Eater: A Teenaged Punk

Most of the first wave British punk bands worked to engender some sort of political consciousness. It might have just been a plain disgust for those in power as opposed to any sort of cogent statement or directional hints, but it was nonetheless pervasive. The Clash and the Sex Pistols are easily the two most famous proponents of that. And while the Damned were more concerned with scene politics and stabbing, there was something semi-mature about the group despite its first album cover bearing each band member being covered in cake.

By contrast, though, there were an endless amount of teenage miscreants that had no intention of examining anything beyond what was right in front of them or in comic books, on television or in their collective ear holes. A great deal of those groups were offered a chance to record just due to the interest in punk as a new genre. Some of those resultant discs are horrible messes. But somehow, the youngest group that was apart of the first wave, Eater, were able to put together a strong enough album that it still sounds vibrant thirty three years on.

Beginning in 1976 and predating a huge portion of the scene, Eater, whose drummer was reportedly only 13 when the band was founded, positioned itself such that even the Buzzcocks opened for the group. And while Eater would only be around from ’76-’79, the band was able to issue a spate of singles and a lone long playing album.

The lazily titled The Album was released during a time that the British market saw a huge influx of punk recordings. And while the Sex Pistols eventually made it to the top of the charts, Eater wasn’t as fortunate. Coming off as something halfway between the Stiff Little Fingers and the Jam, Eater should have wrangled a tremendous following. But the fact that the band eschewed thoughtful lyrics for stuff like “Get Raped,” which is actually a monstrously entertaining pop-punk effort, probably scared off some of its potential fan base.

With pithy titles and the like, Eater was still able to craft a sound that was uniquely its own. It wasn’t exactly innate seeing as out of the band’s sixteen tracks on The Album, four qualify as covers. But that’s simply the mark of a young band working out its own style. Coping a Bowie track and a reworked Alice Copper track, Eater also included a pair of Velvet Underground covers. A perennial favorite amongst early punkers songs like “Sweet Jane” and “Waitin’ for my Man” benefited from the teenager’s revved up tempos and sneered vocals. Again, it can’t be said that anything over the course of this disc qualifies as visionary, but that’s not what folks want all the time.

Instead, Eater was able to prefigure power-pop, pop-punk and any other variety of punk related sub-genres. The Album probably won’t ever get what it deserves, but certainly, the teenaged punkers that recorded the disc didn’t expect too much in the first place.

Classic Compilations: A Farewell To Arms

Originally issued by Selfish Records in 1986 and rereleased the following year on Nuclear Blast Records, A Farewell to Arms attempts to document a nation wide musical movement. In the West, most of these Japanese bands that contributed work to this compilation aren’t the biggest names in hardcore. That doesn’t mean that each group represented here has ceased to carry a huge cache around. No, this disc isn’t going to change your mind about the genre, but it lends some insight into how hardcore spread across the globe and has been funneled back into the States.

Lip Cream

One of the bigger names on this compilation, Lip Cream approximates a spate of ’90s American stuff. And while those bands aren’t necessarily all well thought of today, these guys have maintained an international cult following. Find out why.

Outo

New Jersey is evoked over the course of Outo’s for tracks. Why? I dunno, but this is pretty thrashy. Melodies are still discernable, but only kinda. It’s interesting, though, that noise and feed back play as large a role in Outo’s music as punk and hardcore. And the classical music cop during the intro of “Like Cola” points to the band’s appreciation of all musics.

Gastunk

Contributing just two songs to the compilation here, Gastunk includes a bit of mid ‘80s spandex rock into its sound. The tempos are still all break neck and it’d probably be difficult to completely grasp what’s going on here even if Japanese was your first language. But the sporadic breakdowns work to make these efforts more palatable then they would be otherwise – some of that screeching guitar work could be left out, though.

