HALFULA - Demo - Tape - 2001

   I'm back from tour! Oh, the stories I could tell you about wild drunken punks in Vancouver, playing shows at 3 AM, our bass player Bryan getting border patrol cops to laugh about setting bibles on fire, our guitarist Barker almost getting some jerk to drink his piss, how we came close to snapping the wheel off of the van or all the wonderful people that we met in the beautiful northwest. I'm not gonna tell you those stories though, because this is not about NEON PISS...this is about HALFULA.
   I only saw HALFULA play once at a show that was so poorly attended that it was unreal. The event happened way out at a house in Harrison, TN and most of the punks that I knew in Chattanooga at that time didn't own cars. Public transit to Harrison? Forget about it. The band showed up and their drummer, Jason had a cast on his right leg...the same one he uses to play the bass drum. I asked him how the hell he was gonna play the drums with a broken leg. He said it was no problem and he had learned how to play the bass drum with his left foot. I was skeptical, but when they played, they destroyed the minds of the 5 people in attendance. Their guitarist, Clem stood on his tip-toes and played manically and furiously. Their singer, James spent more time in the air than on the ground. When he sang, he looked as if his head was going to explode into 50 pieces. All the while, Jason was blast-beating his set into the ground in a way that made you believe that he had always played with his right foot in a cast. Ten hazy minutes later, the set was over and we were sorely reminded that we were all still in Harrison.
   I didn't pick up their tape that day and I don't remember why. It flowed into my hands just a few days ago via the Portland underground punk scene (no really, I literally bought it underground in a Portland show space). Eleven songs whiz by in less than five fucking minutes. Side two is just a bunch of clips from horror movies. I feel like the only way I can really explain their sound (besides manic fucking hardcore) is by saying that they were masterminded by Jason Griffin and James, who were both in GOAT SHANTY, DIVORCE and AMERICAN CHEESEBURGER. I've said it before, but I still believe that James is one of the best hardcore singers of the past 10 years and if you don't agree with me, I will totally shit in your cheerios. Their guitarist, Clem went missing in action for a while but oddly resurfaced playing in a reggae band. Nowadays, he is back to destroying minds, playing guitar and singing in SAVAGIST. Download this and let it take up five minutes of your time.

Download it

"Live how the fuck you want"

The song titles aren't really attributed to the right songs...I couldn't figure out anything about that aspect of it. That shouldn't detract from your enjoyment of this tape.

Taking A Break!!

   I'm taking a break and going on tour. If you live in the Pacific Northwest, come see my band, NEON PISS. You can find our tour dates right here.. If you want to hear our demo, here it is.
   In the meantime, why don't you watch this great interview with my good friend, Erin Yanke? She is an audio archivist, radio DJ at KBOO and drummer of CHASED AND SMASHED, THE CURSE and SOCIAL GRACES. In this short interview, she outlines some of the basic tenets of punk that I (and many others) have come to live by. It's inspiring to me, to say the least...especially the parts about being supportive of younger kids,  getting older and staying punk.


  "What's more 'society' and normal that being a misogynist prick? That's totally mainstream culture so why would you be a punk if you were interested in doing that?" - Erin Yanke

LOS CANADIANS - 4 Track Recordings - Tape - 1995

   I've been holding back on posting this tape for a while because I felt sort of conflicted about it. To me, a LOS CANADIANS without Buddha on guitar and mostly devoid of Ivy's singing is not really LOS CANADIANS. In reality, it is LOS CANADIANS because the band says it is. Also, I'm not sure if they ever intended to have these recordings put out into the world, but here ya go.
   The band recorded this during a short time period when Buddha had been replaced (that's totally the wrong word...you can never replace Buddha) by Bill Beltone on guitar. Let's look at it this way. Remember when you were in school and you would come in to class to find a substitute teacher and you would think "cool....we're not doing shit today." Remember that feeling about how things would feel a little "off" and abnormal, but the day just kinda flowed awkwardly along anyway? That is exactly how this recording feels to me. This isn't meant as a slam against the rest of the band or Bill. I love THE BELTONES and I think Scott and Timmy can do no wrong, musically, but this isn't the best recording...BUT, like I said, I don't think we were ever supposed to ever hear this.
   Most of this was recorded when their singer, Ivy was still living in California and getting ready to return to Florida. The vocals are primarily commandeered by Timmy and Bill. On "False Prophet", Ivy has returned and graced us with her beautiful, raspy vocals. On "First Song" (reportedly the first song that Scott and Timmy wrote together, according to Erick Lyle), Ivy emotionally sings the song without lyrics, which is still the way she figures out the melodies to songs today. You can hear the band playfully poke fun at her towards the end. The tape closes out with the funny "Song That Confused Bill", which also appears on the LOS CANADIANS split CD with CHICKENHEAD that I posted a while back (highly recommended as a better place to start off if you've never heard this amazing band).
  This may appeal to a few LOS CANADIANS fans or may even appeal to people who have never heard the band and don't know what they're missing. I don't know. If there's anything I've learned from doing this blog, it's that I can't account for anyone's taste. Enjoy, my friends.

Download LOS CANADIANS

The picture above was taken from Chuck Loose's old zine, SHEBANG and shows the band playing in '95 at an illegal generator show in the Everglades. See if you can spot me. It's a week after I met these wonderful people.
Tape is from the Scam Magazine files.

THE STRANGER STEALS - Demo - Tape - 2000

   I don't really know too much about this Little Rock band of train hoppers and hard rockers, but I do know that they're great. I used to wake up and blast their song "Insectiuroid Inspector" in the morning while cooking breakfast. It's actually possible that I was rocking the very tape that this was ripped from, since my memories are from the time Erick lived with me in Chattanooga (it's his tape). Speaking of Erick, here is what he has to say about THE STRANGER STEALS...

