Track Listing: 1. I Want 2. Nothing New 3. Disconnected 4. A.O.K. 5. I Used to Think 6. Don't Turn Away 7. Not Enough
A little 20 minute stopgap release. Most of this stuff appears elsewhere (the first three tracks appeared on their debut album, and a less boxy version of "A.O.K" will make it to the album, "Big Choice," which would quickly follow this ep). The other three tracks don't appear on any of their other albums and one of them happens to be among my all time favorite face to face songs...
If nothing else, get this for "I Used to Think." Hands down, one of their best tracks: catchy as fuck and makes great use of Trever Keith's big, blustery, melodic vocals. You need this one. The other two aren't anything to sneeze at either. We have "Don't Turn Away"'s missing title track, that makes you wonder why this song wasn't on "Don't Turn Away." It's of roughly the same quality as any other song of that album. Maybe they wrote it after that album? Sort of a "Houses of the Holy" type deal? I dunno.
Oh, this is also where the 2nd version of "Disconnected" appears. I honestly can't really tell these "Over It" versions from the "Don't Turn Away" versions without listening to them back to back. I think they might just be slight remixes or something. The "A.O.K" sounds much different though.
This EP appears to be out of print for some reason, but used copies are still readily available. To me, it brings back a flood of 90's punk memories and it has "I Used to Think" on it. For those reasons, it's essential (to me anyway)...
Let's listen to some music. Here's "I Used to Think" by face to face. Enjoy...
Track Listing: 1. You've Done Nothing 2. I'm Not Afraid 3. Disconnected 4. No Authority 5. I Want 6. You've Got a Problem 7. Everything Is Everything 8.I'm Trying 9. Pastel 10. Nothing New 11. Walk Away 12. Do You Care? 13. 1,000 X
Damn, I love this record. I remember back in the early-mid 90's there was a lot of suspicion surrounding this band. There were rumors they were an ex-hair metal band, they would get jeered at festivals by Capital P Punk Purists, etc. They seemed a little too good to be true. They came out of nowhere with a debut that while sporting a raw recording, was so well-tooled, powerful and fully developed that you could imagine it playing on FM radio. Eventually as time wore on and it was apparent these guys weren't a put-on, punks everywhere accepted the group as one of the best the 90's had to offer.
If you haven't heard them before, they sound like Social Distortion with 90's SoCal double-time skatepunk laid over it. They had a bassist named Matt Riddle who had the coolest, driest, rattling bass sound ever laid down. The singer sounds almost exactly like Mike Ness, minus the rockabilly influence. And they were capable of writing some of the catchiest, most immediate hooks imaginable. Every song on "Don't Turn Away" is excellent and about 9 or 10 of them are flat-ass perfect 90's punk classics.
Is "You've Done Nothing" the best 90's punk album opener? I think a case could be made.. There are a generation of folks out there to whom the seemingly benign countdown, "ONE! TWO! ONE TWO THREE FOUR!" will instantly dilate their pupils and have them frothing at the mouth and forming a circle pit. That's how potent the first five seconds of this record are.
This is also the first appearance (that I know of) of the immortal "Disconnected" which was a pop-punker so unstoppable that they went on to include it on three consecutive albums. And I was happy to hear it every time. One of the all-time, from out of nowhere, great pop-punk choruses.
"I Want," "Pastel," "I'm Trying." Too many good songs to nameheck them all. If this isn't their best album, it's damn close. The argument could be made that it's all a bit samey and there is no variance in the production, but most punks would view that as a plus. Just a bunch of plainly recorded, awesomely energetic, catchy stuff. If you're into 90's punk at all, this is a must have.
Let's listen to some face to face. Here's "Pastel"...Enjoy...
Track Listing: 1. Punks Not Dead 2. Army Life 3. Fuck A Mod 4. Barmy Army 5. Dogs Of War 6. Dead Cities 7. Sex & Violence 8. Yops 9.Daily News 10. Dole Q 11. I Believe In Anarchy 12. God Save The Queen 13. Psycho 14. Blown To Bits 15. Insanity 16. S.P.G. 17. Jimmy Boyle 18. U.S.A. 19. Attack 20. Rival Leaders
I had no idea what "Totally Exploited" was when I bought it and the packaging isn't a huge help. I thought that it might be a live album but it turns out it's a greatest hits album from 1984. Apparently there's a CD version out there that sports 7 additional tracks, but that's not the version I have. Mine's the vinyl version with only 20 tracks, so that's the version I'm covering...