Gauze

These folks are probably the best known proponents of the style this compilation attempts to relate. In the West, it’s not uncommon to see some dirty punk kid with a Gauze patch on his back. And it’s easy to understand the draw. Most will take issue with this, but Gauze and a great many other bands seemed to have listened to the Exploited a lot and just made it faster. It’s music would be a bit more engaging, though, if I had any idea what was being said/sung/screamed.

Ghoul

The eight plus minutes that Ghoul takes up on A Farewell to Arms is as metal inflected as any other effort here. The pacing of each of the group’s two songs sets it apart from this particular cohort as well. But in that, the shifting genre tropes can be prefigured. By 1986 hardcore was already pretty deep into the process of being co-opted and turned into some tough guy thing. Ghoul isn’t that exactly, but close.

The Execute

Perhaps the most poorly recorded tracks here, the Execute turn in a few efforts that equal the speed of anything before it. And regardless of whether or not this particular brand of J-hardcore is to you liking, the fact that the band worked up a seven minute track of thrash in the form of “Ghost Candle” is pretty impressive.

Suburban Lawns in Spring

I remember being ten or so and getting to stay up late on New Year’s Eve so as to watch the ball drop and hear drunken parents in the next room have a good time. Seeing as old people standing around on the street in New Yawk wasn’t too appealing to my decade’s old eyes, my friend(s) and I opted to watch Saturday Night Live. The evening’s musical guest was a Seattle group named Nirvana that I’d heard a single from on my local radio station. It was probably the first time I witnessed the group perform live – it was good evening.

But making it onto Saturday Night Live doesn’t always conclude in stardom – and it should be noted that Nirvana’s appearance on that show didn’t really affect the trajectory of the group’s career. Case in point, though, was a Long Beach, California based ensemble from the late seventies called Suburban Lawns who had a video featured on the late night show, but didn’t really make a go of it.

Springing from an art school background, the Southern California group didn’t incorporate the same influences as its punky neighbors in Los Angeles. Instead, the band opted for dance music to augment a sometimes aggressive approach to rock stuff. Often times, the group – comprising Su Tissue (Sue McLane) on vocals, Frankie Ennui (Richard Whitney) on guitar, John Gleur (John McBurney) as second guitarist, Vex Billingsgate (William Ranson) on bass and Chuck Roast (Charles Rodriguez)  behind the drums – is compared to Devo or the Talking Heads, or both. It’s not an unfair contrast, but seems to mitigate some of the more traditional rock tropes that Suburban Lawns attempt to include.

Only issuing three releases over the duration of its career, the sound that Suburban Lawns worked with remained relatively steady over its discography. There was always that pervasive dance influence at least.

The group’s first single included “Gidget Goes to Hell,” which not only lampooned the group’s home town, but counted as one of the more aggressively toned efforts Suburban Lawns would issue. Mounting interest in the ensemble warranted a return to the studio a few years later and resulted in another EP entitled Baby. The five song effort moved Suburban Lawns closer to a dance sound as “Flavor Crystals” could have been Blondie doing a disco track. With Su Tissue’s vocals being rather consumable by underground as well as commercial standards, it’s a wonder as to how the band didn’t garner more attention.

With another few years between releases, Suburban Lawns ostensibly killed its own career. But in 1983, the group issued a self titled album. A few of the tracks that made it on to the disc ratcheted up the pace and sneer smeared across the band’s music. “Jam the Controls,” the disc’s closer, could have come from any number of other punk bands from the area. So it’s curious that Suburban Lawns toughened up its sound for this final release.

The group eventually splintered with folks working in various musical capacities elsewhere, but no one really making enough of a racket as to be noticed. It all seems kinda like a waste considering the concerted effort that Suburban Lawns made on its final release to move in more rock oriented direction. Whatever. Hunt it down. Some of the music’s worth it to be sure.