   "Holy shit! Alan Disaster (CHAOS L.R.), Louisa (FOXY EMMA) Lloyd and Jeremy join up with Little Rock's wildest frontman, Victor Wiley for this shreddin' rock.Victor was in countless Little Rock bands, most notably UPTOWN PROPHETS OF THE ARMAGEDDON and sadly died way too fuckin' young of a heart condition in 2007. I saw them with JACK PALANCE BAND at the Dustbin in Portland and it blew all of our minds. We had glitter stuck on everything for weeks too."

   My friend and breathtaking comic book artist, Nate Powell put out a CD of the band in 2001 which may or may not be available (my suspicion is the latter) from his now-defunct record label, Harlan Records. Turn this up and let their fucking huge guitar riffs melt your mind.

Download THE STRANGER STEALS

This tape is from the collection of Erick Lyle.

You can find a very touching write-up about Victor right here.

R.I.P.

NASTY INTENTIONS - "Straight Outta Tompkins" - Tape - 2005?

   NASTY INTENTIONS were a punk band from Brooklyn that embodied the talents of some of the best NYC-dwelling sweethearts that I know. I like this tape a lot, but didn't really know anything about the band, plus I never saw them play a show. I'm a little clueless when it comes to NASTY INTENTIONS, so I asked the band for some information about their second tape, "Straight Outta Tompkins". The only real input that their charismatic singer, Joe Porter gave me was "Most importantly, you may think it's wrong, but it is our way." I could just end it there, give you the download link and call it a day, but their bass player, Colin Atrophy chimed in with his two cents as well. "Two cents" may be a little misleading. The man is quite verbose when it comes to the written word, so let's call it $2.25, which is the average going rate for a plain slice of pizza in NYC. Here is the story of NASTY INTENTIONS as told by Colin:


  "Nasty Intentions started out as a hat band. I was really nervous because Gloryhole, the band I was in at the time, was the first band I had been in that I played an instrument in and I was scared to be around these people I didn't know so well playing music together and having to pick up a guitar in front of them. Our first practice was upstairs at the Bent Haus. We wrote four songs, none of which are on Straight Outta Tompkins. They are on our first tape, which maybe doesn't have a name and maybe was called "Nasty As We Wanna Be".  We tried to write four songs in four different punk styles. I think I played guitar on two, John played guitar on one, bass on two, drums on one, Tooth played drums on two, guitar on one, bass on one, Joe sang every time. We also recorded some hot jams under the name Naz-T Intenshunz, with pseudonyms. I think Sweet Tooth was Velvet Patterson, John was Western Beef and I was Genuine Suede. Joe was at work that day or something.

After the hat band show, Tooth left town for a while, and when he came back and moved into Tompkins, we were all drinking beers together and decided to have a band again. This time we stuck to certain instruments: Joe still sang, Tooth played drums, John played guitar, and I played bass. When we were getting back into being a band, we decided to learn the songs off the old tape over again. We sat in the practice room in the basement of Tompkins (a dire place) and listened to the tape over and over again but couldn't find any of the notes to any of the songs. We'd get something partially, but then it would end up off key somewhere or we'd find a note that just didn't fit. Eventually we realized that when we recorded that first tape, at our second or third practice EVER, no one brought a tuner and we'd tuned by ear to a perfect e flat. So me and John retuned our guitars and voila, everything fit. 

There was about five seconds where Famous Local Indie Rock Stud Kevin Morby was playing second guitar, back in the day when he was just Kevin Morby and not FLIRS Kevin Morby. He is on the cover of the tape. The other person on the cover of the tape (playing Easy-E no less) is none other than Dan Klein aka Danskin aka Likkle Dan aka Brukk Face, of Beer Garden fame, and currently singing sweet reggae love jams in THE FRIGHTENERS. One time we got to play our cover of Alcohol at a show in Philly with JOE JACK TALCUM. I got so drunk I don't remember if he liked it or not, but I guess that's appropriate considering the song.

I was always really surprised by how much everyone liked Nasty Intentions, because I never thought I would be in a band that people liked, and I never could see how good it was from inside of it. I think, musically speaking, I was always the weak link, and I feel really lucky that I got to play with such talented people for a little while. Sweet Tooth is obviously a brilliant song writer, and John McLean can make a guitar weep or sing better than anyone I've ever met, but I knew that going into it. Joe Porter was the one that caught me off guard.

I guess everyone knows it by now, that he's great at everything he does, but I hadn't figured it out yet back then. Like the song Dumb Dream. I'd love to take credit for that cool ass bass part I play, I'm sure I have taken credit for it a few times, but the truth is, Joe came to practice one day with a dictaphone and played us a cassette tape of him singing that bassline. John figured it out and showed it to me. And that's to say nothing of his lyrics. I was re-listening to this tape the other day and there is a part on the song Augima where he is singing to his daydream crush about a letter he's imagining writing and he says, "and if this message should make it's way onto your door, please write back to me one three one Tompkins Ave, Brooklyn, NY!!" and it's so triumphant and hopeful it almost made me cry when I heard it again. 

This band, when things worked, was the best band I've ever been in and probably the best band I'll ever be in, in terms of feeling magical and transcendent. I know there's a lot I'm leaving out and a lot that's impossible to write about. The time when I was in this band was one of the best and worst of my entire life, I think it may have been that way for all of us. And I think maybe that vulnerability and honesty comes through on the tape. Who knows? 

   Okay, it's me again....At the 11th-hour-I'm-about-to-push-the-button-to-publish-this-any-second-now, Joe Porter sent me their last 4 songs that were intended for a 7" that never materialized (not the original 4 song demo as it says in the download), which I am now hearing for the first time and are included in this download. They sound awesome, my favorite of the moment being "People Like You". 

