Thursday, March 23, 2006

Primitive Sound System and Peter Gunn spinning nothing but Punk - Thur. March 23rd at DC's

"Just what does 'Eat my fuck' mean?!"

Hello Y'all,
That's right kids it's time to break out your Pogo. Mr Peter Gunn and myself (Primitive Sound System) will be poking holes in your eardrums with over 30 years of Punk Rock grooves. The combo of Primitive Gunn have over 1000 years of collecting between them so you are in for a treat. Here's the twist, Mr. Gunn will be representing Boston and the UK while I'll slam the other 49 states and a few other choice places. I don't get to do this that often and I think I can say the same for Gunn so if these are classics from your childhood or you are just discovering how lame Blink 182 is this should be one hell of a night.

If you are driving don't drink and If you are drinking don't drive. Please mind your manners, always tip your bartenders and remember Jersey still smokes... I think.

Peter Gunn and Primitive Sound System
9PM - 2AM (Closing)
DC's Tavern
505 8th Street, Hoboken, New Jersey
PH: 201-792-5550 - Operators are standing by!
http://www.myspace.com/dcstavern

(Some of) The Music:
Pere Ubu - "Final Solution" (Hearthan cat. HR102)
Out of Ohio comes one of the biggest influences on me musically. Pere Ubu play music as twisted as their namesake. Alfredd Jarry stood just over 4' tall and put away 3 bottles of Absinthes a day with hardly anything to eat. He concocted the tale of the corrupt and disgusting King Ubu when he was just a boy and it followed him throughout his life. Jarry's bent reality and pseudosciences influenced many prog rock bands but it is Pere Ubu that wrap themselves inside and out with his essence and churn it into Punk brutality spit in your face by a Poet Behemoth. "Final Solution" is a desperate coming of age story detailed by an outcast. Intro'd with a thudding bass and pounding drums the guitar builds and squeals creating the tension. Dave Thomas slowly pleads his case and begs us to understand that his is just different. As much as life seems to scare the hell out of him (and us) it is apparent he his looking for answers to make sense of anything even one thing that may lead to ultimate bliss and not necessarily an untimely demise. SO-LU-TION! I can play this song over and over and ever time I get chills.

Boys From Nowhere - "Beg" (Young Lion cat. no #)
Listening to Bill Kelly on FMU and going to the Dive in NYC in the 80's opened my ears to so many of the new Garage / Psych bands and the Boys from Nowhere remain a favorite to this day. I got to see them play in the mid-80's at a 99th Floor Magazine release party at The Dive in NYC. "Beg" comes close to their raw live sound but live this stuff cut like a knife and made me crazy. Primal and genuine.

Rapeman - "Marmoset" (no label cat. no #)
Steve Albini and Rapeman took Big Black to the next level with precision and angst in equal measure. A Marmoset is one of the oddest looking monkeys on earth. Knowing Albini's reputation this song is about someone and not the odd lil' monkey as he refers to the subject as a red eyed dirty little rat. Rapeman consisted of the greatest rhythm section EVER with David William Sims (Scratch Acid) on bass, and Rey Washam (Scratch Acid, Big Boys) on drums. Albini bands are the few bands that can actually stand toe to toe with The Melvins.

Husker Du - "Statues" (Reflex Records cat. no #)
Even from the first bass notes Husker Du hinted that they were not going to sound similar to other bands. Flipper influence aside there is still something weirdly Poppy about this rage filled teenage blast. Simple and to the point wagging their finger at the popular kids but even more so they really seem to believe the Statues are listening. So young, so naive.

Husker Du - "In A Free Land" (new alliance records cat. NAR-010)
By the time of "In A Free Land" Husker Du sound like a completely different band from their humble beginnings. The pace is kicked up to nothing short of break-neck and Bob Mould begins to develop his shout and sing style. Hey narrator, this is Hardcore to me. "What Do I Want" gets back to some nice Noise Rock influences without slowing down in the least and M.I.C. is full throttle similar to their previous release the aptly titled "Land Speed Record."