Twofer: Anti Flag x Miss TK and the Revenge

Anti-Flag
For Blood and Empire
(A-F Records, 2006)

Anti-Flag has been doing approximately the same thing for more than a decade. At the onset of that time, it toured consistently to build a fan base that appreciated the fast nineties styled punk pulling from an earlier time. The band’s been relatively consistent over time, and it’s a testament to their beliefs that the group still has something to say after the innumerable releases. Overt political messages don’t generally make for good pop music based upon the fact that some segment of the listening audience will be offended at some point. That’s why our Pittsburgh friends aren’t MTV stalwarts. For Blood and Empire actually seems to increase the political message as well as the inclusion of different styles of punk it trucks in. Pretty much each track bounces off of some branch of punk which easily makes this the band’s most radio friendly release to date - except of course for the lyrics, which are relentless critiques of the government, the press and American society in general. So, this record will not take AF to the general ear holes of Americans, but the band is now releasing records through RCA. Even with this, it maintains the group’s vision of what a band should be, which is admirable. Maybe the distribution will help. Maybe millions more will hear what they have to say. Or maybe they’ll just become lazy millionaires and start releasing dance punk records.

Miss TK and The Revenge
XOXO
(Gern Blandsten Records, 2004)

Well, I’m not really into this whole disco-dance-punk fad that’s criss-crossing the nation right now with the likes of The Faint and Beep Beep. Unfortunately, Miss TK falls into a category similar to those fellows. The amateur factor isn’t as annoying as the seemingly complacent drummer who wields a whopping two different beats on this entire slab. Some of the guitar work is above boards punk, but coupled with the rest of this schlock, it becomes trite and bothersome. The record jumps of to a minimal start with “Banana” and its dub production values that neither fit the music nor present anything listenable. Second track, same as the first. “Fake Italians Ain’t No Stallions” gives the listener a taste of the drummer’s other beat as the band cranks out some generic punk stylings. But, at least the handclaps sound nice. Apart from the fact that Miss TK herself recalls Gwen Stefani’s vocals, the title of “Hey Baby Yeah” recalls the pop star as well. “Elevator” sounds like the Cars on a bad day and “Basement Demo” may be the explanation for why The Ramones didn’t wanna go down there. “Locals Only”, clocking in at 19 seconds, is by far the best track on here, not only for its brevity, but for the unapologetic furry and the temper of Miss TK. At the end of all those tracks we’re brought back to reality with another disco blast of nothingness. If you see this record or cd in stores, don’t buy it or steal it. Set it afire or smash it and know that you helped make the world a better place.

Dow Jones & the Industrials Git Synthetic

Looking back at bands from the past and trying to cobble together some semblance of a proper discography should lead to a stylistic understanding of the group. In most cases it works. But in those scenarios where bands just do as they see fit as opposed to following any general trajectory, it reveals a thought process – skewed perhaps – that’s as interesting as the music itself.

Having previously commented on Dow Jones and the Industrials, some might find it obtuse to revisit the subject. Examining just the tracks that the band contributed to the Hoosier Hysteria! disc seems reductive, even if it represents the majority of what the band recorded.

Coming out of an Indiana scene that was surprisingly varied when compared to other cities across the States, the Industrials were really benefitted by not being a part of a larger town’s clutch of bands. If the group were based either in New York or Chicago, there’s little doubt that the ensemble would have felt the pressures of surrounding ensembles. It wouldn’t have necessarily yielded a deadened sound, but the place from which a music comes is as important as anything else.

So while the handful of tracks contributed to that Hoosier styled compilation lending listeners a good idea of what the band worked out, line up shifts and the like would augment the aural approach the band had by the time of its dissolution in 1981.

There wasn’t ever a concerted tone to the Industrials’ work. Listening to compilation appearances the band moves from straight punk to oddly flavored new wavish experiments. There wasn’t anything pop oriented about the work here – the melodies, if slowed down and smoothed out could have worked for a number of group’s, though. Just the breadth of approach is admirable.

So, the relatively traditional punk work from the its earliest release would be mirrored in stuff like “Can’t Stand the Midwest,” a sort of anthem for those that felt displaced and odd in any situation. There was still skewed stuff to come.