This covers the band's career up through their third album ("Let's Start a War") and houses a bunch of the band's excellent non-album singles, like "Dogs of War" and "Dead Cities," which are some of their best tracks. There's quite a bit of overlap between this and "Punks Not Dead," and rightfully so, since that seems to be the defining album for a lot of folks. Amusingly there's a cover blurb by Gary Bushell, praising the band (who was the music journalist being roasted in the band's track "Singalongbushell"). I usually bust this out to listen to "Insanity" (a fluttery punk rock wonder) and "Rival Leaders" (one of their most vicious thrashings). I haven't been able to score a copy of the "Let's Start a War" album, so this one usually gives me the fix I need.
To be honest, I'm
getting a bit burned out on talking about the Exploited this week. It's like writing paragraph after paragraph about bread and butter, there's just not a whole lot to it. They
usually grind away on rudimentary punk chords while Wattie shouts some
direct, simplistic lyrics. It's pretty exciting to listen to, but not
real fun to talk about.
So let's be done talking about it... Let's listen to some music. Here's "Rival Leaders" by The Exploited. Enjoy...
Track Listing: 1. Anti-UK 2. Power Struggle 3. Scaling the Derry Wall 4. Barry Prossitt 5. Don't Really Care 6. No Forgiveness 7. Death Before Dishonour 8. Adding to Their Fears 9. Police Informer 10. Drive Me Insane 11. Pulling Us Down 12. Sexual Favours
Sorry I haven't posted at all this month...
Y'see, the United States recently elected 2013 WWE Hall of Famer and Game Show host Donald J Trump to the office of the Presidency, so I decided to stowaway on a steam boat to Canada, where I am currently in hiding...
I am currently deep in the wilds of New Brunswick, living off of Beaver Tail and Ketchup Chips. I have tied this blog post to the leg of a Canadian Goose and I am hoping this message makes its way to the internet...
Here it is. All the way from Canada. A few random sentences about "Death Before Dishonour" by The Exploited:
There are entirely too many man asses in the inside cover of this album. If I wanted Man Asses, I would have bought a Stephen Stills album!
The front cover is pretty dope, though (of the Exploited album, not the Manassas album).
The Grim Reaper embracing Maggie, plotting the demise of many young citizens, no doubt.
As for the music on the album, it rules. The band are pretty squarely into punk/metal territory at this point. The album's method of operation becomes apparent right from the very first seconds of the very first track, "Anti-UK." It's all about Wattie shouting himself hoarse over big slabs of grey, muted crunching guitars and rushing drums. Wattie seems to get less melodic every album. At this point, he's so hoarse, gurgly and ugly sounding that you sort of have to admire the slovenliness of it all..
It isn't as immediate as the catchy chant-alongs of "Punks Not Dead," but once I became acclimated to the samey, blurring bleakness of it all, it became apparent to me that I probably prefer this era of Exploited to the early stuff. I have no idea why I find this war-torn battlefield of sound so
fascinating. Maybe it's because you don't often find lyrics as terse,
blunt and unadorned as the list of grievances on "Drive Me Insane." It
just kinda wallows in its own anger and hopelessness. Stuff like "Scaling the Derry Wall" is just so pissed-off and Discharge-y, that I can't not love it. The only bit of weirdness is the closing track "Sexual Favours" which suddenly pops in with a 60's shimmy bassline that you can sorta imagine hippies dropping LSD and twirling around to. It eventually turns into another hoarse shouter, though.
All in all, another good album by the band. Like I said, it'll probably blur right past you like it did me for the first couple listens, but if you value pissed-off punk/metal as much as I do, the grey blobs will eventually come into focus. I haven't really explored the band's discography much past this album. Last I heard of them, was 1996's "Beat the Bastards," which was freakin' industrial metal or something...I haven't heard it in a couple decades so it's a bit blurry...Not sure what happened to them after that...I'm sure they're still out there grinding away on some tour, while mohawked kids hurl themselves off the stage in ecstasy...
Let's listen to some Exploited...Here's "Drive Me Insane"...Enjoy...
Track Listing: 1. Jimmy Boyle 2. Daily News 3. Disorder 4. Alternative 5. U.S.A. 6. Rapist 7. Troops of Tomorrow 8. UK 82 9. Sid Vicious Was Innocent 10. War 11. They Won't Stop 12. So Tragic 13. Germs 14. Class War
Hey! My copy just has a picture of Wattie yelling (presumably about Maggie and/or Anarchy). Where's the sweet metal album cover?!
I love the (literally) squatting punk on the far left and the (literally) squat punk on the far right. He looks really worried. I can see the zombies behind him, but I still have to wonder what's on the other side of the camera that has Big John so terrified? Let's turn the camera around...
Oh no! It's the 1982 debut by Kenny G!
Anyway, I love the painted fucking metal cover. I wish I had that version instead...Mine must be an alternative cover...
