September 2009

The Fall was and remains a group in constant flux. I have no idea how many people have come and gone from the ranks of the band, but it’s clear that Mark E. Smith, the band’s front man, has a lyric pouring out of him at pretty much every moment when he’s awake. Who knows, he might even dream songs. But that’s gotta be a lot to deal with as a musician in his employ. And for that reason, I suppose, the rotating cast of players in the Fall could be explained. But beginning in 1983, with Smith’s marriage to Brix (aka Laura Elisse Salenger), there was a moment of stability. Of course, that only lasted for a few years prior to the Hanley brothers – who played bass and drums – departing. Steve would return to play bass for 1985’s This Nation's Saving Grace.

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Elevated language, usually glowing in nature, accompanies anything written about the Ian Svenonious fronted Nation of Ulysses. It’s not that the group doesn’t deserve such affection thrust in its direction, but the fact that the band is perceived to be something of a political force is a farce. The line about politics was profligate by the band’s lyrics and furious efforts to present themselves as something more than just a musical ensemble. It worked. Today, the Nation of Ulysses is one of the more heralded Dischord bands from the label’s formative period. Again, the adulation is deserved, but not for the reasons that people expound.

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The Sex Pistols
These jokers were as much media construction as genuine article. That doesn’t mean that the music wasn’t good, though. Glen Matlock and Steve Jones (who wound up starting a band called the Professionals that might be musically stronger than the Pistols) are really an underrated duo, the latter possessing the guitar talents that many in the early punk scene did not. Regardless of who was good at what – and Sid was good at nothing – this band was able to release just one proper full length before the wheels fell off. It’s a classic. You’ve probably heard it roughly 10,000 times.

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If you’re reading this, I’m assuming you’re a weirdo. It might then also be safe to guess that you saw Gummo. If not, you probably know what that is. Right? Yeah. The follow up to Kids, directed by Harmony Korine, goes in on a psychotic look at what bored, poor, white trash do in the middle of nowhere Ohio. Xenia, Ohio to be exact. And while that place might not mean too much to anyone, my family almost moved there when I was a little kid. That woulda been a bummer. It was subsequently leveled by a tornado. Double whammy.

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I came to the party late. Yeah, this disc is a few years old, but what’s all this nonsense about the Exploding Hearts? Yeah, both the Busy Signals and that defunct NW group have a predilection for ‘70s punk and power pop, but to compare the two seriously reveals the inability for rock writers to independently think about a disc. Ok, both groups are on Dirtnap. You know who else is/was on Dirtnap? The Cripples. And those guys sound like drunken robots fighting with the instruments of a new wave band. So, for real folks, listen to a disc, digest it and think. That’s all. Just think.

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Again, perhaps not a punker, but Jim Carroll was on the scene and certainly did his fair share of smack.

No, proto-punk isn’t a real thing, it’s been concocted in order to more easily explain where stuff comes from. None of the groups below really had any inkling as to the effect that they’d have in subsequent years and more over, it’s safe to assume that none cared – except the MC5, who thought that it functioned as a mouth piece for the revolution. That obviously didn’t pan out, but the music that each of these groups below unloosed during the ‘60s and early ‘70s was able to change the way in which music – and art to a certain extent – was perceived. Each launched the career of at least one player that would go on to record for a few decades. Whether those individuals matter any longer is open to debate, but the quality of this music is not. The more you know…

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So, let me again reference the Stitches as a way by which to figure my punk education. Yeah, they’re a ‘90s band, but outta that crop of groups who, apart from the Bombs, has the same sort of inarguable taste in older, completely obscure punk singles? Probably no one. That’s not the point here. What is, though, is the fact that on the first Stitches album, 8 x 12, the band covers “Floozie of the Neighborhood.” I don’t believe the version of that album I possess has song credits on it, but pretty quickly after coping that disc when I was fourteen (?) someone hipped me to the fact that the Features originally penned the tune. Where it came from – and I assumed that the band was from SoCal, I was wrong – though, is almost as interesting as the band itself.

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Being figured as a part of some revival genre isn’t always going to be a good turn for a band’s career (ska?). But of course, the fact that the whole mod thing during the ‘70s was comprised completely of throw back groups should probably have excused anyone from being labeled as something of a Johnny-Come-Lately. The Jam never ran into problems like that – and while Paul Weller and company were easily the most ballsy performers as well as perhaps the best musicians outta that entire crew, they were still as beholden to ‘60s American soul and the Who as any other Brit combo. Fair or not, that’s how it was. The Merton Parkas weren’t quite as lucky as that Weller fronted combo, though.

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Kinda punk, but completely good.