[edit] Upstarter CD reviews

Boots Riley Counters Charges

BOOTS RILEY COUNTERS CHARGES Emcee Says Norfolk Charges Racially Motivated Norfolk, VA – A music performance at the Bayou Boogaloo Cajun Food Festival by Boots Riley, the well-known front man for The Coup, ended abruptly with police charges of abusive language. Boots... [?]

State of Grace

Street Dogs - State of Grace (c) 2008 Hellcat RecordsThree cheers for the Street Dogs my friends, back again with a brand new record. The disc will be out soon on none other than Hellcat Records. It all seems very full circle, what with Hellcat being the home of... [?]

Epitaph to Re-Issue Offspring Classics

Epitaph to re-issue Offspring classics Smash and Ignition on June 17thKnown the world over as one of the biggest punk bands ever, the Offspring are going back to their roots by reissuing the records that started it all for them, 1992’s Ignition and 1994’s Smash. [?]

Street Dogs In a State of Grace on New Album

Hellcat Records’ newest signing, the highly revered Street Dogs, will release their new studio album, State of Grace, on July 8th. Teeming with fist pumping punk-influenced rock, the group’s fourth full length speaks from and to the working class with poetic heartfelt tales of family, hardships and cries for... [?]

Millencolin [Machine 15]

Millencolin - Machine 15 (c) 2008 Epitaph Records I have to be perfectly honest. I've never really been a big Millencolin supporter. While I respect their ability to kick out the jams and their consistent performance over the years, something about the Swedish punk favs has always left me wishing... [?]

[edit] Indiefeed Punk/HC channel

MXPX - Lonesome Town

MXPX are here on Indiefeed: Hardcore/Punk http://www.fatwreck.com http://www.mxpx.com [?]

Five Miles Out - Getaway

.five.miles.out. are here on Indiefeed: Hardcore/Punk http://fivemilesout.co.uk/ [?]

Amos Corny - Grandmaster Flank

Amos Corny brings us the song Grandmaster Flank, Amos can be found at http://www.amoscorny.ch/ [?]

Kid Dynomite - Heart a Tact

Kid Dynomite is here at IndieFeed: Hardcore/Punk, find them at http://www.jadetree.com [?]

Chick Maggot - Kill the Radio

Chick Maggot bring their anti-capitalist messages here to Indiefeed: Hardcore/Punk. Find them at http://www.chickmaggot.com [?]

Disconvenience - Perfect Defect

Disconvenience are here on Indiefeed: Hardcore/Punk. Find them at http://www.disconvenience.com [?]

Buckethead and Friends - We Are One

Buckethead and Friends are playing here on Indiefeed! You can find them at http://www.bucketland.com [?]

My Virtual Band's

Get free scheduled independent music sent right to your portable MP3 player! At www.indiefeed.com -- My Virtual Band's music can be found at www.myvirtualband.com. Head over if you want to add your talents... [?]

Hot Water Music

Get free scheduled independent music sent right to your portable MP3 player! At www.indiefeed.com -- Hot Water Music's album can be found at www.jadetree.com. For more information on Hot Water Music, visit www.hotwatermusic.com [?]

Frenzal Rhomb

Get free scheduled independent music sent right to your portable MP3 player! At www.indiefeed.com -- Frenzal Rhomb's album "Sans Souci" can be found at www.fatwreck.com. For more information on Frenzal Rhomb, visit www.frenzalrhomb.com.au [?]

Dead By Gun

Get free scheduled independent music sent right to your portable MP3 player! At http://www.indiefeed.com/ -- Dead By Gunâs album http://www.deadbygun.com [?]

D Cent Jerks

Get free scheduled independent music sent right to your portable MP3 player! At http://www.indiefeed.com/ -- D Cent Jerks's album http://www.dcentjerks.com [?]

Hold Fast

Hold Fast is playing at the IndieFeed Hardcore Punk channel. Take our listener survey and check out the great channels at www.indiefeed.com [?]

Hopes Abandoned

Hopes Abandoned is playing on the IndieFeed Hardcore Punk channel. Check out www.indiefeed.com for more great channels. [?]

[edit] Black finger nails and a little liberation