Minutemen - "Joe McCarthy's Ghost" from Paranoid Time ep. (SST cat. SST-002)
Minutemen, Pere Ubu and Mission of Burma are three of the most important rock bands to me. Few bands have inspired me enough to want to play music and Minutemen make me want to play every time I hear them. Grooves tight enough to be called Funky, political lyrics with real social messages and songs short and fast enough to be considered Hardcore.

Minutemen - "If Regan Played Disco" from "bean-spill" e.p. (new alliance / Thermidor cat. T8)

Meat Puppets - "Teenager(s)" from the Take It! Magazine flexi "In Full Cry"

Wayne County & The Backstreet Boys - "Max's Kansas City" (Max A County Line Production cat. 1213)

Dead Boys - "Sonic Reducer" from "New Wave rock 'n' roll - Get behind it before it gets past you." (Sire cat. Pro 696 (promo only double 45 compilation))
Patti Smith - Piss Factory" b/w "Hey Joe (Version)" (Sire cat. SRE 1009)
Talking Heads - "Psycho Killer" (Acoustic) (Sire cat. SRE 1013)
The Ramones - "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker" (Sire cat. SA-746)

The Cramps - "Drug Train" (Illegal Records cat. ILS 0021)
Memphis Gothic, Rockabilly, Blues Drenched, Slop Rock via NYC!

Killer Kane Band - "Don't Need You" (Whiplash cat.EP-200)

Television - "Little Johnny Jewel" Part One and Two (Ork cat. 81975)
Richard Hell - "Blank Generation" Ork cat. 81976)
Idols - "Girl That I Love" (Ork / WEA cat. NYC 2)

Richard Hell & The Voidoids - "The Kid With The Replaceable Head" (Radarscope Records cat. ADA 30)

The Heartbreakers - "Chinese Rocks" (Track Record / Polydor cat. 2094 135)
I can't be sure but Johnny Thunders could have been sent here to change the world and weirdly enough... he did. At least the world of music. Thunders changed the face of music (audibly and visually) with one of the greatest rock bands ever, The New York Dolls, and after that band imploded or exploded (depending on where you were standing) and returns with The Heartbreakers to change it all again. The Heartbreakers probably never thought of themselves as a Punk band but I can't imagine The Stooges did either. Vicious NY street slang put to music and delivered by a gang in a dark alley stealing your wallet, throwing you a beaten and leaving you for dead. Oh yeah, they also sing about drugs, lost love and PIRATES!

The Heartbreakers - "One Track Mind" (Track Record / Polydor cat. 2094 137)

Outsets - "I'm Searching For You" (Contender Records cat. PPI 351)

Criminals - "The Cops Are Coming" (Sing Sing Records cat. S1001)

Snatch - "All I Want" b/w "When I'm Bored" (Lightning Records cat. LIG 505)
Patti Palladin and Judy Nylon get some help from Heartbreaker Jerry Nolan on this shared vocal plea for some action. Oi - Eh - Oh - Eww! "The stuff I learned I got real fast, what I can't use I left in the past!" Piano, fiery guitar and one of the coolest 45 covers in my collection.

Lester Bangs - "Let It Blurt" (Spy Records cat. SPY 003)

The Victims - "Head" (Golden Disc Records cat. GDR 1002)

Beastie Boys - "Egg Raid On Mojo" from Polly Wog Stew e.p. (Ratcage cat. MOTR 21)

Detention - "Dead Rock N' Rollers" (Rigor Mortis cat. RIG-1)
Can be found on Killed by Death: Raw Rare Punk Rock, Vol. 2. My brother and I attended Newark School of Fine Arts in the mid 80's where we hung out with a varied group of creative types including Mark Medvetz the replacement guitar player for Detention. Medvetz was wound incredible tight and eased his pain with bottles of cough syrup.