"♪ALT 'ERN A 'IIIIVE!!!! ♪"
Sorry. I couldn't resist. Alright, "Troops of Tomorrow." The second album by Scotland's own The Exploit 'ed! Is it just the 1990 Grand Slamm reissue I have, or does this record sound odd? Loud, grey, distant, echo-y and ringing. Tinny yet murky. It's pretty bold. (Update: Listened to the 2001 reissue somebody posted to youtube and it sounds like a completely different album. still kinda grey and ringy, but muuuuuch much clearer, which either leads me to believe they did an incredible job with the remaster or the Grand Slamm pressing was just shit).
This album is actually really awesome. I don't quite have the nostalgic connection to it that I have with "Punks Not Dead" but to me, this is probably the better album. There was a bit of unintentional comedy on the first album, but I don't laugh much here. The band sounds much leaner, meaner and more serious than before. Stuff like "UK 82" and "So Tragic" rip right out of your speakers and leave a trail of dust across the horizon. Even their Vibrators cover (a group I consider to be a fun timey band) is no joke. They sound pissed and it's a great sound for them. The only time they get clunky and cliche is "Sid Vicious Was Innocent" which is still kinda cute and endearing in the same way a lot of "Punks Not Dead was.
My copy ends with the song "Class War," which wasn't on the original pressing. I don't know where it originates. Presumably from one of their billions of singles/EP's they put out. Cool song either way. Pretty much what you'd expect. A verse, a shouted slogan for a chorus. Repeat.
Overall, this album doesn't have the dopey fun feel of the first album, but it's much cooler in a head-banging, fist pumping way. Speedier (except for the title track and "War") and more serious, it comes very close to becoming straight-up 80's hardcore at times. Depending on what pressing you buy, it might sound weird, though.
Track Listing: 1. Punks Not Dead 2. Mucky Pup 3. Cop Cars 4. Free Flight 5. Army Life 6. Blown to Bits 7. Sex & Violence 8. S.P.G 9. Royalty 10. Dole Q 11. Exploited Barmy Army 12. Ripper 13. Out of Control 14. Son of a Copper 15. I Believe in Anarchy
Y'know, it struck me the other day that I've been watching The Price is Right for forty years now and I still have no idea what Gold Bond Medicated Powder is.
Now that I'm an old-ass man, I'm sure it's something I need, yet I have no clue what it is. And it's not like somebody invented a program that searches for and identifies items in a database that correspond to keywords or characters specified by the user. Do I have to do everything around here?!?!
But I didn't invite you here to discuss my need for medicated powder. I invited you here to shoot the breeze about some old punk record I have..."Punks Not Dead" by The Exploited. And oh, man...This record. It's absurd. It's hilarious. It's fantastic. It's catchy as fuck. It's stupid as fuck. I love it.
"Y'know wot? I know it's old fashioned and a little bit corny in this day and age but dagnabbit! I still believe in anarchy! Y'know that old chestnut anarchy? Were those the days or wot? The world was a simpler place then...Kids throwing flaming trash cans into the streets...Motorcycle fetish mutants molestin' old ladies?"
"My political beliefs? Well, I believe in anarchy and stuff...I think the world would be a better place if we could just all do what we want...If you want to work together to build schools for the community you could do that or if you wanted to just smash a window with a hunk of concrete you could do that too, y'know? Anarchy is utopia if you think about it...I think the world would be a better place if Wattie were President...The President of Anarchy..."
Like many teens who stumbled into punk I eventually worked my way to the "E's" and ended up with an Exploited album.
I started with a cassette version of "The Singles Collection" and I
can tell you that as a mentally-impaired teenager, I fell for its charms
hook, line and sinker...
"These guys are real ponk! Not that fake Blink 182 pop-punk shit! The Exploited are for real! These guys who dress like colorful Mad Max murder clowns are just being themselves and don't care at all what other people think! If I ever see a goddamn mod around here, I'll jump on 'is goddamn 'ead!!!"
But then as my brain stem grew in, aspects of the album became funnier and funnier to me... And one of those gut-busting moments appears on this "Punks Not Dead" album! The enduring anthem "Exploited Barmy Army," which never fails to crack me up because it takes sooooo fuckiiiing loooooong to spell their name. They decide to go mid-tempo just to drag things out too..."E! (big long drum roll and punk chugging...) X! (another infinity of drum rolling and distant chugging) P! and so on and so on...