   These days, their guitarist, John lives in Athens,GA and crafts his maniac, beautifully shambolic guitar playing in the band DEAD DOG. N.I. drummer, Sweettooth lives in Oakland and runs a cinematheque out of the warehouse where he lives. He shows everything from experimental film to documentaries to  cult classics to everything inbetween everything else. Check it out here. Joe Porter is currently ruling what is left of the house show scene in Brooklyn, singing in the band MARVIN BERRY & THE NEW SOUND. Our friend and bassist, Colin is notorious for eating a slice of pizza at every pizza joint in Manhattan and chronicling his misadventures over at Slice Harvester. Also, I once got him to admit that there is a good pizza place in SF.

Download NASTY INTENTIONS

If the writing on this entry looks insanely crazy and weird on your screen...sorry about that. I don't know what happened.

CORTEZ THE KILLER - "Gas Money Demos" - CD-R - 2008

   Ever since I posted the FROZEN TEENS demo a while back, I have been pretty fuckin' obsessed with it (to put it lightly). That obsession grew after I ordered their brand new LP from Do Ya Hear We, which is even better than the demos and near flawless. It hasn't left my turntable since I got it in the mail a week ago. Seriously...and I listen to a lot of music. This obsession led me to revisit Ski and Will's (drummer and guitarist of FT, respectively) old band from a few years ago, CORTEZ THE KILLER.
   I set up (actually, I can't remember if I set it up or someone else did) a house show for them in Bloomington, IN that was pretty poorly attended, but the band did their best to rock the shit out of the few people there. Everything is pretty hazy because this was a fairly drunken period in my life, but I remember that one of the guys in the band barely talked to anyone until he got good and wasted.
   That's all beside the point though. What's important is that they had this demo with them and it sounds, to me, like a proto-FROZEN TEENS, before they got their bearings. The song, "Brian Jones Haircut" could easily be a deep cut off of their later FT demos, but the rest have more of a Nuggets-era, garage rock sound to them that works for me. The song "Phillips" is especially excellent, showing that these guys really have a knack for giving a song the room to breathe; something that I have always had a problem executing myself. Excellent!

Download their demo
Updated May 2014

Fun fact: After some time, their guitarist Mike Wilson either quit or got kicked out....I don't know which. The band later replaced him with another guitarist named Mike Wilson!

FREIGHT TRAIN - "Fire It Up and Crank It" - CD - 2004

   Some of my regular readers may wonder, "Yo Harvester, what the fuck is up with this hard rock shit?" Well, my friends, sometimes you wanna let your hair down, drink a beer and listen to some completely non-ironic butt-rock. FREIGHT TRAIN started in 2004 and put out this 5 song EP. They played all over the Bay Area and even opened up for UFO one time. Let's be honest though...did I actually listen to this in my life before yesterday? Well, no.
   The real reason I am writing this is to give praise to their drummer, Sam Adato. Besides busting out killer drum beats, rocking an honest mullet in a 2012 SF and having a true love of loud rock n roll, Sam also runs one of the best drums shops I have ever been to in my life right here in San Francisco. Tucked away in a little corner of SOMA, Sam Adato's Drum Shop is a little hole in the wall filled to the brim with new and used drum equipment. In the middle of it all, Sam stands behind his desk tinkering with old hardware, shooting the shit with customers or drumming on the desk to super loud rock music blasting on the stereo. He offers completely non-judgemental service to everyone who walks in the door. I can't tell you how many times I have taken the biggest piece of shit cymbal stand or broken lug into him and he has not batted an eye. If he doesn't have the part you need (which is rare), he'll usually offer to "rig something up" for you for free or cheap, which I can appreciate as someone on a tight budget. I took a broken bass drum pedal in once and he fixed it with spare parts sitting around and charged me $2 for the 10 minutes it took him to fix it. Also, I've always seen him use the utmost patience when dealing with customers that don't know the first thing about drums. For example, once a mom was in the shop getting a part for her son and she said something like "It's that big drum that you hit with your foot? What is that thing called?" I was facing away, rolling my eyes and looking through the drumsticks. Sam patiently explained that it was a bass drum and then went on to tell her about the different tones you could get with different tunings. The woman left the shop thanking him for his patience and expertise...and she didn't even play drums.
    I know from talking to my female drummer friends that the drumming world (as is most of the rock music world) is such a dude party. It can be difficult as a woman to walk into a music store and get good advice from any dude without being talked down to. It can also be really intimidating as a new drummer, not knowing all of the names of every little piece of a set. I have recommended Sam's shop to numerous female friends of mine and they always reported back that he treated them with respect and dignity. When my friend Sarah was buying a cymbal, she told him that she didn't know what she was looking for. Sam let her set up some drums in the store that were similar to her own and let her try out different cymbals until she found the one she wanted...then he knocked some money off of the final sale.. He's always been fair with people, as far as I have heard, and that really means a lot to me.
    So, download this CD or don't, but if you're in SF and you need some drum advice or parts, give Sam a chance. I just wanted to talk about him a little bit...to show that doing these little things really mean a lot to me.
Thanks, Sam Adato!

Free download no longer available by request of the band.

This CD is from the collection of Erick Lyle.

ME, YOU & THE BOYS - Live Tape - 2000?

