Avail: Live at the Kings Head Inn

Avail: Live at the Kings Head Inn

1993

Old Glory Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. Sidewalk  2. Stride  3. Song  4. Observations  5. Predictable   6. Forgotten  7. Pinned Up  8. Violent Femmes  9. Connection



A 10-inch live album by Avail. It mostly features "Satiate"-era material with a couple of tracks from the not-yet-released "Dixie" album filling things out...

A live album by Avail is always welcome, since they were one of the best live bands of the whole 90's punk scene...I've seen them a few times and can attest to how sweaty and slamming those 90's shows were...They never ever gave anything less than 100%, therefore any live album by Avail is going to rule...

However, this is a very, very raw recording...It sounds like an audience mic, capturing the blast of sound from the stage and PA's...So yea...Not exactly a studio-quality soundboard recording...This falls more in the category of those noisy "V.M.Live Presents" releases...If you can take those, you can take this..

Still, this is a great companion to "Satiate"...It kicks all the ass that "Satiate" only gently caressed...Every single one of these songs are improved in a live setting...My God, "Predictable" is a fucking force of nature here and "Pinned Up" sounds like it could explode any second...Oh yea, the track labelled, "Violent Femmes" is actually a cover of the song "Kiss Off" which is welcome since it's probably my favorite Violent Femmes song and they do a pretty good version of it...

The album closes with "Connection" which is another one of those songs that's perfectly suited to a crowded punk show with its big chants and universal message...Man, if anything makes me want to leave the computer and hoist my fist in the air at some 160 degree punk club, it's this...So good...

If you don't mind crispy sound and muddled mixing, check this out...If the rawness is too much, check out the "Live at the Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco" CD Lookout Records put out a few years after this...It's also a killer show and is much more clearly recorded...Still, there's something about this unhinged performance that I like...

Here, you can check out the whole thing here...It's only 20-something minutes...Enjoy...