Hüsker Dü - The Minneapolis Sound (Video)

By cobwebsandstrange on 8/28/10 7:35pm
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"We make music, I know that," says Bob Mould. And that's an awesome quote. Surely, it was weird for the band to hear obtuse descriptions of its music. Too bad the same tact is still taken by writers. I'm guilty. Either way, this video is a bit of a scene report, but focuses just on

Plastic Idols: Punk, Not Steers or Queers

By cobwebsandstrange on 8/28/10 4:04pm
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In recently mentioning Indiana’s Dow Jones and the Industrials while describing the odd Midwestern aesthetic combining hard rock, nascent punk stuff and weirdo synth experiments, it seemed as if it sprung from that area specifically. And it may have. But that’s just another one of those proclamations like “So and so were the first punk band.” With that in mind, a band kicking around Houston towards the end of the seventies didn’t sound too detached from whatever was going on in the breadbasket.

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MX-80 Sound: A Midwestern Politico-Punk Sermon

By cobwebsandstrange on 8/28/10 12:30pm
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The Midwest and its expansive, if not cloistered, music scene during the seventies offered up an satisfying mélange of bizarre acts. And with so much out-music getting worked up at the time, it shouldn’t be surprising that after the first wave of whatever preceded punk, there were a new handful of bands mining just about the same territory.

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Code Of Honor - "Fight Or Die" (Video)

By cobwebsandstrange on 8/26/10 6:00am
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It's hard to get an angle on Code of Honor. Its hardcore is all over the place and frequently moves beyond any perceived genre restrictions. "Fight to Die," as the title may hint at, is nothing short of a full on blast of eighties' styled HC.

S-Haters - "Research" (Video)

By cobwebsandstrange on 8/25/10 11:58am
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Tangentially tied to the Rudimentary Peni crew, S-Haters worked a similar musical territory. If that's your steez, take a listen. As a warning, there's some of the worst drumming ever recorded on this track. But the fact that the East Bay Ray cribbed guitar lines can over come that is a testament to the offering...

The Cortinas: Punxploitation?

By cobwebsandstrange on 8/24/10 3:42pm
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Even before issuing its first single, the Bristol based Cortinas had already garnered some national press for its simple, punky stylings.

Forming in 1976, the band counts as one of the earlier proponents of the genre over there on the other side of the Atlantic. Despite forming at a relatively auspicious time, though, the Cortinas never really impacted the scene.

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Debris: Surprising, Early Seventies' Weirdo Punk

By cobwebsandstrange on 8/24/10 1:17pm
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After my griping about the way in which reissues have been framed to take in the CLE scene as an apt reference point, Debris pretty much removes any discontent which may have been touted around in my heart.

Again, the angle by which writers and labels talk about Debris’ Static Disposal seems like bunk. It’s all Beefheart and Stooges references with the pervasive Ubus being dunked in for supplemental explication. Appropriate? Surprisingly, yes.

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The Twinkeyz: Sacto N(o)ew Wave

By cobwebsandstrange on 8/23/10 3:40pm
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Honestly, I get insulted when acts from the mid-seventies find themselves compared to the Cle – Akron axis of bands (Ubus, Devo, et al). For the most part, no other cadre of groups, working so early in the decade, issued a consistent catalog. And Sacramento isn’t any different. Certainly, Ozzie has a place in record collector’s hearts. More over, Tales of Terror were a good band. But that was a bit later.

Either way, though, the Twinkeyz aren’t a bad group. But really don’t warrant the kind of enthusiasm the internet has poured forth. And certainly being contrasted with CLE bands doesn’t do the Cali group any good. Yeah, there’s a sort of robotic persistence of vision, but that’s subverted a bit by Donnie Jupiter’s vocals.

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Code of Honor: Beyond Hardcore

By cobwebsandstrange on 8/20/10 4:24pm
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It’d be cool to uncover some random hardcore band from the second wave of it all and find out that there was some all important group of dudes running around the country doing damage – but for the right reason. Code of Honor isn’t it, but might be kinda close.

Coming out of the same scene that gave the world the Dead Kennedys, Code of Honor were apparently raised on the most visible of punk groups and a huge number of BYO albums. It’s not that Code of Honor apes a Youth Brigade thing – and thankfully, because this San Fran based act is dramatically more entertaining. But it’s not to difficult to hear the same type of hardcore 7 Seconds was working out in Las Vegas all over Code of Honor’s few releases.

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Dave E. and the Cool Marriage Counselors - "Searching Through Sears" (Video)

By cobwebsandstrange on 8/15/10 8:39pm
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Dave E. from the Electric Eels goes in on a few songs for this here single. "Searching Through Sears" doesn't sound like it was ripped from the Eels' back-catalog so much as updated a few years on. Unquestionably less related to straight punk (understand that liberally) than his earlier works - but just as good. Cleveland's finest in action...