   ME, YOU & THE BOYS was an acoustic project put together by Matty Luv (HICKEY), Shell, Jen (both of 50 MILLION and now SHELLSHAG) and Matt Powell (RUDIMENTS//FAGGZ). I'm pretty sure they never left San Francisco or went on any sort of tour to speak of. A lot of locals around SF were big fans of this group, but they never clicked with me. In my mind, it all ties into the "dark days" of the Mission punk scene that Erick Lyle speaks of in this entry about 50 MILLION, but I thought it might be of interest to fans of the aforementioned bands.
   This sounds like a practice tape recorded by the band on a boombox or something. They play some originals and a VASELINES cover. The tape was dubbed for me by my friend Sarah T (she also took the pic of them playing at Mission Records below). Enjoy.

Download the tape
Updated 2013

If you think I'm full of shit and this is your favorite band ever, please feel free to tell your own story about them in the comments. I'm sure it's good.
Oh yeah, almost forgot...this was obviously recorded off of a CD and it has a couple little skips in it. It's not too bad though....I think it's only in "78666".

HICKEY - Live at the Kommotion - Valentine's Day 1997

   Steve-o posted this little gem yesterday on a little social networking site that I sometimes frequent and I could not resist sharing with all of you. This is a very good quality recording of my favorite Mission punk band, HICKEY playing at Klub Kommotion (now the location of Amnesia, I believe...someone correct me if I'm wrong...EDIT: I'm wrong) in SF and it sounds great. They play a lot of "the hits", including "Hey Cutie Pie", "The Prettiest Junkie in Town" (the superior slow version) and "California Redemption", in addition to a lot of cringe-worthy stage banter (lots of talk about Valentine's Day and fucking) and a ruling space jam at the end. What better way to celebrate this weird holiday that was made up by greeting card companies to play up to your insecurities and fears about being alone for the rest of your life? Fuck 'em.

   This show happened in 1997, which is not the first year that I saw HICKEY, but it is the year that they changed my life. Later on in the year (October 13th, to be exact), HICKEY came to Florence, AL and my band, RICE HARVESTER played with them. They fuckin' ruled it that night and I was a convert to the Naked Cult for life. They even cracked my arch-enemy in the teeth with a microphone and later, their roadie pepper-sprayed the shit out of his eyes (for more on this guy and his ultimate apology for being a supreme dick, please click here). I liked them so much that I impulsively decided to make the trek to Murfreesboro, TN the next night to see them for my 21st birthday. That night was very different. The band played their show in a full-on fuckin' sports bar with multiple TV's showing bullshit and a crowd of punks and sports fans. It was weird. The bartender overheard me talking about my birthday and gave me a free pitcher of beer. I didn't even drink alcohol then, so I turned around and gave it to Matty Luv, HICKEY's singer/guitarist. He said "Thanks! We should share this." Now, I realize that I should've just gotten drunk with Matty, but I stuck to my self-imposed sober lifestyle and watched the band get hammered.

    Just before the band was about to hit their first note of the night, the cops inexplicably walked through the door and struck up a conversation with the bartender. Aesop, HICKEY's drummer, said "Oh hey, the cops are here." Without another word, the entire band and their roadie, Matt (who was across the room selling records) stripped every last bit of their clothes off. The band started playing a long, drawn out, improv jam and the cops left without even glancing at the naked dudes playing music a mere 15 feet away from them. It was some weird wizard shit. The band continued to play wild space jams, interspersed with their original songs for a full hour. Sometimes, their roadie Matt danced naked on the merch table as squares and normies filed out the door, averting their eyes. It was a great night. I remember being sorta thrown off and disappointed at the way the band made fun of the small audience that had actually paid for and been excited about seeing them. I felt better afterwards when I hung out with them at the house they stayed at and they had bought a ton of food on food stamps. They made a huge feast for everyone, hung out and were genuinely nice and appreciative of the people who set up the show for them. Later that night, I made the three hour drive back to Alabama, knowing that I would remember those last couple of days for the rest of my life.

Download HICKEY
Files updated Feb 2014

Original tape supplied by Matty's brother, Scott. Digitized by Steve-o.

RECKLESS - "Taking A Beating" - Tape - 2010

   I'm just gonna go ahead and put this out there. I've only ever said this to my friend, Alex because it's just hella embarrassing and misleading, but the first time I heard RECKLESS, I thought they sounded sort of like THE DISTILLERS (p.s. I like THE DISTILLERS). Now, becoming more acquainted with the band, I don't hear that at all anymore, but I just thought I would get that weird tidbit out of the way.
  Anyhow, RECKLESS are real, living, breathing punks...not fake posers who look the part and put out records on major labels. They play melodic, driving punk that loosely connects with the (unfortunately-named) sub-sect of crust-pop that permeates the Pacific Northwest, like SNUGGLE, COUCH WAR (sorry, that one is really obscure if you're not from Seattle) and SOMETHING'S WRONG. The first time I saw them was at a pretty boring bar show in San Francisco, but when they played, a ton of punk kids busted through the doors, started wildly dancing and throwing each other all over the place. It made it a lot more fun and the band sounded great. I have since seen them play better shows in record stores and on the street in SF.

Here is the band somewhere. Photo by someone.

   This tape was the band's first recording and they put the sounds to tape in the living room at the FBK, one of the USA's punkest punk houses. It was late, muddy and rainy. The band was drunk and laughing. There was a moment when Chainsaw (vox/guitar) was doing the vocal tracks in the gross-ass bathroom and she started puking, mid-song. The band could not stop laughing at her. I wish that moment was on this tape, but unfortunately, it isn't. 

FBK bathroom. Photo by Alex Turner.

   RECKLESS went on to put out an LP that got a horrendously uninformed and unfair review in Maximum Rock N Roll. I'm convinced that the reviewer did not listen to the record on the right speed and never noticed, somehow. The record is great though! Then, the band went on a US tour, Chainsaw moved to Mexico City and the band broke up. You can now find their guitarist, Craig playing in KOHOSH and setting up bad-ass DIY shows in Seattle. Their bass player on this recording, (Godamnit) Pat moved to Kansas City, MO and played in STREET LEGAL until they broke up (or I think they broke up...don't quote me on that). I have no clue what their drummer is doing. As mentioned before, Chainsaw moved to Mexico City and has the cutest puppy known to humankind. It's too much.