Ed Gein's Car - "Brain Dead Baby" (Ed Gein's Car cat. EGC-3355)

Bad Brains - "Pay To Come" (Bad Brains Records cat. BB01)
Is it possible for an entire genre to be defined by a single song? I don't think so. I do think it is possible for some songs to encompass the heart soul of a genre to help define it. "Pay To Come" is one of those songs. Thusly the self titled ROIR cassette and "Rock For Light" are perfect LPs and unfortunately most Hardcore records pale in comparison.

Minor Threat - "I Don't Wanna Hear It" from s/t ep (Dischord Records cat. No. 3 (blue cover))
Speaking of perfection DC Hardcore legends Minor Threat came out of the box with an instant classic. "I Don't Want To Hear It" should be played loud enough for all to hear and especially for those not listening. The roar of the masses could be farts!

Dirty Rotten Imbeciles (DRI) - "Violent Pacification" (R-Radical Records cat. DRI-7)

Dils - "I Hate The Rich" (What? Records cat. WHAT 02)

The Weirdos - "Destroy All Music" (Bomp cat. 112)

Dead Kennedys - "California Uber Alles" b/w "Man With The Dogs" (Optional Music cat. opt 2)

Love and Respect - "Hey" from Deep + Heartfelt e.p. (Penultimate cat. PEN009)
Thurston Moore chased me around Pier Platters when I bought the only copy of this they ever had in stock. In retrospect I of course understand that level of musical obsession and you know what, this record is that good and holds up to this day. Hopefully he got a copy of the LP when it eventually came out on eMpty. "HEY" is the standout but there are no misses. Sounding very 70's Punk but with a foot firmly planted in the majestic North West. Just another single to sadly remind me how much most new Punk bands really do suck.

Cat Butt - "64 Funny Cars" (Penultimate Records cat. )
James Burdyshaw played guitar for some of the best Garage / Punk bands in the late 80's and early 90's in the Seattle scene. Cat Butt's sound seemed to pick up where U-men left off with a little less Goth.

Green River - "Together We'll Never" b/w "Ain't Nothin' To Do" (Tasque Force cat. ICP-01)

Tad - "Jack Pepsi" (Sub Pop cat. SP1000)
Simply the greatest song to come out of the "Grunge Years."

Melvins - "Grinding Process" (C/Z Records cat. CZ-1705)
Holy crap, no wonder these guys eventually covered Flipper. "Grinding Process" is like waiting for ketchup too make it's way out of the bottle and rectifying that by smashing the fucking thing. I bought this sometime in "86 or "87 and it was one of those records I couldn't stop listening to but didn't really have many things like it. I was not a fan of Heavy Metal in High School well, that is other than Black Sabbath which scared the shit out of me the first time my cousin played my brother and I their first LP (I was 9 or 10). He shut off all the lights and blasted it in his bedroom while my brother and I could barely move from fear and he air guitared the whole record. Then, I couldn't get enough of it, thank you Chard.

Iggy and The Stooges - "I Got A Right"
Destroy All Monsters - "Bored" (IDBI Records cat. EEEE 1)
Radio Birdman - "What Gives" (Sire cat. SRK 6050)
The Saints - "Stranded" (Power Exchange cat. PX 242)

Some LP's as well...
Meat Puppets - "New Gods" from Meat Puppets II (SST cat. 019)
Germs - (GI) (Slash Records cat. SR-103)
Red Cro$s - "White Trash" from Born Innocent (Smoke 7 Productions cat. SMK 7-103)
Flesh Eaters - No Questions Asked (Upsetter Records cat. UPCJ 34)
Fear - The Record (Slash Records cat. SR-111)
The Crucifucks - s/t (Alternative Tentacles Records cat. Virus 38)
Adolescents - s/t (Frontier Records FLP 1003)
etc.
etc.
etc...

Damn I am bringing WAY too many records as always.