Included alongside that best known track, on the band’s self titled single, is work like “Let’s Go Steady.” The rhythms are detached from most understandings of what punk was and winds up being more closely tied to latter day post-punk stuff from the UK. It’s lineage notwithstanding, the song includes a lengthy passage that might be better for dancing subsequent to eating some uppers. The less melodic fair, seated alongside it’s revved up pop songs just makes the Industrials a difficult band to understand.

Its interest in technology, found in not just lyrical content from songs like “Ladies With Appliances,” but in the band’s pioneering use of keyboards disallows for any sort of pigeonholing. But after all, punk was about the cultural other at its onset. So, groups refusing to identify itself as one thing or another might be troublesome to latter day music foragers. The adventurous nature of it all, though, is what the genre – or good music – is really about. Start digging, your parents might have one of these discs sitting around in your basement. Who knows?

Redd Kross: A Teenage Punk

Admittedly, it’s alright to slag off some punk bands as mere hacks. Whenever that argument rears its head, at least a bit of credence needs to be understood. Of course, Steve Jones, from the Sex Pistols, is one of the better guitar players to make a pop record – right, I said it – over the last forty years, but no one seems to recognize his talent. Regardless, there’re as many talented folks playing within the confines of punk’s genre restrictions to count high and lows. But what gets glossed over even more regularly than musical talent is the fact that even some of the younger, dumber bands to ever exist were able to cobble together some semblance of cultural relevancy.

Making mention of your favorite b-movie actor or actress doesn’t necessarily count for too much, but if a dense enough web of interrelated subject matter crops up over the duration of an album, folks should take notice – especially when the album was recorded by some teenagers.

The story that comes along with Red Cross/Redd Kross has been pretty well documented over time, but by way of a brief recap, Steve and Jeff McDonald along with a revolving cast of players, some of which would go on to play with Black Flag and the Circle Jerks, were able to smash up an album’s worth of material that tied itself so closely to television and film that the disc at this late date reads like a catalog of viewing tendencies.

Coming out of the ‘burbs, but the ‘burbs that also birthed the Beach Boys, Redd Kross began performing live on the cusp of punk’s second wave in Los Angeles. Frequently playing with some high visibility talent, the band was able to solidify a deal to record an album not too long after forming as a proper ensemble. Of course, the never ending line-up changes necessitated help from folks just sitting in for the session. But despite that, Born Innocent, while still sounding like a buncha kids, has enough oddly tossed off genre shifts as to make the whole thing an engaging listen.

There’s, obviously, the punk stuff in songs like “White Trash” and “Cellulite City.” But the pop sensibility that the McDonald’s imbibed from watching Return to the Valley of the Dolls and like minded schlock lent the band a tremendous melodic penchant. “Look On Up At The Bottom” is nothing but punk, even as the mid paced track allows the band room to maneuver vocally. It’s still all sloppy and ridiculous, but in a good way. And of course, that chorus comes off like something a matured, professional rock dude would come up with, not drunken, suburbanite punkers from 1980. That’s what makes Redd Kross’ Born Innocent as remarkable as it is, though.

Including such a breadth of influence – musically, visually and culturally – set the band apart from its youngster cohort. And while Redd Kross would come and go over time, taking elongated vacations from performing, this early release is really what the group’s legacy is founded on and not the latter ‘80s attempt to psych nonsense.

A minute with Mike Hudson and Frank Mauceri, 4/4

How’d you get into all these bands in the first place?

FM: I collected records and I liked this odd stuff. I’ve collected punk rock records since I was twelve or thirteen years old. It was ’78 or ’79 when I started collecting. As soon as the first wave punk records came out I got them. I don’t know why I gravitated towards those. I think I read a Jane Scott article in the Plain Dealer about it and was just curious, so I picked up the records here and there when I could.

 

Given the journalistic landscape in Cleveland, even if that’s how Frank found out about the scene, why’d you decide to start your paper, the Niagara Falls Reporter, elsewhere?

MH: The way it happened was that I got a job at the daily in Niagara. There was a guy I knew – he was my intern at one point. It turned out that he was editing the daily paper there, which is called The Gazette. So, I left New York to take the job in Niagara Falls.