Download RECKLESS - Updated Sept 2018

Radio, the puppy
Thanks to Craig for info.

ELECTRONIC RAINFOREST - Tape - 1999

   I never got to see ELECTRONIC RAINFOREST....in fact, hardly anyone did. They only existed for a few months in the year of 1999 and only played 3 or 4 shows in their hometown of Gainesville, FL.Scott and Timmy had played guitar and bass respectively in THE BREAKUPS before that band met its inevitable demise. Afterwards, Scott switched over to the drums and they got their friend, Mike to play guitar and sing a little bit. Thus, the band with the confusing moniker of ELECTRONIC RAINFOREST was born. They managed to bust out 6 or 7 originals and a cover or two. They recorded this quick tape on the same 4 track used to record both THE CRUMBS and THE BELTONES demos. The band broke up within a matter of months after Scott left Florida to settle in the Bay Area. Timmy and Mike forged ahead, playing the bulk of these songs with their friends Cinque and Ski after they all got together to form HELLO SHITTY PEOPLE....and that, my friends, is all there is.

Download

Thanks to Scott Baldwin for most of this info.

SHEP AND ME - "Cloudy Chowder" - Tape - 2007

   Matt Himes is the man behind SHEP AND ME, which incorporates the sounds of experimental folk, outsider noise, tape loops, and acoustic balladry to create a sound that is wholly his own. He bumped his way onto a show that I set up in Bloomington a few years back. He set up simply with a small guitar and light accompaniment and captivated the room for the next 20-30 minutes. His sound, for me, evokes the images of punks living on homemade boats in the river, simple living, rotting Midwestern porches, and long, cold winter days that feel endless.
   This tape compiles a few years of analog recordings in New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Evanston, IL and Whitesburg, KY and is one of my favorite things that he has put out. It's the perfect thing to listen to on a cold day with nothing ahead of you besides hot tea and unfinished projects.

Download SHEP AND ME

This tape is also available as a beautifully packaged LP that was pressed in an edition of 500. If you like this, I highly suggest that you buy the record, because there aren't too many left. You can get it straight from Matt at Lighten Up Sounds
This tape was originally released on Friends and Relatives.

YE OLDE BUTTFUCK - Live At Gilman - 2003

   YE OLDE BUTTFUCK was born out of the ashes of CHAOS L.R. and shared the same drummer and vocalist. They put out two amazing EP's (you'll be able to get them here again one day soon) before crashing and burning at an early age. Allegedly, they wrote the first George W Bush protest song after he didn't win the election. Within hours of his buying of the vote, Y.O.B. had penned "Double Fuck W" and performed it to a rabid crowd at the Rear Entry in Chattanooga, TN. It sounded excellent, but remained unreleased and unrecorded.
   This live set is very short and very sweet. What the fuck was YE OLDE BUTTFUCK, a hard drinking, Region Rock band, doing at Gilman anyway? Well, I can't really answer that...except for, it's a show space...bands play there....these things happen. The band chose this auspicious gig to unleash their cover of John Ashcroft's "Let The Eagle Soar" to a thoroughly confused and humorless crowd. You can hear a few well-wishers at the end screaming "Fuck you!" Good times all around.

 Download YOB Live

From the collection of Erick Lyle.

THE PANICS - EP and Comp Track - 1980-1981

   This may as well be the follow-up entry to THE JETSONS post from a couple of weeks ago. THE PANICS were also on the "Red Snerts" LP compilation that my friend Amy copied for me so many years ago. While their song "Drugs Are For Thugs" didn't hit me in the same visceral way that THE JETSONS did, it still stood out above a lot of the other songs on the comp.

Photos taken from THE PANICS website

  THE PANICS formed sometime in 1980 in Bloomington, IN when the members were all teenagers. One of them had gotten the SEX PISTOLS LP and it blew him away, so they started their own band. Between doing massive amounts of whippets, spitting up fake blood and destroying private property, they managed to play a few shows opening up for the ZERO BOYS and THE GIZMOS. They also drove up to West Lafayette to record their single with Dr Science from THE GIZMOS. They cranked out two originals, "I Wanna Kill My Mom" and "Best Band", as well as a GIZMOS cover, "Tie Me Up, Baby." "Best Band" is my favorite. They proclaim "We're the best band in Bloomington and we buy our drugs on the courthouse lawn!!" Every song of theirs is constantly on the verge of falling apart, but oozes the very essence of desperate, teenage, small-town punk rock. They also do some of the worst pick slides ever committed to vinyl.

   Ten or eleven years ago, someone (possibly Gulcher Records) released a PANICS LP retrospective that included these songs and many others. I got pretty excited about it, but after hearing it, my interest waned dramatically. It mostly featured live recordings of the band hammering out crappy SEX PISTOLS and 60's-rock covers, which bored me to tears. It might have been exciting as a teenager in the Midwest in 1980 to cover "Louie Louie" at a house party, but let's just leave it there to languish in its former glory, shall we?

