Nazis and a Vile Tone

Nazis and a Vile Tone

Everything goes in cycles - not just music. Any art, politics, fashion. It all comes down to the same thing. People enjoy what they're already familiar with and if one figures out how to repackage it and shill it to the masses, than a few bucks are gonna come in. This applies to the Viletones, but to all of the punk class circa '77.

By this point, Iggy Pop was coked up and strung out, being followed around or following David Bowie through Europe and churning out some boring tunes that really could be considered the dregs of '70s rock. Iggy may have been confident in his new direction, but that doesn't mean that it was the right one. Hindsight, though, is perfect. But this all probably goes to explain why the Stooges released a new album last year and are currently touring.

A Canadian punk band - on a few tracks at least - cop, pretty well, the Stooges sound in an even more stripped down manner. They packaged themselves properly. After watching the band fat, pilled out rock writer Lester Bands figured, "Now every band in the world is the Stooges. I didn't tell Natzee Dog that, though..."

Of course, Lester was a rehash, so who's to believe. But the intimidating persona that Nazi Dog - aka Steven Leckie - cultivated on stage with the Viletones was apparently ample enough to scare some folks. But cutting yourself in a perforance - much like Sid Vicious on the other side of the Atlantic - was just some schtick copped from Iggy. If we're still talking about it, though, the charade probably worked.

The Viletones, regardless of their posturing, were the most destructive force outta Toronto's punk scene that counted the overrated Diodes and the rock and rolly Teenage Head. "Screamin Fist," the band's most well known single came off as some bastard concoction of Iggy, the Damned and the Buzzcocks. The track's all machine quickness and consistently groaning guitar chords with Nazi Dog rasping out the song's title as many times as he can in two minutes.

Properly released singles only counted for a few songs. And in the initial run of the group, there wouldn't be any full length or live recordings issued. As those aforementioned singles gained a bit of notoriety, partially because of Bang's writing up the group, but also because of the Toronto punk showcase at CBGB's, an few long players cropped up during the '80s as the band reformed for a time.

Apparently, Nazi Dog, who most likely goes by his birth name at this point, runs an art gallery in his home town and sporadically plays with an augmented line up of the Viletones. Even though every punk band that ever played a show has had a reunion tour, the Viletones haven't found their way to your town yet. And if they don't ever show up, the Taste of Honey compilation collects those stray shot singles and adds a few surprises. The sound is shockingly good, but even if it wasn't it'd be difficult to deny the punk chops that these dudes exhibit.