October 2010
Brainbombs: Play This for Your Mother
Listening to Anal Cunt on a regular basis is probably one of the most rare occurrences on the face of the earth. And, granted, there’s a reason for that. But as offensive – and purposefully so – as that group is, there’s a clutch of Swedes that have been kicking around for just about twenty five years who rival that better known pseudo-metal group.
The Stems: Not a Monumental Achievement
Apart from that being a weird and endlessly hilarious commentary on how the dissemination of media’s changed in the last forty years, there’s really no way to figure out who did what first. It’s too much to figure that anyone involved with the Ramones or the Saints cataloged dates for initial practices or impromptu jam sessions.
A Minute with Chris Gunn from the Hunches (Part Four)
K: I grew up in Cleveland so there were old punkers around all the time, but whata you gotta say ‘bout the Electric Eels? How’d you find out about ‘em and why “Accident” instead of some other cover? (That’s a song with a vacuum on it, right?
CG: The Electric Eels are one of the best bands ever and they were a huge influence on us. Any singer or lyricist worth a shit should study Dave E’s lyrics religiously. Brian McMahon is the only person in the history of In the Red Records to demand royalties for our cover of Accident. Larry has to send him about twenty cents a year or something like that. One time Brian came to our show in Chicago so we thought that was pretty cool. I’m pretty sure he came just to make sure we weren’t ripping The Eels off too much. I was too drunk and nervous to meet him but Hart says he was there.
The Oblivians: An Historically Relevant Garage
For whatever reason, Memphis has long been a weird conglomeration of music styles, labels, recording studios and Southern misfits. Cobbled together from the Compulsive Gamblers and a stray record store clerk, the Oblivians counted as one of the innumerable bands combining garage and punk stuffs during the early nineties in contrast to all the Seattle styled stuff that was going on.
Simple Minds: Early Stuff that Won't Make You Wretch
That’s a pretty pervasive view of most eighties, one off groups. Raking in a profit for some inane pop song must have been worth the time – and even if touring didn’t wind up being something of modernity’s orgy, no one would be complaining.
A Minute with Chris Gunn from the Hunches (Part Three)
Scritti Politti: Worse than You'd Think. And You Already Knew it was Bad.
Beyond just that – as if it wasn’t enough – bands cropping up after the first wave of punk was receding were saddled with the label and subsequently moved on to work in overt pop tones (that was a good reference right there, I hope you caught it).
A Minute with Chris Gunn from the Hunches (Part Two)
K: Hobo Sunrise has a few songs dealing with one’s mental acumen? Have you guys, in the past, been dealt with like dullards as a result of your live performances that traffic in more visceral circles than academic ones?
A Minute with Chris Gunn from the Hunches (Part One)
Klat: When’d the band first get together? Did you release any singles prior to the release of Yes. No. Shut it!?
Chris Gunn: We have been a band since 2000 or so. We have put out four albums on In the Red and a bunch of other singles. In the Red put out our first release which was a 7”. Touring was never that difficult geographically, the difficulties arose in other areas like alcohol consumption, anxiety, and motivation. We all worked together to write songs. This is our last tour and our last shows. Exit Dreams is our last real album and it was made knowing full well that we were going to break up.
K: Can you explain what the titles of your albums – Exit Dreams and Hobo Sunrise – are intended to mean?
Ari Up: RIP
Well, Ari Up's gone. That's a bummer seeing as she hadn't reached as many folks as need be with that last Slits' reunion tour. But at least her two earliest albums are still kicking around.
Scream: More than Dave Grohl. By Alot.
Ian MacKaye isn’t an historian. But his label is going to help proper history buffs suss out what was happening in the States during the early eights. Just wait and see.
The Outcasts: Ireland's Good for Punkers or Bad for People
Moonhearts - "I Hate You" (Video)
Moonhearts: Kinda Like Reatarded Little Brothers
Moonhearts issued some work previously with the extended name of Charlie and the Moonhearts, although, I have no idea why the band’s drummer received such billing – “Give the drummer some?”
Flogging Molly, "Drunken Lullabies"
Celtic punk is an interesting kettle of fish. I’m not sure who came up with the idea of mixing elements of traditional Irish music with the dirty, nasty sweat stains of punk music, but it’s a combination that has proven wildly successful and hellaciously fun, bringing the heartache and beauty of Ireland to the pubs and colleges of New England. Flogging Molly gave us their second album, Drunken Lullabies, in 2002, an entertaining, rousing collection of songs that cemented them as one of the mainstays of the genre.
A Minute with Johnny Witmer from the Stitches (Part Three)
PM: Was Twelve Imaginary Inches the last thing the Stitches recorded?
JW: No, we have an unreleased 7” in the can. It should be out soon. We also did a total New Wave LP of Stitches songs. Maybe that will come out soon too.
PM: Was there a different approach to recording or music in general when putting out Twelve Imaginary Inches? It seems slower and not new wavey, but it’s leaning in that direction kinda. And it’s certainly not as stripped down as 8 x 12.
The Orphans: Too Early and Too Late
There was a renaissance of punk in the early to mid nineties that expired by the turn of the century. ‘Alternative’ represented a culmination of underground sounds that ended up in the ears of youth who would soon start new bands, expanding on the sounds then current and whatever was being dug up for decade’s past. The critical mass of underground music, in this country, represented by SST, Dischord and Touch and Go, led many to dig deeper still into the past to discover the British punk bands, obscure and chart topping acts both. While the resultant acts, its musicianship and lyrics were more commonly trite than not (here and in Britain), a few bands managed to pull it off.
On Tony Rettman and Killed By Hardcore (Part Two)
But if these compilations didn’t exist, we’d either not have this music to listen to at all, or be necessitated to shell out some ridiculous prices to hear it. Rettman gets all that and spits it out in bits and pieces. More importantly, though, he’s got some historical (and personal) sense of the music.
A Minute with Johnny Witmer from the Stitches (Part Two)
PM: How does the band function differently than the Stitches? I don’t know what your voice sounds like and that Teenage Frames cd is in a box somewhere. So how are the vocal duties and songwriting split up?
JW: We actually practice every week. In The Stitches, we haven?t practiced in over 10 years. We just play live. I’m singing about half of the songs in The Crazy Squeeze. You can hear my voice on the songs on our myspace page. Frankie and Sleeper sing the other songs, but we haven’t recorded them yet. We all write the songs, but usually whoever writes the lyrics will sing the songs.
PM: Are the Stitches still active in LA?