Download THE PANICS

MAXIMUM ROCK N ROLL RADIO

    Today, I got up around 10 am, made breakfast, biked across town and recorded a radio show with my friend Alex. Then, we visited our friend Emmalee at work, ate a slice of pizza while surreptitiously drinking beers at Serrano's and I biked home and got to sit down for about 20 minutes before riding my bike to work in the rain. Now, I am working a 12 hour, all-night shift. In addition to doing my regular tasks (if any of my bosses happen to be reading this, I am NOT SLACKING OFF AT ALL), I am also editing down a 17,000 word interview with my band, writing demo reviews for Maximum Rock N Roll and trying to catch up on my mail. I'm not complaining. I love the shit out of my life and I'm happy to be this busy. What I am getting at is that I don't have the time to write about any tapes today. Why don't you listen to the radio show that Alex and I DJ-ed instead? We played new stuff, old stuff, songs by our friends and songs by our potential friends. You'll love it. Be sure to check back later for more tapes from my shelf. Click on the link below to listen to the show.

Now, stay tuned for Tim and the gang on Maximum Rock N Roll!

ALACHUA BANDITS - Tape - 1993

   ALACHUA BANDITS were a fuckin' band of wild men and one wild woman from the Ft Lauderdale/Miami area. Their singer Tom Foote, guitarist Cinque and drummer Quannah had all recently moved from their home state of Michigan to sunny Florida. They teamed up with bassist, Becky Funn and cranked out this fast, ragged hardcore that was carried by Cinque's penchant for cramming as many chords as he could into one song and Tom's perfectly fucked, broken glass voice. I really, truly don't have much information about this band at all. I asked Cinque if he knew any details about any of this and he said he doesn't really remember anything...not even any of the song titles. Erick Lyle says "The band name came from a trip to Dalton, GA that ended with a breakdown outside of Gainesville in Alachua, FL." From traveling with these guys throughout the years, I'm sure they spent a lot of that time shoplifting booze and eating fried chicken out of a dumpster.
  Members of this band later aspired to greatness with the SPAWN SACS and living in the fabled Chattanooga punk house known as Anarchtica.

ALACHUA BANDITS download
re-uploaded Feb 2016

This tape is from the collection of Erick Lyle.

POOP TROOP - Compilation - Tape - 2001

   This tape was compiled by Dan B (of IMPRACTICAL COCKPIT and VILLAGE OF SPACES) to showcase some of his and friends' bands who play noise, outsider sounds, lo-fi dance music, drone, punk and more. The physical tape starts off with MARGARET MOTHER OF THIEVES, but I didn't add them on this download since it's just the same songs from their demo, which you can find by clicking on that link above. So, your download starts with COUNTY Z, who are still one of my favorite bands of all time. Their one and only song on this comp sounds like it was a rehearsal improv jam and it is a definite "work on some stuff in your room and let this drift out of the speakers" kind of song. They are followed by HARRY FROM HAWAII, who drone out some fucked up, blown out "dance music" for total fuckin freaks. The one time I saw them (I think it was them), they featured Drew on noise. He was wearing a full-body foam outfit with a huge helmet made out of sheet metal with contact mics all over him. The mics were running through an overflowing table full of pedals and Drew was banging on the helmet with drumsticks. I found out later that the  jagged edges of metal were cutting into his head the whole time and that his jumps and hops were not for effect, but were produced out of sheer pain!
   Next up is IMPRACTICAL COCKPIT (another all time favorite) who also jam it out for a bit in that improv, droney way that they do. Dan B told me that they have hours of this stuff on tape somewhere. They are followed by UKE OF PHILLIPS (who has evolved into VILLAGE OF SPACES) and their brand of gutter-country/acoustic-noise. New Orleans' THE FOREHEADS play 3 songs that are the closest you will get to a standard punk band on this tape, even though nothing about them is standard. Occasional IPCP member, Stella plays guitar and yelps some vocals here and there. Merrydeth plays drums and does a fair share of the singing. Icky rounds out the rhythm section on tuba. They did a tour or two (I would've loved to have been their roadie) and put out a split 7" with THE NAZIS FROM MARS on Raw Sugar Records before breaking up.
  HUL (not to be confused with the Danish band HUL) is just Don Godwin (of IPCP, Vector Set and much more) playing sleepy, lo-fi electronic music. Two of these songs were recorded in a Motel 6 in Lubbock, Texas. C/O NOAH CANNON closes out the tape with a mess of drone, noise, soundscapes, tape manipulation and more. I have a 90 minute tape of theirs and like the stuff on this comp, it can be meditative and wash over you.
   Most of this tape will not sit well with many of the people who like the bulk of the stuff I put up on this blog, but that's okay. This is my trip. Get into it. Plus, I'm still getting over being sick and sometimes you don't feel like excitedly writing about punks getting wasted and penning the best song ever about killing Marines.

Download POOP TROOP

This is from the collection of Erick Lyle.

CHAOS L.R. - "Vacation Urination" - Tape - 1998

   CHAOS L.R. started, fittingly, in Little Rock, AR in the mid-90's. Their singer was a very tall, mean-looking, drunken beast named Mitchell. At least, that was my first impression of him, but after getting to know him, I found out he was a very tender, well-read, Merle Haggard-loving gentleman who is diligent about calling his mom whenever he gets a chance. For the sake of this though, let's imagine that he is a wild-ass who can't get through a song without shitting his pants...he sure sounds like it.
   I believe this is the band's second demo; the first one being put out a couple of years earlier and you can hear a few of those songs on "Technical Difficulties From Day One." By the time of this demo, their guitarist, Matt Limo had moved across the country to Portland and their drummer, Iggy Scam was living in San Francisco, so they decided to hang out on the West Coast, record these songs and do a tour. Mitchell, I believe, was already on the west coast, but they didn't have a bass player at the time. They enlisted their friend, Alan Disaster to play bass. Unfortunately, he was in Little Rock. Undeterred, Alan picked up his bass off of his (presumably) piss-soaked mattress, walked out the door and hitch-hiked all the way to SF to meet up with the band for tour.