If you're unfamiliar with The Exploited, they're a sort of yobbish oi punk, but I guess that's probably not too helpful a description, because if the phrase "yobbish oi punk" means anything to you, then you'd probably already know who the Exploited are. I'd say they helped define and solidify what generic "punk" is. Prior to this, punk was a wide-ranging genre that encompassed arty new wave bands to street-level rock to literary-minded guitar jam bands. But pretty much since this UK 82 shit came out, it's become the default setting for so many years and if you fail to adhere to its suddenly rigid guidelines, you're often met with cries of "THAT'S NOT PUNK!" I think it's because The Exploited and these other bands proclaimed their punk-ness so loudly and so often.
A lot of previous punk bands hemmed and hawed and talked about how they were always trying to transcend the limits of punk. On the other hand, The Exploited happily wallowed in the cliches. They understood the glory of the incessantly buzzing guitar, the breakneck tempo and the big terrace chants. As a result, "Punks Not Dead" is a such a blast to listen to. Find some other people who know it, crack a few beers and chant along blissfully. It's a lot of fun!
My favorites? God...I've always thought "Army Life" was a catchy little punk song with all it's stop and start "ME! ME! ME! ME! ME! ME-ME!"'s and you can't go wrong with tossing the title track on at a Friday night record party...Their cover of "Mucky Pup" shows they have a sense of humor...I'm also apparently one of the few folks who can stand the endless chant "Sex and Violence." These guys have a real knack for creating memorable chants, actually.
(Almost wholly unrelated memory: Me and my friends looking at the back of a Total Chaos CD cover and seeing the title "Punk No Die" and laughing hysterically).
Again, the whole thing's a lot of good fun. Great shoutalong yobbo punk. No shame in that. Alright, let's yob...Here's "Punks Not Dead" by the Expoi' ed! BAHMY-AHMY!
Roky Erickson with Okkervil River: True Love Cast Out All Evil
2010
Anti Records
Format I Own it on: Vinyl
Track Listing: 1. Devotional Number One 2. Ain't Blues Too Sad 3. Goodbye Sweet Dreams 4. Be and Bring Me Home 5. Bring Back the Past 6. Please, Judge 7. John Lawman 8. True Love Cast Out All Evil 9. Forever 10. Think of As One 11. Birds'd Crash 12. God Is Everywhere
Holy shit. A new album by Roky Erickson backed by the soft rock/roots-rock/alt-country band Okkervil River that I'm somewhat familiar with. Not the first type of music that pops into my head when I think of Roky Erickson but this Will Sheff dude knocks it out of the park with the liner notes though. Sweet fuck, are they comprehensive, working as an in-depth making of the album as well as a complete history of Roky himself. I'd say the liner notes were probably worth the cost of the album alone. It's seriously a damn book worth of info here. The concept behind the album is kinda interesting. The short version is that Will Sheff sifted through a mountain of Roky's old tapes and demos and pieced
together an album that ultimately works as a diary of the man's
undeniably interesting life.
As for the music on the album itself? It's not what I would have expected from Roky but it's exactly what I would expect from Roky Erickson and Okkervil River. The man definitely left his Dracula cape at home for this one. Lots of rootsy contemplation, gentle performances and ruminations on love, religion and mortality. You can totally picture old man Roky reflecting on his hazy past while looking at old sepia-toned photos of himself.
The album is mostly low-key country shuffles like "Ain't Blues Too Sad," "Be and Bring Me Home" and the title track or skeletal gospel music as characterized by "Please, Judge" and "Devotional Number On." To be honest, it kinda reminds me of those sad old man albums that Rick Rubin would make with Johnny Cash or Glenn Campbell. The difference being that those guys were basically on their deathbeds while Roky still seems a little too active and impish for such treatment. To be fair, there's a tiny bit of rocking here and there..."Bring Back the Past" is sprightly and Byrds-ish enough to qualify as "rock" as does the noise-fest "John Lawman" but that's about it. We've come a long way from the horror-rock of his 70's work or the fevered psychedelic fantasias of the Elevators for sure. Even the light-touch Buddy Holly-ish stuff is gone replaced by a darker moodiness despite the unguarded lyrics.
People (like me) who see the name Roky Erickson and the word "evil" on an album cover might walk a way a bit underwhelmed, but what's on here is interesting. You get to view a different side of Roky for sure. I can totally see a different audience eating this up though. Your narrative-driven NPR fans who like to unwind to some new tunes by old folks will love it. Or people who veer more towards laid-back serious music as opposed to monster-movie rock. But when I readjust my mindset before putting it on I always find myself enjoying it. It's always good to hear Roky again. He's absolutely one of the most interesting rock artists of all time and his output is relatively scant for someone whose career has spanned six decades, so it's important to treasure and appreciate what we have. Here's hoping the old guy has another record in him...Maybe one with a bit more spring in its step though...
Here's "True Love Cast Out All Evil" by Roky Erickson...Enjoy...