It didn’t really work out and after 18 months, I left. I basically didn’t have anything to do and I didn’t have enough money to get out of Niagara Falls. A bunch of the political guys and business people said, ‘There should be another paper in town.’ They set me up and lent me enough money to get started.

 

Mikes runs a newspaper and doesn’t have a proper degree. Frank, you’re the opposite. You run a label and have a law degree. Is there a connection there?

When you run a label as a full time profession, there’s a lot of law work. It’s predominately the work that we do - getting agreements figured out, making sure people follow them. It’s a lot of work.

Mike, have you been hindered by not pursuing a degree?

MH: You know, I wonder. I knew guys that I grew up with that went to college in 1977 to get a degree in order to get the job that I had. Working at a newspaper is certainly better training for working at a newspaper than going to school and studying journalism.

 

In talking about business, it seems that Smog Veil has focused on functioning as a green label. Does that jive with whatever punk’s ethos is or was?

FM: As a reissue label, we do a lot of recycling. We’ve always had this green consciousness and I wanted to apply it to the business. I wanted people that ran other labels to investigate these ideas. When we moved to Chicago, we were lucky enough to find a living space that we’d be able to operate the label out of.

 

Does caring about the environment fly in the face of bands like the Pagans?

FM: I don’t preach this stuff. I try to be an example in the industry. There are other businesses within the industry that have incorporated this consciousness. But it’s cool with me if people do whatever they want to do.

A minute with Mike Hudson and Frank Mauceri, 3/4

FM: Mike’s right. The press wasn’t positive. After the initial wave in ’76 or ’77, things tailed off. Underground music - punk rock - was pushed to the side and forgotten about. It wasn’t until the second wave that people really got interested in the whole thing.

Stuff like radio was really hard to deal with. College radio was just coming on strong at that point in time. Trying to get air play larger stations wasn’t actually possible. In Cleveland, that was kind of disappointing, because WMMS, the most popular and most hated station, was pretty cutting edge in the early ‘70s. They were playing a lot of crazy stuff – they were way out there. At a certain point, they really turned coarse and started playing arena rock, album rock, corporate rock. It was really disappointing to a lot of people in town at the time.

 

I wasn’t around then, but I’ve been told that WMMS used to play entire records. If there was a double album by Frank Zappa, for example, the station would play all four sides consecutively.  They also did Coffee Break [a set of music recorded at a local venue and broadcast live during work-day business hours] and I think the station had Talking Heads amongst a few other higher profile ‘weird’ acts perform from time to time.

FM: Even Peter Laughner [Rocket from the Tombs’ guitarist and songwriter] played Coffee Break. They featured a lot of local and new artists. It was really cutting edge stuff for a station that big. But as I said, it just dropped off as fast as it blew up. The odds that they’d play anything remotely different in normal rotation – it just wasn’t going to happen.

 

Do your records get coverage now?

FM: We’re definitely widely covered. The rock and roll press today is different than it was even last year. To get magazine coverage today is pretty difficult. We haven’t come full circle to where we were 30 years ago, but it’s not because people don’t want to cover you in magazines. It’s because they don’t exist anymore – there’re very few.

There’s only one Ugly Things [a magazine focusing on psychedlic music from the ‘60s and ‘70s]. There’s only one Big Takeover [a magazine focusing on psychedelic music from the ‘60s and ‘70s] . Five years ago, there were lots of magazines like that. There’s a lot of reasons for that – the economy being one. Number two, the means of distribution for that stuff is just gone. The retailers that would carry that stuff aren’t there anymore. We still get lots of press, but some of it’s internet press. There’s blog coverage of the label, it seems, everyday. To me, that’s kind of cool. It’s just as vibrant as the fanzine thing was years ago.

I’m kinda sad that all these fanzines have just kind of dropped off. There are still plenty, but it’s just very hard to find them, pick them up and buy them. It’s unfortunate.

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