Photo by Anandi

   This tape was recorded by Jeff Jank (aka Capt Funkaho) at the M&A Laundromat at 54th and MLK in Oakland, when a few punks were actually living inside the laundromat. It starts off with "Orange Jumpsuit", one of my personal favorites, which didn't make it onto their later 7" EP. It's followed by the now-classic "Self-Respect is Priceless (But Schlitz is Cheap)", a punk ode to lost love and getting wasted. "We're Not Here To Buy, We're Here To Die" has one of my favorite song concepts ever: It's about some people going to test drive a car, so that they can commit suicide in it..."Checkin' out the classifieds, Lookin' for our final ride..Need a car that you can die in, lookin' for a car for a coffin! We're not here to buy, we're here to diiieeee!" All 8 songs on this tape are great. Mitchell's voice is total gravel-gargling, but in that good, punk way that makes you want to smash your face through a window while screaming along to the songs. Matt's guitar is rough and fucked. Iggy and Alan are holding it down the rhythm section. It's fuckin' good. Just download it.

DOWLOAD - Updated Sept 2018

   Iggy and Mitchell went on to form YE OLDE BUTTFUCK out of the ashes of this band, who are nothing short of amazing. If you ever see their records anywhere (two different EP's), don't hesitate to pick them up. Matt, I believe, became a pilot? Someone back me up on this one. Alan, much to everyone's surprise, became an actor and has appeared in some semi-major motion pictures, as well as continuing to play in bands in Little Rock...I can't remember which movie he was in, but I'm sure someone out there in the internet world can let us know. Erick Lyle gave me this info years ago. I would just look it up on IMDB, but I really don't think his acting name is "Alan Disaster".

This tape is from the mixed up files of Anandi Wonder. Thanks to her and Erick for info.There is more info about them in back issues of SCAM zine.

CHASED & SMASHED - Demo - Tape - 2002

   My friend and former CHASED AND SMASHED drummer, Erin Yanke is in San Francisco this weekend. When she braved my germ-filled house for a visit today, I pulled out this tape and asked if she remembered anything about it. She looked it, put it in the stereo, pushed play and mostly drew a blank. Then, she shouted, "This is pre-epiphany CHASED AND SMASHED! Our LP was post-epiphany." You're probably just as confused as I was by that information, so we went on a walk to the park up the street and she explained it further. Erin said that before CHASED & SMASHED, she had only played in bands with people who were playing music for the first time (like THE CURSE) and she used the crash cymbal hit to signify where the chord change would be (yes, I realize that this won't be of interest to many of you non-drummers). So, she would hit the cymbal on the 4 rather than the 1 and that's just how she had played for years. After recording this demo, she was listening to THE CLASH one day and had "the epiphany" that most drummers hit the crash on the 1 count. Thus, she realized that she had to relearn how to play all of the CHASED AND SMASHED songs before they recorded their LP 6 weeks later. I think she pulled it off. That LP rules...and that's all she really remembers about this tape.

Playing a graduation party? Photo by ??

   I only got to see CHASED AND SMASHED once at a packed basement show at the Fuckpit in Portland in 2002. Their tight, quick blasts of punk made the whole basement dance with wild abandon, but that's all I really remember...hazy times here.

  Erick Lyle, who loaned this tape out to the Outpost, had this to say: "From the ruins of GOD HATES COMPUTERS came this. Josh Baker is one of the all-time masters of the "Disappointed" / "Smashed Hopes" songs and "Expired Tags" here is one of his best. So, so good! I think Jess Hilliard of THE NE'ER DO WELLS (ed. note: and JUDY AND THE LOADIES!!) and later "outsider art" fame played bass on this."

Download CHASED AND SMASHED

   These days, Josh Baker lives in Maine (but I heard he is heading back to Portland) and I'm not really sure what he is up to, but I'm sure you can find out more right here. In addition to DJ-ing her weekly radio show Life During Wartime and being a general bad-ass, Erin also plays drums in two bands in Portland. After 5-6 years of existence, SOCIAL GRACES might actually put out a demo tape this year. Her other band, LIGHT BRIGADE has managed to put out two demo tapes and a 7" in the span of a year. Jess is currently making art somewhere in the US. CHASED AND SMASHED's other guitarist/singer, Doug is hard at work on the Portland music venue and bar, Slabtown, which he just bought. You can read more about that here. Congratulations, Doug!

CHICKENHEAD / LOS CANADIANS - Split CD - 2002(?)

   I never heard of CHICKENHEAD until a year after they had already broken up, so I never got to see their singer Chuck Loose set himself on fire. I never got to see their guitarist, Iggy running around in boxer shorts and spitting beer in people's faces. I only had their 7" from 1993 to listen to and wonder what kind of fucked up people write these fuckin' punk songs about stealing cars, drinking Robotussin and not having a future. My bandmate, Joey Tampon would always bring his CHICKENHEAD demo tape on tour an only play it in the middle of the night on long drives. The warbly fucked sound of that tape was so alien to me at the time, but so full of life, nihilism and decay. I got their 7" and spent many wasted nights blasting it in the park in downtown Huntsville: "Do you like my car?! It was free because I STOLE IT!!"

CHICKENHEAD playing on the moon. Photo by Josie, I think.

   CHICKENHEAD started in 1991 in Miami with Chuck Loose on vocals, Iggy Scam on guitar and Buddha on drums. They put out the aforementioned, ramshackle demo tape before adding Scott on drums and moving Buddha to bass. Their shows could be chaotic and fucked. Chairs got thrown, bottles got broken and beer got spilled. They went on a couple of tours around the US that seemed to be funded solely off of crime and scams. After routinely getting banned from clubs for silly offenses like spitting beer on people, destroying mics and setting themselves on fire, the band called it quits in 1993 after a show in Berkeley, CA.

   LOS CANADIANS, also from Miami, evolved out of CHICKENHEAD and a short-lived band called THE TRI-RAILS. Buddha and Scott (from CHICKENHEAD) played guitar and drums respectively. They were joined by a wizardly bass player named Timmy and Ivy on vocals. LOS CANADIANS and most of CHICKENHEAD either lived at or hung out in an abandoned 13-story hotel in Biscayne Bay called "The Mutiny", which is where a few of LOS CANADIANS' early songs were written. They played their first show in an abandoned, hurricane-damaged warehouse outside of Miami in 1992. LOS CANADIANS wrote fast, quick tuneful songs about alienation, pain and drugs. I didn't "get" them at first, but they soon became indispensable in my life.

LOS CANADIANS on the moon. Photo by Josie.

   I met Iggy and Ivy at the same time in the parking lot of a life-changing all day punk show in Chattanooga in 1995 (across the street from Wally's at McCallie and Holly). The next week, I played a generator show in the Everglades that Iggy set up with LOS CANADIANS, THE STUN GUNS, AGAINST ALL AUTHORITY and many more. Over the years, I got closer to these people and this music that provided so much inspiration to me. Iggy (now Erick), Ivy and Buddha have maintained a close musical partnership over the years that lasts to this day, writing countless, timeless classic punk songs.

  This CD was put out by This Here Records out of Chattanooga and compiles almost all of the recorded output for both bands. One of my favorite things on here is the acoustic, early version of LOS CANADIANS'  "Never Can" recorded in the Mutiny. It's my favorite song by them and I would be happy hearing as many alternate versions of it as possible, Chuck Loose still lives in Miami, went on to play in THE CRUMBS and now plays drums in the DUST TRAPS. Timmy is currently hiding out in the middle of the country and plays bass in HELLO SHITTY PEOPLE. Buddha has been in so many bands that I can't even keep track of them all. He currently lives in Chattanooga and plays guitar in the FASTBOYS (they have a new record that you can get from Young Monster) and HIDDEN SPOTS. Scott went on to play in THE HIDDEN RESENTMENTS with Iggy. He now lives in the East Bay and plays drums in CITY DELUXE. Iggy and Ivy went on to play in a few bands together over the years, like MIAMI, ALLERGIC TO BULLSHIT (with me!) and they are currently in BLACK RAINBOW (with me and our friend, Morgan..next show in March in SF). I think that covers it.

Download Mutiny in Miami - CHICKENHEAD / LOS CANADIANS
updated May 2013

CHICKENHEAD photo by Josie, I think.

Sorry if this is a little scattered. I'm getting over some wild sickness and can't think straight.

LETHAL YELLOW - "Declaration Of Retardation" - 7" EP - 1984

    This one is gonna be short today since I spent most of last night puking all over my bathroom (an activity I despise) due to an unknown illness. I feel just peachy today...I can barely sit up and thinking hurts.
   These teenage punks from Miami probably spent a lot of time puking all over the place as well, especially if they were actually ingesting the amount of cheese that they sing about. There are TWO songs on here about eating grilled cheese sandwiches and Velveeta. Other subjects include cockroaches and being a pain in the ass. They're teenagers in the 80-'s...it didn't get too deep.  My personal favorite is "The Obnoxious Song", which is a perfect example of sloppy, young, tuneful punk rock from the 80's during a time when punk was just beginning to go down the tubes of the crossover toilet. At the end, as the song is fading out, you can hear their young singer asking "Did you hear me suffering?" It's my favorite part, since I know him now and that kind of sarcasm is something he is known for. It's good to know that it was still there at 15 or 16 years of age.
   One person in this band went on to be in one of my all-time favorite bands, but I can't really tell you who it is, out of respect for him. You see, he hates this record. Hates it. I heard that he once tried to rip a tape out of the boombox and destroy it because it was on a mix that I made. I want to let him hear my 15-year-old punk band and let him know that things could be much. much worse. I think this record is excellent, so download it now in case he asks me to delete this.

Download LETHAL YELLOW
Updated 2013

Thank to MRR for having this in their archives and letting me copy it.

Also, if you really want to know his name and later band, I'm sure you can figure it out. The rest of the internet isn't as forgiving as me.

AYE NAKO - Demo - Tape - 2010

   When I put this tape in the stereo for the first time, I didn't know that I was dooming myself to having these songs hopelessly stuck in my head for the next year. I've known Mars (guitar/vox) and Joe (bass) for a long time now. I was (and still am) a big fan of their old band, FLEABAG back when they lived in the Bay Area, but this band is a step above, somehow. All the rough edges of FLEABAG are honed and sharpened. The guitars are thicker and more frenetic. It has the triumphant feel of being comfortable and confident with the music that you're creating.

AYE NAKO in Worcester, MA.

  AYE NAKO started in Bloomington, IN back in 2008 and broke up when Mars and Joe moved to the Bay Area. A couple of years later, the two of them ended up in Brooklyn and started playing with Angie on drums, once again as AYE NAKO with all new songs and a bigger sound. Mars sent me a early version of "Molasses" before the tape came out and I must have listened to it 5 times in a row as soon as I got it. I wanted more. I still want more. "Good Grief"'s screamy hardcore approach sounded out of place when I first heard it (also, kind of alarming after meeting Mars as a meek, almost mute acoustic performer 5 years ago), but now it fits in, in a weird way  The cacophonous guitar outro on "Slump" brings a mile-wide smile to my face. This is definitely one of my favorite tapes of the past year and as I said before, I still want more.

Download AYE NAKO

In Richmond, VA. Photo by ???
p.s. one of the best tape covers ever, in my opinion.